I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 187

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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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Special Side Story Episode 1

Side Story. IF. Uncle Reytan and Me

My name is Berry Quartz.
I’m seven years old this year.
“Four billion, eight hundred fifty million Cona….”
Every morning is always the same.
When I wake up from bed, Father enters my room to greet me good morning.
“Oh my, our daughter woke up late today?”
Father has arrived.
He lifts me out from under the blanket.
Dangling.
My two feet are suspended in the air.
Still half-asleep, I look at Father. His hair is brown, different from mine.
“Thank you.”
I bow.
Father tilts his head at my greeting.
“Thank me for what?”
“You don’t know?”
I don’t know either. I must be sleep-talking.
“I see. You were looking forward to Father’s special cooking?! I’ve already prepared everything~!”
Father carries me to the dining table. The aroma hits me and my eyes snap wide open.
I release my hands from Father’s neck and ask.
“Sausage and scrambled eggs!?”
“That’s right, amazing isn’t it~ our daughter!”
Father ruffles my hair enthusiastically.
“Ugh. My hair’s all messy now!”
“Haha, sorry. Our daughter is just so wonderful. Father will comb it for you later. Let’s eat first.”
Father sits me at the table. On a plate the size of my face are a slice of bread with strawberry jam, warm scrambled eggs, and sausage.
A perfect breakfast.
But today won’t be as peaceful as usual.
How do I know?
“Berry, remember what I told you the other day? Today and tomorrow, Father has to go deliver goods to a distant client, so during that time, Uncle Reytan will come to look after you.”
Uncle Reytan is coming!

***

‘Ugh, Uncle Reytan is so intimidating.’
My anxiety was overwhelming. Uncle Reytan was Father’s biological brother, but unlike Father, who had never been formally registered with the Trabel Family, he was a nobleman who bore the Trabel name.
Moreover, he held the title of Grand Master—one of only four individuals in the Heishal Empire chosen by the Holy Sword! …but.
“What are you staring at, little one?”
Terrifying!
When my eyes met Uncle Reytan’s piercing gaze, I quickly looked away.
‘I can’t cry!’
Last year. When I was six and cried in front of Uncle Reytan, the wind had blown so fiercely that the warehouse roof flew away—that scene remained vivid in my memory.
‘The Holy Sword of Wind responded to Uncle Reytan’s emotions!’
Many adults dislike children crying. Uncle Reytan was clearly one of them, and he had definitely disliked my crying that day. I even developed a high fever the next day. He might think a weak child is troublesome.
I pressed my lips together firmly and shook my head.
“I wasn’t looking!”
“….”
Sigh. Uncle Reytan exhaled and headed toward the entrance.
‘What’s going on?’
Father was over there.
I quietly followed behind him.
At the entrance, Uncle Reytan spoke to Father, who was preparing to go out, in an almost pleading tone.
“Brother, I really can’t do this.”
“Come on, nobody’s good at watching children from the start. You showed such obvious signs of wanting to see Berry all the time.”
Me? He wanted to see me?
Perk. Perk.
‘Oh no.’
I’d leaned my head out past the pillar and made eye contact with my uncle.
Running away is the best option!
Father and Uncle continued their conversation. I perked up my ears to listen, but this time the distance was too far and their voices too low to hear.
“Berry, I’ll be back soon. Listen well to your uncle, okay~!”
“Y-yes! Have a safe trip!”
Don’t leave me alone, Father!
But Brown Quartz lightly tapped his sullen uncle’s shoulder and left the house with a bright smile.
Slam.
The entrance door closed. An awkward silence hung between my uncle standing in the entryway and me.
“R-right. I. Should. Read. A. Book.”
Reading was among the things a well-behaved child could do alone.
I selected a book from those I’d borrowed from the library, climbed onto the sofa using the children’s step stool, and sat down.
As I opened the book and began reading, Uncle Reytan entered the living room and sat at the end of the sofa where I was sitting.
“Little one, are you hungry?”
“No.”
“Are you bored?”
“…I’m reading right now.”
“What book?”
Seeing how Uncle Reytan kept interrupting, it seemed he was the one who was bored, but instead of saying anything, I showed him the book’s cover.

[The Value and Understanding of Currency]

Uncle Reytan narrowed his eyes slightly and asked.
“Is that interesting?”
“Yes!”
“Where did you get a book like that?”
“From the Library!”
The Library is the best. Bookshelves several times my height, completely filled with books.
And I could read all of them for free, plus I could borrow them too!
“If I go with Father, they let me borrow books! Five books for two weeks! From the books I borrowed last time, ‘What is Wise Investment’ and ‘The Afterimage of Capital’ were really interesting—”
Unlike me, who had started chattering excitedly, Uncle Reytan’s words grew fewer.
Why was he like that?
“Let’s go out.”
“But I want to read…”
When I showed resistance, Uncle Reytan pulled something from his vest pocket and pressed it into my hand.
Cold, hard, and gleaming—this was…
“Gasp.”
A gold coin…!
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from its radiant beauty.
“You only truly understand the value of currency when you actually use it.”
At my wealthy uncle’s logical words, I nodded in agreement.

***

[Quartz Trading Company].
Our house, located right next to Father’s shop, sat in the Commercial District of Trabel Estate.
The Commercial District was a blend of shops and residential areas, with houses and stores stretching along the main road in neat rows—a place teeming with crowds and abundant shopping opportunities.
In other words, the perfect environment to spend gold coins!
“The young master of the Trabel Count Family certainly has excellent taste! This is a rare model that crossed the seas, and it’s only just begun trending among the nobility of that country.”
Uncle Reytan, clutching a bear doll under his arm, listened intently to the merchant’s explanation.
Uncle Reytan’s eyes grew serious as he gazed at the black sunglasses displayed in the shop’s glass case.
“May I try them on?”
“Of course!”
I stood beside him, taking a bite of cotton candy and asked.
‘So sweet…!’
Shiver.
My body trembled at the luxurious sweetness made with nothing but sugar.
“On a bright sunny day like today, sunglasses like these are essential. Look here—we even have children’s sizes. Aren’t they adorable?”
“Not bad.”
“They’ll suit your niece wonderfully!”
In Count Trabel’s city, there wasn’t a merchant who didn’t recognize Uncle Reytan’s face or mine.
The merchant, delighted by Uncle Reytan’s response, continued pulling out sunglasses of different designs and arranging them atop the glass case.
‘Will this take a while?’
I decided to do some shopping of my own.
After all, I had 964,000 cona left after buying the bear doll and cotton candy!
Uncle Reytan had taken 950,000 cona, saying he’d deposit it into my account, so realistically, I had 10,000 cona to spend.
‘I should find something to give as a gift to Father.’
Pitter-patter.
I walked through the shop. To maintain the harmless image of a child who wouldn’t cause any trouble, I smiled brightly whenever my eyes met those of the employees, and none of them stopped me from wandering around.
Instead, they offered to follow me and give me snacks, but I shook my head and began examining products at my eye level on the display shelves.
‘Oh, this elephant ornament is cute. Wait. 120,000 cona.’
The price tags were cruel.
‘This one is 92,000, this is 80,000, so this must be… 30,000?!’
No matter how much I lowered my gaze, I couldn’t find anything for 10,000 cona.
Then a basket filled with toys near the entrance caught my eye.

– Any item: 3,500 cona

Cube toys of the sort a grandfather might buy for his grandchildren.
“Even children wouldn’t want these.”
Pass.
That was when it happened.
Beyond the glass entrance, I spotted a familiar brown-haired man walking in the distance.
But he looked different from when he’d left the house this morning.
He wore an elegant suit befitting a noble gathering, his hair swept back neatly.
He’d dressed to the nines, and in one hand he carried a magnificent bouquet of flowers!
“Father?!”
He vanished into the crowd of pedestrians in an instant, but it was definitely Father!
“Where did he go?!”
“Your father went out to earn money.”
“Oh!”
Uncle Reytan, who had come up from behind, placed something over my face.
The world darkened as if shrouded in shadow. They were black sunglasses.
“They fit well. I’ll take these.”
“Yes, I’ll prepare them for you right away.”
I stared up at Uncle Reytan intently.
Beyond the black sunglasses, my uncle’s expression remained composed. Hadn’t he seen it?
“It was Father!”
“No, you must have been mistaken.”
“I wasn’t mistaken! Father was dressed so dapper and had flowers and——”
Uncle Reytan was retrieving his wallet from his inner pocket to pay the merchant.
“…Wait. A woman?”
This time too, my uncle’s expression didn’t change, but——
Whoosh.
A breeze swept through the closed shop.

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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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