The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 246
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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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As soon as I emerged from the interdimensional space, humid air seeped into my nostrils.
My eyes widened at the sea that spread out before me, but only for a moment.
“Annellia!”
Armin and Dimas came running from the distance.
“What’s wrong with you? Why have you gotten so thin?”
“Exactly. Have you been eating properly?”
I unconsciously closed my mouth.
Armin and Dimas’s faces were covered with small wounds.
I heard there had been a large-scale battle a few days ago, so it seemed to be because of that.
Dimas smiled brightly at Mother beside me and greeted her.
“Mother, welcome. It’s an honor to escort you.”
Mother gave Dimas a weak smile before looking at me.
“Annellia, let’s go.”
As we began walking, a beautiful scene unfolded to the left.
Sand decorating the beach and breaking wave foam.
Despite being at war with demon beasts, the Marque Archipelago was nothing but beautiful.
“By the way, the Young Lady doesn’t look well.”
Armin, who was walking beside me, whispered while glancing at Mother ahead.
I nodded.
“She has too many worries. I think she encountered too many patients when we were at the Duke’s Castle.”
“Patients?”
“She kept going in and out of the temporary medical ward.”
Armin nodded.
“So you’re kind because you take after your mother.”
When I widened my eyes, Armin laughed playfully.
“Don’t you remember at the Academy of Pharmacy? You took responsibility for making my brother who was at the bottom, Euriko, and yourself into top students.”
“…That’s not being kind. I did it for my own benefit.”
“That is being kind. And someone said that the kinder you are, the higher your intelligence.”
Just as I turned my gaze to the sand crumbling beneath my feet.
“Annellia!”
Once again, a welcoming voice came from the distance.
When I looked up, two people with familiar faces were waving from far away.
It was Teroakan, the King of Marque, and Queen Claudia.
“Nice to meet you for the first time. I’m Claudia.”
Claudia first took Mother’s hand and smiled brightly.
Then she politely bowed her waist in greeting.
“I wondered when I’d be able to express my gratitude, and now I finally can. Thank you, the Young Lady of Abner saved our Dimas.”
Mother’s eyes widened.
“When he was young, Dimas was bitten by a red-ringed sea snake and was sick for a while. If Annellia hadn’t found the antidote, who knows what would have happened…”
Claudia stroked Dimas’s arm with one hand and smiled.
“The fact that he’s this healthy now is all thanks to Annellia.”
The Queen naturally linked arms with Mother.
“Let’s go this way. Once we get off the beach, there’s a carriage.”
As I watched the two walking away, King Teroakan who was standing beside me spoke.
“Welcome, Annellia.”
King Teroakan looked slightly thinner than when I had seen him before.
Like Dimas and Armin, he had small wounds, so it seemed he had also participated in battle.
“I heard from the Crown Prince. He said your body was badly damaged from summoning an ancient weapon.”
I blinked with a flustered expression.
‘Even King Teroakan knows about my mana rampage?’
After Grandmother, Euriko, and the Marque twins, now even King Teroakan.
It seemed like Tian was planning to tell everyone on the entire continent about my mana rampage.
“He insisted so firmly that we must let you rest. The Crown Prince is truly devoted to you. Isn’t that right?”
But at the words that followed, I slowly closed my mouth.
I vaguely understood Tian’s actions.
“I wanted to send one of Armin or Dimas to you, but it’s unfortunate how things turned out.”
I fidgeted with my obsidian necklace for no reason.
‘…He should take better care of his own body.’
Even before the demon beast attacks, Tian had always worried about me.
He cared more meticulously about my rest than his own, so how much more so now.
But I had never once properly followed Tian’s words to rest or not overdo it.
This time was the same.
Originally, I had no intention of coming to the Marque Archipelago.
In fact, if it weren’t for Lasandra’s warning, I really wouldn’t have come.
Of course, I knew what the black spots spreading on my body meant.
It meant my body was breaking down.
Just like how a magic tool’s shell crumbles when you keep outputting mana it can’t handle.
But war was originally like that.
‘When hundreds of people die every day.’
In the midst of that, I couldn’t just wish for my own safety.
Moreover, I was practically at the center of this entire situation.
Yet here I was, staying in the relatively safe rear, even taking care of my physical condition.
‘I’m already enjoying tremendous benefits.’
I pressed my lips together tightly.
‘…Fool.’
Tian knew me too well.
He must have anticipated that I wouldn’t come here based on his words alone, and confided my condition to the people around me.
He must have been convinced that he could only make me rest if there was help from those around me.
“Annellia, are you okay?”
Dimas, who noticed my dark expression, asked worriedly.
I nodded weakly.
“…Yeah. I’m fine.”
But soon my eyes stung.
‘He acted like he would listen to everything I said.’
“It’s an order as your superior.”
His voice, which had sounded like he was swallowing thorns, echoed in my ears.
When I looked up, I could see the endless blue sky and sea.
I slowly blinked my stinging eyes.
I missed Tian.
Right now, at this moment, so much.
“It seems Annellia and Lady Isabel have arrived safely in the Marque Kingdom.”
At Tian’s words, those who had been putting their heads together in the tent looked up.
“…That’s a relief.”
The Dowager Empress, who had been looking at the map,
“Now I can feel at ease! Our Lady Lili was overworking herself too much here…”…”
Rico with a dark expression.
“Researcher Rico. I told you Annellia would never break that habit. She has a somewhat self-destructive side. How else would I have given up after trying so hard?”
Owen, with his arm wrapped in bandages, shook his head,
“…We plan to have her stay there until the next attack, if possible.”
Even Sharon, heavily armed in full armor.
Sharon looked at Theo beside her and continued speaking.
“The wave detector you developed played a major role.”
Theo gave no response.
Until now, inland, the demon beasts had been moving through the ground.
Because of this, initially there was no way to predict how many demon beasts would attack where.
The First Gate’s helpless fall was also for this reason.
But after Theo created the wave detector, the situation changed.
Now the Imperial Army could predict and prepare for demon beast attacks.
It was two days ago that Tian’s idea was added to this.
‘…The wave detector would probably be useful in the Marque Strait as well.’
Unlike the Taranta Empire, the Marque Kingdom was an island surrounded by sea on all sides.
And waves in water traveled much faster than through ground or air.
‘For marine demon beasts to land in the Marque Kingdom, they’d have to swim through the sea anyway.’
And the sounds and vibrations they made underwater were detected by the sensors four times faster than on land.
The reason the Marque Archipelago was chosen as Annellia’s refuge was precisely because of this.
“Currently there are no demon beasts around the Marque Archipelago. Even if there were, we could detect them at least two days in advance.”
“Two days would be enough time to prepare even if a large demon beast like a Kraken appeared.”
Everyone nodded at Theo and Sharon’s words.
The Dowager Empress, who had been pondering deeply, added.
“It’ll be important to buy as much time as possible at the Second Gate.”
Sharon exchanged glances with the Dowager Empress.
“I’ve ordered them to fight as if the Second Gate were the last line of defense. So those creatures can never set foot past it.”
“Well done. The Imperial Capital should be fine with Edward managing it.”
Currently, more than ninety percent of Taranta’s imperial citizens were crowded into the Imperial Capital.
They had taken refuge in the Imperial Capital where barriers and soldiers were stationed, preparing for demon beast attacks that could emerge anywhere.
From relief buildings to the distribution of supplies, it was the Emperor who was skillfully managing the saturated Imperial Capital.
“The problem is Crookiatus’s main body.”
Then Tian spoke.
“He has never revealed himself on any battlefield so far, has he?”
Seven days since the demon beast attacks began.
Crookiatus had not shown himself anywhere.
The only time he had revealed himself was when he let Annellia, Isabel, and Sharon hear his voice.
“If the standoff drags on, he’ll grow impatient too. He might appear directly to harm Annellia.”
Tian’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“Before that happens, we need to find and kill him first.”
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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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