The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 38

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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 38
Clang—
The knife that had fallen to the floor spun sharply through the air.
“Ah….”
-That’s a match!
Good grief, what was that!
I forced my racing heart to calm itself.
Everyone except Leviathan and Kalid stared with eyes wide as a startled rabbit’s.
“It’s alright, child. You’re safe.”
Ah, and my Grandfather patting my head, of course.
“What… what…!”
Delmon, suddenly seized by the scruff of his neck, could only gape wordlessly, his face drained of color.
“My apologies.”
Kalid released him, as if only then regaining his senses.
“I sensed killing intent.”
“You sensed killing intent… and used me as a shield?”
Delmon collapsed to the floor, his expression utterly vacant.
Obron rushed over, demanding to know where Kalid had been hiding the knife. Kalid simply turned away without answering.
Leviathan, who had been watching all of this unfold, exhaled heavily and scratched his temple.
“A troublesome one has arrived.”
“Commander, I apologize for overstepping.”
“Enough.”
For some reason, I felt self-conscious and could only dart my eyes about nervously.
The Guardian rose from his seat and gestured.
“That’s enough. We’re done here.”
Obron’s mouth, which had been running wild with complaints, snapped shut instantly.
“Show the three of them around the Knight Order instead.”
“Ah, yes….”
Obron quickly tidied up his space.
My eyes met Kalid’s, who was brushing dust from his shoes with an indifferent expression.
‘Sorry.’
His lips moved slightly.
Thanks to his magnificent sweep through the air, all the white powder that had clung to his body had been scattered away.
‘Sigh. Really….’
I slid into a seated position.
“Guardian, about Kalid….”
“Yes. He seems unfamiliar with mock combat.”
“…I see.”
Kalid was a child of the battlefield.
Forged through countless brutal skirmishes where lives hung in the balance, he had never grown accustomed to elegant duels or the ticklish nature of mock combat.
How to fight ‘falsely’ without killing or harming your opponent.
It was clear that Kalid fundamentally failed to grasp that meaning.
Realizing this, my mouth turned slightly bitter.
“That’s right, little mercenary.”
A large hand settled above my chin. I tilted my head slightly to look up at my Guardian.
“But Rubian.”
“Hm?”
“Are you two close?”
Puzzled by the sudden question, I blinked and answered quietly.
“Close? I suppose so. But why?”
“When he sensed the killing intent, the first person this little one checked on was you.”
“Oh… I see.”
I creaked my head back and pretended to finish eating the walnut pie.
‘I can’t exactly tell him it’s because he’s a stubborn pup.’
Ugh. The gaze fixed on my temple burned hot, so I lifted my hand slightly to shield my cheek.
“Our youngest certainly has quite an unusual circle of acquaintances.”
Of course, he was gently rebuffed.
* * *
Despite some minor complications… the Zebert Knight Order, which welcomes all comers and clings to those who leave, accepted all three as junior members without issue.
I felt somewhat wronged, because…
“Why? Why am I still the youngest? Since when do we go by age!”
“That’s not it, Rubian.”
My Guardian pointed coldly to Kalid’s application form. It was the experience section he had written in large letters.
“He has experience.”
“…”
“You don’t.”
“Wow, an experienced hire.”
Having to conceal my glorious career was simply heartbreaking.
In any case, Kalid Liork confidently donned the Zebert Knight Order’s cloak.
And that wasn’t all. He even received quarters in the Knight Order building.
The young mage and male lead of the second arc had suddenly planted himself in the Northern Region.
“I’m fine with it.”
Kalid swept through my room and spoke indifferently.
“How could I possibly object?”
I sprawled sideways on the sofa and replied sulkily.
“Are you angry?”
“No, no. How could I dare be angry? I’ve experienced you acting alone without consulting me twice now, so I’m used to it by now. What’s the point?”
Yet I couldn’t help the sharp edge that crept into my tone.
Kalid, who had been watching quietly, gently brought his finger to my pinky.
Cool mana carefully seeped in.
“Don’t be angry.”
“Using magic and acting cute won’t work.”
“Well, it seems to be working.”
“….”
A smirk. The corners of my mouth twitching upward.
Were they really going to do this?
I rose from my seat with an embarrassed sigh.
“Do we really have to go this far? We can stay in contact without being attached to each other.”
I tapped the small magic circle carved faintly behind my ear.
Kalid laughed with an ambiguous expression.
“That’s precisely the problem, Master.”
“What problem?! As long as you don’t block it, there’s no issue at all!”
“You’re planning to abandon me and run away if something else happens, trusting that?”
“I didn’t abandon you, I’m telling you….”
“That’s never happening again.”
His tone was resolute. Kalid drove the point home with a quiet laugh.
“Besides, I’ve decided to walk the path of a swordsman now. I’m not giving magic a second glance.”
“Then what is this?”
I gestured lightly at the surging magic.
“Hmm…. Selfishness?”
“What?”
“Loyalty. You’re my master, after all.”
Watching Kalid smile softly, I realized I had already crossed a river from which there was no return.
“Sigh. How am I supposed to stop you?”
“Exactly.”
I glanced sideways at the boy, who seemed oddly pleased. He was stubborn, and so was I.
I exhaled a sigh tinged with resignation and muttered sullenly.
“…If you’re going to stay here, we need to settle how you address me first.”
“Yeah, I was planning to do that anyway.”
“….”
“Rubian.”
The boy, bathed in the fading glow of sunset, was beautiful enough that it hurt to even speak of it.
‘I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.’
I brushed my hands off and grabbed a handful of cookies. Kalid, now wearing a bracelet with a soft clink, watched me with an intrigued expression.
“I understand what you’re worried about, Rubian.”
“I’m not… chewing…”
“Swallow first…. Right. Anyway, I’ve mastered pretending not to be a mage far better than you, so don’t worry.”
Honestly, he had a point. Kalid had spent his entire life pretending not to be a mage.
Though he did have a tendency to use magic recklessly.
‘Maybe this is for the best, after all.’
I forced myself to activate my hope circuits.
After all, Zebert is the mightiest Knight Order.
‘Kalid is still just a novice when it comes to swordsmanship.’
No matter how much he’d been tempered through real combat, self-taught training had its limits.
And… who knows what might happen?
Kalid is the male lead of Part 2, so maybe he could be of some help later when Uncle Leviathan goes to slice off the Mage King’s neck.
“I understand… Well then, since you’re building strength anyway, work hard to become stronger.”
“Until Zebert Duke goes to take the Mage King’s head?”
“Yeah… wait?”
I stopped my fumbling movements abruptly.
“You… read my mind?”
There was no magic like that.
“I knew it was right.”
Kalid murmured while stroking his chin.
“I’ve been thinking about it constantly. The reason you’re here.”
The sun set rapidly. Night’s shadow quickly draped itself across the young boy’s smooth face.
“You’re planning to use Zebert Duke to make him kill the Mage King, aren’t you?”
“…”
“Because you can’t do it yourself because of that damned curse mark.”
Without thinking, I moved my mana. A silencing spell appeared like a white veil and seeped into the air.
Kalid clicked his tongue briefly and breathed mana into me again.
“Your great magical vault is still searching for a way to erase the curse mark, isn’t it?”
“Well… it’s Zeria.”
My voice grew slightly hoarse.
Wow, really. What’s with this guy’s intuition?
I was honestly surprised. With only the information Kalid possessed, he’d come remarkably close to the right answer.
“I’ve told you a hundred times I’d do it.”
A strange light flickered in those grayish-blue eyes.

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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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