TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 35

Emerald and Padma, Zeman could not trust these two people who appeared around Albin.

But at the same time, he could no longer trust himself.

He remained silent for a long while, looking at Albin’s hopeful eyes, and in the end, he silently accepted Emerald’s presence.

“Daddy is so nice!” Albin smiled innocently, rubbing his head against him like a happy little bird.

He didn’t think it was Emerald who made his father change his mind. His father had always disliked monsters, so his tolerance for and acceptance of monsters probably came from his liking for Albin.

The realization that his father would make compromises for his preferences warmed his heart.

Zeman was filled with unease, but his actions softened because of Albin.

“Let’s go eat.”

Albin nodded, then looked at them. “Have you and Padma eaten yet?”

Padma smiled, “Then let’s go have lunch as well. You stay here and eat in your room.”

“Okay!” Albin obediently stayed in the room, eating the breakfast Padma brought for him while muttering with Emerald.

Zeman and Padma silently walked out of the room, finding a secluded spot to talk.

Their conversation naturally revolved around their unusual dreams.

Listening to Padma recount details Zeman didn’t know, even though he had prepared himself, he still burned with anger.

“Mouse…” he muttered coldly, his gaze dark.

Indeed, it was the behind-the-scenes mastermind targeting Albin.

“I’ve already hired monsters to investigate the mouse’s information.”

He planned to visit the Golden Silver Chamber of Commerce’s base today to check if the information had arrived.

Padma nodded; they wouldn’t let the mouse go either.

Unfortunately, the enemy was too cunning. Even when facing a seemingly weak monster like Emerald, they always used puppets instead of their true form, staying on high alert.

He even suspected that the white-haired boy in the dream had never seen the true form of this enemy.

Finding such a mysterious, elusive monster with unclear motives wasn’t easy.

But because the mouse was so cautious, it didn’t dare approach Albin when they were around.

Padma casually brought up something from the dream.

“However, what surprised me the most was that child’s goal…”

To kill gods.

Zeman glanced at him. “No need to test me.”

Padma grinned. “After all, you are the Sun God Temple’s saint. Although Albin probably won’t follow the same path, I still need to confirm your attitude.”

As far as he knew, Zeman joined the temple at the age of four, and after so many years, it was hard to believe he hadn’t been brainwashed.

He didn’t know why Zeman had turned into a demon, but that wouldn’t necessarily affect his devotion.

Padma hated gods and despised priests.

Indeed, if he hadn’t been chosen by the God of Wine, he might have died in the Blood Wine Pool long ago. In a way, the God of Wine had saved him.

Even his regenerative abilities were thanks to the God of Wine’s power.

But without the curse of the gods, how would he have turned into a fox coveted by the nobility? If it weren’t for the temple’s indulgence, how would the nobility dare to consume monsters?

The charity of the oppressors only made him feel disgusted.

Especially when he thought about how his body was inhabited by the God of Wine, controlled, and mocked, he felt sick to his stomach.

Before knowing the truth, he had a neutral attitude toward “killing gods.” He despised the gods and could help in any way, willing to risk life and death. But he didn’t think it would succeed and didn’t feel much motivation.

But after learning the truth, that vague hatred became clear.

Sealing them away wasn’t enough. If there was a chance to kill a god, he wouldn’t hesitate, even if it meant falling into true death.

Zeman could sense the unrestrained killing intent in him.

“I did believe in the Sun God in the past.”

Not only that, but he had once been the most devout believer.

Zeman stared at the scorching and imposing sun in the sky. “But now, between me and the Sun God, there is only an unending death struggle.”

Padma stared at him in stunned silence, looking at the cold, resolute man who even seemed arrogant enough to confront the gods.

His wariness almost disappeared, and he let out a long breath. “No wonder Albin chose you…”

“In that case, there’s one thing I must tell you about the new saint selection by the Sun God Temple…”

When they returned to the room, Albin had already finished eating. He was happily sitting at the desk, teaching Emerald how to read.

“Emerald, look, this is how we write our names…”

Even though he was still in the process of relearning his own writing, he was very motivated as a teacher.

Hearing the door open, both he and Emerald looked over.

“You’re back!” Albin looked at them and was surprised to find the atmosphere between them much better. The uneasy feeling he had earlier was gone.

He tilted his head, not understanding what had happened before, or maybe they had just become more familiar with each other.

This made him happy. As he got up, his hair swayed lightly, bouncing around his ears.

“Daddy, the weather is so nice today, let’s go out and play! We arrived late yesterday, and I haven’t had a chance to see the city yet.”

There was a curfew at night, and if they were caught wandering the streets, they would be arrested.

Zeman happily agreed.

Emerald leaned in and said, “I want to go out and play too!”

Padma glanced at him, and Emerald realized something, lowering his head in embarrassment. “Forget it, I should practice hiding my magic aura first. Otherwise, the priests will notice.”

Unlike Padma, who had blended into human society, Emerald hadn’t practiced much before.

Albin also thought this was very important.

“Then, Emerald, you should work hard! I’ll bring you a gift!”

“Ah!” Emerald, who had been sulking, perked up suddenly. “It better be something tasty!”

“Of course!” Albin seemed to have already decided on what to bring him, grinning slyly.

Padma didn’t follow them, and in the end, only the father and son went out.

Zeman still wore the crimson cape with the shadow of the hood obscuring his handsome face. Albin, however, was unmasked, holding his hand cheerfully as they walked through the streets.

Albin mentioned taking Padma to the Rose Kingdom, and Zeman agreed.

“By the way, there’s a big surprise too!” Albin let go of his hand, skipped a few steps, and stood in front of him with his hands on his hips, proudly announcing, “Dad, the Sun God Temple says I have an all-elemental talent! The strongest kind!”

His face was full of joy and pride, his eyes sparkling with excitement, like a child who had aced a test and couldn’t wait to show off his score before even getting home.

Zeman didn’t show any surprise. He had already learned about this from Padma, and fortunately, this meant he didn’t worry immediately about Albin being targeted.

He could feel Albin’s joy and anticipation and said, “That’s a great talent. You will definitely become the most remarkable mage on this continent, and I’ll be proud of you.”

The last person with such a gift was himself, so he understood how powerful Albin would be in the future.

No matter what, he was sincerely grateful. This meant Albin would have the power to protect himself, stand tall on his own, and no longer need anyone else’s protection.

Hearing his genuine praise, Albin giggled, but still felt something was missing.

Albin lifted his hand and placed it on top of his own head.

Zeman instinctively stroked the soft top of his head.

Albin smiled, his youthful face showing no sign of the powerful mage he would one day become. He looked like a child satisfied after being praised by his father.

“Will I become stronger than Dad someday?” His crimson eyes sparkled with eagerness.

He didn’t really understand the meaning of this talent, nor did he have a concept of power. He didn’t know exactly how strong Zeman was. He just simply saw surpassing his father as a goal.

“You will,” Zeman said, with certainty.

Albin still had a long life ahead of him. As long as he worked hard and grew well, one day he would be as strong as Zeman, and maybe even surpass him, reaching new heights.

He would earn the admiration of the entire continent and possess all wealth and honor.

Hearing this, Albin’s confidence soared. He puffed out his chest and said, “Then I’ll protect Dad in the future!”

Thinking of this, Albin happily pulled Zeman forward.

Zeman hesitated.

In the future he envisioned for Albin, he never imagined his own presence.

Others had once said they would protect him, but they died while trying to protect him.

Zeman didn’t understand the meaning of his own existence.

The god he worshipped was full of lies and deception. The monsters he killed were human comrades cursed by the gods. His closest friend died because of him, and he had killed his own adoptive father with his own hands.

His past was meaningless.

Having turned into a demon dragon, his future would only bring destruction to humanity. Perhaps one day, he would even kill Albin.

His future had no meaning either.

His heart was filled with weariness and exhaustion. Perhaps he shouldn’t have existed from the start.

At least… he shouldn’t have appeared in Albin’s future.

Zeman didn’t know how to break fate, but he knew one thing: a dead man couldn’t kill a living person.

Before death, he still had time to do something for his child.

He would eliminate the rats that coveted Albin, destroy the sun god’s fragments, and destroy himself.

As a form of repayment, during this last bit of time, he wanted to enjoy this true sunlight and protect this small miracle.

“Albin.” Zeman suddenly called, “Now that you know your talent, what do you want to do in the future?”

“Saint—” Albin blurted out but quickly shut his mouth, blinking as if nothing had been said, and then corrected himself, “I want to become someone who can help everyone! I want disabled people like Gold to be helped, I want everyone to have enough food, I want no one to discriminate against burn victims, I want no one to be a slave, I want no one to sacrifice children to the gods, I want humans and monsters to live in peace…”

He continued speaking, one by one, but each of these things was incredibly difficult.

Zeman straightforwardly said, “You want to become the Saint Son, don’t you?”

He had learned a lot from Padma, including the sun god’s selection, the unmarkable holy scars, and Albin’s aspiration to become the Saint Son.

Albin lowered his head in embarrassment.

“I just want to become someone who can do those things… and, it doesn’t have to be the Saint Son, but becoming a Saint Son should increase my chances of success.”

From what he knew, in this world, where divine authority reigned supreme, the Saint Son was of much higher status than the nobility, and might even be higher than the king.

If a Saint Son and a priest couldn’t do something, then it would be even more impossible for anyone else.

“Even if becoming the Saint Son carries the risk of your body being taken over by a god?”

Zeman’s calm voice made Albin feel uneasy, as if he had been caught doing something bad behind his parent’s back.

“I still have the God-Slaying Spear…”

Zeman coldly dismissed, “How can you be sure that it will work?”

Facing Zeman’s piercing gaze, Albin thought of his father educating him in his dream last night, his voice growing smaller, his head nearly disappearing into his clothes.

“Even if it’s not me, it could be someone else’s body that gets taken over by the gods. If it’s mine, then at least one innocent life wouldn’t be lost, and I could use the opportunity to do some things I want to do…”

Albin had died at the age of eight in his past life. He didn’t fully grasp the concept of the length of life. For him, living to his father’s age would already be an incredibly long life. He had never lived that long.

So whether he left the world at 90, 60, or even 30 years old, to him, it was all the same—it was something far in the future, and he had no concept of it.

But the shortcomings of this world, however, were things he had seen with his own eyes, and it was the status quo he wanted to change.

If he couldn’t change the current state, even if he lived to 90, he would regret it.

If he could change even a little, he would be overjoyed and feel it was worth it.

Even if he failed, at least he would have tried. Maybe it would leave valuable experience for others.

Although he hoped his father would support him, he had a faint feeling his father would scold him, just like in the dream.

But to his surprise, Zeman didn’t immediately try to dissuade him.

Zeman simply asked, as if it were a game: “If you were to become the Saint Son of the Sun God’s Temple now, what would you do?”

“The Sun God’s Temple? Well, I’d first issue a decree banning discrimination against burn victims!” Albin said confidently.

Zeman responded, “It is considered a sin to be burned, according to the teachings, and the Saint Son has no right to change the teachings.”

“Ah?” Albin was stunned, then thought of another plan, “Then I’d make temples in every region help disabled people or the homeless, just like the Love Temple does.”

Having been struck down earlier, he wasn’t as sure now.

This time, Zeman said, “The Saint Son can indeed do that. You could even fundraise from the nobility to support the operation of poverty relief shelters.”

Albin brightened up again.

“I knew it!”

But Zeman asked again, “So, what would you do next?”

Having tasted success, Albin said proudly, “I would ban the nobility from hunting monsters, especially from using babies as bait. And I’d forbid priests from providing poison cures to the nobility.”

“The nobility won’t agree.” Zeman said ruthlessly. “Not only will they disagree, but they will also withdraw the funds they provide for the poverty relief shelters.”

Albin was shocked. “How could that happen? I’m the Saint Son! Why don’t they listen to me?”

He was confused. Wasn’t the Saint Son supposed to be more powerful than the nobility?

Like in chess, where the elephant could eat the lion.

“Could it be that the Saint Son of the Sun God’s Temple isn’t high enough in status?”

“The Sun God is one of the three supreme gods. The Sun God’s Temple’s influence covers almost the entire Western continent, and the Holy Sun Church is entirely ruled by the pope.”

Albin was still confused. “Why is the Sun God’s Temple ruled by a pope, but the other temples have priests?”

“Because the Holy Sun Church has no royal family, the highest priest is also the king, so they are called the pope. Similarly, the Saint Son of the Sun God’s Temple can also be called the Holy Prince.”

“So, even though I’m this powerful, with a higher status than them, why don’t they listen to me?” Albin was both angry and aggrieved.

He suddenly thought about how the teacher would keep saying “Quiet!” but the class wouldn’t quiet down. Was it the same feeling?

Zeman explained, “Because many of the priests and warriors within the church are from noble families or closely related to them. Naturally, they won’t accept any teachings that infringe on the interests of the nobility.”

Albin mumbled in dissatisfaction, “It’s just banning them from hunting monsters, not stopping them from doing anything else.”

Zeman suddenly said, “But it’s also possible that your decree would pass.”

Albin’s eyes lit up. “I knew it! It would be unreasonable if it didn’t pass!”

“But after a while, you’ll find that casualties from monster attacks in the various territories have significantly increased, and the common people will resent you.”

Albin was stunned.

“Why is that?”

“Because you banned the nobility from hunting monsters, so when monsters attack, the lords can’t defend their people, and some priests from noble families can’t take action either.”

Albin was shocked. “But that’s not what I meant! How can they misunderstand my intentions like this?”

“And you’ll also find that the nobility is still eating monster meat.”

Albin puffed up in anger, almost becoming a pufferfish.

“How could this happen? Didn’t I ban them from getting poison cures? How are they eating the monster meat?”

They misinterpreted his meaning and still ate it, how despicable!

“The nobility doesn’t hunt monsters, but there will always be commoners or priests they’ve instructed to do so, or maybe it’s just monsters that died from accidents or illness. As long as they invite a few commoners who were poisoned by accident to a feast, they can naturally get a priest to come and cure them. Don’t forget, these priests are often related to them, and sometimes they even feed some mages themselves.”

This was a total failure!

Albin’s cheeks puffed up in frustration.

So the nobility still got to eat, and they could still use babies as bait, and not only was he scolded, but many people would die because of him, and he lost funding support…

“The adults are so cunning!”

He thought banning poison cures would be a great solution, at least it would have a significant effect, but it turned out to be a massive failure.

“Being a Saint Son is so difficult,” Albin frowned, thinking of ways to solve the problem.

Zeman looked at the thoughtful expression on his face.

Despite the crushing defeat, Albin did not give up.

Becoming a Saint Son was not difficult—entering the temple, studying the teachings, gradually improving his strength, and traveling the continent after turning sixteen to exterminate monsters…

What was truly difficult was wanting to change everything, wanting to protect everyone.

But that was what made Albin precious.

He couldn’t stop Albin from wanting to help the world.

If Albin couldn’t be marked by the gods, then there was indeed a possibility of becoming the Saint Son of the Sun God’s Temple, but to truly settle down, Zeman had to first eliminate the fragments of the Sun God.

His identity would provide some experience and preparation.

The events of last night made Zeman realize that raising a child wasn’t just about providing food and warmth—it was about teaching.

He was genuinely afraid that one day Albin might foolishly lose his life trying to save someone.

He patted Albin’s head, “Wait until you can think of a better solution, then become the Saint Son.”

“I understand.” Albin took a deep breath, putting aside his worries for now and hugging him. “Thank you, Father, for teaching me all this. I’m so glad that Mr. Zeman is willing to be my dad!”

He said this, nodding vigorously to affirm it.

“Because I have a father, I can travel from the northernmost part of the continent to the southernmost part, meet so many people along the way, broaden my horizons, find my own goals, and discover my shortcomings.”

He beamed a pure, happy smile. “Every day I have a father is my lucky day!”

Zeman’s heart trembled slightly, as if his emotional walls had been gently tapped.

He had planned to dissuade Albin but hadn’t expected such a response.

At least for this moment, it seemed like he had found some meaning in his existence.

He was being pulled forward by Albin.

In the bustling street, Albin often stopped to look around, sometimes peeking over Zeman’s body to gaze at the nearby buildings, other times eagerly pulling him to run ahead into the crowd.

He moved like a slippery fish, causing Zeman to stop and go, careful not to step on his invisible tail.

Despite his lingering unease about being too close to Albin, Zeman still had to hold his hand tightly to prevent him from disappearing into the crowd at any moment.

Albin felt the tight grip and suddenly turned around to look at him. His face, with ruby-like eyes, beamed with innocence as he smiled brightly, and then he tightly gripped Zeman’s hand in return.

“Dad, stay close to me, don’t get lost.”

His grip wasn’t small. He held Zeman as if pulling a kite about to be blown away by a storm.

After enjoying the crowd, he suddenly turned around and bumped into Zeman, colliding into his chest.

Children’s world seemed full of joy, and Albin’s face was always adorned with a cheerful smile.

Zeman, whose heart had been battered by storms and filled with pain, now felt a little warmth from the white sun.

They went to a business association to finish their commission with a book vendor.

Before they left, the person in charge handed Zeman a sealed message.

Albin curiously leaned over to peek, but Zeman didn’t explain what the message was. He just carefully tucked it away, taking Albin and leaving the association.

By evening, they returned to the tavern.

Padma and Emerald were still there, and Albin, beaming with excitement, returned holding a basket.

Padma asked, “What’s inside?”

Albin uncovered the lid and presented a steaming honey apple pie, rough in appearance, with no fancy designs on the surface, slightly crooked, not like something made by a professional.

“Ta-da~ come and eat, everyone! I made this myself, after running to several bakeries! But I didn’t bake it myself, I just rolled the dough and added the honeyed apples I bought…” 

He was full of confidence in his creation, after all, he had made pizza in his food education class, and the process was similar.

They cut and shared it while it was still hot. The surface had a nice baked color, but the crust was a bit thick, and the apple chunks inside were uneven, which was a little odd, but also kind of cute.

Padma looked at the clumsily made apple pie in his hand and suddenly thought of the words he had heard under the bed last night.

This child made the apple pie to make him happy.

Albin definitely made it for him, but didn’t want others to think he was being partial, so he made sure to give some to everyone else as well.

Thinking this, he felt warmth in his heart, and his gaze toward Zeman and Emerald became slightly unkind, as though they were eating something that belonged to him.

Emerald, on the other hand, completely ignored his gaze and was devouring the pie.

Albin really did bring him something delicious! (Swallow, swallow, swallow)

Zeman tasted the sweet apple pie and saw Albin’s expectant look, giving an approving comment. As expected, Albin’s face lit up with joy.

So happy—this must have been made for him.

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