The Youngest Hides a Lot - Chapter 66

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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 66
‘Uncle said he’d caught the culprit, but…!’
Were there remnants of the gang still at large?
‘This can’t be happening!’
The moment I spotted the dark shadow ensnaring the two of them, my body moved on pure instinct.
Simultaneously, an arm seized me from behind.
“Rubian? So it really was you. I’ve been calling for you—where were you going?”
It was Licht.
“Licht! Lib and Titi! Over there!”
“Huh?”
I pointed frantically across the street. Licht’s brow furrowed as he took in my ashen complexion, understanding the gravity of the situation.
I was a mage. Licht was just a young boy.
The difference in power was unmistakable.
And if my suspicion was correct… the one tailing the young ladies was a mage!
“I’ll pursue them—you go call for reinforcements!”
“Rubian!”
I ran until my breath caught in my throat. Had I not built up my stamina, it would have been impossible.
I arrived at a labyrinthine dark alley.
It was eerily devoid of any sign of life.
Wait. Just wait a moment.
I knelt down to steady my breathing, then lifted my head as an unsettling wrongness enveloped the surroundings.
‘The flow of mana!’
From the alley, which had been filled with an eerie stillness, I felt a dynamic surge of power.
The moment understanding struck, blue magical circles materialized on both sides of the alley.
“A binding artifact.”
My eyes widened at the familiar aura. Black shadows stretched out and coiled tightly around my body.
From the end of the alley, a figure in a dark robe stepped forward. They held a round artifact to my face.
A mana detector?
‘OOOOO:-)’
Ding ding! Cha-ching! Correct answer!
“Wow, correct.”
The hooded figure’s lips curved into a long smile.
“But could you maybe tone down the sound effects a bit?”
“You…”
My eyes widened as I recognized their identity. At that instant, grappling hooks attached to ropes shot out from both sides.
“Grab them!”
As someone blocked my view, darkness consumed my vision. The moment I detected the acrid stench assaulting my nostrils, consciousness slipped away before I could grasp it.
A high-pitched ringing sound echoed.
Intermingled with it were scattered screams—the last thing I remembered.
* * *
“This can’t be right.”
Rosetta Zebert, left alone at the hot spring, only regained her senses after a considerable time had passed.
“This can’t be right!”
Rosetta cried out, her hands trembling as she touched the spot where the child had vanished.
A boy, she’d said? A rather pretty boy!
Leviathan’s reply to her letter asking if the child was a girl came flooding back.
Yes, he had definitely said it was a boy!
She rushed back to the mansion in a panic. Honestly, she couldn’t even remember how she’d gotten there.
“Madam?”
Adolf appeared the moment she stepped into the lobby. The butler’s brow furrowed deeply at the sight of her—drenched in rain and utterly disheveled.
“You’ve been caught in the rain….”
“Adolf! Tell me Rubian’s physical features! Cute, lovely—no, not those kinds of things!”
She grabbed his shoulders urgently, her voice sharp with demand.
Adolf stumbled back at his mistress’s sudden intensity, then spoke whatever came to mind.
“Snow-white silver hair and sapphire-blue eyes, if I recall correctly. But what on earth has happened?”
“Ah….”
Rosetta swayed. Adolf rushed to catch her, but she steadied herself against the wall with her hand, stopping him.
“The truth is… I told a friend a lie.”
Her memories tangled together in confusion.
How naive of her. She’d believed so firmly that it was a boy, never once imagining that child in the graveyard could actually be Rubian.
“I don’t want to be hated….”
“What on earth have you done.”
A pained groan escaped her lips.
At the sound of her voice—desperate, almost despairing—Adolf instinctively sensed something had gone terribly wrong.
“Madam, what has happened? Has something befallen Rubian?”
Rosetta’s head snapped up, her expression cold. Water droplets flew from her hair, streaked with patches of brown and pink.
“Leviathan. Where is my husband.”
At that very moment, Leviathan Zebert was surveying the streets of Ipson.
Meeting Rosetta in this manner was commonplace. In truth, it was less Rosetta’s pleasure than Leviathan’s own.
His wife was always unpredictable, after all.
Besides, noble duties—when he wasn’t on the battlefield—often meant being confined to the castle, wrestling with paperwork.
Only Rosetta understood this, and these outings were her way of giving him a change of pace.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve come out like this.’
Leviathan glanced leisurely around the surroundings.
Rain had begun to fall steadily. Seeing the overcast sky, Leviathan thought it was time to wrap up this little game.
That was when it happened.
“Your Excellency!”
Leon came rushing toward him from behind, his pace urgent.
“An urgent message has arrived from Camelan Count.”
“An urgent message?”
Leon’s face was twisted in displeasure.
“It seems that some of the criminals we handed over to the Camelan Knights have escaped.”
“What?”
I pressed my forehead with a short sigh at the sheer incompetence.
“What a mess they’re making of everything.”
How in the world were they managing their duties?
I muttered a brief curse under my breath and sharply turned my horse’s reins.
“Send the knights out again for now, and Void—you head back.”
I spoke with a weary tone.
Void, who had been rummaging around a trash bin, tilted his head in confusion.
“Yes? But Mother said—”
“Playtime is over.”
“Huh, okay….”
Whiiiit—
In that moment, a carrier pigeon burst through the drizzle and caught my eye as I furrowed my brow.
“It’s from the Zelocks direction, Your Excellency.”
An inexplicable chill ran down the back of my neck. Was this the eerie calm before a storm?
“Yugen.”
“Yes.”
The knight blew a sharp whistle, and the hawk responded by diving down immediately.
“It’s Borbel, Your Excellency.”
“Bring it here.”
As I reached to unfurl the tightly rolled letter, I heard Void’s startled cry from beside me.
“Father!”
At the same moment, the sharp sound of something cutting through the air. I quickly gripped the horse’s reins and leaned back.
Thwack! An arrow that had flown from behind struck the ground mercilessly.
“….”
I reflexively read the crest on the arrow’s fletching. When I turned my head toward where it had come from, I spotted a familiar pink-haired figure fluttering atop the distant Village Tower.
“Rose?”
“Oh, Mother—!”
Void waved his hand excitedly.
“Why on earth is my wife up there?”
Even as I said it, the tension in my rigid shoulders eased slightly. The mere sight of that sweet pink hair in my vision made my heart flutter.
But Rosetta simply stood at the tower’s railing with one leg raised, drawing a folding arrow from its hiding place in her thigh.
The sharp arrowhead was aimed directly at the center of my forehead.
Something had irritated her again.
“Leviathan, you XX XXXX XXX XX!”
A shrill cry echoed from afar. At the crude insult, the people of Ipson stood agape, and Leon, standing nearby, instinctively covered Void’s ears as if accustomed to this.
“Yeah. I’ve been wanting to see you too.”
I stretched both arms wide as if beckoning her to come down.
“What on earth did you do to Rubian!”
“…?”
What was he talking about?
Leviathan’s expression hardened as he slowly lowered his arms. Then, quite suddenly, the letter in his hand rustled, demanding attention.
He unfolded the letter slowly and read it.
“….”
As expected, it contained a response from Iosia. But….
“What in the world is this nonsense?”

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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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