The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 1

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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 1
Prologue
Year N, Month N, Day N / Weather: Clear / Mood: Suspicious
Something is decidedly wrong with our youngest family member.
He’s clearly hiding his true nature.
I saw it myself—how he slyly dropped the roasted red pepper from dinner.
But that wasn’t all.
He didn’t stop at crushing it flat beneath his feet; he even covered it with a napkin to conceal the crime completely. (The thought still gives me chills.)
The poor pepper would surely be discovered by the maids tidying the dining hall—mangled beyond recognition.
What truly horrified me was when I tried to report this to Father, the boy looked at me and drew his finger across his throat in a silent threat.
As for me, a man of the brave Jebert Family, I was not frightened in the slightest.
But there is no doubt that my youngest brother harbors a sinister nature—he is surely a demon in disguise—so I decided…
…to let it slide this once.
After all, awakening a demon at the dinner table would be most inconvenient!
And besides…
It’s only natural for an older brother to cover for his younger brother’s faults, isn’t it?
In any case, that’s how it is.
I’m grateful he freed me from being the youngest, but…
He’s definitely suspicious.
Year N, Month N, Day N / Weather: Cloudy / Mood: Melancholy
I sparred with our youngest today.
Father said it himself.
The Jebert Family is the greatest knight house on the continent, so we must never neglect our training for even a moment!
I will train diligently and become a magnificent knight who protects the Empire!
Of course, this applies to my youngest brother as well.
Though he came to our house suddenly under Father’s guidance, he is still a man of the Jebert Family, after all!
Naturally, the youngest collapsed again today without completing even a single proper training form.
Hmph. What is he even trying to do?
But now that I think about it, something is strange.
The youngest looks so frail and weak that he couldn’t lift a single twig…
Yet when we actually spar, I cannot defeat him no matter what I do.
Why?
Year N, Month N, Day N / Weather: Brilliant / Mood: Excellent
I have a new sword! Hurrah!
I’ll show it off when Liam arrives!
It’s an impressive-looking blade (according to Uncle Obron) that Father and Grandfather personally commissioned from the blacksmith. I must become a knight worthy of this magnificent sword.
Oh, the youngest received a sword too.
Since his body is so small, and his hands are so small—everything about him is so tiny—Father seemed to deliberate for days.
In the end, he consulted with Grandfather and gave him one of the family’s swords, or so I heard.
What do I know.
My sword is cooler!
Hehe… ….
.
.
.
Year N, Month N, Day N / Weather: / Mood:
Rubian.
I’m warning you,
don’t you dare peek at my diary. Seriously.
Year N, Month N, Day N / Weather: Snow / Mood: Absolutely wonderful
Because that mischievous youngest sibling kept sneaking peeks at my diary, I bought one with a lock.
I’m telling you, you can’t let your guard down!
He complains that I write about him so much.
… …Do I really write about him that often?
Well then, what am I supposed to write in a diary?
Hmm.
Anyway, tomorrow is the day Mother returns from her recuperation in the Southern Region.
I’m-so-ex-cit-ed!
Year N, Month N, Day N / Weather: / Mood:
The entire household was turned upside down.
Our youngest sibling.
Rubian.
Was a girl.
Ch.1
“Hey.”
At the casual call, the child lifted his head.
The child, covered in dust and grime, was rifling through the pockets of a corpse.
“Are you hungry?”
Leviathan asked. Instead of answering, the child’s blue eyes darted about.
Watching his lips move, it seemed he wanted to say he was hungry—but there was wariness in his gaze.
‘A wise choice.’
No matter how hungry you are, you shouldn’t come running up to a stranger, that’s for sure.
But then again, rummaging through a dead soldier’s pockets isn’t much better.
“Eat.”
Leviathan pulled out a strip of dried meat from his pocket and offered it.
“Come away from there first.”
It was difficult to keep watching the child standing near the grotesquely mangled corpse.
Even if this place was a blood-soaked battlefield.
“Must have been Iosian.”
Judging by the uniform of the dead man, he had been a soldier of Iosia.
Leviathan collapsed onto the rubble of the building and pulled a cigarette from his pocket, placing it between his lips.
As he lit it and exhaled smoke, the desolate surroundings came into focus.
“I am of the Empire. I mean you no harm.”
He offered the strip of dried meat again.
With each breath he exhaled, long tendrils of smoke dispersed into the air.
“The war is over.”
The child, rigid with tension, still wore a guarded expression.
After a moment, the child crept closer and accepted the food.
“….”
“You should say thank you.”
The child’s lips pressed firmly shut.
Up close, the child’s appearance was far worse than I had thought.
Filthy beyond measure. What was the child even wearing? Rags?
I clicked my tongue.
The haphazardly cut hair and the skeletal wrists visible beneath the tattered clothes painted a pitiful picture of a child deprived of any adult care.
And yet….
Those blue eyes gazing up at me gleamed with an oddly brilliant light.
“That’s enough. Eat, quickly.”
Leviathan thrust the food toward the child roughly.
The child bowed and took a small bite of the hardened jerky, leaving barely visible teeth marks on its surface.
Such a small child.
Probably no more than six or seven years old.
‘Has the child lost their parents?’
The village had been reduced to ash by the assault of the dark beasts. I concealed my heavy heart and exhaled a long stream of smoke.
“A recovery unit will arrive soon. Eat while you wait. Don’t go near the bodies. You’ll catch disease.”
The wind shifted direction. Leviathan hastily crushed out his cigarette.
As I brushed the dust from my silver hair, the child stared up at me intently.
‘Damn it, what kind of eyes….’
So large and clear? About to spill over?
Leviathan scratched the back of his head vigorously and stood up.
The moment I took a step forward, the child’s tightly sealed lips parted.
“Mister.”
A surprisingly clear voice.
“Hmm?”
“Is the war really over?”
Leviathan looked down at the child quietly.
“Yes. It’s over.”
Only after speaking with conviction did the reality truly sink in.
Ten years.
A full ten years it had been.
War between humans and dark creatures.
Leviathan spent a full decade on that battlefield.
But that was over now. I had killed the damned dark sorcerer who started this war.
All that remained was dealing with the remnants of the creature legions—much like the dark creature swarm that had appeared in this village moments ago.
But….
Leviathan swept his gaze across the ruined village once more.
“I’m sorry.”
The child blinked those enormous eyes.
“For not arriving sooner.”
Leviathan spoke in passing and took a step forward.
The recovery unit would arrive soon anyway, and the child would receive their protection.
I intended to return to the Empire.
Then I felt a faint force tugging at my garment.
“….”
When I turned back, those peculiar eyes that had weighed on my mind gazed up at me once again.
“…You want to come with me?”
A nod.
“It won’t be a good choice for you. Still?”
Vigorous nodding.
“Just to be sure—your parents….”
A shake of the head.
“…Any other family?”
The child shook their head violently.
Unable to bear it, Leviathan grasped that small head.
“That’s enough.”
“….”
My troubled expression reflected in those transparent, crystalline eyes.
I ran a rough hand through the back of my hair.
“Hah, what…. As long as they’re not from the Magical Kingdom.”
The Magical Kingdom of Arcadia was an insular nation composed solely of mages. Its citizens could not freely relocate to other regions without the king’s permission.
Leviathan exhaled a long sigh.
‘This is troublesome. They look like a native of this village.’
Yet I found it impossible to turn away from those sapphire-like, clear blue eyes any longer. Nor from the small hand clinging to me like a lifeline.
Well.
What did nationality matter to a child who had lost their parents? It was as though their entire world had vanished.
“Come here.”
Leviathan lifted the child into my arms. They weighed surprisingly little.
I placed the child atop a military horse that had been drinking from a nearby stream.
Yes. I had been reluctant to leave them in a place filled only with corpses.
‘A burden has attached itself to me.’
As I hoisted myself onto the child’s back, I felt the small, thin shoulders flinch beneath me.
‘It would be best to take the child to the Empire and find a suitable place to entrust them to.’
Anywhere would be better than here.
Clop, clop. The horse moved forward.
Leviathan adjusted the pace with utmost care.
“….”
I felt the child’s warm body heat against my chest.
A round head bobbing with the motion. Silver hair cut haphazardly and sticking out in all directions. Lips chewing on dried meat. Plump cheeks… none of that. The child was far too thin.
‘For a boy, he’s remarkably small.’
I’d forgotten to ask how old he was.
Well… we’d be parting ways anyway. It hardly mattered.
“Don’t eat while riding. You’ll bite your tongue.”
The child quickly shoved the dried meat into his mouth.
* * *
No matter how I think about it… it has to be right?
It seems right?
“Stay back. Sparks will fly.”
That face.
“Why are you trembling so much? Are you cold?”
That tone of voice.
“Wear this at least.”
The emblem on this uniform!
I turned the inside of the large military coat the man had draped over me inside out.
Inside the deep navy Allied Forces uniform was an embroidered personal identification tag.
On it was the emblem of the Babylon Empire and—
‘The Jebert Family crest!’
So this man really is Leviathan Jebert!
‘Oh my….’
Tears suddenly welled up in my eyes.
All the hardship I’d endured flashed before me like a lantern show.
So my forgotten past life had resurfaced in the middle of a cursed battlefield.
That’s right. This was a world from a novel.
“A Sword Planted Upon Ruins”—a war story.
I had been reborn here as an extra with no mention whatsoever.
This novel, divided into Part One and Part Two, dealt with a war between humans and dark creatures.
And the male protagonist was naturally the man before my eyes.
The ‘hero’ Leviathan Jebert.
According to the original story, we were now at the end of Part One. That is, the First Human-Demon War had just concluded.
‘And it was this Leviathan who defeated the dark sorcerer!’
A non-mage defeating the continent’s greatest dark mage. Truly, a man worthy of the title of hero.
But here’s the problem.
‘It doesn’t end here.’
What does Part Two mean in a war novel?
A new war begins.
‘Dark Sorcerer, I beseech you! Please return to this land and restore the dignity of mages!’
True to the mad ambassador’s words, the King of the Magical Kingdom harbors dark intentions and resurrects the Dark Sorcerer upon this realm.
The reason the Dark Sorcerer could resurrect and rampage was simple.
The protagonist of Part One—the strongest being in this world—Leviathan of the Jebert Family, suddenly dies.
‘(Excerpt) —And thus, Leviathan of the Jebert Family, hero of the human-demon war, perished.
The continent fell into despair.
Seizing this moment, the Magical King succeeded in summoning the Dark Sorcerer. The once-peaceful continent became ruins once more.
So then.
Who will plant the hero’s sword in this land again?
【Part One Complete】’
It was a insane ending.
Readers hurled every curse imaginable at the author’s shocking cliffhanger mastery.
Ironically, thanks to the dramatically improved writing in Part Two and the explosively charismatic characters, the work was resurrected under titles like [Web Novel Author’s Recent Status: Contracted with Demons and Returned.jpg].
‘But I’m a Part One character!’
A character destined for a cliffhanger ending if I’m not careful!
“Ugh….”
So my conclusion was singular.
I want to live. I’m tired of war now.
For that to happen, Part One cannot be allowed to end.
The peaceful conclusion must stretch on forever, eternally. Which means….
“Damn it all, you fool.”
That hero must not be allowed to die!
‘But the problem is… I can’t remember why Leviathan dies!’
No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn’t recall the cause of his death.
Truth be told, I’d skimmed through the latter half, and the intensity of life here had made my memories of my past life grow hazy.
And I forgot the most crucial detail!
‘I need to find out why the male lead dies. To do that, I’ll have to stick close to him and watch carefully.’
I looked down at my hands. Tiny, small hands of a child.
There was little I could do with a body like this.
So really, this was the only way.
“Sir.”
At my solemn voice, Leviathan’s eyes lifted sharply.
With his eyes slanted fiercely upward, he looked like a savage beast that had just finished feeding.
‘He really does look terrifying when he’s quiet….’
But would I back down?
A mad author’s cliffhanger ending terrifies me far more. So don’t you dare die, hero!
I relaxed every muscle in my face, arranging my features into the most harmless expression I could muster.
“Doesn’t the household need a youngest member?”
From war story to slice of life. Let’s go.

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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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