-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Capital
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Unable to watch the endless fawning any longer, Axion swept his cloak and stood before the warp gate.
“Let’s not dally. We depart at once.”
My dad, feeling no shame, continued to beam at me.
“My baby. Kiss. Mwah.”
“Stooop it.”
I pushed away my dad’s lips as he kept trying to kiss me, watching the Holy Knight uncles pass through the gate one by one.
In the midst of it all, we stepped through the warp gate.
“Woah.”
And in an instant, I was awestruck, experiencing the magic of a completely different space unfolding before me.
A high ceiling.
Sacred murals.
Magnificent pillars.
And priests with holy faces, each wearing a look of surprise.
‘Ma-magic is the best, for real.’
This was the gate room of the Pavil Temple in the capital.
“Sir Enoch.”
A white-haired old man from the center of the priests stepped forward.
“You’ve truly returned.”
“It’s been a while, High Priest.”
The High Priest, along with the younger priests standing behind him, all wore expressions of disbelief at my dad’s return.
And at my presence, held in his arms, clearly the daughter of Enoch Rubinstein.
“May Primera’s blessing be with you.”
The High Priest, who had been staring blankly at me, hastily stepped aside as he offered his greeting.
As if he had no further business with them, my dad strode right past.
The flustered priests followed behind him like a line of soldiers.
“Um… Sir Enoch, are you planning to return home immediately?”
“Shouldn’t we hold a return ceremony, even a brief one?”
“We made preparations after being notified that you might be returning…”
Just before exiting the door, my dad spun around.
“There will be a return ceremony at the imperial palace anyway, won’t there? I’ll see you then. I’m worried my daughter might be tired after such a long journey today.”
Only then did the priests, who had only been stealing glances, openly study me.
They all looked intrigued.
It was understandable.
Enoch Rubinstein, who had vanished without a trace, reappearing after seven years.
And his daughter, who had disappeared with him seven years ago.
For a while, it was clear that I would be the center of attention, not just in the temple, but everywhere.
A sharp child, I politely folded my hands toward the priests.
And offered the greeting I had just learned.
“May Primera’s blessing be with you…”
The priests were surprised and moved.
“Oh, thank you!”
“May Primera’s blessing be with you as well, Young Lady!”
* * *
Leaving the temple at the heart of the capital, we were immediately in the middle of the city.
“W-woooow…”
For me, who had lived her entire life in a rural mountain village in the south, the scenery of the capital, Pavil, was a culture shock.
“There are so many people.”
Tall, elegant stone buildings packed tightly together.
Throngs of people bustling about, each dressed differently.
Even well-groomed, fine horses elegantly pulling magnificent carriages through the streets…
“See you later, kiddo.”
“Take care, Lilis.”
“Okay. Bye-bye, uncles.”
It was time for the public servants who had completed their mission to head home.
I waved to Philip and Ben, who had said their goodbyes to me personally.
“Don’t get sidetracked. Go straight home.”
“Sidetracked? We’re in the capital. Get going. Shoo.”
With a final, disapproving glance at my dad, who was shooing him away with an annoyed wave, Axion turned and left…
At last, only my dad and I were left in the bustling capital.
“Um, Princess.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to take a carriage?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s a fifteen-minute walk to get home, you know? Your legs will hurt. Should I just carry you?”
“Sigh, Dad. You kept carrying me so much I forgot how to walk. I want to walk now. I’ll walk. And look around the capital.”
“Alright, then. But tell me right away if your legs start to hurt, okay?”
“I will.”
I held my dad’s hand tightly and began to walk through the late afternoon streets.
‘Alright, this is the beginning. I need to keep my wits about me.’
The protagonist, Enoch Rubinstein, no longer had any need to think about avenging his daughter.
And it was I who had caused this huge mess, completely derailing the original story before it could even begin.
Therefore, I had to be the one to clean it up.
‘I have to make sure the original plot proceeds. The first thing to do is…’
“Sir Holy Knight, greetings. May the high glory and grace of Primera…”
“That’s enough.”
“Thank you, always. The high glory of Primera…”
“I said that’s enough.”
…Hmm, maybe I should have just taken a carriage.
I was trying to think while walking, but this tiresome and annoying situation had already repeated itself about ten times.
People, nobles and commoners alike, approaching my dad and bowing.
It was because of my dad’s blue cloak, the symbol of the ‘Dos’ rank.
‘I knew it was like this, but this is extreme. What kind of messed-up country is this where people kneel and greet someone on the street?’
It was absurd.
But if this novel’s world hadn’t been so devoid of any sense of human rights…
‘The protagonist would have had no reason to start a revolution, and I would have had no reason to use it as a topic for my thesis.’
I pressed my tiny fingers to my temples and started thinking again.
‘So, the first thing I need to do is!’
Find the other protagonist, Chessier, and have him meet my dad.
My dad couldn’t start a revolution against this corrupt empire on his own.
He absolutely needed Chessier’s help.
So, who was Chessier Rubinstein?
1. Rank, Dos.
2. Captain of the ‘Dos Magic Swordsman Division.’
3. Magic Swordsman, Sword Master, and Duke Rubinstein’s son.
4. In the lore, one of the two strongest characters in the world, alongside Enoch Rubinstein.
5. Can see punches in slow motion.
6. Originally the illegitimate child of a certain noble, he lived a life of abuse until a chance encounter brought him to Enoch Rubinstein’s attention, who then adopted him.
‘The problem is, what was that chance encounter!’
The novel never described my dad and Chessier’s first meeting, so I had no way of knowing.
However, with his daughter alive and well, there was a high probability my dad wouldn’t pay any attention to Chessier.
So my job was to artificially arrange a meeting between them, but…
‘It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.’
I looked around the overpopulated city streets in despair.
Just then.
“Dad?”
It was strangely quiet, so I looked up and saw my dad’s gaze fixed on something.
It was a dark alley across the street.
“What’s wrong? Is there something over there?”
My dad glanced down at me for a moment, then simply smiled and started walking again.
“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
“Wait.”
A perceptive child, I held my dad back.
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing, really. It just looked like a fight was breaking out. The city guards are patrolling anyway, so we don’t need to worry about it. Let’s go, Princess.”
“Someone’s fighting over there? Then we should stop them, right?”
“That’s true, but I can’t let my princess get into any danger.”
“……”
I was at a loss for words.
The Enoch Rubinstein I knew wasn’t someone who would ignore a situation like this.
‘It’s me, I’m the problem. Ugh.’
I realized I was a major hindrance to the protagonist’s sense of justice.
“Let’s go check it out anyway. Huh? Dad is super strong, so it’ll be fine.”
“Should we?”
As expected, he had been feeling uneasy about it. My dad took my hand and quickly headed for the alley.
The moment we entered.
“Gasp!”
I clamped my hand over my mouth at the unexpected sight.
In a novel like this, I had expected to see some ability users bullying non-ability users, but…
Surprisingly, they were children.
To be precise, a group of kids who looked to be in middle school were mercilessly beating up a single elementary schooler.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!”
The five kids turned around in unison.
I felt a surge of anger and shouted.
“You… you little punks!”
A sudden silence fell.
My dad, who had been about to intervene, looked down at me with wide eyes.
‘Oops.’
That was a bit out of character for a seven-year-old girl.
“S-Sir Knight? Greetings. May the high glory and grace of Primera…”
“That’s enough.”
The boy in the middle recognized my dad’s blue cloak and immediately dropped to the ground in a panic.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Ah! I apologize if we were being loud. That commoner didn’t greet us, so…”
“Y-you beat someone up for not greeting you? And a kid, at that?”
The boy stared blankly at me as I snapped at him, then spoke.
“Umm… Little Priest? I’m an Octava (*Octava: The 4th of the 6 ability user ranks), you know?”
“Wow.”
I was so dumbfounded I went limp.
“…So what, if you’re an ability user, you can just beat people up like this?”
“……”
“……”
Silence fell once again.
The kids just stared blankly at each other.
‘Can they beat people up? Yeah. They can.’
I let out a bitter laugh.
This was an all-too-common situation in this wretched world.
If that commoner child truly hadn’t greeted them, then sadly, the one at fault was the commoner child.
Even though they had committed group assault, the perpetrators were completely innocent.
Because they were ability users, and nobles.
With me at a loss for words, my dad stepped forward.
“Stop causing a scene and go.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“May the high glory of Primera…!”
“I said go.”
“Ah, yes sir!”
There was nothing my dad could do either.
Just as you couldn’t grab a passerby and suddenly ask, ‘Why are you breathing?’…
It was clearly a crime, but in this world, it was as natural as breathing.
‘A revolution is urgently needed, Dad.’
Experiencing the grim reality of this bleak world firsthand left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“The capital is a really nice place to live…”
As I muttered sarcastically, my dad knelt in front of me.
With a darkened expression, he caressed my cheek and began to speak.
“Princess, listen.”
“Ah, wait!”
I remembered the child who was being beaten.
I rushed over to him.
“Are you okay? Eek! Blood…”
The boy sat up nonchalantly and wiped his split lip with his hand.
Then, he lifted his utterly expressionless face and looked at me.
His red eyes were a beautiful color.
But his gaze was completely empty, like someone who found no meaning in life.
‘Is-is that a look a kid this age can have?’
I swallowed a sigh and searched my priest robes to wipe away the blood first.
I remembered I had packed the bunny handkerchief my dad had bought me.
“Hey, listen. Let’s just get this blood… Ouch!”
Smack!
As I brought the handkerchief to his mouth, the boy’s arm shot out and sharply slapped my hand away.
I clutched my stinging hand and stared blankly at him.
His face was blank, but I could tell what he was feeling.
Like a cat with its fur on end, completely on guard…
“S-sorry… I’m sorry for touching you so suddenly. I’ll leave it here.”
I carefully placed the handkerchief on the boy’s thigh.
He didn’t move, merely staring intently at me.
I met his gaze for a moment, and then it hit me.
‘Huh?’
It was only then that I took in his overall appearance, and I was shocked.
It was strange.
‘I’m sorry for thinking this about a kid who was just getting beaten up, but…’
Is he handsome?
So handsome that once you saw him, you could never forget him.
So handsome it was hard to believe such distinct features were possible at his young age.
And what’s more.
‘Black hair, red eyes.’
I covered my mouth and staggered, then fell backward with a thump, landing on my bottom.
“Lilis!”
I turned at the sound of my dad’s surprised voice.
I could see my dad’s face, which was also ridiculously handsome.
I recalled the ironclad rule I had sworn never to forget.
‘There’s no such thing as a handsome extra.’
