Chapter 37

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: The Super Strong Kid is Looking for Dad 133

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"Tiye, were you waiting for me?"

Selina's mouth fell open in fluster.

Then she shrieked.

"Waiting? What do you mean waiting! I was just curious where my neighbor from next door had gone, as a fellow neighbor."

Tiye nodded.

Then she stared intently at Selina and carefully peeled a leaf off the girl's head.

"But Miss Selina, did you sneak in through the fence again?"

Selina's face flushed bright red once more.

Then, in a voice so quiet it was barely audible, she said,

"I-I pulled the bell cord so many times, but there was no answer, so I had no choice but to come in..."

"Really? That's weird. There are so many people in the house—why didn't anyone hear the bell?"

"H-How should I know! It's your house, so you should know."

"Got it, I understand! Tiye will make sure to fix the bell later!"

Selina stared at Tiye in disbelief.

Then her shoulders slumped.

"...But why are you waiting for the people next door?"

Tiye's eyes went wide, and she mumbled evasively.

"J-Just 'cause they're next door...!"

"You want to get close to your neighbors?"

"Uh..."

"Maybe you think there are kids your age there? Even if the owners aren't some ordinary noble family but a mercenary corps?"

Selina grumbled on for some reason, adding,

"If that's the case, do you really need to wait around for someone from next door to show up? I've been right here."

Tiye's mouth fell open, and Selina's face turned red again.

"No! I just mean you look about my age, Miss, and we got along great talking last time...!"

Silence fell between the two girls.

Tiye watched Selina avoid her gaze and realized inwardly.

'I get it. Selina wanted to play with Tiye after all.'

There had been kids like this in her quail class too.

The ones who wanted to play together but instead of just saying "Let's play!", their faces would turn red as they talked about where they'd gone last weekend or what snacks they liked.

Seo-yoon and Ha-rin, the princesses of the quail class, hated girls like that.

And they deliberately avoided playing with them, but Tiye always got along well with everyone and played nicely.

Tiye grinned brightly at once.

"Yup, it was fun last time! So, wanna be friends?"

Selina's eyes went huge.

Her lips parted, and soon a hesitant little voice leaked out.

"Uh, no, I mean, I'm..."

"Then wanna come in and play squirrel? The one who eats the corn fastest wins!"

Selina blinked for a few seconds before nodding frantically.

"Sure!"

"Yay! Let's go!"

Tiye grabbed Selina's hand.

Selina looked down unconsciously at their clasped hands.

'Miss, go away somewhere else. I have no intention of letting you join our games.'

The voice she'd heard that morning at the imperial tutorial hall echoed in her ears.

'Father said not to play with the miss. He said real nobles don't hang out with parvenus who bought their titles with money.'

'Selina's not even a real noble, so why does she keep acting all high and mighty? It's hilarious.'

Selina rubbed her eyes without realizing it.

Then she hesitated before following Tiye.

Tiye and Selina gnawed through two whole ears of corn each.

Then they sprawled out on their bellies in front of the fireplace, chattering away for a good long while before finally getting up.

Tiye stood at the front gate to see Selina off.

Not that there was much to it—just watching her cross the street to her house.

"Selina! Let's play squirrel again tomorrow!"

"Okay!"

Veil chuckled as he watched the two kids waving enthusiastically across the street from each other.

He took Tiye's hand and led her back into the mansion, asking,

"Little one. Is playing with corn that fun?"

"Yeah!"

"The noble kid next door thought it was fun too?"

"Yup, she said it was. I didn't know, but it sounds like Selina's friends at the tutorial hall are really mean."

While playing squirrel, Selina had briefly shared her story with Tiye.

"Selina wasn't originally a noble, but her mom and dad had lots of money, so they bought her a title."

"A title?"

"Yeah! So now she's a noble too, but the mean kids at the tutorial hall won't play with her. They say she's not a real noble, just a parvenu."

"Kids are scary. So scary. They're only a few years older at most, but already..."

"So Tiye told Selina that Tiye's a parvenu too!"

Tiye looked up with a face that seemed awfully proud for some reason.

"You did? Good job."

Veil answered a bit dazedly as he walked side by side with Tiye into the mansion.

"That's why—since Tiye's a parvenu, we gotta buy some stuff!"

"Buy? Buy what?"

It was the first time Tiye had said she wanted to buy something since the armistice.

The mercenaries from the dining room and parlor gathered around at the conversation.

Nordics asked with a curious look.

"Tiye, you thinking of spending some of the reward money?"

Tiye nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! A teleport circle! A big one!"

She continued without even taking off her outer coat.

"With a teleport circle, we can conquer tons and tons of mana stones from now on! Tiye's the super strong commander, after all!"

Basto's eyes widened.

"Anyway, Agaveert's a mercenary corps, right? So we gotta conquer lots and tons of mana stones!"

Tiye was right, of course.

Expanding Agaveert by conquering mana stones had been the mercenaries' goal from the start.

The reason was simple.

The bigger the mercenary corps grew, the safer Tiye would be.

The more members they had, the less the leader would need to step up personally.

Still, even so...

"Little one, so you really do have ambitions for power?"

Tiye shrugged at Veil's question.

"Yup! Tiye's the boss, so lots of money and power is good!"

Raoul and Enzo exchanged glances.

It sounded a bit off coming from a kid, but there was nothing wrong with what Tiye said this time either.

"With lots of money and power, even the Church can't keep watch on Tiye."

The reasoning was solid,

"Plus Selina said mana stones are super plentiful these days. But Tiye has bone friends and subordinates, so we can conquer small ones super fast, right?"

her intentions were righteous and moral,

"And to keep eating and living well together, we can't just save—we gotta keep doing business like bosses."

and even her future plans were incredibly realistic and concrete.

In the end, Basto, who had been stiff, repeated,

"So you're saying you want to buy a teleport circle?"

"Yeah! We gotta move fast to become the number one mercenary corps quick!"

As Tiye said, conquering mana stones took a lot of time traveling back and forth.

With a teleport circle, they could shorten travel time, enabling faster conquests.

But still...

Raoul and Enzo frowned.

"So. You're not just saying you'll accelerate mana stone conquests."

"You're saying you'll take down Trebaga too, right now?"

"Yeah!"

Tiye shouted confidently, then tilted her head.

"Can't we?"

In truth, Tiye hadn't spent all her time just playing squirrel with Selina moments ago.

While eating the corn, she'd racked her brains, pondering and pondering.

'He won't come. The head maid said this house is just for show.'

About what Selina had said—that the house next door was just for show, so Dad would never return here.

If that was true, what should Tiye do?

'I can't chase after Dad to the northern continent.'

Waiting until he came back was something Tiye just couldn't bear.

Moreover, the documents she'd glimpsed at the Grand Commander's house had said as much.

Trebaga and Tesetan were currently only conquering in the northern continent.

Even roughly speaking, it meant waiting for Dad could take forever.

'Then there's really only one way left!'

The girl's eyes sparkled.

The method Tiye came up with was to make Dad come find Tiye himself.