The Youngest Hides a Lot of Things [Novel] Chapter 33

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 33

Chapter Title: The Youngest is Hiding a Lot

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"Heh."

"Don't laugh. I'm seriously pissed off."

For someone who was pissed off, his eyes somehow seemed even redder...

"Haa."

Khalid rubbed his face like an adult. His perfectly sculpted features looked utterly exhausted.

"...So there's a reason you have to stay in the Jebert Duchy no matter what."

"Yeah..."

After biting his lip hard once, Cal let out a resigned sigh.

"Fine. Guess there's no helping it."

He'd finally raised the white flag to my stubbornness. I gave a small smile laced with apology.

"Then I'll have to think of a way too."

"What?"

A brief smile flitted across his pale face. Bathed in moonlight, it felt more mystical and beautiful than usual.

"It's a secret."

"Tch."

I couldn't exactly press him since I was hiding things too. Damn it!

We sat side by side against the tree trunk and shared what had happened in the meantime.

The moment contact with me cut off, Khalid had maxed out his familiars and scoured the continent, he said.

'That's an insane amount of mana...'

Normally, familiars could only be controlled within a limited range around oneself.

So why had a kid like that been trapped in a cave?

"I told you. I don't remember."

Khalid rummaged through his shabby bag and handed me some red mountain berries. Oh, these were the ones I ate a lot while wandering the eastern continent forests.

"I don't know what kind of bastards they were, but they must've used some shitty magic tool."

"It wasn't a magic tool formula, though... Still, it was too much for the kid."

"What do you expect from back-alley mercenaries."

The red berries tumbled into my hand.

Was it because he'd suffered since childhood?

'Sometimes he talks more maturely than me.'

Khalid, with no parents or hometown, had lived as a wandering mercenary for a very long time, he said.

'All he remembers is his name. Even the surname Riorc was just something he slapped on for missions.'

Maybe that's why he didn't like being called by his full name. It never felt right, or something.

Ah, I'd been speculating that he got trapped in the cave during a mercenary gig gone wrong.

"Doesn't matter the reason. I'll track down the bastards who locked me up and get revenge."

I stared blankly at Khalid's profile.

'Hmm, as expected.'

The Part 2 Male Lead was different.

That's right.

In Part 2 of Sword Planted on the Ruins, the boy sitting next to me appeared as the protagonist.

Of course, after the massive betrayal in Part 1, I ignored Part 2 for a while. Then, when I finally steeled myself and read just the first chapter...

'I died.'

Sigh. Should've read some healing fluff instead.

Part 2 starts with a young man imprisoned in a cave for some reason breaking out on his own.

He uncovers why he was locked up, vows revenge on those responsible, and plants his sword in the ruined wasteland.

'That's exactly the first chapter.'

So I didn't know why Khalid was in that cave or if he ultimately succeeded in his revenge...

If the author had any sense, they'd at least give the Part 2 protagonist a solid happy ending, right?

"...You're looking at me with that gaze again."

I snapped out of my thoughts at the sudden voice.

"Ah, sorry. I was just praying for your revenge to succeed. I'll stop staring!"

"...I didn't say not to look."

Khalid muttered while lightly scratching his nose. I giggled and split a berry in half.

'Sigh. Sorry, Cal.'

You probably won't get as much spotlight as in the original...

Because the Part 1 Male Lead isn't going to die. There won't be any scene of you dramatically stabbing your sword into a ruined wasteland...

'But I'll make sure you get your happy ending!'

Once I finish my own business, I'll help with that revenge!

In the original, Khalid broke out of prison right around adulthood. I'd unwittingly derailed the original timeline.

'Better this way. Good job, past me.'

Of course, things outside the cave weren't easy either.

'But letting a kid rot in a dark cave for years more? Horrifying!'

In the original, Khalid spent his boyhood in pitch darkness, growing into a total asshole adult.

"I brought these for you to eat, so why give them to me? Eat them all yourself..."

No pure, shy boy blushing while offering food like that.

"I had to threaten those mercenary bastards to get these. Hurry up."

He was still good deep down, right?

"Sheesh. You're really having a rough go of it."

I let out a long sigh and stretched out my short legs.

Khalid raised an eyebrow like "What're you talking about?" but I didn't elaborate.

"So how'd you get in here?"

Changing the subject after sorting my thoughts.

"Dog hole. Took a bit to find."

His tone was casual, like it was no big deal.

Obviously, he'd figured out one of the small passages animals used.

"Be careful not to get spotted. Oh, right, and..."

I rummaged in my bosom and handed over the items I'd prepared in advance.

"What's this?"

"Keys to my shop and a map of the area. Honestly, I want to say come to the main estate with me... but I'm just crashing here too, so it's tricky."

"..."

"Stay here for today! There's a temperature stone, so you can sleep warm."

"You took over a shop? You here to rob the Jebert family blind?"

"What're you saying."

I dusted off my hands and stood up. Time for this runaway kid to head back to the bedroom.

"Stay put there today, then head to the nearest city. We've got this, so..."

I tapped my earlobe and smiled.

"We can be apart a bit! Lucky, huh."

The boy smiled faintly.

"You don't know what 'lucky' means."

"...? An insult?"

"Who knows."

Ugh, that guy.

I smacked his arm. As always, only I ended up hurting...

"Anyway, behave! Don't block me out!"

"Enough useless chatter."

Khalid dusted his clothes and stood, extending his arm to me.

"But it's been bugging me since earlier..."

"Yeah?"

"Come here."

He unclasped the bracelet on his wrist with a click.

"Let me check your mana. Must be tough without any."

"Whoa..."

I couldn't hide the welling emotion.

"What's with that cute face?"

"Nah, just thrilled someone finally gets a mage's feelings... Wait, what was the question?"

"...What's with that pitiful face."

"Oh, I was super drained. It's better here, but the capital? Brutal, seriously brutal."

I flailed my arms explaining, and Khalid's eyes softened with a laugh.

With the stiff expression gone, the familiar boy I knew was back. The mercenary boy who always guarded my back and swept the battlefield.

"Yeah. Babylon's capital was tough for me too. Here."

Khalid held out his hand. I lightly gripped his fingertip.

"Whoaaa!"

Pure, high-grade mana flowed in as if it'd been waiting.

The magic array on my earlobe warmed up. Only Khalid, sharing the same Oath Array, could give me mana.

Our intertwined mana roots let us freely exchange power.

Though he'd never wanted my puny amount, so I was always just receiving...

"Feels like I'm alive again..."

"So why'd you ditch me?"

Light grumbling followed.

"I'm your, uh, what was it?"

"What?"

"Backup... battery? Yeah!"

"Gasp, you remembered that?"

I snickered, and the tips of his ears seemed to redden.

"I remember everything you say."

I felt the mana surging through my body. Vitality—no, mana coursing everywhere! It's been too long!

"Satisfied?"

"Super!"

Khalid tilted his head.

"So. When are you gonna welcome me properly?"

I quickly let go and dusted my hand.

"Now!"

I jumped up and hugged his neck. He staggered a bit. Refreshing mana washed over me like waves.

"Glad to see you again, Cal!"

The next day.

It was an incredibly sunny day.

Birds chirping, warm sunlight pouring into the bedroom.

"...Th, this is bad."

Amid that peaceful morning scene, my face was anything but peaceful as I trembled.

'Khalid? Cal! You little !#^%!'

Because Khalid Riorc had blocked me out again!