The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 33

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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 33
“Ha.”
“Don’t laugh. I’m genuinely furious.”
Though his eyes seemed even redder than mere anger would warrant.
“Sigh.”
Kalid dried his face with a gesture that seemed far too mature for his years. His strikingly handsome features bore the unmistakable weight of exhaustion.
“…So there really is a reason you must remain in Zebert Territory at all costs.”
“Mm….”
After pressing his lips firmly together for a moment, Kalid exhaled a sigh tinged with resignation.
“Fine. Then there’s no helping it.”
He had ultimately surrendered to my stubbornness. I smiled apologetically in response.
“Then I should think of a way too.”
“What way?”
A brief smile crossed his pale face. Bathed in moonlight, his features seemed even more mysterious and beautiful than usual.
“That’s my secret.”
“Tch.”
How frustrating that I can’t openly interrogate him when I’m hiding secrets of my own!
We sat side by side at the base of a tree and shared stories of what had transpired.
Kalid told me that the moment our contact was severed, he had pushed the number of his summoned servants to their limit and scoured the entire Continent searching for me.
‘The sheer volume of mana he possesses is truly extraordinary….’
The range in which one can command summoned servants is typically limited to their immediate surroundings.
So why had he been trapped in that cave?
“I told you. I don’t remember.”
Kalid rummaged through his worn bag and handed me a red mountain fruit. Oh, I used to eat these often when I was wandering through the Eastern Continent Forest.
“Whoever those bastards were, they must have used poorly crafted magical artifacts.”
“It wasn’t a magical artifact inscription though…. But they really did something terrible to him.”
“What do you expect from dark alley mercenaries.”
Red berries tumbled from my hand.
Perhaps it was because he had suffered since childhood.
‘Sometimes he speaks with a maturity that surpasses my own.’
Kalid, who had neither parents nor a homeland, had lived as a wandering mercenary since time immemorial.
‘All he remembers is his name. He said the surname Liork was something he adopted casually just because it was necessary for work.’
Perhaps that was why Kalid disliked being called by his full name. No matter what, it never felt right to him, or so he claimed.
I was currently speculating that his imprisonment in the cave might have resulted from falling into a trap while working for the Mercenary Company.
“Regardless of the reason. I’ll find every last one of those bastards who imprisoned me and have my revenge.”
I stared blankly at Kalid’s profile.
‘Right, as expected.’
The male lead of Part 2 is indeed different.
That’s right.
In Part 2 of 【A Sword Planted Upon Ruins】, the Young Boy sitting beside me appears as the protagonist.
Of course, after feeling such tremendous betrayal from Part One, I avoided Part Two entirely for a while. But then, when I finally decided to watch just the first episode…
‘He’s dead.’
Sigh. I should’ve just read something healing instead.
Part Two begins with a young man who had been trapped in a Cave for some reason breaking free from his prison on his own.
He investigates the reason for his confinement, vows to find the person who imprisoned him and take his revenge, then plants his sword in the desolate wasteland.
‘And that was literally just one episode’s worth of content.’
So I don’t know why Kalid was trapped in that Cave in the first place, or whether he ultimately succeeded in his revenge… but.
If the author had any sense, wouldn’t they have given the Part Two protagonist at least a firmly sealed happy ending?
“…You’re looking at me like that again.”
At the sudden sound of his voice, I jolted out of my reverie.
“Oh, sorry. I was just praying for your revenge to succeed. I’ll stop now!”
“…That’s not what I meant.”
Kalid muttered while scratching the bridge of his nose slightly. I chuckled and split the fruit in half.
‘Sigh. Sorry, Kalid.’
You probably won’t be able to shine as much as you did in the original…
Because the Part One male lead won’t die. That scene where you plant your sword in the desolate wasteland with such swagger probably won’t happen…
‘But I’ll guarantee you a happy ending!’
Once I finish my task, I’ll help with your revenge!
Actually, in the original, Kalid didn’t escape the prison until he was nearly an adult. I had inadvertently twisted the original timeline.
‘It turned out better this way. I deserve to praise my past self.’
Though the situation outside the Cave wasn’t exactly easy either.
‘Still, the thought of a child being bound in a dark Cave for years longer is horrifying!’
In the original, Kalid spent his youth in literal darkness, which is why he grew into an adult with a completely shattered personality.
“I brought this for you to eat, so why are you giving it to me? You eat it all…”
A pure phase where he bashfully hands over food with flushed cheeks? Of course that didn’t exist.
“This took effort to get because I had to threaten those mercenary bastards, so hurry up and eat.”
His personality still hasn’t been corrupted, right?
“Ugh. Anyway, you’ve had quite a tragic fate too.”
I let out a long sigh and stretched my short legs out straight.
Kalid raised his eyebrows at what I said, but didn’t add anything more.
“But how did you get in here?”
Once I’d finished thinking, I casually changed the subject.
“A hole. It was a bit difficult to find.”
He spoke as if it were nothing new.
He must have discovered the small passage that the animal friends used to come and go.
“Be careful not to get caught. Oh right, and…”
I rummaged through my clothes and handed him the things I’d prepared in advance.
“What is this?”
“The key to my Shop and a map of here. Honestly, I’d like to ask you to come to the Main Fortress with me… but since I’m just staying here myself, it’s a bit awkward.”
“….”
“For now, stay here! There’s a thermal stone, so you’ll be warm and comfortable.”
“You took over a shop? Did you come to drain Zebert’s coffers?”
“What are you talking about?”
I brushed the dust from my hands and rose to my feet. The wayward child who’d slipped out of the bedroom needed to return soon.
“Just stay put there for now, then head to a nearby city. Besides, we have this, so it’s not so bad….”
I laughed, tapping my earlobe lightly.
“We can be apart and still be fine! Lucky, right?”
At that, the Young Boy smiled softly.
“You don’t understand the meaning of ‘lucky,’ do you?”
“…? Is that an insult?”
“Who knows.”
Tsk, that guy.
I smacked Kalid’s forearm hard. Of course, it was always my arm that came away bruised….
“Anyway, behave yourself! Don’t block me!”
“Stop saying pointless things.”
Kalid brushed the dust from his clothes and stood, extending his arm toward me.
“But I’ve been bothered by something since earlier….”
“Hmm?”
“Come here.”
He unfastened the bracelet he’d been wearing on his wrist with a click.
“Let me see your mana. Wasn’t it hard without mana?”
“Wow….”
I couldn’t hide the emotion welling up inside me.
“What’s with that cute expression?”
“No, I’m just moved that someone finally understands a mage’s struggles…. Wait, what was the question again?”
“…What’s with that cute expression, I said.”
“Ah, I’ve been really struggling. It’s a bit better here, but in the Capital, it was seriously, seriously hard?”
As I explained while gesticulating wildly, Kalid’s stern expression softened into a smile.
With that rigid mask gone, the familiar boy I knew seemed to return—the mercenary who’d always protected me from behind, traversing battlefields at my side.
“Yeah. Babylon Capital is pretty intense for me too. Here.”
Kalid extended his hand to me. I gently grasped his fingertips.
“Ahhh!”
Pure mana flowed in as if it had been waiting for this moment.
The magic circle inscribed on my earlobe grew warm. Only Kalid, who bore the same oath mark as I did, could share mana with me.
The mana intertwined like tree roots allowed us to freely exchange our power with one another.
Of course, Kalid had never wanted to receive my meager strength, so I was always in the position of merely taking….
“I feel like I can really live now….”
“Then why did you leave me?”
Light complaints followed.
“What was I to you again?”
“What?”
“Auxiliary… battery? That thing!”
“Huh, you actually remembered that?”
As I chuckled, the Young Boy’s ears seemed to flush slightly red.
“I remember everything you say.”
I felt the surging mana wash over my entire body. This sensation of vitality coursing through me, no—mana flowing through every fiber! How I’d missed this!
“Are you satisfied?”
“Very much!”
At that, Kalid tilted his head slightly.
“So when are you going to welcome me?”
I quickly withdrew my hands and brushed them off.
“Right now!”
I jumped up and threw my arms around his neck, causing him to stumble back slightly. A refreshing wave of mana flooded in like the tide.
“I’m so glad to see you again, Kal!”
* * *
The next day.
It was a brilliantly clear morning.
Birds chirped, and warm sunlight streamed through the Bedroom.
“…This is bad.”
Amid that peaceful morning scene, I trembled with a decidedly unpeaceful expression.
‘Kalid? Kal! You #@%&!’
Because Kalid Liork had blocked me again!

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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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