Vol 4. Chapter 81: The Question of Who to Choose

“Acquaintances? Little Karina, you actually know people at that academy?”

“Mm. I happened to meet them back when I was working as a mercenary.”

“Wow, as expected of Little Karina. You really are dependable.”

Miss Yumo sighed with admiration.

At that moment, Shuoyue, who was floating beside Yumo, anxiously moved closer to the black-haired girl.

Then, with great intimacy, she wrapped her arms around Yumo’s neck from behind and pressed her little face against Yumo’s cheek in a deliberately cute manner.

“Mommy, Mommy, if you’re going to the Crimson Leaf Empire, can you take me with you?”

“You want to go too?”

“Mm-hmm! Yes! I’m really curious about what the south is like! And... I also want to keep staying by Mommy’s side. Mommy hasn’t spent time with me in so long. You finally came back this time, but you’ve barely been here at all, and now you’re leaving again, wuwuwu...”

As she spoke, Shuoyue puffed out her cheeks and put on a dissatisfied little expression.

That made Miss Yumo freeze slightly before awkwardly raising a hand to scratch her cheek.

“This...”

Yumo felt a little guilty.

After all, Shuoyue was indeed right.

After coming back this time, she had barely spent any time with the children before preparing to leave again...

It really did seem somewhat inappropriate.

But after remembering her promise to Mengxi, Yumo revealed a troubled expression.

She did not want to break a promise she had made to that child, Mengxi.

In that case...

After letting out a faint sigh, Yumo raised her hand and patted Shuoyue’s little head, speaking with a hint of indulgence.

“Alright then. You can come with me...”

“Yay!!”

After receiving Yumo’s affirmative answer, Shuoyue instantly became so excited that she began waving her arms and legs around.

She formed a stark contrast with Limo, who was still sprawled across Liyu’s thighs nearby.

However,

Shuoyue had barely been happy for long before Karina immediately poured a bucket of cold water over her enthusiasm.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for Little Sister Shuoyue to accompany Mother to Yexinlian Academy.”

The instant those words were spoken,

before Mother Yumo could even react, Shuoyue immediately puffed out her cheeks and floated furiously in front of Karina, aggressively questioning the older sister who had just ruined her plans.

“Why can’t I go?! What’s so inappropriate about it?!”

In Shuoyue’s eyes,

Sister Karina was definitely refusing to let her go because she wanted to enjoy time alone with Mommy!

What did she mean, “inappropriate”?

It had to be nothing but an excuse!

Although the sisters usually had a very good relationship, and Shuoyue also quite liked this dependable and steady older sister Karina, when it came to Mother, even biological sisters had to keep their accounts clear!

“I won’t let you monopolize the chance to spend time with Mommy!”

Shuoyue roared inwardly.

For a moment,

Shuoyue, floating in midair, resembled a kitten with all its fur standing on end as she stared at the red-haired woman before her with “hostility” written all over her face.

Seeing this,

Karina, who had already guessed what Shuoyue was thinking, could only shake her head helplessly.

“You really aren’t suitable. And... it isn’t only you. I’m not suitable either, and neither are Limo, Liyu, or the others. None of us can accompany Mother to Yexinlian Academy.”

“Huh?”

After hearing that answer, the hostility in Shuoyue’s blue-and-gold eyes gradually faded, replaced by confusion.

“W-Why?”

“The reason is simple.”

As she spoke, Karina directly drew the crimson longsword at her waist and pointed it at the map of the continent hanging on the nearby wall.

The tip of the sword pointed precisely at the location of Yexinlian Academy.

“The academy Mother is going to isn’t an ordinary school. It’s located near the capital of the Crimson Leaf Empire. As the strongest of the Four Great Empires in terms of overall national power, the Crimson Leaf Empire naturally has countless powerful individuals gathered around its capital. Moreover... the headquarters of the Asumos Church is also located within Anvika.”

“This...”

“The Pope of the Asumos Church and the Heavenly Apostles are all there as well. With so many powerful individuals, along with large numbers of Asumos Church members who are extremely sensitive to Shadow of Silence Power, it would be extremely dangerous for us, as Abyss Demons—and Demon King-class ones at that—to casually enter that area. Our identities could be discovered at any moment. Even I normally don’t dare casually set foot there. I usually have members of my mercenary group handle matters there in my place.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Karina looked somewhat seriously at her younger sister, who was floating in midair like a ghost.

“Do you understand now, Shuoyue? If we follow Mother there, we could cause Mother’s identity to be exposed.”

“This... enmmm...”

Hearing that, Shuoyue disappointedly puffed out her cheeks.

“B-But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it also be really dangerous for Mommy to go to that academy? Aren’t you afraid she’ll be discovered?”

“Mother herself is capable of compressing the Shadow of Silence Power inside her body far better than we can. Combined with the divine artifact we ‘borrowed’ from the elves, the Veil of Deception, concealing her identity shouldn’t be difficult.”

“The... Veil of Deception?”

After quietly repeating the name several times, little Shuoyue suddenly revealed an expression of realization.

“Oh, right! Then I can just get a Veil of Deception too! Wouldn’t I be able to go with Mommy then?!”

Although her ability to suppress Shadow of Silence Power was far inferior to Mommy’s, the amount of Shadow of Silence Power inside her body was not very high!

So if she could use the Veil of Deception, she would definitely be able to conceal her identity.

Thus,

having seized upon the key point, Shuoyue immediately floated over to Xiao without another word.

“Xiao, I remember there are two Veils of Deception, right?! Is the other one with you?”

Xiao shook their head.

“It isn’t with me. I only ‘borrowed’ one from the elves.”

“Huh? Th-Then hurry up and go back to the elves and ‘borrow’ the other one too! If Mommy goes to Anvika alone, there’s no way we can feel at ease!”

??!

Yumo: Huh? What do you mean, you can’t feel at ease with me?

At that moment, after hearing Shuoyue’s words, Mother Yumo revealed a slightly dumbfounded expression.

Unfortunately,

no one present gave her an answer.

Faced with Shuoyue’s proposal, Xiao could only shake their head again.

“The other Veil of Deception is no longer with the elves.”

“It’s gone?!”

At that answer, Shuoyue revealed a stunned expression.

“Besides you Black Rose people, who else would rob the elves of... Ah, no... I mean... besides you, who else could ‘borrow’ something like that from the elves?”

“It isn’t a question of borrowing or not borrowing it. The other Veil of Deception was lost a long time ago.”

“Lost? What happened? Um... the elves weren’t just fooling you, were they?”

“They weren’t.”

Xiao very decisively rejected Shuoyue’s guess.

Based on years of dealing with the elves, Xiao was certain that the tearful Elf King at the time had absolutely not been lying.

After all, that fellow was definitely not the kind of elf who would risk their life just to protect a divine artifact.

“Apparently, a certain elven princess once took the Veil of Deception with her while traveling across the continent in search of love. After that... she disappeared and never returned. The Veil of Deception disappeared along with her. Even now, no one has been able to find out where it was lost.”

“Ah, this... Seriously?”

“That’s what I heard.”

“Sigh, alright.”

Knowing Xiao had no reason to lie to her, Shuoyue resigned herself to the situation and sighed.

Realizing that she probably could not accompany her beloved Mommy naturally left Shuoyue disappointed.

But compared to that disappointment, the worry inside the girl’s heart instead grew increasingly intense.

After struggling with it for a moment, Shuoyue turned a pleading gaze toward Karina.

“Then, Sister Karina, what should we do? Mommy going alone really doesn’t feel like a good idea.”

“Mm... That’s true.”

Karina nodded slightly without denying it.

“Mother running off to the capital of the Crimson Leaf Empire all by herself really is worrying.”

“We at least need to find someone reliable to accompany Mommy, right? Otherwise, I’m afraid Mommy might get tricked away.”

“Yes. I won’t feel at ease unless we find someone either. The problem is, who should it be?”

“How about Xiao?”

“My apologies, Lady Shuoyue. I need to return to the Black Rose Family territory for a while. Besides... I still need to teach Lady Limo. And the Crimson Leaf Empire is currently wary of me... I’m not suitable for this mission.”

“That’s true...”

...

...

And just like that,

the topic being discussed by the Demon King-class children and the members of the Black Rose Family somehow shifted from Limo’s education to Miss Yumo’s “safety”?

The intensity of the discussion even rose to an entirely new level?

Looking at the children who had completely set her aside and were now discussing the matter with great enthusiasm, and listening to their voices filled with deep concern, Miss Yumo couldn’t help but feel rather complicated inside.

...

“Um?”

Wasn’t something wrong here?

Perhaps it was merely Miss Yumo’s imagination,

but for some reason, she felt that at this moment, despite being the mother, she was being treated by her own children like a little child about to travel far from home for the first time??

That made Yumo feel increasingly strange.

What exactly... were they worried about?

What did they mean, they couldn’t feel at ease with her?

She was so powerful.

What could possibly happen to her?