The Time-Stop Breeding Uncle Want’s to Retire

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Today, there were two pieces of good news.

One was that I received a reward for completing the mission.

The contents were canned food, bread, and meat.

In the current situation, such proper food was worth its weight in gold.

Of course, I had a lot of food, but I had no intention of eating it directly. Because those were things that the Time Stop Breeding Uncle had stolen from other people and hoarded.

After cursing the Time Stop Breeding Uncle so much, I would eat the food he stole myself?

No matter how you looked at it, it seemed hypocritical.

But I couldn’t just throw away the precious food either.

So, I distributed the food that the Time Stop Breeding Uncle had stolen to people who weren’t properly receiving rations.

Of course, I couldn’t distribute it openly. If they asked where this food came from, I wouldn’t have anything to say.

So I stopped time and distributed it secretly. And then, the second piece of news.

“I lost a lot of weight! Hooray!”

In fact, this was the most important news. How should I describe the appearance of the Time Stop Breeding Uncle?

It was exactly double the appearance of the piggy bastards that appeared in a certain comic book.

Of course, it was definitely not a human appearance. It was closer to an orc.

And when Ithat appearance had become my own, I seriously considered committing suicide.

But my hard work until now hadn’t been in vain.

I was finally able to overcome that orcish appearance.

Although, I still looked like a middle-aged man with a beer belly.

“There was a point in suffering for an hour last time.”

What was she called, Gourmet Anieta?

Anyways, It took me a whole hour to kill her.

Thanks to that, I lost a lot of weight.

Basically, the time stop ability consumed a lot of stamina. And, I had used a sword like a literal saw for a whole hour without rest.

Which was extremely difficult.

Frankly, if I didn’t have the stamina and know-how from frequent usage of this time stop ability, I probably wouldn’t have been able to endure it.

Inevitably, the ability would of released almost instantly.

And if that happened, my death was 100% certain.

As for that guy named Clarence, he might’ve survived. But, he was a rather lucky bastard.

Anyway, because of that fight, I realized my severe lack of skill and trained even harder today as a result.

Even if I couldn’t become like Clarence, at the very least, I had to become an ordinary knight.

“Uncle! Uncle!”

“What?”

“Are you training?”

“No, I’m already finished.”

I answered curtly as I put away my sword.

I had to deliberately maintain a stiff way of speaking, or the unique speech pattern of the Time Stop Breeding Uncle would pop out.

At least with this, I could restrain it to some extent.

Unbeknownst to me, the little kid with red hair had approached me and grabbed my sleeve.

This meant that today’s training ended here.

Even if it wasn’t now, I could train later on my own.

Moreover, if I wasn’t there, the little kid would be left alone. So, it couldn’t be helped.

Honestly, I wondered if this was okay.

I was in a situation where even taking care of myself was overwhelming.

Even though I was acquainted with him, wasn’t I doing something I couldn’t take responsibility for?

I pondered over it countless times.

“Wow, it’s snowing.”

“Is it already winter?”

“Uncle! When the snow piles up, let’s make a snowman!”

“…Yeah, let’s do that.”

However, when I saw the little kid’s brightly smiling face, I just thought it didn’t matter.

The little kid happily ran around in the snow, and I watched.

“Come to think of it, what time period is it now?”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

The story of this game was about the protagonist rebuilding the annihilated Royal Knights.

And to put it another way, it meant that the Royal Knights would be annihilated.

Surprisingly, not much was revealed about the previous generation of Royal Knights.

It was only mentioned how strong they were to some extent, but the reason why they were annihilated was never explained.

It was mentioned that they fell 7 years before the protagonist joined the Royal Knights.

Seeing the current situation, it meant that they had already been annihilated long ago or would soon be annihilated.

It would be nice if I could prevent that, but unfortunately, I didn’t have that much power now.

In the end, I had no choice but to stand by and watch.

Then, the little kid suddenly shoved his face in front of me.

“Uncle! You were thinking about something else again, right?!”

“I had something to think about for a moment.”

“I haven’t seen you for several days. Play with me too!”

“Okay, okay.”

Now, the little kid even climbed onto my back and rubbed his face against the top of my head.

I laughed and carried the little kid on my back.

It had been like this since I returned from the mission.

It seemed like he was feeling extremely lonely from not seeing me for a long time.

Well, he was at that age in the first place.

I comforted the little kid and walked towards the street.

As the snow fell, people became even busier.

They took out the fuel they had stored up until now and lit fires. And they reinforced the tents to block out the cold.

The cold was always the worst enemy.

Especially in a situation where supplies were scarce, it was even more so.

Come to think of it, what about the little kid’s house?

I had seen the little kid’s house a few times while distributing food.

It’s condition wasn’t very good.

“What about your house?”

“I can still endure it for now!”

“It’s obvious even without looking. Come to my house.”

“What? But that’s…”

“Don’t refuse. You’ll freeze to death like that.”

“O-okay…”

Perhaps because it had gotten too cold, the little kid’s face turned as red as a radish.

He was playing in the snow earlier, so it was natural for him to feel the cold.

I quickened my pace.

After returning to the hut, I put the firewood I had stored up until now into the fireplace. And I lit it with a torch.

Soon, with the crackling sound, the firewood began to burn.

I had gathered enough firewood to distribute and still have plenty left. And I had also gathered food while working as a security guard.

This should be enough to cover one little kid. I took out a can.

“Eat.”

“I-I don’t know if it’s okay to receive something like this.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“What?”

“A child just needs to be a child.”

At least this was sincere.

Thanks to the food that the Time Stop Breeding Uncle had hoarded, I was able to take care of not only this little kid but also other children and people.

At least it had some use.

Of course, that didn’t mean I had any intention of defending the Time Stop Breeding Uncle, not even a little bit.

The little kid soon opened the can.

I nodded my head as I watched.

Thanks to the bonfire burning hot at the center of the hut, warm heat filled the hut.

After finishing the meal, as I was staring blankly at the bonfire, the little kid spoke.

“Uncle, can I ask you a favor?”

“If it’s something I can do, I’ll do it.”

“Please teach me swordsmanship.”

“…???”

Suddenly?

* * *

Waiting was so painful.

Especially if it was a situation where you could only wait endlessly for someone precious to you, the pain was doubled.

The girl knew the pain of waiting all too well.

Her mother had once told her that if she prayed sincerely to God, her wish would surely come true. So the girl prayed.

She prayed and prayed until her hands and feet became numb.

However, in the end, God did not grant the girl’s prayer.

The girl’s parents did not return.

Or rather, they couldn’t. The end of the futile waiting was hell.

But they’d come today.

They’d definitely come back today.

She had to wait until today.

Like that, her unrequited feelings grew and devoured her.

And once more, the girl had to wait. Uncle had gone out on a mission.

It was unbelievable.

Could it be, no way, right?

That was right.

Uncle promised.

He would definitely come back.

It was then that the girl realized.

Sitting and praying was ultimately meaningless.

One had to protect what was precious with their own hands.

Otherwise, they would lose everything.

[What are you doing alone?]

[Uncle…?!]

[Yeah, I’m back.]

The first person to come back, the person who rewarded her waiting. The girl felt her emotions welling up.

In the girl’s heart, there was only uncle now, no one else.

Severe loneliness made one crave attention.

And when you felt the warm warmth you had lost again, you had no choice but to become obsessed with it.

Because you knew coldness far too well.

The girl never wanted to go back to that time again.

That time where she survived alone, prayed futilely, harbored vain filled hopes, and forced herself to live counting the days passed.

“I haven’t seen you for several days. Play with me too!”

And the girl’s earnest wish turned into action.

She didn’t want anyone to take him away.

She wanted to monopolize him.

But uncle didn’t only look at her. It was only natural.

Because uncle was a hero.

The girl knew.

She knew that uncle was distributing firewood and food to other people, including herself.

Then what should she do?

What should she do to make uncle look only at her?

There was a limit to just throwing tantrums. She pondered and pondered. And finally, the girl realized.

She just needed to become strong.

“Uncle, can I ask you a favor?”

Uncle was such a kind and cool uncle. But other people didn’t know anything about her uncle.

Therefore, the girl wished.

She wished that others would never know.

“Please teach me swordsmanship.”

When uncle was not there, that time was hell for the girl.

Now that she knew that, the girl no longer hesitated.

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