Chapter 72

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 72

Chapter Title: 아기는 악당을 키운다-72화

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 72

Chapter Title: A Demanded Explanation

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"P-Please, let me explain. It's a misunderstanding... This is surely...!"

When Count Fenac tried to approach, trembling violently, Duke Duvered spoke up.

"What an amusing situation."

"Y-Yes?"

"You haven't heard a single word of explanation from my child, yet you're the one who saw nothing of the circumstances, demanding to explain."

"Th-That's..."

"It seems I've been too lenient all this time. For ignorant fools to bare their necks and charge in like this."

As the duke's voice dropped low, Billy Fenac cried out desperately.

"No! I was only trying to fulfill Little One's wish!"

The sallow-faced man forced himself to his feet, shaking uncontrollably.

"I was only trying to grant Little One's wish!"

"My daughter's wish. What was it."

"Little One likes me, so she wanted to marry me...!"

BAM!!

With a thunderous crash, the second-floor corridor floor caved in.

Henri stared intently at Billy Fenac.

"My apologies. It was so absurd I missed my aim."

"......"

"I was aiming for that mad dog's head."

The faces of House Fenac turned deathly pale.

"So, Leblain. Do you understand what this lunatic is babbling about?"

As Henri asked with a gentle smile, Leblain scowled.

"No idea. He's been spouting nonsense since earlier. Talking about ways to seduce men and such."

Billy Fenac shouted as Leblain spoke with a pout.

"N-No! Our parents said so. That you like me...!"

Count Fenac and his wife's faces drained of color.

'That mad bastard!'

It was like pouring oil on a fire that would swallow their entire house.

"Y-Your Grace..."

The moment Count Fenac opened his mouth.

BAM-!!!

Another deafening boom erupted. This time, Count Fenac collapsed. A black aura flickered from the duke's hand.

"It seems there will be much to hear."

The faces of everyone from House Duvered darkened ominously.

Count Fenac and his wife knelt at Father's feet, rubbing their hands together pleadingly.

Billy watched his parents—always like towering mountains—grovel so pathetically, his expression crumbling as if the sky had fallen.

They immediately stamped documents surrendering the harbor for free, and not only that, they handed over two of the three capital mansions under House Fenac's name.

But I shook my head inwardly. No matter what they did, Father wouldn't forgive them. I'd already ordered Nos long ago to "cut off their funding first."

I headed to Ishak's room.

But there was a guest who arrived before me. Henri.

"Idiot."

"......"

"Moron."

"......"

"Hopeless fool."

"Argh!"

Ishak, who had been silently taking Henri's insults, finally snapped. Henri smeared ointment on his frowning little brother's forehead with a fist-like motion.

It was a wound from when he'd used his power on Billy; he hadn't dodged the debris flying from the broken wall in time.

"You're lucky Leblain spoke up. If you'd kept your mouth shut there, you'd have taken all the blame alone. You know that, right?"

"I know. But... I didn't want the little one hearing 'that kind of talk' again..."

"Then make up another excuse."

"Like what?"

"That the bastard lost his mind and attacked first."

"But his mind was fine."

"You can make him lose it afterward. Circumstances can be fabricated as needed."

Henri, what are you teaching the kid...?

Ishak said,

"...Anyway, you're trash, bro. So damn cool."

As he flashed double thumbs up, Henri smeared more ointment on his brother like a swat.

"Anyway... good job. Punching that bastard."

Ishak's eyes widened. He soon scratched his reddening earlobe. It seemed he was flustered and embarrassed by Henri's first praise.

For some reason, the sight of those two warmed my heart. I giggled and entered the room, draping myself over Ishak's bed face-first.

"You two get along so well~?"

Feeling cheerful, I spoke up, and Ishak and Henri immediately scowled.

"We don't!"

"We don't."

"Why? Getting along is a good thing."

"......"

"......"

The now-silent pair glanced at each other.

Even in my previous life, the life before that, and my first life, the Duvered young masters were distant. It was infamous that they avoided even crossing paths unless it involved house matters.

But in this life, these two got along quite well. They bickered, but stuck together, and in their very subtle way, looked out for each other.

'Thank goodness.'

I gazed at them with a pleased feeling.

'It'd be nice if he deepened his bond with the eldest young master too.'

Yohan Duvered.

I'd never seen him even once. Even during academy breaks, he never once visited the territory, only dropping by the capital mansion once in a blue moon.

The only news I'd heard was a few letters he'd sent Father like duty reports.

The overseas academy was so elite that only one prodigy from the genius academy attended, so he'd visited the genius academy a couple times under the pretext of instructing juniors, and that's how my brothers had met him a few times.

'He graduates next year.'

I'd heard rumors often because of his ties to Mina, but I didn't know what kind of person he was.

What kind of person is he?

As I pondered, I looked at Henri and Ishak.

"What's Yohan like?"

"Big bro? Big bro is..."

Ishak stared into space for a moment, then shook his head with a slightly queasy expression.

"A man without emotions."

"Scarier than Father back in the day?"

"Similarly terrifying. Anyway, big bro's a cold-blooded monster, a devil... Urgh."

As Ishak shuddered, shoulders trembling, Henri narrowed his brow and said,

"Don't scare Leblain."

"But it's true. Hey, kid. Even I can't mess with big bro... Ow!"

Ishak, who finally got hit, clutched his head and groaned.

'Really, even with little brother?'

Henri feared nothing but Father. Even as a boy, the senate chairman and Viscount Dubos treated him fully as an adult.

As I stared at Henri, he capped the ointment jar with a slightly troubled look.

"He's the most awkward opponent for someone like me."

Henri had a special talent for intimidation, was a genius at public opinion warfare, and excelled in schemes. In short, he was the type to exploit weaknesses and make enemies self-destruct.

'Yohan must be a powerhouse who values nothing.'

Henri neatly smoothed my tousled hair as he spoke.

"So Leblain, run if you see him. Don't stay around him if you can help it."

"Why?"

"You must never become enemies with that kind of person. Someone who finds no meaning in anything can't be stopped by any means."

"......?"

"On the flip side, you can't become his sole value either. If harm comes to the treasure in his hand, he'll turn into a monster who doesn't weigh consequences at all."

"Scarier than Ishak?"

"This guy doesn't even compare."

With that, Henri shoved Ishak, who exploded in anger.

A few days later, word came that the head of House Fenac had changed.

I didn't know how, but some very distant relative—"eighth cousin's something-or-other" with no ties to the previous Count Fenac—had taken over House Fenac.

The new Count Fenac bowed at Father's feet and swore unwavering loyalty.

The border.

Duvered's vassals, Viscount Misesk and Baron Sugawi, instinctively gripped their arms tightly, moistening their parched lips.

Before them towered a mountain of corpses.

A gruesome body—eyes rolled back, not even given time to close—dangled and swayed from the pale, slender hand of a boy.

The boy, trampling the corpse pile, casually tossed the body in his hand like trash and asked,

"Their identities."

"Y-Yes? Ah, y-yes, sir!"

Viscount Misesk rushed over with a face drained white, inspecting the corpse.

He found no distinguishing marks on the others, but spotted a crest on the ankle of the man in the most tidy attire among them.

"B-Bluebeard! Yes, that's right. Definitely the Bluebeard Mercenaries!"

Baron Sugawi's face paled even further upon hearing the identities.

The Bluebeard Mercenaries were at least Tier 2—no, in the border region where their base gave them geographic advantage, they were Tier 1.

Such a mercenary group had been snapped like twigs and annihilated.

By a single boy just past puberty.

The boy moved languidly. The last survivor—who hadn't moved while his comrades died—stumbled back, wetting himself.

"D-Don't come... Don't come, you monster, kgh!!"

His feet froze from the black aura emanating from the boy, and the last mercenary toppled noisily.

"Gah!"

The boy slowly crushed the last mercenary's throat as if stepping on a bug.

Viscount Misesk shouted,

"How dare you attack a carriage bearing the Duvered crest! Why?!"

"Kgh... Hng..."

As the last mercenary tried to bite off his tongue, the boy's hand roughly invaded his mouth.

The boy's pupils narrowed as he yanked out the tongue, a sharp, murderous glint swirling in his eyes.

The last mercenary thrashed violently, body shaking.

"Kgh... Hnggh!!"

"Shh."

The boy whispered in a sweet voice.

"Don't make this any less fun for me."

In that instant, black aura burst from the boy's hand gripping the man's tongue, slithering into the mercenary's mouth like slime.

As the mercenary twitched like a dying insect and went limp, the boy withdrew his hand without regret.

Viscount Misesk swallowed dryly and offered him a handkerchief.

The boy lightly wiped the dark red saliva from his hand and asked,

"Since when did these small fries start targeting Duvered?"

The two Duvered vassals bowed their heads hastily at the low question.

The boy tossed the handkerchief aside and said,

"I'm heading to the territory."

The two Duvered vassals exchanged glances with sallow faces but dared not object.

Silver hair, identical to the young Duke Duvered's, fluttered in the dry border wind.

"Yes, Young Lord Yohan."

Viscount Misesk and Baron Sugawi bowed deeply.

It had been five years.

Since Yohan Duvered last visited the territory.

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