The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 302

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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 28
‘Before that.’
Hmm.
Now that I think about it… what exactly is this present moment we’re living in right now?
‘Could it be that the current present has formed by combining everything, including the possibility that I traveled back in time?’
It was a question that grew more pressing with each time jump.
‘Well, I’m not entirely sure, but…’
Regardless, there was one thing I absolutely had to say.
‘That’s fine, right? System!’
Silence… stillness…
“Good.”
“Huh? Why am I touching this kid’s head?”
“Uh!”
Rubian hastily tidied up the dumpling bun hairstyle that Ballock had clumsily tied, then sprang to her feet.
She took a sharp breath, then exhaled rapidly.
“Grandfather! Because of my otaku older brother, reading the demon beast compendium is my hobby. They say in Tastia Gorge there are demon beasts that lurk underground and target human legs! So!”
Whoooooosh!
Zoom!
The two little ones vanished like the wind.
Ballock blinked slowly.
“What?”
What? Target legs?
“General! You’re here?”
Not long after, Adjutant Morris approached.
“It looks like it might rain quite heavily, so I was thinking we should focus on areas with stable ground… Hmm? Who were you with?”
“Lost children.”
“Sir?”
“I was with one cute kid and another even cuter kid! Send some people to make sure they can get back safely.”
“What on earth… children hate you, General. Surely you didn’t just scare them for no reason…?”
“No!”
Morris wiped away cold sweat.
“I even tolerated them calling me grandfather!”
Middle-aged Ballock’s voice wavered with emotion.
“Ah, I see.”
“Hmm, but strangely, my lips kept moving on their own? It was like a magnet pulling me, those kids.”
I’m the stubborn type who doesn’t get drawn in by bloodline.
Ballock tilted his head in confusion.
“More importantly… Morris. Were there any demon beasts in Tastia Gorge that lurk beneath the ground and ambush the lower bodies of humans?”
“Pardon? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Hmm. What could it be? Look into it for now.”
“Well, once this hunt festival ends. …It’s shaping up to be quite the troublesome affair, wouldn’t you say?”
Ballock scratched the back of his head vigorously.
“Well, I suppose….”
“The Crown Prince has already entered the hunting grounds, or so I hear. His Majesty the Emperor is preparing to depart shortly.”
“Still keeping that habit of sending the lower ranks in first to drive out the prey. And enjoying a hunt in the rain is rather distasteful….”
“That may well prove to be a fatal blunder.”
“Ah, what a headache. I’m sick of being a Duke!”
I’d rather just spend my days teasing cute little ones like before.
Since I’m already being called grandfather, it wouldn’t hurt to develop a dignified appearance befitting the title. Though our bloodline does age rather slowly.
‘Hmm, should I grow some white hair?’
Just then, a signal flare announcing the Emperor’s departure rose in the distance.
With the sound of a long horn pipe, the hunt festival began.
* * *
“Were you alright with that?”
“With what?”
“Saying such things to Ballock.”
Kalid asked.
Rubian nodded while running across the wet ground, her footsteps pattering softly.
“Once we leave this timeline, our memories will fade anyway. So my words might be easily dismissed or forgotten.”
“Then why bother.”
“But wouldn’t a sense of dissonance remain? And dissonance can become wariness…That much should be enough.”
Ballock would suffer a grave injury during a battle with a magical beast not long from now.
It was destined to plague him with leg pain for the rest of his life.
‘I can’t just pretend not to know that.’
In the distant future.
The ten-year-old Rubian who arrived at the Zebert Duchy would heal Ballock’s knees, and through this, Ballock—who had neglected his own body—would begin receiving consistent care from a physician. And he was meant to remain healthy ever since.
But for that to happen, the injury itself had to be within a ‘treatable’ range, didn’t it?
‘I’m not sure if this happened because I time-warped to the past, or if it was always meant to be this way.’
If there was something I could do right now, I had to do it.
Ballock’s injury itself was an unavoidable future, but at least.
‘Let it be an injury that my future self can manage somehow with a healing salve…!’
It was the bare minimum shield to protect my beloved grandfather.
“More importantly, what’s our plan now?”
Kalid tore off a large lotus leaf nearby and held it over her like an umbrella as he spoke.
Rubian added a simple waterproofing spell to her clothes on top of that.
“I didn’t expect to suddenly fall into a hunting ground. And without the Duchess…We’re not going to hold the engagement ceremony at a hunting ground, are we?”
“Hmm. That’s true, but….”
Rubian paused to think, then suddenly stared intently at Kalid’s face.
“But Kalid, why have you been making that expression since earlier?”
In fact, Kalid had been frequently furrowing his brow and gazing up at the sky since a while ago.
“No, it’s the air…”
A flock of black birds scattered overhead with a flutter of wings.
“It’s not exactly a beast’s presence, but rather… something unsettling. Ah, yes.”
The Young Boy reached up and grasped at the raindrops falling pitter-patter from above.
“The weather.”
“The weather?”
“Why would they choose a rainy day for the Babylon Hunt Festival?”
Rubian tilted her head in confusion.
“It’s not like they chose a rainy day on purpose—it just happened to rain. Though it does look like it’ll get heavier…”
“Then usually they’d postpone it by a day or two. Besides, we’re going to hunt all week anyway.”
“You… what are you trying to say?”
Kalid wiped away the raindrops streaming down Rubian’s cheeks and checked her body temperature to ensure she wasn’t getting cold.
“Rubian, about the Babylon Hunt Festival. When was the last one?”
“Hmm. The current Emperor chose to revive the old New Leaf Festival instead of the Hunt Festival… oh.”
“…”
“This is the last one…?”
Kalid nodded.
He channeled warm mana into Rubian while surveying their surroundings with sharp attention.
“Something will happen at this festival.”
“Oh no. Good heavens…”
I don’t want to be in the middle of such a historic moment!
The tyrannical Previous Emperor suffers a grave injury during this festival. Afterward, he falls ill and eventually dies.
‘That’s why Emperor Dietrian ascends to the throne faster than expected!’
By cruel coincidence, today was precisely that day when he would be gravely wounded.
“Damn it, why did we have to come on such a dangerous day?”
Kalid swallowed his curse.
The incident where the Previous Emperor gets injured… was it mere chance? Or something orchestrated by someone?
‘Well, there must be a reason they chose a rainy day.’
The falling rain could conceal many things—screams, blood, witnesses’ line of sight…
‘Of course, it has nothing to do with us.’
But why did I feel so uneasy?
Kalid narrowed his eyes.
The scurrying squirrels and flocks of birds flying overhead in formation troubled him.
“Let’s fix the diary quickly and end this warp.”
Kalid took Rubian’s hand.
“Okay!”
Not long after, the two of them spotted Leviathan again, whom they had momentarily lost.
Leviathan had tethered his horse nearby and was striding purposefully toward the Advanced Hunting Grounds, where red flags hung ominously.
No one followed him.
“Rubian. We need to head to the advanced grounds now too.”
“I understand.”
Rubian nodded with a bright expression.
“First, we mask our presence, cast protective magic. Kalid, you know what to do, right?”
“…Yes. Dark beasts—no, demonic creatures. Even if they appear, I won’t get excited and rush in. If it’s a flying type, I’ll wait until you cast your binding spell, and if it’s a melee type, I’ll ambush from behind.”
“Good.”
Rubian cast the spells with practiced ease, then smiled with an ambiguous expression.
“It feels like the old days, doesn’t it?”
“…”
Kalid wiped his face as though troubled.
I never wanted to see you in a place like this again.
I felt as though I might break apart from the anguish, but the only way forward was to overcome this situation as quickly as possible. Still, we both had experience now.
“Master. You mustn’t get hurt.”
Kalid gripped Rubian’s hand firmly.
At the title he hadn’t used in so long, Rubian’s eyes widened.
“Don’t hesitate to use me for your sake. Then or now, I am your sword and your shield.”
“Okay.”
“No matter what danger comes, I will protect you.”
Instead of answering, Rubian lightly bumped her forehead against his as she had long ago, giggling softly.

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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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