I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 101

It was a potent 56-proof whiskey.
Lucian was not one to indulge in alcohol, but today he wanted to surrender his emotions to intoxication.
The strong liquor quickly lifted his spirits. As warmth flooded his body, his mind became equally intoxicated.

In truth, Lucian believed the emotion he felt toward Berry was a sense of debt.
Lucian was Princess Belesa’s right hand. Therefore, shouldn’t he repay the debt for what Belesa had done to Berry? And that child shared the same blood flowing through his veins.

“I would like to introduce you to a promising investment opportunity, Lucian—”

Victor Stings presented me with an investment proposal at precisely the right moment.
I had decided to invest the inheritance I received from my grandmother into Reytan Quartz Trabel’s business ventures. Eventually, that money would pass to his daughter, Berry.
The head of the Blue Company was astonished at the figure of 30 billion I proposed. That reaction left me feeling oddly relieved. It felt as though I had repaid my debt.
I thought that was the extent of my responsibility—

“Uncle Lucian!”

I nearly wept at the mere fact that Berry called me uncle.
I learned from Reytan right then and there that it was a casual term for close male acquaintances.
During those few moments, my mind conjured endless fantasies.
‘I’m Berry’s uncle…’
Going to an amusement park with my niece Berry, taking a swim at a recently purchased island, riding a hot air balloon operated by an eagle-kin—
The Alexis Duke Family was harmonious, and I was someone accustomed to familial warmth. I was the sort of person who could feel the bonds of kinship even with strangers, as long as blood connected us.
Reytan and I sat across from each other at the edge of a large table. Considerable time had passed since opening the first bottle. Perhaps this opportunity would allow us to grow closer. Whether it was the Aubaut God’s doing, words seemed to flow effortlessly today.
“I…”
My mind was still heated by intoxication. I believed I was thinking rationally, but to others, I was simply a drunk.
Reytan responded appropriately to my drunken rambling and continued drinking.
The fact that the family business had received 30 billion in investment, that the money came from Lucian Alexis—it still bothered me.
But there was no helping it after noticing Mariane’s suspicious movements.
After the article about Lucian appeared, people began lurking around the Trang Costume Atelier. So I had Victor investigate their backgrounds.

“It seems Lady Mariane intends to eliminate the Trang Costume Atelier. Apparently, there are people approaching the landowner of the atelier these days.”

Though it had recently gained popularity, Trang Costume Atelier was merely a small establishment with a single branch in Hisport Town.
The kind of place Mariane could effortlessly erase without lifting a finger, should she choose to do so.
In truth, the reason I had taken notice of Trang Costume Atelier and continued patronizing it was because of those talented and passionate individuals who refused to cut corners, who built their business through honest labor. It was like watching my late brother all over again.
And regardless, they had become deeply entangled with me now. I could not simply stand by while Mariane made a move against my business partner.

“I’ll handle that matter. And reject Lucian Alexis’s investment proposal.”

That was my conclusion.
But then Victor Stings flicked his serpentine tongue at me.

“Do you know how small creatures survive, sir?”
“….”
“By growing larger. So large that predators can’t even stomach the thought of swallowing them.”
“And?”
“Give 30 billion cona to Trang Costume Atelier as feed to grow it. Then I’ll ensure that in this competition for the Separate House, your performance remains at the very bottom. That’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

Grow the business, suppress the performance metrics.
It was a ridiculous proposition meant to tempt me, but if Mariane had been trying to uproot Trang Costume Atelier in its infancy, then growing it was necessary. And this certainly wouldn’t be the last time she tried.
Because it was the nature of those beasts to dismiss weak things as insignificant and eliminate them.
“….”
Well, Victor Stings’s claim about keeping me at the bottom wasn’t entirely baseless.
The performance metrics reflected in the Separate House competition were half of the business’s net profit.
Since Trang Costume Atelier and my children’s clothing business were technically separate entities, the revenue would be divided first, and then my business’s net profit would be calculated.
‘If I earn that much, I can simply spend more.’
I had considerable expertise in suppressing performance metrics. There were several ways to reduce the performance figures reflected in the Separate House competition, beyond just the business itself.
“Actually… that’s true. What was childhood affection, after all….”
Lucian Alexis, sitting diagonally across from me, was still deep in his cups. I gazed toward the shop door.
In the establishment that Victor Stings had boasted of renting entirely, there were only Lucian and myself.
As the drinking session stretched past midnight, the owner had handed the keys to Victor and left. The others had rushed off to the Blue Company, eager to raid Victor Stings’s prized collection of liquor stored there.
“Berry… to me….”
No one was listening, but I found it deeply displeasing to hear my daughter’s name from Lucian’s lips. Earlier, when Berry had called him uncle, if I hadn’t reflexively grabbed Windis, I don’t know what would have happened.
I spoke to Lucian.
“Stop.”
“But… brother-in-law….”
Crash.
“I’ve been waiting for this! This is exactly~! Victor’s-!”
Whoooosh!
“…trea…sure…. …hic.”
The Head Designer, her face flushed with excitement, stood frozen in the doorway, bottle in hand.
As she tilted her head back in a daze, half of the sizable shop was spinning through the night sky in a whirlwind. Watching the houses drift away from the city, the designer murmured to herself.
“A dream…is it…?”
“Could it be a dream…?”
Thud, crack.
Debris tumbled from the building at the boundary, as if searching for the torn-away half.
Victor, who had entered the shop through the new opening, barely managed to curl his lips upward as he turned toward Reytan, who sat composedly in his seat, his voice trembling.
“Already…it seems you’re reducing your performance record…?”
Since it was an accident caused by Reytan, the shop would request compensation from the Trabel Family. Of course, his performance record would be deducted accordingly.
“….”
Reytan shrugged his shoulders, and Lucian pressed his lips firmly together as he gazed at the shop with half of it gone.
Never again would I call the owner my brother-in-law.
The three trees that Belesa had pulled out at the grand banquet seemed laughable in comparison.
“…My apologies.”

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19. The New Ore Vein and the Owner of the Key

With the 30 billion Cona investment confirmed, welcome news continued to arrive.
Word came that Baltar had discovered a new ore vein in the Crest Mine.

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We have found a new ore vein at the location Baron Oldman mentioned.
We shall soon assemble the workforce and construct the passage.
I eagerly await the day we meet in person.
———-

‘A meeting?’
The last sentence was incomprehensible to me.
A meeting, no less. Baron Oldman would never reveal himself to the outside world. Where on earth had this notion come from?
I would have to ask Jenny about it later.
“Anyway~”
I was grateful the outcome had turned out well.
The other me had gone on that field trip to the Mines, found the differences between that map and the current one, marked them, and presented them—and Baltar had pierced through the ore vein in one go!
[Little Quartz!]
“Hmm?”
I was heading to the Room of Contemplation to file away Baltar’s letter.
Akum, who had supposedly gone out from Stone House, burst into the room in a frenzy.
[You know that thing, right?! The one we found last time!]
“Last time?”
I tilted my head in confusion. What had we found last time?
Akum bounced impatiently on the floor as he spoke to me.
[The key from the crow’s nest!]
“Oh!”
It was the key we had discovered inside the nest when searching for the pearl earrings.
Akum urged me on.
[There’s somewhere we need to take it! I found something of Julia’s!]
“Really?”
Countess Trabel’s belongings?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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