2 - The Youngest is Hiding a Lot 2
Episode 2
“Yeah, I don’t need it.”
And I was neatly rejected.
So neatly that I was at a loss for words.
“Tsk……”
“Tsk?”
Leviathan flicked my lips.
“I thought you were taciturn, but you’re a foul-mouthed kid. I was almost fooled.”
Dark purple eyes stared straight at me. When I pouted my lips in dissatisfaction, he seemed to understand it and consciously relaxed his gaze.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, suddenly calling me the youngest.”
“Heh……”
Well, I was a bit hasty.
To Leviathan, I’m just a kid he met a few hours ago.
‘I was so absorbed in replaying the original story that I lost myself.’
I smiled awkwardly and stared ahead. The horse carrying us was slowly heading towards the Barmillon Empire’s capital.
‘But I couldn’t help it. If we dawdle and meet pursuers, it’s all for naught.’
Because, in fact, I have a secret… no, quite a few.
“But are you really an Iosian?”
Ugh, direct question.
I moved my head in a way that was neither yes nor no. Somewhere between shaking and nodding.
My chest stung, perhaps because of the lie.
Of course, I’m not an Iosian.
“So you are an Iosian. But you’re keeping your mouth shut again.”
“Ouch.”
Thwack. A light punishment came back.
“I told you not to just nod when someone asks you something.”
“Tsk……. It hurts!”
“Another tsk?”
I clutched the back of my head and turned around sharply. When our eyes met, the handsome man with a cold impression chuckled.
“A little guy like you…… making a fuss over something like that.”
“……?”
Wait a minute. Hold it right there.
I think you’re misunderstanding something greatly.
“Uncle……?”
But I was momentarily speechless and couldn’t say anything.
‘Somehow, it’s getting…….’
Harder to breathe.
Looking around, I easily realized the identity of this sensation.
“……The Empire must be getting close.”
The rapidly thinning magic in the air was the proof.
The Barmillon Empire’s capital was a place with almost no magic.
“Have you ever been to the Empire?”
“Nope.”
“But how do you know when the Empire is getting close?”
“Just because. It feels like we’ve been riding for a long time…….”
The truth is, it’s because I can read the flow of magic, but I couldn’t say that directly.
I am a mage.
A mage from the Magic Kingdom of Arcadia who joined this war at the call of the Magic King.
The king of the Archmage Kingdom sent even underdeveloped children like me to the battlefield as long as they had magic.
At the time, other allied nations strongly criticized the Archmage Kingdom for using child soldiers, but the Magic King, the mastermind and head of the corrupt nation in the original story, didn’t even listen.
Of course, thanks to that, I ended up performing rear support roles like managing Magic Tools, but as the war continued for a long time, that issue was glossed over.
Anyway, I was dispatched two years ago from now, and I realized that this was a world inside a book after spending a year on the battlefield.
‘I suffered so much to survive, and now we’re all going to die together?’
I’m too wronged to close my eyes!
I decided to stick to Uncle like a cicada on an old tree.
‘To do that…… I have to hide my secrets well.’
First, the fact that I am a mage.
The Archmage Kingdom where I was born and raised was a very closed-off nation. Therefore, it did not allow mages to relocate without permission.
If I get caught, I’ll be forcibly repatriated.
‘Besides, Leviathan hates mages very much…….’
Due to an incident 10 years ago, he loathed mages. So he would never keep a mage by his side.
Next is my past.
I was also a deserter who arbitrarily left the mage unit before the war ended. The reason for running away was, of course, to meet Leviathan in that village earlier.
‘Because of the Dark Creature attack, they probably think I’m dead.’
Therefore, I couldn’t reveal my identity even more.
To summarize,
‘A mage from the Archmage Kingdom who deserted as a child soldier.’
……Is there anything normal about me?!
On top of that.
“A little guy like you…… making a fuss over something like that.”
Of course…….
‘I did pick up Iosian boy’s clothes to wear.’
My hair is also like this!
‘I didn’t intend to hide my gender.’
I briefly considered clearing up the misunderstanding, but I decided to leave it as it was for now. It would be better to hide my identity and run away.
Anyway, it seems like I unintentionally have more to hide because of that dull-witted hero.
“Heung.”
Can I do well?
My shoulders drooped with worry about the future.
Whether it was because I was thinking too much, or because the surrounding magic was too thin, I felt my stamina draining even when I was still.
‘I’m tired.’
I rubbed my flickering eyes with the back of my hand.
I should rest for now and think about it later!
\ \ \
Leviathan looked down at the top of the child’s head, which was swaying.
Before he knew it, the child had fallen asleep on Jebert’s lap.
‘Did he get tired from chattering?’
He was very wary at first.
A chuckle escaped.
Perhaps the wall in his heart had crumbled during their short journey, the child asked all sorts of questions. With a chirping voice like a chick.
“Uncle, where are we going first when we get to the capital?”
“The Imperial Orphanage.”
“Ugh……. Can’t Uncle just take me with him?”
‘Take him with me?’
Leviathan laughed with a dumbfounded expression.
From the beginning, it was absurd for the child to follow him.
It was natural for children to fear him.
He had been rolling around on the battlefield for 10 years. Children sensed the gloomy and fierce energy unique to those who carried blood like ghosts.
‘This is troublesome.’
He roughly ruffled his black hair and steered the horse, choosing the flattest ground possible.
‘I shouldn’t pay any more attention.’
Leviathan tightly gripped the reins and forcibly fixed his gaze ahead.
He’s someone I’ll be parting with soon anyway.
He didn’t want to develop unnecessary feelings.
But somehow, his gaze kept going to the bouncing top of his head.
The cowlick was round and on the right.
Leviathan swore he had never seen such a small cowlick.
He gripped the reins tightly.
Damn it.
That’s kind of cute.
\ \ \
I felt better than before after taking a good nap.
Well, my body seems to be adapting to the lack of magic! Good!
Since earlier, Uncle has been strangely fixing his gaze on my head and urging me to sleep more.
“Am I a newborn? Sleeping all day long…….”
Huk.
At that moment, my head turned on its own.
‘This magic!’
“Uncle!”
At the same time as my shout, Dark Creatures hiding in the bushes popped out.
“Eek!”
“Don’t move. Don’t open your eyes.”
Almost simultaneously, a firm hand reached out and covered my eyelids.
Uncle, who was holding me tightly in his arms, controlled the horse and swung his sword. It was a terrifying speed that I didn’t even know when he had drawn his sword.
Swish.
I blankly stared at the Dark Creatures scattering like fallen leaves through the gaps in his hand.
‘I’m realizing it again…….’
The greatest swordsman on the continent, the man closest to the legendary Sword God, the leader of the prestigious Jebert family that commands the North.
A perfect overpowered character with all kinds of strongest modifiers, not to mention wealth, fame, and looks, was in front of me.
“Are you okay?”
Uncle asked, shaking off his sword.
“Eung……. Blood…….”
It splattered…….
Dark Creature blood doesn’t wash off easily. Ha, I’m so depressed…….
The horse stopped, and Uncle carefully hugged me and put me down on the ground.
“You’re a mess.”
We were both covered in Demon blood.
“Ugh…….”
“The Imperial border is near, so bear with it a little longer.”
Uncle barely found a clean part of his clothes and roughly wiped my face.
“It hurts! It hurts!”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
I quickly ran away at the momentum that he would spit and rub my face.
Apple blossom herb soap in vinegar water is the best for removing Dark Creature blood smell…….
‘I’ve really become a dirty bum.’
As I sighed and sniffed my body odor, I felt a gaze from above my head.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“……You.”
When I turned around, I met Uncle’s eyes as he sat down on the ground and stared at me.
Perhaps because of the blood splattered on his face, a strange light flashed in his purple eyes, which looked particularly dark.
“Why aren’t you crying?”
I blinked, wondering what he was talking about, and he put his arm on his knee and rested his chin.
“Come to think of it, you haven’t cried once.”
Even after seeing me.
‘Heot.’
I suddenly felt like I had been doused in ice water. Come to think of it, I remembered that the children who saw him for the first time in the original story all burst into tears.
Ah, this is a disaster.
Of course, I cried when I saw Leviathan too.
Because I was so happy.
But I had never thought of him as scary. After all, he was the protagonist and the hero who saved this world.
Did that make me look different from a normal kid?
“You didn’t seem very scared just now either.”
“That’s…….”
“That’s?”
“I was actually scared. But crying doesn’t really change anything…….”
I mixed truth and lies appropriately.
Memories of crying? I don’t really have any.
I would cry if it solved the problem, but most problems weren’t solved by crying.
In my past life and in this life.
Isn’t it better to quickly shake it off and use your energy to solve the problem instead of crying?
But Leviathan seemed dissatisfied for some reason.
“Who said that?”
“Huh?”
“That crying doesn’t change anything.”
“Umm…… Mom?”
In fact, there was no one I could call Mom in either life, but I made it up.
Leviathan’s Adam’s apple moved greatly as he stared at me. It seemed like he had something he wanted to say but swallowed it.
“You know, holding back can lead to illness if it continues.”
“Aya.”
Uncle poked my nose.
“Tsk, it turns red quickly.”
Rub rub. Continuing clumsy touch.
The warmth seemed to spread like ripples.
I felt somehow indescribable. It was the first time an adult had told me not to hold back.
“Let’s go. We’ll be there soon.”
We roughly wiped ourselves off and got back on the horse.
Clop, clop. The horse trotted at a different speed than before.
Uncle was holding me tighter than before, afraid that another Dark Creature might pop out. The inside of that firm arm felt like a great safe zone.
The wind quickly brushed my cheeks.
A red sunset spread overhead.
Saa, saa. The trees brushed against my body, and a bird flew from somewhere.
The terrible smell of blood that bothered my nose was still there, but suddenly……. Just suddenly.
I felt at peace.
Covered in blood, and peace. It’s funny.
“Hey, will monsters not come out now?”
“Yeah. I killed them all.”
“Uncle is really strong.”
Leviathan, Uncle, who brought this peace.
It must have been hard for 10 years. It was hard for me to endure just 2 years…….
“Thank you for saving me, Uncle.”
“…….”
“Thank you for your hard work in the war too. It must have been hard all this time.”
So please don’t die, Uncle.
“Thanks to you, it’s peaceful.”
Because Uncle deserves to enjoy this peace longer than anyone else.
\ \ *
And I deserve it too!
“Ugh! It’s noisy! Give me back my peace!”
I covered my ears tightly.
“What is it? Don’t act like you’re from the countryside.”
The Imperial capital was like a birthday cake!
Boom! Bang bang!
Celebratory fireworks exploded non-stop.
The noisy people chattering, the musicians pouring out music without rest, the children laughing and running around, and the merchants shouting to attract customers…….
I was literally dizzy.
