The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 240

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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 240
“Wait, wait, wait! Kalid! Let go!”
The moment I cried out, Kalid swiftly sheathed his sword.
“Elder Mage!”
“Cough, cough. Everyone… do not resist.”
The woman clutching her throat steadied those around her with an icy voice. She rose unsteadily to her feet, her eyes regarding me with disbelief.
“How… how did you come to be here?”
“That’s precisely what I’d like to ask you.”
“…”
“You were an elder of the Royal Palace and a confidant of the Mage King himself. Why are you in this place?”
“That is because…”
The woman swept her gaze across the surroundings and collected herself.
It seemed everyone already knew she had once served as a mage of the Royal Palace.
“Naturally, I could no longer endure the Mage King’s conduct. Several of us elders who shared this conviction escaped the Royal Palace together. We scattered in all directions, and now I know not whether they live or have perished.”
“If you succeeded in escaping the Royal Palace, why didn’t you flee elsewhere?”
I trailed off, my lips sealing shut.
‘Ah, I think I understand now.’
I recalled Benjamin, whose eyes had always carried a glimmer of guilt whenever he looked at me.
“To help the villagers escape…”
Perhaps it was she who had revealed the Mage King’s experiments.
“The Mage King has already lost his pride as a great Arcan. I cannot sacrifice any more precious mages.”
It was likely she who had excavated the magical artifacts and stones from the portal, then used teleportation magic to exchange them for food from other villages.
I glanced at the old man’s humble bundle containing black bread.
“More importantly, why have you…”
The old woman regarded me with an expression of utter despair.
“Why have you returned to this hell?”
Her voice trembled with barely contained emotion.
* * *
The Elder Mage’s name was Idelaine.
“There is a way.”
I quickly explained to Idelaine the purpose of my return to this place.
When she learned that the four soldiers I’d thought were mere foot soldiers were actually a crown prince, a duke, a prince, and a knight, she fell silent for approximately one minute.
Upon learning further that I had returned to sever the Mage King’s neck, she lapsed into silence once more for another minute.
But her shock was brief. The wise Elder Mage quickly returned to the matter at hand.
“The portal in the Lower Village remains intact. We can steal a magical artifact from there.”
“Could we not simply travel to the Lower Village and use that portal directly?”
Idelaine shook her head firmly.
“That village has few residents, so the gate is too small to allow large numbers to pass through. This location is preferable. Moreover…”
“Moreover?”
“The villagers fled here long ago. However, the Mage King’s soldiers have abandoned pursuit and now guard this place to capture those who attempt to return.”
“Ugh.”
This tiresome pursuit again.
“Some of the Temple portals were deliberately damaged to prepare for potential invasions. However, if you need them, I can attempt repairs on the magical circles.”
“Then we only need to retrieve the magical artifacts.”
Idelaine nodded in agreement.
“I’ll draw a teleportation circle capable of round-trip travel to the Village outskirts. As for the personnel to infiltrate the Village….”
“I’ll do it.”
My Father, who had been listening silently, spoke. As he tore away the golden necklace hanging around his neck, the magical aura that had been wrapping around him vanished.
“This way, those Mages won’t sense any magical power.”
He smiled with an unhurried expression.
“Perfect for theft.”
My Father is quite the hero in his own right. Does this line really suit him?
“Then I’ll show you the portal’s location.”
Idelaine marked the position on the Village map she was holding and handed it over.
Just in case, I layered multiple protective spells on Father that would activate in any emergency.
“Father, be careful….”
“You worry about so many things.”
“Of course I know Father is incredibly strong, but still….”
A long finger flicked against my forehead.
“I got it. I’ll come back without anyone noticing. Have you ever seen me break a promise?”
“You break them all the time…. When are you finally going to stop sneaking bell pepper pieces into my soup….”
As I whined, Father laughed like a villain.
By then, the sun had begun to set.
Since there was concern about magical beasts appearing at night, Licht and Kalid took positions guarding the perimeter. Liam had been absorbed in the stories people were spreading about the Royal Palace experiments.
“Then I’ll help with the portal magical circle repairs.”
“Will you be alright?”
Idelaine asked carefully, perhaps thinking I wouldn’t be able to do anything while worried about Father disappearing beyond the teleportation circle.
“Yes, of course! I can worry and still do what I need to do.”
“…I understand. Let’s go together.”
“Oh, before that.”
I reached out toward Idelaine, who was awkwardly rising to her feet.
“May I take a look at your neck wound?”
“…?”
Her neck, marked with a thin scratch. And below it, the messy emblem of the Mage Kingdom etched into her skin.
Before Idelaine could say anything, my hand touched her skin.
Soon, the familiar pattern of purification magic came to mind.
* * *
Whoosh.
Leviathan’s blade cut silently through the air.
Two soldiers patrolling the Village collapsed without even a scream.
He moved through the shadows with practiced ease.
Once more, he drove his blade swiftly and silently into the hearts of soldiers ransacking an empty house.
Those who transcended the body’s limits were equally skilled at concealing their presence. They died without ever knowing what had killed them.
“Got it. I’ll come back without anyone noticing. Have you ever seen Father break a promise?”
“Well… you usually do break them…”
My daughter truly is clever.
‘How did she know it was a lie?’
From the start, I had no intention of leaving a single one of the Mage King’s tracers alive in this village.
‘If I let them live, they’ll definitely crawl all the way to that Temple.’
I needed to eliminate anything that could threaten my children beforehand—only then could I rest easy.
“Among the mages in that village, is there anyone who doesn’t deserve this?”
Before departing, I asked Idelaine. The wise Elder Mage quickly grasped my intent and spoke.
“All those currently under the Mage King are following him of their own volition. There should be no hesitation in wielding your blade, Duke.”
“Then… have they also stolen innocent children and offered them to the Mage King?”
“If they bear red embroidery on their priestly robes.”
…
“Without question.”
I flipped the dead mage’s body over with my foot.
Blood—redder still than the embroidery—flowed across the fabric, soaking the hem.
The priestly robes with red embroidery were gifts bestowed directly by the Mage King. Only those who had completed his commands could receive them.
“Beasts would be better than these wretches.”
I growled low, gripping the magical artifact in my hand tightly. The artifact that had been embedded in this village’s portal was now in my grasp.
“I should return.”
Rubian would be waiting.
I sniffed to check if blood scent clung to me, then suddenly exhaled a long sigh.
I had found a familiar mark on the dead man’s forearm.
“It’s just a guess… but Rubian probably hasn’t erased her own mark.”
Aboard the boat heading toward the Mage Kingdom, Kalid spoke quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s difficult to confirm with the eyes since we can’t expose her clothing.”
“Of course not, you brat.”
“The mana around her lower back isn’t clean.”
“That area…”
Thwack. Leviathan finally couldn’t hold back and flicked him on the forehead.
“So you’ve been probing around.”
The youth, now at eye level with me, rubbed his forehead with an expressionless face.
“It hurts.”
“I know it doesn’t hurt at all.”
“Hmph.”
“…Sigh. Fine then… I understand.”
Leviathan wiped his face with a massive hand. Could he truly allow the precious youngest daughter of his family to be taken from him like this?
A creeping sense of crisis washed over him, but for now, he set that aside.
‘When I asked before, she was evasive about it.’
He thought he understood why Rubian hadn’t erased her mark.
‘If I fail to deal with the Mage King, she intends to drain his power through her mark as a contingency.’
He recalled the Mage King from the Academy days, the one who bore the mark of Second. The Mage King had controlled the mages by transferring portions of his own magical power into their marks.
“Father, don’t worry. I have the upper hand in this mark battle. I’m the one who—”
“Mark Master?”
“…How is it? Really that bad?”
“It hurts just to say it.”
“Why is that?”
From the way she spoke, it seemed Rubian’s mark had stopped growing and was no longer under the Mage King’s control.
Leviathan flicked his sword to shake off the blood, then turned his body. He charged toward the last of the crimson embroidered figures, his thoughts crystallizing.
‘I won’t worry, Rubian.’
After all, her assumption was flawed from the start.
A one-in-a-million chance?
Hardly.
There was no possibility he would fail to eliminate the Mage King.
Even if it meant burning away his very life. Absolutely not.
“Forgive me, daughter, but this time I must ask you to yield to your father.”
Blood erupted where the silver blade danced.
Those who had followed evil and treated the misfortune of others as playthings crawled across the ground, lower than insects.
He crushed their temples beneath his feet and laughed sharply.
This was his first vengeance.

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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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