I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 22

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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 22

“Please submit your assignments after class today. You can give them to Serber.”

Madam Frea had assigned me to write each vocabulary word one hundred times.
The teacher said to do it, so I had to. What choice did I have?
Hehe. I reluctantly completed the assignment and went to find Serber, then slipped out into the outdoor corridor.
‘The assignment submission is just an excuse—I’m really here to find the Punishment Room.’
For my plan to work, I needed to make contact with Anne.
The Punishment Room was located in the basement of the Main Estate, and its ceiling had a small barred window to allow outside air to circulate.
I touched the inside of my outer garment’s pocket to confirm the note was there. I would throw it through the window to Anne.
‘If I happen to run into someone, I can just say I’m looking for Serber!’
Searching for someone around such a large building was entirely plausible.
I left the outdoor corridor and walked along the outer wall of the Main Estate. Fortunately, I hadn’t encountered anyone until I got near the Punishment Room—
‘Ugh.’
There was one more mountain in my way.
Knights were standing guard right in front of the building’s outer wall—specifically in front of the Punishment Room window where Anne was being held, where it met the ground.
‘She’s just a maid, not some dangerous criminal?!’
I couldn’t get close like this. What should I do? This was a problem…
“What are you doing, skulking about like a mouse?”
“Eek!”
Someone spoke to me from behind as I pressed myself against the corner of the Main Estate, observing the situation.
I spun around in surprise, then froze in even greater shock.
It was Grandfather.
Grandfather stood with one eyebrow raised and his hands clasped behind his back, looking down at me sternly.
An overwhelming presence, like a towering mountain standing right before me, ready to swallow me whole. I stood in my grandfather’s shadow. Gulp. I swallowed involuntarily.
How long had he been standing there? No, more importantly—
“Ah…!”
“Hmm?”
[Oh, Reytan’s daughter! Hello!]
Why was Akum there?!
The very Akum I had been searching for so desperately was perched on Grandfather’s shoulder!
“G-Grandfather.”
“Yes?”
“On your shoulder…”
“What is it?”
I couldn’t bring myself to finish my sentence.
As Grandfather brushed his shoulder at my words, Akum yelped in surprise and leaped down from his shoulder, landing on my head instead.
[Still so disrespectful, Trabel!]
Akum shouted in anger, but Grandfather seemed utterly unbothered.
Could Grandfather not see Akum…?
Grandfather’s gaze shifted from his shoulder toward me.
“What are you holding?”
“An assignment that Madam Frea gave me….”
“Let me see it.”
I obediently handed the assignment to Grandfather.
Flutter, flutter. Grandfather flipped through the pages, examining the contents.
“This is drivel too.”
Whatever he had been expecting, Grandfather returned the assignment with eyes that had lost all interest.
Could I leave now?
I was just beginning to inch backward when it happened.
“Are you taking good care of what I gave you?”
Finally, the question I had been dreading most came flying at me.
“Y-yes?”
“Why do you look so flustered? That small, pretty thing you wanted so badly.”
“You mean, that small, pretty pebble with the color of milk mixed with blue paint…?”
It’s right in front of me now—
[Good grief. Little Quartz. What is this. I could write better with my toes.]
Akum had climbed onto the assignment I was holding, flipped onto his belly, and was thoroughly mocking my handwriting.
“Why explain it in such detail? So you have it or not?”
“That is….”
Grandfather naturally placed his hand on my head and began patting it.
If I told him that the pebble had turned into a lizard here, that hand would surely clench and bite my head…!
“Perhaps you don’t have….”
“N-no, I have it! I put it in a treasure box and locked it tight so no one could take it out!”
Unless I could figure out a way to turn Akum back into a pebble immediately, I needed to buy time.
Grandfather responded to my words as if he found them absurd.
“You fool. What if you lose it somewhere else?”
“You told me not to lose it, but you didn’t say not to hide it….”
“Didn’t the maid give you a letter? I said to keep it on you at all times.”
“I couldn’t read it because it was too difficult….”
Grandfather’s hand, which had been patting my head, stopped.
And as if he had heard something shocking, he stared at me intently.
“You can’t… read?”
I nodded, and Grandfather sighed.

***

The literacy rate in the Heishal Empire stood at eighty percent.
The written language itself was not difficult—even commoners could read and write.
Nobles could read most characters by around age six, while commoners typically learned to read by eight or nine.
So Father and I had agreed to meet at the level of learning the alphabet.
Grandfather seemed taken aback by this.
His lips moved as if he had much to say, his expression troubled, before he called over a passing Knight and instructed him to take me to Stone House.

“Keep that with you always. I’ll check on it later.”

Even at the end, he didn’t forget to mention Stone House.
‘Isn’t that strange?’
When I returned to Stone House, Sherry and the other Maid Sisters welcomed me. They said Father and Theon hadn’t finished their training yet.
I went straight to my room and closed the door.
I needed to speak with Akum.
‘But first….’
Something about what Grandfather said felt odd.
I had assumed his insistence that I always carry it was merely him taking credit for giving me Grandmother’s keepsake.
‘Even when faced with the shocking reality that the youngest granddaughter of Count Trabel couldn’t read, he still brought up Stone House…?’
Something smells off.
Either Grandfather was a legendary lover that no one knew about—
‘Or there’s a reason I need to keep Akum with me.’
Regardless of which it was, I needed Akum right now.
[Grrrr.]
Akum had climbed onto my bed and was shaking a pillow vigorously in his mouth.
If anyone entered the room now, they would only see a pillow fluttering about on its own.
Because Akum was invisible to others and his voice couldn’t be heard…!
That ability to hide his very existence while still being able to touch objects.
‘Grandmother must have kept Stone House all this time, which is why Grandfather said such things. But how did Grandmother become friends with Akum?’
I approached the bed and spoke to Akum.
“Akum, where have you been all this time? I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”
Akum released the pillow and turned his body toward me. Teeth marks from Akum were left all over the pillow. They were small and insignificant since Akum was so tiny.
[I’ve been wandering around the Trabel Estate here and there.]
“Why?”
[Why? I had to check what happened while I was asleep. I’m the caretaker of this land, after all.]
“Caretaker? You manage this land, Akum?”
…Despite being so small?
[What’s with that look?]
“Oh, no. I mean, like a guardian spirit?”
Marshall, the apothecary of Bonwell Village, knew many old stories.
I spoke while recalling beings similar to Akum from the tales I had heard from Marshall.
“Or perhaps a spirit? There was a forest near my village guarded by dryads as well.”
[Guardian? Spirit? I don’t know. From the moment I became aware of my own existence, I was simply a caretaker.]
I shook the tassel decoration hanging from the cushion. Akum eyed it, then lunged forward with a whoosh and bit it in one motion.
So small. It’s barely the size of my hand. And yet I manage this vast Trabel Estate with this body.
‘Perhaps….’
I casually dangled the bait.
“The Trabel Estate must be terribly difficult to manage on your own.”
[Tell me about it.]
Akum sprawled out on the bed.
[I wish I had two bodies. It was easier before when Quartz helped me.]
“….”
This was it!
I asked as carefully as possible, ensuring Akum wouldn’t grow suspicious.
“You said you were friends with my grandmother. I’m her granddaughter.”
[So?]
“What if I helped you? As an assistant.”
Honestly, I thought Akum would accept my proposal immediately.
[You?]
But Akum burst into laughter instead.
[You won’t do. To assist a caretaker, you need to be able to read and write ancient language. You don’t even know the script of the Heishal Empire yet.]
“Ancient language?”
[Quartz was brilliant. I find you cute because you’re her granddaughter, but I can’t work with someone who lacks intelligence.]
“Wait a moment.”
I left Akum and went to the desk. Returning quickly, I held out a piece of paper.
[You want me to look at this? More scribbles….]
Akum’s eyes widened, just as they were preparing to laugh while clutching their belly.
I read aloud the sentence I had written in ancient language.
“How about as a partner instead of an assistant?”

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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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