Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 235

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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 235

“Ah, well, what of it.”
*Hmm. I suppose for a Divine Beast’s life, this is comfort enough. I’ve no complaints.*
“Really?”
*Without you, I might not have been born properly at all—a half-made Divine Beast, that’s what I’d be.*
“…….”
If I’d had my way, I would have become Jemina’s Contractor, bound to her so we could never be parted, and then entered the Barrier with just the chattering sword. I wanted Jemina to fly freely outside, eat delicious things, and live happily. But Jemina, as if seeing right through my heart, spoke to me.
*You take that chatterbox sword into the Barrier and my ears will burst. I’ll just sleep next to you.*
“…….”
*More practically speaking, if you’re to stabilize my existence within the Barrier while maintaining it, you’ll need to channel the earth’s power in all sorts of ways. Think you can manage that without me?*
“…Maybe I could?”
*Well, I’ve eaten plenty of good things outside. No need for more now. I told you—I’m your Contractor Divine Beast. I’ve taken responsibility, so that’s the end of it.*
“I see. I’m the one who took responsibility.”
Since I’m a cowardly adult, I thought Jemina might be alright. A Divine Beast, after all—perhaps I’ll find a way to release her later.
With a surge of something I couldn’t quite name, I pulled Jemina close. Then I gently ran my hand over the Wooden Box set in one corner. It still smelled fresh.
*By the way, Contractor, if we’re to leave early, which way should we…?*
“Based on what Castrain said when I saw him earlier… I think I need to visit Illian.”
The way he’d spoken suggested I’d be detained if I wasn’t careful. Originally I’d meant to stay at least a week, but somewhere between wondering and deliberating, the thought had crystallized: I can’t stay even one night. I had to leave. Then someone tapped at the window.
“……What?”
The window? I tilted my head in confusion and opened it. A familiar face shouted toward me.
“Where on earth have you been this whole time?! I can’t live like this!”
“Goodness, you’ve been well, I see, Pan.”
“I can’t live like this, I can’t! What’s this ‘you’ve been well’ nonsense?! This is why the mad brothers of this household are so mad!”
“Ah…”
A slave to capitalism—the Archmage Pan.
I hadn’t seen her in some time. Her face was tan from the sun, and she snuffled indignantly at me as I blinked, utterly bewildered.
“By the way, why on earth are you coming through the window? If ever since I pushed you from the balcony before, you’ve become addicted to that exhilarating thrill and now enter through places that aren’t doors, I really must apologize…….”
“Have you any idea how many layers of Security Magic and Protection Magic are woven through this room?! This window alone—I barely squeezed through a bean-sized gap, and do you know how much trouble that was?!”
“Ah, I see…”
“You stay in this room yourself, yet you speak of it like it’s someone else’s business! That’s exactly why you waltzed in here with your own two feet and felt no danger whatsoever!”
“Well, to be honest……”
I lost my words.
I’d been treated as an honored guest quite lavishly, but it felt somehow off, so I was thinking of slipping away again?
More to the point—why did you come through the window in the first place, avoiding the eyes of everyone in this household?
As if reading my gaze, Pan curled her lip and spoke.
“Hmph, I came because of that damned disciple of mine.”
“Rasper? Is he well?”
“I can’t exactly say he’s doing poorly because of you…”
Pan hemmed and hawed.
“My disciple thinks his older brothers have lost their minds, and he’s worried about the Princess. That’s what he said.”
“Bibi didn’t exactly put it that way…”
“Well, you see. He told me I should know that one of the people the Princess should be most wary of is pretty, cute, smiling Bibi. Which I agree with, mind you.”
*That’s right! (゜ρ゜)ノ!!*
A voice of ardent agreement from the sword echoed in my head. At that moment, Pan caught some faint sound from somewhere. She snapped the window shut with a soft click and clapped her hands lightly—the gesture of someone casting Magic.
“At any rate, I came to help you escape. To be honest, you can’t get out of here on your own without someone noticing. I’m curious what you were thinking coming in with your own two feet in the first place, but seeing how you look, I think I understand. What a mess.”
“Wait, really?”
My eyes went wide.
“…I honestly thought even Raymond would resent me.”
“My disciple is in a different league from those big-headed brothers of the Castrain Ducal House! He’s a Mage! The sole guardian of objective and rational intellect!”
“Oh, well, I heard your mage-friendly sentiment loud and clear.”
“At any rate, that boy looks far and wide like an eagle—he sees things broadly. So I think the Princess has some intention. That’s why she sent him to help me.”
“What is Rasper doing right now?”
It was strange to think that even among the Castrain Family, opinion could differ. Especially from Rasper.
“What else? He’s off researching as usual. Digging the earth, collecting stones…. Looking for temple ruins…. Anyway, grab what you need and let’s go. I can’t maintain the Mini Warp Tunnel for more than two hours!”
Pan spoke without pause, then seemed to catch on something and stopped mid-sentence. She quickly gestured for me to gather my things. The sword in my head went wild at her words.
*W-w-what on earth did I just hear?! A Mini Warp Tunnel?! (´◓Д◔`)/*
*What’s with all the surprise? Isn’t it similar to the thing I used when I faked my death to escape…?*
My startled reaction was fleeting. Jemina neatly wound the Lace Ribbon she’d taken a fancy to around her body—a small pouch filled with fruits and nuts she’d favored hung from it—and perched on my shoulder.
I bundled the rather heavy Wooden Box in a tablecloth like a bundle and hugged it to my chest. At Pan’s questioning look, I nodded, and Pan gestured to me before opening the window again.
A whistle of wind rushed through.
I looked out at the sparse landscape and asked.
“…Down there?”
“Yes.”
“…I won’t die from the fall with my strength.”
“Don’t use that strength.”
“Pardon?”
I was about to think I could just use the Wind Power I’d grown so accustomed to, when Pan spoke with sudden gravity.
“Well, that sword you carry everywhere is like part of your body, so you don’t notice it…. The power the Princess uses every day—that’s not ordinary. Do you think this family couldn’t track it if they really wanted to?”
“…Oh no.”
“Unless you seal it completely and lock up all your power entirely, just breathing leaves traces. But such traces are hard to find except immediately after you leave…. Anyway, just follow me.”
Instead of touching me directly, Pan wrapped the Blue Cloth she’d brought around my shoulders. At once, the Blue Cloth began to float gently into the air. Pan sent me out first, then jumped after me and shut the window.
I expected there to be many people, but there weren’t. It was quiet.
Pan and I drifted silently through the void toward a remote passage. Cleverly hidden to the eye, it looked like the narrow servants’ corridors the Ducal House used for moving unseen.
I saw the Blue Stone that Pan had placed deep within that narrow passage glowing faintly.
*Wow, how did she even make this?へ[ ᴼ ▃ ᴼ ]_/¯*
*I don’t know.*
*…That’s an actual Mini Warp Tunnel. A semi-permanent one, too.*
*What?!*
The one I’d used when faking my death was…. single-use, possible only over extremely short distances.
But even if this one was supposedly miniature, the fact that it was a semi-permanent Warp Tunnel meant…. with the right materials and enough will, we could now recreate those ancient Warp Tunnels that had once been built between major cities in limited fashion, couldn’t we? She’d always been a genius, but just how insane a genius had she become? Her mentor was right to be proud….
As I approached the Blue Stone with that thought, the grass crunched underfoot.
“Night walks are rather cold for this season.”
Deliberate footsteps—unmistakably so—rang out.
Thump, thump, thump.
Simultaneously, from a distance came the whimper of a dog stripped of all courage.
Yelp, yelp. Whine-whine-whine…
A sound of complete demoralization, as if begging for mercy.
It was strange. I’d never seen Raymond oppress anyone without reason. Whether beast or human, he treated others according to set protocols. Even a mute animal—he wouldn’t let it cry out in distress merely for his own feeling’s sake. Yet here, something terrible was present, so very terrible—
And it made the whimpers unbearable to hear.
Raymond wore a smile. A sense of déjà vu washed over me.
That very night I’d faked my death and fled. Moonlight pouring bright and clear. Those golden eyes gleaming ominously…. No, wait. Had he not smiled then?
“Is something displeasing you?”
I heard Pan whisper in a trembling voice. *We’re finished, I’m afraid.*
…Such a thing didn’t need to be said aloud to be understood.

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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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