Chapter 180
Chapter 180
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 180
>Chapter Title: Cookie-Munching Totem 1
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Sudden shift in Damian’s temperature caused a chill to settle over the spacious drawing room. He wasn’t emitting any particular aura, but the cold glint in his Odd Eye had the power to freeze the atmosphere solid.
And so, amid the stretching silence.
I watched the situation unfold quietly, like a goblin caught up in an ogre fight.
‘This doesn’t look good at all.’
Damian’s icy gaze was far from pleasant, and in tandem, Myselrn-senior’s eyes were gradually losing their warmth.
At this rate, emotions might get hurt before any talk of adventures or rescues even came up.
Around then, I couldn’t help but admire Myselrn-senior’s greatness. The fact that he hadn’t smacked Damian yet proved he was a person of considerable character.
‘Yeah, definitely a stand-up guy.’
If it were me, I’d have decked him.
‘Ugh, what a punk.’
What’s that in front of Ransi? ‘You’re scared of the responsibility you’d have to shoulder because of me?’
Fine, I could let the casual speech slide a hundred times over, but this crossed the line. Myselrn-senior was only saying it out of concern for him.
Crunch, crunch.
“…….”
“…….”
Catching the sudden stares directed my way, I casually shoved the cookie I’d been munching into my mouth. No problem. I could just melt it with my tongue.
Anyway, the key here was Myselrn-senior’s response.
‘Blue corner: Damian. Red corner: Myselrn.’
How would the red corner counter the blue corner’s opening salvo?
In a move beyond expectations, Myselrn-senior’s response was more refined—and far more adult.
“Did you say you understand? What exactly do you understand? Since you call me teacher, I’ll ask as if you’re my disciple. So…… what do you understand?”
“That it’s dangerous. And that it might be tough.”
“That’s it?”
“What more do you need?”
Okay, Damian was one conversation away from special mental training.
Normally, I might let it slide as cute, but in a serious situation like this, that casual tone would get him chewed out anywhere.
Anyway, just as I was resolving to give Damian some mental training myself, Myselrn-senior calmly answered the question.
“Whether you die or not isn’t my concern.”
That was a bit harsh.
But the next part was even harsher.
“But do you think it ends with just you dying? What about the sins of those who serve you? You might pay the price for your recklessness, but they’ll suffer greatly because of your rash actions.”
“…….”
At a loss for words, perhaps.
Damian simply stared at Myselrn-senior without retort.
Myselrn-senior leaned forward, straightening his posture. His mouth opened right after.
“Looks like you’re pretty close to that servant Ransi. The family retainers seem to follow you well too. But have you ever thought about this? Those who treat you with kindness might face great peril because of you.”
“…….”
“To you, it’s just a bit of harmless fun, but to them, it’s their livelihood. Their very lives might hang in the balance.”
Nice, spot on point by point.
Yeah, that’s exactly it.
They say a frog dies from a stone thrown in jest— to Damian, it might be a joke, but to others, it could be deadly serious.
In fact, viewing it strictly, sternly, seriously, that incident where Damian ran off to the Black-White Slums before was probably quite a headache for the people below him.
So, right now, Myselrn-senior was teaching Damian the responsibilities he ought to have as the superior.
‘Not as an individual, but as the Young Patriarch of a family.’
Now, the key observation point was Damian’s counterattack.
How would Damian respond?
‘Throw a tantrum? Dig in his heels? Or just bull his way through without logic?’
Either way, it’d turn into a mess. Which meant the cookies were tasting even better.
But why was this?
“……?”
I ended up tilting my head at Damian’s next words.
‘……What? Why…….’
“I hadn’t thought that far.”
One moment he’s wearing that world-weary, ice-cold expression, the next he’s pouting like he hadn’t considered it and nodding along.
I wasn’t the only one dumbfounded by the reaction.
“Uh, uhm. You hadn’t, um. Thought of that?”
“It lines up with what Mom says. But I forget sometimes.”
“Y-Yeah. It’s easy to forget.”
“You really are a true teacher, huh?”
Sometime along the way, the honorific had shifted from ‘teacher’ to ‘master.’
As Damian’s temperature flipped so abruptly—leaving me and Myselrn-senior flustered—a sudden thought crossed my mind.
‘Is this pure evil?’
A flow utterly incomprehensible to someone as purely good as me.
Just like that, Damian wore a refreshed look of enlightenment, I stayed silent, and Myselrn-senior spoke up right then.
“So…… you’re giving up?”
“No.”
……Not that either?
Was the conversation looping back to square one? As we grew bewildered, Damian snapped his fingers.
What was he doing?
“…….”
“…….”
Both I and Myselrn-senior watched Damian quietly as he tilted his head, went ‘aha,’ and rose from his seat.
He then stuck his head out the door and called for Ransi.
“Raaaaaansi!”
Damian’s voice boomed through the mansion.
Damian summoned Ransi with a crude but surefire method, then flashed Myselrn-senior an innocent smile.
“Learned something new. Now I’m the new— prototype Damian version 2. So, if we solve this part, it’s okay for me to come along, right?”
Ransi arrived soon after.
Damian looked at the ever-stoic Ransi and opened his mouth as if making the most natural request in the world.
“Ransi.”
“Yes, Young Master Damian.”
“I need to talk to Mother.”
That one line shocked me.
‘Straight to the source……?’
But the one more shocked was probably Myselrn-senior.
[Is, is this okay?]
Somehow, as a fellow accomplice, he wanted my opinion, but I chose to take a step back from that voice.
[What? I dunno?]
[……?]
Didn’t hear that.
Right now, I wasn’t hearing what I heard, or seeing what I saw.
I was Cookie-Munching Totem 1.
Call me Ku-muk-to.
* * *
As the Cookie-Munching Totem, I wiped out the cookies on the table while blending into the room’s atmosphere.
It was a total disaster.
“Ahem, uhum. Ahem. Y-Young Patriarch?”
“Call me Damian now, Master.”
“No, why would I be your mas…….”
“You gave me enlightenment. Or rather, bestowed it?”
“Urgh…….”
Just moments ago, Myselrn-senior had embodied the ideal mentor, but at the word ‘master,’ he shrank like a con artist caught trying to lure a snot-nosed kid, busted by the parents.
On the other hand, what about Ransi?
“May I ask first?”
“Yeah, no.”
“You could at least give me a hint.”
“Yeah, nope.”
Sensing something off as Damian’s authority figure, he shot a strange look.
And that was it?
‘Why me, though.’
That sharp gaze turned my way, as if rebuking me with ‘What did you tempt him with this time?’
What to do?
Right now, I was Ku-muk-to 1.
A totem is just a totem; that kind of responsibility is for people.
I subtly flicked my eyes toward Myselrn-senior, who startled and widened his eyes.
[You……!]
Ransi’s arrows now aimed at Myselrn-senior.
Mission success.
But Ransi couldn’t bring himself to say anything to Myselrn-senior, so he sighed deeply and handed Damian the communication crystal that connected straight to his mother.
“Here it is.”
“Thanks. Ransi, you can go.”
“No, that’s…….”
“I said go.”
“……Understood.”
Ransi withdrew reluctantly at Damian’s firm tone.
Even as the door closed, his glare at Myselrn-senior was piercing enough to haunt dreams.
Creak— click.
After Ransi left.
Damian turned to Myselrn-senior and made a request.
“Master, please block the sound.”
“……!”
Damian…… using honorifics?!
“D-Do we need to go that far?”
“Then I’ll do it.”
Damian had grown this much in such a short time.
Even using honorifics.
Even blocking sound himself.
After swiftly silencing the room, Damian eyed Myselrn-senior again. He seemed to want confirmation before contacting his mother.
“If that issue’s resolved, you’ll take me along, right?”
“No, even if it is…….”
“I see that as discrimination. What, is it fine if your friend’s some Black-White Slums orphan who dies, so he can come but not me? If that’s what you think, I’d be really disappointed in you, Master.”
“……!”
Version 2 was powerful.
A counterattack more logical than ever.
Myselrn-senior couldn’t find a fitting reply and subtly shot me a plea for backup.
I closed my eyes.
“Senior, I didn’t think you saw me that way. I’m deeply hurt.”
“Y-You…….”
“Yeah. I’m out.”
Abandoned by his ally, Myselrn-senior sighed deeply and looked at Damian.
“If your parents permit it…….”
“You can call me Damian.”
“……Damian. If your parents permit it, then I’ll consider it positively.”
“My dad’s not around?”
“……?”
Ah, Myselrn-senior wasn’t used to Damian’s way of speaking yet.
A beat late, Myselrn-senior snapped to and tried to say something, but Damian shrewdly wrapped up the topic.
“Anyway, got it.”
Damian deftly operated the communication crystal. Soon, a voice came from the other end.
[Ransi? What’s up?]
“Mother, it’s me.”
[……Who?]
“Damian.”
[……Who the hell are you?]
Was Damian’s sudden honorifics shocking even to his mother? She couldn’t believe it was him.
But it didn’t take long for her to accept it, thanks to Damian switching the crystal to video.
[Da……mian.]
“Yes, Mother. It’s me.”
[But what’s this about? You didn’t call just to hear my voice.]
Another key observation point.
What would Damian say?
Crunch, crunch.
[Who’s there with you?]
“A friend.”
Oops, too loud?
But no helping it. I was the freshly awakened Ku-muk-to 1. The moment I stopped munching cookies, my reason for existing vanished—such was my tragic fate.
Anyway, as I inhaled cookies to preserve my being, mine and Myselrn-senior’s anxious gazes fixed on Damian.
Damian spoke right then.
But how to put it.
‘This kid, is he insane?’
I was shocked.
Truly shocked.
I pride myself on not startling easily, but this Damian was madder than any lunatic I’d ever seen.
Damian’s first words to his mother began like this.
“Mother, I might die.”