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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Recruiting a Strategist
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* * *
One day, three days before my birthday.
I received a piece of mail with my name on it.
[Pavilion Empire Ability User Training Center Enlistment Notice - Lilis Rubinstein
As a great ability user from the Empire who has received the call of a Primera, you have been selected for admission into the Training Center.
Please complete the admission process by the summons date, May 21st, 1779 of the Imperial Calendar.
If the selected individual, upon receiving this notice, fails to report for admission without a valid reason within three days of the admission date, it will be considered a violation of military law...]
Was this how it felt to get a draft notice?
Dad held me and read the notice in silence for a long time before letting out a deep sigh.
“Why the sigh? I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Chessier must have gotten one, too. I asked them to set the same enlistment date when I registered as his guardian.”
Oh, enlisting together. Not bad.
“Lilis.”
“Yeah.”
“Should we postpone it for two years? The notices start coming at age seven, but mandatory enlistment isn’t until nine.”
“No way! I want to go as soon as possible!”
Dad’s shoulders slumped.
That was a ridiculous suggestion.
My body needed to use its ability and consume life force as soon as possible.
If I didn’t, I’d barely grow for two years and stay just like this...
‘A disaster, a total disaster. Everyone in the neighborhood will find out my secret.’
A shiver ran down my spine, and I trembled.
“Right... My daughter is so smart, a month should be enough.”
“Of course. Just trust me. Don’t worry.”
“Sigh. Only a week left...”
Dad looked utterly dejected.
‘The problem isn’t my enlistment.’
It was Dad.
It had been a few days since he received the letter I sent, but Dad hadn’t shown any reaction.
‘Don’t tell me... he left me on read? He didn’t just read it and ignore it, did he? The Enoch Rubinstein?’
I was sure it was a letter that would stimulate the revolutionary will simmering inside the protagonist.
His daughter is safe, unlike in the original story, so maybe he’s decided—reluctantly—to just act as the Emperor’s lapdog for her sake.
I grabbed my head in horror.
‘N-No. I believe in my dad.’
He was Enoch Rubinstein, the righteous protagonist equipped with keywords like #Good, #Justice, and #Revolutionary!
“More importantly, Princess.”
“Yeah.”
“Dad has to go somewhere for a bit.”
“Huh? Where?”
“To buy my princess a birthday present.”
“Eh? Where are you going to buy a birthday present?”
“Uh, it’s a bit far. I was thinking of taking a warp gate from the temple and visiting the central region.”
“Wow, really!”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
‘So he didn’t leave me on read. If he’s going to the central region, he’s planning to meet Joseph Luttman, just like I told him to.’
Ah, the satisfaction of the plot progressing just like the original!
“It might be a little hard to make it back in a day. But I’ll be sure to return before your birthday, Princess.”
“What? You’re leaving now and coming back on my birthday? My birthday’s only three days away!”
“Yes.”
He was going to get Joseph Luttman on his side in three days?
I just blinked, stunned.
Joseph Luttman.
To explain a little about him...
1. The protagonist Enoch Rubinstein’s strategist.
2. A character Enoch Rubinstein had already recruited by the time the original story began.
3. He made a name for himself in the capital with his outstanding political acumen in his youth, but he disappeared after a certain incident and had a past of living like a wreck.
4. In a conversation with Enoch Rubinstein, he has a line that goes, “Do you remember how you struggled for three months to recruit me, Your Grace?”
The novel never explained where Dad met Joseph or how he persuaded him...
I had to infer their meeting from the few lines describing his past and their conversation.
‘One thing’s for sure, Joseph wouldn’t have readily agreed to help Dad from the start.’
I clearly recall Enoch Rubinstein laughing and retorting, “Haha, that’s right,” when Joseph reminisced about the three months of trouble.
‘Hmph, as if he can get Joseph on his side in just three days.’
And since I knew a bit about the story of why the once-successful Joseph had abandoned everything and gone into hiding...
‘I can definitely be of help.’
I nodded and said.
“I wanna go too.”
“Huh?”
“I wanna go too. I want to pick out my own present.”
“Aw, I don’t know about that. Dad will be back soon. Actually, Dad has a... well, a friend over there. I’m going to see him, too...”
“You don’t have any friends.”
“I have friends, you know!”
“Waaaah, no! Take me with you! I don’t wanna sleep alone! I don’t wanna be here without you!”
“No, Princess...”
“I’m going to the training center soon, and I won’t be able to see you! I hate that so, so much!”
“Sigh, me too. I don’t want to be away from my princess either. But...”
“Waaaah!”
I clung to Dad’s neck, threw my head back, and wailed, throwing a tantrum without a single tear in my eyes.
“I can’t... I really can’t.”
“Waaaah!”
“Sigh, my princess.”
Dad held my thrashing body, trying to soothe me as he muttered.
“What am I going to do with you, not wanting to be apart from your dad like this? I guess I’ll have to keep you with me forever.”
“Take me with you! I’m going too!”
Dad stared at me with a troubled expression.
* * *
As always, I was victorious.
Dad told the household staff he was going out to buy my birthday present, then took me to the temple.
The journey from the temple, via warp gate, to the central region took exactly one hour.
‘Magic is the best.’
Remembering the day we arrived in the capital in half a day, I was once again struck by the greatness of magic.
“This is nice, isn’t it? Brings back old memories, right?”
“It does.”
Valterac in the central region was larger than my hometown of Zenon, but it had its similarities.
Commoners bustled cheerfully between friendly-looking buildings. Carefree laughter. A tranquil landscape.
It was a town with no nobles aside from the lord, so everyone lived at ease.
“This is really nice...”
“It is...”
No one recognized the disguised Mr. James or me in my commoner’s clothes.
This freedom, enjoyed for the first time in a while.
Dad asked for directions and headed toward the back alleys of the city.
The largest gambling den in Valterac was located there.
“Wow, this is really not a place to bring a child.”
Although it was a legally operated establishment, the atmosphere around the gambling den was, as expected, rough.
People with hollow eyes, puffing hard on cigarettes.
People clinging to the guards’ pant legs, sobbing and shouting...
“I must be crazy.”
Dad stood at a distance, observing the scene, then looked down at me beside him and sighed.
“Truly crazy. Really.”
Muttering to himself, Dad flicked my forehead once.
‘Ooh?’
Then, I felt a cool, minty sensation, as if I’d eaten a peppermint candy.
It felt like some kind of magic.
“What was that?”
“Cigarette smoke isn’t good for my daughter. Dad made it so you can’t smell it or breathe it in.”
“Aha, thanks.”
Dad took my hand and walked toward the gambling den.
Two large guards stood watch at the entrance.
Just then, a question popped into my head.
‘Hmm, Dad was the clever, quick-witted, and sensible protagonist who could do anything, so why did it take him three whole months to win over Joseph?’
Was Joseph that hard to get through to?
...I would soon find out the answer to that question.
“Haven’t seen you around here before. First time? Admission is one gold coin. They’ll give you a ticket once you’re inside.”
At the guard’s words, Dad shook his head.
“We’re not here to play. We’re looking for someone. Could you please check if a man named Joseph Luttman is among your patrons?”
My jaw dropped at Dad’s confident question.
The two guards blinked, then looked at each other. Their expressions screamed, ‘What is this guy talking about?’
* * *
Naturally, we were kicked out.
Dad sat down a short distance away, scratching his head.
I squatted next to him, watching him pitifully.
‘Now I see why it took him so long to win Joseph over.’
My good dad, who’s never been to a place like this...
My dad, who’s never even touched a game of chance...
In the original story, it must have been difficult just to get a glimpse of Joseph, who practically lived in the gambling den 24/7.
“This isn’t working. I’ll just...”
“Wait, wait.”
I stopped Dad.
“Are you going to drop the disguise? Tell them to open up because you’re a duke and you’re here to see a friend?”
“I have to. They said we can’t get in otherwise.”
“Sigh, there was a reason you disguised yourself as Mr. James to meet your friend in the first place, wasn’t there?”
At my question, Dad slumped back down.
“Right. Well, that friend is a bit... I think... if he knew who I was, he wouldn’t like me very much. It would be hard to talk comfortably.”
“I thought you said he was your friend?”
“That was a lie. He’s not really my friend. He’s someone I want to be friends with.”
“I see.”
“Anyway, that’s why I wanted to... as naturally as possible...”
“Approach him?”
“Exactly.”
“Then you can’t reveal you’re a duke. Silly Dad.”
“But there’s no other way.”
“Dad, a gambling den... is always open to people who want to gamble.”
Still squatting, I crooked my index finger at Dad.
“How much money did you bring? Let me see.”
“Money?”
Dad opened the money pouch tied to his waist.
About twenty gold coins.
Since he hadn’t planned on gambling, it naturally wasn’t a large amount.
“Dad.”
I raised my eyebrows at my clueless-looking father.
“Do you know how to play poker?”
