The Oracle of the Villainous Baby - Chapter 166

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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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Chapter 166
“This is intense.”
Kalbad muttered softly.
Aside from Kiriel Yudia, no human had ever laid eyes upon the Demon Realm.
The Demon Realm was every bit as desolate and ominous as they had imagined, conjuring inexplicable dread from the depths of one’s being.
“Are you scared?”
“Sc-scared?! This is nothing! Even if the Demon King herself appeared… or even an incredibly powerful Demon Clan Member… your big brother would never lose!”
At Bunny’s question, Kalbad burst out loudly.
Bunny erupted into giggles. Beneath her radiant smile, her eyes trembled ever so slightly.
“Yep.”
With hands clasped behind her back, Bunny strolled forward at a leisurely pace.
“Where is the Demon King’s Castle?”
“Over there.”
Bunny’s finger stretched out, pointing toward the distant end of a long, winding path.
On both sides lay the remnants of what were likely once structures, now reduced to rubble. No signs of life could be detected. The surroundings were engulfed in a pitch-black haze, making it difficult even to secure a clear line of sight.
Bunny wandered through it all without the slightest concern.
“But Bunny, can you actually live here? It’s so… there’s nothing at all, is there?”
Allen approached Bunny’s side and posed the question hesitantly.
Their father had barely spoken since crossing the threshold into this place, as if lost in thought. He merely cast occasional glances around, his eyes hollow and sunken.
At Allen’s question, Bunny tilted her head, then nodded gently up and down.
“Yeah. If I’m here, things will get better.”
Bunny answered.
She didn’t know the precise mechanism, but she understood it instinctively. Simply by standing firm in this place, the Demon Realm would begin to reclaim its original form.
“Actually, I was planning to come here once I grew up.”
“Right, that!”
Kalbad’s voice rose with emotion.
“What was that about suddenly leaving once you became an adult? Weren’t we supposed to live together forever?”
At Kalbad’s words, Bunny blinked a few times, then wagged her finger side to side. At Bunny’s demeanor—as if she were looking at a child who understood nothing—Kalbad’s cheek twitched once.
“Kalbad.”
“What.”
“Sigh. No matter how much I like you, I can’t live with you forever.”
Bunny shook her head side to side, her eyes conveying the inevitability of it all, as if to say there was nothing to be done about his ignorance.
“Are you not going to stop that?”
“It’s not even snowing.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t understand while making those adorable wide eyes! Ugh, you’re not even cute!”
He called her cute to her face, then said she wasn’t cute behind her back. An ordinary person wouldn’t know which tune to dance to.
But unfortunately, Bunny was no ordinary human—she was an incredibly powerful Demon Clan Member. She knew exactly which tune to dance to.
“Yeah. I know. I’m cute, right?”
“Huh? No?! Ugh, are you seriously trying to mess with your big brother?”
“I’ve never messed with you…”
Bunny pouted, her lips jutting out with a mumble.
“But honestly, I was moved by it. I never thought you’d ask us to come with you.”
“Oh, right. We were precious to you, weren’t we? You said you’d take what was precious, and you brought us along!”
“I said what was necessary…”
At Bunny’s words, Kalbad’s expression, which had brightened momentarily, deflated once more.
Watching Bunny repeatedly lift Kalbad up only to let him drop, Allen let out a soft chuckle and opened his mouth.
“But seriously. We thought we’d live together forever. I never imagined you’d actually consider leaving home.”
“…Bunny came here with a lie. So I thought I had to return when I grew up. Because… the Demon Realm is like this, and there are many Demon Clan Members suffering.”
If Bunny turned away, everyone would meet a miserable end. So Bunny had to return eventually.
“But when they said that if I stayed, Shalone and Shalone’s Mother wouldn’t be happy, I left early.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Did Shalone say something like that too?”
Allen’s brow furrowed sharply as he questioned her.
From what he’d seen, Shalone liked Bunny just as much as Kalbad did, though she pretended otherwise. But he’d never seen her truly hate her. So the idea that Shalone would say such a thing of her own accord was unbelievable.
“No, Shalone never said anything like that.”
“Then why…?”
“But Shalone’s Mother said that if I was there, Shalone would be unhappy.”
Bunny shrugged as she spoke.
Sympathy washed over Allen and Kalbad’s faces in an instant. Kiriel too gazed silently at the back of Bunny’s small head.
Along a dark path devoid of even a single point of light or moonbeam, Bunny’s footsteps pressed forward without hesitation.
“…That can’t be right. That’s all nonsense!”
Kalbad clenched his teeth.
“Yeah.”
“No, you don’t need to worry about words like that… huh?”
Kalbad’s expression grew strange as he anticipated that Bunny would say something self-deprecating and tried to console her.
For a moment, Kalbad’s head tilted slightly.
The boy turned Bunny’s words over in his mind once or twice more. Glancing to the side, Allen wore a puzzled expression as well.
“I understand.”
In the meantime, Bunny stamped once more with a thud.
Kalbad’s face went blank for a moment, then he smiled awkwardly and nodded.
“Oh, you understand.”
“Yeah.”
You understand…
‘Then why did you leave?’
The words Kalbad couldn’t bring himself to speak lingered quietly in his mouth.
“Shalone’s Mother needs to realize that Shalone won’t be happy just because I’m gone.”
“…Huh?”
Bunny let out a giggle, grinning widely.
“I’ve worked so hard to be good! She won’t be unhappy, but… she definitely won’t be incredibly happy either, right?!”
Bunny rubbed beneath her nose and spoke with intensity in her eyes.
“So if Shalone’s Mother realizes she was wrong and asks me to come back, then I can.”
At Bunny’s words, Allen fell silent, as if at a loss for what to say.
“That’s right, isn’t it? You’re not happy just because the Demon Clan disappeared, are you?”
In truth, even Bunny had harbored doubts until she made the decision to leave home.
It would be best if Shalone’s Mother had a change of heart, but if not, she suspected she’d feel a little sad about it.
After all, everyone would be fine without Bunny.
“There’s no need to worry, Bunny.”
Kiriel reached out and reassured the girl, gently stroking her hair. Bunny’s expression brightened for a moment before sinking back into heaviness.
“Really?”
“Your Grandfather will probably be angry that you left. Despite how he appears, he was quite fond of you.”
“…Yes.”
“But as for Shalone’s Mother, I’m not so sure.”
“Why?”
At Bunny’s question, Kiriel paused for a moment.
There exist in this world people with whom words cannot communicate.
It is not the case that only those who reflect, regret, and seek to correct their wrongs exist.
There are those who walk a path already twisted and warped, one from which there is no return.
Such people typically do not look back when things fail to go according to plan, nor do they seek their own faults.
These people tend to find the cause of all problems solely in external sources.
Naturally, it is exceedingly rare for them to ever return to their former selves.
“In this world….”
Kiriel brushed the child’s cheek and opened his mouth.
“There are those who don’t even recognize their own faults as faults. People too busy blaming others. Such people lack the leisure to reflect upon themselves, so they are always quick to blame something else they can see.”
When business doesn’t go well, they blame their business partners, or the incompetent staff members, or the economy.
There certainly exist people who never once examine the quality of their goods or their own management methods. And such people ultimately crumble and fall.
“I see….”
Bunny murmured softly and then nodded.
After that, there was no significant conversation. Only Allen and Kalbad occasionally made trivial remarks, and Bunny chattered away in response.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
The journey of one half-demon, four humans, and one doll was not particularly long.
After walking for quite some time, they arrived at a desolate castle.

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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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