The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 264

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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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“My name is Garou.”

I looked at the man who spoke those words with meaningful eyes.

Jet-black hair, sun-tanned skin.

His sharp features and distinct eyebrows caught my attention.

I took a breath and then asked calmly first.

“Alright, Garou. What’s your reason for attacking me?”

Garou furrowed his brow.

Then he answered quietly.

“…Because I thought you were one of ‘them.'”

“Them?”

Garou lowered his gaze and closed his mouth.

I gripped the wooden stick tighter and checked his condition.

After subduing Garou, the first thing I did was look for vines.

Fortunately, long and tough vines were scattered everywhere throughout the forest.

I first tied him tightly to a tree, then threw various questions at him.

It was to understand the situation and figure out what was going on.

Of course, during this process, several things became clear.

This place where I was located was an interdimensional space created when Rikentia regressed Crookiatus into a non-existent being.

Tian was trapped somewhere here in a rift.

I checked my bracelet without letting Garou notice.

For some unknown reason, the text of the messages Father was sending had been getting corrupted since a while ago.

“Annellia Abner.”

At that moment, Garou called out to me.

When I looked up, I saw him tied tightly to the tree, staring intently at me.

“Let’s do this. We’ll exchange questions with each other.”

“What?”

“If you answer my question first, I’ll answer your question too. Are you from the Abner Family outside the gorge?”

My mouth fell slightly open.

‘…Is he asking if I’m from the Abner outside the gorge?’

That meant there was an ‘Abner Family’ here too.

I slowly looked around my surroundings.

The area was completely covered with dense trees.

‘At first I thought it was an unfamiliar scene.’

Looking again, this place resembled somewhere I knew.

After swallowing my saliva, I asked in as nonchalant a voice as I could manage.

“Are you asking if I came from outside the Michaeliann Gorge?”

Garou nodded briefly.

“Yes.”

My heart sank.

‘Since he said gorge, I tried asking just in case.’

As expected, this place was indeed the Michaeliann Gorge.

I deliberately lowered my head to hide my expression.

Cold sweat beaded on my forehead.

‘I definitely took a portal from the ritual altar to the interdimensional space.’

I couldn’t understand why I was still in the Michaeliann Gorge.

‘Was there an error in the portal?’

That didn’t seem right, as the bracelet’s coordinates clearly indicated.

That I had arrived in the interdimensional space as planned.

I took a slow deep breath.

Then I answered Garou’s question.

“…That’s right. I came from outside the gorge, and I’m a member of Abner.”

Confusion crossed Garou’s expression.

Without giving him any opening, I quickly asked again.

“Then it’s my turn now. Garou, why are you here? This forest is Michaeliann territory.”

The Michaeliann Bloodline consisted entirely of women.

As such, this gorge was essentially a men-forbidden zone.

Right after all the Michaeliann disappeared, it was always practically empty.

But Garou was in the gorge despite being a man.

Even armed.

Garou answered as if it was no big deal.

“I married Aminares, the leader of the Michaeliann. As a chosen man, I have a duty to protect her and her bloodline.”

My lips parted.

I already knew how the Michaeliann married and had children to maintain their bloodline.

The Michaeliann women chose strong men to marry and had children with them.

Afterwards, they sent their husbands outside the settlement.

“We built a village and outpost at the end of the gorge and live separately. We take turns patrolling every four days.”

Garou’s eyes sparkled as if testing me.

It looked like he was trying to confirm whether I knew all of this.

But I just made a bewildered expression without hiding it.

It wasn’t even just about the Michaeliann.

There was no way I would know the specific lifestyle of men who married into the Michaeliann.

“Then is it my turn to ask again?”

Then Garou continued speaking sharply again.

“Do you know Lloyd Abner, the current Duke of Abner?”

I blinked slowly.

And I doubted my ears, wondering if I heard correctly.

‘Is he asking if I know Lloyd Abner?’

A hollow laugh escaped from my absurdity.

Lloyd Abner was a name I couldn’t not know even if I tried.

I answered calmly.

“…I know him. Very well.”

Lloyd Abner.

Because he was the man who married Grandmother, and he was my grandfather.

“…Does this make sense?”

A little distance away from where I had Garou tied up.

A murmur escaped from my mouth as I checked my bracelet.

“How does this make any sense.”

Clear sentences were alternately appearing on the bracelet I was staring at.

[According to calculations, there’s a rift right in front of you.]

[Annellia? What are you doing in front of the rift?]

[Are you in a standoff with the rift? You can’t just barge in recklessly.]

These were all messages that had arrived while I was talking with Garou.

When I turned my head, I saw Garou tied obediently to the tree.

He was leaning his head against the tree trunk with his eyes gently closed.

I muttered to myself in a daze.

“…Surely not, right.”

[Annellia. Are you really okay?]

A new sentence appeared on the bracelet.

I held my forehead and frowned.

[If you’re thinking of entering the chasm, stop. Keep your promise.]

A sigh escaped me naturally.

At this point, one hypothesis was gaining more and more weight.

‘What if Garou is the chasm?’

It made sense that the chasm kept moving, and that the bracelet went dead in front of him.

No matter how amazing an item it was, this bracelet was ultimately a magical tool affected by mana.

Magical tools were bound to malfunction easily in the face of strong mana flows like chasms.

But even so, there was a question that wouldn’t disappear.

‘How can a person be a chasm?’

I should have noticed from when the interdimensional space looked different than expected.

I slowly closed and opened my eyes.

Still, there was quite a bit of information I’d gained from my brief conversation with Garou.

“Do you know Lloyd Abner, the current Duke of Abner?”

Garou had definitely said that.

That Lloyd Abner was the current Duke of Abner.

That also meant this place I was in now was some point in the past.

The problem was,

‘If it’s when Grandfather was Duke, that’s at least 60 years ago.’

I stared at Garou with serious eyes.

Then I lowered my voice and muttered.

“…So he let his guard down when he found out I was an Abner.”

When we first met, Garou became careless after hearing my name.

More precisely, he showed a dazed expression when the word ‘Abner’ came up.

Thanks to that, I was able to take advantage of that gap and steal his weapon.

But that wasn’t all.

‘It was the same when I said I knew Lloyd Abner, Grandfather, well.’

Garou was someone whose thoughts showed clearly on his face.

Because of that, I could easily read his emotions.

And when I said I knew Grandfather well, the emotion that showed on his face was,

‘Definitely relief. Along with some guilt.’

I approached Garou again for now.

I had decided I needed to ask him more questions.

But the moment I arrived in front of him, Garou, who had his eyes closed, quietly said.

“Annellia Abner. You should leave this forest now.”

Then in the blink of an eye, he snapped the vines wrapped around his body.

Before I could be surprised, Garou stood up and very easily knocked the wooden staff from my hand.

“Huh, what?”

Then he hoisted me over one shoulder and started walking somewhere.

“Sorry about earlier. If you’re from the Abner family, you must be an innocent noble young lady, though I don’t know how you ended up here.”

Garou clicked his tongue and adjusted his hold on me.

“I’ll take you to the ravine entrance, so find your own way back. I’d like to escort you all the way to Abner Castle, but I saw earlier that you can handle aura too…”

A bitter expression appeared on Garou’s face as I struggled and looked at him.

“Most importantly, I have some things I need to do.”

“Dad!”

At that moment, someone suddenly burst out from the bushes across from us.

I closed my mouth with wide eyes.

“…Dad? What’s that about?”

A small height that looked about four or five years old.

Short-cut silver hair and purple eyes.

My mouth gradually opened as I looked at the strangely familiar facial features.

I could be certain.

The child before my eyes was undoubtedly Grandmother.

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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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