Youngest 052
by CristaeBang!
I kicked open the door to Mister’s office.
He looked up from a discussion with Butler Adolf, surprised.
“Dad…!”
I grinned from ear to ear.
It’s coming! The word’s coming out!
“‘Dad’ is a fresh one.”
Leviathan strode over with arms outstretched, ready to lift me up.
“Wait.”
I raised both hands lightly to stop him.
“I just grew about an inch, you know. So you don’t have to treat me like a little kid anymore—”
“What are you talking about.”
He brushed me off without a thought.
Dammit, how unfair. Emotional growth and physical growth really are two different things.
He gathered me up in his big arms and carried me across the office. With a slight nod, Butler Adolf quickly tidied the documents and made himself scarce.
“You smell like grass.”
“Yeah! I was at the her—no, I mean, on the herb hill.”
I quickly changed my words. I didn’t want to bring up the baby cemetery and dampen his mood.
“So? Did rolling in the grass fix whatever was wrong?”
“Yes. Fat—father.”
I gave a solemn bow.
“I’ll devote myself to you from now on.”
“It seems your insides have changed for good.”
It’s only gotten worse. Mister let out a deep sigh.
He half-heartedly straightened up the papers with one hand, then left the office. Judging by the direction, he was heading for the dining room.
“Well, I don’t need the bell anymore.”
I grumbled under my breath.
“Fine, call me ‘Dad,’ ‘Father,’ bell, whatever you want.”
He gave a faint laugh. Even as he said it, his expression showed more satisfaction than before.
I hugged his thick, sturdy neck tight.
“It’s still awkward for me, but I think it’ll come naturally soon.”
“That’s fine.”
“Isn’t it frustrating? Sorry…”
“Rubian.”
“Yes?”
Mister set me down and met my eyes.
“You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“….”
“So there’s no need to apologize.”
I blinked slowly.
‘I hope… he says the same thing later.’
When I’ve stopped this crazy ending, defeated the Mage King… and confessed everything.
“And those who bear the Zevert name never apologize lightly.”
“That can’t be right. When you do wrong, you should apologize right away.”
“…Is that so?”
“Mm-hm.”
That’s what I learned today—the spicy-sweet wisdom of life!
“I see.”
He nodded briefly. Then, out of nowhere, he messed up the back of my hair.
“You’ve got a leaf stuck here. Where on earth have you been wandering?”
Huh? I stared at the little leaf he pulled from my hair. The longer I looked, the more I felt like laughing for some reason.
“…Was that permission?”
“What was?”
“Oh! Right! I—put me down! Hurry!”
“What now?”
“There’s something I want to do!”
What I’d wanted to do ever since I could call him ‘Dad’!
When his strong arms loosened just a bit, I wriggled free and darted down the corridor.
“What are you doing?”
“Just stay right there!”
Though he looked confused, the Duke obediently stood with his hands on his hips.
Looking at him, I fixed my shoes and readied myself. Time to show off all my running skills!
Ready, go!
I tore down the short hallway at full speed.
My hair streamed behind me, and Leviathan’s handsome face loomed nearer.
“Ah—”
Not knowing what was coming, he reflexively bent forward.
Beaming, I leapt boldly into his arms.
“Daaaad!”
For a second, his big body froze in shock, but then he closed his arms tightly around me.
“Honestly.”
A short huff of laughter escaped overhead. A gentle, low voice fell by my ear.
“You came running, calling me Dad.”
“Mm-hm!”
Admittedly, there was still about a three-second pause between ‘da’ and ‘d’—but I’ll get better!
“Where on earth did this jewel come from?”
“Over there!”
I pointed to the end of the corridor. Mister smiled and gave my nose a little squeeze.
Maybe family truly is like a precious gem.
From the moment we first met upon those ruins.
Perhaps we were always meant to become each other’s most treasured jewels.
Whatever it is, it’s wonderful!
***
Chapter 6
Late at night.
A boy’s small, not yet fully grown figure moved skillfully through the darkness, slipping out of the knights’ quarters.
Khalid Riorc summoned up all he knew of the local geography of the duchy as he passed through the castle gates.
“Come here.”
He whistled for a massive wolfhound and nimbly climbed onto its back.
Zelox was vast, but escaping its bounds took no time at all. That was thanks to the acceleration magic he’d learned from Rubian.
‘At least I have plenty of mana.’
In this empire, perhaps he was the only mage who could move freely, without restriction on his mana.
The boy darted through the black forest as if it were a familiar road, reaching a city just beside Zelox. He slipped through a deathly alley, then flung open an aged wooden door.
“Gah! K-Khal!”
Under the murky light, a man who’d been sprawled out, drinking straight from the bottle, scrambled to his feet with a crash.
“Hello.”
Khalid brushed back his black robe, replying with indifference.
This was a filthy, shabby back-alley mercenary office.
The man who posed as its owner wore a prosthetic in one eye.
“Where the hell have you been, all this time…!”
What a sight—a grown man practically groveling to a boy who barely came up to his chest. Though Allen muttered to himself and swallowed a sigh inside.
But what could he do?
The true master of this mercenary band was that boy.
“……”
Khalid slowly scanned the interior. The traces of filthy mercenaries were everywhere.
“As you said, I moved the mercenary band’s base completely! Look!”
“The target?”
“No unusual activity yet… Ah, but the Babylon Empire’s mage at their stronghold has left the east.”
In that instant, a sharp glint of menace flickered in the boy’s eyes.
“Destination.”
“N-North…”
At that moment, hundreds of snakes exploded from the shadows.
“Heeek!”
The snakes swarmed up the man’s body with no hesitation, binding him head to toe. Half sobbing, he shrieked,
“I-It couldn’t be that they’ve picked up the princess’s scent! T-The Verdant Festival, cough. The Babylon Empire’s Verdant Festival… This year it’s at Ibsen in the north…”
The pressure on his neck tightened, and just as Allen’s mind was about to snap, the bonds fell away.
“Cough! Cough!”
He collapsed to the floor, gasping. The yellow-eyed snakes slithered away into the darkness.
That little brat…
Allen wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth.
A year ago, this boy had appeared out of nowhere and devoured the continent’s largest mercenary band whole. Ostensibly, Allen still owned it, but he had long since bent the knee to that kid.
“Keep watch. And keep up those mage tracker wards.”
“Yeah, yeah…!”
Crazy mage brat.
‘Wait, is he even a brat? His eyes look insane. That punk!’
Khalid, his expression unreadable, glanced around the room and then brazenly cracked open Allen’s safe.
“I’m taking this.”
“……”
…Damn it. I worked so hard to get those blueprints.
While Allen bit his knuckles to hold back his curses, the boy, his hood drawn low over his face, flung the door open wide.
“Don’t forget, Allen. The one holding your miserable life in their hands is this brat you curse.”
Tick, tick. He tapped beneath his own eye and let out a brief, chilling laugh. His face was still unformed, so painfully beautiful it sent a shiver down Allen’s spine.
“You made your oath with your eyes, remember? To me?”
If you tell anyone about Khalid Riorc’s true identity, or the one he protects, you die. Your blood will pour backwards through your body before you can even open your mouth…
Pop.
Allen shuddered, creeped out just by the thought.
“A…alright, you damned brat.”
Khalid gave a short laugh and vanished like the wind.
He crossed the black forest again, returning just as dawn was breaking.
For a moment, the boy gazed at the distant windows of the main keep, then quietly slipped into bed.
‘The stronghold mage has moved?’
A stronghold mage would be a lower-ranking mage of the Mage Kingdom.
“There aren’t many mages who know my face. I was always wearing something like this… with the robe pulled up under my eyes. Only a senior court mage, or higher, would recognize me.”
At that, Rubian’s voice drifted through his mind like a dream.
“What’s your name?”
“I never had one from the start.”
“…Then who gave you that?”
“I did.”
“……”
“When I went outside, I saw that people didn’t use birth order for their names. So I just picked something that spoke to me. Of course, you were the first one who ever bothered to ask!”
Should I just kill the Mage King now?
“Sigh.”
Khalid rolled over with a short sigh.
Come to think of it, what even is Babylon’s Verdant Festival?
I’ll ask Rubian tomorrow. There was nothing Rubian didn’t know.
‘If Ruby doesn’t know…’
Then it must not be worth knowing.
Khalid closed his eyes. His world narrowed and expanded entirely according to Rubian’s will.