Chapter 68
In the center of my chest reflected in the mirror, a small diamond-like light was shining.
Hahaha, must be something stuck on the mirror.
“……”
But every time I lifted and lowered the loupe to my eye, one thing became clear: the light only appeared through the loupe.
“Wow, damn.”
Only one conclusion. Does this mean if I get dragged into the lab, I’ll be able to spit out mana pearls too? I’m not happy at all!
The cause was obvious. It had to be the “ability to see ten seconds into the future” given to me by the god.
And of course—it’s not helpful at all!
“Damn, ah, seriously!”
I stomped forward in frustration.
I wasn’t worried about being dragged to a lab.
Most who got harvested for mana pearls were orphans and vagrants. They target the weak, not just anyone who shows mana pearl symptoms.
Since I had a guardian, no one would dare kidnap me. The problem was—the guardian himself!
I recalled what the Duke had said at Marquis Godel’s banquet:
“I can see the flow of mana with the power of the Silver Dragon.”
Which meant that to his eyes, I looked like a scratched-off winning lottery ticket.
And it wasn’t just the mana pearls that were the problem. What if he discovered I had precognition?
“Sol, what a precious gift you have! I’ll treat you with honor. Work for me from now on!”
…Like hell he’d say that.
If people really got treated according to their abilities, why would folks die from overwork earning minimum wage?
The Duke might work me to death before I even turned sixteen. Maybe dying at sixteen would have been better!
What should I do? For now, I’d stall in the dormitory and think.
In the meantime, maybe find an unclaimed mana pearl and run away, or beg the god to take this ability back.
But first, I needed to find someone who could help me if things went wrong.
The first person who came to mind was Elber.
But Elber was Schlaeger’s man. If things soured with the Duke, Elber might get dragged into it too.
So, the person I went to for help was—
“Excuse me! Is this the Temple Knights’ building?”
Following the sign, I reached a gleaming white building. A man in white uniform came out.
“Yes, it is. Are you looking for someone?”
“Is Ignatz here?”
“He is. Please wait a moment.”
This time, I was going to rely on the person who once said he’d protect me.
Seo Yujin.
* * *
Latiger stared at the three books he’d bought through a secret errand boy.
Understanding Puberty
What is Rebellion? – A Case Study
How to Befriend Teenagers – A Collection of the Latest Jokes
If the servants happened to see these, they’d faint screaming: “Who brought such books into His Grace’s office?!”
He quickly wrapped the covers so no one could see the titles, then opened the first one.
As expected, it said the obvious:
From early teens, children grow rapidly and try to separate themselves from their parents. If the parent-child relationship wasn’t friendly, the child may resist the household order even more strongly…
Latiger knew a perfect example.
“Ignatz.”
Their clashes had worsened in his early teens, and at fifteen he ran away from home.
Thankfully, Benen and Elber weren’t affectionate, but at least they listened. And after adopting Sol, both had brightened.
…but the problem now was with the daughter he adopted six years ago. He thought they had been doing fine.
Sol, why are you avoiding me all of a sudden?
The year she turned sixteen, Sol had thrown a tantrum on the floor saying she wanted to go to the capital.
Maybe that was when the cracks in their relationship began.
But Latiger hadn’t realized it at the time. After his own investigation, he enrolled her in Grüner Wand, a school where weekday dorm life was mandatory and campus romance was forbidden.
She would stay in the dorms on weekdays, and on weekends she could come home and enjoy social life.
At first, Sol seemed pleased, as if she’d come home every weekend faithfully. But then…
Suddenly, she sent a single letter saying, “School life is too busy. I can’t come home.” She hadn’t even said it to his face!
There’s no way she’s that busy.
He’d thoroughly investigated Grüner Wand before enrolling her. The curriculum was very relaxed. He was certain she’d have time to spend every weekend.
He’d planned to teach her how to spend money in the capital. To introduce her to other nobles.
So many plans.
Isn’t she blatantly avoiding me?
That’s why Latiger restrained himself from visiting her directly. If he went and she still refused to show her face, he felt he’d never recover from the shock.
In the second book, he found a case similar to Sol’s:
This fifteen-year-old girl especially rejected her father. She complained that he was stubborn and never listened to the family…
The girl’s remarks were quoted:
“I can’t even stand the sight of Dad.”
“Don’t come into my room, don’t even bother knocking.”
If you can’t understand such behavior, you may feel unjustly accused, wondering, ‘What did I do wrong?’
Indeed, this wasn’t the first time he couldn’t understand Sol.
When she was ten, newly adopted, she sometimes acted like an adult, then suddenly burst out crying like a child, leaving him completely baffled.
Still, over the past six years, he thought they’d adapted to each other.
…Was it only my delusion?
Even though he was halfway through the second book, the sentences weren’t sinking in. Only terrifying words pierced his eyes:
Rebellion. Rejection. Runaway. Violence.
And the scariest one of all:
This sixteen-year-old girl felt her family could no longer protect her. Her answer was to marry her lover. That unprepared marriage led to pregnancy…
That child… what?
The moment he read that line, the book froze solid in his hands. Even as it crumbled to frost, the dreadful sentence sparkled inside the ice, stabbing his heart.
An unauthorized marriage and pregnancy? If I fail to give my teenage daughter trust, such horrors could happen?!
The thought alone suffocated him.
But hadn’t he done everything for Sol?
When she was kidnapped, I rushed after her immediately. I swore I’d be with her whenever she was in danger.
Ah, but there was one comfort. He could always track Sol with the mana pearl detector he’d given her.
Of course, she might use it as bait, but he couldn’t bear to imagine his daughter rejecting him that much.
Latiger turned to the window. In a corner near the Great Temple, where the dormitory must be, he saw the detector’s light sparkle.
Looks like she’s sleeping peacefully…
But strangely, it looked like two tiny lights stuck close together.
…Is my eyesight failing already?
Blinking, he turned away.
He’d skimmed through the puberty book, frozen the case study, and now opened the last one:
How to Befriend Teenagers – A Collection of the Latest Jokes
…Maybe with this, I can talk more comfortably with Sol.
* * *
A bad premonition struck me.
I glanced north for no reason. Beside me, Yujin-oppa, polishing the Temple’s silverware, asked:
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Worried the Duke might storm in? It’s written all over your face.”
“Ugh.”
“Relax. Outsiders can’t enter the Temple’s storerooms.”
“By law?”
“No. But if anyone dared use a secular title to meddle in the Temple’s inner affairs, the entire church would revolt.”
“Oppa, you’ve really gone native here.”
He even looked oddly cheerful.
He smiled brightly at me while polishing.
“It feels like playing a game. Honestly, I’ve got nothing to lose, so I can live recklessly… Ow, ow, sorry, Ignatz!”
Sometimes when he said weird things, Ignatz would bubble up to the surface and scold him—like someone twisting his gut.
This time, I figured he deserved it, so I picked up the silver plate he dropped and polished it instead.
It had been two weeks since I last returned to the Duke’s mansion. Apart from a letter saying “Understood”, there’d been no word from him. Was he really believing my excuse of being busy?
I thought maybe he’d ask, “Busy with what? Do you need help?” But of course he never did. Why did I even expect something so pointless?
Still, it was a relief. At least he wasn’t immediately suspicious of me.
…And it didn’t feel like he was clinging too tightly to me either.
“Oppa, what about that thing I asked before?”
“You mean about whether this world has national parks? Yeah, I found one near Albion.”
“Hooray!”
If I wanted independence, I had to find natural mana pearls. I couldn’t just steal them.
But developed mines would have nothing left for me, and busy places had too many eyes watching.
So, my first target would be somewhere like a national park—“moderately overgrown, sparsely populated.”
“It’s a small mountain northeast of the capital. They say a saint once witnessed a miracle there, so it was made a protected zone. Weekdays, regular people can enter, but—”
“On weekends it’s restricted?”
“Exactly. But we can get in on Temple business. Let’s go tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?! I—I’m not mentally prepared!”
“What’s there to prepare? You begged me to help you escape, remember?”
“But going hiking on the weekend needs mental preparation!”
He stacked the silver spoons and grinned.
“I’ll carry you on my back, so you don’t need to prepare a thing.”
“…Thanks. But, um, I’m heavy.”
“Did you forget when I used to pedal you around on my bike? You’re even smaller now, and I’m bigger.”
“Haha, that’s true.”
Memories of when I’d been scammed in the countryside, crying and riding on his back for tens of kilometers, came flooding back. I’d nearly forgotten that moment that was now just a memory.
When I laughed, oppa laughed back.
“Okay, settled then. Tomorrow morning at the Temple’s north gate. I’ll bring the tools, you just bring a pouch for those mana pearls or whatever.”
“I’ll pack water and snacks too!”
“Perfect. But don’t expect too much—we can’t stay long.”
“…Yeah. Still, I’ll do everything I can.”
Tomorrow would mark three weeks since I last returned to the Duke’s mansion. By now, surely the Duke had noticed something strange.
Just what kind of terrifying plan was he plotting…?
