I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 112

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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 112

So I’d made a promise with Calips to head to Goldport after class, and we’d arranged to meet again in front of the Education Hall after each returning to our respective residences.
The moment I arrived at Stone House, I sought out Father.
“Father, Father! Calips said he wanted to go to Goldport to buy shoes—can Theon and Jeffrey come with us?”
“Just the children? That’s dangerous. I should come along—”
“No, you can’t. Calips is afraid of you.”
I whispered to Father. This was the most crucial point if I wanted to accomplish my goal today.
“And it seems like Calips looks down on me because I’m a commoner, like I couldn’t even afford shoes. I’ll buy shoes for Theon and Jeffrey too and show him up.”
“…Showing him up is fine, but where is Berry getting the money?”
“I’d like to request an advance on ten years of my allowance.”
The money I could spend transparently was only twelve thousand Cona, accumulated from the thousand Cona I occasionally received from Grandfather. That wouldn’t even buy shoelaces.
I had no allowance from Father until the end of this year. The gold coins I’d collected while restoring the water veins were money Father didn’t know about, so I couldn’t use them. So the only thing I could rely on was—
My future allowance! My future self was helping my present self!
“Berry, Berry, that kind of spending habit isn’t very good.”
“I’ll pay interest instead.”
“With what?”
“A lifetime massage voucher! The one I issued to Marshall Grandmother~”
Father let out a soft chuckle at my words, but his expression grew interested. I clearly remembered how he’d gazed at the massage voucher I’d issued to Marshall Grandmother with envious eyes last time.
“But Berry, can you really show up Calips with ten years of allowance?”
“…How much is it?”
“1.2 million Cona.”
“Eek.”
My allowance this year was ten thousand Cona per month. That’s 120,000 Cona a year. At this rate, ten years would be 1.2 million Cona.
“Unbelievable. What about raises?!”
“Allowance raise negotiations happen in the last month of each year, don’t they? If I’m getting an advance now, I have to take it at current rates.”
“But with 1.2 million Cona…”
That would only buy one pair of shoes. With three of us going and only one person’s feet covered, it would be hard to really show up Calips.
Seeing my dejected expression, Father spoke.
“Then would you like to hear a proposal from me?”
“Yes. I’d like to hear it.”
“Buy whatever shoes you want there and have them bill it under my name.”
“Huh. You’re buying them? Even for Theon and Jeffrey?”
“But there’s a condition for Berry too.”
It was a condition attached to the 3.6 million Cona in support.
It was equivalent to thirty years of my advance allowance. A condition was nothing.
“Yes! What is it?”
My eyes gleamed as I said I’d do anything. Father spoke to me.
“I went with Callet. You need a guardian.”

***

Huh. Honestly, I hadn’t expected this at all.
Though Callet and Father were childhood friends, they rarely moved about together within the Trabel Estate.
Callet was Grandfather’s aide, and Father didn’t care much for Grandfather.
“Let us depart, Miss Berry.”
I regarded Callet—who had come to fetch us at Stone House—with curious eyes. This was Father’s request, not Grandfather’s command…?
“Is it alright if I come along? I don’t have to stay right beside Grandfather?”
“The master has given his permission.”
“Oh…”
Somewhat bewildered by Father’s farewell, I was heading to the Education Hall with Theon, Jeffrey, and Callet.
Ciel, whom I happened to encounter, approached me and asked in a friendly tone.
“Berry, where are you going?”
“Oh, yes. I’m heading to the Education Hall! I promised Calips I’d go to Goldport to buy shoes!”
This was the first time I’d been present when Theon and Ciel met.
For some reason, I found myself constantly watching Theon’s expression.
“I should hurry and wait for Calips.”
As I tried to leave hastily, Ciel linked her arm through mine as I began walking.
“Really? Let’s go together. These are your friends, right? The ones living in the Separate House with you?”
Before I could introduce them, Ciel greeted Theon and Jeffrey first.
“Hello, I’m Ciel, Berry’s cousin.”
“Hi—oh, right. Um—. I’m Jeffrey!”
“Jeffrey, I see. And you?”
“…”
Ciel pointedly asked Theon. Instead of answering, Theon looked at the arm Ciel had linked through mine, then extended his hand toward me.
“Berry, your balance is leaning to one side. You’ll fall.”
“Really! Thank you! And Ciel, this person is—”
“I know. Theon Phil Voltman.”
Wait. Then why did you ask?
I took Theon’s offered hand and observed Ciel’s reaction. Her face looked pouty. Then Ciel unlinked her arm from mine and declared:
“I’m coming too. It’s time I bought new shoes.”
What a strange person, I thought.
Jeffrey whispered from behind me.
Then we even ran into the Twins, and Ciel convinced them to come along. It didn’t concern us, aiming for the lowest ranking, but there was a subtle hierarchy among the direct line based on Separate House status.
The Twins living in the third-ranked house couldn’t reasonably refuse the words of Ciel, who lived in the first-ranked house.
“…”
Of course, Calips knew nothing of these circumstances.

***

“That’s why I was planning to go with just Callet and us, you know? But then Ciel, Mati, and Hati said they wanted to come along too~”
“I’m not going.”
Calips, who had been waiting in front of the Education Hall, pouted with clear displeasure after hearing my explanation.
“Why?”
Without a word, Calips jerked his chin toward the space behind me. I turned to look.
Three carriages that Callet had summoned through an attendant, and six Knights accompanying us as an escort.
Ciel and the Twins were already seated together in one carriage. Theon and Jeffrey stood before another carriage, waiting for me.
“Are we really going to parade through town like a mob?”
“So what?”
“Listen, you don’t go to fancy shops like that. I only agreed because you said you’d bring just two people. Forget it—what am I doing with you? Just buy shoes from some street vendor instead.”
Calips furrowed his brow and turned away. I feigned disappointment and murmured to myself.
“Is that so? That’s too bad. I was really looking forward to you showing me around the shoe shop, Calips.”
“…”
From experience, Calips was the type who would resist if you grabbed him. In situations like this, it was best to let him go while dangling something that would leave him wanting more.
‘I can’t let my plan fall apart—I was going to use the excuse of impressing Calips to buy Theon a nice pair of shoes…!’
It wasn’t even an advance on my allowance; it was funding from Father.
The heel of Calips’s shoe twitched slightly. I let out a sigh.
“I suppose I’ll just have to watch when Ciel buys her shoes instead.”
“…”
“The Maid Sister’s shoes I saw at Sapphire House were so pretty too. Weren’t they 50,000 kona? I only brought 12,000 kona today—do you think I could afford them?”
“…Hey.”
Calips’s shoe turned toward me. When I lifted my head, I saw he was covering his mouth with one hand. The corners of his lips that weren’t quite hidden were twitching with suppressed amusement.
“You only have 12,000 kona?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Never mind. Let’s go.”
“You’re going?”
“Yeah. I have to.”
Calips walked forward with evident enthusiasm.
Calips’s expression didn’t crumble until after we arrived at the shoe shop in Goldport and I had selected all the shoes, when I told the clerk how I wanted to pay.
“I’d like to pay in full for all three pairs at once! Please bill it to Reytan Quartz Trabel~”
“Of course. Thank you for your business.”
“…Hey…”
“What?”
“…Never mind.”
Calips lowered the hand he’d been using to cover his mouth. His expression was like that of a betrayed Porchi.

***

Theon looked down at his feet awkwardly.
‘Too expensive.’
One hundred seventeen thousand cona. I was wearing shoes that cost more than the single gold coin that had made my grandmother weep.
The clothes from Trang Clothing Shop that I wore each time were similarly priced, but the adults had never given me the opportunity to see the price tags, so I hadn’t known their cost.
‘Should I even accept something like this?’
Berry had asked me to help her show Calips what she was made of. I couldn’t refuse when Jeffrey’s shoes were being purchased as well.
This was the first time I’d personally chosen new shoes from a shop.
In Leaf Village, I’d inherited worn hand-me-downs, and after arriving at Stone House, I’d been blessed with an abundance of shoes that suited me.
“….”
I’d come out to the lobby first and was waiting for Berry. Suddenly the employees bustled about, and the shop’s ornate doors swung wide open on both sides.
Theon’s eyes widened at the sight of the man entering through the doors.

“His Imperial Majesty the Emperor enters—!”
“Theon, you just need to clap here.”

It was that person I’d seen at the grand banquet of the Aubaut Religion.

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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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