Chapter 146
My face stiffened.
A small hand reached out to me. Large, tearful eyes filled with earnestness.
Cheeks like glutinous rice cakes [soft, chewy Korean rice cakes] and skin flushed peach-red from crying.
When I didn’t respond, her tiny lips moved anxiously.
I was taken aback.
‘……What kind of creature is this?’
Of course, it wasn’t my first time seeing her. I had seen her in the previous timeline, but back then, I just thought, ‘Oh, that’s the heroine. Just as you’d expect from a childcare novel heroine….’
It wasn’t to this extent.
‘Or is it because I haven’t seen her up close for long?’
It felt like she was the human embodiment of the word ‘lovely,’ to the point where I was taken aback myself.
‘This is what it means to have looks that overcome preferences… I’m feeling it again.’
I laughed at myself for diligently analyzing my own emotions even at this moment.
When I came to my senses, I had already lifted the child high in the air.
“……What are you doing?”
Atlan was staring at me, looking dumbfounded.
“Can’t you tell? She wants me to hold her.”
She wants to be held.
“It’s a child lifting a child.”
“Anyone can see that I’m much bigger, right?”
“To me, it’s all the same. How do you think you’d look if you fought a minnow and a goldfish based on height?”
“……Similar?”
“Exactly. That’s it!”
Um, I see. I nodded solemnly.
Still holding Lily tightly in both arms.
“But she wants me to.”
“Since when have you listened to others so well? If you’re going to listen, listen when I ask you to spar!”
“No. You’re not skilled, but you’re unnecessarily persistent.”
“…….”
Atlan felt his ribs. Then, he twitched his lips as if holding back something he wanted to say, and finally blurted out.
“Damn it, it hurts!”
“Then get stronger.”
After I taught him the expression ‘fact 폭력’ [fact violence, meaning stating a fact that hurts someone’s feelings] and that ribs could break in the 3rd timeline, he’s been like this ever since.
He’s like Lu Bu, recklessly pushing forward in Romance of the Three Kingdoms [a famous Chinese historical novel]. He had an unexpectedly cute side.
“Hey. No, Lord. You know what your problem is? A subordinate, you know, it’s about, well, yeah! Affection! Raising them with affection and affectionate training!”
“Affection, my foot. Want to keep going? I might tell you to walk to the Dragon City from here.”
“Ugh…….”
Look at him, the way he talks from the 3rd timeline comes out when he thinks no one’s listening.
I laughed in disbelief.
On one hand, I felt a little sorry, wondering if he wanted to say something like that.
“Stop joking around. So, what did you do to her? Tell me honestly.”
“I didn’t do anything. What could I have done? I just curled up and slept.”
“I see.”
“……Do you believe me?”
“Of course?”
I blinked.
“Have I ever not believed you when you said something?”
“…….”
Atlan ran a hand over the back of his neck and turned his head away. His ears were red.
Look at him, embarrassed. He always acted like that when he was shy.
I chuckled and turned my gaze away.
The child, who had been clinging to me tightly and trembling, had calmed down somewhat after being held by me.
Feeling my gaze, her clear eyes followed me.
Beautiful vermilion eyes that seemed to hold the sunset. They sparkled even more when they caught the light.
‘Her tail is really soft.’
Whether it was instinct or intentional, the child’s fluffy tail tapped me gently.
“Oni?”
For a moment, it felt like something snapped inside me.
“……There wasn’t a single truly child-like one among the Orca bastards.”
“What?”
Atlan’s puzzled voice was heard, but I was already lost in thought and couldn’t hear what he was saying anymore.
“……Should I raise a squirrel?”
I seemed to have said it very quietly and softly.
“Are you crazy?”
I forgot that he had heightened his five senses with the power of water to find her.
He heard everything.
Since he heard it, I asked solemnly and seriously.
“Hey, Second. Is it okay to raise one more squirrel?”
Instead of answering immediately, Second hesitated at my question.
“……Why are your eyes glazed over?”
“Mine?”
“Yes! And what do you mean raise? Take care of your dragon or whatever first!”
That’s unusual. He’s even talking about Ekion. Well, it’s obvious, but it was half a joke.
But seeing him act up, I felt playful.
“What’s wrong with that? Do I not have money? Do I lack responsibility?”
“That’s the problem. Don’t even dream of responsibility! Ugh, someone like that dolphin bastard from before is needed for this. Why does he have no memories!”
Well, once I decide to take responsibility, it’s in my nature to take responsibility until the moment I die.
“Right! You know, that subordinate of yours who was desperately lacking affection! You have the same look in your eyes as when you were recruiting him. Are you even aware of it?”
“I am. I’m rational. Probably?”
The subordinate Atlan was talking about was severely lacking in affection, but his skills were excellent, and his combat abilities were even more outstanding.
He was someone I had been eagerly trying to recruit.
“Get a grip. She’s not one of your subordinates with special skills or great combat abilities that you’re always looking for.”
“Being cute is also a talent.”
“……Are you even saying that right? What good is something useless!”
I wonder, wouldn’t it be good for my mental health? Thinking lightly, I readjusted the child in my arms.
“Okay. I understand, it’s a joke. But it’s not something I brought up lightly, I just thought about it for a moment.”
I smiled softly.
I didn’t really intend to raise her.
However, I did feel a strange emotion for a moment.
“……It’s just that I’ve never grown up so purely, so I was greedy for a moment.”
“…….”
Second made a troubled expression. Then, he scratched his cheek and said cautiously.
“Ahem, well, do you want to act spoiled or something? If, if that’s the case, you can do it to me…….”
“I don’t do it to someone weaker than me?”
“Eek!”
I burst out laughing. The laughter soon turned into a bright smile.
“I don’t particularly want to act spoiled. Besides, I have you and Dad now.”
Saying this, I looked at Lily in my arms.
If Atlan hadn’t done anything, the reason why the baby squirrel was afraid of Atlan.
I could roughly guess what it was.
“More than that, I know why she’s afraid of you.”
“Why is she afraid? Not that I’m particularly curious…….”
“Children are afraid of big, fierce people.”
“Am I fierce?”
“Yes. And they’re even more afraid of people with loud voices.”
Second basically has a loud voice.
If Atlan was the first person this child saw when she opened her eyes, it was understandable.
“Besides, the outside was full of unfamiliar knights, so it must have been scary.”
Looking at Lily again, she didn’t say anything.
Instead, she hugged my neck and rubbed her face against me.
“Oni, how did you know……?”
I laughed at the ticklish voice whispering in my ear.
“Was that the right answer?”
Lily nodded slightly.
I pondered for a moment and then asked.
The worry that started from the moment I decided to take this child to the Dragon City.
I’ve finally made up my mind.
“What’s your name?”
Lily blinked her big eyes. Soon, her soft face broke into a smile.
Tears still glistening, her cheeks stretched taut like glutinous rice cakes.
Her small hand touched my ear. I smiled at the ticklish touch and leaned in.
“Lily…….”
“Yes, Lily. I’m Calypso. Calypso Aquasidel.”
It’s not the first time I’m introducing myself like this to you, but.
It’s the first time we’ve met like this.
I supported the child with one hand so she wouldn’t be surprised, and gently patted her back with the other.
We’ll be heading back to the Dragon City soon.
I hoped this child would wake up before then, and now that she has, it was time to have the conversation I had been putting off.
“Can you tell me how you ended up collapsed there?”
* * *
“What?”
Dad was someone who rarely got surprised.
He was a person with so little change in expression that he seemed more like a statue than a human.
But this time, he seemed a little surprised, widening his eyes slightly before frowning.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
When I returned with Atlan after finding Lily, the area around the carriage was still chaotic.
The knights knew that Lily had been found and returned to their positions.
Instead of returning to the carriage, I went to Dad and told him the newly discovered fact.
“It’s true.”
The newly discovered fact was…….
“The Black Panther family is currently in the Dragon City.”