IBRIP l CH 87

Chapter 87 

“Hmm, it’s kind of like how sweet potatoes act. A game is only fun when you win it on your own. If you use cheat codes, it feels boring.”

If Winter ever saw how I played forest games with animals, he’d be shocked.
I’d sell fruits, plant money trees, and pay off debts—and it was fun every time! I played that game for 40 hours straight and never got bored.

And this situation now felt pretty similar.

Winter still looked confused, but I just shrugged my shoulders.

“Okay, sweet potato. Let’s try on your new clothes!”

While shopping, I saw a cute outfit and thought it was perfect for the baby sweet potato. Even though he looks like a potato, he looked too bare.
It was so cute that I bought it before I even realized it.

I took the baby out of the wrap and laid him on my lap.

I raised his tiny arms to help him wear the new outfit, but then—

“Huh? Wait, what’s going on? Is he sick? Why is the skin peeling off?”

My voice got louder from panic.

As Winter lifted the baby’s arms to dress him, the skin around his chest suddenly peeled—like a sweet potato skin cracking.

We looked at each other in shock and quickly checked the spot.

“He’s… peeling,” Winter said.

“And underneath… is that real skin?” I added nervously.

With trembling hands, I gently pulled on the skin—it came off easily, just like peeling steamed sweet potatoes.

The baby didn’t cry. Instead, he giggled and started wiggling his arms and legs, as if asking us to take it all off.

And the more he moved, the more the skin cracked.

So Winter and I carefully removed the rest of it.

“He’s a boy,” Winter said.

“No way…”

And just like that, a real human baby (formerly a sweet potato) lay in front of us.

Yes, he still had that one weird root-like hair sticking out of his head, and yes, he was small like a potato—but otherwise, he was a perfectly normal baby boy.

I was so overwhelmed that I closed my eyes tightly.

Then Winter said politely, “Congratulations, Izana. It’s a boy.”

“Not funny!”

What was this baby, really?

‘How do I even explain this?!’

I clutched my head and screamed silently.

And sadly, I was right.

***

Back at the palace

“Daughter…”

The Emperor looked at the baby boy (now dressed) with a cold, suspicious expression.

I pointed to the single sprout growing from the top of his head.

“Look! See this? He’s a spirit! He’s definitely not a human baby I picked up somewhere. He’s a spirit!”

The Emperor turned to Winter and gave him a sharp glare, clearly demanding an explanation.

“What kind of magical creature is that?”

Winter poked the baby’s cheek.

The baby bit down hard on Winter’s finger and chewed with all his might, looking very serious.

“As you can see, he doesn’t like me. I’m just watching him for now. But he’s not dangerous, so you don’t need to worry.”

The Emperor saw the teeth marks on Winter’s finger and sighed deeply.

But when I looked at him with desperate eyes, he finally gave in, raising both hands and nodding.

***

The Next Day

I got ready to go to the training ground.
The baby, now a real human boy, wriggled his arms and legs and stared at me.

I handed him to Winter, who was wearing the baby wrap.

Together, we walked confidently toward the training grounds.

“I’m going to ask Oscar more about that day. But what if he doesn’t remember much?”

“Then we’ll have to either pull out the memory with magic… or go into Oscar Tradi’s mind directly,” Winter explained.

Using magic on Oscar… If I were alone, I’d never even try.

Even if I found another wizard, memory magic is so advanced and dangerous that both the caster and the target could be seriously harmed if something goes wrong.

But with Winter here, it was possible to consider.

Still, it’d be better if we could solve this without any magic at all.

“If the distortion is hidden deep inside Oscar’s mind, we’ll have no choice but to go in. But that comes with a problem,” Winter said.

“What kind of problem?”

“I can’t enter Oscar’s mind,” he said calmly.

“It’s because of how long I’ve lived. I’ve gone through so many regressions that normal humans can’t handle my mind.”

“What do you mean by ‘can’t handle’…?”

“If I go into his mind, Oscar will lose himself. His sense of identity will collapse. At best, he’ll think he’s Winter Orsirus.”

It was like trying to drink the ocean through a straw—Oscar’s mind was too small to hold Winter’s massive, ancient consciousness.

He was just a ten-year-old kid, and there was no way he could handle someone who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years.

“In the worst case, Oscar could die from heart failure—like I used to when I regressed,” Winter added.

As we reached the outdoor training ground, the sounds of clashing swords and shouting knights filled the air.

I searched for Oscar and said, “Let me try talking to him first. He’s been trying to impress me lately—he’d probably even drink water through his nose if I asked.”

“That’s amusing,” Winter said with a smile. “I’m glad I became your escort.”

Just then, I saw a flash of bright red hair dancing in the distance.

Oscar.

I approached carefully so I wouldn’t interrupt his training.

‘He’s so full of spirit.’

Oscar was swinging his sword with fierce focus, just like Boris did yesterday.

Even the knights nearby were glancing nervously—his energy was that intense.

Sir Rad, who had been watching, finally walked over and called out.

“Oscar.”

“….”

“Oscar Tradi!”

“…Ah!”

Oscar snapped out of his trance at Sir Rad’s sharp voice.

“Sir Rad! When did you get here?”

“Oscar, put your sword down.”

Sir Rad looked serious. Oscar wiped his forehead and lowered the sword.

Sir Rad frowned.

“You’re not allowed to train any further today. Go home.”

Oscar protested, eyes still burning with passion.

“But Sir Rad, you said if I skipped even a day, I’d lose my touch! I have to practice every day!”

“You only swing a sword for one of two reasons,” Sir Rad said, raising one finger.

“One: to protect.”

Then he raised a second finger.

“Two: to kill.”

Oscar clenched his fists tightly.

“I’m swinging it to protect. I want to settle the past with honor, and move forward! I want to protect the trust between our families!”

Sir Rad didn’t reply—he just looked down at Oscar quietly.

Oscar shouted in frustration, “You think I’m overreacting, don’t you? Just because it was an animal’s life, you think I’m being childish!”

Sir Rad looked at him for a moment… then said coldly, “Forget what I said earlier.”

He continued, “Until the day of the duel, you’re not allowed to even touch a sword. That’s an order. If you disobey, don’t bother coming back here.”

“Sir Rad! Why are you doing this to me?! What did I do wrong…?”

Before he could finish, Sir Rad stepped on Oscar’s practice sword—snapping it in half.

Oscar was too shocked to speak.

Sir Rad said, “Right now, you’re not swinging that sword to protect or to kill.”

“….”

“You’re only thinking of how to hurt Boris. How to make it look like an accident while damaging him on purpose.”

“….”

“You think I can’t tell how badly you want to spill blood?”

Oscar’s head dropped low.

His clenched fists turned pale.

Then he turned around and walked away with heavy, angry steps.

‘If only you waited 30 more minutes…’

Discipline always comes at the worst timing.

I looked at Oscar’s retreating figure and couldn’t help but blame Sir Rad a little.

But I can’t give up now.

“Oscar!”

I called out to him in a cheerful and bright voice—louder than usual.

Because sometimes, being bold is half the battle.