The Baby Villain Dreams of Conquering the World

Chapter 34

Episode 34

"Elena-unni, are you okay?"

"Ah, huh?"

It would be one thing if Elena's condition wasn't serious.

She had been chewing her nails with an anxious face, and now a little blood was starting to show over the wounds.

Unable to bear the sight, Daphne firmly held her hand and comforted her.

"The Young Lady will be safe. So please don't worry so much."

Whether she knew Elena's true feelings or not, Daphne smiled reassuringly.

"And it's not even confirmed that she went to the Demon Forest. Let's just search the ducal residence a little more together."

"...Right."

For a moment, the image of her daughter's corpse, returned in an incomplete state, flashed through Elena's mind.

And soon the image of her daughter changed to Flora, but she just forced herself to pretend not to know and nodded.

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"Try eating this too."

Prek, the excellent leader of the Red Serpent mercenary band, handed a skewer of roasted hazelnuts to the small girl sitting next to him.

Flora, who had just finished eating roasted mushrooms heartily, accepted the skewer without refusal this time as well.

"It's delicious."

Thanks to the maple syrup lightly sprinkled on top, the sweet roasted hazelnuts were a delicacy and suited the young Flora's taste perfectly.

As Flora savored the taste and ate continuously, the mercenaries gathered around watched with amazement.

"That little one has teeth too, you say?"

"Are you showing you don't have kids? By age three, baby teeth are already all in!"

It was Flora who mediated the mercenaries bickering over trivial matters.

"Flora is not 3, she's 4."

She didn't forget to show her age by confidently holding up her fingers.

Those who were about to raise their voices closed their mouths firmly at the voice correcting the mistaken information.

Even though they were people who, due to their profession, faced the world's scorn and were ignored, they knew it wasn't right to show such behavior in front of a child.

"But why are you uncles here? The knight uncles are over theere."

"That's because we're mercenaries, so that's how it is."

Prek wiped Flora's syrup-covered mouth with his thick finger.

"We can't live together with the knights, so it's natural."

No matter how much they were called butchers or murderers, the Lucifers were still nobles, so they couldn't share a camp with a mercenary band.

Flora nodded as if she understood.

That meant there was no immediate risk of being caught.

"This one, this one. I thought you were something else from the moment you introduced yourself so boldly, but you're very clever."

Prek chuckled and stroked Flora's head.

It was rough, but since it was well-intentioned, it didn't feel too bad.

Of course, separately from that, Flora's hair became quite disheveled.

"But still, a journey with the Lucifer Knight Order is better than other places."

Just as her questions were resolved and she was about to eat the remaining hazelnuts, Jad, the vice-leader who had been watching Flora eat with curiosity, spoke up.

Other mercenaries began to agree vehemently.

"That's right, that's right. The Executors or other knight orders tell us to set up camp at least a hundred meters away. But the Lucifer Knight Order lets us set up camp on the flat ground."

"And sometimes they even share food with us, don't they? If there's a critical patient, they even provide treatment."

"Above all, they don't look down on us, and there's nothing more grateful than that."

Prek's words capped off the praise.

Flora, who had been quietly listening to the praise of the Lucifers, momentarily put force into her lips, which were about to curl up.

'Wait. What are you doing, Flora! You're not going to be happy hearing praise for the Lucifers, are you?'

Flora erased all proud thoughts and finished the remaining hazelnut skewer with a stiff, hardened face.

"Do you want more?"

"Tha~t's all. I'm full."

When she patted her round, full belly with her small hands, natural, pleased smiles formed on the faces of the surrounding mercenaries.

Since mercenaries were people who wandered around differently from others and did the harsh work of dealing with monsters, they rarely had the chance to see children up close.

To begin with, being a mercenary wasn't a well-regarded profession, and since fighting monsters added scars to their already rough impressions, becoming close with children was something they couldn't even dream of.

But Flora, who had appeared suddenly, was different.

She wasn't frightened by the rough and menacing appearance of the knight order, immediately claimed the best spot in front of the bonfire, greeted them nonchalantly, and fearlessly accepted and ate the food given to her. Her demeanor was not just unusual but felt genuinely wondrous.

"It's late. It's time to sleep now."

Basilian, who had been leaning against a thick wooden post and quietly watching the scene, approached Flora as soon as her meal ended.

"I'll let you sleep in our tent today."

The words from a moment ago were quite satisfying, but one thing was lacking.

"What about tomorrow?"

"I have to take you to a village."

"I don't wanna."

"Whether you like it or not, there's no choice. I'll ask the Lucifer Knight Order to move you to a safe village."

At Basilian's unyieldingly firm words, a thunderbolt struck behind Flora's back.

"Ah, no!"

If she got dragged to the knight order like this, someone who knew Flora would surely appear, and this news would soon reach Athanas.

If that happened, Athanas would send Flora back to the ducal residence immediately.

'And he'd forbid me from going out!'

It was the first attempt, so it could succeed, but next time, he would definitely attach guards to her and protect her even more strictly.

'I, I need to think of an excuse in case I get caught.'

Of course, persuading Basilian came first.

Flora made a pitiful face and shook her head so vigorously it sounded like the wind.

With each movement of her head, her pink hair swung and even slapped Basilian's cheek without her knowing.

"Pfft."

At the sound of someone behind them failing to hold back a laugh, Basilian, who had been quietly letting his cheek be hit, grabbed Flora's head firmly.

Seeing his unusual expression, Flora gulped, but Basilian soon relaxed his expression and let out a sigh.

'This kid sighs a lot too.'

Without knowing Flora was having such thoughts, Basilian suppressed his anger and took the lead.

"...Fine, I get it, so follow me."

"You won't take me to the knight order?"

"You said you didn't want to. What? Should I take you there now?"

"No!"

Worried that Basilian might change his mind at any moment, Flora quickly stuck close to his back.

The place they arrived at was a small makeshift bed in the corner of a large tent.

Basilian laid Flora down on the bed and naturally leaned against the bed, sitting on the floor.

"Is this Basi's bed?"

"Yeah."

"If I sleep here, what about Basi?"

"It's fine if I don't sleep for a day or so."

"Now that you mention it, are you a mercenary too, Basi?"

Under the barrage of successive questions, the thought suddenly surged in Basilian that he might have brought Flora along for no reason.

'Hold on. This child is my benefactor.'

The one who helped Basilian when he was in mortal danger.

She was the only one in his life who had offered him such help.

The first kind favor he had ever experienced was so sweet that he couldn't easily turn away from it.

Although he was already subtly captivated by Flora's charm, Basilian forced himself to ignore it and answered in a curt voice.

"I needed a place to eat and sleep, so I joined the mercenary band. I do a role similar to an errand boy."

"But Basi is young. How old is Basi?"

"...10 years old."

"Hmm."

"Ah, seriously."

As Flora narrowed her eyes with suspicion, Basilian got annoyed and honestly revealed his age.

"8 years old."

He was quite large for an 8-year-old, but the fact that he was young didn't change.

"You're young."

"Is that for you to say? Why is a 4-year-old in the Demon Forest in the first place! You don't even know what fear is, do you?"

At the ensuing scolding, Flora stuck out her tongue.

She asked because she was concerned about him working hard at such a young age, and all she got back was a scolding.

"...Since it's just us, be honest."

"About what?"

"Your father is in the Lucifer Knight Order, right? The one trying to abandon you?"

Huh?

Not understanding the question, Flora tilted her head while lying down.

'Athanas has no intention of abandoning me at all.'

Why would he easily let go of the daughter he worked so hard to find?

"You don't need to hide it. I already figured it out."

It seemed he was seriously misunderstanding something.