Chapter 11 - The Devil of Regression (3)
There was no need to think long.
The circumstantial evidence immediately apparent all pointed to Agnes's infantile regression, and as such, there was only one thing Deltain could do.
"...I meant she wasn't here. Don't cry."
Soothing her.
Deltain jumped up, picked up the five-year-old Agnes, and patted her back with familiar movements.
Then, Agnes started to stop her hikkeuk-hikkeuk sobs.
"Where's Omma?"
"She went to work for a bit. I came to play with you in the meantime."
There was no trace of anger in Deltain's voice.
Would it explain things if I said Gerhart, who was listening, was surprised?
From Deltain's perspective, his experience taking care of young patients back on Earth was shining through, but this was something Gerhart wouldn't know.
"If you behave well today, Omma will come tonight. So, stop now."
Agnes's trembling gradually subsided.
Deltain wiped the corner of his eye with his free hand and asked Gerhart.
"Gerhart. How much further?"
"We'll arrive at our destination if we travel for about half a day more."
"Half a day...."
It was terrible.
Deltain despaired at the reality of having to look after five-year-old Agnes, who started ppaek wailing the moment she opened her eyes, for the entire day.
But nothing would change.
"Is Omma coming at night?"
He couldn't just abandon her. Since he couldn't keep her away from his body, he couldn't leave her with the maids either.
Deltain had to become a one-day nanny.
"...Yeah. She's coming at night."
"Who are you, mister?"
"Deltain Hebron."
"I'm Agnes!"
Five-year-old Agnes smiled brightly.
Deltain laughed heo-heo with a soul-drained face.
Amidst it all, there was only one thought.
At least it was a relief that young Agnes didn't seem picky.
*
'Cancel.'
Deltain canceled the thought he had just had.
Young Agnes was picky.
And she was in the top three pickiest kids Deltain had ever met.
If asked in what way she was picky, Deltain had only one answer.
'That damn Omma.'
Five-year-old Agnes Levadein was obsessively focused on her mother in everything.
In other words, she spoke and acted as if her mother were the absolute truth of the world.
Even considering she was a five-year-old child, the extent was serious.
"Omma said I shouldn't be a picky eater!"
Agnes shoved pickles into Deltain's sandwich.
And she said with an angry face.
"If you're a picky eater, you're a bad kid!"
"I am not a kid. And this isn't being a picky eater. Because pickles aren't food."
"They are food! They're yummy!"
"They're not tasty."
Agnes's face turned red. Her expression crumpled.
Agnes, who was glaring at Deltain while budeul-daemyeo trembling as if she couldn't hold back her anger, soon started to well up with tears 'again'.
Deltain felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.
"...Alright. I'll eat it, okay?"
Saying that, Deltain squeezed his eyes shut and bit into the sandwich. Then, after placing the pickles under his tongue, he chewed everything else, mixed the pickles in at the last moment, and swallowed them whole.
Even so, the sour taste lingering in his mouth made a grimace appear on Deltain's face.
Only then did Agnes smile brightly and pat Deltain's forehead tak-tak.
"Good job~."
What kind of nonsense is this; getting stressed even while eating makes my irritation skyrocket.
But he couldn't scold Agnes.
Deltain Hebron.
He was a man who became infinitely weak in front of children.
Agnes's atrocities continued after that.
"After you finish eating, it's time to brush-brush! Otherwise, Omma will be sad!"
"What the... No, okay. I have to brush my teeth."
"Yup! And also!"
Five-year-old Agnes was very chatty, chirping away.
And every single word was related to her mother.
What kind of person her mother was, what she did with her mother yesterday, what she did with her mother the day before yesterday, and what she was going to do with her mother tomorrow.
Deltain felt like he was going to get a neurosis from the endless stories about how pretty, how kind, and how good her mother smelled.
Deltain thought.
'Why is she so oblivious?'
He wished she would stop if he frowned like this.
He just wished she would take a nap instead.
Whether she knew his mood or not, Agnes giggled kkareureuk at Deltain's expression and kneaded his face.
If a wrinkle formed between his brows, she pressed it flat, pulled up his drooping mouth corners, and even kneaded his cheeks.
Deltain watched Agnes quietly.
Her chubby cheeks were red. There wasn't a single shadow around her cherry-blossom-colored eyes. The hands pressing on his face were tiny, and the laughter she burst out kkareureuk was full of pure energy.
Her pretty appearance was no different from the adult Agnes, but everything else was different from now.
'Was she more energetic when she was younger? Ah, they said the signs of illness started showing from when she was ten. That damn personality must be the 7th Princess's fault.'
Growth environment is this important.
Realizing that fact once again, Deltain said to Agnes, who was now pinching his lips.
"...Aren't you going to take a nap?"
"Is it nap time?"
"Yeah."
Agnes looked out the car window.
The sun was shining brightly.
It was a level where one could tell his words were a lie if they thought about it for a second, but a child of this age didn't know the concept of 'being deceived'.
Agnes wiggled kkumul-kkumul, laid her head on Deltain's thigh, and said.
"Lullaby!"
"...What?"
"Sing me a lullaby! I have to listen to a lullaby when I sleep! Omma always sang me a lullaby!"
Agnes's eyes were maltong-maltong.
No, they were banjjak-banjjak sparkling.
They were eyes filled with anticipation.
Deltain suddenly felt resentful toward the Duchess Levadein, whom he had never even met.
Even while doing so, his head was spinning busily.
He was agonizing between the shame that would well up if he sang a lullaby to Agnes and the stress that would come from looking after her while she was awake.
The answer came quite easily.
'How can I handle this any longer?'
It was a hundred times better to just end it with a moment of embarrassment.
Deltain said to Gerhart with a sharp look in his eyes.
"Don't listen."
"Please close my ears."
Ttak.
As Deltain snapped his fingers, blue mana rose and seeped into Gerhart's ears.
<1st-tier Magic: Mute activated.>
It was a spell that temporarily paralyzed the target's sense of hearing.
After doing that, Deltain looked down at Agnes.
"If I sing a lullaby, you'll sleep, right?"
"Yup! Sing 'Star and Moon'!"
She even picked the song?
Fortunately, it was a famous children's song in the empire that Deltain also knew.
Deltain closed his eyes tightly.
He let go of a bit of his own personality.
After taking several deep breaths, the voice that came out was stiff.
"One star..."
"You can't sing! Again!"
A vein popped on Deltain's forehead.
*
The moment Deltain realized he was doing something irrational was when Agnes's 'Again' had continued for about the fourth time.
Only then did he remember what he had forgotten in the thought that he had to soothe the child.
Unlike his past as a doctor on Earth, he now had magic.
<1st-tier Magic: Sleep is being activated.>
Agnes fell asleep.
Since it was sleep induced by magic, she wouldn't wake up for a few hours.
Deltain let out a deep sigh with a face stained with thick fatigue.
"The taste of pickles is still in my mouth."
"...You've worked hard."
Gerhart said that and stopped the car.
They had reached their destination.
"It lives in a quiet place for a demon."
The place they arrived at was a rocky mountain.
It was a place characterized by a desolate landscape where there were so few trees that one could count them at a glance.
When Deltain got out of the car while holding Agnes, the Hounds kept their mouths shut.
In the midst of that, Cargo spoke.
He still had a haggard face.
"It shows up as being inside that rocky mountain. It seems to be hiding in a place like a cave. You'll have to search for the exact location yourself."
"Good work. Kaltara. Pobler. Only you two follow me, and the other two stay here and guard."
As Deltain said that and set off, Kaltara and Pobler started walking behind him.
It was about 10 minutes after they started walking that Kaltara opened her mouth.
"The Young Lady is adorable!"
"Adorable? This? Don't make me laugh. I guarantee you, if I had left her to you, you would have thrown her on the floor in less than 10 minutes."
"Hmm! That makes sense! I hate children!"
"Captain, that's rude to the Young Lady."
"Isn't she sleeping!"
When Kaltara laughed heartily, Pobler stepped back.
Fearing that Agnes might wake up, Deltain cast 'Mute' magic on her ears.
Should he be thankful that she wasn't very picky about where she slept?
Even though it must be quite uncomfortable to move while being held, five-year-old Agnes was sleeping well without any particular movement.
Deltain thought the reason for this was that she had often slept while being carried like this in the past.
It was highly likely to be the Duchess.
'I don't recall hearing her talk about her Omma, though.'
Looking back, despite liking her mother this much, he didn't remember hearing stories about her mother while he was with her.
Even though she often talked about other personal stories or her father.
Deltain, who was looking at Agnes because he was unnecessarily bothered by that, soon shook off the thought.
'...What do I care.'
Curiosity killed the cat.
Deltain was a person who quite liked that proverb.
He decided not to have curiosity about useless things.
What followed was walking without a word.
As much as he was looking for a demon hiding somewhere in the rocky mountain, hiking was essential, but there was no one here whose stamina would be drained just by climbing a mountain.
"Kaltara. Can you see a cave?"
"I can't see it from here!"
"Boss, I found one."
Pobler said.
What was in the place his fingertips were pointing to was a rock with its top cut off as if it had been sliced by a sword.
Deltain snapped his fingers.
Ttak.
<2nd-tier Magic: Hawkeye activated.>
Goggles made of mana were placed over Deltain's eyes.
The goggles blinked and zoomed in on the spot Deltain was looking at.
Sure enough, just as Pobler said, there was something like the entrance to a cave.
"I think that's it. Let's go for now. Kaltara, get ready."
As the order fell, Kaltara bent her waist and made a posture of crawling on all fours.
Deltain naturally climbed onto her waist.
This was a method he sometimes used when moving through rugged terrain.
"Boss! Hold on tight!"
"Wait."
Ttak.
Deltain snapped his fingers.
<2nd-tier Magic: Barrier activated.>
A translucent membrane wrapped around the three people's bodies.
It was for the purpose of blocking the wind that would rush in when Kaltara ran.
"Start."
With that signal, Kaltara's muscles swelled.
Tendons ppureudeut popped out on top of them, and the floor began to dent.
"Here I go!"
Kwang!
As Kaltara stepped, the scenery changed in an instant.
There wasn't even the impression of the scenery passing by in an instant.
He just came to his senses and was in front of the cave.
It was a speed that exceeded the speed of sound.
A sound of air tearing for a long time began to ring in the place Kaltara had passed a step late.
Deltain covered his ears.
"She is fast."
The thought that there was indeed no better mount than Kaltara flashed through his mind.