I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 30

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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 30

I stand at a crossroads.
“Really? Calips, where did you hear that?”
“From Madam Frea.”
“You must have misheard. She’s only seven years old.”
The Twins expressed skepticism, though their tone betrayed genuine curiosity. Calips scoffed.
“That’s why we should verify it. I can hardly believe it myself. Even if she’s supposed to be an idiot, how could someone bearing the Trabel name not read?”
Should I maintain the pretense of illiteracy and appear harmless, or would I face a scolding from Count Trabel for lying to him?
‘Obviously, I won’t get scolded by Grandfather. Calips may be like a chihuahua, but Grandfather is terrifying…’
Calips withdrew his hand from the object he’d placed on my desk. It was today’s newspaper.
Oh, it’s been ages since I’ve seen a newspaper.
“Come on, if you’re so wronged, read it.”
….
I didn’t respond to Calips’s sarcasm and simply scanned the articles with my eyes. My childhood memories from my previous life were limited in detail, which was unfortunate—
‘I could infer the future by combining what I remember with the newspaper’s contents.’
For instance, the pumpkin that had recently been approved for cultivation in the Port Kingdom. It was a variety unsuited to the Heishal Empire’s climate and couldn’t be grown.
Surely they’d admit failure within four years?
What deserved attention was the ornamental plant that came along as a bonus. Currently worth around five thousand cona, but it would later be discovered that it could produce restorative potions, making its value skyrocket hundredfold.
‘Should I ask Father to look at the newspaper?’
When we lived in Bonwell Village, Father never brought newspapers home. That made sense—the name Trabel appeared in articles constantly.
Even now, headlines like “Trabel’s Second Son, Return of the Grand Master?!” dominated the front page.
“What are you doing? Can’t you read?”
As I remained silent, Calips asked mockingly.
Hmph. No matter how much he provokes me, I have no intention of pretending to read. Let me see. What other useful information might be—
“Oh.”
“Oh, what?”
Calips seized upon my inadvertent exclamation like a hawk catching prey, then turned toward the back of the room with triumphant satisfaction.
“Ciel, Hati, Mati. Did you hear? She can’t read.”
I heard Ciel’s protest and the Twins’ snickering.
Calips gripped the newspaper with both hands and leaned his face toward me, who had lowered my head, whispering.
“Hey, lowest rank. Your father caused our mother to lose money yesterday. Grandmother told me to treat you well, but I don’t think I can manage that. What should I do?”
His tone carried a threatening edge. But Calips’s words entered one of my ears and exited the other without leaving a trace.
‘Ugh. I can’t see it.’
Calips’s hands, gripping the newspaper, perfectly obscured the article I wanted to read.
Just then, the sound of Madam Frea’s footsteps echoed through the window from the corridor. She’d arrive at the classroom soon. Calips said, “Be prepared from now on,” and tried to return to his seat with the newspaper.
But he couldn’t. I was holding the newspaper and wouldn’t let go.
Calips, unable to take even a few steps with his feet bound, grew irritated.
“Hey, won’t you let go?”
“Brother.”
I pressed down firmly on the newspaper and looked up at Calips.
“Oh, brother? Have you lost your mind? Don’t say such creepy things—”
“Can’t you just give me this? I want to practice reading.”
“Let it go.”
“Why? You said it would be unthinkable for a Trabel not to know letters. So give me this, will you?”
“I said let go of it—!”
We were in the midst of our tug-of-war over the newspaper when Madam Frea’s footsteps, growing steadily louder, came to a halt. She opened the classroom door, spotted Calips and me, and adjusted her spectacles.
“What are you two doing?”
“Brother Calips brought me a newspaper! He said I should practice reading.”
“I never—”
“A commendable initiative. However, we must begin our lesson now. Young Master Calips, please return to your seat.”
“…Yes, work hard at it.”
At Madam Frea’s intervention, Calips grumbled and released the newspaper, returning to his seat.
I grinned and turned my gaze back to the desk. I wanted to finish reading the article I had been perusing earlier.
It was a small article occupying a corner of the page—a black-and-white photograph of an Environmental Group staging a protest, accompanied by a brief caption.

———-
Opposition to Land Development.
c/An Environmental Group opposing Marquis Ash’s land development project is staging a protest in front of Sillon Village.
c/———-

My fists clenched tightly.
I squeezed my hands into fists.

***

Today, I had put effort into class hoping to avoid homework, but it backfired. Madam Frea said the assignments were showing results and gave me far more work than usual.
“Do I have to do it today? I answered quite a few questions during class.”
“Yes. It appears the assignments outside of class are proving effective for you, Miss. Today, you will copy these sentences thirty times each.”
“Ugh.”
“I have told you to refrain from such tone. Please respond with ‘yes.'”
“…Yes.”
“Yes. Submit it to Serber and return home.”
After Madam Frea left, I remained alone in the classroom. I buried my forehead against the pile of papers on the desk.
This is not the time to be copying sentences.
‘I need to follow Father to the Grand Temple.’
According to the article, Sillon Village was adjacent to the village where Baron Voltman and his wife lived.
The land development had been carried out under Marquis Ash’s orders, and not long after work began, Sillon Village and nearby settlements came under attack by wild beasts.
The unfortunate part was that those villages had nothing to do with Marquis Ash, and the real problem was that the beast pack had been sent by beastkin.
‘The world may have changed these days, but there are still races that harbor hatred for humans.’
The beastkin tribe of wild dogs that had lived in the land development zone was one of them.
When the other me was twenty-three, Theon Phil Igselona had once spoken of this matter.

– The beastkin, angered by the land development, came in packs swearing they would bite humans to death. My grandfather stood at the forefront against them and lost both his arms. He suffered greatly until his passing.

The other me and Theon Phil Igselona had been camping together to evade pursuers.
Sitting before the campfire, tossing twigs into the flames, the Crown Prince spoke of his grandfather with an utterly composed expression.
Yet reading the emotion hidden beneath that facade was remarkably easy for the other me. It was regret—the failure to protect someone precious.

– That’s what I regret most. If only I had returned just a few days earlier, I could have saved at least one of his arms.

Back then, I had simply thought, “Oh, so that happened,” and moved on. I knew that no matter how hard I tried, the past could never be undone.
‘But the situation is different now, isn’t it?’
Now Theon was my friend. I knew full well that something would happen to him that he would regret for the rest of his life, yet I couldn’t simply stand by and do nothing.
‘I’ll have to abandon my assignment and go!’
Sillon Village lay adjacent to the path leading to the Grand Temple.
Before that, I needed time to persuade Father to take both Theon and me there. The fact that I hadn’t been able to go before meant the probability of not going this time was high.
“….”
Yet despite my resolve, I couldn’t lift my head immediately. There was one thing bothering me.
“What do I do?”
Madam Frea had already left for the day.
If I just left with an empty assignment like this, I’d definitely fall out of her favor.
A student who tries hard but ranks last, and a student who doesn’t try at all but ranks last—these two cannot be placed on equal footing. Madam Frea was harsher on the latter.
“Should I ask Serber to put in a good word for me? He’s still been kind to me thanks to the stocks….”
As I sat with my head buried in the paper, worrying, the classroom door opened.
I glanced sideways. There stood the Twins with blonde, fluffy hair and angelic faces.
“Oh.”
What brings my subordinates here?
It couldn’t be that they came out of concern for me struggling with the assignment. I blinked at the sight of the Twins.
After confirming no one else was around, Mati and Hati strutted up to me with swagger, and tore the two sheets of paper they’d brought lengthwise.
Riiiiip.
Through the split paper, I could see Mati’s grinning face. The description “little devil” fit perfectly.
“You made us write this even though you can’t read?”
Mati sneered. Hati, standing beside him, placed both hands on his hips and spoke.
“You made a subordinate contract with someone dumber than a commoner. This is void.”
The torn subordinate contract fell to the floor. I stared blankly at the Twins, then stood up.
My height was a full head shorter than theirs. Since I couldn’t win on physical strength, I deliberately sighed loudly and shook my head. It was about seizing the initiative.
“Are you two idiots?”
“What?”
“Idiots?”
“First, I have copies of the subordinate contracts you two wrote yourselves. Second, I can’t read yet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand words.”
“…So?”
As I explained while counting on my fingers, the Twins sensed something ominous and became wary.
“If you go to the Main Estate like this and tell Grandfather—.”
“Nooooo! Cancel! Cancel! We release you! We release you!”
“I was wrong—.”
The Twins quickly grabbed both my arms as I tried to leave the desk.
…True to the Trabel name. This is why you can never show even a hint of weakness.
Perfect timing.
“Then, subordinates Hati and Mati.”
“…Yes.”
“Ah….”
I turned to regard the Twins with a wry smile.
“Would you do me a favor and help your illiterate younger sibling?”

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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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