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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: A Very Scary Person
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Snapping back to his senses, Enoch caught the MC who was clearing the stage and about to leave.
“Hey.”
“What is it?”
“What do you mean, ‘what is it’? My daughter’s gone.”
“Pardon?”
The MC glanced at the stage and shrugged.
“Your daughter’s gone? Wasn’t she in there?”
“Are you kidding me? You were watching the whole time with me.”
“Was I? I don’t even know what your daughter looks like, do I?”
Enoch was speechless at the man’s feigned innocence, his eyes wide.
“Would you mind letting me go?”
“……”
As the MC tried to shake off his grip and leave, Enoch spun him around and grabbed him by the collar.
“Stop messing around and bring my daughter back.”
“Hah. Is this guy crazy? Losing his daughter somewhere else and taking it out on me.”
“What?”
“Hey, guards! Guards!”
The MC waved his hands in the air, and two burly men moved to restrain Enoch.
What in the world is happening?
As Enoch stood there, stunned, his conversation with Axion flashed through his mind.
“It’s closer to kidnapping than a simple disappearance. Their methods are bold. After all, commoners can report crimes a hundred times over and still never receive the law’s protection.”
“They kidnap children without even worrying about the city watch?”
“The city watch has been useless for a while now. This place has only rotted more in the seven years you’ve been away.”
Within the same capital, nobles and commoners lived entirely different lives.
The commoners’ district was, for all intents and purposes, a lawless land.
Enoch let out a hollow laugh and slowly looked around.
A few of the participants who hadn’t left yet were trembling at the commotion.
They had surely witnessed the whole absurd situation.
And yet, knowing they were beyond the protection of the law, they were simply relieved that their own children were safe.
‘Ha.’
If I were a commoner, a non-ability user…
There would be nothing I could do in this situation.
I would have to watch helplessly as my daughter disappeared, unable to even question the criminals who had so obviously taken her.
‘Nothing’s changed. This goddamned country.’
Letting out a dry chuckle, Enoch approached the retreating MC.
The guards reached out to stop him, but—
“Aargh!”
With the sickening crunch of breaking bone, their arms were twisted.
The MC flinched as Enoch, his face devoid of emotion, approached after instantly subduing the two guards.
“H-Hey. What are you doing? Huh? Should I call the city watch? Huh? What is this—!”
Grabbed by the collar again, the MC instinctively recoiled.
Enoch asked again, his voice sharp as a blade.
“My daughter. Where is she?”
“I don’t kn—!”
At that moment.
Clenching his jaw, Enoch ran a hand through his disheveled hair.
*Shhh.*
His hair began to turn silver from the tips.
At the same time, his blue eyes flashed.
“I asked, where is she?”
“……”
The MC’s mouth slowly fell open.
‘He’s an ability user…’
He knew instinctively.
If he has to ask a third time, I might die.
“I-I’m sorry. I-I-I’ll talk.”
* * *
Question! Can the daughter of a man who is, by all accounts, the most powerful, overpowered protagonist in the world be kidnapped?
Answer: Yes!
‘So it can happen.’
A dark, cramped room.
I was trapped in something like a cage for small animals.
I had been preparing for the final round behind the stage when I was suddenly thrown into a sack and carried off.
Who would have ever imagined it?
That they’d openly snatch a child in the middle of the capital, with dozens of people watching.
‘Chessier’s okay, right? He’s with Dad.’
Just then.
“Look at this little brat. She’s not even crying.”
A man who had been watching me with interest as I sat quietly, hugging my knees, spoke up.
He had a long, vertical scar running down his left eye.
“Hey, you’re not scared?”
The man stuck out his tongue and licked his dagger from the bottom up.
Ugh, gross. He was probably hoping to scare me.
“I’m scared… Please let me go home.”
“Khahaha! No can do, no can do.”
The man tapped the bars of my cage with his knife.
“You’re never going home again.”
“Wh-Why?”
“You’ll be living somewhere else. But don’t resent me too much. The day will come when you’ll thank me.”
As he spoke, the man put a cigarette in his mouth and pulled a wad of cash from his pocket, beginning to flick through it.
“I’m sending you to a much bigger and nicer place than where you live now. The noble lords will give you delicious food and dote on you plenty, so don’t be too sad.”
…So he’s a human trafficker. It seemed he kidnapped pretty commoner children and sold them to nobles for a high price.
‘Then is this man also the culprit in the child disappearance case Uncle Axion was investigating?’
There was a high probability.
But still, to kidnap and imprison someone so openly—is that even possible?
‘Yeah, here it is…’
In a normal situation, the parents would report their child’s sudden disappearance to the police.
The police would then bring in anyone who might be involved for questioning.
However.
The commoners of this insane country could expect no such standard procedure.
‘In this crazy world, the position of non-ability users, that is, commoners, is exactly that.’
Imagine two stray cats fighting. One attacks the other and steals its kitten.
Would the police summon those two cats for mediation? Would the two stray cats, having failed to reach an amicable agreement, take their case to court? Of course not.
It was exactly the same principle.
‘Sigh. If I were really a commoner’s daughter, there’d be no way for me to get out of here safely, would there?’
The thought sent a fresh chill down my spine.
“Hey, Krek!”
Just then, someone burst through the door.
He was a man so fat he seemed to have trouble carrying his own weight, with folded chin fat and a massive belly.
“No time! We have to get out of here, now!”
“Why, what’s up?”
“Heard the Commander of the Holy Knights is on the move. The commoner district’s been so noisy lately, he’s probably planning to use his authority to arrest us himself.”
“What? You mean Duke Libre?”
The man, Krek, scowled.
“Yeah. Why the hell is a Duke getting involved in this business? Does he have nothing better to do?”
“Tell me about it. Ah, this is a pain. I have to hand this kid over to Viscount Bliman. I could have gotten another ten million Terre for her.”
Krek bit his lip as he looked at me.
“No way. There’s no time. How are we gonna get to the Viscount’s estate? Your face is known, so let’s just get out of here until things cool down. I’ve got a boat ready, let’s head straight for the port.”
What? They’re smuggling themselves out?
I had thought the best plan was to just wait quietly without getting hurt, since Dad would come for me soon.
But if these panicked idiots tried to flee the country with me before Dad even arrived, that would be a disaster.
“M-Mister!”
I grabbed the bars of the cage, suddenly desperate.
“What do we do with her, then?”
Krek asked, and the fat man, who was hurriedly packing, looked at me.
“Wow, she’s gorgeous, isn’t she? It’d be a waste to kill or abandon her, so let’s take her on the boat. We can sell her somewhere else.”
No!
What can a seven-year-old Lilis do to buy time right now?
…What else could I do? Beg.
“C-Can’t you just let me go?”
“What? Why would I do that?”
“You should. Because my dad is…!”
I stopped, just as I was about to use my dad’s name.
Hold on.
What if I reveal that I’m Enoch Rubinstein’s daughter?
It was doubtful they’d even believe me, but it would be a problem if they did.
They had already seen my face. For those who dared to touch a noble, there was no escape.
Even if they let me go unharmed and begged for forgiveness, it was a guaranteed death sentence!
And they would know that fact all too well…
‘If they want to save their own skins, they’d be more likely to kill me without a trace or make sure I’m hidden away forever, right?’
“What? What about your dad?”
Krek chuckled as I fell silent.
“M-My dad is, um…”
“Whaaat.”
“…a very, very scary person.”
“Puhahaha!”
I felt like I was going to cry.
‘Dad, when are you coming…’
A helpless seven-year-old child could do nothing but wait for her father.
I trembled as I watched the two men frantically packing, preparing to flee.
‘What if they really escape before Dad gets here?’
When I was first kidnapped, I was a little scared, but that was it.
After all, I thought, how could my dad, the most powerful protagonist in the world, fail to save me?
But now, seeing the situation escalating so quickly, with no time for Dad to even arrive…
‘I-I’m scared to death. What do I do?’
My heart pounded, and I felt tears welling up.
I bit my lip and wiped at my blurring eyes.
“Hey! If you’re done packing, let’s go! We’ll slip out the back door!”
As the fat man shouted, Krek lifted my cage as if it were a suitcase.
“W-Wait a minute! Mister…”
Just then.
“Holy shit.”
The fat man, who had been leading the way with the luggage, spat out a curse and froze in his tracks.
Someone was blocking his path.
“Who the hell is this guy?”
It was my dad.
The moment our eyes met from across the room.
I burst into tears.
“Daddyyyy… Waaaaah!”
