A Secretly Capable Child Is Seeking For Her Dad

iereturnedtogetherwithMarbas.

"Papaaa!randpa!Uncles!"

Seeingherglowingfacefromafar,dmundburstintolaughter.

"Andwhathasourniecebroughtusthistime?"

ieranupanddumpedahugepileofsomethinginfrontofthefivemen.

esetan,startled,loweredhishalf-finishedglassontothedeck.

"iewantstoplaygostop!"

Whatiescatteredacrossthedeckwasnoneotherthanhwatucards.

hecardscreatedthroughMarbaslookedsurprisinglyauthentic.

"ooook?"

Afterglancingaroundateveryone,thegirlproudlydeclared:

"owPapaandiewillshoweveryonehowtoplay!"

Fwoooosh—

Adampwindsweptacrossthedeck.

"Papa,thisisnightdaysleep!"

earingthatshout,esetanletoutaheavysigh.

Withoutmeaningto,hewasremindedoflifebackinJongno.

iehadspentmostofhertimetherewithChaeBoksuorJeongMyeongcha.

Becauseofthat,sheoccasionallypickedupthingssheabsolutelyshouldnothavelearned.

"ight!hat’sonehundredperpoint!"

"......Daughter.Whatdoyoumean,onehundredperpoint?Papatoldyouthatkindofthingneverendswell!"

"o!t’sokay!randmafromRoom107saidtenthousandperpointisbad,butonehundredperpointisokay!"

esetansecretlyswallowedagroan.

Butafteramoment,hechangedhismindandlookedatie.

"Fine.ButPapaisn’tgoingeasyonyou."

Afterall,thegirlhadprobablyonlypickedupbitsandpiecesfromwatchingoversomeone’sshoulder.

fshelostafewrounds,shewouldquicklyloseinterestandmoveontoanothergame.

Butthatassumptionturnedouttobeacatastrophicmistake.

Sometimelater.

"......"

esetanswallowedwithadrythroatandpressedahandagainsthisforehead.

ieburstintoringinglaughter.

"Mwahaha!Papagotpibak!"

"know."

"Andnogwangeither,soit’sgwangbaktoo!"

"......knowthattoo."

"Youmustbesaaad.iehasdoublepointsandtriplepointsandallthreebirdstogethertoo!"

esetanliftedhisheadindisbelief.

"owdidyouevendothat?o,doyouactuallyunderstandwhatyou’redoing?"

iecrossedherarmsproudly.

"mph.randmasaidiehastalent!Papadoesn’tunderstandanything."

Marbaslookedatiewithpurepride.

"Amazing!ocompletelymastersuchacomplicatedgame!"

"ehe."

"Sothen...approximatelythirteenpointsmultipliedbyeight..."

Marbasclappedhishandswhilelookingatesetan.

"Congratulations,fatherofYoungady.Yourdaughterhasjustcleanedyououtforonehundredfourpoints."

"Wait."

Atthatmoment,dmundapproached.

"etmejointoo,niece.thinkroughlyunderstandhowthisworksnow."

"kay!ButUncle,nopeekingatie’scards!"

"fcourse.Whodoyoutakemefor?"

Alexander,whohadquietlybeenobservingthewholetime,cautiouslysteppedcloseraswell.

"ie.Canplaytoo?"

"hk!fcourse!hennowonepersonsellsgwang,okay?"

"Sellswhat?"

"ikethis,likethis..."

Watchingieflawlesslyexplaintheruleswithouthesitation,esetanstaredatherincompleteshock.

henhegrabbedhisforeheadagain.

Meanwhile,insidethecabin—

"Ah,think’mnotasnauseousanymore."

Feelingbetteraftertakingmedicine,Baleshakilyrosefromthebed.

PoorAllerikwasstillgroaning.

WhenBaleopenedthedoorandsteppedoutside,abizarresightgreetedhim.

"Mocameouuut!Moooo!Kyaa!tcameout!Uncle,iedidit!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Rightinthemiddleofthedeck—

iehadthrownfourlongwoodensticksontothefloorandwasrunningaroundbetweentheuminelmen.

Andthatwasn’tevenall.

"ntheback!ntheback!"

"oodjob,littleone!Asexpectedofourstrongestcombatforce."

eonardowassoexcitedthathisvoicehadbecomenearlytwiceasloudasusual.

venalentis’cheekswereslightlyflushed.

hemomentBalesawcolorinthefaceofthemaneveryonecalledemotionless,heactuallytookastepbackwardinhorror.

"W-whatexactlyishappeninghere."

Athiswords,nzowalkedoverwithanawkwardsmile.

"tseemstheSquadeaderintroducedeveryonetogamesfromthatworld."

"......What?"

"heyplayedcardgamesearlierduringtheday,andafterlunchtheymovedonto...nationalholidaygames?Somethinglikethat."

"esetan.ryalittleharder.Whyareyouhesitatingsomuch?"

"amtrying."

ie’sturnhadjustended,andesetan’steam,havingreceivedthesticks,immediatelyplungedintoastrategydiscussion.

"ook,iethrowsthemlikethis.Youthrowthemthesameway."

"o,esetan.Youneedpondan,pondan."

"Backdo!Backdo!Backdo!"

dmund,esetan,andAlexanderlookedasthoughtheywerediscussingbattlestrategyonanactualbattlefield.

Meanwhileieranaroundthemendlesslyshouting:

"Backdooo!"

"......Andwhat’ssospecialaboutthisbackdo."

Balecautiouslyapproachedthem.

henaquietvoicesoundedbesidehim.

"Bale.Wanttoplay?"

eturnedhisheadandflinched.

StandingtherewasnoneotherthanBasto.

"fyouplay,’lljointoo.ookslikethegameneedsevennumbers."

"Ah?Baleoppa!"

Atthatexactmoment,ienoticedhimandcamerunningover.

"Comeplaywithus!UncleBastotoo!"

hetwoofthemwereimmediatelydraggedbythehandsrightintothecenterofthedeck.

Butthemomenttheyapproached,theteamsstaredatthemwithgrimseriousness.

esetanspokefirst.

"......Bale.★𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭★You’rewithus."

Alexanderimmediatelynoddedfromtheside.

"Correct.SirBasto’shandsaretoolarge;helacksdelicacy.SirBale,youshouldjoinourside.We’llneedaccuratethrows."

iepuffeduphercheeks.

"Don’tbullyUncleBasto!ishandsarebig,sohecanthrowstronger!"

iesatBastodownbesideher.

"ittleone.Yourturnagain."

alentishandedthesticksbacktoie.

ieinstantlyjumpedtoherfeet.

Aftertakingseveraldeepbreaths,shewiggledherbuttandassumedathrowingstance.

"iethrowsnow?"

hesticksflewintotheair.

"Mo!Anothermo!randpa!iegotmoagain!"

Behindthedelightedgirl,crimsontracesofsunsetshimmeredbrightly.

heredsunalreadyhunglowovertheedgeofthesea.

Asiehappilygatheredthesticks,shesuddenlyliftedhereyestowardthedistantwaves.

hesoundofcrashingsurfresembledsomeone’slaughter.

Atthatmoment,shefeltnoanxiety,nosadness,nofear.

erchestoverflowedwithlife.

'candoit.'

Forthesakeofahappyfuturewhereeverydaycouldfeelliketoday,ittrulyfeltasthoughshecoulddoabsolutelyanything.

"kay,throwingagaaain!"

ieenergeticallyspunaroundandstuckherbuttoutagainforanotherthrow.

aughterfromthefamilycarriedacrosstheentiredeckwiththewind.

hefirstdayofie’sveryfirstfamilyvacationwascomingtoanend.

"nemoreweek,andtheexpeditionwillarriveatthecentralcontinent."

woweekslater.CouncilofSeniorMinistersoftheallociummpire.

Afterstampingtheimperialsealontothefinaldocument,theemperorliftedhishead.

Aroundtwentyministerssatbeforehim.

"t’sfortunatethatthevoyageisproceedingpeacefully."

"ndeed.hempireitselfremainsatpeace,andthankstoYourMajesty’ssupport,tranquilitywillsooncometothecentralcontinentaswell.tistrulywonderfulnews."

heemperornodded.

Forabriefmoment,hisgazerestedonFides.

AfterthedecisionhadbeenmadeforArdianatoremainbehind—

Fideshadbeenangrywithhimeversince.

'eprobablythinkstheplantogetridofArdianabysendinghertothecentralcontinenthasfailed.'

fcourse,theemperorunderstoodFides’feelingsperfectlywell.

Butpoliticssometimesrequiredsteppingbackonceinordertoadvancetwostepslater.

"Weshallconcludetoday’smeetinghere."

Whentheemperorrosetohisfeet,alltheministersbowedtheirheads.

eavingtheconferencehallwithhisguards,theemperorheadeddeeperintothemperialPalace.

Andjustasheenteredthecorridor—

Afigureappearedfromtheoppositeend.

"YourMajesty!"

heemperor’sexpressioninstantlybrightened.

"avenia?"

Dressedinapurewhitegown,aveniahurriedtowardhimdespitethemaidstryingtostopher.

Andbeforesayingasingleword,shetightlyembracedtheemperor.

"ave—"

Ashebegantospeak,theemperorflinchedslightlyfromafaintprickathisneck.

Butuponnoticingthebraceletonavenia’swrist,hemerelysmiled.

"Youcametomeetme?"

"fcourse.Wepromisedwe’dhavelunchtogethertoday.’vebeenwaitingsolong."

"Ah,right."

Smiling,theemperorcontinuedwalkingforward.

Withoutevernoticinghowcoldthegazewasthataveniadirectedathim.