A Secretly Capable Child Is Seeking For Her Dad (Novel) - Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translated by Sylph
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Stop staring already.”
At Lucarion’s resigned voice, Tie hurriedly turned her head.
However, his gaze slowly drifted toward the opposite side again.
There sat Lucarion in a human appearance, whom he was seeing for the first time in a while.
Wearing the pea-green blouse and beige suspender skirt that Tie had worn in the Republic of Korea.
“I did not know it could even do a human form.”
At the side, Veil clicked his tongue in amazement.
“Still, it is a relief the squirt had spare clothes. Otherwise, would he not have had no choice but to go around naked? Even if he is a familiar, that is a bit….”
“Big brother Veil! Stop iiiit.”
Tie, narrowing her eyes thinly, reproached Veil.
“Kkamang, no, Lucariong is embarrassed! Being stark naked is not something wrong!”
At those words, Lucarion, who had been listening, let out a deep sigh.
When she lifted her gaze, she saw Ppuppu in Tie’s pocket, snickering as if to say serves you right.
A vein naturally throbbed on his forehead.
Looking back, the beginning of this entire incident had been that.
The matter of Tie putting that strange dog collar on Lucarion.
Before departure.
While Tie had been busily focused on packing.
[Ah, why will this not come off.]
Lucarion had been struggling for a long time trying to remove the dog collar Tie had put on her.
However, for some reason, the collar showed no sign of coming off.
At that time Ppuppu, who had been watching him, spoke.
[Give up, lizard. With your strength, you cannot undo Mother’s compulsion.]
[What?]
[I thought there was only a hole in your heart, but it seems there is one in your head too. Can you not understand when you hear it?]
Ppuppu lay on his side with one arm supporting his head.
Then, swinging his legs, he added,
[You and I are both beings that maintain our form through Mother’s mana. Between Mother and us there exists a wall of power that cannot be overcome.]
‘What is he talking about now.’
Of course, all along, she had been getting the strange feeling that somehow she could not go against Tie.
But compulsion? A wall of power that could not be overcome?
[Mother is your liege, and you are Mother’s subordinate. It is impossible for you to go against what Mother has done.]
Lucarion let out a hollow laugh.
[Bug. Are you saying that I absolutely cannot remove this dog collar right now?]
[Yes. Because Mother ‘compelled’ it onto you.]
What had happened a little earlier came to mind.
Tie, despite Lucarion’s refusal, hurriedly putting the collar on her while saying to try it just once.
But to think that had been compulsion.
Flustered, Lucarion hesitated and spoke.
[That, I only put it on while pretending I had no choice because I intended to remove it later. If I had known it was compulsion….]
[How foolish. There is no such thing as pretending you had no choice when it comes to you. You simply cannot win against Mother.]
Ppuppu laughed scornfully as if it served him right.
[Go on and struggle until the day your breath cuts off. See if that collar comes off.]
Only then did Lucarion realize the seriousness of the situation and become speechless.
So, to summarize.
‘If Astie does something to me, I cannot go against it.’
It was absurd.
However, thinking of it that way also explained every question he had had until now.
That when she saw Tie’s tears, she wanted somehow to make them stop.
That if it was Tie’s words, she ended up listening no matter what they were.
Even that she always came to act for Tie’s sake rather than her own.
[…Huh?]
As he sank down onto the spot,
[But why do you want to remove that item?]
Ppuppu, who had changed position and was now lying with the bag strap under his head, spoke.
Lucarion narrowed his eyes fiercely.
[If you were me, would you like a collar of the sort livestock would wear?]
[Lizard. That is not a leash for livestock. It is a high-grade magic tool that catches leaking mana.]
At the words magic tool, his brow narrowed.
[Look. The body of yours that wasted Mother’s mana as naturally as breathing is only now finally holding onto mana, is it not?]
Lucarion’s eyes widened slightly.
Come to think of it.
The mana that had escaped no matter how much he absorbed, like pouring water into a bottomless jar, was now staying in place.
When he focused his mind, he could feel mana pooled around the device around his neck as well.
[Seeing this, it seems our wise Mother designed all of this, so just accept it.]
[……]
[Would this not be better for you too than being trapped in the Bed of Repose all day long?]
At that moment, Lucarion too thought that might be so.
If this dog collar, no, this device, really blocked his mana leakage.
Then was it not a good thing, since he could maintain manifestation without constantly absorbing mana?
But that was a mistake.
‘This magic tool is not only confining the mana absorbed from Tie.’
The magic tool was preserving all of Lucarion’s own innate power that was minutely regenerating in his body as well.
In other words, it meant that unprecedentedly abundant mana was piling up inside his body.
Originally, no matter how much mana Lucarion had contained in his body, he could handle it.
He would have been able to cast stronger magic and greatly reinforce his body.
But the problem was that all of this had been far too long ago.
‘…I forgot all of it, damn it.’
Lucarion had forgotten everything about the sense of controlling mana.
He had certainly done it in the past, but for some reason it did not come easily now.
[It has been too long, so I cannot control the mana….]
In the end, Lucarion, unable to control the overflowing power, ended up taking on a human appearance without even realizing it.
Inside the carriage of all places.
Flustered by the appearance he had changed into, Lucarion hurriedly crawled into the luggage compartment before anyone came.
And he went inside the blankets and held his breath.
[Ahahaha! Kkhahah! Uhahahaak-!]
Ppuppu, who had been watching that sight from the front pocket of the bag, only laughed at Lucarion as though he were dying of amusement.
“Haaah……”
Another deep sigh burst from Lucarion’s mouth as he recalled the situation.
Immediately after he had stuck his head out from the luggage compartment.
When Tie confirmed that Lucarion was ‘stark naked,’ he hurriedly gave her her own clothes.
His arms were a little short, but fortunately Tie’s clothes roughly fit Lucarion.
The problem was that they were a girl’s blouse and skirt embroidered with flowers.
“I told you to stop staring.”
“Uuh, I didn’t seeee!”
When she said it once more, Tie hurriedly looked out the window.
Lucarion leaned his body against the backrest as if to say whatever.
From the side, she could hear the voices of Astie’s companions.
“I can understand now why they say Velugon is the greatest Factory Manager in history.”
“Exactly. I never imagined the level of stabilizing a familiar would be this much.”
They were talking among themselves as they looked at the device around Lucarion’s neck.
‘I cannot just clamp their mouths shut….’
Calming his frayed nerves, he rubbed his throbbing temple.
But who could he blame.
The one who had told them to introduce him as a familiar was none other than himself.
“Lucariooon, are you okay?”
At that moment Tie asked casually.
Lucarion turned his head with a sullen expression.
“I am fine, so do not worry about it.”
“You know, big brother Enzo said that when we get to the next village, he will buy you men’s clothes.”
“…Right.”
At the lukewarm response, Tie’s eyebrows drooped.
Tie soon pleaded with Basto and changed seats so he could sit beside Lucarion.
As soon as he sat down next to him, Tie whispered softly into Lucarion’s ear.
“You know, maybe, do you want to take off that collar? You are like this because of that collar, right?”
Lucarion looked at Tie with resentful eyes, then turned her head away.
“Forget it. I am going to wear it for the time being.”
“Eeh? Why?”
“Since it has already turned out like this, I should at least check how far this collar can go.”
Tie’s lips parted slightly.
Soon his green eyes seemed to shine, and the child spoke in an excited voice.
“Lucariong, you are super smart!”
Lucarion cleared his throat lightly.
In the end, just when she was about to look at Tie while pretending she had no choice.
Thunk.
Suddenly Tie leaned her head weakly against Lucarion’s shoulder.
Startled, Lucarion examined Tie, and her red eyes widened.
“…Astie.”
“Squirt!”
Why had he not realized it all this time.
Now that she looked, Tie’s body was burning with a heat like a fireball.