🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 06
Several days had passed since Vincent became Adele’s subordinate.
Trying to coax the whining boy—who insisted he didn’t want to go home every day—had completely drained her energy. At this rate, she could already imagine how arduous the road ahead would be…
At least he was still young enough that his stubbornness hadn’t fully developed. The adult Vincent had never listened to a single word Laila said, no matter how much she scolded him.
…Then again, if he’d been obedient, he never would have started a war.
Now then… what kind of training should I put him through?
Adele found herself at a loss.
She had never raised such a delicate child before.
The only people she’d ever trained were enormous, muscle-bound men who looked more like bandits than knights.
She could toss them around however she pleased, and they’d never complain.
Vincent, on the other hand…
He was soft, frail, and looked as though tears might spill from his eyes at any moment.
If she trained him the same way she had everyone else, it would be less like instruction and more like child abuse.
Of course…
To anyone looking at them, Adele appeared to be the younger one.
Lost in thoughts about the future, Adele suddenly snapped back to reality when the enticing aroma of food tickled her nose.
“I absolutely hate people trying to win me over with food.”
“…For someone saying that, your body seems pretty honest.”
The man carrying another platter of food smiled warmly as he set it in front of her.
The dishes he’d placed on the table only moments ago were already half empty, so bringing more hardly seemed out of place.
With his long silver hair tied back by a crimson ribbon, he was an exceptionally handsome man.
Even by Adele’s notoriously high standards, she had to admit he looked fairly good.
More importantly, he’d generously offered food and lodging to someone with nowhere else to go.
Of course…
There was a high chance that his kindness stemmed from ulterior motives—that he’d mistaken Adele for an orphan and intended to exploit her.
Fortunately…
That wasn’t a problem for Adele at all.
If that truly was his intention, then there was a one-hundred-percent chance that this man would die by her hand.
Which meant she was, ironically, perfectly safe.
So there was no need to remain suspicious.
She simply needed to eat.
…Yet despite that, Adele continued glaring at him suspiciously while stabbing at her meal with her fork.
Because there was one enormous problem…
One even she couldn’t solve through force alone.
Why is he here?
Don’t tell me he’s already spying…
Before her regression…
This man had been Vincent’s right-hand man.
In other words—
One of Adele’s greatest enemies.
He had wielded mysterious magic that slaughtered her subordinates one after another, making him one of the most troublesome opponents she’d ever fought.
Even on the battlefield, he’d always been impossible to read.
No one could tell what he was thinking.
Which made it all the stranger that he seemed interested in her.
Why had they met like this?
Why here, of all places?
That encounter had happened the very next day after Vincent became her subordinate.
The Day Before
BOOOOM!!
It was a peaceful day spent demolishing walls to test her strength.
While pondering how to raise Vincent, Adele had decided to clear her head by exercising.
The unstable power she’d initially possessed became more refined with every use.
Her body was still that of a child, so she couldn’t yet draw out its full potential.
But at this pace…
Once she grew just a little older, all of her former strength might completely return.
Including the ability to manipulate aura as freely as she had before her regression.
How should I make use of this power…?
Perhaps… I really should conquer the world.
It has always been my lifelong dream.
As Adele seriously contemplated what to do with her overwhelming strength—
“Oh, merciful heavens! You’re exactly the talent I’ve been searching for!”
A middle-aged man approached her with trembling hands.
Adele instinctively clenched her fist.
If he’s some kind of pervert, I’ll punch a hole straight through his—
…
No.
She didn’t particularly want bloodshed today.
So she eased the strength in her fist ever so slightly.
“What is it?”
Her mature tone of voice caught the man completely off guard.
He froze.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally gathered the courage to speak.
“L-Little girl… where are your parents?”
Little girl?
Calling her by such a ridiculous title…
Adele had momentarily forgotten she’d become young again.
She shot the man a stern glare.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to her.
…Wait.
Who are my parents?
She had never once wondered about it.
Not even during her previous life.
Perhaps it was because she had always been an insignificant existence in this world.
Whether she had parents or not had never mattered.
That didn’t mean she was suddenly curious about the mystery of her birth.
Still…
How am I supposed to answer him?
While Adele quietly pondered the question—
The man suddenly turned deathly pale.
As if he’d sensed death itself.
He immediately dropped to his knees.
“I-I misspoke! Please! Please help me!”
Watching a man in his forties desperately kneel before what appeared to be a six-year-old child…
The sight was bizarre by anyone’s standards.
A pervert?
A kidnapper?
Completely forgetting she’d been the one intimidating him moments ago, Adele stared at him strangely.
Without relaxing her guard, she stepped her right foot back into a fighting stance, ready to strike at any moment.
Seeing that, the man hurriedly shouted,
“I-I want to work with you!”
“…Work?”
The suspicious man’s story went like this.
A certain noble had decided to tear down an old building and construct a villa in its place.
The problem was…
All the laborers had begun fleeing.
Lately, the ground had been shaking frequently, and violent gusts of wind swept through the area without warning.
People claimed nature itself had become angry.
“What an odd situation.”
“Exactly! We’ve already been paid, and the deadline is almost here! I had no idea what to do until I saw you smashing that wall!”
Adele fell into thought.
If she intended to survive in this world, she’d need money.
She was too young to march into the Imperial Palace and earn a knighthood now.
Which left only one option.
Using her absurdly overwhelming strength.
“How much are you paying?”
And just like that…
Adele landed herself an unexpectedly respectable job.
Building demolition.
She was sent to the site immediately.
The few workers who remained stared blankly at the tiny child who had suddenly appeared.
Then…
The six-year-old casually swung her fist.
CRASH!
The wall exploded apart.
Every laborer dropped the tools in their hands in utter shock.
Meanwhile, the man who’d hired her erupted in cheers.
Although…
He also looked bewildered by the fact that he’d unconsciously placed all his hopes in a child.
Thankfully, her employer respected proper break times.
That alone made demolition work the best-paying job a young Adele could possibly ask for.
Besides…
Destroying things was surprisingly fun.
It was during another enjoyable day of smashing buildings apart that she overheard someone sigh.
“…Sigh. It’s a shame, but I think we’ll have to let that one go.”
The foreman shook his head while looking toward someone nearby.
Following his gaze—
Adele saw a silver-haired man.
He was carrying a sack barely a quarter the size of the loads Adele hauled around with ease.
Even so…
His legs trembled nonstop.
He looked as though the slightest push would knock him over.
Like a paper doll fluttering in the wind.
Thinking exactly that, Adele found herself shaking her head just like the foreman.
A guy like that wouldn’t even survive in the knights’ order.
The man finally set his tiny load on the ground and wiped the sweat from his brow.
He hadn’t even reached halfway to his destination.
Yet…
He smiled brightly, looking immensely proud of himself.
Stretching his stiff shoulders with satisfaction—
Their eyes met.
“Huh?”
“…Hm?”
The silver-haired man noticed Adele.
His cheerful smile disappeared.
Instead, he stared at her with puzzled eyes.
But he wasn’t the only one who froze.
Adele was so shocked that the sack she was carrying slipped from her hands.
The red-eyed man tilted his head while looking at her.
There was no mistaking him.
He was…
Vincent’s right-hand man.
The mage who had slaughtered Adele’s soldiers during the war.
Staring at the filthy, exhausted version of the man she’d once fought on the battlefield, Adele couldn’t help thinking—
…Why the hell is this bastard working here?
The man approached Adele almost immediately.
Then he began pestering her endlessly.
Where did she live?
What did she do?
One question after another.
To any bystander, his excessive curiosity looked suspicious enough to warrant reporting him to the city guard.
Even Adele found it irritating.
She briefly considered punching him.
Then she shook her head.
With how frail he looked…
Even a light flick to the forehead from her would probably kill him.
The strong ought to show restraint.
Unfortunately…
His strange behavior didn’t stop there.
He even offered Adele a place to live.
At first she’d wondered whether she could trust him.
But after hearing that offer, her conclusion changed.
Trust doesn’t matter.
I can simply use him.
After all…
She couldn’t keep sleeping on the streets forever.
What she couldn’t understand was why he had suddenly attached himself to her.
Why was he feeding her?
Housing her?
Remaining persistent even when she responded with nothing but cold indifference?
Occasionally, she’d catch him muttering strange things while staring at her.
That part was undeniably suspicious.
Still…
Nothing ever came of it.
Perhaps it was because he was a mage, but his thoughts were impossible to read.
As long as he wasn’t chanting spells at her…
She decided that was good enough.
There was one more peculiar thing.
For some inexplicable reason, this mage looked exactly the same as he had decades later, just before his death.
Back then, she’d assumed he was simply an extraordinarily talented young man in his early twenties.
And now…
Despite all the years that should separate those moments…
He still appeared to be that very same man in his early twenties.
