The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 153

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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 153
Ch.16
An outdoor tea party arranged near Laim Lake!
“Now then, the grand finale of our autumn camp! We shall have a treasure hunt!”
“Yaaaay!”
The excited children cheered with delight.
The adults enjoyed leisurely conversation at the tea tables, sipping their drinks, while the children gathered in a circle around Professor Insol.
“Search for treasures scattered throughout the Academy! Having explored various places during your stay, it shouldn’t be too difficult, yes? Then, begin!”
The children scattered with gleeful laughter.
I drew a long, deep breath and puffed out my chest.
‘If exploration is the criterion, then who else but me?’
Ten days—short in some ways, long in others!
I must have rummaged through the Academy more thoroughly than anyone else during this time!
‘An opportunity to uphold the reputation of the number one child! My competitive spirit ignites!’
“What are you doing? Rubian, let’s go!”
“Right!”
Sortie and Jerdin dashed off swiftly.
Just as I was about to run after them, my gaze suddenly turned toward the tea table where the adults were gathered.
Grandfather was surrounded by people like the celebrity he was, and the moment he felt my eyes on him, he immediately looked my way and waved his hand.
‘But… why hasn’t Father come?’
My eyes drifted to the empty seat beside Grandfather.
I slowed my pace and recalled what had happened in the Dressing Room just moments ago.
‘I never imagined Father still had that glass bottle… I was quite startled.’
To be honest, I was deeply flustered.
So much so that I had rushed out, leaving Father alone in the disheveled Dressing Room.
‘This feeling is strange.’
That glass bottle wasn’t such a remarkable magical artifact to be kept like that.
So why had Father still been holding it? As if preserving something precious.
‘If he knew that glass bottle was mine…’
What would Father say?
That he was grateful?
That it had been of great help?
If that were the case… naturally, he would also discover that I am a mage, wouldn’t he?
“…”
Somehow, my fingertips had grown cold.
I now understood.
My family would cherish me just as they do now, even knowing I am a mage.
Yet despite knowing this, my lips could not easily part because our everyday moments of laughter and chatter were far too precious.
If they learned that I am a Kingdom Mage and experienced that war as a child soldier… they would grieve deeply.
I simply wished for that ordinary peace to remain undisturbed.
‘Besides, the escaped Dark Mage is said to have been captured anyway….’
Bringing up a story everyone had forgotten required more courage than I’d anticipated.
‘But I can’t avoid this forever.’
Seeing the glass bottle with the blue ribbon made it all feel suddenly real.
‘I’ve nearly resolved the stigma issue, so now I have to face this problem.’
With that thought, I happened to glance aside and spotted something glimmering between the cracks of a large tree.
“Treasure…!”
As I plucked it out, a golden note reading “Found it! Treasure!” tumbled into my palm.
‘First, I need to deal with the pursuer chasing me.’
Second was still in the Capital.
I couldn’t go to my family with this tail still attached—this loose end I had to sever.
If my suspicions were correct, he’d likely infiltrated the Academy disguised as a restorer.
“Time to deal with him…. Huh?”
Just then, a familiar fist suddenly thrust forward into my lowered line of sight. This was….
I quickly pulled out my cloth pouch.
“…This isn’t rock-paper-scissors.”
With a blunt voice, Kalid flipped my palm over and dumped something onto it in a cascade.
“Gasp, treasure!”
How many are there! There must be dozens!
“I found them lying around. Take them.”
“This is insane. If I actually end up winning first place like this, what do I do!”
“Suit yourself. Anyway… I need to step away for a bit.”
Kalid lowered his voice and whispered. I stuffed the golden note into my pocket and tilted my head curiously.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“I need to check on a message from my animal friends. It came from the Delcan Ruins.”
Following his gaze upward, I spotted a hawk circling above my head.
“You sent a familiar all the way out there?”
I quickly checked his wrist, and the bracelet was securely fastened.
“Of course. Who knows what those mages are plotting when they gather like that.”
“But sending a familiar far away consumes a lot of mana.”
“…There’s, uh, one that doesn’t consume much mana.”
“Huh?”
Do the animal friends have an energy-saving mode too?
“Something feels… suspicious.”
“….”
As I stared at him inquisitively, Kalid quickly turned away.
“Suspicious about what. Anyway, I’ll be back soon. Keep searching for the rest of the treasure slowly.”
With only those words, Kalid disappeared into the depths of the sparsely populated Garden.
I watched his retreating figure, patted my bulging pocket, and turned in the opposite direction.
Unexpectedly becoming wealthy had made me start to eye the championship, but.
“…Sigh. The truth is, I don’t have the leisure to search for treasure leisurely.”
I had something I needed to do right now.
‘Good. Let me handle this first.’
I fidgeted with my watch while channeling mana through my body in a way that wouldn’t strain it.
An invisible, faint force dispersed into the air around me.
‘If they’re nearby, they’ll sense it.’
My footsteps directed me toward the Library.
Today, the Library had closed a bit earlier due to the Camp dismissal ceremony.
‘So by now, Professor Yuliope should be the only one in the Library.’
Since everyone else was scattered about searching for treasure, no one found my actions suspicious.
‘I really wish I could find ten more treasures and place first.’
But this takes priority!
* * *
Leviathan’s footsteps descended the stairs in frantic haste.
He couldn’t even remember how he’d managed to leave the Reception Room.
“Your Excellency. I was just about to come find you—is something the matter?”
“Rubian…. Where is my daughter?”
“The Young Lady, sir?”
The Maids entering the building tilted their heads in confusion.
“Well, I imagine she might be playing near the lake….”
Before the Maid could finish speaking, he forced his reluctant legs to move.
He’d thought he couldn’t take even a single step, yet the scenery around him was already shifting rapidly.
‘Rubian…. That child was the owner of this glass bottle.’
A sound echoed from somewhere.
As the biting air pierced his skin, he finally realized the sound lingering at his ears wasn’t crying—it was the wind.
A familiar phantom sound.
He suffered from a sense of déjà vu, as though standing in the midst of a battlefield.
“Your Excellency…. Is it that object again?”
The glass bottle that appeared as if on cue whenever he faced difficulties tracking the Dark Mage.
Leviathan issued a command the moment he spotted it.
“Search the area, Leon. If they left this here, they might still be nearby. Hurry.”
“Yes, sir!”
But he dimly understood.
That he wouldn’t find the owner of this object this time either.
“Who on earth….”
was helping him.
Without revealing themselves.
“We’ll examine the corpse, sir.”
The moment the stopper was removed from the glass bottle brimming with black mana, dark creature corpses poured out as if they’d been waiting.
The Knights rushed forward and began tracking traces of the Dark Mage.
Leviathan stared blankly at the sight before him, his grip tightening around the empty glass bottle.
Suddenly, a delicate sensation brushed against his fingertips. Looking down, he found a blue ribbon tied to the glass bottle—something utterly incongruous with the harsh brutality of the battlefield.
In the sea of crimson that filled his vision, it was the only thing that shimmered with blue light.
‘The ribbon is so clumsily tied….’
Did the one who tied it lack dexterity? Was she an unskilled Mage?
Leviathan found himself unable to suppress the anxiety that suddenly gripped him.
He hurriedly searched his belongings, but all he carried were strong spirits to raise his body temperature and cigarettes to dull the pain.
It would have been better if he’d had food like jerky or dried fruit.
“Your Excellency! We’ve pinpointed the Dark Mage’s location! It’s in an Underground Cave nearby!”
At that moment, the Knights who had been backtracking the traces left on the corpse cried out.
Leviathan secured the ribbon on the glass bottle and vaulted onto his horse without hesitation.
“I don’t know who you are…. Let’s meet alive.”
The thunderous sound of hoofbeats shaking the earth erupted as he charged forward, cutting through the harsh wind. He muttered again, as if swearing an oath.
“When I find you, I will repay this debt without fail.”
‘No, no.’
And now, the current Leviathan cursed that version of himself from the past.
‘I should have pursued more relentlessly back then….’
Regret consumed him.
If only he could return to that day, he would strangle himself with his own hands.
The one who lacked dexterity wasn’t an unskilled Mage—she could only have been unskilled.
Because it was Rubian. Because she was only ten years old.
It was his fault for believing the reports that all young Boy Mages had been withdrawn to the rear, for trusting the reconnaissance unit’s intelligence, for accepting the Allied Kingdom’s information at face value.
‘I won’t allow myself to regret twice.’
There was nothing more to ask Rubian. Now everything was certain.
So there was only one thing he had to do.
‘I must protect that child. From the Mage Kingdom. By any means necessary.’
This time. Without fail.
He hastened his steps toward the area near the lake. Despite having increased the guards excessively, an inexplicable unease washed over him.
“Rubian, where on earth are you….”
Why couldn’t he see her?
In his anxiety, he was nearly running when—
“Wahhh! Treasure hunting!”
He heard children’s laughter echoing from far away as they scampered about.
It felt as though he were being punished.

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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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