The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 52

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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 52
* * *
Bang!
I kicked open the Study door.
My Uncle, who had been discussing something with Adolf, looked up with a slightly startled expression.
“Un… Dad!”
I beamed with delight.
It came out! The word actually came out!
“Dad sounds refreshing.”
Leviathan strode forward and extended his arms to scoop me up.
“Wait.”
I lightly raised both hands to stop him.
“I’ve just grown about a hand’s span. Therefore, I’m no longer to be treated as a child…”
“What are you talking about.”
I was casually dismissed.
Damn it, how infuriating. Mental growth and physical growth were entirely different matters.
He scooped me into his massive embrace and crossed the Study. At a light gesture from me, Adolf quickly organized the documents and withdrew.
“You smell of grass.”
“Yes! I went to… no, I visited Herb Hill.”
I quickly changed the subject. I didn’t want to dampen his mood by bringing up the baby cemetery.
“So? Did rolling around in the grass fix whatever was broken?”
“Yes… Father.”
I bowed respectfully with dignity.
“I will be filial to you.”
“It seems your core has truly changed now.”
It’s gotten worse. My Uncle exhaled deeply.
He hastily gathered the documents with one hand and left the Study. Judging by the direction, we were heading to the Dining Hall.
“Besides, I don’t need a bell anymore.”
I grumbled lightly.
“Fine, call me Uncle, Father, or servant—whatever you like.”
A soft laugh escaped from him. Even as he said it, his expression was more satisfied than before.
I wrapped my arms tightly around his thick, powerful neck.
“It still feels strange and doesn’t come naturally. But I think it will soon.”
“That’s fine.”
“Isn’t it frustrating? I’m sorry…”
“Rubian.”
“Hmm?”
My Uncle set me down and met my eyes.
“You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“….”
“So don’t apologize.”
I blinked slowly.
‘I hope you’ll say things like this to me later too.’
After I prevent this mad ending, after I strike down the Mage King… when I lay everything bare.
“And those who bear the name of Zebert don’t apologize carelessly.”
“That’s not it. If you mess up, you apologize right away.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
I learned that today. A life lesson!
“I see.”
Uncle gave a short nod. Then suddenly, he ruffled the back of my head.
“You’ve got a leaf stuck in your hair. Where exactly have you been wandering around?”
Huh? I stared quietly at the small leaf that came away in Uncle’s hand. As I gazed at it blankly, somehow laughter bubbled up inside me.
“…Did you permit it?”
“Permit what?”
“There’s something like that. Oh! That’s right! Me, me! Put me down! Hurry!”
“What’s gotten into you now?”
“I have something I want to do!”
Something I wanted to do once I could call Uncle!
As the tension eased from his strong arms, I nimbly bounced down. Then I dashed toward the end of the corridor.
“What are you doing?”
“Just stay right there!”
The Duke stood with his hand on his waist, his expression utterly bewildered yet compliant.
Watching him, I adjusted my shoes with quick taps. It was time to show off all the sprinting prowess I’d cultivated!
Ready, set!
I sprinted down the short corridor at full speed.
My hair streamed behind me as Leviathan Uncle’s handsome face drew rapidly closer.
“Ah….”
Without understanding what was happening, Uncle instinctively bent his body.
I grinned widely and threw myself into his embrace without hesitation.
“Daaad!”
His massive frame went rigid in surprise for a moment, then wrapped around me securely.
“You really are something.”
A short breath escaped from above my head. A tender, quiet voice settled against my ear.
“You came running while calling me Dad.”
“Yeah!”
Though it’s still awkward—there’s about a 3-second gap between the ‘Da’ and the ‘ad’.
But I’ll get better at it as time goes on!
“Where did such a precious gem come rolling from.”
“From here!”
When I pointed toward the end of the corridor, my Guardian chuckled and gently pinched the tip of my nose before letting go.
Wasn’t family a word as precious as a jewel?
From the moment we first met in that ruin.
Perhaps we were destined to become irreplaceable gems to each other.
Well, I’m fine with that!
Ch.6
Late into the night.
A young boy’s underdeveloped frame deftly parted the darkness and slipped out of the Knight Order building.
Kalid Liork recalled the geography of the Duchy he had memorized in advance as he passed through the castle gates.
“Come here.”
He summoned a massive wolf-hound and vaulted onto its back with ease.
Zelocks was vast, but escaping it was quick work—thanks to the acceleration magic Rubian had taught me.
‘It’s fortunate I have an excess of mana.’
In this Empire, I was likely the only mage capable of moving without mana constraints.
The young boy dashed through the Black Forest with practiced ease, arriving at the city adjacent to Zelocks. He cut through the deathly alley and creaked open an old wooden door.
“Gasp! K-Kalid!”
Beneath the dim firelight, a man who had been gulping down liquor straight from a bottle lurched to his feet with a clatter.
“Hello.”
Kalid pushed back his black robe and replied flatly.
A filthy, squalid back-alley mercenary office.
The man who ran the place had a glass eye in one socket.
“You—where have you been all this time…!”
A grown man pleading with a boy who barely reached his chest—Allen thought this to himself and swallowed a sigh.
But what could he do?
The true master of this Mercenary Company was that boy.
“….”
Kalid slowly swept his gaze across the interior. Traces of the filthy mercenaries lingered here and there.
“Just as you said, I’ve relocated the Mercenary Company’s quarters entirely! Look at this!”
“The target?”
“No significant movement yet… Ah, but the mage from the Babylon Base has left the Eastern Region.”
In that instant, a sharp killing intent flashed across the boy’s eyes.
“Destination.”
“The… Northern Region.”
In that moment, hundreds of serpents erupted from the darkness.
“Kyaaaah!”
Without hesitation, the snakes coiled around the man’s body, binding him completely. He cried out, half-sobbing.
“Y-you didn’t catch the princess’s scent, did you?! The New Leaf Festival, *cough*. The Babylon Empire’s New Leaf Festival… this year it’s in Northern Ipsen…!”
Crack. Just as the strangling pressure threatened to steal Allen’s consciousness, the binding released.
“*Cough! Cough!*”
He collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. The yellow-eyed serpents vanished into the shadows once more.
That damned brat….
Allen wiped the saliva trickling from the corner of his mouth.
A year ago, a boy who appeared out of nowhere swallowed the largest Mercenary Company on the Continent in a single gulp. On the surface, Allen remained the owner, but he had long since knelt before that little runt.
“Keep a close watch. Disrupt the tracking mages well too.”
“Understood, understood…!”
Like some crazed little mage brat.
‘Wait, is he even really a brat? His eyes are completely insane. That bastard!’
Kalid swept his emotionless gaze around the room once more, then simply blew open Allen’s safe.
“I’m taking this.”
….
…Damn it. Those blueprints took me so much effort to acquire.
While Allen bit down on his fist to stifle his curses, the boy in the hooded robe yanked the door open.
“Don’t forget, Allen. The one holding your life’s thread is that damned brat.”
Tap, tap. He tapped his own eyes while laughing softly—his face still unfinished in its growth, and therefore so beautiful it sent shivers down the spine.
“You swore it by offering your eyes to me, didn’t you? Right?”
If I speak of Kalid Liork’s true identity and whom he protects, I die. Before I can even open my mouth, all the blood in my body will reverse its flow….
Boom.
Allen trembled violently at the mere thought of it.
“I…understand, you damned brat.”
Kalid laughed softly and vanished like the wind.
By the time I crossed back through the Black Forest, dawn was breaking precariously on the horizon.
The boy gazed toward some window of the distant Main Fortress, then settled quietly into bed.
‘The Base mage moved?’
A Base mage would be a lower-ranking mage of the Mage Kingdom.
“Almost no mage knows my face. I’ve always worn clothes like this…reaching down to under my eyes. They’d need to be at least a court-level mage or higher, wouldn’t they?”
Rubian’s voice from some distant time drifted through my dreams like a phantom.
“What’s your name?”
“I never had a name to begin with?”
…Then who gave you that name.”
“I did.”
….
“When I came outside, I noticed everyone wasn’t called by their birth order? So I picked something that really struck me. Of course, you were the first to ask my name!”
Should I just kill him now? The Mage King.
“Sigh.”
Kalid shifted his body briefly.
Now that I think about it, what exactly is the Babylon New Leaf Festival.
I should ask Rubian tomorrow. Rubian knew everything.
‘If even Rubian says she doesn’t know….’
Then it’s something I don’t need to know.
Kalid closed his eyes. His world was narrowed and expanded by Rubian alone.

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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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