My Daddy Hides His Power – Chapter 279 – Side story Part 1 Chapter 19

Author: rolypoly

* * *

“Oww~ It’s a baby~”

“Hey! Do you wanna die? I ate everything without leaving anything behind!”

“Who said anything? I wasn’t even talking to you~?”

“Arrrgh! You, come here!!!”

“Kyaaaaah~!”

I quickly ran away, avoiding Oscar who was chasing me with his short legs.

After finishing our meal, the four of us headed once again to the greenhouse garden.

“Argh! You devil, let go of me! Let go!”

“Mhm, I don’t want that~”

Oscar, who had finally succeeded in catching me, grabbed my right pigtail and tugged at it repeatedly while giggling.

“…? What is this.”

After tormenting me like a little devil for a while, he suddenly looked surprised.

“It’s growing so fast, right?”

“Right!”

It was because of the tomato that had grown taller in a day. Erich felt proud.

Of course, I also felt proud, as I was the one who secretly accelerated the tomato’s growth yesterday by investing 2 seconds of vitality.

“Hehe. Oscar, we’ve successfully grown our plant now!”

“That’s right.”

The two, squatting side by side in front of the tomato, suddenly rummaged through their pants pockets as if they had planned it and took something out.

‘What is it?’

A piece of paper the size of a palm.

I peeked behind Oscar as he unfolded the folded paper.

Build a rabbit house

Go to see the sea

Try growing plants

Make at least 2 new friends

“Let’s go to the room later and erase number 3.”

When Oscar said that, Erich smiled and pointed to number 4.

“We should erase number 4 too! You’ve made two new friends!”

Erich looked back at me and Cheshire, who were standing behind him. Oscar glanced at us with his characteristically sullen eyes.

“…Is that so?”

That’s what he said!

Cheshire and I looked at each other and laughed at the same time.

‘We’re recognized as friends!’

Excited, I quickly jumped between Oscar and Erich and asked.

“Guys, but what’s this note? Did you two make a bet or something?”

“Ah! This is something Oscar and I decided to do together. We promised to do it all before spring ends.”

“….”

I was dumbfounded by Erich’s words as he held up the note.

‘What, what is this…’

Things we promised to do together before spring ends.

‘It’s like a bucket list with a time limit…’

Perhaps thinking the same as I did, Cheshire’s expression darkened when our eyes met.

“Now all we have to do is go see the sea!”

Erich smiled brightly and cheered.

“Anna, James. Tell us about it. You said there were mountains and the sea in the village you grew up in.”

“Mhm, that’s right.”

“What does the sea look like?”

“….?”

I was taken aback.

“Erich, have you ever seen the sea?”

“Mhm. I’ve never been outside the capital since I was born.”

I’m shocked…

Is it because his body was too weak to move for long? To think that he hadn’t left the capital until he was nine years old.

“Let’s go see it.”

Instead of me, who was stunned, Cheshire quickly spoke up.

“There’s a place in the East called Alpen. It’s the territory where the sun rises first. The sea touches the sky there. In the morning, the sun rises from the point where they touch, and it’s really beautiful.”

“Wow…”

Erich’s eyes sparkled as he listened to Cheshire’s description of the scenery.

“You’re saying it touches the sky…? It must be really, really beautiful… I want to see it…”

He imagined the sea for a long time, as if in a dream, before weakly slumping his shoulders.

“Will I be able to see it before spring?”

Silence fell at that question.

I looked at Oscar. He just stared at Erich with a strange expression that I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Anna, James. Let’s go see it together, the sea.”

Saying that, Erich smiled.

* * *

Training Center, Educational Research Office.

Click.

The door opened without even knocking.

A new student who opened the lab door and came in with an air of confidence that was almost rude.

He was none other than,

“Y, Young Master?!”

Oscar Manuel.

He was the most important person of this batch and a special management target.

The researchers who had all stood up gathered around Oscar in a hurry.

“Young Master, what brings you here?”

“Is there something you need?”

“What brings you here?”

“….”

Oscar looked at the people surrounding him one by one and opened his mouth.

“I want to fill up my graduation points quickly.”

“…Yes?”

Oscar frowned at the voice asking stupidly.

“Month-end evaluation. I can’t wait an entire month, so let me take it early.”

The researchers blinked in a daze.

Oscar stamped his foot and shouted irritably.

“I’m going to get out of here quickly!”

* * *

That afternoon, during practical training.

‘What is this situation?’

Cheshire and I were confused.

Unlike usual, the practical training instructor had gathered all the children outside.

Yeah, I understand up to this point.

“Team A, stand here, Team B, stand over there.”

The long-standing tradition of the training center.

Dividing them into nobles and commoners, and making them fight each other.

I was angry up to this point, but I expected it.

“The winning team in this <Midterm Evaluation> will receive a total of 1,000 points for each member.”

From here on out, it doesn’t make sense.

1,000 points all at once?

1,000 points are the points needed for graduation.

Normally, trainees prepare for the <Month-End Evaluation> held at the end of each month.

Trainees must hunt the illusionary beasts in the exam field and steadily accumulate 1,000 points before their rank can be assessed—only then can they graduate.

But?

They’re giving the graduation points all at once to kids who haven’t even taken the Month-End Evaluation?

And on top of that, they’re creating an easy battleground where all it takes is a single hit to defeat the weaker commoner kids?

“James, was the training center different from ours twenty years ago?”

I whispered to Cheshire. He immediately shook his head.

“There’s no way. This so-called midterm evaluation… it feels hastily put together.”

“I think so too. This is just a way to graduate those noble kids.”

I became anxious.

“Giving out points like that is one thing, but they wouldn’t seriously send kids out after less than a week of being here… right?”

“…That won’t be the case. They’ll make us take the Month-End Evaluation since we need real combat experience.”

“Right?”

Please, you should.

As I whispered with Cheshire, I carefully observed the noble children of Team A standing across from us, one by one.

Quarto, Quarto, Quarto, Septima, and Dos.

Only five fairly skilled noble kids who received practical training in four days.

‘There are only three in Team B.’

I glanced at our shabby team camp.

Cheshire, me, and Erich.

There were only five nobles, and there was no way any commoner could cast magic after just four days of training.

“Ah! We almost got in big trouble. You come over here.”

“Yes?”

The researcher who was looking through the charts was startled and sent Erich to Team A.

Now, only Cheshire and I were left in Team B.

“Victory is achieved by rendering the opposing team unable to fight.”

This is crazy.

It means we should get hit and pass out.

“Teacher!”

Should I say it’s not right? I raised my hand.

“Why?”

“You think it doesn’t make sense too, right, teacher? The numbers don’t even add up—how are we supposed to beat them with just the two of us? Are we supposed to just get beaten up and die?”

“….”

“And I’m not in the attack squad, so I’ve never learned attack magic. How am I supposed to fight?”

“This guy’s in the attack team.”

The researcher nodded at Cheshire and avoided my gaze.

He seemed to know that this test was ridiculous.

“However, the attack priority is with Team B. If you attack before Team B, Team A will be disqualified, so please keep that in mind and approach the test accordingly.”

It was absurd. You should know that telling them to attack first as a favor would be meaningless.

‘Why on earth did you create this crazy arena?’

I looked at Team A again.

Among the giggling little devils was Oscar.

Did he find this situation as absurd as I did? Unlike the other kids, he was staring blankly with his mouth open.

Soon, he frowned, probably getting angry.

‘Yes, Master! Master please say something!’

As expected, Oscar opened his body to protest.

“I’ll be in the research building. Come over when the test is over.”

The researcher who had been looking at me and Cheshire with pitiful eyes ran away without even being able to catch him.

“What…?”

An evaluation without a referee?

It was absurd, but it was a position set up for Team A’s victory anyway. From the beginning, whether there was a referee or not didn’t matter.

The researcher who ran away made a somewhat humane choice.

It was probably because it was hard to watch the inhumane situation where children were being beaten helplessly…

“Ha.”

Perhaps thinking it was an inevitable fight, Cheshire sighed, sent me behind him, and spoke.

“My younger sister isn’t in the attack squad, so she can’t use attack magic. Please exempt them from the fight. If I attack first, you only counterattack me.”

“Hey!”

I quickly grabbed his arm.

“What are you going to do about it! Are you saying you want to get hit by a fireball on purpose?”

“There’s no other way.”

Cheshire lowered his head and quietly whispered in my ear.

“In my opinion, this is a hastily arranged test to deliberately give points to one of those kids. So even if we avoid it now, somehow, we’ll still be dragged into it.”

That’s right. At this point, the only commoners who can deal with those kids are the two of us who are progressing through education quickly.

Cheshire pushed me back again and took a few steps forward.

When he lightly clenched and unclenched his fist, a jet-black mana pooled on his hand.

“Don’t do it.”

Then Oscar said.

“If you throw that, you’ll die.”

“What?”

“If you throw that at me, you’ll die. If you want to see the gates of heaven, feel free to do as you wish.”

Cheshire frowned.

“Are you telling me not to attack?”

“Yeah.”

The prince, glaring at Cheshire with an angry expression, was relentless.

But what if we don’t attack?

If we attack first, Team A can counterattack, and only then will the test end.

If we don’t fill up the points of one of those noble kids who probably had a backroom deal with the research staff…

This situation will repeat itself.

“I told you not to throw it.”

Oscar kept speaking sternly, but Cheshire ignored him and lightly shot out some mana. It was an F-grade fireball, so it probably wouldn’t even be a nuisance.

Whoosh—!

However, Cheshire’s attack died down before even halfway through.

‘Wow.’

The kids were bewildered, but I knew right away.

‘That magic already? Is this real?’

A nullification spell.

It was the highest level of defensive magic that completely canceled the opponent’s attack.

It wasn’t a spell taught at the training center, and it required a lot of mana while being quite tricky to cast. Usually, for defense, shields or damage nullification aren’t used.

‘Of course it was Oscar’s doing.’

However, the children who didn’t even know such a nullification spell existed could only stare blankly.

“Is it our turn now?”

The Quarto boy who came to his senses the fastest among them laughed evilly.

I don’t know what the situation was, but anyway, Cheshire started attacking, so it was time to counterattack.

“Well, I do feel a little sorry for them. I’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt too much and send them off in one go…”

The boy, who said he’d send them off without hurting them, was creating a massive B-grade fireball at the tip of his fingers.

“Ahh!”

He fell down after being hit in the shin by Oscar, who was standing next to him.

“Did you want to die?”

“…Why, why? What did I do wrong?”

“Yeah.”