The Duke Dad I Chose Can’t (Really) See Well - Chapter 21

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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 21

Duke Stukkyia spoke in a slow voice.

“Who gave such a dangerous thing to a child?”

His usual leisurely voice had disappeared.

‘Could it be… he’s worried?’

“What if you shot someone with that?”

Oh, never mind.

I lowered the gun with a face that said ‘I thought so.’

Ralt said.

“It’s a gun for generating shields, isn’t it? Since protection is the purpose, children should try using it too.”

“Then you’re wrong. She hit a 7.”

“Huh?”

Only then did Ralt check the gun with a face that said something was strange.

After checking the bullets, he shut his mouth tight.

The Duke raised his eyebrows as if he understood.

“Confusing bullet types. It’s like going back to when we first met on the battlefield. Right?”

“I… I’m sorry.”

In the end, Ralt and the blacksmiths, unable to respond, shut their mouths with meek apologies.

“To my eyes, they all look exactly the same. It’s hard to distinguish them… I’m sorry, Duke. Sorry, little snowflake.”

The sight of their muscle-filled shoulders drooping down was a bit pitiful.

While it was true that Ralt had given me the gun, I had also whined that I wanted to touch it.

I quickly approached the Duke.

“Hello, Duke. Good morning, no, good afternoon.”

“It’s morning.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a time when you should normally be sleeping.”

The Duke replied curtly.

“But… someone somewhere woke me up with gunshots?”

…Anyone could tell he was talking about me.

I shut my mouth tight.

“Don’t touch guns anymore. You won’t have any need to use them.”

Then the Duke spoke in a firm voice as if giving a warning.

He must be wary that information might leak to the Agnito side.

“Yes… I’m sorry…”

So I apologized obediently.

Perhaps feeling sorry for me, Ralt spoke in a deliberately bright voice.

“Still, isn’t it amazing? To have such skill when holding a gun for the first time. It’s the first time I’ve seen such talent after the Duke.”

“I hit dead center from the start. You’re still lacking if you want to follow.”

“I know. But it’s still remarkable skill nonetheless.”

They said they met on a battlefield. It was really a casual conversation.

“Enough, hurry up and get the child out of here.”

“Yes, understood.”

Then, with that answer, Ralt simply picked me up.

“Here she is.”

Then he just held me out to the Duke.

“…What is this?”

The Duke asked slowly.

“What do you mean? She’s your daughter, isn’t she?”

“So why are you giving me this ‘daughter’?”

“If a father doesn’t hold his daughter, who will?”

Ralt asked as if genuinely puzzled.

“You have to hold children while they’re young. If she grows just a little more, puberty will come quickly and she’ll slam her door shut saying ‘I hate daddy!’ There isn’t much time.”

“Really? Aren’t there fathers who say things like ‘I hate daughters’?”

“Come on, hurry up and hold her.”

Ralt, lightly ignoring the Duke’s words, held me out again.

Like parents telling fighting siblings ‘Hurry up and hug each other and make up!’

‘But this isn’t a good time for the Duke!’

Sure enough, the Duke’s aura became even more menacing.

I was about to say I’d just get down and walk.

“There are many glass shards under the snow. It’s dangerous for a child to walk.”

One of the blacksmiths added as if making a point.

Even if they said such things, he wouldn’t care whether glass shards or anything else got stuck in my feet.

That’s when it happened.

“How troublesome in every way.”

The Duke reached out his hands with a small sigh.

Looking at his furrowed brow, he seemed to think he’d just deal with this annoyance quickly.

I worried about what would happen if I stiffened up since I’d never been properly held by anyone else.

But the Duke picked me up more stably than I expected.

The blacksmiths had been comfortable too, but comparing the ride quality, this was much more like a luxury sedan.

Then, through the black cloth, the Duke’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Smaller than I thought. Are you really eight years old?”

“I’m ten. I told you before…”

“I asked because you feel like an eight-year-old. You should be able to infer such things yourself. Don’t you know metaphors?”

The Duke answering like that didn’t seem as angry as I thought.

My heart, which had been dejected from being scolded, relaxed just a little.

“So, you were wandering around early in the morning, but did you eat?”

“Yes. I ate a lot.”

“Did you wash up properly too?”

“Yes. I washed squeaky clean.”

“Then you must be working hard on collecting signatures too?”

“Of course! I’m working hard on that too…! Oops.”

I quickly covered my mouth.

But I had already let it slip.

The corner of the Duke’s mouth lifted slightly.

It was a smile that said ‘I knew it.’

So this is why he held me. To ask if I was going around collecting signatures!

“You’re working hard. Keep trying in the future too.”

“…Thank you for the encouragement. I’ll work hard to get your signature too, Duke.”

“Yes, I’ll cheer you on from very far away.”

The Duke added as if he truly meant to cheer me on. His sensitive mood from waking up early had softened somewhat.

“Ah- now I feel a bit better. Is this why everyone wakes up early?”

-along with those words that seemed relieved but were even more annoying.

Ralt, who hadn’t heard our conversation, was nodding and saying it was a nice father-daughter relationship.

“Duke.”

Then, the other blacksmiths approached us.

“We’d like to give you a new report. About what we mentioned before…”

The men who were about to speak hesitated when they saw me still being held.

They seemed reluctant to talk about weapons in front of me, still a child.

I quickly got down from the Duke’s arms.

“Um, Duke.”

To be precise, before getting down, I said this to him.

“I think it would be good to make the weights different.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The bullets.”

At my whisper, the Duke raised one eyebrow.

“Shall we have a little chat with daddy after a long time, my daughter?”

He smiled gently and took me to a place a little distance away.

Turning his back to the people, he raised his eyebrows as if asking what I meant.

“The Blacksmiths have been helping you for a very long time, haven’t they?”

“That’s right.”

“Then that means you’ve been together for quite a long time, but it seemed like they couldn’t distinguish between offensive and defensive bullets without shooting them directly.”

“….”

“It would probably be even more confusing in busy wartime situations. If they shoot for protection but it’s an offensive type, the confusion would only grow.”

“I know it’s difficult to distinguish. But if we mark each bullet individually, the enemy might discover what we have.”

“That’s why making the weights different would work, wouldn’t it?”

“…Tell me in detail.”

I continued speaking.

“In wartime situations, you only focus on the enemy right in front of you.”

“That’s right.”

“You’d be touching the bullets with your hands more often than looking at them.”

“Since fingertip sensitivity would be more developed, distinguish them by weight?”

Toward the Duke who immediately grasped the main point, I shouted “Yes!”

“Most importantly, if you make the weights different, it would be easier for you and others to distinguish them.”

“I don’t need that kind of distinction. I’m naturally gifted.”

“Not everyone in the world is a genius like you, Duke.”

“Ah- that’s true.”

“And winning is important, but it’s also important that innocent casualties don’t occur.”

Though there were offensive weapons, most of the workers here mainly made protective weapons.

True to being from the front lines, protecting what they had was more important than gaining something through attack.

I hoped that weapons made with such hearts wouldn’t harm people due to momentary confusion.

“…For something you’ve touched for the first time, that’s quite a plausible insight.”

The Duke spoke with a suspicious tone, drawing out his words. So I shrugged my shoulders innocently.

“I’m a bit of a genius too.”

“Ah… So this is how other people feel. This is actually pretty unpleasant. I should reflect on this.”

“And- you promised. That I would become your eyes.”

I didn’t mean I would stick right next to the Duke. Caron was by his side anyway.

“I’ll go around every corner, even the small places you can’t see, and watch for you. The world’s biggest CCTV.”

“C… what?”

“If there are strange or suspicious people, I’ll report immediately, and sometimes I’ll make good suggestions like this. If there are weird people, I’ll send out killing intent too.”

“What does this mean now…. Why are you sending out killing intent. Are you bragging about having chubby cheeks because you’re a baby?”

As if finding it absurd, the Duke gently poked the area around my cheek without hurting me.

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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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