The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 110

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 110

 

Zachary belatedly lowered the rope and pulled me up.

 

“I apologize for being late.”

 

I hopped up onto the mountain and looked down below.

 

At the bottom of the mountain, the soldiers and participants who had been submerged in water were in chaos.

 

We watched for a long time as the participants and their soldiers were swept around by the water.

 

We only fished them out one by one like catching fish after they were nearly half-dead. This was because killing someone in the mock battle would result in immediate disqualification.

 

We tied up the dazed enemy soldiers with rope and threw them up into the trees.

 

With all the soldiers from the allied houses captured, and no participants here to rescue their competitors, they were as good as eliminated.

 

I threw Hayton into a pit.

 

Since the sun was setting, wild beasts would start roaming around.

 

While the others were up in trees, Hayton in the shallow pit had the possibility of wild beasts approaching him. That child would probably have to tremble until the preliminaries ended.

 

I waved my hand cheerfully at Hayton who was stuck in the pit screaming.

 

“Take care!”

 

Goodbye!

 

Hayton looked at me smiling brightly and let out a scream-like shout.

 

“You… I won’t… let this slide!!”

 

Seeing him unable to speak properly due to exhaustion from being swept around in the water with his frail body, I laughed, “Hehe.”

 

After finishing our work, we leisurely went around looking for tokens.

 

Having wiped out ten houses including Valois at Assis Mountain, the remaining participants seemed too frightened after hearing that we had dealt with nine houses’ armies to even think about engaging in battle.

 

“Found it.”

 

The token was hidden in the Founding Emperor’s monument on Deshon Street.

 

I confirmed the token with the golden lion, symbol of the Imperial Family, drawn on it and smiled brightly.

 

“Then let’s go around destroying the remaining tokens!”

 

The other participants shouldn’t be able to find tokens so there will be fewer finalists.

 

That way I’d have to do one less tournament match and increase my chances of winning.

 

When I made a cunning expression, our soldiers loudly answered “Yes!”

 

Of course, going around destroying tokens wasn’t an easy task. The remaining participants desperately tried to stop us.

 

Most of them targeted me.

 

My knights in the mock battle were composed of the most outstanding young soldiers from Dubbled, which selected soldiers based purely on skill without considering family background or character.

 

Rather than dealing with all of them, it was much easier to target me, a nine-year-old staggering under heavy equipment.

 

But none of them managed to get close to me.

 

Even if they were lucky enough to get past the other soldiers, they couldn’t overcome the mountain that was Zachary.

 

* * *

 

The nobles gathered at the Imperial Palace continuously burst into exclamations as they watched the magic mirror.

 

“Who is that person?”

 

“The name on the roster is Andy Zachary. I’ve never heard that name before.”

 

To think such a talent was hidden among the common people.

 

Zachary stood out brilliantly even among Dubbled’s knights, who selected soldiers based purely on skill.

 

The enemy camp’s soldiers couldn’t even approach Leblaine. They fell like matchsticks before Zachary who blocked their path.

 

The strength to swing a massive spear in one stroke, the skill to hold his own against swordsmen even with a two-handed spear unsuited for close combat. From speed to the tactical mind that could read battles, he lacked nothing.

 

Moreover, despite still being a teenager, his already near-perfect appearance made noble ladies and young ladies sigh wistfully.

 

“He’s the model of a knight.”

 

“Indeed.”

 

Seeing people letting out groaning sighs, several others shouted with displeased expressions.

 

“Is he really under seventeen? No matter how I look at him, he doesn’t seem like a knight still growing.”

 

As soon as those words came out, Marquis Beryl’s young master, who was battling Leblaine’s forces in the magic mirror, spoke.

 

[Co-coward! How can you bring an adult to a mock battle!]

 

[He’s seventeen. He’ll turn eighteen in four months.]

 

Leblaine looked aggrieved.

 

The Beryl young master shrieked.

 

[Lies! He looks old!]

 

[He just has an old face!]

 

Why are you crushing our child’s spirit like that!

 

At the following words, Grand Lady Camilla chuckled and said to Duke Dubbled.

 

“So you were so calm because you had a secret weapon hidden away?”

 

With such a skilled person as a guard, one could indeed feel at ease.

 

“All the soldiers participating in the mock battle were personally selected by my daughter.”

 

Dubbled’s household was equally surprised by Zachary’s skills.

 

Originally, Zachary wasn’t someone who stood out.

 

They occasionally paid attention to him because Leblaine had ordered Lea to train him, but that was all.

 

Since they didn’t know his skills had improved so dramatically, the three young masters of Dubbled were displeased with Zachary becoming captain.

 

The person the three young masters had recommended as captain was Sion, the son of Sailen, commander of the Imperial Capital forces. They had reluctantly agreed only because Leblaine insisted it had to be Zachary.

 

Still feeling displeased, they had planned to get rid of Zachary without Leblaine knowing once the mock battle ended.

 

“It seems the young lady has an eye for talent as well.”

 

The Grand Duchess also let out an admiring “Oh my…”

 

Leblaine’s army was amazing.

 

With amazing tactics and skills centered around Zachary, they instantly defeated every opponent they faced.

 

The credit for this mock battle belonged entirely to Zachary.

 

Of course, nine-year-old Leblaine, who valued him highly and showed amazing judgment in areas beyond tactics, undoubtedly left a strong impression on people.

 

Duke Valois’s face grew increasingly pale.

 

While Leblaine was soaring in the mock battle, Hayton was still trembling in a pit.

 

‘Damn it, damn it…!’

 

Valois’s plan to make a comeback starting with the mock battle had turned to bubbles.

 

The Cardinal watching the mock battle from beside the Emperor also had a fierce expression.

 

When their eyes met, Duke Valois flinched and bowed his head like a dog tucking its tail.

 

‘That girl I’ll tear to pieces.’

 

His bloodshot eyes rippled with rage.

 

By just before the time limit ended, the total number of tokens Leblaine had found was eight.

 

The number of houses that advanced to the main tournament was only three.

 

Leblaine had found tokens in the shortest time in mock battle history, and earned a bye as the participant with the most brilliant performance in nearly a hundred years.

 

The two houses that advanced to the main tournament would compete, and the winning house would face Leblaine in the finals.

 

* * *

 

The banquet after the preliminaries.

 

Though it was a banquet prepared to celebrate those who advanced to the main tournament, today’s protagonists were Zachary and me.

 

Zachary in particular received all the attention from active knights of the Central Knight Order, Imperial Knights, and others. Even nobles who had received knighthood wouldn’t leave his side.

 

“Come, let me offer my toast to the newly emerged hero.”

 

“I apologize. Drinking while on guard duty violates military orders.”

 

He politely declined even the glass of a powerful figure, but accepted the glass shyly offered by the Young Prince.

 

When people jokingly asked “Are you discriminating?” he answered in an honest tone.

 

“My lord’s command is not to embarrass children and women.”

 

Seeing him prioritize his lord’s—that is, my—command over military orders, the Central Knight Commander laughed, calling him a model knight.

 

“Young Lady has acquired an excellent knight. Did you personally recruit him?”

 

“I was lucky!”

 

When I deliberately spoke innocently, the knights chuckled.

 

“Both master and servant are modest.”

 

Zachary bowed his head politely, and people took a liking to this serious and humble new force.

 

After enjoying the banquet to some extent, my knights and I left the hall under the pretext of preparing for the main tournament.

 

After returning to the mansion, I entered the strategy room prepared for the mock battle with Zachary.

 

As soon as we entered, Zachary…

 

“That was perfect.”

 

—and punched the wall, thud, thud.

 

‘This pretentious guy.’

 

Zachary had grown remarkably compared to five years ago.

 

His body, having passed adolescence, had matured to show the complete bearing of a man, and his voice that had been close to a boy’s had become low and solid.

 

But there was exactly one thing that hadn’t changed.

 

This pretentiousness.

 

“You deliberately lowered the rope late at Assis Mountain earlier!”

 

When I glared and spoke, Zachary grinned.

 

“That made my entrance killer.”

 

I looked up at him with an incredulous expression. Having grown so much, he was now as tall as Father, so I had to look way up.

 

“My heart nearly shrank to nothing!”

 

I thought my heart would jump right out of my mouth in case something went wrong and the plan got messed up.

 

Zachary grinned mischievously.

 

“It was a heart-stirring performance.”

 

“I don’t know about that, but it seems like you’ll get your heart stirred by Lea beating you up.”

 

At that, Zachary smirked and raised the corner of his mouth.

 

“I’m part of your guard unit now, so Master can’t just beat me up anymore.”

 

“That’s not true though?”

 

“What? Why!”

 

The moment he shouted.

 

Thwack!

 

Someone entered the strategy room and kicked Zachary in the calf.

 

It was such a swift movement that even he couldn’t dodge it.

 

“Lea!”

 

“M-Master…”

 

Lea looked at Zachary with cold eyes, so I nodded with an expression that said ‘I knew you’d get hit.’

 

“Why are you hitting me! No, you can’t hit me anymore!”

 

I giggled and spread my arms toward Lea, and she picked me up.

 

While being held by Lea, I said to Zachary.

 

“Why can’t she hit you? Lea’s your superior now.”

 

“What?!”

 

Zachary shouted like that, but when Lea glared at him, he hastily added formal speech, saying “…is that so?”

 

“Lea is now my head of security. She’s returned to Iri.”

 

The reason Lea wasn’t visible much while in the Imperial Capital was because she was going back and forth between the territory and the capital for training to return.

 

Laura and the three maids taking care of me instead of Lea was for the same reason.

 

Lea fixed her gaze on Zachary with an expressionless face and said.

 

“I failed to properly teach that brat and caused trouble for Young Lady. Zachary, go get my club. We need to spar.”

 

“M-Master.”

 

“Go get it.”

 

Zachary’s face turned pale as he slumped his shoulders and headed outside the barracks. To get Lea’s club.

 

I rubbed my face against Lea’s cheek and giggled.

 

“When did you come? Don’t you need to go to the territory anymore?”

 

Lea smiled brightly.

 

“Training is finished. I’ll now serve Young Lady by your side.”

 

She beat all the Wolves in the territory to a pulp, so that must have been Lea’s own kind of test.

 

“I’m so excited!”

 

When I shouted, Lea rubbed around my eyes with her knuckles.

 

“I’ll help with the finals preparation. I heard Prince Suheil and Princess Ragnos advanced to the finals?”

 

“Yeah. My brothers say Prince Suheil will probably advance to the championship.”

 

“Not only the Suheil Archipelago, but the prince himself is an excellent knight. At that age, Prince Suheil is the only one with such skill besides Zachary and the Young Masters.”

 

I jumped down from Lea’s arms with a bounce.

 

“The main event will most likely be mounted combat.”

 

“That’s perfect. Isn’t that Zachary’s specialty?”

 

“Yeah, it’s fortunate.”

 

While we were talking, Zachary came in carrying Lea’s club. Just as he was handing over the club with a dejected expression.

 

Lea grabbed his hand with a hardened face.

 

“You, since when…”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Since when have you been manifesting aura?”

 

What?

 

I looked up at Lea in shock.

 

‘That can’t be.’

 

When the Court Mages verified the knights before the preliminaries, they clearly said he hadn’t manifested aura.

 

Zachary had only just started training when he entered adolescence, so it wasn’t time for him to manifest yet.

 

‘Don’t tell me he manifested during the preliminaries.’

 

I looked up at Zachary with a hardened face.

 

‘This is bad.’

 

Aura users cannot participate.

 

If Zachary drops out of the main event, winning will be impossible!

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