The Youngest Member Filming a Parenting Show is Adorable - Chapter 275

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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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【275】
I rushed closer and checked for a pulse, realizing the heart still beat. I cried out, “Is there a doctor here? Anyone who can use holy power?”
“Do you know anyone who’s a doctor or can use holy power?”
Unfortunately, no one answered that call.
Biting my lip, I retrieved the small Jellyfish that had been reborn from its polyp state not long ago and reversed time for the Priest.
“Cough, cough!”
The Young Priest coughed violently, spitting blood, his complexion gradually returning to normal. After the wound on his head sealed shut, his eyes fluttered open.
“Ah….”
“Are you alright?”
“Y, yes. Th, thank you. You saved me, didn’t you?”
The bewildered Young Priest shook his head and then grabbed my collar.
Fear was etched across his freckled face.
“You must tell the others! There are Extremists aboard this ship! It’s dangerous…!”
“Extremists?”
“From Whithirian… It’s shameful, but to protect everyone safely, we must capture them by any means! If we don’t, this ship will sink!”
The Young Priest began to elaborate but bit his tongue and swallowed his words.
I was curious about what these Extremists actually did, but it seemed he wouldn’t tell me, so I got to my feet.
First, I should go find Rasifer and inform him of this.
“Extremists… aren’t they the ones who believe all heretics must be killed?”
“I heard they’re absolutely insane!”
As I pushed through the crowd and descended, I managed to overhear quite a bit of conversation.
“They show no mercy—not even to children—if you don’t believe in their god….”
“Isn’t it true that Extremists and Moderates are still fighting in Whithirian?”
“The first victim, you know. High Priest Agnes. Wasn’t she famous within Whithirian?”
“I’ve heard the name before.”
“This is serious….”
So to summarize, two factions were at war.
‘Why would that conflict extend all the way to this Cruise Ship?’
In any case, upon reaching the entrance of the Hall of the Deep Sea, I released the paper crane Rasifer had sent me once more.
‘I made it inside, but where do I go from here?’
The Hall of the Deep Sea was structured with tanks surrounding it. The center was filled with chairs.
But there didn’t seem to be any other path forward from here…?
As I looked around, I spotted another paper crane resting on one of the chairs.
The angle of that chair was subtly off, and noticing it, I summoned a wind Spirit and carefully lifted the chair upward.
“Is there a space underneath this?”
It was too dark to see clearly, but there seemed to be lines drawn on the floor.
In response to my question, the wind Spirits slipped into the floor and returned, nodding their heads.
“I’m counting on you. Can you open the floor door for me?”
If I can’t see clearly, I can always ask the Spirits to help!
I’d grown quite experienced at exploring mysterious places like this.
I calmly made each request one by one, and after a minute, I found myself facing a door that opened slowly upward like magic.
“Pel!”
“You’re here?”
“Yeah. What’s underneath here?”
Typically, the lower deck of a ship contains an engine room.
Of course, only the engine compartment is accessible.
But why would there be a secret space beneath this performance venue…?
It was absolutely certain that something needed to be hidden here.
“There’s something extraordinary down there, Shu.”
“…!”
Rasifer caught me as I jumped down. Concerned someone might see, he sealed the door with magic and pulled the chair above into place, then gestured seriously at something with a grave expression.
“What is that?”
“A war machine designed for combat purposes—an anti-personnel battle automaton.”
“What on earth?”
Shocked, I pressed my hand to my chest and examined ‘it’ carefully.
It had an enormous body and head, but no arms or legs. It seemed designed so that when activated, those limbs would spring out from inside.
Right now it looked like a crouching bear, but if Rasifer was right… the moment it received orders, it would move and begin a massacre.
“It seems Whithirian is experiencing a civil war. They haven’t announced it to other nations, but the Extremist Faction and the Moderate Faction are fighting.”
“Hmm, when I press the crown of this thing’s head, a message appears requesting authentication. But do you know who the person in charge is?”
“…The first victim?”
“Exactly. High Priest Agnes.”
We compared what we’d each discovered and quickly reached a conclusion.
To confront the Extremist Faction, Agnes, a High Priest and representative figure of the Moderate Faction, went to Quaion.
She purchased this terrifying mechanical doll there, then had to return to Whithirian, but the information must have leaked.
“The murder was either committed by an Extremist who followed her all the way to Quaion, or it was a betrayal by an Extremist posing as a Moderate.”
Rasifer’s conclusion made me slightly uneasy.
“What if… the person who suffered frostbite from using dry ice was carrying protective equipment against it? Or what if they used holy power to heal themselves quickly…?”
“Then there would be no damage at all.”
“Hmm.”
If that weren’t the case, I’d feel terrible, but in a situation like this, suspicion is the answer anyway.
As I pondered this, I opened my mouth.
“On the way down earlier, I saw a priest collapsed with blood streaming from his head.”
“A priest? Which priest?”
“The one who said Agnes didn’t come to meals, so they went to look for her, and this happened. I remember his face.”
At my words, doubt flickered across Rasifer’s face.
“Didn’t the Police Captain gather all the priests in one place earlier?”
“Huh…?”
“How did he slip away?”
A chill runs down my spine.
A priest who, if not the culprit, should have stayed with the others to avoid unjust suspicion—he was acting independently?
Moreover, he had arrived at the crime scene before any other priest…?
Deliberately injuring himself to evade suspicion?!
“Isn’t this a textbook criminal tactic?”
“Being young, he probably slipped through suspicion easily.”
Good heavens.
I clamped my mouth shut and thought of the people who would be with the Young Priest.
“What do we do? Shouldn’t we hurry back up and examine the situation again?”
“Well… I actually have a better idea. Shu, when you came down the stairs, didn’t it feel like someone was following you?”
“No! Nothing like that happened.”
“Then they haven’t found this place yet.”
Unbelievable.
The thought that I might have been completely deceived made me irritable in an instant.
And they even used my Jellyfish for it.
“But Pel, wouldn’t the Young Priest’s head wound be… impossible to inflict alone?”
“There would have to be an accomplice who struck the back of his head. Or they used a mechanical puppet.”
Rasifer snapped his fingers twice, articulating what I couldn’t quite say myself.
“Once someone enters the Hall of the Deep Sea, I’ll be notified. Let’s head out soon. Once we identify who that Young Priest is, I’ll have them tailed.”
Magical power and holy power are fundamentally opposed.
To cast a tracking spell on a priest—someone not ordinary—one would have to contend with holy power, and the target would likely notice during that process.
So in cases like this, we attach a small magically-crafted insect to follow them instead.
‘I’ve made excellent use of my Superti, haven’t I.’
Not certain, but my suspicion was over eighty percent.
All that remained now was to gather evidence.
* * *
No matter how much power saturated this place to reflect magical force and nullify spells themselves, it meant little to Rasifer.
Only those who had never ventured beyond the veil of truth would fall for such things.
Though somewhat tedious, he conjured several hundred winged spiders equipped with video-recording functions, and even layered invisibility magic over them.
“Now, scatter everywhere and bring back information.”
After finishing his preparations, moments later.
Rasifer headed toward where the priests had gathered, Superti at his side.
The holy power radiating from them made his head throb, but it was bearable.
“Not here either.”
Superti spoke decisively after surveying the faces, and he nodded.
‘How irritating.’
Where could he be wandering about?
Was he searching for that offensive mechanical device that the senior priest Agnes had procured?
Just then, the Police Captain approached.
“I heard there was a second attack.”
Hmm.
But why does this bastard have that expression?

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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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