Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Teaching the Chick to Bark
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"Why are you crying like that?"
"Peook?"
"Woof, try it."
"Poook, peook."
"Woof, I said."
"Cheep cheep!"
After finishing his sword training and washing up, Nihil walked in to find Sir Evan the First teaching the Second how to bark.
"......"
Nihil quietly backed away and fetched a crystal orb. He could sell a viewing to the knight captain later for some coin.
"Alright, try it now. Woof."
"Peook, peeook!"
"No, not that. It's woof, woof."
"Peeeook?"
"It's woof......"
"Gulp......"
Nihil, who had been watching, finally lost it at the chick's self-introduction as a dog and burst out laughing.
"...?!"
Only then did Evan notice Nihil and whip around.
"Y-You...!"
Nihil grinned at Evan's face turning beet red.
"You said it wasn't your kid before, but look at you teaching it so well."
"Uwaaaah!"
Slam-!
"What? What's going on?!"
The chick's wail brought the damp seaweed tumbling out of the bathroom, dripping water everywhere.
"Sir Evan! Why are you yanking your hair? Did Nil tease you again?"
"No, I didn't do anything."
"Nil, I told you not to tease him so much. People are finding Sir Evan's hair all over the place lately. He's still young—what if he goes bald? They say there's no cure for that."
"It's just the chick shedding. It's spring, you know."
"Oh... is that it?"
Evan, caught off guard by the natural flow of conversation, gaped for a moment before glancing down at his feet.
Pale brown hairs were piled up on the white rug.
"......"
Evan crouched down and began picking them up one by one.
To think His Highness had noticed the shedding... He needed to reflect on this.
"Doggy, those won't stick back on."
"I'm not sticking them!"
Irritated, Evan flung the hairs he'd gathered at Nihil's face.
Nihil blew away the fluttering brown strands in front of him with a puff and gazed out the window.
Something was coming.
"Hm......"
"What's up, Nil?"
"Nah, nothing. Catch cold if you don't dry your hair quick."
"Okay!"
By the time the damp seaweed had fluffed up nicely, Head Maid Perry arrived.
"Young Master, His Highness has sent a carriage."
Nihil sneered at the letter handed to him. Rust-red seal—the Queen's letter.
"Same old tricks."
Perry's eyes widened slightly at the icy tone.
"...Shall I send it back?"
Nihil chuckled at Perry gauging his mood and tossed the letter into the fireplace.
"Nah. Rian, I'll be right back."
"Going alone?"
"Yeah. You've got lessons."
"But......"
"No skipping."
Nihil spoke firmly, then pulled a few items from his ever-present pouch and transferred them to another.
Gems, beads, fairy tales, dried flowers—random trinkets with no real meaning.
The ones our seaweed had made with his little hands went straight into the safe.
"Rian, keep my treasures in here. Guard them well."
"Okay!"
Lianus beamed, not finding it odd at all that Nihil was rummaging through his safe.
"Alright, I'll head out......"
As Nihil stood, he picked up a crudely folded paper bird that looked like it'd had its tail clipped off—Lianus's handiwork.
"Rian, can I have this sparrow?"
"That's a canary!"
"...Oh, right. My mistake."
It was a bit... short and round for a canary, but if the maker said so, Nihil nodded without argument.
"You can have it!"
"Thanks."
Confirming ownership transferred, Nihil cupped the paper bird in both hands.
Then, secretly nicking himself to feed it blood, he brought it to his lips and blew deeply.
For a moment, the air shimmered, and Nihil's eyes went pure white before returning to normal.
Nihil frowned slightly at the subtle unease of something being stripped from him, then gently set the paper bird on the table.
"Whoa!? I-It’s moving!"
The paper bird, infused with Nihil's breath, wobbled like a newborn before tottering toward Lianus—peep peep peep.
Lianus floundered in surprise, then hurriedly scooped it up as Evan the Second crept closer out of curiosity.
"Lobby, no! It's not food."
"Peook!"
Evan the Second cheeped indignantly, but Lianus protected the bird, yelling things like 'Not even for babies!'
The paper bird climbed slyly onto Lianus's head and settled into his fluffy curls.
"Rian, take good care of that bird while I'm gone. No water or food."
"What if I do?"
"It'll try to eat it even if it can't, and getting contaminated or wet would ruin it. If it gets damp, dry it carefully so it doesn't tear. A little crumpling is fine—just smooth it out."
"Got it. You sure you'll be okay?"
Nihil ruffled Lianus's hair reassuringly.
"Don't worry. If anything happens, I'll blow it all up on my way back."
"Yeah! Blow it sky-high!"
Lianus secretly hoped the Queen's palace would explode.
Munch munch, nom nom.
"...I didn't intend it that way, but you did suffer quite a bit......"
Nom nom, gulp. Whine-
"...So I wanted to apologize......"
Munch munch munch......
"Enough eating already!"
"...!"
Unable to stand it, Queen Helia shouted, and the child—who had chocolate mousse smeared on his mouth and was reaching for a macaron—froze and looked up.
His blank expression and utterly innocent actions filled Helia with doubt.
No matter how she thought about it, this didn't feel right. Maybe she should try the alchemist route instead.
The mage had insisted the child was more suspicious, so they'd brought him here, but this was no different from a common village idiot possessed by spirits.
"...? Why pull that out now."
Then the child drew a pouch from his bosom and held it out, as if saying 'Take this and stop nagging.'
'Does the 2nd Prince really communicate with things like this...?'
"Ah, Young Master, let me wipe your hands."
While she stared in disbelief, the child started licking cream off his own hands but was stopped by the maid.
Going further, he rubbed his cheek against the maid's hand as if asking her to wipe his face too, flashing a toothy grin.
'...Th-That sly little...'
Was he clever or just dumb? She couldn't tell.
"Enough. Everyone out except one maid."
Helia, unable to watch the maid fondle the child's cheek with flushed cheeks any longer, dismissed all the servants save one.
"Words don't get through anyway, so just check already."
She sighed, and the mage chuckled lowly as he produced a head-sized crystal orb.
"Now now, put your hand here."
The mage took the child's hand and placed it atop. The child fidgeted but didn't resist, staying obedient.
"Hm...?"
But after waiting ages with no change, the mage tilted his head in puzzlement.
"Why isn't it working?"
"...Broken?"
"......"
The mage examined the orb this way and that, then placed his own hand on it. It lit up promptly, proving it wasn't broken.
"Works fine......"
"...Not human after all?"
"Well... no idea, but no living being should fail to react like this."
"...Then it really is a doll......"
Helia recalled one absurd rumor floating around Wer nus Palace. But the mage shook his head firmly.
"That's even more impossible. A doll would need some force animating it."
"Then what the hell is this child?!"
"Something similar happened before."
"What...?"
"With His Highness the 2nd Prince. The sense of lacking mana is strikingly similar."
Helia's eyebrow twitched up at that.
"You mean this wretch has the same curse?"
"Haha, whether it's a curse, I wouldn't know......"
Mid-sentence, the mage brushed the child's eye corner. White lashes tickled his finger.
"At least it's confirmed pretty trash."
Lianus turned to the sunset outside the window.
They'd checked the Queen's palace—no sign of Bat-dong, and he'd scarfed down every snack prepared.
"...Was sharing my snacks the problem?"
He didn't think Nihil loved sweets that much, so maybe he'd misjudged.
"Ah, shoulda asked what snacks he liked."
Evan's expression grew subtle at that.
"...Aren't you worried?"
"Eh......"
Hard to worry when the paper bird Nihil left was so chill. The one he'd named 'Cani' was playing in his hair like a nest.
It acted like plain paper around other servants—smart as hell. Though now he looked like the weirdo with a paper bird on his head...
Anyway, if something happened to his friend, Cani would've said something.
"Sir Evan."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"I don't think it's time to worry about Nil."
"...?"
"What if the Queen's palace really blows up? How do we cover that?"
Lianus asked seriously, but Evan's face grew more peculiar.
"If Nil's the culprit, it'll be trouble."
"...Probably......"
"We'll sneak him out then."
"...Yes."
Nihil crouched in the birdcage-like iron bars, thinking.
'Wanted to get kidnapped to the Queen's palace if possible.'
Our kid subtly wished it'd blow up, so he was happy to grant that—though he'd apologize to the cleanup dad later.
Plus, 'Ariel' might be there.
'Never thought it'd lead to the Mage Tower.'
He'd assumed it was just a mage's lab, but the presences and mana felt too numerous.
"Hm hm hmm~"
Nihil glanced at the humming mage, then scanned the room. Eyeballs everywhere.
Not a metaphor—literal preserved eyeballs floating in jars.
"Now now, little one. I'll pull it out painlessly."
"......"
"Just the eyes, then back to the palace. Miss your friend?"
"......"
"Oh, right, no seeing after. Whatever, not my problem."
The mage muttered to himself, not expecting a reply, and approached with tools—eye-extraction gear, apparently.
"Ahh—what beautiful eyes."
A hand slipped through the bars and stroked his face. The mage's ecstatic smile looked almost tearful, utterly eerie.
"Such a good boy. I'll preserve those eyes forever—just like this miniature universe."
Saying that, he pitied the looks and offered artificial replacements.
As the mage reached for his eyes, Nihil opened his wide, staring.
His black pupils bled white like spreading ink, mana becoming visible.
'Fitting for a Mage Tower—plenty of magic tools.'
"What is this?!"
Pondering how to swipe mana stones and artifacts, the mage yanked his face at the changing eye color.
"Your pupils are changing color!"
Nihil flaunted it, shifting hues on command—careful not to meet eyes from other dimensions.
"This... now you can't pluck them!"
How? Does it fix to one color post-extraction? I want them all!
Nihil smirked at the mage's ecstatic-despairing face. His eyes, unless transplanted to the living, dispersed soon after plucking.
Even transplanted, they'd adapt to the host's color—pointless.
"Sorry, little one. Can't let you go now. Can you do both eyes different?"
Seemed the mage wanted an eye-shifting show instead of extraction.
"Fine, at 15 I'll release you. They'll dull with age anyway."
"......"
"Won't be lonely. 2nd Prince fails Crown Prince exam, gets exiled—those pretty heterochromatic eyes will..."
Crack, crunch-.
Suddenly, the mage's fingers in Nihil's grip twisted unnaturally.
"Uh, uwa...?"
"Ah... talked about my kid, got carried away..."
The slow mage blabbered dumbly before the pain hit, screaming.
"Aaaah! L-Let go!"
Bang, bang, bang-.
The mage flailed to free his hand from the bars, shaking them wildly.
Nihil didn't release, squeezing once more.
Amid the clanging, low bone-grinding sounds echoed. Good no kid was here.
"Uwaaaah, aaah, aaaaaaah!"
Panicking, the mage hoisted the cage with Nihil inside and slammed it against the wall. Nihil gritted his teeth through the jolts, slipping out through the bending bars.
The mage clutched his freed, mangled fingers, crawling on the floor. Bloodshot eyes filled with questions.
"What in the world...?!"
Thwack-!
"Guh!"
As the mage opened his mouth, Nihil kicked his face first.
"Answer only when spoken to."
Chilling eyes looked down.
"That's your only value."