The Magical Hunter Girl Decorates the Dungeon! - Chapter 73

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Magic Hunter Girl Decorates a Dungeon! Episode 073
“Hm?”
The Baron’s eyebrows rippled. Curiosity seemed to outpace his displeasure—for now.
“Little miss. What do you want?”
“The Greenhouse.”
……
A moment later, the Baron burst into laughter.
“Ahahaha! This little lady certainly dreams big! The Greenhouse doors are locked, you know. Did you fall for it just by looking at the outside?”
“Yes! The outside is so pretty, so the inside must be too!”
“True. It is beautiful indeed. I receive visitors once each season, so you can apply then.”
“Give me the Greenhouse before that.”
……
“I don’t want to visit the Greenhouse. I want to have it.”
The Baron started to laugh. But faced with Lee Ji’s earnest, mirthless expression, his lips began to twitch uncertainly before finally settling into a crooked smile.
“Little lady. You’re quite greedy, aren’t you?”
“Just a little.”
Had her opponent been an ordinary adult, Lee Ji wouldn’t have allowed herself to be quite so rude.
But now she could see it clearly.
[The Black Diamond Baron]
A collector with neither discernment nor taste, driven by naked greed.
He satisfied himself by gathering things one step ahead of others—objects no one else knew about—then left their care to someone else.
His warehouse even now held strange objects he no longer remembered acquiring.
If she provoked his towering pride just right, she might get what she wanted.
Human Lee Ji would conduct herself with courtesy toward adults.
But what stood before her now was something more concentrated—a distillation of a bad father and collector from 1803.
‘I’m a Hunter, so I can stand my ground here!’
“Little girl.”
The Baron growled.
“You’ve already taken several of my flowers. And now you want the entire Greenhouse? Planning to steal all my flowers?”
“Most of the beautiful flowers are in the Garden. The servants say the Greenhouse only has wilted, weakened plants inside.”
“What?”
“So giving the Greenhouse to me wouldn’t be much of a loss for you.”
Of course it was a lie.
But a collector who neglected his own collection wouldn’t see through Lee Ji’s deception.
His pride wouldn’t let him admit ignorance, so he swallowed his irritation instead.
“Flowers aside, the Greenhouse is absolutely out of the question!”
“Of course I don’t just want it for nothing! Let’s make a Wager.”
“Hm?”
“I’m going to give you a very easy problem that even a child could solve. If you get it right, I’ll back off. But if you can’t solve it, I win!”
“That’s all loss for me!”
“No it isn’t. If you win……”
Lee Ji opened her bag and took out the Rainbow Butterfly.
“Hmph! That silly toy…… eh?”
As it was placed in the light, the butterfly spread its wings and flew up into the air. Its mother-of-pearl-inlaid wings cast an iridescent glow across the room.
Soon a strange voice emerged.
[Space Inspection complete. ……Old, but generally safe.]
The butterfly slowly descended to rest on Lee Ji’s hand. From the moment the Rainbow Butterfly spoke, the Baron’s eyes bulged wide.
“What, what is that?”
“My precious butterfly. If you solve the problem correctly, I’ll give it to you.”
“……Still! A mere butterfly for the Greenhouse is—”
“It’s such an easy problem, though. A five-year-old could solve it. Though I doubt you’ll manage.”
……
[Someone is staring at you, Lee Ji.]
“……Ah, fine!”
In the end, the Baron nodded.
“All right. Let me see this problem!”
“Yes, thank you!”
“But! If I fail to solve the problem, you’ll have to convince me that it’s really ‘a problem a five-year-old can solve.'”
“Of course!”
“Come down to the Second Floor Drawing Room when you’re ready. I’ll have refreshments prepared.”
‘Ah. Maybe he’s not entirely villainous.’
Refreshments are always good.
Before heading to the drawing room, Lee Ji whispered to the Rainbow Butterfly.
“If I lose the Wager, you need to escape and run away, then come back. Can you do that?”
[Confirmed. I’ll bolt right away and zoom back. I’m genuinely good at that.]
……
Its tone seemed different from when it was chasing Lee Ji around the Hunter Association Headquarters.
Still, the Rainbow Butterfly flapped its wings reassuringly, and a pleasant apple scent wafted through the air. Lee Ji grinned and closed her bag.
‘Let’s go!’
Her heart pounded.
Lee Ji mentally reviewed the math problem she was about to pose. Last year’s Lee Ji had gotten it right, but her older self had failed it.
‘This will work!’
Soon they arrived at the Second Floor Drawing Room.
The Baron, standing beside the table, pointed to an empty chair.
“That’s your seat. Present the problem.”
On the table sat two cups of Black Tea, a Financier pastry, and paper with a pen.
The pen, which she’d never held before, was harder to write with than she expected. The ink ran everywhere.
The Baron smirked.
“Ha! You’ve never even held a pen properly. But you can still present a problem? Should I get you some Charcoal?”
“Um…… You have Charcoal?”
“Ha. What a funny little thing. Clovis!”
Clovis, seeming to have been dragged along without understanding why, looked uneasy as he handed over a writing implement—an 18th-century Pencil.
As she wrote the problem with trembling hands,
the Eldest Son, seemingly dragged along as an extra, asked,
“What are we doing right now, Father?”
“This young lady has proposed a remarkable Wager to me. She says she’ll pose a problem, and if I can’t solve it—”
“Can’t solve it?”
“She wants me to give her the Greenhouse!”
“What? Ahahahahaha!”
Because the Eldest Son burst out laughing immediately, no one heard Clovis drop the remaining Pencil in his shock.
Clovis’s eyes asked Lee Ji a silent question.
‘What are you doing?’
Lee Ji flashed him a thumbs-up. Clovis looked exasperated enough to lose his mind, but there was nothing he could actually do.
“I’ve finished writing the problem! You have ten minutes.”
“You took a long time writing it. Isn’t ten minutes too short?”
“I included lots of hints, so the problem really should be easy.”
Clovis heading to the Greenhouse at three o’clock in the afternoon. Might be postponed if lucky, but……she wanted to have the Greenhouse in her hands before then if at all possible.
‘And I absolutely can’t let Clovis get into the Greenhouse!’
“Please, sit here!”
Lee Ji turned the Problem Sheet around and pointed to an empty chair.
But the Baron didn’t even look at the problem.
“Your Lordship……?”
“I’ve invested a great deal in building the Greenhouse. I don’t know how you think you’ll manage it, but……if you take it away, I’ll be in serious trouble. So—”
The Baron suddenly turned to his own children.
“Clovis. You solve the problem!”
“What?”
“Why the shock? You were adopted into our household as the family’s strategist. This is when you do your duty!”
……
“If you fail to solve it, you become a criminal who lost the Baron’s Greenhouse. But if you do solve it, you’ll have the young lady’s most precious possession.”
Clovis’s face darkened. In any case, he had no strength to resist his adoptive father.
“If you command it…… I shall obey.”
Clovis sat across from Lee Ji.
“Clovis……”
“Lee Ji. I’m going to solve this. I won’t hold back.”
……
“No matter what happens after this.”
The boy’s gaze was resolute.
Clovis had said the Greenhouse fire set him free. But even if he lost, he’d face inadequate treatment from the Baron as punishment for losing the Greenhouse.
He had no reason to deliberately let her win.
“……All right. Go ahead and solve it.”
Clovis picked up the Pencil.
The Baron, apparently unconcerned that his ward might lose, asked with casual confidence,
“By the way, little lady, where did you put all those flowers you collected from my Garden? You didn’t seem to have brought a carriage.”
“Ah. I ate them!”
“Hahaha! You’re an amusing little lady.”
‘It’s an apt comparison, too.’
Given how close she came to vomiting them back up.
“I’m not a villain. I simply believe children should learn the world’s cruelty early. If I take your treasure, don’t cry about it.”
He seemed entirely confident in his own victory.
But one minute into solving the problem,
“……Clovis?”
The Eldest Son realized his adopted brother was barely moving his Pencil, frozen in bewilderment.

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