‘In truth... I am a child.’

‘I did not disguise at all. Just a child. Four years old.’

The voice of the King of the Dead echoed in his head.

Theseos was about to slam his head into the wall again, but Ribia rushed over, grabbed his arm, and turned back in panic.

"Alleric! Hold the leader! He is going to break the wall!"

His subordinates pulled Theseos away from the wall.

He staggered and collapsed onto a chair near the entrance.

‘If there is too much power—the church takes them.’

‘People will use Tie...’

Theseos blinked blankly.

‘Then...’

So that was why?

Why his father, Valentis, had taken in the King of the Dead, even deceiving the church and the imperial court.

The situation the King of the Dead was in resembled the tragedy Theseos himself had endured as a child.

A father who had once lost a son to the church could not simply ignore it.

And not only that.

‘I came to say. Agavert has almost become a major squad now, we only need one more person.’

‘Now only the one holding this doll can speak!’

‘Because I like uncle...’

That way of speaking.

‘I thought—an adult pretending to be a child.’

But the King of the Dead had sometimes seemed like a real child who knew nothing.

Theseos’s face twisted in deep confusion.

"Ha... so even back then, at the end of the duel, that damned disguise did not come off..."

"A-Alleric! Is he really okay?! Check him quickly!"

Ribia shook him, but Theseos could not tear his gaze away from the void.

Or perhaps he would not.

‘Little one!’

‘Tie.’

The way Agavert’s members addressed their leader.

Too familiar.

‘No!’

‘Lucarion! Stop!’

The King of the Dead had not taken the chance to finish him.

‘...Ah!’

The moment his blow had sent the King of the Dead flying into the air.

And even then...

‘It is Tie’s fault...’

‘Please do not leave Tie!’

When Theseos had been on the verge of death, the King of the Dead had rushed to save him without hesitation.

No.

Four-year-old Astie.

"...Ha!"

Theseos tightly shut his eyes and lowered his head.

‘Have you been this brainless since birth?’

Every word he had thrown at the King of the Dead surfaced in his memory.

‘Even if my wrist is cut off, I will not go under you.’

‘Did you think I would be grateful for your offer to join forces?’

Yes.

He had felt that something was off.

A normal person would have kept their distance after that.

But not the King of the Dead.

‘...Now I understand.’

He was not a normal person.

He was just a four-year-old child.

"I still..."

Theseos’s face turned pale.

‘I was certain it was an adult.’

A hardened, cunning person in their thirties.

Otherwise it made no sense.

A young mage could not control such power.

And throughout the empire, there were rumors that the King of the Dead always walked around disguised.

‘But that is not true.’

Only four years old?

Theseos abruptly stood up.

"Leader! What is wrong with you!"

Ribia shouted after him, but he did not respond.

Staggering, he climbed the stairs.

Entering his room, he sat on the sofa by the wall.

But after only a few seconds, he jumped up and began pacing back and forth.

‘If there is too much power—the church takes them.’

The shock gradually faded, and everything began to fall into place.

‘...The power of the King of the Dead really was immense.’

Astie possessed an enormous amount of magic.

And more than that—she could absorb others’.

Theseos remembered the day she had suppressed his rampage.

That day, she had accepted his uncontrollable magic without hesitation.

Even his mother, a saint, had not been able to handle it.

But a four-year-old child—had.

‘The power appeared suddenly...’

‘People will use Tie...’

Yes.

If such power awakened in a child—

of course the adults would want to protect her.

That was why they hid her real age.

A mad and powerful sorcerer inspired more fear than a child.

"..."

Theseos walked to the window and pulled back the curtain.

Beyond the garden, the lit Agavert base was visible.

He quickly found the King of the Dead’s window.

He had memorized it yesterday while climbing the wall.

The light inside was on.

The woman who managed the mansion held the King of the Dead’s hand.

She took something from the bedside table, wiped his face, and laid him down on the bed.

Carefully covered him with a blanket.

"...damn."

Theseos whispered in a trembling voice.

That was not how one treated a squad leader.

That was—

how one treated a child.

He turned away.

And, leaning against the wall by the window, slowly slid down to the floor.

‘Tie came to find Papa...’

Those words filled his head.

Another memory surfaced.

‘Papa! Papa—!!’

The blue sea.

The ship’s horn.

A small figure on the pier of Pearlcity, shouting at him.

At the time, he had thought it was just mockery.

After all, the King of the Dead had a reputation as a strange person.

But now—

he understood.

‘Because I like uncle...’

That day.

The King of the Dead had truly mistaken him for her father.

Mistaken him.

Theseos ran a hand over his face.

And said quietly:

"I... look like her father?"

Of course, he was not her father.

He did not even have experience with women.

"Haa..."

He let out a heavy breath again.

"So... that is why she just... likes me."

That was [N O V E L I G H T] why she had always stayed close.

That was why she had looked at him during meetings.

‘Because I resemble her real father...?’

Theseos clenched his fists and buried his face in his knees.

That night, the light in his room did not go out.

The next morning.

The door opened, and a familiar voice rang out.

"Good morning!"

Theseos, who had not slept, opened his reddened eyes sharply.

He leaned back against the sofa and focused on the sounds below.

"Oh, the leader is here? So early in the morning? I was just about to come see you."

Ribia greeted her playfully as usual.

"Um..."

came a hesitant voice.

"Ah, it is nothing..."

The voice was subdued.

Theseos let out a quiet breath.

Nothing?

She had come for him.

After yesterday’s confession, she was curious how he would react.

For a four-year-old child, that was natural.

That was why she came so early.

"Tie will go..."

"Huh? You just arrived and already leaving? Maybe eat something... ah, right, we do not have anything here. I will come over for lunch, alright?"

"Okaay."

The door closed again.

Theseos abruptly stood up.

He rushed to the window and looked down.

Just as he expected.

A small head was crossing the garden.

But suddenly—

she stopped at the fence.

"...what is she doing?"

Theseos watched.

Tie lingered there for a long time, then turned and headed toward the gate.

Only then did he notice.

Her walk.

"Why is she limping."

Astie was clearly limping on her right leg.

As soon as she disappeared, Theseos ran out of the room.

"Leader! Where are you going again!"

Ribia shouted, but he was already heading downstairs.

He quickly went to the spot by the fence.

"...ha."

The fence was broken.

The iron section was bent.

The gap she usually climbed through had become much narrower.

Theseos’s face twisted.

"Why would you climb through something like that...!"

He turned sharply and headed toward the storage.

A few minutes later. Agavert base.

"What is that lunatic doing now?"

Bale, leaning against the kitchen wall and biting into an apple, frowned.

"Why?"

Tie immediately ran over and stood on her toes.

Bale lifted her so she could look out the window.

"Oh!"

Tie’s eyes widened.

Outside—

her father.

With a furious expression, tearing apart the metal fence between their homes with his bare hands.