I’Ll Protect My Tyrant Dad! [EN]: Chapter 126

126. Side Story 1: Happy Daily Life in the Countryside (2)

February 13, 2024

“Dadddddy!”

I burst into the house,

still clutching the small potatoes the woman had given me.

Just then, I saw Dad hastily hiding something behind his back.

“Daddy?”

I tilted my head, looking at Dad with a puzzled expression.

“Ah, Sien. You’re here. Dad heard you coming…”

“Huh? How could you hear me coming?”

“Ah, I didn’t hear you coming.”

Dad smiled awkwardly and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

I opened my mouth wide and pointed my finger at him.

“Daddy, you have red paint on your head.”

Thud.

With a small noise, the small potatoes rolled right in front of Dad.

“Oh, you’re right.”

Dad naturally picked up water and sprinkled it over his head.

The red paint diluted slightly and ran down Dad’s body.

“You should shower. What are you doing, splashing water like that? Seriously, you don’t know anything about the world.”

“No, my daughter. Where did you even learn the phrase ‘know anything about the world’…”

I sniffed.

“It smells fishy.”

I sniffed around like a dog, trying to identify the smell.

‘What exactly is this smell?’

I was a little smaller than the average child, and my physical age was also lower.

With my underdeveloped sense of smell, it was difficult to tell exactly what this smell was.

As I tilted my head and approached Dad, he smiled awkwardly and said,

“S-Sien. Don’t come closer.”

“Huh? Why?”

I looked around and then stared at Dad again.

“It smells like it’s coming from Daddy.”

“S-Sien.”

Dad looked shocked.

Only then did I realize the weight of my words.

I realized that Dad might take it to mean that he smelled.

“Ah, not a weird smell!”

“You know, Sien. What should I do?”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Sien, it’s dangerous. There’s a knife here…!”

I stared at the knife with a nonchalant expression.

‘Can you even call that a knife?’

The blade wasn’t properly sharpened, so it looked very dull.

In short, it wasn’t a real knife, but a mock-up.

Dad even had beads of sweat on his forehead.

He was acting as if he was really scared of the knife.

“Daddy, are you scawed of that?”

“Of course, it’s very scary. Sien!”

Dad dropped the knife and trembled.

Then, he drooped his shoulders and looked at me.

‘I really sigh. He’s an adult, but he’s scared of a dull knife!’

I held Dad’s hand tightly and shook my head.

‘…Is my dad really a scaredy-cat?’

If so, I have no choice but to give him a good mental education.

Although we live in a rural village, so we’re unlikely to encounter evil forces.

But just in case, we might run into strange people.

I asked Dad one last time, as if trying to get confirmation.

“Daddy, are you scawed of knife?”

“Ahaha… W-Well, a little?”

I tried hard to resist the urge to call him an idiot.

Dad often showed me his clumsy side.

I found that side of Dad cute, but sometimes it was frustrating.

Still, he was much more immune to fear than when I was two years old, so I thought I could educate him a little more.

“Daddy, do you think you should never be near dangerous things wike knives?”

“…Huh?”

“Daddy, is it good to use a knife well?”

Once, Masha from Masha’s grocery store accidentally pricked her hand, and a drop of blood came out.

Thinking about that made chills run down my spine.

But a knife was medicine if used well.

Because it helps us slice and cook food.

Thinking about the eerie blade of the knife made me very scared, but I trembled and answered firmly.

“Daddy. It’s good to use a knife well. Daddy must be scawed every time you cook, but it’s okay. Even if you bleed a wittle, blowing on it will make it better.”

Wait a minute.

‘Now that I think about blood, I feel strange.’

I narrowed my eyes and sniffed.

“Is this blood… ?”

‘There’s no way it would smell this bloody!’

As I tilted my head in confusion, Dad rushed towards me and said,

“Okay, I understand, Sien… Dad will try not to be scared of knives anymore!”

Dad nodded with his usual pitiful expression.

Seeing that made my heart ache.

‘Someday, will my dad escape being a coward?’

Seeing him naturally put away the knife and clean the cutting board at my words, it seemed like escaping cowardice wasn’t too far off.

I stared at Dad and then dangled from his leg.

“I know. My daddy is the best!”

I heard Dad laughing above my head.

As expected, “My daddy is the best” was the best tonic to boost Dad’s energy.

“Sien, Dad needs to wash up.”

“Hmph.”

“I’ll wash up and then play with Sien. Okay?”

“Hmph… Okay. Sien has something to think about, too.”

To be exact, I was going to think about Dad and my future.

I let go of Dad’s leg without any regrets.

Then I heard Dad swallow a sigh of disappointment.

He said he would ‘wash up and play with me,’ so why is he upset when I let go of his hand?

I watched Dad walk slowly to his room like a sloth.

It seemed like regret was dripping from Dad’s back.

At that moment, Dad suddenly turned his gaze towards me.

“Dad’s going to wash up, Sien?”

“Yeah. Go wash up.”

“Y-You’re really going?”

I waved my hand as if telling him to hurry, and Dad pouted.

Seriously, he’s so soft-hearted when he’s like that.

“Sien, are you perhaps annoyed with Dad?”

“No. I’m just saying that Daddy needs to shower quickly and get clean.”

Even after I said that, Dad’s complexion darkened.

Dad walked slowly and unsteadily to the bathroom, which was only 1 meter away, for over 5 minutes.

I swallowed hard as I watched Dad’s back as he headed to the shower.

There was a reason why I sent Dad to the shower so coldly.

‘This is what Dad hid!’

I felt like I would find out the identity of the strong blood smell that I could feel even with my underdeveloped sense of smell.

I raised my plump hand and grabbed the note that Dad had left on the table.

[This is Jack Burnett. It’s pig harvest season. Can I help you for free?]

‘The tone is weird. Who is Jack Burnett? I’ve never heard of him before.’

I suspected he might be a friend, but I shook my head inwardly.

Dad had no friends except for me.

This wasn’t my guess, but what Dad told me every time.

I rolled my eyes as I recalled Dad’s words.

‘Dad is alone. He hasn’t had any friends since he was young.’

‘Why doesn’t our good Dad have any friends!’

‘…People don’t approach Dad.’

‘Those bad people!’

I remembered Dad smiling and carefully putting on my bib when he saw me extremely angry.

My heart ached, so I bit my lip and lowered my gaze again.

‘Is he Dad’s only friend? Let’s look at the note. What does pig harvest season mean?’

I unfolded the note and began to carefully observe the red stains on it.

‘The word choice of pig harvest season is a bit strange, but maybe it means pig slaughtering day?’

Is he a friend asking Dad to slaughter a pig?

I scratched my head and sniffed.

‘Was this smell the smell of pig blood?’

If so, all the questions were being answered.

I carefully folded the note and put it back where it was.

But somehow I felt strange.

‘There’s just one problem…’

My gaze was fixed on the word [free].

If so….

‘Dad, you’re such a pushover! Don’t tell me this person asked Dad to slaughter pigs for free?’

I thumped my chest.

Dad’s expression of being sad that he had no friends began to float in my head.

Don’t tell me Jack Burnett is taking advantage of Dad’s weakness of not having friends and wielding it.

‘Haa… Even if you don’t have any friends, this isn’t a friend!’

…Slaughtering a pig would fetch 10 gold in the village market price.

To slaughter a pig for free, even turning down 10 gold.

Our dad was a huge pushover.

As soon as I realized that, I felt like electricity was crackling in my head!

‘We have to give him a pushover escape operation!’

I decided.

To somehow deal with our dad.

No, saying deal with it sounds a bit, no, a lot strange.

‘Let’s find out about our dad’s pushover power. Surely he won’t really provide labor for free?’

I clenched my fists like small potatoes and nodded vigorously.

I’m sleepy now, so starting tomorrow!

***

The next morning came.

I realized that our dad was an even bigger pushover than I thought.

That was something I became even more certain of as I dug up potatoes from our garden.

“Haha, potatoes? Potatoes, well. Take them for free.”

“Oh my! You’re so kind. Is it free?”

“Yes, it’s free. You can take everything here.”

My face turned red.

‘Not just one or two, but all of them?’

This crossed the line.

Watching Dad laugh heartily, I kicked off the ground.

“That free!”

“Huh? Sien?”

“Oh my, you scared me!”

“Grandma! Thief!”

“Grandma thief, what does that mean? And why am I your grandma?”

I crossed my short, sausage-like arms in front of my chest and raised my head.

It was a strategy to pretend to be haughty on purpose.

The grandma snorted at my plan, but it seemed to work on Dad.

‘Sien has become cold…’ I heard him mutter.

‘It’s not a problem that I’ve become cold right now!’

I almost got my nose cut off with my eyes open, no, I almost got my potatoes stolen with my eyes open.

I glared at the grandma and waved my hand.

‘Anyway, our dad can’t do without me.’

I realized that Dad’s pushover power had broken through the ceiling.

But there was something even worse.

***

While watching Dad dig up potatoes, I was suddenly taken by the hand of a woman from the next village and participated in a meeting of the village women.

The women were definitely a good source of rumors.

“Ajumma [A respectful Korean term for married women or older women]. Do you know Jack Burnett?”