I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 12

Protecting the Tyrant Dad! Episode 12. I’m Stronger Than the Villain Mister (12/140)

Episode 12. I’m Stronger Than the Villain Mister

2023.01.10.

The reason I could pull myself together and stand up after staggering and collapsing,

Was because I heard a voice in my ear at the moment I closed my eyes and tried to give up.

‘Calm down, Cien. Those words are fake.’

At that moment, the small necklace Leonhardt had given me sparkled and emitted light.

The bluish light flickered faintly, as if it would protect me.

However, the feeble energy of the fairy couldn’t completely eliminate the strong illusion. Of course, I’m not of fairy blood.

‘But thanks to this light, I feel a little better.’

The voice in my ear grew louder, and something began to flicker before my eyes.

The bluish light that had been enveloping me lost its vitality and faded. I thought I even heard the words ‘Hang in there.’

I slowly opened my eyes.

This is a place where an ordinary five-year-old child couldn’t handle it and would mentally collapse, perhaps even die, but it’s okay.

‘Because I have my dad.’

I will protect my foolish dad, whose hands and feet are all calloused from farming, with these small hands.

I clenched my small, white hands tightly and barely raised my trembling legs.

And I muttered under my breath.

“No.”

I thought of my rabbit-shaped bag.

I remembered Dad, who used to carefully make and pack my lunch every day when we lived in the countryside.

‘Our Cien, your rabbit-shaped bag is so pretty.’

‘I’m not a rabbit?’

‘My daughter is the prettiest baby rabbit in the world, then.’

The dad who tells me that is my real dad…

“Those people aren’t my family.”

I knew.

That one way to get through the [illusion] is to confront a terrible trauma and escape from that memory.

Those who don’t know that wander through the maze, avoiding hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, and die lonely, or even if they escape, they live a miserable life with great mental problems.

But I knew the tricks of the [illusion] and how to escape.

So, I took a gamble by throwing myself directly into the trap.

Because if you can’t avoid it, you have to face it and overcome it.

I spoke softly, as if kindling a small spark.

“I… have a precious Dad.”

The children who had been affected by the headmaster’s illusion had no hope.

But now, I had great hope and a dad to protect.

If I were to collapse, there would be no one in this Mirmode to take Dad’s side.

I clenched my fist tightly and spoke a little louder.

Just as light dispels darkness, positive hope overcomes negative despair.

“My dad said he loves me.”

I closed my eyes tightly and constantly recalled the words Dad had said to me, one by one.

Warmth flooded my heart, like light bulbs turning on one by one.

‘Dad said he loves me. He said I’m pretty even if I don’t do anything, and lovely no matter what I do.’

My legs gave way, and I leaned my back against the wall of the maze.

‘My dream is to live happily with Dad forever.’

I began to recite my wish softly.

Like lighting a small candle in the dark.

The noise that had been buzzing in my ears gradually subsided.

And instead of that noise, I began to see a vision of Dad before my eyes.

The dad who baked delicious bread for me every day in the countryside.

The dad who brought me mountains of health food every time I coughed and sneezed.

The dad who taught me how to pronounce each letter.

The dad who said that I wasn’t slow, but learning step by step, whenever other people said I was slow…

The dad who packed my rabbit-shaped lunch.

Even the way he always stroked my hair and hugged me to sleep.

‘Daughter, my daughter is the prettiest in the world.’

Sometimes, when I had nightmares because of fragments of the past, Dad would sing lullabies all night long.

Singing lullabies all night until his voice was hoarse.

‘You know Dad loves our Cien, right?’

My dad, who kept whispering sweet words in my ear.

‘Dad will do everything. My daughter just has to be happy.’

A gentle and warm voice that seemed to embrace me warmly.

The unconditional affection that I, who had been abandoned by my parents in my previous life, had for the first time.

I had to protect it.

‘I’m going to save my dad. I will definitely survive and live happily.’

I was reborn with only one wish: to create a ‘happy family.’

It was all thanks to God answering my wish.

Even God protected my dream, so there’s no way I could lose to a mere headmaster.

‘I won’t lose to illusions, never.’

The only thing that can break evil illusions is the most powerful hope.

The stronger the hope for the future, the less you are swayed by past traumas.

I was the one who summoned God with the belief that I would be happy and lived a new life.

So, I was able to enter this place with confidence.

I will survive.

‘Because I’m going to live happily with Dad.’

I opened my tightly closed eyes.

Then, the illusion began to shatter as if a mirror was breaking.

The headmaster, with a shocked expression, appeared before my eyes as the illusion maze collapsed.

“You…”

“Now it’s grandpa’s turn.”

Illusionists’ illusions have a fatal limitation.

That was the weakness called Reflection.

Reflection.

It meant that when an illusionist’s illusion was broken, they had no choice but to receive the remnants of it.

Unlike me, the illusionist’s body would not completely move into the maze due to the ‘privilege,’ but their body and mind would be half separated.

In other words, a part of his mind would be trapped in the maze and forced to watch torture-like illusions.

I shook the now fragmented magic stone in my hand.

“The magic stone is turning red.”

“You, you… Do you think you’ll be safe after this?”

“Yup. Grandpa’s going to be in a lot of pain now!”

Was my words a signal?

At the same time as the magic stone vibrated strongly in my hand, the headmaster urgently clutched his heart.

“Kuh-heuk…!”

Finally, a new nightmare of illusion had begun for him as well.

‘I wonder what it feels like to be attacked in reverse by the illusion you created yourself.’

I trudged towards him, who was experiencing a terrible illusion.

And I whispered softly in his ear.

“If you’re strong, get out of here.”

“…Sh, shut, up.”

Could he hear my voice?

I didn’t know.

But I was going to return the words I had heard exactly as they were.

“If you’re weak…”

I’m just a little kid who doesn’t know much about the Mirmode family customs, but I’ve definitely learned one thing as of today.

“You’ll get eaten, right? The weak get eaten.”

The headmaster, who had sent many children into terrible traumas until now.

He would be having a terrible nightmare in the terrible illusion he had created.

Like those children he had tormented, he might be having that nightmare forever.

It depended on the heart he had.

I smiled coldly and looked at Lily Teacher, the headmaster’s crony.

He couldn’t open his mouth, as if his legs had given way in the strange situation.

“Teacher, hello?”

“…You, do you even know what you’ve done to the headmaster? A daughter of an outcast!”

“What did I do?”

“You threatened the headmaster’s life! You didn’t even take the test properly. Do you think you’ll be safe after doing that?”

However, even while huffing and puffing, he couldn’t come near me as if he was scared.

‘Can’t he grasp the situation right now?’

I let out a deep sigh and took out a small mirror from my rabbit-shaped bag.

“Are you stupid?”

“…What are you talking about! Fix the Headmaster right now-”

“Teacher has to go together, too.”

At my words, he tilted his head as if he was puzzled.

I showed him the front of the mirror.

This mirror is a low-grade artifact that can be easily rented from the library, but in this situation…

“Reflection.”

This mirror was able to reflect and return the magic I had just experienced.

It can only be used once, and its influence is small, but.

“You, you…!”

“Say you’re sorry to me.”

He was like a bat.

His snake-like gaze glanced at the kneeling headmaster, and he hurriedly said to me.

“I, I’m sorry!”

“Ah, really?”

“Yes, save me! I, I’m sorry, so!”

I tapped the front of the mirror artifact and grinned.

“Hmm… I don’t want to?”

It was a clear refusal.

He widened his eyes as he grasped the situation and raised his hand upwards.

Was he trying to hit me? If so, I was willing to take one hit, but…

As expected, the effect of the mirror artifact was faster.

“Keuheup!”

Leaving behind a strange groan, he gradually collapsed to the floor like the headmaster.

“Stupid.”

I clicked my tongue inwardly and shook my head.

The nightmares of people who are inherently evil are even more terrible.

They won’t be able to get out of this room for the time being.

Even if they do come out, there’s no way they’ll have a sound mind.

‘Your standards of life are only corruption and the prosperity of your own body.’

I looked down at them coldly and turned my body.

‘I was going to make them my allies, but even if I made these guys my allies, they would only stab me in the back!’

And, what can I do since I don’t like it?

I clenched the bag strap tightly in my hand.

A blue light flickered and disappeared around me.

‘Thank you for continuing to protect me, Fairy!’

I remember the blue light that occasionally lingered near me when I was in the illusion maze.

I’m just an ordinary person, but if I study it well, maybe I can summon the fairy someday, I turned my body while thinking such trivial thoughts.

It was then.

Kwaang!

The door opened as if it would break.

And outside, Dad was standing with a terrifying expression.

“Cien!”

“Daddyy!”

I quickly approached Dad and hugged him tightly.

I didn’t know because I was rubbing my face against Dad’s clothes like a cat.

That he was staring dryly at the two men who were blankly staring into the air.

Also, that at Matthias’s one gesture, they collapsed, feeling extreme fear that squeezed their hearts.

There would never be a time when those two would come back to life.

***

Holding Dad’s hand tightly, I entered the North Spire and began to be interrogated.

“Cien, I told you never to do anything dangerous.”

“But test! You said you’d do it… so…”

“I told you not to follow bad people. What would Dad do alone if something went wrong?”

I stuck out my lips.

“But I felt strong when I thought of Dad. So, it was okay?”

“What exactly happened, Cien? Huh? A kid as small and weak as you…”

“Um. Um… Nothing much! When I thought of Dad, the illusion just broke?”

I explained, deliberately leaving out the story of how I retaliated against them. Because if our kind Dad heard such bad words, he might get upset and cry.

I decided to keep the 100% truth a secret forever.

“You… Haa, okay. Let’s eat cake first.”

I said ah, and Dad put a whipped cream cake in my mouth.

As I munched on the cake, I suddenly recalled the fragments of nightmares I had seen in the illusion maze.

The fragments of the past that I had faced after a long time tormented my heart.

I trembled slightly and called Dad.

“…But Dad.”

“Yeah.”

“Did Dad say it every day?”

“Say what?”

Strangely, my heart was pounding with nervousness.

“That I’m okay even if I’m useless…”

“Yeah. It’s okay if you don’t do anything.”

“Is it okay if I’m not nice? Even if I break all the cups?”

I fidgeted with my fingers anxiously. Only so little that Dad wouldn’t see it, just a little.

“If you break a cup?”

His voice was a little puzzled.

“Uung…”

I rolled my eyes anxiously, and Dad’s warm voice rang in my ear.

“If you break a hundred cups, I’ll buy you a thousand.”

Dad wasn’t like this originally. He insulted me for being useless and criticized me for not being able to do this.

Our Dad now, the foolish country farmer Matthias Dad…

“I don’t care about that at all, because it’s my daughter.”

…He calls me his daughter.

In a warm voice, gently, he says he doesn’t care about that at all.

My eyes trembled faintly, so I brought my small, bun-like hands to my eyes. It was covered as if an blackout curtain had been drawn in front of my eyes. Even peeking at Dad through the gaps in my hands was something that required courage right now.

Did he recognize that I was covering my eyes as some kind of signal? Dad’s voice became a little more urgent and anxious.

I pressed my brow bone with my fingertips and tried hard not to cry.

But…

“You don’t have to be nice. You can be very bad. But I want my daughter to only have happy thoughts. It would be even better if you only had good experiences.”