Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: Dad's Too Weak
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That smile sent a sudden wave of unease crashing over me. And sure enough, he whispered toward me.
“You mean the exact healer you brought with you.”
“......What?”
No way......
“The one you’re thinking of is correct. The healer, Acid.”
“What does that......”
The Pope smirked as he watched me fail to hide my shock. Axel, slumped in the corner and gasping for breath due to his lack of stamina, also looked my way and cackled nonstop.
“Things have gotten interesting, haven’t they?”
The Pope sneered at me without even glancing at Axel.
“We’ll burn Acid at the stake. And then he’ll be reborn as our sword. A sword capable of slaying Mirmod.”
I couldn’t fully grasp his words. Terms like burning at the stake and sword felt far too surreal.
With my lips pressed tight, unable to hide my inner turmoil, I shouted at him as if to intimidate.
“Explain that in a way I can understand.”
But the Pope no longer seemed interested in hearing my opinion.
“Oh, pitiful little Mirmod. Why should I explain my plans in detail to you?”
That was when Axel jumped in eagerly with a retort.
“Hey, Pope. If you get what you want, does that mean Mirmod falls to me?”
The Pope’s eyes coldly swept over Axel. He nodded leisurely, then rubbed his stiff neck.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Hoo...... Not bad. So you can wipe out all the schemes that little brat’s hiding in her head too?”
The Pope lifted the corner of his mouth as he spoke.
“Yes, even this brat who was ‘deliberately’ kidnapped here can be dealt with somehow.”
At the word “deliberately,” I bit my tongue.
Just as the Pope had predicted, I had been kidnapped here with intent. Though he had half-read my past and thoughts......
‘My plan hasn’t been completely derailed. Because of the promise......’
But at this moment, I felt a faint doubt about whether my “promise” would hold.
No matter what the Pope’s intentions were right now, I had to delay his actions as much as possible.
‘Think. A way to stop the Pope from tormenting Acid......’
Was there a way to strike back at him by timing when he tried to harm Acid?
I bit my lips hard as I stared at the Pope and Axel.
I didn’t know the exact limitations of the Pope’s “mind-reading ability,” but fortunately for me, he had long since lost interest in me.
He was already excited, rambling into empty space as if giving a speech.
“Acid. That child will be the key to killing Matthias Mirmod.”
I narrowed my eyes and thought at the Pope in accusation.
‘Lucky bastard.’
But the Pope seemed to have completely lost interest in me.
He wasn’t reading my thoughts at all, just wearing an ecstatic expression.
I glared at such a Pope while chewing my lips furiously.
I gnawed until fresh blood oozed from my already burst lips, then opened my mouth.
“But the Pope’s just a figurehead. Without Melody, of course......”
“What did you just say?”
His complexion turned icy.
He really did seem to harbor an inferiority complex toward Melodia.
I stared silently at the Pope like that, blinking slowly. At this point, it was all or nothing.
“I thought it was a relief that Melodia isn’t here. Why?”
“......What?”
“Isn’t Saintess Melodia the real power behind this temple?”
The Pope thrust his face toward me, feigning impassivity.
I rolled my eyes, observing his expression like a specimen. But there was no need to focus.
Right now, just seeing his face stiffen told me everything. He had already been devoured by the monster called inferiority.
“The Crown Prince only has eyes for Saintess Melodia too, right?”
He knew I was provoking him but said nothing. The reason was simple. My words, and my thoughts, had pierced his blind spot.
I softly lifted the corner of my mouth and said to him.
“Isn’t that right?”
Since the Pope could read my mind, I snarked endlessly in my thoughts too.
Calling him a mere figurehead, saying he couldn’t make a proper decision without Melodia—I piled it on.
Having heard all my words and thoughts, the Pope ground his teeth before glaring at me again.
“What you think doesn’t matter much to me. Well then, now that I’ve gotten everything I need......”
I met the Pope’s gaze head-on.
At that moment, his hand twitched. The incantation engraved on my wrist for mental control slowly faded away.
He now seemed even more obsessed with Acid than with me. Thanks to being instantly pushed out of the Pope’s attention, I could finally think freely.
But......
“Soon I’ll summon Acid here. I still have that much power left.”
......Muttering like that, acting like a madman who thought everything would end once “Acid” arrived—I was skeptical about stopping him.
I watched the Pope draw a magic circle on the floor and squeezed my eyes shut then open.
They say even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits.
There must be a way.
A way to protect Acid, escape alive, and crush that vile Pope and Axel......
***
At that moment, a fierce battle was raging in the underground of the Central Temple.
Even for Matthias Mirmod, the Central Temple was a rather uncomfortable place.
Getting inside the temple had been easy, but entering the interior where Sien was imprisoned required great caution.
Matthias recalled his daughter’s words as he swung his sword to cut down the undead.
‘Dad, I’m going to get kidnapped.’
‘......What?’
‘Search the temple. Probably the basement of the Central Temple...... Ask Sister Delphia and Grandma to come to the Central Temple. It’s a promise.’
‘Dad doesn’t understand. You’re saying you’ll become bait for the temple? Why?’
Though he had acted meek, his ferocious nature nearly showed.
If Sien’s eyes hadn’t sparkled at that moment, he might have revealed an unkind side.
‘Yes, it’s a chance to catch the Pope and the Crown Prince all at once! They’re doing human sacrifices in the temple basement! I heard from the Dark Guild that the target this time is me.’
Matthias had grabbed Sien’s shoulders firmly and said.
‘I don’t know what your plan is exactly...... No. Dad will be the bait instead. Sien, you don’t even have mana......’
‘I can get out before that. Dad’s too weak for it. I’ll do it.’
Recalling his daughter referring to him as “weak,” Matthias readjusted his grip on his sword sheath.
He had thought there would be no kidnapping.
He had believed he could protect Sien safely while wearing the mask of a “good dad.”
But while pondering how to explain without shattering his daughter’s innocent faith in his fragility, he had neglected to watch her closely.
‘Arrogant.’
He shouldn’t have dismissed and ignored the enemy’s desperate struggles as mere insects.
That arrogance had created a slight gap in protecting his unpredictable daughter’s safety.
This kidnapping was the painful result of his misjudgment.
‘......No more wearing the good mask.’
From now on, he planned to go all out.
[Dad, I left notes for Acid and Sister Delphia! You rest at home. Build up your strength!]
Recalling his daughter who had left him a note and vanished into kidnapping, Matthias ground his teeth.
‘They won’t expect me to come rescue you myself, my girl.’
Because she thought he was weak.
Once he rescued her safely, he decided he’d never let her go outside again starting today.
The outside world was too dangerous for Sien. If she disappeared like Yuella......
‘I can’t endure a world without you, Sien.’
To Matthias, Sien was his one light. The reason for his life, his precious daughter he wished to walk only flower paths.
Matthias, emotionlessly slicing through the undead surrounding him, soon crushed underfoot a snake-shaped magic beast lunging for Acid’s ankle.
“Watch out. We need to get in as quickly as possible—stay cautious.”
“Thank you for the guidance.”
Matthias scanned Acid up and down.
He stood straight, sword in hand, guarding Matthias’s rear.
Green blood from the magic beasts splattered his hands, but he acted as if it were nothing, fulfilling his role nearby.
‘Not bad.’
He readjusted his sword.
In the moment his attention wavered, countless undead had surrounded him. Matthias grimaced irritably as he slit a magic beast’s throat with his sword, without using aura. He couldn’t use aura here.
If he revealed other powers too much inside the temple, troublesome holy knights might swarm.
Instead, he simply slashed the air with his sword, while Acid protected his body with holy power from beside him.
The two formed a fantastical combo. Soon, magic beast corpses piled up high, allowing them to quietly advance into the Central Temple basement.
Countless doors lined the temple basement. He didn’t know which would lead to Sien.
Matthias listened carefully.
Hoping to hear his daughter’s voice.
And it was right then.
Acid moved with a rare flustered expression.
“......Lord Matthias.”
“What is it?”
“Well...... My hand is fading.”
“Do you know why?”
Acid bit his lips and shook his head.
“Not at all...... I don’t know.”
Matthias, staring fixedly at Acid, smiled cynically.
He had seen all sorts of lowly tricks in his wars. The temple had used every cowardly means to eliminate Matthias Mirmod.
So he knew.
The reason Acid’s hand was fading......
“Could it be, you’re dying?”
At the innocently blunt words, Matthias stared at the boy before him.
There was no stark fear of death in the boy’s eyes.
Just worry. Matthias gazed numbly at his concerned look and spat out words.
“If you die.”
“I’d only regret not being able to save Lady Sien.”
Matthias found the determination of the boy—no, the young man Acid—irritating. He swept back his hair and whispered lowly.
“You won’t die. But......”
Whether what he said now would be good or bad for Acid, he didn’t know.
But one thing was certain—it irritated Matthias.
“You’ll get to Sien. Alone.”