If you’re going to be angry, just be angry. Why did you even bring me here if you’re going to be so cautious with every move?
Honestly, if Nereus kept acting like this, all the fear had might just disappear.
In the meantime, Nereus was anxiously watching me, whether he knew what I was thinking or not.
“Ah, you get it, right? My Lala… you absolutely must not tell Isaac or anyone else about what Dad said in front of you. It’s a complete secret.”
“Hmm, I’ll I’ll consider it.”
“What kind of six-year-old uses a difficult word like ‘consider’? Are you a genius? No, that’s not the point. Can’t you just say you’ll keep the secret?”
“Hmm…”
When I hesitated, Nereus seemed to gather all his courage and let out a big sigh before declaring,
“If you keep quiet, I’ll give you a whole chocolate cake and cream puffs just for you.”
“………..”
“I’ll even throw in some pudding.”
Seeing that I wasn’t saying anything and just looking at him, he tried to seal the deal by adding pudding.
‘Is he trying to bribe a former navy officer?’
I crossed my arms and stared at Nereus, then let out a big sigh.
“Fine, I’ll let it slide.”
I wasn’t swayed by the snacks Nereus offered. I just felt sorry for him, seeing how desperate he was.
‘It’s not like I’m a kid who would just fall for a few sweet treats.’
“Dad, more importantly, shouldn’t you deal with some of this orchard first?”
Nereus, who was so focused on me, seemed to have completely forgotten about the orchard manager.
It wasn’t until I pointed it out that he straightened up, realizing his mistake.
“So, do you understand what you did wrong?”
Despite Nereus’s stern appearance, which would usually be terrifying, the orchard manager was still trembling with his head bowed to the ground.
“Y-Yes.”
‘Nereus does look scary.’
Though he always acts foolishly around me, his fierce appearance could easily frighten others.
With hair as dark as the deep sea, a glaring red eye visible through his eyepatch, and a large, scarred body, not to mention the rough stubble on his rugged face, he perfectly matched the image of a fearsome pirate.
Anyone who didn’t know him would easily mistake him for a criminal, and he fit the image of a young pirate perfectly.
‘They say there aren’t many kids in the family who wouldn’t cry at the sight of Nereus. Honestly, if I had seen him as a baby, I probably would’ve cried too.’
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, a sharp, brief headache flashed through my mind.
‘What was that?’
As something seemed to be on the verge of surfacing in my mind, I saw a man crawling towards me.
“P-Please spare me…”
“Tsk.”
As the orchard manager crawled towards me, Nereus clicked his tongue and picked me up again.
“Shoo, shoo. Don’t even breathe close by.”
“Yeah, but you’re the one who brought me all the way to the orchard in the first place, Dad.”
“…………”
Nereus looked away from me for a moment before speaking.
“It’s, uh, early education.”
‘For what?’
What kind of early education is this supposed to be? When I didn’t say anything and just stared at him, it seemed he was just trying to cover it up. Nereus cleared his throat loudly.
“Ah—anyway! Lala, didn’t you say there was something you needed? Tell me what it was again. I heard it, but I forgot.”
“Dad, you’re such a fool.”
“Does that mean our Lala is a fool too, since she takes after her dad?”
“What are you talking about? I’m way smarter than you!”
“Really? Then what’s 512 + 695 + 124?”
“1331.”
“…Are you a real genius?”
Nereus pinched my cheek gently, clearly impressed.
We seemed like a very affectionate father and daughter.
‘If only there wasn’t a person lying there with their head down.’
“I need the roots of a tree infected with white dragon disease and the sap of a healthy orange tree.”
“Did you hear that?”
When I reminded him of what I needed, Nereus, still smiling at me, turned to the person crumpled on the ground.
“Hurry and bring what my princess needs, unless you want to be buried under those roots.”
Despite the silly grin on his face, his words were chilling.
“………..!”
The orchard manager, finally understanding the situation, quickly got up and ran off in a panic. Watching him fade into the distance, I asked,
“What if he tries to run away?”
“Don’t worry, Dad has a way to handle that.”
“Like notifying other pirates who might have suffered similar damage and creating a pirate bounty?”
“…..That’s one way to do it. My daughter is so smart.”
Of course, pirates usually have strained or bad relationships with each other, so whether that would work is another issue.
Even so, Nereus shook his head, as if he hadn’t thought of that method.
“My sweet little princess doesn’t need to know about that~”
He continued to speak in a playful tone, both teasing and comforting me, but then suddenly tilted his head back.
“Dad? What’s wrong?”
“…It’s nothing.”
He insisted it was nothing while keeping his gaze fixed elsewhere, but that wasn’t very convincing.
“Is it really nothing?”
“Of course, my daughter doesn’t need to worry about it.”
Nereus continued looking in another direction, muttering, ‘One person… no, smaller than that.’
‘What is he calculating?’
I looked at Nereus with suspicion but didn’t press further.
‘More than that, I need other ingredients. Will it be easy to find them?’
The ingredients themselves could be found if you searched. It’s not like I needed any dangerous materials that ordinary people couldn’t buy.
However, the issue was one of the main ingredients, the ‘Kacho Leaf.’ It only grows on Odlo Island, which is a bit off the western continent, and I remembered from my days in the navy that the Kacho Leaf was outrageously expensive.
‘It’s a valuable medicinal herb used in many ways, but of all places, it has to come from Odlo….’
“Lala—”
“………….”
While I was lost in thought, a large, rough hand pressed against both my cheeks. Nereus must have found my expression amusing, as he let out a small chuckle while looking at me.
“Oh dear, if a fish saw you, it would greet you warmly.”
“Hffngg…”
With my cheeks squished, my words naturally came out muffled. Nereus laughed heartily again and removed his hands, setting me down.
“What’s got you so deep in thought? You’re just a six-year-old kid. You should only be thinking about what games to play.”
“If this six-year-old kid only thought about playing and did nothing else, our whole family would be dead.”
“…Hmm, yeah, well, let’s just make the medicine first and then play.”
Ah—this is probably not good for a child’s emotional development, Nereus muttered to himself while scratching his head vigorously. I found his behavior quite funny.
‘Does he really think I’m just a kid?’
Of course, I knew that to him, I only looked like a six-year-old child, so I just pouted my lips and left it at that.
‘Still, it feels a bit strange.’
The uncomfortable feeling in my chest was a bit unpleasant. Besides, I had never heard of pirates being so dedicated to childcare, even during my time in the navy.
Of course, I wasn’t aware of this even when I was a member of Caelum, so, in any case…
As I pressed my hand against my chest to ease the discomfort, I noticed the orchard manager running toward us from afar, out of breath.
“Oh, he’s back. Lala, shall we go check it out?”
When the man set down what he had brought, Nereus grinned and patted my head lightly.
“Me?”
“Of course, Lala should check it. Dad isn’t as smart as Lala, so I wouldn’t know what’s what~”
Nereus smiled slyly, waving his hand dismissively. I looked at his childish, mischievous grin before heading toward the place where the orchard manager had gathered the materials.
‘He really brought good stuff?’
Considering his life was at stake, I thought he might have harbored some resentment and brought something of poor quality, not thinking about the mess he created. But to my surprise, he brought excellent materials.
As I carefully checked each item, Nereus, who was watching me with satisfaction, whispered to the orchard manager.
“You made sure to bring the right stuff, didn’t you?”
“Y-Yes, of course. Absolutely.”
“If the medicine my little one makes doesn’t work, I’ll assume it’s because you gave us faulty ingredients.”
“……..….”
His threatening tone was loud enough for me to hear, making it clear that he wasn’t actually trying to keep it a secret from me but was just pretending.
‘He’s doing this to show that if something goes wrong, it’s not my fault.’
Even though I had saved our family on the ship once, I still looked like a six-year-old child. And no matter how much Nereus trusted his family, there was no guarantee that the medicine made by a six-year-old would work.
In other words, he brought me here and made me hear that conversation to show that if something went wrong, it wouldn’t be my fault and that he was always on my side.
I was touched by Nereus’s care for me, but I also realized that his concern stemmed from not fully trusting my abilities, which made me feel somewhat…
‘Well, I am just six years old right now. It’s only natural.’
It stung a bit.
Considering that, before my regression, I hadn’t trusted my family either, and despite growing up with such pure and obvious affection, I spent ten years resenting them without realizing it.
Now, in a situation like this, wanting Nereus to fully trust me seemed almost laughable.
‘If Nereus ever finds out about my previous life, will he forgive me?’
And would he accept me?
Even though I remembered the way Nereus looked at me with such deep affection just before I died, I couldn’t be sure. I unconsciously gripped the root in my hand tighter, causing the dirt to fall away.
It felt like the fragments of my emotions were crumbling away too.
