I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 34

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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 34

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the statue.
[Little Quartz! Where is this? I’m overflowing with energy!]
It was Akum. Akum.
My precious pebble, which should have been in my pocket, was clinging to the eyeball of the statue of the god Aubaut.
‘What are you doing there?!’
You said I was forced to sleep outside the Trabel Estate.
I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and looked again. It was still Akum.
“Berry, does your eye hurt?”
“Are you alright?”
Father and Theon spoke to me, and the High Priest looked my way. But that wasn’t all—everyone’s attention snapped toward me the moment I reflexively cried out upon discovering Akum.
[What’s this? It’s a huge one!]
Splat. Splat. Akum struck the forehead of the statue of Aubaut with its front paws. I was grateful the High Priest and the priests didn’t witness this sacrilege unfolding before them.
‘Oh, what do I do…!’
I had to speak to Akum. And as naturally as possible.
I clasped my hands tightly before my chest.
“Ah! Great god Aubaut…!”
“Oho, Lord Reytan Quartz Trabel. Berry has such deep faith.”
But the message got misdelivered.
My words reached the High Priest instead of Akum. It seemed the sight of a devout young believer had moved him.
“…Yes. I didn’t know, but I see.”
Father replied with an uncertain tone.
“How admirable. A child’s faith is pure, and therefore all the more precious.”
My apologies. Mine is not pure.
[This is fun! This isn’t the Trabel Estate, right? There’s no way I don’t know about this place!]
“The god…”
“‘The god,’ is the proper expression.”
As I muttered while looking at Akum, ignoring the High Priest’s words that pricked my conscience, he corrected my speech.
The god, the god may, and so on.
[Little Quartz! Can I go look around outside for a bit?]
“Ah…!”
No!
My eyes locked directly with the High Priest’s. If I said “no” or shook my head here, I’d never see that kind smile again, would I?
“I thought the great god Aubaut was moving! Wow…!”
I hoped for a miracle where the statue would move its hand and catch Akum, but no such miracle occurred.
[Ah. There are so many humans, so you can’t answer? I should explore this place a bit. There are so many interesting things to see!]
With those words, Akum descended from the statue and hopped out through the doors of the Main Holy Temple.
Ugh.
There was no time to stop him, no chance to catch him. For something so small, Akum moved with astonishing speed.
The nightmare of when Akum disappeared from the Trabel Estate last time came rushing back.
‘I have to follow him!’
There was no guarantee Akum would return before we left the Grand Temple.
If I couldn’t find Akum, the Trabel Estate would lose its caretaker, and I’d never learn what connection my illness had to Trabel.
I didn’t want to see Father or Grandfather disappointed over losing Grandmother’s keepsake.
“Berry, what’s wrong?”
Father seemed to notice my restlessness and crouched down in front of me, meeting my eyes.
His tender blue eyes filled with concern.
That blue reminded me of my missing partner.
“Father, can I go see more of the outside?”
“Outside?”
“I want to see those little statues that were beside the white path! We learned about them in history class—they said the flowers of the Grand Temple are the statues. If Madam Frea asks what I saw on the field trip, I need to have something to tell her.”
“Ah, you mean the divine messengers on the Path of Emptiness. Observing the statues is excellent learning.”
“Really? High Priest Grandfather?”
The High Priest nodded in agreement just then. Father narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Wasn’t it someone who was singing about wanting to see Windis?”
“I changed my mind! You said there’s nothing in the room where Windis is anyway. And I need to visit Theon’s place later, so I should save time.”
For something improvised on the spot, I thought it was a decent excuse. But there was a complication.
“Let’s go.”
“Father’s coming too?”
Father had just said he’d come along on my journey—a journey I needed to make alone.
“I’m going as well.”
Theon quickly stepped beside Father and declared his intention. I wondered if this was really the same child who’d been so tense about seeing Windis just moments ago.
Only the High Priest’s face fell. Soft murmurs drifted from among the priests behind him: “We must show him Windis soon…”
“No, I’ll go alone. It doesn’t look dangerous at all. High Priest Grandfather, right? It’s not dangerous here at all, is it? And Father needs to calm Windis down quickly!”
“Ah, I see.”
When you’re in a hurry to dig a well, it’s faster to dig together. The High Priest and I exchanged a single glance—an alliance forged. The High Priest spoke.
“There’s nothing dangerous about it at all. Not in the slightest. We haven’t let a single outsider in today, so wandering outside alone will be as safe as my own living room.”
“Wonderful! Then I can explore on my own!”
“That’s right. If anything happens, your grandfather will handle it, so go without worry.”
“You heard the High Priest Grandfather? I’ll do what I need to do, so you and Theon go see Windis and come back~”
I smiled brightly and waved at them both. Internally, I was practically bouncing with impatience.
“…”
“…”
Father and Theon exchanged suspicious glances. Master and disciple indeed—their eyes had become identical in their doubt.
This wouldn’t work. Persuasion was impossible. There was no time for this. When desperate, shortcuts became viable.
I looked up at them both with trembling eyes.
“Don’t you… trust me…?”
A mixture of fear that I might lose Akum and anxiety that I needed to find him quickly made me want to cry a little, so my nose tingled slightly without any acting required. If it had been an act, Father might have seen through it, so this was better.
“No.”
“Why not.”
Father and Theon spoke simultaneously. Permission was already denied. I slipped out of the Main Holy Temple before either of them could grab me.
“Then I’ll be back soon! See you later!”

***

“Ah, Akum.”
Getting out was fine, but the problem was that finding Akum in either the Trabel Estate or the Grand Temple wasn’t easy. How was I supposed to find something so tiny in such a vast place?
Akum wasn’t visible around the Main Holy Temple. The longer I searched, the more anxious my footsteps became, wondering if I’d really fail to meet him.
‘Where did you go?’
After searching for Akum for about ten minutes, I discovered one drawback to this heavenly Grand Temple.
Everything was so white it hurt my eyes.
“Hello there, dear young devotee.”
Even the robes and hats of the priests I encountered were all white. It was so blindingly white I worried about how they managed to eat.
“Hello!”
Everyone seemed to know I was Father’s daughter. Each person I met greeted me with a friendly smile.
Of course, they weren’t smiling because of me, but because of Reytan Quartz Trabel.
‘Oh.’
A thought suddenly occurred to me. Akum manages the water veins of the Trabel Estate, after all.
If he wasn’t around the Main Holy Temple, I needed to estimate a longer travel distance. I pointed behind the priest standing in front of me and asked.
“Priest! How do I get over there?”
“Over there?”
The priest turned his head.
Far below, beyond a landscaped hill of trees, water cascaded refreshingly down white stone walls that had been artificially constructed.

***

“If you go behind the Main Holy Temple, the path splits into three directions. If you take the rightmost path, you’ll find a small plaza with the Artificial Waterfall.”

I used the pretext of experiential learning to find out from the Priest how to reach the Artificial Waterfall.
If Akum was anywhere, it would be there!
He had to be. Given the current situation, I couldn’t think of any other plausible location.
At least the Artificial Waterfall offered some consolation—the colors here were relatively varied.
Aside from the towering cascade itself, there was no artificial white anywhere. Though Akum wasn’t here either.
“….”
Could he be submerged in the water, hidden from view?
It would be perfect camouflage.
I stood before the basin that caught the water falling from the Artificial Waterfall, peering down into its clear, transparent depths.
“Akum.”
“….”
“Maybe he can’t hear me from this distance.”
I swept my hair, parted down the middle, back over my shoulders.
Bracing both hands against the white marble of the basin, I leaned my face close to the water’s surface and spoke.
“Are you there?”
“What are you looking for?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin. I almost fell face-first into the water.
The unfortunate part was that I couldn’t save my hair. As my upper body tilted, the lower half of my locks got completely soaked.
‘Ugh.’
When would this even dry? As I made a distressed face, a voice came again from behind me.
“Sorry. Looks like I startled you.”
It was a boy’s voice, as smooth and clear as glass marbles rolling across stone.

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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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