The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 278

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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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Side Story Episode 4
He was a mage of Arcadia who had recently become a freelance mage. He had traveled across the Continent and come here to take employment.
The Mage Tower was filled with many mages like Polbou.
Mages who had cast off the shackles of their marks and lived as they wished, wherever they desired. This too would have been unimaginable when the Mage King still reigned.
I walked alongside Polbou, discussing the magical artifacts we were currently developing and various magical formulas.
Before long, we had reached a fork in the path.
“We’ve arrived! Thank you so much for carrying my luggage. The Annex is this way.”
“Already… here?”
For some reason, he looked rather disappointed.
“Well then, I’ll be going. I’m taking the rest of the day off!”
“Wait, Tower Master!”
“Yes?”
“D-d-did you perhaps… check your locker?”
My head tilted slightly.
“My locker?”
All Mage Tower staff were assigned individual lockers.
They were used to store mage robes, personal potions, and personal belongings.
“Wasn’t that under maintenance?”
“The repairs were completed yesterday, but….”
“Ah, then I haven’t had a chance to check it yet! I’ve been so busy.”
“I, I see.”
Polbou fidgeted like an anxious dog, his Adam’s apple bobbing repeatedly as he swallowed hard several times.
Could it be… that signal?
“T-Tower Master!”
I felt a chill run down my spine.
“There’s… something I really wanted to tell you…!”
I smiled calmly.
“Polbou. I’m truly sorry, but… this place is like a certain Knight Order in the Northern Region that suffers from chronic understaffing 365 days a year,”
“So please, just give me one chance to treat you to a meal soon…!”
“Resignation is very complicated, you see?”
“Actually… I did slip a letter into your locker. I’ve… admired you for such a very long time!”
That was the moment.
A Squirrel suddenly burst out from somewhere and clung directly to Polbou’s face.
“Meow! Meow!”
Polbou stumbled backward, flailing his arms wildly. As a result, my bundle of luggage that he had been holding flew through the air.
What, what is this?
Before I could even process the situation,
“Rubian, I’m here.”
Someone behind me used magic to snatch my luggage out of the air.
A thick arm, like a vine, wrapped firmly around my waist.
“No matter how much we need a porter, this is too much.”
“Ow.”
“How could you just pick up anything and use it?”
The man embracing me from behind gently bit the tip of my ear as if punishing me.
The sensation was ticklish yet strangely tantalizing, causing my brow to furrow slightly.
“Hmm? Darling.”
A low, cool voice—one that seemed thoroughly twisted with irritation.
“Didn’t I tell you not to play around with those presumptuous seafaring types?”
It seemed he’d just called me in a rather teasing manner….
“Aaahhh!”
Just then, Polbou, who had barely managed to separate the Squirrel from me, glanced frantically around.
It appeared his eyes had met Kalid’s. Polbou went pale as if he’d encountered a wild beast.
“L-L-Locker Room Bomber!”
Whoosh.
He vanished, leaving only dust in his wake. The Squirrel made its exit as well.
“What… What on earth?”
I was completely bewildered.
“You were trying to request a resignation meeting, weren’t you? I think you mentioned something about eating.”
“I don’t know. Does it matter?”
At his cold voice, I slowly turned my head.
A face where coolness and tenderness coexisted was gazing down at me intently.
Suddenly, my gaze was drawn to the vein that had suddenly bulged on his forehead.
“Why are you so angry?”
I rubbed it soothingly. The more I rubbed, the more pronounced it seemed to become….
“…I’m not angry. I’m sulking.”
Kalid grumbled.
“So why are you sulking? Ah, because they called you the Locker Room Bomber?”
“….”
“Though I admit, that’s a bit much… You were just making a mistake while organizing the Locker Room. Right?”
“Right….”
“If we’re going to assign blame, the real problem is whoever left celebratory magical artifacts in the Locker Room in the first place. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right….”
Kalid grasped my hand that had been rubbing his forehead and pulled it away, then brought it directly to his cheek.
“I was just doing my job diligently as your one and only secretary….”
“Oh dear.”
He rubbed his face against my palm with a dejected expression.
“I feel terribly… wronged.”
“Oh my.”
It was truly pitiful.
I reached out my other hand and patted his shoulder. Pat, pat.
“So from now on, don’t camp out in the Locker Room. People will get the wrong idea. Why do you keep dropping your belongings there anyway?”
“I’ll be more careful going forward.”
“Well, I worked hard to defend you, and now that the ban’s been lifted… let’s just be more cautious from here on out!”
Just then, I heard mages chattering and passing by in the distance.
I startled and reflexively pulled away from him.
“Ah, we were too close out there.”
“….”
Even if we were planning to go public eventually, we still needed to be careful at work.
Instead, I extended my hand wide open.
“Let’s hold hands. It won’t look suspicious that way.”
At that, Kalid let out a soft laugh.
“To everyone else, this is probably the most suspicious thing we could do….”
“Wow! That feels amazing! What did you say?”
“Take all my mana.”
A welcome sensation!
Mana flowed through our joined hands, spreading through my entire body in the most delightful way.
How had I forgotten about this for days?
He was carefully feeding me mana in small increments so it wouldn’t strain me.
Little by little. A bit, a bit. Just a touch… just a touch….
‘Hmm.’
For someone who said to take all of it, this was rather stingy.
I interlaced my fingers with his more firmly.
“Rubian, your hand hurts….”
“Huh? Oh, sorry.”
I quickly released the pressure from my grip.
Wind whistled through the loosened space between our hands. For some reason, I felt disappointed….
“Let’s go. There’s a carriage over there.”
Kalid gestured with his chin.
“You came by carriage? It’s been so long since….”
I was about to suggest we ride horses together….
But I caught myself and closed my mouth.
Come to think of it, if we each rode separately, I wouldn’t be able to receive his mana.
“It’s been so long since what?”
“Well… it’s been a while since a carriage ride felt nice.”
Kalid led me to the carriage waiting nearby without further comment.
It appeared to be one prepared by the Marquis Residence. As always, the windows were large and the interior spacious.
“I don’t get motion sickness on short distances anymore, isn’t this a bit too extravagant?”
“Better to be safe.”
“…?”
As I took my seat, I tilted my head in confusion.
“You… why are you sitting there?”
“Huh?”
I had naturally expected Kalid to sit beside me, but instead he settled himself directly across from me.
“Then where should I sit?”
Because of that, the hand that had been pressed against mine fell away, and the mana I’d been receiving in small increments cut off abruptly.
“…”
For some reason, it felt a bit irksome.
The abruptly severed mana flow, certainly.
The warmth of his hand withdrawing so coldly, just the same.
“Ah, right. The mana.”
Just then, Kalid drew the curtain connected to the coachman’s seat with a sharp motion and turned to face me.
“Here.”
Seeing his hand extended so indifferently, I felt a spark of irritation rise.
‘Seriously? So I’m the only one who feels the lack.’
The moment I lunged toward that hand.
Whoosh!
Kalid withdrew his hand.
“…!”
My body, suddenly losing its balance, tumbled into his embrace.
As if he’d been waiting for precisely this moment, his solid frame caught me without a gap, holding me securely.
Dumbfounded, I looked up to find him smiling faintly as he pressed a light kiss to my forehead.
“Did I get under your skin, Rubian?”
“You’re really something.”
“So now… there’s no one watching.”
A soft whisper spilled forth.
Somewhere along the way, our surroundings had become a complete private space.
“Do you want to do what you’ve been wanting to do now?”
Clatter, clatter.
The sound of the carriage rolling filled the silence around us.
‘Surely he didn’t board this carriage just for this.’
His eyes, leaning against the wall, curved with an infuriating charm. Absurdly, my heart quickened at the sight.
“No… wait.”
Before I could answer, the hand supporting my waist tightened with force. It was where the old mark had been.
An inexplicable thrill coursed through me as blue mana began seeping in from that very spot.
It was a tempestuous surge of mana, incomparably vaster than before.
“…You know, I think you’re getting worse. The way you drive people crazy.”
At that, Kalid let out an exasperated breath.
“Who’s the one going crazy? And who told you to neglect me?”
“When did I ever neglect you…!”
“Rubian, we’ll reach the Capital in just ten minutes.”
“….”
I clamped my mouth shut. There was only one answer left now.
“You’re dead. I’m going to drain every bit of your mana in ten minutes.”
“Intoxicating.”
As if in retaliation, I cupped his face in my hands and pressed my lips firmly against his.
A refreshing surge of mana flooded through my entire body, and power began to fill the core beside my heart with exquisite intensity.
“Outside you were stingy with it, but now you won’t give me any mana just from holding hands—is that it….”
I whispered with a hint of resentment, and Kalid tilted my body skillfully, laughing.
“That’s not quite it.”
Ah. This chair wasn’t meant to be reclined in like this….
“I just wanted to kiss you.”
“….”
I missed you, Rubian.
The languid whisper tickled across my entire body.

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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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