The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 243
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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 243
This was definitely Bune’s voice.
I hurriedly turned the door handle, but the door wouldn’t open as if it were locked from inside.
Bang! Bang!
I pounded on the door and shouted.
“Bune! It’s me, open up!”
[Little One, … without it the door won’t open… return… my…]
His voice came through broken and intermittent.
“Bu—”
That’s when it happened.
Someone suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me away.
“What are you doing here?”
A chillingly low voice pierced into my ears.
Startled, I turned my head while frozen stiff.
“Surir…”
My pale face was reflected in his murky-colored eyes.
“Chief doesn’t like it. Touching the temple.”
“Temple?”
“This, this place is Ku, Kuhelm’s temple. The passage connecting to Kuhelm’s god.”
I took a deep breath.
Bune is behind this door. Then does that mean Kuhelm’s god is Bune?
‘Ah, right. The Nymphs also worshipped Pur as their god. So it’s not strange that there’s a tribe that regards Bune as their god.’
Suddenly I remembered Bune’s words about how ‘the door won’t open without…’
‘He might be saying I need to find Bune’s passage.’
Remembering that Pur’s passage was in the Nymphs’ temple, I hurriedly searched around the door.
However, I couldn’t find any minerals or gems that looked like a demon passage.
“Surir, by any chance, aren’t gems or stones used when performing rituals?”
“God’s Stone.”
“Right! Do you know where that is?”
“Chief always carries it around.”
“So the Chief has it…”
Well, since it’s a precious item of the tribe, it would naturally be kept in the safest place.
‘At least it’s fortunate that it’s not in some place with multiple barriers…’
I pondered for a moment on how to get my hands on it.
‘Trade? No, there’s no way they’d trade something like that. Let’s go back for now. If they realize I’ve disappeared, it’ll become even harder to get Bune’s passage.’
“Surir.”
“Mmhm.”
“Can you keep it a secret that I was here?”
“G-good person. Keep promise.”
“Yes, yes. Surir is a good person.”
I smiled brightly and patted Surir’s shoulder. Then I left the front of the door with him.
When we returned to the stable, Emeline’s eyes widened. Her expression asked how I had come with Surir.
I first greeted Surir, then handed him the chick I had left with Emeline.
“Ch-chick.”
“Is this the chick you wanted?”
Surir stared intently at the chick with round eyes, and his lips curved gently.
Though his eyes weren’t visible due to his shaggy hair, he seemed happy.
“That’s a relief. Well, we’ll be going now.”
I waved to Surir and left the stable with Emeline.
Only after reaching a deserted place did Emeline ask me.
“What? How did you come with that man?”
“I met him downstairs. But more than that, Emeline─”
When I explained what had happened downstairs, her eyes gradually widened until she finally shouted.
“What?! The dem─ you first summoned─”
─Emeline covered her mouth with both hands mid-sentence and looked around.
When we attended Theology School, I had told Tree and Emeline about my ability to summon demons, so she knew about Bune.
Only after confirming no one was around did Emeline lower her voice and continue.
“He was behind the door?”
“Yes, so I need the ‘Passage’ the Chief has. It’s something like gems or minerals, and I need it to summon demons.”
“Could it be that thing…”
At Emeline’s murmur, I blinked.
“That thing?”
“The first day we came to this Tribal Village. You and Mina were imprisoned in a different place from us.”
“Right.”
“The Chief came to see us that day. I saw it then. A pendant of a very mystical color hanging around the Chief’s neck.”
“…That’s likely it. I need to steal it somehow.”
“It’ll be dangerous. Wouldn’t it be better to give up this time and target another demon instead?”
“Bune’s Ability is Necromancy. He can summon the dead.”
“Then our mothers and your Mother too…”
Emeline looked at me with a hardened expression.
“Yes. Your Mother too. And there are countless people like you and me who long for the dead. With this ability, how many deals could I gain the upper hand in?”
“I need to get the Chief’s ‘Passage’… But how?”
That was exactly the problem.
* * *
I returned to the prison where the students were confined together with Emeline. While we were away, food must have been brought in as clean, empty tableware was scattered about.
“Leblaine.”
Mina, who had been talking with the students, called out to me.
“While you two were out, I talked with the children, and I think now is the right time.”
“For what?”
“Escape. We can’t stay here forever. We need to escape while we have strength from eating. So…”
Just then, Allen interrupted Mina’s words.
“You need to help us. Draw the Kuhelm’s attention to yourself. We’ll make our move in the meantime.”
Emeline shouted angrily.
“You’re telling Leblaine to be bait?!”
“Just buy us some time. In the meantime, we’ll remove the golden restraints and come help you. We’ll evacuate the fast ones first in case of emergency.”
“That’s the same thing! What if you can’t remove the golden restraints? What if you break your promise and run away leaving Leblaine behind!”
“You believed the Kuhelm tribal chief’s words well enough to help the tribe, but you can’t trust our words?”
“You don’t seriously think that comparison makes sense, do you? It shouldn’t. If it does, I’d question the standards of the school that accepted you.”
“What?!”
When Allen shouted indignantly, Mina stopped him.
“Stop it, Allen. This isn’t something we can force on Leblaine.”
“But…!”
“There’s a backup plan.”
Mina sighed and took my hand.
“We’ll handle all the preparations. When we signal, let’s escape together.”
“What’s the backup plan?”
“That’s—”
Allen shouted “Don’t tell her!” and glared at Emeline and me with displeasure.
“What if she sucks up to them again and reports our plan to the chief?”
“Allen, Leblaine isn’t that kind of person.”
Only after Mina frowned did Allen shut his mouth.
I said to Mina.
“Whatever it is, don’t do it.”
“Leblaine.”
“How can you escape when you’re not even sure if you can remove the golden restraints? There are barriers at every village entrance. If you mess up, forget escaping—you’ll burn to death.”
“Thank you for worrying about us. But we can’t just do nothing. You know that if the chief’s judgment turns sour, we can’t count on tomorrow.”
“Don’t do it!”
“…”
“I have a plan too. If you really trust me, don’t do anything foolish.”
Mina sighed, and I looked around at the students and warned them once more.
“No reckless actions. Just stay put.”
The students looked reluctant, but they didn’t say anything.
I instructed Emeline to ‘keep a close eye on those children so they don’t do anything reckless’ before leaving the prison.
As I headed to the room the chief had prepared for me, the young man who was my guard came running over.
“Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you for quite some time.”
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of escaping. I took a walk and stopped by the prison.”
“The Chief is looking for you.”
‘Perfect. I wanted to see Bune’s passage with my own eyes.’
I nodded and followed him to the Chief.
The Chief, who had just seen me enter the room, got up.
“Oh, our external advisor.”
He threw out a joke and laughed heartily.
Unlike when I first came, his attitude was very friendly.
He offered me a seat and sat across from me, then began to speak.
“Hannibal’s Trading Company contacted us. They said they’ll prepare the money within this week.”
“That’s good.”
“So, I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Please tell me.”
“I want to establish a solid preventive measure so that something like this doesn’t happen again. Will you help?”
“Do you want to document the prevention of recurrence? I’m sorry, but that’s not something I can help with.”
“Do you think that when Kuhelm gains riches, things like kidnapping you people will keep happening? You don’t seem like such a righteous person.”
I smiled broadly and nodded.
“That’s right. I’m not a righteous person. The reason I can’t help is because even if you get a written promise to prevent recurrence, the same thing will surely happen again.”
“…Why do you think that?”
“People don’t change easily. Especially the more garbage they are.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a trading company that deceived you once, Chief. Without me, Kuhelm won’t know the flow of the world, and they’ll try to deceive you again when the opportunity arises.”
“…”
“So you need to create new trading partners. That’s something I can help you with.”
“Kuhelm has made enemies with Odis, and the Neriad Religion that backs Odis. What trading company would want to deal with us?”
“Hope Trading Company.”
The Chief burst out in a hollow laugh.
“You’re looking down on me. Hope Trading Company is a trading company from the Empire where the Neriad Religion is the state religion. There’s no way they would trade with me.”
“There is.”
“How can you be so certain?”
I answered with a broad smile.
“Because I’m the head of Hope Trading Company.”
“…Lies. You’re lying.”
“I can let you hear a communication with Seche, the deputy head of Hope Trading Company.”
“…”
The Chief looked into my unwavering eyes. After a long silence, he let out a bitter laugh.
“Damn, it’s true.”
“Then shall we start proper negotiations?”
“You want me to let you live and go? Fine. I’ll send back you and your friend, and half of the Odis students. But not all of them.”
I never expected them to return everything in the first place.
From what I had gathered, these people had swept up even the handful of silver coins remaining in the warehouse when they kidnapped us.
No matter how much they coveted new trading partners, they wouldn’t forget the purpose of this kidnapping.
“One more thing.”
“What is it.”
I pointed at the chief’s chest.
“Please lend me that pendant.”
“What?!”
The chief shouted angrily and shot to his feet.
“Nonsense! This is a gift from God to us and proof of chieftainship─!”
“I’m not asking for it permanently. Just 5 minutes. Please let me examine it for just 5 minutes.”
The ‘passage’ would lose its power once a demon was summoned anyway.
I could summon Bune, make him my familiar, then return the pendant to the chief.
I gripped my skirt hem tightly and looked at the chief who was narrowing his eyes.
“Will 5 minutes truly be enough?”
“You can station guards around my room and layer barriers as much as you want.”
“…Fine, then─”
That’s when it happened.
BOOM─!!
A tremendous explosion echoed through the air.
The chief hurriedly drew the curtain and looked out the window.
Beyond the chief’s back, I could see the village engulfed in flames.
His face turned pale as he roughly threw open the door and shouted.
“What’s happening!”
The young man who had been my guard came running frantically and shouted.
“The Odis prisoners are attempting to escape!”
“What?! How do they know the code for the restraints!”
“They didn’t figure out the code…”
The young man continued with a grim expression.
“The second Child of Fate forcibly destroyed the restraints.”
“Th-that’s impossible. Our restraints are ancient relics. Even if they’re a Child of Fate, how could they…”
The chief, who had been muttering with a pale face, suddenly glared at me.
“Did you stall for time so we couldn’t check the prison?”
What kind of nonsense is this!
As I gaped in disbelief, the chief roughly drew his sword from its sheath.
“Damn brat!”
“That’s not true! Things were going well, so why would I─”
Just then, a familiar voice came from outside the door.
“Get your hands off Leblaine!”
Mina, pale as a corpse from how much divine power she had exhausted, was approaching supported by Allen and Sandra.
“Don’t provoke him, you fool─”
Before I could even finish speaking, the chief pointed his sword at my throat.
See, this is what happens when you provoke him.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
My throat stung as blood began to drip from the sword’s tip.
‘If it comes to this, I have no choice.’
I subtly turned my eyes to look at the pendant dangling from the chief’s neck.
And then.
“Pur─!”
As I shouted while holding Etoile, the surroundings brightened and dark clouds gathered in the room. Soon, with a rumbling crash! thunder struck and rain began to pour.
While the chief was flustered, I grabbed the pendant hanging from his neck and started running frantically.
Bune.
‘Bune, answer me!’
As I channeled my Divine Power, a pure white Pillar of Light appeared before my eyes.
“I am the twenty-second pillar….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
“I missed you, Little One.”
I missed you too. My foolish demon, so very much.
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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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