A Secretly Capable Child Is Seeking For Her Dad (Novel) - Chapter 84

Chapter 84

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The first to step through the silence was Basto.

“Wh… what exactly are you saying, Factory Manager?”

Veil also cut in hurriedly with an awkward expression.

“Right. What nonsense is this about it not being a disguise?”

He quickly looked back at the members.

“It is already an undeniable fact that our little commander goes around disguised as a child. But all of a sudden….”

“In over seventy years of living, I have seen it for the first time.”

“Seen what?”

“A fully grown man said to be disguised as a child, smiling that brightly at the sight of teddy bears.”

Veil closed his mouth.

He hesitated and avoided Velugon’s gaze.

“No, that is because our little commander is just that good at acting….”

“To be frank. If they were people who only happened to bump into the Necromancer King in passing, then yes, they might be fooled.”

“….”

“But if they had observed him even a little from close up, it would be different. If they had eyes attached, wasn’t it obvious enough to tell at a glance?”

Inside Velugon’s head.

There came to mind the Necromancer King stuffing teddy bear orbs into her pocket with a greatly excited face.

And that was not all.

Before that, there had also been the Necromancer King asking back about difficult words over and over.

‘Inside the subspace, his characteristic clumsiness even showed.’

‘Factory Manager didn’t do anything wrong!’

The Necromancer King had seemed not to know about the Hederdel massacre.

That Hederdel massacre that any ordinary imperial citizen knew about.

Then, when all the talking was over, he had grasped Velugon’s hand tightly and said:

‘That article is bad!’

It was only a single sentence.

Short, but a sentence that let one fully feel his heart trying somehow to comfort Velugon.

At that one remark, Velugon felt the pain in his festering chest subside somewhat.

It was awkward and therefore strangely warm comfort.

Just like a wildflower carelessly picked by an innocent child who knows nothing.

‘The purity of children is something that shows no matter where they are.’

There was nothing that asserted its existence that quietly, and yet that intensely.

At Velugon’s expression, which seemed certain, Basto’s Adam’s apple moved slowly.

But just as he was about to deny it again.

“That is enough. Stop there, Basto.”

Someone blocked him with one arm.

It was Nordix, who had only been listening quietly from behind.

Stepping in front of the members, he looked straight at Velugon.

“That is correct. Astie’s appearance is not a disguise.”

Velugon smacked his lips as if he had expected as much.

Nordix continued, his brows narrowed.

“That child awakened his abilities at too young an age. There were many worrying points, so we had no choice but to spread the rumor that his appearance was a disguise.”

Velugon’s brow twitched.

Then, with a face full of frustration, he said:

“Fine, let us say all that is well enough. But in common sense terms, how can a young child pretend to be an adult? How properly could he possibly manage it?”

He looked back at the other members.

“Whose idea was it? Surely it was not you people’s idea?”

Veil let out a sigh and shook his head.

“…No. It was the squirt’s idea.”

Velugon clicked his tongue.

“Then only now does it make some sense. But even if it was the party’s own opinion, you people made a mistake. How is it any different from binding a child so that he cannot even freely act spoiled in front of people?”

Veil’s lips parted slightly.

That was because Velugon was pinpointing exactly the part that had been bothering him in a strange way all this time.

“You should have seen what the Necromancer King was like inside the subspace, at yesterday’s meeting. He had the expression of a frightened rabbit, and his eyes were moving around so quickly….”

Once he had started to suspect, Velugon’s eyes could see it.

The child’s fingers, curling in tightly in front of someone before whom his identity must not be found out.

His waist, tensed to the limit in an effort to make his body look even a little bigger.

“You put a heavy burden on a child, and on top of that even made him wear the position of little commander.”

“We had planned to solve it as soon as the mercenary company grew larger.”

Nordix stepped in.

“To begin with, if the mercenary company only grows, there will be no sturdier fence to protect the child than that. Also, there are things even you do not know, Velugon.”

“Things I do not know?”

“Let us just say that it has to do roughly with the child’s biological father.”

Velugon’s eyes widened slightly.

He repeated “I see….” several times, then looked at Nordix.

“How do you plan to grow the mercenary company?”

“Nothing has been concretely decided yet. We have several members skilled in battle, so after we stop by the imperial capital, we will probably have to set out on magic stone conquests for a while.”

“…And the child’s safety is definitely guaranteed?”

“Though he may look like that, he is a child who has the ability to protect himself. You saw it too inside the subspace, Factory Manager.”

Velugon nodded.

Nordix continued speaking.

“Still, you too have changed a great deal, Velugon. Did you really prepare the orbs as well because you were worried about Astie?”

At those words, Velugon coughed loudly, as if something had gone down the wrong way.

“…I, I told you it is not like that?”

“Then is this not the first time? That you handed over equipment you made yourself directly to a mercenary without payment or compensation.”

Velugon turned his head with a displeased face.

Then, after remaining quiet for a moment, he added in a small voice.

“No matter how bleak the times may be.”

“….”

“A child ought to be protected first, should he not.”

Velugon waved his hand dismissively and trailed off as if it were nothing.

“Enough, enough! If I make it and I give it, why are you people stepping in?!”

Then he put on his usual fierce expression.

“It was not so when I looked at the Necromancer King… but looking at you people for some reason is making my eyes grow dim. If you have looked around the armory hall enough, then pack your things! I am a busy man too.”

He soon passed the members and went down the stairs.

* * *

Meanwhile, after arriving at the room, Tie opened the zipper of the bag with a pounding heart.

Immediately, Ppuppu came running out and climbed onto Tie’s lap.

“Kkyu! Kkyuu!”

“Uung, Ppuppu. Wait just a little.”

“Kkyukkyut……!”

Ppuppu staggered with an expression of betrayal.

But ignoring Ppuppu, Tie took a black stone out of the bag.

Then, holding the stone tightly in his hand, he whispered to it.

“Lucariong, Kkamang, come out.”

It was certain that even when he was inside the stone, Lucarion could know the situation outside.

That was why, even in emergencies(?), she would often come out and help Tie.

So he surely would hear this voice too.

“Come out quickly! Tie has something to give you!”

When he lightly stroked the surface of the stone with his hand as if urging him on, a strange vibration was soon felt.

The next moment, Tie let out an “Acko!” and dropped his hand to the floor.

On top of his palm, Lucarion was now sitting there instead of the stone.

With a sulky expression, Lucarion glared at Ppuppu.

“…You still haven’t thrown that thing away?”

“Kkyuut-!!”

Ppuppu immediately began to flare up.

Tie quickly wedged herself in between the two.

And he held out to Lucarion the donut device he had just received, the one Velugon had called a battery.

“Don’t fight, this is a present!”

A dumbfounded look came over Lucarion’s expression.

“You are telling me to wear a dog collar?”

Tie opened her mouth wide.

‘I didn’t think of it that way, but now that I hear it….!’

The donut device really did look a little like a dog collar.

“Uung, not that.”

But Tie strained as he recalled the explanation Velugon had given about this device.

Then he shortened it.

“This is something really good!”

“What?”

“Try wearing it once, hm?”

“No.”

“Just wear it once, just once, ung?”

“I said no?”

Tie had no choice but to pull Lucarion in and hold her tight in her arms.

Then, leaving Lucarion’s sigh behind him, he slipped the elastic device over his head.

The device caught once on the small horn jutting up and on the bridge of his nose, then finally settled around his neck.

“Kkyu! Kkyuut-!!”

Ppuppu, whose jealousy had exploded, sprang up and down on the spot.

But at that moment.

“Tie, it is about time to pack….”

Basto, who had entered the room, spotted Ppuppu and froze on the spot.