Chapter 4

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: Skinny Kid Searching for Dad 103

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“Catch the intruder!”

As Reginald shouted, a well-honed blade came whistling down from above.

Raoul barely dodged it and yanked his sword free from its sheath at his waist.

“Enzo! Cover our backs!”

Enzo shoved the soldier he'd been facing far away.

He rolled low across the ground and pressed in tight behind Raoul.

“We have to buy time.”

Raoul nodded sharply at his urgent words.

He glanced back and spotted Astie still rummaging through the haystacks inside the barn.

Beyond the knights, Reginald bellowed in fury.

“What are you idiots doing? Grab them now!”

The knights froze for a split second.

But Reginald swept a scornful gaze over the dawdling soldiers and started screaming.

“Don't just stand there gawking—spread out! Capture them alive, starting with the bastard who did this to me!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The knights scrambled into a few hasty groups.

One charged straight at Raoul and Enzo, while the rest blew past them toward the barn.

Raoul caught sight of a soldier brushing by and yelled desperately.

“Mr. Basto!”

Basto, posted up in front of the barn, gave a quick nod.

He fished a small dagger from his pocket and tossed it to Veil.

“Veil—!”

Veil snatched it with his less mangled hand.

Tension etched across his face, he gave the blade a quick twirl in his grip, then dropped into a low stance.

He went right to work on the soldiers barreling toward him.

“S-surrender quietly, urk—!”

Veil hooked the ankle of the lead knight and sent him sprawling.

Before the man even hit the dirt, Veil cracked the flat of his blade against the neck of the second soldier.

But evading the spear swing of the third cost him—he let out a pained groan.

“I can't last long! I'm injured, damn it!”

Basto, just diving into the fray himself, shot Veil a look.

“No choice! Hold the line as long as you can!”

Basto was neck-deep in soldiers too.

And unlike the others, he had no proper weapon—just his bare fists pounding away.

He clenched his jaw and hammered punches into the oncoming rush, one after another.

'Should've grabbed that war hammer if I saw this coming.'

Their real plan had been to slip Veil out quietly.

Not throw down in open war with Reginald's entire force.

Basto flashed back to just minutes earlier.

'It's the will!'

He'd been thrown when he first heard it.

A will?

Made sense, though—in a pinch like this, only one thing qualified.

The vanished letter from Adelin's father, the previous lord.

Big problem, though.

'You think we've got time to sit around reading wills?'

Sure, it probably spelled out Adelin's rightful claim as lord.

But digging it up now? What could they even do with it on the spot?

Not with Reginald and his soldiers charging the barn, blades out.

For that split second, Basto wavered.

'Just hoist Tiye and bolt?'

They'd catch hell later, but it'd get everyone out safe for now.

That's when it hit.

'Ahem. Uh... feels like now's the time to mention this.'

Veil flicked a nervous glance at the advancing soldiers, then turned to Basto.

He leaned in, gauging the man's mood, and whispered.

'They took my mercenary badge. Searched me top to bottom, way more than I figured.'

Veil tugged open his empty collar pocket for proof.

Prime spot for his Agaveert Mercenary Corps registration.

Soldiers must've swiped it—bone dry now.

Basto finally let out a sharp hiss.

He pinched his throbbing brow.

Then his eyes snapped wide, and he barked at Raoul and Enzo.

'Hold them off! Buy time till Tiye finds that thing!'

Veil's missing badge?

Meant Agaveert was already backed into a corner.

Reginald had probably lined up his complaints with the capital by now.

Expulsion decree inbound any second.

Slipping away clean wouldn't fix squat.

'Only one play left.'

The sole way to flip the board—and stick their original plan to waltz into the capital's heart.

Prove Reginald stole the lordship through foul play.

His treason confirmed? Veil's beatdown turns legit self-defense.

'Adelin! Get in there with Tiye and find that will!'

Adelin, rigid by the fence, blinked in confusion for a beat.

Then she bolted into the barn.

“Hah, huff! Basto! I... I can't...”

Veil's groan from up front shattered Basto's train of thought.

The guy's legs were buckling—he was swaying bad.

“Hang in there just a little longer!”

Basto yelled.

He scanned fast, snagged a nearby chipped spear, and shoved back the mob.

Tried closing on Veil, but—

“Going somewhere?”

A hulking brute matching Basto's build blocked him cold.

“Take him down!”

The knight's order had the soldiers cinching the noose tighter.

Sweat or blood—something slick—trickled down Basto's panicked forehead.

Ping—

A shimmering barrier like flawless glass sprang up around them.

Basto looked up. There hovered Lukarion, wreathed in black smoke.

Back in young dragon form, still dutifully sporting Berugon's gadget.

His piercing red eyes fixed on Basto and Veil.

Veil and Basto's eyes went wide.

Reginald's voice rang out from nearby.

“Wife! Shatter that barrier now!”

Frothing mad, he jabbed a finger at Lukarion's shield.

“Hurry up! Barrier-breaking's your specialty, isn't it?!”

The slender woman at his side—Letchia, Reginald's mage wife—went rigid.

She locked eyes on Lukarion and started pooling mana in the air.

Futile.

“W-what the—? Why isn't anything happening?!”

Her magic couldn't even nick the barrier.

Lukarion smirked, like he'd called it.

Letchia's brow creased deep.

Meanwhile, inside the barn.

“You sure it's really here?”

Adelin asked, peeking out at the chaos.

Tiye mopped sweat beading on her forehead and nodded.

“Neeng!”

But they'd cleared every last haystack—no sign of the will.

Just unyielding dirt packed with stones.

“No luck. Out of the way, Tiye.”

Adelin stepped up, resolve hardening her face.

Sleeves hiked, she dug in with bare hands.

As Tiye gawked in shock—

Thump.

“Waaah!”

Something—no, someone—snuck up silent and yanked Tiye skyward by the scruff.

The kid whipped around, face draining white.

“Filthy little intruder runt!”

It was one of the soldiers who'd been out cold in the barn.

“Astie!”

Adelin surged up too late.

“You're next!”

The knight's gauntleted shove sent her stumbling into the corner.

“Kill 'em! Grab one quick and finish it!”

Reginald's roar from outside had the soldier fixing Astie with icy murder.

Heavy, humid air whooshed in sudden.

A massive shadow swallowed the soldier.

He staggered back, craning up.

Ppu Ppu—now gigantic—loomed, belching crimson mist as it glared down.