The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 291

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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, Chapter 17
“Kalid… I’m hurting.”
“What?”
Kalid hastily examined her body. However, there were no visible injuries.
Could it be that something inside her body was damaged?
“I’m really… my heart hurts so much. Sob….”
Rubian, curled up like a round ball, began to cry.
Kalid let out a deep sigh.
“So… there was an error in the diary, which is the medium for the time warp, causing the warp itself to malfunction.”
“Mm….”
“The reason we were separated and our bodies regressed is because of that.”
“Yeah….”
Kalid muttered while examining the ‘false’ diary that Rubian had handed him.
“Sigh. Then returning won’t be easy either. We can only return to the original world if we fix the errors in this diary.”
“That’s right…. Sob, you really, really are such a clever child… teach me one thing and you understand ten… waaah.”
“…Either cry or praise me, but can’t you just pick one?”
Kalid took out a water bottle from the bag he had brought and gave it to Rubian to drink.
Then he gently wiped her cheeks dry.
“I’d prefer it if you stopped crying.”
“…Sob, sorry. Seeing you just made me overwhelmed.”
Rubian barely managed to suppress her tears.
A party seemed to have started somewhere, and faint music could be heard in the distance.
“So what exactly happened.”
“I… actually met the Mage King,”
At that moment, Kalid’s expression changed drastically.
Rubian calmly reassured him.
“Calm down. I said I met someone ‘like’ the Mage King.”
“…Who on earth is that.”
“…My teacher.”
“Your teacher?”
Just as Rubian was about to explain everything that had happened, she shifted her body slightly.
Clink.
Something golden fell from her pocket.
Kalid picked up the object.
Wrapped in a blue magic circle visible only to mages, this was….
“Rubian, you didn’t….”
“Mm….”
Rubian sniffled and spoke.
“I copied it on the way back. The key….”
“What? How on earth did you.”
“One thing after another… all sorts of complications… but in the end, it worked out.”
“Really? That’s impressive.”
“Right.”
“…Wait, no. You need to explain this properly. What exactly happened? And who is this teacher of yours… are you really sure you’re okay?”
“….”
Rubian finally exhaled a long, weary sigh.
Before arriving at the Banquet Hall.
Mercenary Company Headquarters.
“Look, child. Don’t you see all these reliable sisters around, just as I promised? They’re all in circumstances similar to yours.”
“Yes….”
Rubian held the Commander’s hand and gazed at Rosetta.
“Then, Rosetta. Shouldn’t you report the mission results?”
“….”
“Rosetta?”
“…Ah, yes.”
The moment Rosetta forced her gaze away.
My stomach burned as though I’d swallowed fire.
‘Mother… all of them….’
That Rosetta and these others—who were practically my older sisters—were living in this absurd Assassination Guild was something I couldn’t accept.
“Hmm, the condition isn’t very good. And why is there only a head in the sack?”
The Commander frowned as he peered inside the bag.
Blood had soaked through the bottom of the sack, likely from transporting the corpse.
Sensing this wasn’t something a child should see, Rosetta and the women instinctively blocked my view with their bodies.
At that small gesture, my anger flared anew.
“Why are you alone in a place like this?”
“Could it be… did you lose your mother and father?”
In that moment when I was about to chase after Rosetta in the Dark Alley.
I encountered the ‘Commander’ of this place.
‘For a second, I thought he was the Mage King.’
Normally, I would have naturally shaken him off and fled, but I noticed a peculiar emblem in his pocket.
‘A lightning-struck, one-eyed insignia.’
Recognizing it as the emblem of the Mercenary Company that Rosetta belonged to, I immediately followed the man.
Inside the carriage heading to Biltain, there were three other children besides me. All of them were abandoned.
The man spouted sophistry throughout the journey.
“The truth is, you don’t deserve to live in this world. That’s why you were abandoned.”
“…?”
“Think about it. The world is vast. Extremely vast. But unfortunately… there’s no place for you in it. There are beings in this world who should never have been born, after all.”
“…?”
“But don’t worry. Your teacher loves you. So will you trust me and follow me?”
“…?”
‘It was nothing but nonsense to me… but it might have worked on the children.’
For children struggling to survive, having someone to rely on was truly vital.
Perhaps the man had appeared to them like a god.
‘If they continued being brainwashed like that… they’d do whatever he commanded.’
And if he isolated them within this ‘wall’ like this, it would only make things worse….
‘Ah….’
Rubian began to understand.
Why she had mistaken the Commander’s voice—the one she called ‘Teacher’—for the Mage King’s.
It was because the stench emanating from them was similar.
‘The perpetrators of exploitation and abuse….’
And on top of that… a curse that kills you if you leave the ‘wall’ without the Teacher’s permission.
‘It’s just like the Mage King’s mark.’
I knew that pain all too well.
That’s why I couldn’t contain my rage.
I wanted to pour all my mana into obliterating this place immediately, to save Rosetta from her past.
But….
Warning! Warning!
Please adhere to Traveler’s Rules!
‘Shut up. I know.’
Staring at the flashing crimson message window before my eyes, I clenched both fists tightly.
‘I can’t tamper with the past carelessly.’
Instead, I recalled desperately.
“Rubian! What tea should we have with Mother today?”
Mother’s face as she leisurely sipped tea in the Duke’s Castle Garden.
‘I know Mother’s future. This wretched place… she’ll escape from it soon.’
Rosetta will definitely find happiness.
‘Father will save her for sure.’
So… I mustn’t become a mudskipper.
I can’t recklessly disturb the past and create variables.
I couldn’t bear even the slightest cloudiness in the happiness reserved for Rosetta because of that.
‘Grit my teeth and endure, Rubian. In a few days, Mother and Father will meet… I’ll hide quietly and secretly follow Mother when she moves.’
Just as I managed to calm myself, Rosetta’s report reached my ears.
“We could only recover the head of the corpse. The target fell off a cliff during pursuit. Perhaps… they caught on something sharp while falling.”
The corpse’s facial features were all mangled.
But the target’s characteristic protruding teeth were rolling around inside the mouth. The hair color and skeletal structure were identical too.
The Commander stared at Rosetta and smiled broadly.
“I see.”
That’s when it happened.
‘…Huh?’
Rubian, peeking between people’s legs and rolling her eyes, furrowed her brow.
‘That corpse….’
Something feels off about this.
“There’s a cliff behind us, you octopus-headed fool!”
“…Ugh! My hair!”
‘I could have sworn I cracked that octopus man’s skull.’
…So why is he unharmed?
But before I could investigate further, Aina stuffed the corpse back into the sack.
“So, what about the item the target stole?”
“It’s in the box next to it.”
The Commander pulled out a glittering necklace.
“Perfect! The client will be satisfied with this.”
“…But are you certain that man really stole from the Imperial Palace?”
Rosetta asked.
“Of course.”
“….”
“He was utterly shameless. If he’d been caught, execution would have been inevitable. However… a nobleman visiting the Imperial Palace stealing imperial treasures doesn’t look good, does it?”
“….”
“If we conducted a public search, it would damage the Imperial Court’s reputation, so they simply requested our ‘assistance.'”
The Commander surveyed the women before him.
“So you’ve done the right thing. Hold your heads high and be proud!”
“…Then our client is His Majesty the Emperor?”
My body stiffened momentarily.
At the mention of the Emperor, my mind immediately conjured the current Emperor, Dietrian Babylon.
But then.
‘It’s been twenty-two years since then… he would still be Crown Prince at this time.’
Unlike the kind ‘Imperial Uncle’ I knew, I’d heard the Previous Emperor was quite the tyrant—a madman lost in extravagance and debauchery.
‘So that Emperor not only turned a blind eye to this illegal Mercenary Company, but entrusted them with all manner of dirty work.’
Now I understood why the Empire was rife with lawlessness, crime, and poverty. When a madman sits on the throne, absurdity becomes commonplace.
It was a depressing realization.
“Rosetta. My dear.”
The Commander placed a hand on Rosetta’s shoulder.
“You’re quite curious today, aren’t you?”
In that instant, Rosetta’s pupils trembled slightly.

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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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