Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 218

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

Chapter 218

Eating, sleeping, playing—nothing beats it.
Truly the best.
For three days I cycled through eating, sleeping, and playing, working through the provisions stockpiled in the Bungalow.
The sea remained a killer shade of blue, the sky just as blue, the sand stretched endlessly wide, and the sunlight blazed with blinding brilliance—but the desserts had run out.
Since it was so hot, I’d sprawled about, lazing and eating only cold things, which meant we’d hit bottom faster than expected.
I’d packed provisions without much thought, figuring that Jemina—barely the size of my forearm—couldn’t possibly eat much. To my surprise, though, she devoured entire fruits the size of her own head and came away unbothered.
Meat and bread had therefore survived reasonably well, but everything else was already gone.
I couldn’t give up lying sprawled in the hammock hung at one end of the Bungalow, sipping cool juice and admiring the sunset.
So I resolved to venture out for the first time in days. I muttered in a troubled tone.
“…Hmm. There’s a problem.”
-You’re not thinking of leaving me behind, are you?! ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
“Well… it’s quite hot here, and people go about half-naked because of the weather. All the clothes are thin, so if I bring you, my sword will stick out obviously.”
-That won’t work! ヽ(*。>Д<)o゜ I have to come with you, especially since you're going alone!
"…From today on, you're a lace Parasol. A broken Parasol that never, ever opens, no matter how harsh the sun."
-What?! (⊙_(⊙_⊙)_⊙)
I wrapped the blade in lace cloth, tied it with ribbons, and slung it from my waist looking every bit a Parasol.
While the sword grumbled—it's heavy, wrapping me in cloth in this heat with no air holes is really too much, on and on—I ignored half of it and checked my supplies.
A basic map, Magic tools for self-defense, a bag with money… and even sunglasses with a faint tint to the lenses. Once I pulled on a Hat with a wide brim, I looked exactly like a tourist.
Leaving the quiet Bungalow and closing the door, after walking for a while I spotted a roadside lined with small Street Stalls.
I saw Outdoor Restaurants and Taverns scattered along the Beach with tables and chairs, and the atmosphere was lively with tourists and vendors hawking their wares.
Though it was still midday, a whole roasted pig sizzled over a wood fire in one corner, and people well into their cups drank beer nearby. The sight alone lifted my spirits.
"I'll take this! And this, this, and this too!"
I picked through the clustered Street Stall food and bought juice by the bucket, and a kind-looking vendor woman approached me quietly.
"Are you here on vacation, miss?"
"Yes."
"You're buying several buckets of juice—is your group large?"
"…That's right!"
"Well then, you don't know a good spot to watch the Fireworks Festival tomorrow, I suppose. Here, if you buy this too, I might give you a tip."
"A tip?"
She waved a bundle of expensive dried tropical fruit snacks, and when I said I'd buy that as well, the vendor leaned in and whispered to me.
"See that place over there? To the west, where hardly anyone goes. Look carefully and you'll see a Large Rock. From there, the Fireworks Festival view is absolutely stunning. It's private land so people sneak in and out, but if soldiers catch you, they'll chase you off. So don't go around saying I told you, alright?"
"…Ah, I see!"
Hmm, that place must be mine… these people have been sneaking around land they thought had no owner.
Fortunately, the spot with the rock is at some distance from the Bungalow, near a Summer Villa, so that's a relief. I asked her for more details about the Fireworks Festival, and boy, did I get an earful.
The festival runs all night long, with fireworks shot up into the sky and Lanterns set afloat on the Sea, then men and women of all ages mingling on the Beach and dancing…
The fireworks in the sky and the Lanterns on the water are quite a sight—so spectacular that nobles visit just this one season to see them.
The festival itself only lasts about three days, and she insisted the neighboring town's festival is the trend these days, but ours has its own charm and appeal, which meant I just had to nod along until I finally escaped.
"…This should be fine, right? It should be, right?"
My original plan was to drag things out longer and disappear by playing dead, not leaving until after the festival ended. But I decided to accelerate the timeline and adjusted my schedule hastily, so somehow the festival dates ended up overlapping with my hiding period.
-Are you going to watch the festival? ː̗̀(☉.☉)ː̖́
"Yeah. Originally I wasn't going to bother with festival-watching… but they had a fake corpse and held a funeral, after all."
It was worth coming out for once. Everyone was gossiping loudly about this and that, and my name came up among the topics.
Things like: such a beauty, what a shame she's dead; a child like that, bringing shame to her parents' honor, is worthless; it's strange the Castrain Family hasn't reacted much; there's talk that Cortez suddenly fell ill at the Capital so maybe there was no love triangle after all.
To be honest, the Castrain Family's reaction bothered me a bit… no, it bothered me quite a lot. But if all they're saying is "strange, there wasn't much of a reaction," well, that's manageable.
For just a moment, I felt a hollow ache in my chest, but that much is bearable.
-…But don't you think it's strange that those people haven't reacted much even before and after the funeral? (¯ᒡ¯)
"Well, couldn't that happen?"
I scooped up a frozen mixture of carbonated water and fruit with a spoon and savored the cool, tangy taste spreading on my tongue. As I did, the sword spoke in a significant tone.
-No, honestly. You've done so much for that Family—enough that they'd commission a solid gold statue and display it to honor you—and yet they "haven't reacted much"? (　〇□〇）
"…Is that so?"
-It's because the Contractor never knows, right? That's why you're disguised and pretending to be someone else right now, sneaking around. ╚(•⌂•)╝
"…Ugh."
-I think the Contractor should prepare to move to a next hideout just in case… ( •̄ _ •̄ .)
"Damn it. You're right. But let's just watch the festival for one day tomorrow. We can't leave immediately anyway once I contact them."
Sigh. It seems I can't just stay at a beachside Summer Villa eating and playing and resting forever.
I let out a long breath and dragged my feet as I walked, ready to contact Flux through the usual channels to say I'd use the escape route prepared beforehand.
Suddenly I looked up at the sky.
It was a pale blue, as though the Sea had spread out white cloud-color in luminous ribbons across it.
If fireworks bloom across that sky, it really would be beautiful. Like flowers of light blooming in heaven. Just as those petals fell through my palm, I won't be able to catch even a point of light with my hands.
And the Lanterns floating on the night Sea would look like stars, beautiful too. If the edge of the world crumbled and people's screams fell silent, creating a scene of such devastation…
Then that beautiful sight would be unimaginable. The moment I closed my eyes imagining such a sight, all manner of noise came flooding in.
You really! Where did you go without listening to your mother!
I'm sorry, Mom. Waaaaahhh…
Do you have any idea how much you've worried me!
I saved you a seat, it's here, right here!
Why do you always talk like that?
You're the one to talk!
In an instant, a wave of all sorts of sounds came and went at my ears. I just thought, isn't this nice to hear, and laughed. But like a ship cutting through waves, an old, familiar voice played again.
Mermaids seal their song in pearls, they say. The last song of a mermaid who lost her lover and became sea foam—continuing on and on, wandering the Beach and wailing like an echo in the deep, a white and clear death cry like no other.
'There was someone I needed to find.'
It's strange. I thought it couldn't be. At least so far, everything has flowed exactly as I predicted and planned.
'Do you think I could fail to recognize you?'
So why do I keep thinking you might suddenly appear, just as you said to me that day?

* * *

"Frankly speaking, I suspect the Young Duke might actually wish to be dead."
Illian was smiling, but his eyes were sinister. His voice bore no resemblance to his usual leisurely tone.
"Really now. Save the father and the son wants to die, how disgustingly alike father and son are, enough to make one's blood boil. Ha, hahaha!"
"I didn't come to hear such talk."
"Then?"
"A Prophecy, or a Revelation. Either will do—tell me the details."
"……"
Illian's expression twisted. Raymond's face was utterly expressionless.
Illian recognized the source of the scent flowing from Raymond. The smell of blood, and something deeper and more potent than mere blood—something damp and acrid.
Such a scent doesn't arise from simply killing Magic Beasts. If he'd come merely out of curiosity, there would be no such sharp, chilling aura emanating from him like a blade saturated with blood.
"I'm well aware that my mother didn't sacrifice her life to bear my brothers and me for any reason other than her own stubbornness. But Father chose not to tell me the details."
"And why should I tell you what your friend refuses to speak of?"
"Because if you don't, I might do something so insane it would astound even you, High Priest."
Tap, tap-tap.
A wet, fishy smell drifted in. Listening to the rain begin to tap at the window drop by drop, Illian chose his words carefully as he watched the High Priest's eyes—murkier than muddy water.
"…Well then, Young Duke."

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