034
Three times, and hold for three seconds.
The words of the Carrot Class teacher echoed in my ears.
At that moment, the King of Water Spirits suddenly spoke to me.
[If he sincerely apologize right now, I will restore Bijou’s position for him.]
I took a deep breath and stared straight at Ricardo.
“Apologize for pushing those kids too. Then I can help restore Bijou’s position.”
“What? Who do you think you are? How are you going to fix it? My life is already ruined because of you!”
“There’s a way. So just say, ‘I’m sorry.’”
I wondered if he didn’t know how to say “I’m sorry,” so I calmly explained it to him.
After all, he might not know if he hadn’t learned it.
Ricardo let out a short “Ha!” and raised his eyebrows. Then he took a few steps closer to me and whispered in my ear.
“Hey, do you think you’ll be protected forever?
“…….…”
“Just wait. Without lord Mikard around, I could kill a little thing like you anytime.”
Since I’ve read lots of fairy tales, I knew what the word ‘evil’ meant.
This was exactly how an evil villain would talk, glaring menacingly like that!
Spirit Kings, I don’t have to hold back anymore, do I?
“Be careful at night. No matter how old you get, I’ll kill you one day… Ugh!”
Thwack!
Crab Headbutt Attack, incoming!
I decided I wouldn’t listen to Ricardo anymore.
I gathered strength in my legs and slammed my head straight into Ricardo’s chin.
“You little twerp…!”
Ricardo grabbed his chin and staggered back a few steps, tears brimming in his eyes as he glared at me.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I ran at Ricardo and delivered another clean hit.
Bam! Just like that!
“Say, ‘I’m sorry!’”
“Urghhh!”
Crab Punc…ch?
Huh?
For some reason, as soon as I swung my fist, Ricardo flew back and crashed far away.
Crash!
The stacked wooden boxes collapsed, and Ricardo’s head thudded against them.
Even I thought that looked a little painful…
“Could it be… my hidden power?!”
Could it be that I’m actually really strong?
“Oh my, our little Chubby is so strong.”
When I turned around, I saw brother Mikard with his hands casually in his pockets, whistling.
I’m not sure what’s going on, but one thing is clear—I’m strong.
Really strong!
With newfound confidence, I ran at Ricardo again and stomped on him mercilessly.
“Ugh, stop, stop!”
Crab Kicking Attack!
“Alright! I’m sorry! I said I’m sorry! Happy now?!”
Crab Bite Attack…!
“Stop. You’ll hurt him too much.”
While I was flailing around, someone suddenly picked me up from behind.
Of course, it was brother Mikard.
“Let’s end it there. You gave him a good punishment. Let it go now.”
“Grrrr!”
“Well, I saw it all—the way he threw away his last chance with his own hands.”
Brother Mikard patted my back as if to comfort me.
Breathing heavily for a while, I suddenly realized that Ricardo had actually said,“I’m sorry.”
It took me a second to process it.
“The Dunrus family shouldn’t dare complain about this incident from now on. As you know, I’m not a very patient person.”
“Ugh… But… But it’s unfair! My Bijou! The future that was supposed to be mine! I even got disowned… Sniff, sniff.”
“Threatening to kill my little sister, huh? How terrifying. Since when did a Dunrus think they could challenge the Pashayen family?”
Holding his warm little sibling, like a freshly roasted chestnut, Mikard let out a sigh.
If a child Awakener hasn’t sprouted their Bijou, they are at risk of being killed.
Eighty percent of such cases are the work of other noble families, while the remaining twenty percent happen within their own territory.
Usually, it’s due to jealousy, envy, or internal political struggles.
As a result, even just mentioning harm toward a young Awakener is classified as a serious crime.
Mikard used that point to crush Ricardo.
Oh, and he also subtly adjusted his Awakener aura so that only Ricardo could feel it.
“Power shouldn’t be given to someone like you. If I see you mistreating the people of the territory even once more…”
“H-Heeek! Uwaaah!”
“Look at him. He’s running away before I’ve even finished talking.”
Tsk.
Mikard clicked his tongue, propping his little sibling on his shoulder as he started walking away.
“The Dunrus family is as good as gone.”
He was confident that every detail of this incident had already been reported to their grandfather.
He could bet his wrist on it.
Besides, the Dunrus family had already been walking the path of ruin for several generations.
Even so, since they were a founding merit-based family that had supported the rise of the Pashayen family, they were left alone despite being useless.
‘Ricardo just gave them a reason.’
Well, whatever happens next isn’t his problem.
Pruning away unnecessary parts is inevitable anyway.
He was a bit curious, though.
Once Dunrus was no longer a noble family, how would the people of the territory treat them?
Judging by how they had acted just now, it seemed unlikely that they’d be treated as proper people.
‘But that’s none of my business either.’
“Brother, let me go! Put me down! I want to walk on my own!”
With his little sister chattering away in his arms, he headed to the parfait shop.
‘I could tell from the moment she started negotiating with Grandpa.’
Such a feisty little thing.
It seemed like he’d have to buy her about three parfaits to calm her down.
***
“When will my Bijou sprout?”
“Who knows? Probably around the average age.”
“I hope it sprouts quickly. Then I can protect everyone.”
A short while later, they arrived at the most famous parfait shop in Pellun,
<Three People Share One, Then Order Three More>.
Normally, people would have to stand in a long line and still might not get a chance to eat there.
But these two were able to enter faster than anyone else.
However, it wasn’t because they were from the Pashayen family.
The head of family, Galizard, strictly prohibited anyone, even the Pashayen family, from exploiting their noble status to cut in line.
But!
Earlier, when Ricardo had pushed that child, the child’s knee got scraped—
And that child happened to be the son of this parfait shop’s owner.
“Oh my, would you like more? What a hearty eater you are, young one. Hohoho!”
“Yes! I wanna try chocolate too!”
“Right away! One chocolate banana parfait, coming up!”
The parfait shop owner, John, had briefly stepped outside to play the claw machine with his son.
But he had clearly seen and heard everything that happened.
“Even at such a young age, she’s so full of spirit. That’s the kind of person who deserves to be a Pashayen, no doubt about it.”
After all, she had hidden his son behind her back, delivered a headbutt, and then followed it up with a punch.
“Pffft. Oh man, my stomach hurts from laughing.”
At that moment, everyone saw it.
They saw lord Mikard, who was standing behind the little lady, smirking.
No one knew what he did, but it was clear that he secretly helped her.
Even that was adorable, and it was satisfying to see the Dunrus family, who always caused trouble in the streets, get their noses flattened.
“Ah, whatever, I’m in a good mood! Let’s serve a melon parfait too!”
John’s hands moved busily.
***
How many bowls of parfaits had we eaten?
With a full belly, I wiped the chocolate powder from my mouth.
Brother Mikard looked at the stack of empty bowls with a weary gaze.
He had already given up when we were on the second bowl.
But I had eaten five bowls.
It was then.
Woosh, wobble.
Something floated toward us on the breeze.
‘Bubbles?’
But they weren’t ordinary bubbles.
“Whoa, what’s that? The bubble is shaped like a whale!”
“Ah, during the Pellun Festival, they make bubbles like this every year for the kids. One of our branch family members has this special ability.”
“Wow! Can I pop it?”
“Yup. These are safe to pop. But during battle, they can be dangerous.”
Pop!
The moment I touched it with my fingertip, the bubble burst and disappeared.
It was so much fun that I started popping bubbles everywhere—pop, pop, pop!
Not just me, but the other kids joined in too.
“Heehee.”
“Is it fun?”
“Yeah!”
After waiting for a bit, we saw an enormous whale-shaped bubble floating toward us from afar.
It was so big, it was the size of a real whale.
All the little kids sitting at the tables stood up, eyes wide with excitement, and shouted together.
“Wooooow!”
Meanwhile, I shouted for a slightly different reason.
‘Ah, right! I can buy that now!’
