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Chapter : 21
Duke Stuckia spoke in a slow voice.
“Who gave a child something so dangerous?”
The usual calmness in his tone was gone.
Could it be… he’s worried?
“What if someone actually got shot?”
No, that wasn’t it.
I lowered the gun with a face that said, Well, of course.
Ralt spoke up.
“It’s a gun for generating shields. Since its purpose is protection, even children should try using it.”
“In that case, you’re wrong. It hit a score of 7.”
“Huh?”
Only then did Ralt look at the gun with a puzzled expression.
After checking the bullets, he shut his mouth completely.
The duke raised an eyebrow, as if to say, Now I understand.
“To confuse the type of bullets… it’s like going back to the first time we met on the battlefield. Isn’t that right?”
“I… I’m sorry.”
Ralt and the blacksmiths had no choice but to quietly apologize.
“From my perspective, they all look the same. It’s hard to tell them apart… I apologize, Duke. Sorry, little Snowflake.”
It was a little pitiful to see shoulders full of muscle droop.
Ralt had given me the gun, but I had begged to touch it myself.
I quickly moved closer to the duke.
“Hello, Duke. Good morning—no, afternoon.”
“It’s morning.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s the time you’d normally be asleep.”
The duke replied curtly.
“But… someone somewhere woke me up with gunfire.”
…Anyone could tell that was about me.
I shut my mouth immediately.
“From now on, don’t hold a gun. You won’t need it.”
The duke’s firm tone made it clear he was warning me, likely to prevent information from leaking to Agnito’s side.
“Yes… I’m sorry…”
I apologized meekly.
Perhaps seeing my apology as pitiful, Ralt tried to cheerfully comment.
“Still, isn’t it amazing? This is your first time holding a gun, yet your skill is remarkable. I’ve never seen talent like this since the duke.”
“I hit the center from the start. You’re still far from catching up.”
“I know. Still, it’s undeniably impressive.”
He mentioned the battlefield, yet the conversation was surprisingly casual.
“Alright, just get the child out of here quickly.”
“Yes, understood.”
With that, Ralt casually scooped me up.
“Here you go.”
And then handed me straight to the duke.
“…What is this?”
The duke asked slowly.
“What do you mean? Isn’t this your daughter?”
“Then why are you giving that ‘daughter’ to me?”
Ralt asked earnestly.
“If a father doesn’t hold his daughter, who will?”
“Children need to be held early. Once they grow a little, puberty comes fast, and they slam the door saying ‘I hate dad!’ Time is limited.”
“Really? Aren’t there fathers whose daughters say they hate them?”
“Come on, hold her quickly.”
Ignoring the duke’s words lightly, Ralt handed me over again,
like parents urging quarreling siblings to hug and reconcile.
But now is not the time to be in a good mood!
As expected, the duke’s aura became sharper.
I was about to say I’d just get down and walk, when someone among the blacksmiths added:
“There are a lot of glass shards underfoot. It’s dangerous for a child.”
Even if they said that, I wouldn’t care if glass or anything else got under my feet.
Then:
“You’re troublesome in many ways.”
The duke sighed slightly and reached out.
Judging by his furrowed brow, he seemed to want to deal with this quickly because it was bothersome.
I worried about stiffening because I’d never been properly held, but the duke lifted me steadily.
The blacksmiths were comfortable, but compared to riding in a vehicle, this felt like a much higher-end sedan.
At that moment, through the black cloth, the duke’s brow slightly furrowed.
“Smaller than I expected. Are you really eight?”
“I’m ten. I told you before…”
“Feels like eight, so I asked. You should deduce that yourself. Don’t you know metaphors?”
The duke didn’t seem as angry as I expected.
My tense heart loosened a little.
“So, you’ve been wandering around early in the morning. Have you eaten?”
“Yes. I ate a lot.”
“Have you washed up properly?”
“Yes. Sparkling clean.”
“Then you’re diligently getting signatures, right?”
“Of course! I’m working hard…! Uh—”
I quickly covered my mouth, but it was already too late.
The duke’s lips lifted slightly.
He was smiling like, I knew it.
Ah, that’s why he held me—to ask if I was collecting signatures!
“You’ve worked hard. Keep it up.”
“…Thank you for the support. I’ll make sure to get your signature, too.”
“Yes, I’ll cheer from afar.”
The duke’s tone was genuinely encouraging. His early morning irritation had eased slightly.
“Ah—finally feeling better. Is this why everyone gets up early?”
- He added the kind of smug comment that made it even more annoying.
Ralt, who hadn’t heard our conversation, nodded in approval, calling us a picture-perfect father-daughter pair.
“Duke.”
At that moment, other blacksmiths approached us.
“We have a new report. About what we mentioned then—”
They paused when they saw me still in the duke’s arms.
It seemed uncomfortable to talk about weapons in front of a child.
I quickly got down from the duke’s arms.
“Duke.”
Actually, I said it just before getting down:
“I think it’s better to make the weight different.”
“What do you mean?”
“The bullets.”
At my whisper, the duke raised one eyebrow.
“Shall we have a little chat, my daughter?”
He smiled gently and led me a bit away.
Turning his back to others, he raised an eyebrow, asking what I meant.
“The blacksmiths have been helping you for a long time, right?”
“Yes.”
“So that means they’ve been with you for many years. Yet they couldn’t distinguish between attack and defense bullets without firing them themselves.”
“…”
“In a busy exhibition, it would be even more confusing. If they fired for protection but it was an attack bullet, chaos would increase.”
“I know it’s hard to distinguish. But if we mark every bullet, the enemy might see what we have.”
“So why not just make them different weights?”
“…Explain in detail.”
I continued:
“In a combat situation, you focus only on the enemy in front of you.”
“Right.”
“Bullets are more often handled by touch than by sight.”
“Ah, so you want to differentiate by weight for tactile sense?”
I shouted Yes! at the duke, who immediately understood my point.
“Most importantly, if the weight differs, both you and others can distinguish them more easily.”
“I don’t need to distinguish. I’m naturally gifted.”
“Not everyone in the world is a genius like you.”
“Ah—that’s true.”
“And—winning is important, but preventing innocent casualties is too.”
Though there were attack-type weapons, most of the workers made protective ones.
Being from the frontline, it was more important to safeguard what they had than to seize something through attack.
I hoped weapons made with that mindset wouldn’t harm anyone due to a momentary mistake.
“…For your first time touching it, that’s quite insightful.”
The duke’s tone was doubtful, so I shrugged casually.
“I’m a bit of a genius too.”
“Ah… I get how others feel. This isn’t as good as I thought. I’ll reflect.”
“And—remember, I promised to be your eyes, Duke.”
I didn’t mean sticking right next to him—there was Caron by his side anyway.
“I’ll watch every nook and cranny where you can’t see. I’ll be the world’s biggest CCTV.”
“C… what?”
“If there’s anything suspicious, I’ll report it immediately. Sometimes I’ll even give good suggestions like this. And if someone is weird, I’ll punish them.”
“What’s this about… punish? Are you bragging about your baby cheeks?”
The duke poked my cheek lightly, as if saying ridiculous.
