Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: You're Not My Dad
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All living creatures have a preferred environment.
A place where they can make full use of their abilities.
For a swift cheetah, it's the vast grasslands. For a shark, the ocean.
Just like how my friend Cholyeong's warehouse was his domain, or the canyon for a 25-year-old in League.
So, who was the star of this stage right now?
The drug dealers who came and went from this abandoned tavern like it was their own home?
Or Eirin, fighting fifteen-to-one without aura and without a single scratch?
Neither.
The answer was...
"W-Wait a second!"
"Put that down first and let's talk!"
"Fuck, you think I won't do it?!"
The guy who lit the fire in this wooden underground interior.
Me.
Of course, I had no real intention of throwing it.
If it caught fire, I'd be in danger too. Why would I throw it?
I'm still sane.
"......"
The men, hearing my threat, were breaking out in cold sweats.
Normally, you'd think the wood down here, soaked in the underground dampness, wouldn't catch fire easily.
Unfortunately, what was inside wasn't an ordinary candle.
Where is this? A fantasy world.
Inside the lantern, emitting light, was a commonly available small fire mana stone.
This little guy had the power to burn any wood it touched like it was soaked in oil.
-Just leave it to me, Master!
Look at it now.
It's sparkling back at me confidently, isn't it?
I hurled a lantern from another table at the man slyly closing in from the corner.
"Whoa!"
"Gwah!"
Daring to sneak up for a takedown instead of negotiating?
How pathetic.
'No, wait.'
These criminals were doing their best.
The one who should reflect is none other than me.
My acting failed to convince them I was really going to throw it.
"I'm the criminal...."
Like a veteran detective, I began my mind control.
I can really throw it.
If I miss, we all die....
I absolutely won't die alone...!
"I can do it!!!"
I used Magic Eye to blur my focus.
My hands trembled like an alcoholic's.
Drool leaked out, trickling down my chin.
Ah... this is it.
Is this what they mean when they say when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back?
For some reason, it felt like it would be okay to actually throw it.
"Where the hell did you get this psycho?!"
"R-Rapal! Where's that bastard?!"
"He got knocked out by that knight bitch's fist earlier!"
I quickly scanned for the guy named Rapal.
Okay, there he is.
I need to recover the silver coins I took from his pocket later.
Otherwise, Eirin would give me those sad eyes.
'Just hold on a little longer...'
Glancing over, the men were exchanging suspicious looks.
The situation's bad. We're all dead anyway. Let's charge. Something like that.
"Damn it."
Acting's over.
I set down the lantern in my hand and bolted like mad.
"Grab him!"
"You damn bastard! You're dead when we catch you!"
Men with beet-red faces chasing after me.
If they caught me, I'd be beaten to a pulp.
"Not planning on getting caught."
I didn't stick my head into a den of criminals relying solely on one lantern.
I have some back-alley experience too.
Running away? Piece of cake.
"Hup."
"Gurk!"
When I first woke up in the back alleys, my body was small and scrawny.
The original owner of this body probably never knew about wealth redistribution—steal when hungry, steal when needed.
The secret to surviving the back alleys with a body like that was...
'Throwing stuff.'
I leaped over round tables, toppled chairs.
Hurled wooden beer mugs and cheap displayed bottles.
No, anything I could grab.
When speeds are equal, the ranged dealer wins.
'If Cheolsu starts at 60 km/h and Yeonghui starts 5 minutes later at 60 km/h, fuck, how does she catch up?'
Like that, I threw objects at the men to widen the gap.
Circled three-quarters of the tavern, avoiding Eirin's side.
-Thud.
I returned to my starting spot.
"You're done for today!"
"Fuck, throw it! We'll watch you burn first!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down."
I picked up the lantern I'd neatly placed on the floor and gently stroked it.
"It'd be okay to really throw it, right?"
"What?"
"You guys seem like you'd burn first."
The men, panting and catching their breath, were drenched.
Not sweat, of course.
They'd been soaked in booze from the bottles I threw.
In this situation, who was most vulnerable to fire?
Not me, that's for sure.
"Should I throw it? Or not?"
"Urk...!"
A little thought would make them realize closing the distance puts them at risk too.
Didn't matter. It was already over.
"That's enough."
"Gah."
"Urk."
Eirin, who had closed in swiftly, drove her fists into their solar plexuses.
In an instant, the neatly packaged men lay side by side with their friends, off to dreamland.
"Good work."
"Wasn't difficult."
Eirin shrugged, rotating her wrists.
At first, I thought five minutes was too long for a skilled knight.
'Block escapes, prevent magic tools from calling allies, hit non-vitals, keep checking this side and rush if danger—'
Doing all that while dodging attacks from fifteen coming from all sides? Fair enough.
Even more amazing: all pure physical techniques.
"Not sure, but don't you usually use mana to strengthen the body or something?"
"Correct."
"Why not?"
"......"
Eirin's eyebrow twitched down slightly.
What? Did I ask something I shouldn't?
I wasn't trying to poke the beehive, so I was about to change the subject when...
Eirin answered.
"The moment a person uses mana, traces remain there."
"Like who used mana?"
"Yes. And I... don't want to reveal my presence in Arvent."
With that, Eirin clamped her mouth shut.
Like she had no more to say.
That meaningful line loaded with hooks suggested some backstory.
"Ah, okay."
Not my business.
I decided to just do what I had to.
"You got the guards to cooperate?"
"Yes, I spoke to them beforehand in the Ducal Family's name."
The third and final request I made to Eirin in the carriage.
The culprits of this incident were here, so gather all guard forces for an investigation.
Of course, the guards wouldn't mobilize fully on just our word without evidence.
'Who am I? The Ducal Family's bastard.'
That's what power is for, right?
They're probably scraping together every soldier, even those off-duty resting, and combing the back alleys.
Now, just open the entrance wide and call the guards—done.
We could take a carriage, but...
"...What are you doing right now?"
"Can't you see? Looting pockets."
First, something else to do.
Got to recover the funds used. It's all money.
Eirin stared at me like it was ridiculous.
Ah, no way.
"As a knight, does this feel wrong? Sting your conscience?"
"No, not that, but..."
"Then what? Hurry up. If we leave it, it'll just cover the guards' drinks."
Eirin pondered briefly.
Then began awkwardly rummaging through the fallen men's pockets.
I busied my hands too.
Copper. Copper. Oh, silver.
Not quite the salary pouch level.
But robbing twenty-one guys? Still a decent haul.
"...Looting the pockets of the ones we took down. Never crossed my mind."
"Common in back alleys. You must've lived cushy."
"Cushy? Me...?"
While Eirin wore a confused expression about her identity.
I separated the borrowed silver and split the rest in half, offering it.
"Here."
"...Pardon?"
"Hazard pay."
Eirin caught them all, but.
I found the hideout.
Half is fair.
Eirin stared at the pouch offered to her for a while.
Then closed her eyes and asked.
"...An order?"
"If that makes it easier."
"Understood."
Eirin nodded and took the pouch.
Peeked inside with her right hand.
"Of all the orders I've heard...
this is the one I like most."
She smiled faintly, satisfied.
And so, Arvent's long night ended.
Morning arrived.
"See, I told you. What can commoners like you do?"
"Didn't the locals protest?"
"Hm, they did file an appeal later. But the regional administrator's my academy classmate, so I just buried it."
Three days after leaving Arvent.
I was listening to Dort's tales in the carriage heading to Rovelen Territory.
Carriage trips get boring after a day or two; by day three, nothing to do.
Dort's stories were mostly about fleecing commoners.
-Is that true?
-I see.
Just nod along, and they poured out endlessly. Pretty entertaining.
At this point, maybe he actually likes me despite pretending otherwise?
Plus, I picked up useful info now and then.
Like the Rovelen family, famed for swords, despises mages.
Or Lady Elena enters the academy in two years.
Stuff like that.
Thus, camping, village inns, repeat, the carriage rolled on.
Just before the medieval ride shattered my back, we finally reached the territory.
"This is Rovelen Territory."
"Oh."
As expected of a ducal house; it was vast and bustling.
Neat, populous, developed nearly as much as Arvent.
Per Dort, ports to the south and east.
To reach Arvent, pass through here unless crossing mountains.
Prime land, nothing else to call it.
And the arriving mansion was fucking huge.
The L-shaped building dwarfed Rebecca Orphanage.
Servants lined up at the carriage's arrival—too many to count.
"We've arrived."
Eirin exited first, opening the door and offering her hand.
As I descended slowly, gazes converged on me.
Hm, first time for this—kinda embarrassing.
Fussing with my rumpled clothes, a middle-aged man approached from afar.
Black hair like mine.
Neat beard, antique attire.
Sharp impression.
Probably the Rovelen Duke.
The Duke approached slowly and asked Dort.
"This child is..."
"Yes, the Young Master we found in Coven Village."
"I see."
The Duke nodded sternly.
Of course, he planned the bastard scheme, so it's all show—but still.
'Isn't this too half-assed?'
Meeting a son you didn't even know existed.
No tears, fine—but at least fake some joy?
Otherwise, people might suspect.
Look, even the servants...
"That's... the Duke's son?"
"Look at that hair. Black as jet."
"Truly the Ducal blood..."
Ah.
Seems my black hair is the Ducal free pass—they're not suspicious.
My hair is pretty dark.
'Hm.'
Long-lost father turns out to be a massive noble.
How to react?
I'd brainstormed options on the ride.
-D... Dad? You're really my dad...?
Appeal to family bonds.
-It's an honor to meet the honorable sword of the empire, head of the Rovelen family.
Overdo the flattery.
After brief thought, I nodded.
And slowly opened my mouth.
"No, you're not my father."
The son hating his absent father.
This is the meta.