YMFPSA Chapter 86

'A black gemstone ring candy!'

---

Ingredients:

Soot made from a shooting star (3g)

Cocoa bean (1g)

Chorus of noisy frogs (2g)

Chattering sunflower seeds (1g)

Honey from the pet bee raised by the Earth Spirit King (3g)

Effect:

When eaten, you’ll be able to speak like a rapid-fire chatterbox.

Caution:

The effect only lasts while the sweetness lingers in your mouth. If you brush your teeth, the effect disappears!

---

Afterward, I casually responded to Angela while carefully reading the candy's description.

'Then I just have to eat it when I need to and not brush my teeth!'

But I won’t need it tonight anyway.

Angela, likely exhausted from crying so much, fell asleep around 10:30 PM.

I stayed completely still until I could quietly slip out of the room.

“Brother!”

At the end of the hallway, Brother Mikard was waiting for me, so I was able to safely and swiftly get to the Admiral’s garden.

“Yo.”

“Every time I come here, my heart pounds like crazy. We’re not even supposed to be here, you know.”

At the meeting spot, Ilyad and Naiad had already arrived.

We spread out a thin cloth and huddled close together on it. There was only one lantern in the middle, making the surroundings rather dim.

[The Spirit King of Chaos, ‘■■■■’, expresses curiosity.]

[There's a romantic vibe here—like an undead might jump out at any second!]

…Let’s ignore the Spirit King of Chaos for now.

“Everyone’s here. Then let’s begin the regular meeting of the Kids’ Detective Squad.”

After a rustling sound, Brother Elzen and Joy appeared.

Just calling it a 'meeting' made us feel all grown-up somehow.

So I mumbled 'meeting' to myself about eight more times.

“First, the Leviwood surveillance team—did you find anything?”

Mikard and Naiad were in charge of Leviwood.

Elzen and Ilyad were assigned Bernstein.

Joy took Luarel.

And Aunt Cecilia was mine to watch!

But both Brother Mikard and Naiad looked dispirited.

“No, nothing at all. Brother Leviwood is perfection itself.”

“Yeah. We followed him around all day, and all he did was work.”

So… nothing suspicious, then?

At any rate, it's clear they came up empty.

“Good. If you didn’t find anything, that might actually be a relief. Next is the Bernstein team…”

Brother Elzen quietly opened his mouth.

“This guy is suspicious. Ilyad and I took turns tailing him on different days, but at some point, he always disappears.”

“Yeah. We never managed to follow him all the way. I mean, even if I missed something, Brother Elzen is a pro at hiding his presence. But even he said the guy just vanished into thin air.”

The atmosphere grew heavier with Ilyad’s words.

But that was nothing compared to what Joy said next.

“I saw it... that monster posing as Luarel. I know what it was really doing.”

“……!”

What did she mean?

I was about to mention that I had found Daisy’s glasses but stopped and looked at Joy.

“That monster eats people.”

“People…?”

“Yeah. I saw it clearly. But the way it ‘ate’ was kind of strange… It just opened its mouth wide and swallowed them whole.”

[The Spirit King of Chaos, ‘■■■■’, gets excited.]

[I’d love to dissect it and see how it’s structured! Humans really do create the most bizarre things.]

The Spirit King of Chaos… is kind of scary sometimes…

Anyway, after that, I told them everything—about the evidence, about what happened today.

Everyone immediately became deadly serious.

“We’ve learned enough. I think it’s time we report this to the head of the house. We’ve clearly gone beyond what we can handle ourselves.”

After a few seconds of silence, Brother Mikard made the suggestion.

“What Joy saw means… that a monster might be disguising itself as a person.”

“……”

“Out of all of us, I’m the only one who’s actually fought a monster. They’re… nothing like anything we’ve ever known.”

Just how terrifying are these monsters?

Could they be even worse than golems?

But… I honestly didn’t find the golem that scary.

I had lots of questions, but now wasn’t the time to ask them.

“I agree too. The moment I saw its true form, I knew, I can’t beat that thing.”

Joy added quietly.

And just then—

“Well, well. What sort of secret plotting are we doing here?”

“……!”

I hadn’t even noticed him approaching!

A tall figure was suddenly standing next to us, looking down, and I jumped in shock.

“Class Leader Leviwood!”

“Yes, little one. Angela was in a panic when she saw you were gone, so I came looking… and it seems you’re having a very interesting conversation.”

Oh no... he must’ve heard everything! What do we do?!

***

A little while later...

“I had a feeling. Mikal’s been visiting way too often lately.”

“Haha…”

“And Naiad has been tagging along all day while working.”

Though he smiled, Leviwood’s gaze was cold. Naiad flinched and looked away.

Leviwood let out a deep sigh as he looked at the group of young ones, all gathered together to protect the family in their own way.

“Now, do you really think the adults have no idea what you’re up to?”

“Mmm…”

“They’re letting you be. Maybe they didn’t realize it was a monster… but still.”

“Then that means we did discover something useful!”

Mikard quickly jumped in with that comment, not missing a beat.

Leviwood pressed his fingers to his forehead for a moment.

“Yes, that was well done. But even so, nothing changes. That guy’s already begun filtering out traitors around him, so I’d really rather you didn’t get involved any further.”

The main children of the family had been acting oddly lately—he had noticed.

But for them to be planning something like this behind his back…

Leviwood felt both proud and irritated.

When there’s a potential enemy within the family, the first rule is to trust no one…

But still, to be excluded like this.

Not that he was feeling something petty like being hurt or left out.

Leviwood calmly analyzed the situation.

‘This could be interpreted as me failing to control the children or having lost their trust.’

That would be… unfavorable.

Leviwood's eyes narrowed.

This incident mustn’t become known—especially that it happened without him involved.

If it did, it could cast doubt on his competence as a leader.

“Soon, the time set by the Lord of the House will come.”

Leviwood softened his sharp tone and quietly considered everything he’d just heard.

The mother was acting strangely, even though she would never abandon Angela.

Preparations for deployment were nearly complete.

The Lord's true intentions remained hidden.

What would the Lord do if he were in his shoes?

'Ah… poor Mother. In the end, you're being sent to the battlefield like a discarded piece.'

In that moment, Leviwood understood everything—even the things the family head had never told him outright.

Letting Luarel, who was most likely a plant from the enemy, roam free… it was the simplest way to remove his mother, who had been trying to avoid the battlefield, once and for all.

And now, he couldn’t stop it, not if he wanted to protect her.

Because...

'The price of sacrificing Mother... is me becoming the next-next head of the family.'

And that—becoming the next family head—was his goal.

'How cunning.'

He didn’t say it aloud. That would’ve been the same as spitting in his own face.

Instead, Leviwood simply cursed in his heart, then turned back to the children and gave them further instructions.

“In fact, why don’t you all participate in this play as well? Be nice to Luarel.”

“Are you crazy, Brother? Why would I?!”

Mikard, as expected, was the first to protest.

Elzen stayed quiet, lost in thought.

“Also, try to conceal your awakened energy as much as possible. Cater to the monster—let's see what happens.”