Star Child's Parenting Diary - Chapter 13

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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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Episode 13
Part 4. Shuushu’s Warning (3)
The child’s tear-dampened hand was damp and soft, slightly cool to the touch.
“……No. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Ethan gently withdrew his hand from the child’s grasp as he spoke.
For some reason, his mind felt unsettled.
[What a mess. Absolutely a mess.]
Twit, tut.
In the meantime, the spirit drifted about the ruined room, wiping away the blackened corruption with cotton.
While he was at it, he examined Aspe’s ankle—the young man who sat foolishly in the doorway—once over.
[Doesn’t hurt now, does it? Go fetch something to feed our little one.]
Shoo.
Having spoken his mind unilaterally, the spirit waved his stubby, rod-like hands and shooed Aspe away.
[And you there, Argares.]
The spirit bustled back, this time bobbing at Argares’s eye level.
[You’re not getting any younger, and you’ve gone and exerted yourself quite a bit. Are you alright?]
“I’m steady enough to manage.”
[Well, that’s a relief then.]
Whether from nodding, the spirit’s body swayed gently up and down.
[So then, would you be able to help calibrate our little one’s Ether? The child’s still too young for me to manifest in my true form.]
The spirit pointed sharply at Bell with his short arm.
Ethan, who had been carelessly wiping the bloodstains from his face with his sleeve, bristled and lodged a protest.
“Why do you keep calling her ‘little one’ when she has a perfectly good name?”
[Oh, him.]
The spirit shot right back.
[And when didn’t you call her ‘pipsqueak’ or whatever else? You think I don’t know?]
“What?”
[The least you could do is wipe her nose when she cries!]
The spirit had his say, then clicked his tongue again—twit, tut!—with evident disdain.
He seemed thoroughly displeased with the entire situation.
“One more click of that cute little tongue and I’m going to—”
“That’s enough.”
Unable to watch further, Argares thrust his hand forward, blocking the view between the man and the cotton wisp.
“I’ll attempt Ether Interference right now, though the child’s Ether is so unusual that I may not be able to sustain it long.”
[A moment is all we need. That has to be addressed.]
The spirit’s arm gestured toward the collapsed wall.
Outside had grown murky.
The clear sky was now thick with dark clouds, and a light drizzle had begun to fall.
The peculiar thing was that the dark clouds gathered only over the grounds of Duke Ivec’s Residence.
Argares, only now finding the presence of mind to look outside, frowned faintly.
But it was brief.
“Little one.”
He quickly softened his expression and reached out both hands toward Bell.
“Come here for a moment, would you?”
Bell sniffled once and looked up at Ethan with wet eyes.
When their eyes met, Ethan gave a small nod and set the child down on the floor.
“Go on.”
“……Mm.”
As Bell approached weakly, Argares quickly lifted the child into his arms.
Then he placed his hand over the child’s soft belly.
The Ether Core lay beside the heart.
It was a place where the flow of Ether, pulsing with each heartbeat, could be felt distinctly.
“It may feel uncomfortable, but stay still for just a moment. Do you understand?”
“Mm.”
Sniffle.
Each time the not-yet-calmed child hiccupped, the warm belly trembled beneath Argares’s palm.
Argares felt the pulse of that small life fully and slowly pushed his own Ether into the child’s body.
It was a thread-thin, delicate force.
Like blood flowing through veins, it merged naturally with Bell’s Ether and soon became one.
Argares gently drew the child’s Ether into his own body.
The raging current flowed gently now, as if a narrow channel had been carved through its wild rush.
The Ether light that had visibly pressed outward began to stabilize, inch by inch.
[Hold that state for me.]
The cotton-like spirit rose high into the air, its mouth curling upward in satisfaction.
Then its body began to swell, growing larger and larger.
Each cloud-like wisp of cotton grew lumpy and uneven.
Short stubby limbs stretched long, and eyes once small as beans and a mouth shaped like the number 3 gradually transformed.
[Mm. It feels good to have a proper body again! Ahaha!]
At last the cotton-mass took on human form.
A muscular middle-aged man with bronze skin, voice and appearance perfectly matched.
If there was one thing that caught the eye in particular…….
“……Ugh…….”
The muscular man’s chest was covered thickly in snow-white fur like cotton.
Ethan clamped his eyes shut.
[Ahahaha!]
“For—— crying out loud…….”
He let out a string of curses through gritted teeth.
Now he was the one who wanted to cry, not Bell.
‘What in the world did I rub all over my face.’
And a couple of strands had even gotten into his mouth.
The irritation made him desperate for a toothbrush.
[First of all!]
Whether Ethan suffered or not.
The spirit in the form of a sturdily built middle-aged man boomed out loudly.
[Once this is dealt with, the little one’s power will run out, so speak quickly!]
He took a deep breath.
[The beings dwelling in Amya are the Unnamed Stars. They’ve hidden themselves by wearing the skin of humans. We have to hunt them down and eliminate them as we find them, but for that we have no choice but to use our power! Find a way to control the little one’s Ether as soon as possible! I’ve never had trouble controlling to this degree before, so I’m puzzled as to why this is happening suddenly!]
He spoke in a resounding voice, all at once.
[And, the little one’s stepmother!]
“Yes, yes!”
Setia straightened up, tensing, and answered.
[I have a gift for you!]
The spirit tossed her a Small Pouch.
[The beings in Amya shattered your Ether Core! Using this, you should be able to restore it!]
“My Ether Core? What do you…….”
Setia asked back in bewilderment, but heard no reply.
[I am Shuushu!]
The spirit spread his palm wide toward the window.
[The spirit who masters pain!]
Then he clenched his outstretched hand into a fist.
In an instant, the dark storm clouds in the sky cleared as if they had been sucked into his palm.
[Call upon me again.]
The spirit, who had been laughing heartily all along, turned to Bell one last time.
In his voice, warm affection melted through, and a small smile bloomed at the corner of Bell’s mouth.
“Mm!”
The spirit’s form began to fade slowly into transparency.
“See you later.”
Sunlight pouring through the transparent body seemed to herald the end of the storm.
When Shuushu had completely vanished from sight and the tension that had stretched taut finally released one layer.
“Ethan.”
Bell quietly thrust both hands toward Ethan’s face.
“Belly.”
I’m hungry.
“……Do you have no sense of the moment?”
“Rumble.”
Bell wanted to eat something, regardless of what Ethan said.
“Good grief. I’m at a loss for words…….”
Ethan grumbled even as he ordered someone to prepare food at once.
Aspe, who had come to his senses, apparently sensed the need for cleanup and had issued orders; the servants were already bustling about efficiently.
Meanwhile, Argares set aside the Doctor’s Bag, which would be an important clue.
* * *
“Here, use this while you eat. You’re getting it all over your clothes.”
Ethan tucked a napkin around Bell’s neck like a bib.
In the meantime, Bell studied Ethan’s face now that it was close, tilting her head this way and that.
There was no blood anymore, and the deep wound from before had vanished.
Still troubled by it all the same, Bell reached up with one small hand and tapped Ethan’s cheek. “Why?” she asked.
“……Why what?”
“Does it hurt?”
“No. It doesn’t hurt.”
Ethan let out a soft laugh and gently poked Bell’s nose. “Thanks to someone.”
“Me?”
“That’s right.”
That’s right. It was because of me.
Bell nodded and quickly brought up another contributor.
“And Shuushu.”
And because of Shuushu too.
“Sure. Though that idiot really had to use his chest hair for it?”
“Huh?”
For some reason, Ethan’s expression darkened as he muttered something under his breath.
“I’m not letting my beautiful face get hurt again. Not this face…….”
“Ethan.”
At Bell’s call, Ethan’s mouth closed.
“Star. Dark star. Find.”
We need to find that Black Star again, you see.
“The dark one.”
Otherwise it’ll keep darkening everything like this.
Bell understood instinctively.
The world was meant to be beautiful and colorful.
But the Black Stars were making it dark.
Yet it wasn’t a problem.
If I had the power of the stars, I could clean away that darkness too.
Little by little, erasing the black, until one day the whole world would be perfectly clear to see, wouldn’t it?
People’s faces, their different expressions, all the pretty colors.
I’d be able to see everything so clearly.
“Pretty.”
The way I can see your face now.
Bell explained earnestly, but Ethan didn’t understand her words.
“Bad star gone now.”
“Silly girl.”
He couldn’t make sense of that either.

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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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