I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 140

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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 140

I was the one who felt embarrassed by Theon’s answer. Jealousy, of all things.
‘Ridiculous. That can’t be right.’
Hope bloomed uncontrollably, and my lips nearly curved upward. I lowered my head and bit my lip to suppress the smile threatening to spread across my entire face.
‘It would be strange to show that I’m pleased to hear such words between friends.’
Theon’s jealousy was surely a different kind than the jealousy that had just surfaced in my mind.
Unlike how my gaze toward Theon had changed, his gaze toward me remained unchanged from before.
‘Adolescence, adolescence.’
I recalled as much knowledge about adolescence as possible in my mind. Rational thinking about emotional behavior had the effect of suppressing that behavior. Of course, it would depend on the magnitude of the emotion.
“Jealousy?”
Slice, slice. I naturally opened my mouth as I cut the shrimp Theon had peeled for me with my knife. My playful tone was no different from usual. Good. Theon wouldn’t notice at this level.
“So Yuraha and I seemed like close friends to you?”
“No.”
In my field of vision as I looked at the plate and table, Theon’s hand moved. He cut the shrimp on his own plate with fork and knife as he spoke.
“I didn’t like not knowing.”
“Not knowing?”
Our gazes weren’t meeting each other. The shrimp was already cut to an edible size, but I still couldn’t lift my head. I continued moving my hand, pretending to thinly coat the sauce from the plate onto my knife.
“What do you mean?”
“That there’s someone close to you that I don’t know about.”
“Huh?”
I lifted my head. Theon, who had been staring at his plate, also raised his gaze to look at me.
“It was my misunderstanding, though.”
“R-right. Yuraha and I aren’t that close.”
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Theon. Without realizing it, I shook my head and spoke words to clear up his misunderstanding. This was it. I had been captivated by Theon of my own accord.
“I was jealous of that. The fact that he knew about a relationship, but I didn’t.”
“I see.”
“Sorry, Berry. That was childish.”
“It wasn’t.”
At my words, Theon averted his gaze from me.
….
And for a few seconds, there was only silence without conversation. That brief moment of air felt awkward. The heavy atmosphere made my respiratory tract itch.
‘…Wait?’
Then a sudden realization came to me.
‘This is the first time he’s said the word jealousy.’
Theon was cautious about defining unfamiliar emotions. He would think and worry for days or even months until he was certain. That meant Theon hadn’t felt this emotion for the first time.
‘So, there was another person close enough to Theon for him to be jealous like this…’
Someone else I knew? I chewed the shrimp Theon had peeled for me in one bite, then asked him. Of course, with a gentle smile.
“Isn’t Theon here?”
“What do you mean?”
“Someone close to me that I don’t know.”
“…Berry.”
“Right.”
It was just as Theon slowly moved his lips.
Tap. Tap.
The sound of knocking came from the Restaurant’s glass window.

***

Since we couldn’t open the Restaurant window, we quickly finished our meal and stepped outside the building.
Jack Jack, who had been perched on a nearby tree, flew over and landed on Theon’s shoulder. With few people around and the day growing dark, no one paid particular attention to the Great Tit humanoid sitting on his shoulder.
After exchanging brief greetings, we continued our conversation quietly. The topic centered on our visit to the fence earlier today and what we needed to do going forward.
“…So I’d appreciate it if Zena Chaser could remain there as Baron Oldman’s Representative until the day after tomorrow.”
“Should I tell Zena Chaser to stay there starting today?”
“Starting today? Zena Chaser is arriving today?”
I tilted my head at Jack Jack’s words.
It was remarkable that Zena Chaser, traveling by carriage, would arrive around the same time as Jack Jack, who could fly. Unless she were riding a horse, but Zena Chaser didn’t enjoy horseback riding.
“Zena has already arrived. She’s been looking for lodging nearby, but if we’ve decided on a place, there’s no need for that.”
“She’s already here? How?”
At my question, Jack Jack shook his body with a shudder. If compared to a human, it was an expression of revulsion. Jack Jack’s beak trembled as he spoke in a tone bordering on disgust.
“I despise the Wolf Tribe.”
Then, sensing something, he startled and flew skyward as if fleeing.
“What’s going on?”
“Berry, look over there.”
Theon pointed behind me. Turning around to look back, I spotted a familiar face silhouetted against the setting sun. Jeffrey stood with both hands planted firmly on his hips, calling out toward us.
“I’m here!”
Given that Jeffrey had arrived just a day after Theon and I came to Belodia, it appeared he’d received help from the Wolf Tribe members he’d been close with for years.
“Jeffrey? What about your schedule?”
“I wrapped everything up. Oh, and I ran into the owner of your favorite Candy Shop on the way here, so we came together? Since they said they could carry two more people!”
“I see.”
“Sister Berry.”
Jeffrey standing before me grinned mischievously, his fangs just barely visible.
“Give me your hand.”
“My hand? Here.”
Clink. Jeffrey dropped something into my hand. Five gold coins.
“I earned gold coins!”
Gold coins, Theon murmured quietly beside me.

***

Bring me the Jewel of the Sun, and I’ll pay you 10 billion Cona.
The rumor spread through the underworld in the blink of an eye, and fortune seekers from both within Belodia and beyond flocked to the city.

Three days had passed since Baron Oldman ordered the rumor to be spread.
“This is the Jewel of the Sun?”
Morkan, a fence, remained in Belodia. He was examining the gem that four con artists from the Papper Kingdom had brought to his front shop, an antique store that served as his cover.
Morkan’s brow furrowed as he appraised what the con artists claimed was the Jewel of the Sun. While its appearance resembled the known descriptions, magnification revealed the interior of the gem was cloudy.
“It’s a fake.”
“Ah, you too, sir.”
One of the con artists, sitting askew on the sofa behind Morkan’s work table, chuckled as he spoke.
“The deadline is today, so if we don’t have it, we have to make a fake. How many craftsmen can create something like that in two days? A master poured his heart and soul into this craftsmanship. Baron Oldman will be satisfied with it, or so they say.”
“I was a fool. I shouldn’t have joined hands with you lot again.”
The rumor had spread from Morkan’s mouth. Because of it, there were those who contacted him asking him to procure similar gems, and he could frequently hear reports from those who had brought fake jewels hoping for the 10 billion Cona reward.
“Do you know what happens when you bring a fake?”
The location Baron Oldman designated was a building next to the Shipyard on the outskirts of Belodia. Not a single person who entered that building adjacent to the ship-building district had ever come back out. Everyone speculated it was because they had all brought counterfeit gems.
“They disappear without a trace. So find me the genuine article, not a fake. Am I doing this just for myself? I need to secure a proper cut so I can live comfortably.”
“How are we supposed to find a gem that’s already gone missing?”
One of the con artists protested loudly in frustration. The gang that had stolen the Jewel of the Sun from the Edencia Kingdom had been caught early on. They were the 2nd Prince Faction, which had staged the coup. They had managed to hide quite cleverly, but they couldn’t escape the brutal methods of those who had lived brutal lives.
The 2nd Prince Faction confessed, stripped and battered, that they had been robbed of the Jewel of the Sun by someone named Kaesin. He was the leader of the Kaesin Gang, the most notorious group in Belodia.
“Where did the Kaesin Gang go? How does it make sense that the ones who got the gem that night haven’t made a peep? Haven’t they already pocketed the 10 billion Cona?”
The con artist who had shouted loudly kicked back his chair and stood up. The con artist sitting across from him threw a dart at the board hanging on the wall to calm him down.
“Relax, friend. If that were the case, would our patron continue to receive visitors? Either Kaesin is still lying low and being cautious, or the gem the Edencia bastards had stolen was a fake to begin with. It has to be one or the other.”
“…Why don’t we just grab that representative and extort money from the baron? As long as we’re careful about the sword-wielding man—”
Creak.
The rusty hinges of the shop’s entrance door creaked. Then came the voice of a stranger.
“Is anyone here?”
“Who’s this customer?”
“I’ll go check.”
Morkan and the con artists were in a fairly large room attached to the shop. Morkan opened the door and went out to greet the customer.
When more than ten minutes passed and he didn’t return, one of the con artists walked toward the door to check on the situation.
“You thief!”
At the angry shout, the con artists rushed over and threw the door open. Someone in a robe was sitting on the shop floor, shouting toward the wide-open entrance. At the words that followed, the con artists quickly chased after the vanished Morkan.
“My Jewel of the Sun!”

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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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