I Raised the Northern Grand Duke as a Farmer Behind My Father’s Back Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 1 — The Circumstances of a Child Who Decided to Become Independent Early

[Did you see? This is Dantelion Klein’s sin.]

“What in the world was all thaaaaat—!!”

What did I just see?!

My head felt like it was going to explode from trying to process so much information at once.

When I came to my senses, I found myself in a completely white space.

I had been left there alone and practically had the truth forced into my head.

But where am I? I definitely died! At ten years old!

Could this be some kind of soul space? A private meeting room for one-on-one talks with a god? Something like that?

No, no……!

That wasn’t what mattered.

“Is-is this really true? Dad really kept regressing over and over again just to save me?”

[Yes.]

A chill ran through me.

I was pretty sure all the blood had just drained from my face.

The glowing mass floating in front of me—the god—continued.

[Dantelion Klein turned back the time of the world ninety-nine times. All to save his only daughter.]

……I knew.

I had seen it myself.

Of course, I hadn’t witnessed all ninety-nine of Dad’s lives.

I had only seen fragments. Tiny pieces of his memories.

But even that had been shocking beyond words.

[Now, your hundredth life is about to begin…… child.]

“……Yes?”

[Are you truly going to stand by and watch his destruction continue like this?]

“Whaaat?! Of course I don’t want that!”

[As the price for repeatedly violating a taboo, Dantelion Klein’s divine power has already been corrupted to its limit.]

“……!”

[At this rate, your hundredth life will unfold exactly like the previous ones. Eventually, the corruption will run out of control and kill him.]

Every hair on my body stood on end.

I had heard about it somewhere before.

The end of a fallen holy knight.

It was horrifying.

When a holy knight’s corruption ran rampant, they eventually transformed into a monster.

They lost their reason, destroyed everything around them and even themselves, and then died the most painful death imaginable.

With divine power as strong as Dad’s…… it wouldn’t be strange if half the Empire were blown away.

And that wasn’t all.

His soul itself would be torn apart and suffer forever……

“No!”

It was destruction in every sense of the word.

Tears streamed down my face as fear suddenly overwhelmed me.

With trembling hands, I clasped them together and begged the god desperately.

“G-Goddess! Ma’am! Please, just forgive him this once! N-next life, I’ll teach my dad much more carefully! So please!”

[I called you here precisely because this is not something that can simply be overlooked.]

“Hic, hnnng, please…… My dad didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the bad one…… It’s because I kept dying!”

Tears and snot ran down my face.

I was completely panicking.

Dad had once been the noblest person in the entire world.

And because of me, he was destined to die the most humiliating death imaginable……

That was some seriously terrible filial behavior.

I absolutely could not allow that to happen.

The god let out a long sigh.

[Though I warned him again and again, Dantelion continued choosing to defy providence. Humans must take responsibility for their choices.]

“Hic, but when I look at grown-ups, they don’t really take responsibility that often. C-can’t my dad do that too? Please……”

I sobbed while metaphorically clinging to the god’s trouser leg.

[……Fine, so stop crying already. This is why I called you here.]

“……!”

[It is not completely impossible to save him.]

My tears stopped immediately.

“What do we have to do?!”

[He simply must not repeat the same mistake. In other words, he needs to live a life different from all the ones before.]

“……!”

Which meant—

“So Dad just has to…… not commit the ‘sin of regression’ again in his next life? He can go back to being an exemplary holy knight and live diligently……?”

[You are clever.]

“I know……”

It felt as though a small ray of hope had appeared.

But at the same time, something inside my heart seemed to deflate.

The reason Dad kept regressing was me.

I kept suddenly dying, so he kept spinning time backward again and again.

The most certain way to solve a problem is usually to remove the cause.

Just in case, I raised my hand and asked,

“Um…… what if you just cure me so I don’t die?”

[Unfortunately, that would be difficult. Your soul was originally meant to be born in the divine realm. The reason you can speak with me like this is because of that.]

“Huh? I’m a god?”

Dad! I made it big!

[……More precisely, you are a divine messenger.]

“Rawr?”

[Not that kind of messenger. Another term would be…… yes. In some places, they call them angels of the divine realm.]

The god continued.

[A soul like yours accidentally flowed into the mortal realm and was born there, so there is no true place for you in that world. Most children who die before reaching adulthood are cases like yours. For reference, this occurs because of an overflow phenomenon among souls in the divine realm, which……]

The god went on and on with miscellaneous explanations.

I lowered my head dejectedly.

I had a feeling it wouldn’t work.

I was quick to understand my own limits.

I was also good at accepting reality.

When you lived with a sick body, you naturally became skilled at giving up on things.

More importantly, if someone as powerful as Dad had already failed ninety-nine times, then that basically meant it was impossible.

In that case……

there was only one answer.

In this hundredth life,

I could not live as Dad’s daughter.

The reason Dad kept turning back time was entirely because of me.

If I disappeared from Dad’s life, then he would have no reason to commit the taboo.

It’s sad, but there’s no helping what can’t be helped.

I stood up and wiped away the tears gathering in my eyes.

My decision came quickly.

I took a deep breath with dramatic determination.

Then I said,

“Okay. Then in my next life, Dad and I will live as complete strangers! So please erase all of Dad’s memories!”

At my firm declaration, the god fell silent for a moment.

Then I felt something very warm against my cheek.

Almost as though the god were gently stroking me.

I can’t repay the kindness of raising me by letting his divine power go berserk.

My life had been painful and short.

But not once had I ever thought of myself as a weak or unhappy child.

Because whenever I started to falter, Dad had always appeared like a hero from a fairy tale and hugged me tightly.

Thanks to that gentle love, I had lived warmly, fully, and happily enough.

So……

Now it was my turn to repay him!

Dad, thank you for loving me.

Thank you for making me your daughter ninety-nine times.

Because of you, I think I won’t be nearly as scared even if I have to be alone again!

I smiled as though Dad were standing right in front of me.

“This time, I’ll save Dad!”

The instant those words left my mouth—

Saaaaaaaah!

A brilliance unlike anything I had ever seen wrapped around my entire body.

Again, District Z of the slums.

“Bread! Bread!”

“That’s mine! Move!”

The adults shouted at the tops of their lungs.

Huh? This place……!

My eyes flew open at the deafening noise.

And at the same time, I remembered.

My memories from my previous life—!

Oh my gosh!

I was back.

Back at the exact point in time Dad always regressed to!

My hundredth life has started!

[ㅇ@#,ㅊ$#%ㄹㅂ#^!$#…@#%ㄷ!]

“Hm?”

But then I noticed a strange white fragment floating at the edge of my vision.

It kept circling around me as though it had something it wanted to say.

Umm? It kind of feels like that god……?

What kind of holy fruit fly was this?

I wondered if it was some new species and leaned closer to inspect it—

“Damn it, quit getting in the way and move, brat!”

“Kwaaah! I’m still trying to figure out what’s going ooooon!”

I was knocked flat onto my back.

Roll, roll, roll.

With the smooth little body of a six-year-old child, I rolled remarkably well without even managing to get a single piece of bread.

“Waaah, it hurts……”

I pulled a small stone out of my palm.

My short arms and legs were covered in red scratches.

Tears started gathering in my eyes, but I hurriedly rubbed them away.

No. I can’t cry.

There was no Dad anymore to comfort me.

I needed to forget all those memories from my previous life, when Dad had treasured and protected me so dearly.

Grrrrrrr.

My starving stomach, empty for several days, reminded me of reality.

I promised I’d eat well and live well all by myself in this life!

I lifted my head.

My mind snapped fully awake.

Bread!

If I was going to live bravely by myself from now on, I first needed to fill my stomach.

Though I was trembling, I took a deep breath.

“Okay!”

Clenching my little fists, I forced my way between the adults’ legs.

Shouts, curses, and swinging fists flew everywhere.

D-don’t be scared!

I forced strength into my shaking legs and endured.

Then I spotted the man who had knocked me down earlier.

Huh?

I hadn’t noticed before, but both of his pockets were bulging.

It’s one piece of bread per person!

I hesitated for a moment.

Then I stopped hesitating.

When you were starving, morality and dignity went right out the window.

“Huh? What’s this little rat doing again?!”

“Ow!”

I quickly stole a piece of bread from the man’s pocket and ran.

His hand swung out on reflex and smacked me on the forehead, but thankfully, he didn’t catch me.

Furious yelling thundered behind me, but……

I wasn’t scared. Not even a little!

I sprinted through the village while immediately stuffing the bread into my mouth.

The swollen bump on my forehead throbbed, but I endured it.

Before the regression, I had tried to save the bread and ended up having all of it stolen by the neighborhood boys.

I wasn’t going to make the same mistake this time.

I kept running.

[ㅇ@#,ㅊ$#%ㄹㅂ#^!$#…@#%ㄷ!]

The strange white fly from earlier kept following me.

I figured maybe it was because I was so dirty, so I decided to ignore it.

As I aggressively chewed and swallowed the dry bread, I thought,

I have to live well by myself.

I was going to live very, very well all alone.

There was no Dad coming to rescue me anymore.

“Next life, Dad and I will live as strangers. So please erase all of Dad’s memories!”

Because that was what I had asked for.

[Your wish shall be granted.]

“Hic…… hnnng……”

The bread tasted salty.

Probably because of my tears.

But I really had to stop crying now.

After all—

I wasn’t an ordinary six-year-old anymore.