9 - The Youngest is Hiding a Lot
Episode 9
"What?"”
“What is it.”
“…Hell?”
“It’s my territory.”
Leviathan poked my forehead.
I blankly looked down at the vast land spread out before me.
The desolate northern wind scattered my short hair.
“There’s nothing but rocks?”
“I told you.”
A bleak clump of dust rolled by.
Uncle Leviathan’s territory, full of gray stone walls… to be honest, it looked like the ruins of a fallen kingdom.
Of course, that would be rude to the people living there…
Reddened by the sunset, the stone mountains surrounded the area like a fortress, and ominous beastly cries echoed from within.
The black, continuous valley was like a black hole, where once you stepped in, you could never escape.
“I feel like the weather’s colder, too.”
“This is warm, relatively speaking. In the middle of winter, the snow piles up to your height.”
“Ew. No way.”
“Bundle up tight.”
Uncle Leviathan chuckled and pulled up my cloak’s hood.
“Did you make salve again yesterday?”
“Salve? Yeah!”
I collected Avelita Herbs whenever I saw them on the way here.
I upgraded the Zeberth Knights’ salves with them one by one, and it was quite well-received!
“How did you figure out that those weeds were Avelita Herbs?”
Uncle Leviathan narrowed his eyes and asked.
I fiddled with my small handbag, feigning ignorance.
“My mom was a healer in Iosia.”
“….”
Uncle Leviathan stiffened.
“So I just picked up a few medicinal recipes from her. I’ve also read a lot of herb books…”
“You’re using what you learned on the side?”
I glanced around, sensing the increasingly heavy atmosphere.
“…Why? Did I do something wrong?”
Iosia was a small country with advanced medicine and pharmacology.
If you’re from there, you’d pick up things since you were young, so this shouldn’t be strange, right?
“Unexpectedly…”
Uncle Leviathan crossed his arms and raised his chin. His cheek twitched slightly.
“Are you… some kind of genius?”
“Huh?”
“This is getting complicated.”
He looked genuinely troubled.
It was the face of a parent who had discovered their child was gifted… but why was he like that?
More than that, ‘unexpectedly’?
What did he think of me!
“Anyway, you always!”
He added a nasty remark.
I spun my fist like a windmill and punished Uncle Leviathan’s sturdy leg.
“Your massage skills are top-notch, too. You smart little rascal.”
Uncle Leviathan, with a face that seemed somehow proud (but why?), lifted me up in a flash.
At the same time, a familiar horse approached.
“Your Excellency.”
It was Lord Leon. Fortunately, his injuries seemed to have fully recovered, as his shoulder movements were no different than before.
“Lord Leon, Uncle!”
I reached out my hand, happy to see him.
Lord Leon seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he nodded slightly.
‘His expression is still stiff, though.’
I know. Lord Leon is just bad at expressing himself!
He didn’t even threaten to send me back anymore.
“Your Excellency, excuse me for a moment.”
Lord Leon said honestly and approached me.
“Huh?”
A white fur scarf dropped into my arms.
“Wow, what’s this? It’s so soft!”
“You’re doing all sorts of things, Leon.”
Uncle Leviathan raised his eyebrows and wrapped it around me. I was instantly suffocated.
Control your strength! Uncle! Control your strength!
I poked my head out over the white fur, gasping for air.
“Thank you, Lord Leon, Uncle!”
It seems a bit much as a reward for the salve.
Well, it would be more rude to refuse!
Lord Leon looked down at me without a change in expression. He turned his horse and said as he passed by.
“Don’t call me Uncle…”
“Huh?”
“Call me Senior.”
“…Pardon?”
“Gasp! Lord Leon has permitted that title.”
The knights who were watching from the side made a fuss.
What is it? What’s the meaning of that title?
“Now that you’ve set foot in the land of knights, the North, it’s only natural that you join our Zeberth Knights.”
“…”
“I’ll be waiting in the Knights. Welcome to being the youngest knight in advance.”
But I’m a mage?
Regardless, Lord Leon fluttered his cloak and disappeared leisurely towards the setting sun…
Is this a movie or what?
I turned to Uncle Leviathan with a horrified expression.
“Is that what it is?”
“Well… isn’t it?”
In fact, it was just a way for him to train my stamina… but I didn’t understand the meaning of those words back then.
I made a face as if the world had collapsed.
No, I said I wanted to be the youngest in that family.
I refuse to be the youngest of those dark knights!
\ \ *
We arrived in Zellox, the northern city where the Zebert Ducal Castle was located.
As soon as we passed through the city gates, I saw houses made of solid stone.
It looked desolate from afar, but it was surprisingly lively.
“Waaaah!”
The expressions of the people welcoming the knights returning from victory were also bright.
I was still shy and hiding in Uncle Leviathan’s cloak, but I could clearly feel the people’s excitement.
“Lord, we’ll take our leave now.”
The Zebert Ducal Castle was located on a slightly higher hill, like a fortress.
Before reaching the main castle, the knights, including Lord Leon, bowed.
“Alright, good work.”
As soon as the superior’s permission was given, the knights moved in unison. I poked my head out and waved my hand.
“Goodbye, Senior. And Seniors.”
I feel a bit sad after living together for a few weeks.
“Come visit if you’re bored.”
“Come visit even if you’re not bored!”
The other knight Uncles, who had become friendly with me, waved back.
“Um, do your… family members know I’m coming?”
“I guess they do?”
His answer was somehow unenthusiastic.
Looking at the approaching main castle entrance, I recalled Leviathan Zebert’s family relationships.
‘First, Old Duke Zebert.’
Balock Zebert. The former Duke of Zebert and Leviathan’s father.
‘He wasn’t really depicted as important in the original.’
He was an outstanding soldier who was injured in battle and honorably discharged.
After that, he quietly spent the rest of his life in the territory, that was all the explanation about him.
‘Besides that, the people in the castle would be…’
Leviathan’s second son, Void Zebert, perhaps. He said the first son was in the South with the Duchess.
“Lord, you have returned.”
Numerous servants were lined up in front of the castle.
From the butler to the pages, maids, and servants.
They were excited to welcome their master back after a long time.
‘The Northerners… are all burly.’
Among them, the most noticeable were the maids, who boasted sturdy physiques.
They all seemed to be well over 170cm tall.
Is this how you survive!
As expected of the Zebert, where only the strong survive. Befitting the master of a territory built by eating Magical beasts…
“You have worked hard in the meantime.”
“Yes. You all have worked hard as well.”
“Um, is that person…?”
Burning gazes focused on me.
Surprised by the sudden attention, I buried my face back into Uncle Leviathan’s arms.
I felt like prey that had mistakenly wandered into a habitat of carnivores…
‘No, don’t cower!’
The stamp is already on!
I slowly turned my head and stared ahead.
“R-Rubian, I’m Rubian.”
Uncle Leviathan ruffled my hair, saying, “Oh? Using honorifics.”
“Lady Rubian…”
The maids seemed to be whispering something with beaming smiles.
“Small… fluffy…”
“She seems much smaller than when Void first came.”
At that moment, a maid with reddish-brown hair, who was standing at the very front, approached.
“Lady Rubian, hello?”
“Yep.”
“How old are you this year, Lady Rubian? Six years old?”
I was getting help from Uncle Leviathan to get off the horse. I was floating in the air and got angry.
“I’m eight years old!”
When I shouted, the maid’s eyes widened in surprise.
Leviathan chuckled and put me down on the ground.
“Be careful. She’ll eat you up.”
Eight years old, she says.
What? Eight years old?
Really? Is that possible?
The whispering spread like a wave.
The reaction was exactly the same as Uncle Leviathan’s when he first heard my age!
“…But how old are you?”
Before leaving for the North, Uncle Leviathan suddenly asked.
“Really? You’re asking that now?”
“I’m asking now, at least.”
“I’m… eight years old.”
“…”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Weren’t you… six years old?”
“Are you crazy?!”
In fact, this body was ten years old. However, since information about the runaway mage was known, it was safer to hide my identity more thoroughly by lying about my age.
I was smaller than my peers, so there shouldn’t be any problems with lying about my age.
Still, reducing it by two years felt very guilty, but six years old!
Why don’t you just say I was born yesterday?
I straightened my back and puffed out my chest as much as possible.
Now that I was standing firmly on the ground, the height difference was even more noticeable.
I felt like a tiny creature surrounded by huge rocky mountains… Ugh, I somehow felt resentful.
It was then. A fur ball came rolling from afar.
“Faa-ther-!”
The fur ball spread its body like a flying squirrel and landed in front of us.
“Void.”
“It’s been a while!”
A child with shiny black hair shone with moist eyes. His chubby cheeks were pleasantly flushed.
‘So, as expected.’
The identity of the fur ball was the second son of this house, Void Zebert.
“How was the capital? And the triumphal ceremony?”
‘Was he an adopted child from a collateral line?’
I remembered the contents of the book, which said that he lost his parents in the war when he was young.
He had a unique bright personality, and perhaps because he received a lot of love from Leviathan and Rosetta after being adopted, he was an unblemished boy.
…He seems a bit big for his age, though.
Of course, even that looked like a whimpering puppy in front of the towering Leviathan.
“You’ve grown a lot in the meantime. Have you been well?”
“Yes! I didn’t skip my swordsmanship training, I didn’t leave any food, and I studied…”
At that moment, Void’s eyes met mine.
The child’s pupils trembled wildly.
“Who is that…?”
Void stared at me with wary eyes.
“Say hello. You’ll be living together for a while.”
“…”
Void raised his fur coat once and approached me. And the first thing he said was.
“I’m eleven years old.”
“……?”
I tilted my head.
“So?”
“Not ‘so’… but what about you?”
“I’m eight years old.”
Then Void’s youthful face was filled with a subtle sense of victory.
“Finally, someone under me…!”
Huh?
“Welcome, youngest.”
Didn’t he just say ‘under me’?
