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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Dad and Me
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“Here, drink up! You did great today!”
“…Thanks.”
“Hee hee.”
And there was more good news.
Dad had agreed to become Chessier’s guardian, and from then on, we were able to take classes together.
Our schedules were identical, save for two classes.
I had special math tutoring with Oscar, the Master of the Magic Tower, while Chessier…
‘He’s learning the sword from Dad!’
I watched Chessier drink his water and giggled to myself.
Since he was starting his sword training with Dad two years early, he might just become a Sword Master two years sooner, too.
‘Is… is this really okay? For it to be this easy?’
Everything was going smoothly, right on track with the original plot.
“Chessier!”
“Yeah.”
“Come here.”
I beckoned him over. Chessier leaned down, offering his ear.
“You haven't forgotten about… you know! The thing we were going to do today, right?”
“What… Oh.”
Chessier’s expression turned reluctant as he spoke.
“Why don’t you just go with him, just the two of you?”
“No way! You promised me!”
“…Alright.”
Chessier reluctantly agreed.
“Hey! Why are you two whispering? What did you say?”
Leon cut in.
“Hee hee. Oh, nothing. It was nothing important.”
“Nothing important?! You, get over here. Spill it!”
“Aahahaha! Nooo waaaay!”
I took off running, with Leon hot on my heels.
Today was the first day of the Children's Day festival.
* * *
“Ready, troops!”
“Yes, Captain James Brown!”
“……”
The sun had set, and it was early evening.
Dad, Chessier, and I, all dressed in commoner’s clothes, snuck out of the mansion unnoticed.
Dad looked down at his two little subordinates standing side by side, grinned, then turned and shouted, “Forward march!”
In that same moment, he transformed into James Brown.
There they were, the trademark of an extra: brown hair and brown eyes.
“Are we really allowed to do this…?”
“We are, we are!”
“Let’s have fun today!”
Dad and I led a worried Chessier out into the capital.
“Whoaaaa!”
The first day of the festival.
Unlike the nobles’ townhouse district, which showed no sign of a celebration, the commoner’s district was brilliant and loud.
Glittering lights were strung up along every street, and vendors selling candy and sweets waved at us cheerfully.
Children, each holding their parents’ hands, were soaked in the happy atmosphere, their faces bright with laughter.
‘Man, this is a real festival! The nobles are too busy acting all high and mighty to have any real fun!’
I peeked at Chessier’s profile, noticing he looked excited despite trying to hide it, and smiled to myself.
The reason I’d asked Dad to take us to the festival today was for Chessier.
‘The day Dad took Chessier to the festival… I’ll never forget it! What a moving episode that was!’
In the original story, Dad and Chessier didn’t have a warm father-son relationship from the start.
Well, that was to be expected. After losing his daughter, Enoch Rubinstein’s personality had become as cold and frosty as any northern duke’s, and Chessier was naturally taciturn.
But as we know, Enoch Rubinstein isn’t a cold-hearted character through and through.
Though he wasn’t affectionate, he always looked out for Chessier and, in his own clumsy way, tried to be a real father to the boy who had never known a parent’s love.
「“A festival.”
“…Pardon?”
“There’s a festival. Outside.”
“Ah, yes.”
“……”
“……”
“…Let’s go.”
“Pardon?”」
“Pfft.”
Remembering the dialogue from the original story between a completely different Dad and a tight-lipped Chessier, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Princess! That one’s super cute! Should we get it? What do you think?”
“Ooh! I want the bunny! The bunny!”
We stopped at a stall selling animal headbands, bought one each, and continued on our way.
I was a bunny, Chessier was a leopard, and Dad was a teddy bear.
Time flew by as we ate fruit skewers coated in sugar and watched a clown’s magic show.
“Hee hee hee. This is so much fun. I feel amazing.”
“Having fun, Princess?”
“Uh-huh! Chessier, you’re having fun too, right?”
Chessier, walking beside me with a heart painted on his cheek, nodded.
“…Yeah.”
“Hee hee.”
It was then that we heard a commotion up ahead and saw six uniformed security officers.
And the handsome, black-haired man standing in the middle of them was…
‘Isn’t that Uncle Axion?’
It was a face I hadn’t seen in a while.
It was Uncle Axion, the Captain of the Holy Knights, who had been met with a fire poker from Mr. James Brown the moment he appeared.
We spotted each other at almost the same time.
Seeing Dad, Axion strode toward us.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, if it isn’t the Captain. Working hard, are we?”
Dad greeted him with a sly grin, and the security officers behind him stared, wide-eyed.
One of the officers shot forward.
“Wh-what is this insolence? Do you not know who this is?”
“Enough.”
Axion waved the officer back and glanced down at me.
“Hello!”
“……”
Realizing we had snuck out to see the festival, Axion let out a deep sigh and said.
“…He’s a friend of mine.”
“Sir? A friend?”
“Never mind that. You. What are you doing wandering around the commoner’s district without any sense of decorum? Trying to enjoy yourself before your face becomes too well-known?”
“And what about you, Captain? A busy man like yourself, out here on patrol?”
“It’s not like that. I’m just personally investigating something.”
“Investigating?”
Axion ran a hand through his hair, looking tired.
“Lately, there have been a lot of missing children reports filed with the security office from the commoner’s district. I came out to look into it myself.”
“What?”
Dad’s expression soured.
‘Hmm, there’s nothing more meaningless than a crime report from a commoner…’
I thought to myself as I listened to them talk.
The commoner’s district was practically a lawless world.
Imperial law was only used to punish crimes when a noble was involved.
No matter how many times commoners reported assaults or disappearances to the security office, they would never be investigated.
‘Uncle Axion really is cool.’
A noble who would use his personal authority to investigate crimes against commoners.
In this wretched world, he was like a unicorn.
‘Well, I guess you’d have to be this righteous to be one of Dad’s closest confidants.’
While I was lost in thought, Axion finished his conversation and started to walk away.
“Please, try not to get your face recognized, and just have a quiet time before you go home. The reinstatement ceremony is the day after tomorrow.”
“Stop nagging. I know what I’m doing. Take care.”
“Uncle!”
I called out to Axion. He paused and turned back.
I ran over, took a mint candy Dad had bought me from my bag, and pressed it into Axion’s hand.
“…What’s this?”
“It’s a mint candy. It’s refreshing. Eat it and cheer up.”
“……”
“Bye-bye now!”
Leaving a stunned Axion behind, I returned to Dad’s side.
As I took his hand and we started walking again, we saw a massive crowd gathered up ahead.
“And now, the first-place prize is a pair of ‘Princess Lala Shoes’! The entry fee is a mere 5,000 Ter! For your beloved daughter, sign up now!”
The host’s booming voice echoed from a stage, where a large banner was hung.
It seemed to be some kind of prize event.
But the first-place prize was a pair of Princess Lala shoes.
‘The little girls are going to go crazy.’
The famous fairy tale, , had been a massive hit, and Princess Lala merchandise was all the rage across the empire.
The Princess Lala magic wand, the Princess Lala compact, the Princess Lala shoes…
For the record, the very shoes I had begged for last year but eventually gave up on because they were too expensive were those exact Princess Lala shoes.
“Strong mothers are welcome to participate too! The second-place prize is a set of ‘Bunny Friend Bani-Bani Pajamas’! One set for an adult and one for a child!”
“Princess.”
“No, Dad, it’s okay. I don’t like Princess Lala anymore.”
“This is a sign from the heavens.”
“No, I’m telling you, it’s fine.”
Dad promptly took my hand and Chessier’s and led us up onto the stage.
There were already about ten other teams on stage, children holding their parents’ hands.
“Ah, will you be our final contestant? Your name?”
“James Brown.”
“Mr. James Brown. However…”
The host, who was writing Dad’s name on the participant list, pointed at Chessier.
“ is an event for children! We can’t leave your son out, can we? According to the rules, all the children you’ve brought with you today must participate. Is that alright?”
“What?”
I frowned.
Hearing him mention strong mothers, I was sure they were going to make us do things like squats while holding a child or spinning around with our foreheads on a bat…
“My dad will be at a disadvantage if he has to hold two people!”
“My, my, I’m afraid it can’t be helped, little princess. Those are the rules.”
Chessier, looking uneasy, chimed in.
“Excuse me. I’m not his son…”
“Psh, this’ll be easy! Don’t you worry, don’t you worry! Dad will win it all!”
“Gah!”
“Ah.”
With a confident look, Dad thumped his chest, then put me on his shoulders and sat Chessier on his arm.
…Is this really going to be okay?
I wasn’t interested in the Princess Lala shoes anymore, but my competitive spirit was fired up. I quickly sized up our competition.
Just then.
Thump, thump, thump.
The ground seemed to shake, and a shadow fell over me.
I slowly lifted my head.
‘Whoa.’
I saw a giant of a man with a thick, orange beard.
“Ho ho. A young man with two cute children. A fine sight. Let’s have a fun match, shall we?”
“Wow. You’re built like a tank.”
He was 2 meters—no, he looked closer to 3 meters tall. His tight, black tank top couldn’t contain his muscular arms, each bicep the size of my dad’s head.
One punch from that fist would be instantly fatal!
I stared in horror at the difference in size between the two men’s hands as they shook.
‘What is he, some kind of monster…?’
How are we supposed to beat this guy?
