The Baby Has No Strength to Hide! - Chapter 39

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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 39
“To be honest, it feels a bit unsporting of you. This is monopolizing.”
“…I agree.”
Dorian, who had been envious since earlier, raised his hand cautiously. The way he fiddled with his large hands felt almost like showing off.
Ailyen didn’t even show annoyance, naturally offering her cheek to him.
“I picked up Ailyen, you know.”
“Technically, it was Zeronias who picked me up. And he’s also my ancestor.”
As Callisto made his shameless claim, Meijina countered immediately, as if she’d been waiting. It was absurd, yet somehow reassuring.
At least Meijina no longer grieved when Marlin was mentioned—that was a relief.
“But since Zeronias isn’t here now, the ownership is rightfully mine.”
Yet Callisto refused to back down.
“How unsporting!”
“You didn’t know I was naturally unsporting?”
“Lili, over here!”
While the siblings bickered, Ailyen, who had been carefully examining the Globe, pointed to somewhere on it.
Callisto and Meijina, who looked at the region Ailyen had indicated, simultaneously furrowed their brows.
“Here?”
“Why here?”
The place Ailyen pointed to was the Abandoned Mine that Meijina owned, one of the things Marlin had left behind long ago. It had produced no worthwhile ore no matter how much they’d excavated, so they’d been considering whether to demolish it and repurpose the land—a troublesome white elephant.
“Ailyen, I’m hardly one to say it, but Meijina’s lands have quite a few decent places.”
“That’s hardly something you should be saying, brother. But I agree. Lili, what about this mine instead? The yield here is quite decent.”
Despite their persuasion, Ailyen shook her head vigorously.
“Lili likes this one!”
“But why on earth?”
“Because, um, here looks like Kiki’s head!”
The Abandoned Mine’s boundary on the map that Ailyen had pointed to was shaped like a cat’s head—with two pointy ears jutting up and a round face.
“Wait, you’re saying this is an abandoned mine?”
Kiki unconsciously raised his hand and touched his head. Did she just call my head an abandoned mine? He felt oddly annoyed.
“What’s wrong with abandoned?”
“It means no minerals come out of it.”
“Huh?”
Ailyen tilted her head as if to say, what’s the problem with that? Meijina, who had been trying to explain about minerals, hesitated. No matter how she explained it from an adult’s perspective, the child wouldn’t understand.
“And there are Demonic Beasts there…….”
“Demonic Beasts!”
Her eyes lit up instead of being dissuaded.
“Lili loves Demonic Beasts! Demonic Beasts are super strong!”
“Don’t say things like that when you’re out, Ailyen!”
“Are there puppies and cats and flying squirrels and maybe grizzlies too?”
Meijina remonstrated, but it fell on deaf ears—Ailyen was already thrilled. Her little mind was already painting images of herself riding on the backs of Demonic Beasts, ruling the world like a magnificent lord.
“No one, no one will dare to mess with Lili…….”
“I doubt anyone’s trying to mess with you in the first place.”
“Lili likes this place.”
“There’s nothing to be done about it…….”
Meijina let out a deep sigh. Well, since she liked it there, when Ailyen grew older and could better understand the situation, she’d swap it then or give her another mine as compensation.
If you asked why she’d go that far—it was simply because she’d taken a liking to Ailyen.
“Let’s go draw up the documents, Lili.”
“Yay, draw them up!”
Meijina took Ailyen’s hand and left. The moment the door closed, Dorian exhaled. He’d only watched from a distance, yet somehow he felt utterly drained.
“Ah, your grace. Tomorrow afternoon, Count Huyato will…….”
As Dorian continued his report, Callisto’s gaze remained fixed on the Globe that Ailyen had left behind.
“What is it?”
“…Keep quiet for a moment.”
Callisto raised his hand to stop Dorian mid-sentence. Heavy silence settled over the office. Scratch, scratch. It was neither the sound of a pen rolling nor the wind.
Crackle, crackle.
A faint noise was coming from the Globe—an unpleasant sound, as if something sharp were scratching glass.
“Do you hear it?”
“What sound, your grace? I don’t hear anything…….”
Dorian’s expression showed genuine bewilderment. But to Callisto’s ears, it was clear. Then, from outside the window, clouds obscured the sun, and the room darkened. In that moment, the Globe’s shadow stretched unnaturally long, taking on a shape as if trying to snare someone’s wrist, rippling ominously.
“Something feels wrong.”
It was ominous. Then came the sound of a knock on the door again.
“We’re busier than usual today.”
“Your Grace, an imperial envoy has arrived.”
“Sigh.”
Callisto leaned back in his chair and exhaled heavily, making no effort to hide his irritation. Peril watched his lord with anxious eyes.
It seemed the envoy was waiting just outside.
“He spoke of peaceful times as though they were rare, yet he keeps summoning me.”
“Your Grace.”
The day Callisto had rushed to the Hayana Forest to meet Marlin—the day he’d encountered Ailyen instead.
On that day, there had been a reason Callisto had hurried to meet Marlin. Recent events had felt ominous.
The Demon-Human War, which had ravaged the continent for so long, had finally ended in humanity’s victory after fierce conflict, sealed away only by imprisoning the Demon Race’s leader. Yet wounds remained scattered across the land.
Callisto could not rest easy. When he reported to the Emperor that continued reconnaissance suggested Demonic Beasts still lingered, the sovereign had replied thus:
‘It seems the aftereffects are quite severe.’
Then, claiming that proper rest was essential, he had granted Callisto a hot spring in the Snow Mountain.
One might have seen it as treating a war hero with appropriate honor, but Callisto understood the true intent beneath it.
That barely concealed mockery—a doubt about his sound mind.
“Perhaps it’s my own insecurity.”
“Your Grace, I apologize for seeking you out in this manner.”
The envoy, who had remained behind Peril, stepped forward as though deciding he could wait no longer. He extended a fine velvet case containing the imperial decree.
Callisto accepted it without expression.
The decree ordered him to investigate the cause of an unexplained landslide in the nearby Poronen Territory—where the lord had been complaining—and report back.
“His Majesty trusts you above all others, Your Grace.”
“The Poronen Territory.”
Inclination warred with reluctance, yet something tugged at his mind. Besides, that region lay near the abandoned mine Ailyen had recently acquired from Meijina.
Callisto closed his eyes and began calculating. If he left immediately, he could still return by late evening.
“Dorian, let’s go. Use only minimal personnel. The rest will guard the castle today.”
“Very well.”
“Peril, I entrust Kaius and Ailyen to your care.”
“Leave it to me, Your Grace.”
Callisto smiled warmly and rose, leaving his study at once. The others followed. The heavy door closed behind them, leaving only silence in the chamber.
On the master’s vacant desk, a globe sat alone, beginning to spin with an eerie sound.
Scritch, scritch-scritch.
The spinning sphere halted abruptly, as if pressed by an unseen fingertip.
It pointed to a forest near Rubentain Grand Castle.

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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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