Chapter 129: Sometimes My (Lack of) Seriousness Doesn't Match

Chapter 129: Sometimes My (Lack of) Seriousness Doesn't Match

“It seems you weren’t planning to hide it anyway?”

“What could I do? I was exposed the moment you kicked my subordinate.”

“Little Marito” was right – from the beginning, I hadn’t held back with that dropkick because suspicions had already started forming in my mind.

“But I must say, you’re quite perceptive to have noticed me.”

“The monsters out there, the assassins, the mages too – they all had something in common. They gave me the same feeling as those who attacked me at Blaze Lizard Valley. All of this was your doing, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, you’re quite clever.”

“Unfortunately for you, trying to act in front of someone with a sixth sense like me wasn’t your best move.”

I only just realized this, but while talking with the kidnapper, I accidentally noticed a strange connection between him and this kid.

That’s how I concluded that this was all just one big act and even that kidnapper was merely a pawn in the hands of the person “disguised as a kid.”

That power, how should I describe it… to make it easier to imagine, it’s like the strings attached to a wooden puppet to control it.

“When did you start suspecting me?”

“Hmm, from the very first impression…”

“First impression?”

A fairly typical face of a pubescent child-

“Yeah, but only half of it was real.”

To be honest, I didn’t care much at first. That face and demeanor were similar to other kids his age that I knew. But that was in the old world. Here, for whatever reason, I felt people developed more slowly and looked more frail compared to my world. So a “normal” face from the old world suddenly appearing in this world was truly abnormal.

This work is hosted on mananovel.com

“Moreover, throughout our journey here, you unconsciously revealed quite a few unusual things.”

“Eh? Did that happen?”

Along with Faima’s surprise came two huge question marks from Kiska and Rand.

But let’s go back a bit. Because I had some suspicions when we first met, I discussed with Rand having them ride in our guards’ carriage instead of going with Faima.

“Of course, everything seemed normal during the journey, except for one thing – your attitude.”

“My attitude?”

“Exactly.”

I had listened very carefully to their explanation about the “Dragon King’s Relic” but pretended not to care when asked for my thoughts.

“Even a genuinely talented young person couldn’t avoid losing composure and feeling anxious when facing work difficulties for the first time. But you were strangely calm and didn’t even seem to care about it.”

My feeling that something was off continued to grow when Papet led our group to the watchtower of the “relic management.” Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

“If it was your first time here, the soldiers inside would have noticed you. Because they were only familiar with Papet, your ‘father’.”

However, despite it being his first visit to this place, “little Marito” didn’t show any unfamiliarity at all. At the same time, the other side didn’t have even half a question or concern about seeing a stranger for the first time.

“By then, my suspicion had increased to 80%.”

“So, how did you become 100% certain after that?”

“I have to admit, you played the role of a kid quite well when our group was first attacked.”

“Haha, joking again?”

“No, I’m serious.”

The kid had acted so deeply it was pathetic. It didn’t feel like an action movie actor but more like extreme comedy. It made my skin crawl with disgust.

“That’s why I ignored her screams and mercilessly took him down.”

“…You acted on your own based on personal speculation without any concrete evidence?”

“By the time we had concrete evidence, it would have been too late.”

After hearing my explanation, “little Marito’s” face became several degrees more serious and gloomy.

According to some detective novels, this guy’s case falls under the “overacting makes it obvious” scenario, and the very actions he thought were natural were what made him suspicious.

“Now then, tell us the truth…”

I increased the number of ice needles even more so that if he tried to use any “puppets” as shields, there would still be enough needles to turn him into a porcupine.

“Ma, we’re still…”

“Step back, Faima. This situation is getting more complicated than I can control.”

Everything I’d done until now, including that dropkick, was for a single purpose – to prevent him from attacking Faima. If I hadn’t done that, right after the “hostage-taking” act ended, what Faima would have received would have been a knife to the chest due to her carelessness and trusting nature.

However, the situation is different now. I’m here, and this guy needs to receive payment for his performance.

“I suppose we can’t capture you normally and take you back? Maybe we need to strip off your disguise first.”

To drag him back to Diagal, I’ll probably have to make him reveal his true form, then trap him in an ice cage.

“What? Are you planning to strip someone naked again?”

I didn’t even bother responding to Agaht. We’ll have a serious talk later. Thinking this, I created more ice needles and got into position.

“Oi, are you obsessed with stripping people naked or something?”

“Hey, brother, could you stop throwing stones at the meeting?????”

Of course, I love large exposed breasts, but I’m not gay, okay? Besides, I’m not even sure if this one is male or female.

“The truth always hurts.”

Faima delivered a tsukkomi line behind me.

“Give it a rest, you all…”

Grumbling, I turned back and shot an ice needle at the demon kid standing in front of me. Tch, there’s no seriousness here at all.

Facing the incoming ice needle, as I predicted, the previous kidnapper suddenly stood up, spread his arms, and blocked the way, ready to take the ice needle straight to his stomach.

“I knew you’d do that.”

I reduced the speed of the ice needle to about 60%. At this speed, it would be enough to pierce through that living shield’s body, but I wouldn’t do that.

Reducing the speed took quite a bit of energy, but that wasn’t all. At the moment just before the ice needle touched the shield, I changed its direction to curve around the soldier’s body, drawing a beautiful parabola before returning to a straight trajectory and targeting what was behind.

But the ice needle shattered in mid-air before reaching its final target.

A numbing sensation running through my palm showed that the ice needle was no longer under my control.

“Useless.”

The demon kid slowly shook his head with an angry voice. Meanwhile, the soldier collapsed to his knees and then fell to the ground as if lifeless.

“Creative. It’s rare for someone to force me to fight seriously like this.”

“I’d like to see this serious strength you speak of.”

This person is certainly not ordinary, and I’m not courageous. But I’m annoyed with everything they’ve done until now – they haven’t even rolled up their sleeves to participate yet have caused us all sorts of trouble. I’ll make him/her pay.

“Ah, I forgot. We’ve been using ‘you’ and ‘I’ all this time. Let me introduce myself – I am the ‘Puppeteer,’ a member of the Holy Knight Order. Though we’ll only be meeting for a short while longer, I hope for your cooperation.”

“Shut up and fight with everything you’ve got.”

Not just for what they’ve done to me, they’re also the ones who used Kuro like a disposable tool.

There’s no reason for me to let them off this time.

“You’ve pushed me into many awkward situations. Get ready – I’ll give you a spectacular ending right here.”