The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 164

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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 164
* * *
The day we returned home!
For the last time, I ventured out into the Capital with my older brothers, Kalid, and Grandfather, exploring the city streets.
Void had fallen prey to shopping addiction, hoarding everything from journals to miscellaneous trinkets, while Liam naturally gravitated toward the bookstore like a moth to flame.
Grandfather swept through the weapon shop with characteristic enthusiasm, and Kalid, as always, wore an indifferent expression while observing whatever caught my eye.
“You know what’s strange? I didn’t buy anything, yet somehow I have the most luggage.”
I muttered this genuinely as I watched my gift boxes stack higher and higher in the carriage.
“You’re multiplying.”
Father said this offhandedly before hoisting me into the carriage with a swift motion.
Inside, Mother was already seated, meticulously polishing her bow.
“Rubian, once we return to the Northern Region, I really must teach you proper archery technique.”
“Yes! I’d love that!”
“Hehe. Then I’ll ride ahead on horseback! I’m in such a good mood~”
And I’ll clean the roads too~
Before Father could even grab her, Mother nimbly switched to riding a horse.
Liam and Void took the second carriage, while Kalid and Grandfather rode in the one directly behind. (Sorry, Kalid… I’ll swap seats with you later.)
As I comforted the Duke, who seemed melancholy about his wife’s departure, I unfolded a small table and began writing letters to Sortie and Jerdin.
The carriage began to move.
At last, my eventful time in the Capital was over, and I was finally heading home!
“Rubian. By the way, your pocket feels rather warm.”
Father, sitting close beside me while criticizing my worm-like handwriting, spoke up.
“Huh?”
I quickly opened the small satchel I’d been wearing diagonally across my body. A piece of paper vibrated faintly inside.
“Oh, this. It’s magical paper…”
The edges of the paper were gradually burning away in blue flames.
A magical artifact that allows communication with its counterpart by writing simple messages on it.
Once the mana embedded within the paper is depleted, it’s finished—essentially a disposable item.
‘The woman who gave me this…’
She must have crossed the Babylon Border by now.
“Hmm…”
I glanced at Father’s expression before slowly placing the paper on the table.
For some reason, using magic in front of Father still felt embarrassing.
‘Of course, since this is a mana-embedded magical artifact, I’m not actually using my own power.’
Still… something about it…
As I placed my hand on it, blue letters materialized above the paper.
“Ha.”
Father released a short sigh, resting his chin in his hand. Soon, a large hand gently landed on my head.
“To think my daughter is such a spirited, versatile, and adorable little mage.”
It felt like my descriptors were multiplying…
“Hah….”
“This paper has quite the range of functions.”
“It’s limited to short exchanges, but….”
Father stared at the paper, which had shrunk to about half the size of a bookshelf.
“So. She managed to escape well, did she?”
“…Yes! Thanks to her!”
On the paper, the words 【Thank you, Rubian.】 had appeared.
That familiar handwriting belonged to Second.
“Father! You can’t kill her!”
That day, I barely stopped Father from killing Second.
I pierced through the location of her mark, avoiding the sharp vital points, and halted my blade.
It was when the Mage King’s mana had accumulated to its peak.
I immediately shattered Second’s mana core.
As the vessel containing mana shattered, the mark’s connection severed, and the Mage King’s mana dispersed into the air.
Of course…. This was an enormous gamble.
A mage whose core was destroyed could have died on the spot without it being strange.
‘But I had experience from Kanalan Gorge, so….’
I had released the young mages of the Mage Corps in that manner before.
“…I shattered your mana core. Your injuries are severe, so I’m not sure how much longer you’ll survive in that weakened state….”
“Huh….”
“But the mark has lost its power.”
Father secretly had someone bring her to the Townhouse Underground Prison for treatment.
I pretended to seclude myself in my room while watching over Second.
“Consider it my repayment for the information. I think I’ve done my part….”
Second’s request to remove the mark.
Second’s wish not to die meaninglessly.
“Escape once your major wounds heal. If you want to live, that is. You too… find your own nest.”
“Seventh….”
“Look, my name is Rubian.”
“….”
“Rubian Zebert. You should pick a proper name for yourself too. Ah, the one written on that restoration worker application wasn’t bad.”
Second clenched her teeth while tears streamed down her face.
The beautiful woman who had stood at the Mage King’s right side.
A bystander and hypocrite who valued her own life above all else, but still…. Even so.
“…Seventh, apply this wound regeneration salve. I’ll leave the formula here for you to take.”
“….”
“Don’t mention that I gave it to you. Father dislikes me getting involved….”
The hypocrisy hurled like stone from the Mage Kingdom occasionally gave me room to breathe.
‘Well. I’m not sure if someone who’s lived her whole life in the Royal Palace can truly survive on her own.’
A life harsher than death might unfold before her.
In any case, that was her life.
‘Of course, I didn’t save Second purely out of the goodness of my heart.’
Second was a woman who knew everything about the Mage Kingdom.
‘…When I eventually bring down the Kingdom.’
The information she possessed would prove useful in any number of ways.
The margins of the magical paper were not generous.
Therefore, we decided to use it only when necessary.
I deliberated for a moment before my fingers suddenly moved across the surface.
There was one last thing I wanted to ask Second.
【 Do you… remember what I looked like before I went to war? I mean, what I looked like when I was very young…. 】
I wrote the characters carefully, making sure Father wouldn’t notice.
【 The person who gave birth to me, for instance. 】
My childhood—the parts I couldn’t remember.
One day, the question suddenly struck me.
A question so fundamental I wondered why I’d never asked it before.
‘Was Wizeria… there from the moment I was born?’
Then where was I born? Where did this body come from?
Blue letters seeped into the paper.
Crackle. The edge of the paper glowed blue as it burned away.
【 No. 】
The letters emerged slowly, laden with hesitation.
【 You… suddenly appeared one day when the Mage King brought you. No one knows where you came from. 】
I stared silently at the paper.
【 But I thought the Mage King must have given you some hint about it…. If you don’t know, then…. 】
Crackle.
Ash bloomed from the paper and scattered gently through the window.
【 Then where did you come from? 】
* * *
Kalid was covering his ears inside the swaying carriage.
“You brat! I’m speaking, and you dare make that face like you don’t want to hear it?!”
“Ah, please just leave me be….”
“What?! When you say it like that, it only makes me want to keep going!”
“Ah!”
Rubian, please, switch places with me….
Kalid writhed in agony.
“Your Excellency, Your Excellency. Please take a look at these blueprints. Some rather excellent items have arrived at the Capital Shop, have they not?”
Fortunately, Morris came to Kalid’s rescue.
“Hmm. Well, that’s true. Let me see. Should we start by identifying the points that would drive Maddix mad? First, I’ll need to mark those in black.”
“Truly devious, sir.”
“Kekeke.”
Grandfather and Morris instantly became absorbed in the world of blueprints.
Thanks to that, Kalid could finally sink into quiet contemplation.
He recalled a single memo he had long carried within himself.
‘Something I transcribed from the cave where I was imprisoned….’
It was the exact phrase that had been inscribed inside the iron chains binding him.
Nagre me rop.
‘But that wasn’t it.’
“Ancient languages have multiple character arrangements.”
Rubian had said as much.
If that were the case, then it wasn’t meant to be read like an ordinary book….
‘What if it was read backwards.’
Pro me regna.
He turned the words over in his mind.
Before leaving the Capital, Kalid sought out Uliophe Molton in secret, carrying those words and keeping them hidden from Rubian.
“Hmm? You’re curious about this sentence?”
The haggard-faced Professor was delighted, remarking that many students these days were taking an interest in ancient languages.
“Yes, well.”
“Ah, this isn’t a particularly difficult sentence.”
Kalid nervously licked his lips.
“This text was primarily used in ancient royal palaces.”
“…Royal Palace?”
“Pro me regna.”
Uliophe added with a gentle smile.
“It means ‘for my king.'”

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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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