Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 194

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 194

Magic Beasts rise from the depths below.
Magic Beasts emerge from death itself.
They feast on shadow and death and despair, crawling forth from graves and burial grounds.

When you think about it, it’s strange.
Why do such “powerful” Magic Beasts bother to give advance notice, only appearing within the Empire’s borders?
If they surfaced across the continent and threatened the entire world, humans would have recognized the danger. There’d be no need to loose prey upon a neighborhood of skilled hunters. Unless one descended into harsh and treacherous lands in person to witness it directly, elsewhere such danger would sound like nothing but exaggeration—a myth told in taverns.
They were the last guardians. Once their necks were broken, nothing else remained a threat.
In the “before times,” all conspiracies had converged on toppling the Castrain Family for the same reason. The witless royal family had treated their greatest ally like a threat instead, and rather than lose the Power of Light entirely through marriage, the royal line refused to dismiss the risk of having a member bearing that power wed into an outside house.
The royal family needed only to be royal—born clutching that blood in their veins—to command reverence.
After countless ages passed, Magic Beasts and even the names of forgotten gods had become mere children’s games.
Even the records of the First Emperor’s era, when he’d laughed without care because the Northern Region boasted the most reliable ally, faded from every living memory.
Because humans must never gather in unity.
“……The attack isn’t working!”
The Duke twisted his mouth.
In the end, Titania’s judgment had been sound.
Delaying a day or two would not stop what was coming. A month hence, a year hence—the result would be identical. The seed planted by their enemies in Castrain Territory had struck deep roots, sustained across centuries. It was like a swamp.
In the first place, it was inconceivable that the Castrain Family would have left a hunted Magic Beast intact. After dismembering its corpse and completing purification rites, they sold off all the byproducts. The more dangerous the Beast, the more ruthless they were about it.
Yet, as Bibi Lutein El Castrain had confirmed before, even after so much time had passed, the traces of a Beast so strong and dangerous that its form could still be discerned….
“Old memories stirring.”
“It cannot be.”
“Cannot be what?”
“You cannot face it in that state, sir.”
The Duke regarded his adjutant—who had blocked his path—with peculiar emotion. Could the situation truly echo the distant past so precisely?
Long ago, there had been someone who told the Duke the same thing: do not go. They sighed deeply, finally accepted the inevitability, and took their place behind him.
And they died, leaving only the Duke.
“I’ve never experienced quite so visceral a lesson in Magic Beasts clawing up from beneath the earth.”
The Castrain Family was seasoned.
The moment word arrived of the neither-living-nor-dead Beast’s appearance, standing forces mobilized.
They erected barrier after barrier of soldiers to ensure that nothing—under any circumstance—would breach the Core of Northern Barrier. The Castrain Family had lost their lives defending it before; there had been enemies and Beasts aplenty seeking to disrupt the North’s greatest ritual over the centuries.
Yet there existed moments when knowledge and prevention were not enough.
“What do you think it’s after? That thing?”
“Surely the Dedication Ceremony, sir.”
“I wonder. I have a different thought.”
This was the creature that had reduced even Castrain’s Duke to such a state. He’d wanted to reduce it to ash entirely, but the Beast was so dangerous that he’d dared not disturb the remains further, for fear of unforeseen consequences.
However much a Magic Beast might be the spawn of the God of Darkness, however intimate with death—for a Beast whose breath had already stilled to move again defied reason itself.
Surely a price of immense significance had been paid for this.
“It appeared at precisely this moment, in precisely this circumstance. As though it could not be any other time.”
“That is…….”
“The Dedication Ceremony? We conduct that every winter. What’s different about this year’s rite? You already know the answer.”
Princess Titania.
“Whatever the Princess does there, someone wants to stop her. Right now.”
“…At the very least, allow the young lords to stand beside you, sir. Just for a moment—only a moment and both of them—!”
“And watch both those promising fools meet the same end as me, their entire futures ruined?”
The Duke laughed—a brittle, rattling sound—and pulled out two cigarettes, lighting both and placing them in his mouth simultaneously. The narcotic effect burned stronger than ever before.
“I thought I had more years left. I was wrong.”
“You cannot do this alone, sir. Think of Bibi!”
“True—Raymond and Lisianthus are competent enough not to be mere hindrances. But they’re not quite sharp or strong enough to aid me while keeping themselves whole.”
When a powerful Magic Beast appeared, the usual approach was to spend time identifying its attack patterns and vulnerabilities at minimum before engaging.
When the Duke had faced a Magic Beast before, even after all the Castrain Family could prepare, the casualties had been catastrophic.
They’d saturated the field with Mana Stones like pebbles and mobilized allies of Priest-rank strength—and still, the Duke had barely escaped death. Those weaker than him had perished almost without exception. The losses were so ghastly that the outcome was concealed from all.
“It is my command.”
So the Duke deliberated. Would it suffice? Could his aged and broken body bear the weight?
No—yes. This much, at least, he could attempt.
On the condition that he did not think of tomorrow.
‘Forgive me.’
Strangely, his wife had been appearing in his thoughts of late. The Duke found himself laughing—something he’d rarely done in all his life.
Perhaps it was merely the hour of his death arriving.
“All of you—retreat. ……And when Raymond claims command next and orders you to follow him, you will refuse and ignore him.”
A wind sharp as a blade slashed at the eyes.
It was the kind of weather where the screams of the dead seemed to paint the entire world.

* * *

“We need to find its weak point.”
Every passage and corridor had been sealed.
The path leading to the Core of Northern Barrier had been locked down before the Beast ever appeared—designed to permit only Titania through, barred with iron resolve.
If one tried to approach via the snow-buried surface, that might be possible; but the Northern Barrier itself remained unshaken. Ordinary Magic Beasts couldn’t even draw near to a barrier. The problem was that their enemy was far from ordinary.
Bibi’s eyes burned with determination.
Because she was young and because someone in the Castrain Family had to remain to defend the seat of power, she’d been left behind. The moment news reached her, she’d responded with swift urgency and gathered intelligence.
She learned that the Duke alone held the Beast at bay. She learned that no one was permitted to interfere.
But Bibi could not simply surrender.
“There’s toxin in its breath. Mere proximity causes limb paralysis.”
“Approaching with bare skin means death. Only someone of the Duke’s caliber could fight while standing close….”
“If a Priest stood nearby?”
“Priests still need to breathe. Ordinary Priests cannot withstand it. If we could find a hundred of Illian’s caliber and deploy them, we might manage a hundred of our own.”
“Magic?”
“A temporary measure, perhaps, but not a fundamental solution. The real approach would be to hold one’s breath entirely, or to wear protective items or clothing with antitoxic properties. But the toxin is unusual…. The Beast’s position shifts constantly, and adapting the countermeasure to each individual….”
“I can do it.”
A voice cut through the noisy conference chamber. All eyes turned toward Rasper.
“…Young Lord Rasper? You say so because you haven’t seen the site yourself. The area is absolute hell right now. It’s impossible for ordinary people to approach, and….”
“I can create a filtration spell tailored to each person individually, isolating just the toxic components. …Normally, the lack of a suitable medium would make it difficult, but for one or two people it’s manageable. If the problem is toxin contacting skin, then we can apply the enchantment directly to different parts of the body…….”
“Young Lord Rasper, we all know you’re a bookworm, but reality is different. That’s something even the mages of the Mage Tower cannot accomplish. How could you possibly achieve it? You’ve read too many books and lost touch with reality. Please, come to your senses…….”
“Lost touch with reality, you say?”
Someone sauntered in, let out a sigh, and began to applaud.
Bang! Crash! Clap!
A hand-shaped balloon materialized in the air with tremendous noise and burst.
Specifically, right in front of the face of the person who’d been opposing Rasper.
“Kyaaaah!”
The startled man fell backward and hit the floor hard. The moment he grasped the situation, his face flushed scarlet and he began shrieking at the assembled group.
“That person is a mage who came as an escort for Princess Titania! How dare they cast Magic within this chamber…!”
“You see? That’s how remarkable what I just did is. Anyone understand what that means?”
“Where is security? Remove that person at once…!”
“This is why I hate ordinary people. I show them something right in front of their eyes and they still don’t understand. There’s no getting through.”
“…….”
Rasper took a moment to compose himself. Pan nodded as though everything was fine.
Within the Castrain household, Pan had only pretended to be one of Titania’s retainers until now. Raymond had heard them speaking familiarly once, but that was all. If Pan revealed themselves this openly—’I’m connected to Rasper’—and someone later questioned Pan’s past or tried to investigate their identity, it could become troublesome.
But Pan remained serene.
Their eyes held only trust and confidence, as though such concerns were meaningless. Gaining assurance from such a teacher, Rasper briefly locked eyes with Bibi.
Bibi had accomplished many things within the Castrain household and held the love of its entire family—but in this situation….
The Duke himself, Bibi’s greatest source of strength, was fighting the Beast alone on the frontier, with a final command: no one was to aid him.
The Duke’s most loyal subordinates chose to obey that command, refusing to cooperate with Bibi.
Lisianthus and Raymond remained at the site. Only those from the Castrain household proper, hearing the news, had gathered for this emergency council.
So Rasper watched Bibi’s expression for only a moment. Bibi smiled.
Whatever you need to do is fine. Whatever you say is acceptable.
Infinitesimal droplets of water materialized around him, shimmering with rainbow light in the open air.

“……I can do it. I was chosen by the Waves of Oceanos. Even if other mages from other Towers cannot, I can.”
Everyone fell silent in astonishment.
“A-and besides, this person is also an exceptionally capable mage. With the two of us together, we can manage it somehow. I want to…I want to save my father…….”
Here stood a son who had decided to defy his father in order to save him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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