I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 117

Guarding the Tyrant Father! Episode 117. Fake Lovers Project (117/140)

Fake Lovers Project

2024.01.12.

The enchanted merchant began to listen to us obediently.

I scratched my chin and looked at Acid.

“Acid, will you do it?”

“Yes. I’ll investigate.”

Acid, understanding my signal, naturally started the conversation.

“Merchant, was the person you encountered, in your feeling, the ‘real’ Yuela?”

“Huh? Yes! That’s right!”

Seeing him speak with conviction even with dazed eyes, it seemed he believed that the person he met was the real Yuela.

In short, it meant he wasn’t deliberately lying.

‘Could Yuela be alive? But how, and why now?’

The situation felt like navigating a maze. I touched the back of my neck, which felt strangely chilly, and blurted out.

“Could it be disguise magic instead of the real Yuela? Using her as bait?”

It was a remark directed at Acid, but unexpectedly, the merchant jumped up in response.

“Haha. Disguise magic? That’s absurd!”

“What’s absurd? Disguise magic is surprisingly common. Isn’t it a more reasonable hypothesis that someone used disguise magic to become Yuela than a dead person coming back to life?”

If Melodia was trying to catch me using my mother as bait, using disguise magic was a plausible tactic.

However, despite my logical words, the merchant shook his head as if to say no. He even waved his hands, refuting.

“Oh, I would recognize disguise magic right away. Our shop is more high-end than you think, and noble lords visit often. Sometimes, there are those who run up tabs [debts], so we use fingerprint recognition magic.”

“…You use fingerprint recognition magic?”

“Yes!”

The merchant showed me a square console box that looked like a signal receiver from his pocket.

‘It’s a fingerprint recognition magic tool officially recognized by the country. It’s certain.’

Since I also run a trading company, I knew enough about fingerprint recognition magic.

Because there were frequent cases of crimes where people impersonated nobles using disguise magic, boutiques and places selling expensive items used fingerprint recognition magic tools to identify the identity of the other party.

The information entered into the fingerprint recognition magic tool included the names, faces, and ages of the empire’s nobles and criminals.

It was said that they put recognition magic in it so that they could recognize them immediately.

My mother, Yuela, was on the criminal side, so she could be identified immediately by the fingerprint recognition magic tool.

“I recognized her right away when I saw her face. As soon as I had her touch the fingerprint recognition magic tool while buying something, it said ‘Yuela Mirmod,’ so I knew for sure! So I secretly reported it right away, but she escaped in the meantime.”

“What’s the probability of manipulating even the fingerprint recognition?”

“No, say something that makes sense! Even if you’re a great magician, you can’t imitate fingerprint recognition. That’s ancient magic! Ancient magic that the late Emperor learned directly from the dragon by bowing down!”

He was right.

I fiddled with the console he showed me and bit my lip.

To confirm whether the fingerprint recognition was certain, I would have to go outside, but if the merchant was right in the current situation…

“That means…”

If the fingerprints matched, there was a high possibility that the other party was the ‘real’ Yuela.

I muttered in a trembling voice.

“But Yuela is dead.”

It was strange. No matter how I thought about it, the fingerprints couldn’t match exactly.

There was only one way.

To manipulate ‘fingerprint recognition’.

But that took too much effort and required hiring countless magicians.

It was virtually impossible in Melodia’s current situation.

She was just a fugitive now, nothing more.

From the point when her faith in God was severed five years ago, she wouldn’t have much divine power left.

‘Then was Mom really alive?’

My head was complicatedly messed up, but I tried to regain my reason.

I shouldn’t be sure of anything yet.

Acid, who had been staring intently at the magic stone that identifies fingerprint magic, quietly spoke up.

“…Sienne.”

“Huh?”

He twitched his lips.

“It seems like the bet with Moira will start soon.”

“…Right. Still, I can’t talk about the subject of the bet yet, can I? Is there nothing I can do to help?”

Acid whispered while looking at me.

“Please don’t doubt me. Just do that for me.”

I nodded coolly and shook my arm, but it seemed that the sight wasn’t very trustworthy to Acid.

Acid bit his lip and muttered.

“You must trust me.”

If he’s asking for trust to this extent, it’s only natural to return it.

I answered in a slightly louder voice.

“Of course. Of course.”

But Acid still seemed worried. His voice was shaking.

I stared at Acid.

Not only was his voice shaking, but his pupils were also trembling at the same time.

“You must trust me. You must.”

I nodded while staring at him, who was endlessly repeating the words ‘trust me’.

“It’s real. I trust you.”

I didn’t know why he was saying it so desperately, but I trusted Acid more than anyone else.

I tightly grasped his finger.

“So, Acid trusts me too, right?”

“Yes. Of course.”

We looked at each other and smiled.

It was time to release the magic on the merchant and return home.

***

When we returned to the mansion from the store with the mystery of Yuela’s survival, Leonhardt and his party had also brought back quite good information.

So, the drawing room of the Mirmod mansion was not in the usual warm atmosphere where the warm fireplace was crackling, but was punctuated with unpleasant emotions mixed with anger.

First of all, Leonhardt, who had become fond of butter beer after becoming an adult, slammed his fist on the table and said.

“Anyway, that woman is a fool! To set such an obvious trap!”

“Tell me in detail, Leonhardt. What happened?”

I began to listen to Leonhardt’s words.

According to Leonhardt, the village of Mer, where the Saintess Melodia was presumed to be hiding, was having a festival starting today.

“The cabin where Melodia is was completely empty, and it seems they’re holding a village festival with a masquerade concept.”

“At this point in time.”

“Yeah. So I was worried about whether to catch all the villagers and conduct a full investigation to filter out and capture the Saintess.”

It made sense.

But there must have been a reason why Leonhardt couldn’t do that.

I listened to his words with my chin resting on my hand.

“There’s a problem. It’s a normal village. But there’s a barrier at the entrance of the village that can only be destroyed by someone with strong divine power, so they’ve made it impossible to take the villagers out! Magic doesn’t work inside either, so it was hard to investigate.”

“Ha…”

“Melodia is definitely still in that village.”

“That means.”

Leonhardt’s eyes changed sharply.

“So, this means that someone with stronger divine power than Saintess Melodia has to visit that village to break the barrier and bring Melodia in.”

“It’s openly tempting Acid to come. But Melodia must have lost a lot of divine power…”

“That’s the question. The number of people who believe in God has been rapidly decreasing in the last five years, right?”

“It’s strange…”

Is there someone helping?

Or is what’s happening according to the ‘Book of Prophecy’?

I can’t grasp this situation exactly, but…

“Maybe they’re planning to invite Acid and brainwash him? To tell him to kill Mirmod.”

“Yeah. But there’s something a little strange.”

“What is it?”

Leonhardt gnashed his teeth while resting his chin on his hand.

“As you said, Sienne, the barrier can’t be approached unless it’s a strong divine power user like Acid, but the condition is unique.”

“What condition?”

“…Sienne, you have to go with him. In other words, the investigation result is that only a strong divine power user and someone he is deeply attached to can visit, break the barrier on that village, and catch Melodia.”

I could feel Melodia’s desperate efforts to invite Acid and me to that village.

“Why me?”

“You must be the first target. Or it’s written in that damn prophecy to kill you.”

There was definitely a possibility.

I nodded.

“No, but if that’s the case, why pretend it’s a festival? They’re really setting up a typical trap!”

“That’s what I’m saying. Well, is it more fun for them to fight back while having a festival?”

A few silly jokes were exchanged.

Immediately after that, Leonhardt raised the corners of his mouth slyly.

“Still, we should match the tone a bit, right?”

“…Match the tone? What does that mean? We should just break the barrier and bring Melodia.”

Leonhardt thumped his chest as if frustrated.

‘What. He’s looking at me like I’m a dating loser virgin.’

I stared at Leonhardt, pushing back the stray hairs that kept obstructing my view.

Then he opened his mouth with a solemn expression.

“No, what I mean is, since that village is in the middle of a festival, it would be good for you to go in according to the theme of the festival.”

‘Festival theme, it’s not a big deal.’

I replied indifferently.

“In other words, you’re saying to go wearing masks, right? It would definitely be less noticeable to go wearing masks if there are ordinary people in that village.”

At those words, flames of passion sparked in Leonhardt’s eyes. I leaned my chest towards the table, then leaned back on the backrest, embarrassed by Leonhardt’s hot gaze.

Leonhardt, who was staring at me intently, raised his chin and declared.

“The theme of this festival is masks, but the concepts are diverse. You can just wear a mask, but usually, do you know who goes to such festivals?”

“Um, I don’t know.”

“Lovers go.”

I was speechless for a moment.

“When I investigated, the festival itself didn’t just suddenly appear. Originally, around this time of year, they held small mask festivals for lovers near the village. The 「Mask Festival for Lovers」 is a customary tradition of that village. So, in other words…”

While Acid and I were unable to answer, Leonhardt’s mouth became as sly as possible.

“When you enter the village, disguise yourselves well and pretend to be lovers so you don’t look suspicious. It’s called the Fake Lovers Project.”

Acid’s and my faces turned red in an instant.

However, this ‘Fake Lovers Project’ didn’t feel bad.

I was looking at the crackling fireplace and wondering if I should reluctantly accept it.

‘What. Seeing myself getting excited about this, I must really like Acid.’

I was deliberately managing my expression because I could feel Acid looking at my expression.

I was getting to know the identity of this pleasant spring breeze that was slowly seeping into my heart.

But an unexpected ambush opened the door to the drawing room and entered.

“What project?”

…Until I heard my dad’s murderous voice from behind, a warm breeze was blowing in my heart. That’s what I mean.

My dad had a knack for breaking the plate [ruining the mood] like a typical villain, and he had really good ears.