The Genius Returns Home (8)
I could find Enter in the main house kitchen, but I could not spot Ifrile anywhere.
It was a bit sorry to say, but looking at it that way, Enter was the one who put in real effort, while Ifrile was the one who actually got things done.
She always kept her eyes half-closed, as if everything was too bothersome, yet no matter what she set her mind to, she performed at a level far above average.
On the other hand, Enter…
Well, putting in effort and performing well were both important, after all.
She was just like any other kid her age, and I liked that.
After the promised ten minutes, then the mentioned twenty, by the time thirty minutes had passed and I still could not find her, I returned to the living room of the main house.
“Hmm?”
“Oh! Hyung’s here!”
“Mwu…?”
I saw Enter, who I had grabbed, and Cecil lying down beside her, with Ifrile next to that.
“Why is she here?”
“Kyukyuk. The darkest place is under the lamp, you know!”
The reply came from Ifrile, who seemed half-asleep, and not from Enter.
Was she imitating Father’s tone?
She sounded so old.
“Mwu…”
But… had she even considered that?
Seeing Cecil lying down after hiding, had she simply decided to lie down with her too?
As I had said earlier, doing well and putting in effort were different things.
“Uhn, where did Jedden go?”
Since my conversation with Enter must have reached her, Cecil stretched and sat up.
“Yeah. I found them all?”
“One caught and two found.”
“Fufufu. Good work.”
“What.”
Just as I was about to let out a sigh, I rested my chin on Cecil’s lap.
The soft flower scent was different from usual.
It must have been because we were using the shampoo from our house instead of the usual one.
As I closed my eyes for a moment like that…
“Hyung.”
The disaster with the purple hair opened his mouth.
…What was he saying to me? No bad words, okay?
What reason did we have for being like this?
Was it because he wanted to play with the kids?
Even though it was physically tiring, this was the appearance we had wanted.
“Why, Enter?”
“When is the next round?”
“Next round?”
“Yeah!”
This wasn’t supposed to be a one-shot match, was it?
She wasn’t going to play? No, that wasn’t it either. The question was when. It seemed like she had already decided to play.
Umm…
“How long did it take me to find them all?”
“Thirty minutes!”
“Then let’s do it in thirty minutes.”
“Eh? Why!”
“It’s an even exchange.”
“What’s that?”
“It means you have to pay the same value to get something.”
“Ooh… that’s cool!”
It was from Father’s book, but the answer sounded quite like something from the Manufacturing Department.
Did the person who said that belong to the Manufacturing Department?
If it was even exchange… I thought it was a word closer to the Alchemist Department.
“It’s the same as becoming a knight after eating well and sleeping well!”
“What… that’s right?”
You couldn’t say it was exactly the same, but…
Paying effort to get results, it probably wasn’t that different.
“Got it! I’ll wait, thirty minutes!”
It seemed she had somehow endured it somehow.
She hadn’t solved it, just delayed it, but this was where we were.
Actually, the rest time wasn’t prepared for me.
I spent two hours in the training room every day.
Compared to the martial artists, it wasn’t a problem physically.
Still, I kept creating rest time…
“Jedden.”
“Why?”
“Just…”
It was because of her.
Cecil had very low physical stamina.
Having a high realm didn’t automatically mean high physical ability, but there was still a certain proportional tendency.
Of course, high realm meant a well-used novel, so to speak—very close to reality.
Moving according to independent laws and surviving in a new world was never easy.
So even as a mage, you would secure the minimum physical ability to endure the realm.
It was strange that I had reached the 2nd Realm while in the Manufacturing Department.
“Cecil.”
“Hm?”
Once I thought that far, curiosity suddenly arose.
What kind of world was Cecil’s realm?
I called her out of that thought, but…
“…Just…”
Remembering that asking about someone else’s realm was a huge rudeness, I turned the conversation.
It could also be said that the realm was the essence of one’s identity and self.
It was like asking what kind of life she had lived, what experiences she had gone through, and what trauma she had faced.
I was curious about how Cecil had lived until now, but I didn’t want to know like this.
“What? You’re copying me?”
“No.”
“It’s not ‘no’.”
Still, she hadn’t noticed.
Chuk.
“What.”
“Just.”
I would have had to receive a cheek-pinching punishment instead, but this was fine.
***
And thirty minutes after the promised time.
A familiar voice woke me from my light sleep.
“Hyung! Hide and seek!”
“Hmm…? Already?”
“Yeah! It’s an even exchange!”
Tsk. Had I given her the wrong idea for nothing.
“Wake up, Jedden. We need to play hide and seek.”
“What…? When did you wake up?”
“A little while ago?”
“Yeah…. Let’s do it, we have to play hide and seek.”
I sat up and headed for the annex.
This time… I would count about five minutes.
To wake up from sleep and stretch a little.
Then Cecil came over.
“Jedden.”
“Why.”
“Where are you going?”
“Hm? Annex.”
At my words, Cecil gave a slight smile.
“I’m the one who’s it.”
“Hm? What’s that mean?”
“What’s that mean. I was the first one found, right?”
No…
It wasn’t wrong, but…
“Enter said you find too well, so it’s no fun.”
“What can I do about being seen.”
“So I’ll do it for you. I’m it.”
After saying that, Cecil patted my shoulder and walked past, letting out words she couldn’t hold back.
“Or do you not have the confidence?”
“……Eh?”
I thought I had heard it wrong and quickly turned around, but Cecil was just walking with her back straight as if nothing had happened.
“……”
…No confidence?
To me, the protagonist of the reversal—Luke, Silent Ode, the nameless student of the wise man—did I not have confidence?
“Hyung, Ifrile…?”
“Enter.”
“Hm?”
“There are three things that a man cannot endure, no, should not endure as insults.”
One was the insult between parents and children.
One was the insult to my woman.
And the last one was…
“The insult to my skill. Whether it’s a game or a sword fight, I have to teach a lesson to the person who insulted me.”
“U, um…”
“Understood?”
“Of, of course…”
For some reason, Enter’s uneasy gaze and Ifrile’s scornful gaze intertwined, but…
You couldn’t understand it because you were still kids.
You would understand when you were my age.
“Where, is there a hiding place…”
***
Cecil was feeling quite good.
Not that it was not the case, but because her plan was working out well.
She had convinced Jedden to be it.
And she was going to find Enter and Ifrile.
Finally, Jedden, the last one remaining… she probably would not find him.
He was a 5th Realm assassin. How could she find that.
The vibration of footsteps, the stride, the interval of breathing, the scent, the body shape, the blood type, the shampoo, the cosmetics…
She remembered enough information to that level, but in serious mode Jedden would hide all of that.
So she decided to give up on finding Jedden from the beginning. Instead, she would take something more special.
“Uhhuhu… huh?”
…What was that just now?
Could it be my voice?
Ah… I couldn’t let that happen.
I only wanted to show Jedden a clean and pure appearance.
I didn’t want to show this gloomy appearance.
First, I took a deep breath.
Hup, ha. Hup, ha.
Ah… it wasn’t easy. To calm myself down.
Still, time flowed relentlessly, and it was almost time to leave.
Cecil stepped out of the annex with a slightly different, somewhere sinister smile from usual.
***
Meanwhile, in the guest room.
There Jedden was, who had prepared everything, hiding.
What do you think is the first technique an assassin learns?
Sword fighting? It would be nice, but the essence of assassination was not killing all witnesses, but secretly stabbing and fleeing.
If you could instantly kill an unprepared enemy, you would not need grand swordsmanship.
Basic physical ability? That went without saying.
To be precise, the foundation of an assassin is stealth.
The technique to hide the body.
The art of sneaking into the enemy camp and silently eliminating the target.
Of course, I had learned it first, and it was the most treasured technique to me.
The first mother’s unique mana control technique that reduced most popular odors, including breath and scent, concealment.
In addition, the magic that hid mana and made presence faint, wearing shadow.
By properly combining them, I created my own unique stealth technique, dark shadow shroud.
Does the name sound arrogant?
I made it at fifteen, so that’s why.
I still think it’s not bad, but dark shadow shroud was a technique where my self was deeply imbued to the point of affecting my realm, so I could not change the name on a whim.
I even wondered if it was necessary to do so.
After ten minutes, twenty minutes…
When time was starting to get confusing, Cecil entered the guest room.
Cecil seemed to smell first, but instead of trusting what she saw with her eyes, she searched around and began to look for me.
But my position was on top of the closet.
It was a place where Cecil’s height could not reach, and it was in the corner where it was hard to see.
After searching the room from corner to corner, focusing on places her hand could reach, Cecil soon spread her mana widely.
It was the most orthodox method to find a hidden assassin.
Of course, it was dangerous because she could be ambushed, but since I would not cover Cecil, I could not.
Usually, she would have been found here.
As someone in the Magic Engineering Department, Cecil had excellent mana control, even if she did not have a huge mana pool, and she could detect most stealth and still have some left.
But.
But.
Unfortunately, the opponent was me.
In the end, Cecil could not find me and withdrew her mana.
Since she had wasted her time, she was leaving the guest room…
“No one’s here…?”
Eh.
Why not leave.
Maybe she had guessed my position with a method other than the general one.
But it seemed she did not know exactly, so I would hide like this…
“Eh.”
Hey.
Hey, hey!
Wait! What are you doing!
___________
It is an illustration for the 10,000 views celebration!
It might seem like a fuss, but it has too much meaning to me!
Thank you all!
