Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 273

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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 273

Chains had been wrapped around them, or so she’d thought?
Looking closer, the chains were already broken clean in half.
What? These girls. The door was already open? They weren’t even bound? Then why have they been sitting here all this time instead of running? Sara’s body shrank back as the weight of their presence pressed down on her.
Dorothy, staring at Sara with malevolent eyes, spat hard onto the floor. One side of Dorothy’s cheek was swollen, as if someone had struck her not long ago.
“Girls, grab her. Strip her clean.”
“Got it!”
“If you touch me, the Imperial Consort won’t let this slide—!”
Sara let out a strangled cry and fell forward. A heavy kick struck her squarely in the solar plexus.
“Hey, the kids here seem like they’re drugged and out of it? Think we don’t know they packed this place with rebels and radicals? The ones worth killing?”
“Ugh, gah…”
“Don’t leave marks where they show. The Imperial Consort might get suspicious.”
“H-here, take this bracelet. The Imperial Palace is dangerous, I’m telling you. I know escape routes—please—!”
“But if we drag her to the Imperial Consort, she’ll kneel and wail about how she was coerced into traveling with enemies, begging for mercy.”
“Idiot. Given the Consort’s temperament, if you traveled with enemies—whether forced or not—your neck gets separated from your shoulders. Then we’d have no choice but to side with you out of fear for what comes next.”
Everyone here was a veteran.
Long careers, proven skill. Never once touched anything shady or underhanded.
Yet it was precisely because of that—that they had fallen out of favor with Cleo, the Imperial Consort.
Maids and ladies-in-waiting with years of service and solid reputations refused to pander to her whims.
So she locked them all away in the Detention Room as an example.
Though none of them had foreseen their revenge would come like this.
In any case, ignoring Sara’s pleas, the remaining women shared their plan with efficient precision.
“Melanie, you report well to Her Majesty the Empress.”
“Y-yes.”
“Anne, you come with me.”
“Everyone, grab whatever tools you can. Pokers, even. Anyone who rushes us, we scrape them raw.”
“Whitney already raided the Guards’ Barracks for weapons. There wasn’t a soul around.”
The maids that the Empress had hired on the spot through Melanie were, after all, lives that had nearly been forfeit—and they became Her Majesty’s impromptu strike force, resolved to do whatever was needed.
If people were dying outside the Palace and people were dying inside it, they might as well do what they could in the one place they knew.
They were bold people, unafraid to move anywhere within the burning Imperial Palace, sparing no effort for themselves.

* * *

—Sister!
“…Bibi.”
I smiled awkwardly at Bibi, whom I hadn’t seen in ages. Bibi simply smiled back, wordlessly.
Ordinarily, there should have been words—Sister, it’s been so long. I missed you, Sister. I’m sorry for putting you in danger, Sister. Words like those.
Bibi’s eyes held a maturity I hadn’t seen before. Her face was as bright as always, but worn thin.
—I pulled some strings with the Reigning Emperor, and it worked out. Look!
“Wow!”
I laughed as I watched Bibi send a leaf dancing through the air.
—Both Adrian and Her Majesty the Empress helped out. We’ve turned over every Temple basement. Uncle Rasper and I thoroughly shared the conclusions I drew from that lunatic Kosheay—whom you’d fry to death, deep-fry, grind into powder, resurrect, and steam all over again and it still wouldn’t be enough.
“Well, yes. Though truthfully, this isn’t really a time to be at leisure.”
—Right, something I’d suspected anyway. Creation is the Realm of Chaos, and though scholars debate endlessly what that Chaos actually is, the conclusion is that it might—just might—be possible if you gather all existing God-Awakened powers in perfect balance.
“…Though it’s never actually been accomplished once in all of history.”
A member of the Castrain Family, who had overseen the Dedication Ceremony for generations, would know this better than anyone.
Barrier Maintenance Work is where a God-Awakened proves their power. Add to that the blood of the Imperial Family.
So then—what if it wasn’t merely proof?
What if we scaled the whole operation enormously?
—To begin with, there’s doubt whether simply the Light Power alone could solve everything about killing Chernobog. But then, our sister saved our father.
“…Yes.”
—That was truly a miracle. And this time you saved our foolish little brother right on cue too.
“Ah, that was just good timing.”
—But we couldn’t go save you…
“I was never able to evacuate people across the entire Empire or establish proper defense lines against Magic Beasts. Besides, I never thought Raymond would harm me directly.”
—That’s… that’s true, but… In any case, sister, you really are like a miracle.
I felt the clarity of Bibi’s gaze upon me.
—Sister… if there were a way for all of us to be safe without you having to kill Raymond for certain—would you choose that way instead?
“…”
My face went rigid. This was probably what Raymond had intended all along.
I was the abnormal one—scrounging up every scrap of information I could, trying every method just to kill the god and save Raymond’s life.
“If there’s no other way, then that’s what has to happen.”
—And if there is another way, you won’t give up?
“To me, your brother was an incredibly great and wonderful person. Always. Well, everyone else probably thought the same of him as I did.”
Why would you go this far because of me?
You remember when I was more foolish and stupid than anyone.
You remember the very beginning of this long journey.
How is it that because of a woman you once despised, you’ve cast aside every value you’ve guarded all this time?
That instead of vanishing from the world for everyone’s sake, you’ve chosen to burn the world and stand with enemies, to be called a traitor?
“And the truth is, I’m more frightened than I thought.”
—…
“Without asking my opinion. Never giving me a proper confession of love. Speaking on his own about how he wished for me to be happy—that man is foolishly stupid. Just like I was before.”
—…
I had thought vanishing in a way that benefited everyone wasn’t such a great sacrifice. The Castrain Family members I’d witnessed by chance mostly lived their entire lives that way and died.
Hearing only endlessly disillusioning news, thinking the world is that filthy, spewing nothing but hatred—none of it changes anything. Do your best each day, affirm your own shortcomings, offer kindness to someone.
Simply believe that the future will be even slightly better than now. If you hold onto that, then even if ‘Titania’ accomplishes what she must and disappears, it’s unavoidable, isn’t it?
The world’s peace is the point of comparison.
But to openly grab my ankle and say “anything but that”—it was so contrary to my expectations I couldn’t even laugh.
I thought that when he regained all his memories, he would despise me.
That wasn’t it at all.
“Bibi. Long ago, in the Imperial Palace, I thought—if I could only save you, Bibi, I wouldn’t mind what happened to me. Could it be that simple? But now, in the cruelest twist, he’s gnashing his teeth and declaring to me that he can’t leave it like that.”
—…
“He’s sealed off my escape routes himself, so I have no choice but to do my best in my position. It’s infuriating how he tells me I can’t run, yet he tries to escape by dying.”
A man who was one of the last heroes protecting humanity until the end of the world collapsed is now a traitor. It’s laughable.
Because of me.
Because of me?
I don’t want an ending like that.
And Bibi, watching me like that, broke into a bright smile.
—I thought that’s what you’d think. And our Family decided to support whatever you want to do with all our strength.
“…Thank you. Ah, but you said there was something important to tell me?”
—Yes. I think… if all goes well, I might be able to move objects or people with this power. A Warping Ability, I guess you’d call it?
“What?!”
—Eeeek?!
Knife and I gasped in shock in turn.
‘Wait, the person who used the Wind Power originally couldn’t use Warping Ability, right?’
—I mean… they couldn’t…?
—And they say the wonderful Saint Jemina can use the Healing Force too? I was worried about Sister Theresia’s limitations with Healing Force, but it seems the Saint can help with the Earth Power. If I add my power to the Second and Third Brothers, Sister Theresia, and the Saint, we can gather everyone. Right? And if the Reigning Emperor and the High Priest join in too, surely we can make it work somehow?
For a moment, I just blinked.
When I first received a mission from Knife related to Master Consciousness, I had thought it impossible—yet here the final piece had fallen into place.
Was it Fodag? They’d said the area around the Castrain Family was a goldmine, and it really was.
“…Wh-what? Really…?”
—And, you know, our wonderful Uncle Rasper had installed small Warp Machines beforehand. If we combine them well with my power, we can send things all across the Empire. Though sending people is a bit… well, they might arrive dead…
“My sweet Bibi, saying such frightening things with that cute face… But yes, that’s really incredible…”
—But objects have no limit. And, sister. I came to a conclusion—we should make the most of the things the First Emperor left behind way back then. The Imperial Palace facilities and all. We’re already working on that, but hmm, well… I think you’ll be surprised when you hear this…
I tilted my head toward Bibi, who was hesitating, urging her on.
“There’s no time—just tell me the conclusion, Bibi.”
—Got it! Sister, can we tear out all the Warp Tunnels installed in the Major Cities?
“I’m sorry, Bibi. Explain the reason too…”
Bibi smiled brightly at me as I hung my head.
Her eyes shone with resolve and confidence, sparkling like sunflowers without a shred of worry about the future.

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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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