The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 219

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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 219
* * *
A moment later.
Leviathan rubbed his weary eyes.
Watching the children gathered in small groups at the cave entrance cry upon seeing me, I felt a fatigue I hadn’t known before settling into my bones.
“Children, don’t cry. I said don’t cry.”
The most composed-looking girl among them placed her hands on her hips and spoke.
“Look. We’ve all sheathed our swords. We have no intention of attacking you.”
“Sniff. R-really?”
She seemed to be the de facto leader of this group. Perhaps around twelve years old.
Leviathan sat atop a boulder, watching the children gradually calm their sobs and the silver-haired girl with a melancholic gaze.
“B-but we’ve destroyed all the demon stones, so when can we go back?”
“Just be patient a little longer. Soon the order to return will come. So don’t cry, alright?”
‘Damn it.’
Leviathan wiped his face again.
Despite my efforts not to, I kept seeing the childhood of that girl and Rubian overlapping.
I imagined Rubian wandering the battlefield must have been just like this.
Frightened herself, yet suppressing that fear, she would have comforted the other children first, looking after them.
‘Cursed bastard.’
If the Mage King were before my eyes now, I could inflict the most agonizing death imaginable.
As he swallowed his rising fury, Leon and Kalid returned with the supplies that had been left atop the cliff.
Their hands carried simple provisions and water.
“Wow.”
The children, apparently starving all this time, their faces smudged with soot, eagerly devoured the jerky and dried fruit Leon offered them.
The leader girl stood holding a single fruit she’d reluctantly accepted, uncertain what to do. But after a moment, as if she’d made a decision, the child approached Leviathan.
“Uncle.”
“…Yes?”
“Are you going to kill us?”
At her earnest voice, the children eating froze mid-motion.
“No.”
“Then are you going to lock us up?”
“No, I’m not.”
“…Then what?”
“I’ll wash you, feed you, and put you to bed. You filthy little…”
Leviathan rubbed his eyes again.
“…filthy things.”
Once more, Rubian came to mind.
At those words, the children who had been weeping silently with wet eyes from behind burst into tears anew.
“Waaaahhh.”
This time, they were tears of relief.
“W-well, we did something bad…. We kept hiding in a huge barrel and came all the way here and broke this….”
“Who told you to do that.”
The boy who had been hesitating mumbled.
“…O-our King….”
“Father.”
The girl leader interjected and finished his sentence. Leviathan stared at the child with a long sigh.
“You….”
“Hey. You’re not the ‘Eighth’ yet, are you.”
The boy glanced nervously at Leviathan and rebuked her.
“He said he’d let us do it if we do this job well! Then we won’t have to sleep in filthy places. We won’t have to eat dirty things! I’ll make sure you all live that way too!”
“….”
“We’ll really, truly live in abundance without illusion magic!”
“B-but I think this tastes good right now…. Don’t you?”
“I guess it does….”
The children began gnawing at the food again.
“This is driving me insane, really.”
Seeing their state, Leviathan ran his hand roughly through his hair. He turned his head toward the Knight standing firmly beside him.
“…Kalid. What do you think.”
“That girl has quite strong magical power. It seems she’s cast illusion magic deeper inside the cave. It would be unwise to venture any further in.”
At his matter-of-fact words, Leviathan rose to his feet.
The rocky cave was far deeper than it appeared from outside. He gazed into that pitch-black darkness for a moment before exhaling heavily.
“Leon, gather the children. We need to get out of here and think about this for a moment.”
“Yes.”
Leon and Kalid each picked up a child and began climbing the Cliff.
Only the girl with a wary expression remained.
“Come here, little leader.”
Leviathan grasped the girl’s sleeve. Honestly, as someone who had raised four children of this age before, handling her was easy.
“L-let go! If I go with you, I’ll become a fugitive mage!”
“Ha, just. Fugitive. The kid I know did that at ten years old.”
“Oh….”
At the unconscious admiration that escaped, Leviathan chuckled, realizing she was just a child after all.
The moment he was about to scoop her up, the girl retreated deeper into the cave. Her pitch-black eyes stared at him intently.
“A-ah, s-so that means…. You’re really Zebert Duke? The father of the ‘Seventh’…. Right?”
“Yeah. I don’t know about ‘Seventh’ or anything. But I do have a daughter named Rubian.”
“….”
“What. What is it.”
At his blunt question, the child pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her bosom.
“No, well. Just in case you catch me, I was told to hand this over.”
Hand it over?
Who told her to?
Leviathan unfolded the note.
As if on cue, letters infused with blue mana materialized before his eyes.
【 How does it feel to be robbed without even knowing you were robbed? 】
“What is this…?”
Leviathan’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Before he could respond, the next sentence appeared on the paper, then the one after that. His eyes tore through the note as if to shred it.
【 You have always been the one losing. 】
【 From eighteen years ago, you have never defeated me, not even once. 】
【 Soon you will understand. 】
“This… is madness.”
At that moment, the child’s calm voice continued.
“Sorry. I’m also afraid of rogue mages.”
The child rustled about and pulled a small orb from within their embrace.
“I should go now. Zebert Duke said I could use it when I meet him. An instant teleportation artifact.”
Seeing the child’s face light up with anticipation, my senses suddenly snapped back into focus.
An instant teleportation artifact?
Such a thing didn’t exist in this world…
“I’ll definitely come back for the children later! Hehe, now I finally have a father…”
“No!”
Boom!
A massive explosion thundered through the cave.
He barely snatched the self-destructing artifact from the child’s hand and hurled it away, but couldn’t escape the blast.
“Kyaaah!”
The ceiling collapsed toward the child as boulders rained down. Without hesitation, he threw himself forward to shield the child and pushed them toward the cave entrance.
Rumble, crash!
In an instant, the cascade of falling stones obscured his vision.
Rocks and gravel struck his body with dull force, but compared to the impact of the note he’d read just before the artifact detonated…
This was nothing.
The final sentence that had appeared.
【 You will be robbed from me once more and lose forever. 】
What could those words mean?
The words of that sentence tore through his mind in chaos.
Eighteen years ago.
Robbed.
…
Robbed of what?
* * *
“Damn it.”
Kalid clicked his tongue as he stared at the completely blocked cave entrance. Beside him, a young girl whimpered in shock.
“I’m… I’m sorry…”
“Quiet down a bit.”
The child fell silent at the chilling tone that cut through the cold air like a blade. I had thought Zebert Duke was the most terrifying person in the world, but it turned out this man was far more frightening.
“Is it possible? Kalid.”
Leon examined the child for injuries as he spoke. Kalid sighed and shook his head.
“If I trigger another explosion here with my mana, it won’t just be the cave—the entire Cliff will collapse.”
That was when it happened.
A sound came from deeper within.
“Kalid, can you find another exit?”
“Duke? Are you hurt?”
“No… what.”
At the sound of his voice, seemingly unharmed, Kalid and Leon swallowed short sighs of relief.
“I’ll search for one. A cave of this size should have another exit somewhere.”
A Squirrel that appeared from nowhere squeezed through a crevice in the rock with determined grunts and scurried inside.
“Yes. And Rubian…”
“Yes?”
His voice came through muffled and faint, blocked by the thick stone wall between us.
Perhaps that was why the Duke’s voice seemed to tremble.
“Can you contact Rubian for me?”
“That’s possible, but what is this about…?”
The Duke paused, as if collecting himself before speaking.
“Father is going to meet him. Just wait a moment.”
“…”
“Just wait a moment longer.”

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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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