The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 143

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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 143
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“Wow! The Ancient Manuscript Archive is amazing!”
I stretched both arms wide and let out an excited voice.
To be honest, this place had become somewhat familiar by now, so there was nothing particularly surprising about it….
Play it cool, Rubian!
“Ahem, ahem. The bookshelves are a bit disorganized, aren’t they?”
Yuliope spoke while pouring a fatigue recovery potion, his voice tinged with subtle excitement. He seemed quite pleased by my enthusiastic reaction.
“Yes! It’s like a maze!”
“Be careful not to get lost. If there’s a book you’d like to see, please tell me first.”
“Yes!”
I embodied the spirit of an excited child finally visiting a place I’d wanted to see, and dashed rapidly between the bookshelves of the Ancient Manuscript Archive.
“Wow, wow! This is so fascinating!”
“R-Rubian? Aren’t you running a bit too fast?! If you crash into the bookshelves, my precious books will come tumbling down…!”
I came to an abrupt stop and looked up at the Professor, whose face was etched with anxiety and dread.
“Professor…. Are you seriously saying the books are more precious than me right now?”
“Ahem, of course you’re more precious, Miss Rubian. I was just worried.”
“Right? After all, these are just inanimate objects.”
“Yes, that’s true. If you fell and crashed into the bookshelves, my delicate books would hurt more than sturdy you…. Wait, I said that backwards.”
I laughed and dashed off again.
“The Professor’s salary is hanging by a thread! Crashing down! Waaaah!”
“No, stop!”
Besides, I already knew all the paths through this maze of bookshelves, so there was no risk of collision.
‘If he’d just said not to run in the library, I would have walked quietly!’
But when someone says that, it just makes you want to tease them, doesn’t it?
Perhaps due to the magical energy in this place, I felt quite exhilarated. After wandering around exploring for quite some time, I had thoroughly exhausted the Professor’s patience.
But ultimately, only I was the one left tired (how frustrating!), so I collapsed into a chair at a desk set up in one corner of the Ancient Manuscript Archive, breathing heavily.
“Phew, I’m exhausted. Huh? But Professor, the desk looks even more like a maze!”
Yuliope brought me water and then neatly organized the pile of documents.
“We’re doing restoration work here. It’s quite messy, isn’t it?”
“I thought it was a garbage dump!”
“Haha. How sharp. My apologies.”
I sat in the chair and straightened my disheveled clothes from all that running around.
I retied my shoelaces. I repositioned my crooked name tag neatly.
Yuliope, who had been staring at me intently, opened his mouth with a slightly embarrassed expression. His gaze remained fixed on my name tag with an odd intensity.
“But Miss Rubian, it’s funny to ask now, but….”
“Yes?”
“Were you pretending to be a commoner because being recognized as someone from Zebert felt burdensome?”
Really, asking that now of all times.
Though I suppose it makes sense—he must have been too preoccupied with the ancient texts to notice until now.
Other professors would occasionally approach me with questions, and I always responded similarly.
“Well, yes? I simply prefer not to stand out too much….”
The fate of one who flees, I suppose….
The truth was, I’d initially tried to keep a low profile because of that suspicious Maid at the entrance ceremony, but somehow it had evolved into hiding my identity altogether.
“And I keep remembering being kidnapped by those bad men in Ipson, so….”
“Ah….”
Yuliope’s brow furrowed with concern.
He seemed to think the noble’s kidnapping incident had left me with a lasting trauma.
“I understand. I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
Yuliope gently patted my head in consolation, then returned to organizing his documents.
I swung my legs idly, lost in thought.
‘Now that I think about it, that Maid never appeared again, did she? Kalid didn’t say anything about it either….’
Was she really just a lost Maid, or had Kalid overreacted?
Either way, thanks to that incident, I’d managed to complete the Ancient Manuscript Archive investigation smoothly. All that remained was finding a way to deal with the curse mark….
‘Will it actually work?’
I recalled the stone monument standing beneath that enormous sealing spell.
That was when it happened.
Among the documents Yuliope was organizing, something caught my eye.
【Restoration Scholar Application】
That was….
“Huh? Professor, haven’t you already finished hiring all the restoration scholars?”
When I pointed at the document and asked, Yuliope gave a light shrug.
“Only partially. Interviews are still ongoing. Scholars who can read ancient languages are extremely rare, so we have very few applicants.”
“I see.”
“And it’s not just about reading—it’s about understanding context and actually restoring the texts… so hiring has been quite difficult.”
“My goodness.”
A labor shortage here too….
I stared blankly at one of the applications. A sudden thought occurred to me.
‘If I were in their position.’
What would I do?
If I were a pursuer watching for an opportunity to infiltrate the Academy.
‘I wouldn’t have missed this chance.’
I would have stolen the identities of those hired as restoration scholars and infiltrated the Academy properly….
‘Wait, didn’t I just sound like a villain?’
Good heavens. That was truly despicable and underhanded!
I quickly shook my head, but even reconsidering it, that method seemed most plausible.
The Academy’s security had become far more stringent once the Camp entrance ceremony concluded. So attempting to move around again in a clumsy Maid disguise would have been impossible.
‘I heard a certain noble family had sent a large number of guard Knights.’
Thanks to that, Principal Odeli had been walking around with a beaming smile….
I didn’t know which family it was, but they were clearly making an enormous fuss about something.
Thanks to that, I ended up safe as well, so it’s not a bad deal!
‘If they really were a tracker, that is.’
While I was lost in thought, Yuliope finished organizing the documents and rose to his feet.
“Well then, Miss Rubian. I have an interview to attend to. I should be heading out shortly.”
“An interview? Don’t tell me it’s a job interview?”
“A tempting and thrilling prospect indeed, but it’s a Restorer interview. I’m the one conducting it.”
“Oh….”
A question suddenly occurred to me.
“But are you conducting the interview outside?”
“Yes. Actually, it’s tomorrow morning. I thought I’d drop by home for the first time in a while. I arranged to meet outside while I’m at it.”
“Wow, Professor! Finally clocking out!”
“Hehehehe. I’m just going to pick up some clothes to change into. I’ll be living here again for a while after all…. Isn’t it exciting? Hehehehe.”
Good grief. The Professor is losing it….
But I had nothing to say, so I simply patted my mentor’s arm.
* * *
“Whew! Beautiful day! Say, you wouldn’t happen to have any leftover alcohol, would you? My throat’s a bit parched.”
Allen spat on the ground with a sharp sound and shouted.
Unable to bear it any longer, Leon spoke to Leviathan.
“Your Excellency. How much longer must we drag this scoundrel along?”
“….”
Leviathan glanced back at the foul-looking mercenary. He tapped the horse’s flank lightly, and its pace quickened slightly.
“Ughhhh.”
Allen, bound to the horse with his hands tied, stumbled.
“Y-Your Excellency! P-Please don’t gallop! Don’t increase the speed!”
A frivolous voice rang out.
“Then either shut up or burn. Pick one.”
“Hehe, how can I speak if I’m silent? You seem to have a bit more of a sense of humor than the rumors suggest….”
Then came a sharp sound.
Knight Yugen, unable to restrain himself any longer, struck Allen on the back of the head.
“How disrespectful before His Excellency. Have you lost your mind?”
“Huh? You’re hitting my head? You don’t do that to your junior subordinates too, do you? Hm? Just throwing your weight around?”
What was he going on about.
Leviathan tapped the horse’s flank once more and increased the pace.
“Ughhhh.”
Allen stumbled again.
“You know what I’m asking for.”
At the low voice, Allen’s lips pouted indignantly.
“The one who commissioned you to surveil the Mage Kingdom.”
“….”
“Tell me who that is.”
Ha.
Allen swallowed a curse internally. He maintained an outward composure, but in truth, his core was shriveling under the weight of that murderous gaze.
‘Damn it… of all people, why did I have to get caught by the Duke?’
He recalled the moment he’d been apprehended by the Duke.
“Please spare me!”
“You… are a mercenary. Who ordered you to keep watch on the Mage Kingdom?”
“That… I cannot speak of, sir.”
It was the truth.
Because of that damned Kalid’s binding oath magic placed upon me.
My remaining eye—now just a prosthetic—throbbed painfully.
‘If I so much as misspeak about that bastard or the Princess, my blood will paint the sky like fireworks!’
The mere thought was horrifying.
“A rat like you guards your employer’s secrets? How unexpectedly customer-oriented of you.”
“Haha. I suppose I have some sense of honor and decent character…”
“Congratulations. Your parents must be thrilled at how well they raised you. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the fortune of becoming such a decent person.”
Leviathan pressed his blade forward menacingly.
“Speak, or I’ll kill you.”
Allen was a seasoned mercenary who’d seen his share of filth and rolled through countless gutters.
Yet before a man called a hero, he was nothing but vermin.
He muttered every curse in existence, wondering whether having his throat slit would hurt less, or if having his blood vessels rupture would be more merciful.
Then.
Leviathan, who had been staring at Allen intently, withdrew his blade for reasons unknown.

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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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