Raising the Daughters to Overcome My Failure

Chapter 11. Anticus (3)

“Wh-what is that!”

“Just how far is it going? This has never happened before!”

“This is big. It's all over now.”

Rarc Village was in utter chaos.

Because the ancient dragon, which usually stayed near the village, was disappearing into the distance, becoming a small dot.

Adel and the other guards were just as flustered.

“What on earth is going on? Why did Anticus leave her nest?”

“I-I don't know, Lady Adel.”

“This won't do. Report this to the kingdom immediately and strengthen the village's defenses! And Alvarez, you take the soldiers and go to our house. Time is of the essence.”

Adel gave these instructions not simply to protect her own home.

“You mean to protect the Saintess?”

“Yes. Of all the times for this to happen.”

Anticus leaving her nest far behind was not a simple incident.

In a thousand years, this had never happened.

‘What on earth is happening?’

Amidst the confusion, the first person that came to mind was none other than her father.

Although he had lost his power, his experience in defeating the Demon King would shine even brighter in such an emergency situation.

As the thought of him came to mind, Adel quickly stopped Alvarez.

“No. It's better for you to take care of the residents here. I'll go to the house.”

“But the commander of this place is……”

“There’s almost nothing we can do. Take good care of the residents so they don't get anxious.”

“Understood.”

She ran home with 10 soldiers.

The front yard of the mansion was in an uproar.

The officials who came with the Saintess and the servants of the mansion were all looking up at the sky, murmuring.

“You can't even see it at all now, can you?”

“What is this? I have a bad feeling about this.”

Adel urgently looked for the Saintess and her father.

Fortunately, Elliot's figure came into view.

“Where are the Saintess and my father?”

“Th-they haven't been seen since a while ago.”

“What did you say?”

“They said they had something important to discuss and were in the room, but they are not there now.”

It was the first time she had seen the always calm Elliot so flustered.

Adel narrowed her brow and asked.

“What about Noemi?”

“The Youngest Lady is not here either. I apologize.”

Adel intuitively felt that this incident and Anticus's's movement were not unrelated.

‘Otherwise, there's no way these things would happen at the same time. Something is suspicious.’

While everyone was agitated, searching for the whereabouts of the three people.

The door to her father's room suddenly opened, and the three of them appeared.

Just a moment ago, there was definitely no one in that room.

“Father!”

“Hmm? Isn't that Adel? What are you doing here during your work hours?”

A sudden appearance.

An out-of-the-blue question.

Did he know what the current situation was, to be so relaxed?

Adel, at a loss for words, couldn't say anything for a while.

***

“Anticus has disappeared?”

“Yes! Do you have any idea what might have happened? It happened at the exact same time you two and Noemi disappeared.”

Adel's sharp gaze pierced through me, but I had nothing to say.

Because I, too, had not grasped the situation.

‘What on earth is going on?’

There was no such development in the game.

Even after receiving permission for the gold mining rights, Anticus had never left this land.

The only route where she would leave her nest was,

‘The 101st ending. That is, only when she herself became the Demon King.’

Don't tell me I'm on that route right now?

But no matter how much I thought about it, the possibility was low.

The timing didn't match, and there was nothing for Anticus and me to be hostile about.

The time she decided to become the Demon King was when the Durani Empire destroyed the dragons' sanctuary.

Currently, the Durani Empire's internal affairs were unstable due to successive coups, so they wouldn't have the luxury for that.

‘What on earth went wrong? Could it be that me leading the negotiations instead of the child of the gods was the cause?’

In the game, the child of the gods led the negotiations, and Frank took a step back and just watched.

Frank's role was, at its core, a window for the game.

He was nothing more than an avatar that acted as the user's viewpoint.

‘Don't tell me that difference brought about this result? But it's not like Anticus and I parted on awkward terms, right? Did I do something wrong?’

While my head was throbbing, Adel persistently questioned us.

“It's not just about Anticus. Where were all three of you?”

Isabel just looked at me silently, and Noemi stared out the window with an indifferent face.

In the end, the final destination of Adel's resentful gaze was me.

‘Is this a situation where I can no longer hide it?’

I got up from my seat and pushed the deer antlers above the fireplace back.

Rumble.

The fireplace slid to the side, revealing a hidden space.

A startled Adel shouted.

“What on earth is this? This is the first time I've known there was a place like this in our house!”

“Of course. This is a device made by the previous lord who lived here.”

“The previous lord? Wasn't this the mansion of Viscount Eidel, who was a subordinate of Marquis Moltke? But how did you know this, Father?”

“I just happened to find out.”

Adel continued to pour out questions.

Where this place connected to.

Where the three of them had been all this time.

Why she wasn't told.

In the end, I even told her the story of how I met Anticus directly to get the gold mining rights.

Adel, with a face of disbelief, opened her mouth with difficulty.

“Y-you met Anticus in person?”

“Yes. But we didn't part on bad terms. I, too, do not know why she suddenly left.”

“Do you even know what you've done, Father?”

I thought our relationship had gotten a little better after I gave her the flower.

But her expression looking at me now was full of resentment.

***

Adel, who had left the house and returned to the outpost, was at a loss as to how to handle this situation.

‘If Anticus leaving her nest is because of Father, should I report this to the kingdom?’

Moreover, the Saintess and Noemi were also there.

If this fact became known, it was difficult to even guess what kind of punishment the three of them would receive.

‘There's a possibility they'll be branded as traitors of humanity and face capital punishment.’

No matter if they were a former hero, a Saintess, and a child of the gods, considering Anticus's's destructive power, it wasn't an impossible scenario.

She recalled the situation from a moment ago.

When she unconsciously raised her voice and questioned her father, he avoided her gaze and said nothing.

An indescribable anxiety swept through Adel's chest.

‘Why did he do this while excluding only me? Am I not the eldest daughter of the Pendragon family? Does he not trust me?’

Her father was always strict, but at least when he did something, he clearly explained the reason.

But this time, something was proceeding without her knowing.

The moment doubt sprouted in a corner of her heart, Adel felt guilty.

‘Is it okay to doubt Father this much? But he did something I didn't know about.’

Anger rose at that thought, but then his expressionless face came to mind and it turned to sadness.

‘Why on earth won't he trust only me…….’

While she was deep in thought, Alvarez cautiously spoke to her.

“What's wrong? Is something the matter?”

“No. I just have some things to think about.”

Alvarez continued with a heavy face.

“If you're okay with it, please tell me as well. It's quite difficult to watch a superior worry.”

“Alvarez……”

However, Adel couldn't confide this fact to him.

This was by no means a light matter.

It wasn't that she didn't trust him, but it would be better to keep this as her own secret for the time being.

“Thank you for your concern. Please leave me alone for a while.”

Alvarez stood there for a moment, then left the outpost with a dissatisfied face.

Adel was left alone.

She could only resent the fact that the person who caused this was her father.

‘Why on earth did he do such a thing without a single word of consultation with me? Why!’

She could understand the Saintess.

She was her father's old acquaintance and a reliable supporter.

But Noemi was different.

‘Noemi is just the youngest of our family, isn't she? But why did he take Noemi and not me…….’

Her fists clenched tightly.

Her status was a knight of the kingdom.

This was her father's territory, a barony, but she was just dispatched as a member of the Royal Knights.

‘I have the duty and right to report my father's true state. The kingdom must have sent me here for that reason.’

But was that really the right thing to do?

If her father's words were true, he might not have provoked the ancient dragon.

The ancient dragon might have just flown a longer distance than usual to enjoy a brief amusement.

‘Let's watch for another week and then decide. There's still too little information.’

Not only her father but also the Saintess and Noemi were involved in this matter.

There were many things to consider before making a rash judgment.

Adel looked at the vase on the table with resentful eyes.

The gradually withering flower seemed to represent her own heart.

‘Father, you are still a person whose thoughts I cannot understand.’

Adel sneered at herself for trying to believe in her father's change and bit her lower lip gently.

She felt foolish for grinning like an idiot over a single flower.

***

Three days had already passed since the Saintess's's party left for the capital.

Rarc Village was the same as usual, as if nothing had happened.

The ancient dragon had disappeared, but there was no damage to the village.

The residents simply thought that the ancient dragon had left its nest for a while on a whim and didn't attach much meaning to it.

“Think about it, if it were you, could you stay in the same place for a thousand years?”

“That’s impossible. Maybe it went somewhere to refresh its mood.”

“That's right, it's been three days and there's no news, right? Let's just ignore it and do our work.”

If something had happened, news would have arrived long ago.

No, this place would have turned into a sea of fire first.

Unlike Rarc Village, which had regained its stability like this.

Noemi and I couldn't take a single step outside the mansion.

Because Adel had deployed soldiers and was guarding the mansion strictly.

It was also impossible to use the secret passage, “Father is a strong suspect in this incident. I will not reveal the existence of the secret passage to the outside, but it would be better for you to stay inside the house for the time being. I will be watching you and Noemi.”

Adel had made a statement that was close to a threat like this.

It was a pity that my relationship with her had become awkward again, but I wasn't too worried.

Because Noemi had told me something with conviction.

“Dad. Don't worry too much. Anticus will be back soon. And not alone, but with many subordinates.”

“What? How do you know that?”

Noemi just smiled brightly and said nothing, but it was clear that she had used her foresight ability.

‘Since the youngest said it, it must be true.’

Every time she said a word, it felt like a piece of the destined fate was falling into place.

For now, the best thing to do was to trust her and wait.

I couldn't rule out the possibility of making things worse by trying to do something rashly.

Of course, it was too much of a waste of time to just stay put like this.

Even now, the remnants of the old demon tribe would be diligently crossing over to this land.

But preparation was needed before moving rashly.

‘Noemi is the being I know the least about. If I can understand her power and tendencies, it will be a great help in preparing for the crises to come.’

I decided to take the time to get to know her more deeply.

In Adel's case, it was just that the current situation was unfamiliar.

I knew everything from one to ten in detail, whereas Noemi was a character I had never nurtured for even a minute.

Since I fell here as soon as I pressed the play button, I didn't even know what she liked.

Having made up my mind, I went downstairs and knocked on Noemi's door.

Adel was watching from the end of the hallway with an unspoken wariness, but she didn't come closer.

Soon, the door opened and Noemi appeared.

“Dad?”

“Can I come in for a moment?”

Noemi smiled brightly and nodded her head.

Her room was surprisingly very simple.

No, it even felt bleak with only the minimum amount of furniture.

What should I ask?

In the game, I could see the stats just by clicking, but here I couldn't use such things.

Profile, stats, status window, etc.

No matter what words I shouted, nothing changed.

‘First, let's check up to what tier of magic she can use now. The nurturing method will also change accordingly.’

Teaching a lower-tier magic to someone who can use 7th-tier magic would be nothing but a waste of time.

But an unexpected answer came back.

“I can use up to 6th-tier magic.”

Hmm? Didn't she use the 7th-tier magic, Dragon Thunder, in the confrontation with Anticus?

I clearly remembered the moment that intense lightning shot out from her fingertips.

Did I hear something wrong?

Or was she deliberately hiding it?

I studied Noemi’s face, but her blank expression revealed no hint of intent.