I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 36

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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 36

The vortex was dissipating. A blade revealed its pristine white form. And the man who wielded it.
Hair the color of golden wheat fields caught the wind before settling slowly. Blue eyes fixed upon the sword.
As the sacred blade’s white radiance reflected in those blue eyes, it seemed as though lightning itself had descended from the heavens, casting an ethereal brilliance.
This was why Reytan commanded such reverence among the four Grand Masters.
Even those who trembled at his cold visage found themselves praising Aubaut God the moment they beheld him with the sacred blade in hand.
For his figure, holding that pristine white sword, resembled a divine messenger.
“…It’s over….”
A Priest murmured the words before sinking to the ground.
The sacred blade’s rampage had ceased. Windis had chosen Reytan as its master.
The Priests finally exhaled in relief. The High Priest, as though he had never been flustered, spoke to Theon with a pleased tone.
“Do you see? Your mentor has been chosen by the sacred blade once again.”
“….”
Theon offered no response to the High Priest’s words. His gaze remained fixed upon Reytan.
When one concentrates too deeply, the words of others fade away.
The High Priest paid it no mind. He led the Priests toward Reytan to congratulate the Grand Master’s return.
Theon stood alone.
‘Who is that?’
Theon’s silence stemmed from something different than the High Priest’s assumption. It was not mere concentration.
Ever since entering this chamber, a sound had echoed in his ears, stealing his ability to focus.
Whirring. Whirring.
‘Stop it.’
It was strange for mere insect wings. There was even a playful laughter woven through it.
Something was undoubtedly there. An invisible presence conversing in an incomprehensible tongue.
Theon and Reytan’s eyes met.
“Welcome back, Reytan. We celebrate your return.”
Reytan thanked the High Priest for his congratulations.
“I must attend to my disciple for a moment.”
With that, he excused himself, secured Windis at his waist, and walked toward Theon.
Reytan placed his hand upon Theon’s head.
A pleasant breeze swept through. And with it, all the cacophonous sounds vanished.
“…Master?”
Theon looked up in surprise. Though Reytan’s palm obscured his vision, the upward curve of Reytan’s lips was unmistakable.
“Noisy, isn’t it?”
“Yes…?”
“The wind is quite the chatterbox.”
Theon fell silent in thought at Reytan’s words before his lips parted. After a moment’s deliberation, a question emerged.
“I heard the sound of insects fluttering their wings. Even though I couldn’t see anything. …Is that the wind?”
Reytan shook Theon’s head slightly instead of answering.
“If you’re my disciple, you should understand without explanation.”
It was too early to provide further information. Knowledge creates preconceptions. What came next was something Theon would need to awaken to as he grew as a swordsman.
Reytan said only that much and told Theon to go find Berry.
‘Indeed, I can hear the voices of lower-tier entities.’
Reytan fell into thought as he left the room.
Energy always circled around Theon. Beings who had gained power from places close to the divine must have spoken to him.
The Aubaut God presided over life.
Even nature like the wind possessed life. Since ancient times, some races had called such things spirits, but few could perceive their existence.
Reytan was one of them. One who could see and hear the wind.
And Windis was the holy sword of the wind.
[One year, you said! You liar!]
It felt like my ears were bleeding.
Reytan briefly regretted reclaiming the holy sword.

***

The place I chased Akum to was the Hill Above the Waterfall. Since the upper area was wider than expected, the plaza below the waterfall wasn’t visible.
Whether Father had stopped Windis’s rampage, the ground no longer trembled.
‘Father must have handled it! That’s our father for you!’
So far so good.
But now I felt like I was on the chopping block.
[Little Quartz! Show me!]
Akum, perched on my shoulder, wagged his tail excitedly.
‘Ugh. Why is this here?’
The homework I’d put off because I lacked confidence had appeared before me.
Ancient letters floated in the empty space at waist height, above ground that rose to my knee level.
[The ancient letters rose so high the earth couldn’t contain them. This must be quite old, right? There are traces of a spring nearby. It looks like they connected water veins this way.]
Just as Akum said, there was a sunken patch of earth beside the ancient letters. Dry, crumbly soil scattered in the wind.
“Wasn’t this only supposed to be in Trabel? You said you manage the water veins.”
[I manage the water veins in Trabel. Creating water veins with ancient letters is the way of the forest spirits. You said power was overflowing, so that’s why there are water veins here too!]
“Akum doesn’t even know what the Aubaut God’s face looks like, yet you know all this.”
[How would I know how humans arbitrarily shaped the divine? This is my specialty, so I know it~]
Akum urged me to read the ancient letters quickly, making my attempt to buy time with questions seem futile.
The characters themselves were simple. They consisted only of a word meaning ‘water’ and numbers marking location.
But what if, even after I read them, the water veins weren’t restored?
“I should?”
[Do it!]
Though uncertain, I read the letters aloud.
“‘Water. Eight-zero-seven-three. Three-two-four.'”
Nothing happened.
[Try saying it as Moo-ul!]
“‘Moo-ul. Eight-zero-seven-three….'”
Nothing….
[Should I make it shorter? Water!]
“‘Water! Eight-zero….'”
Happened….
[Moo-mul!]
“‘Moo-mul!'”
At all. *Sigh*.
Disappointment clouded Akum’s once-gleaming eyes. This was around the fifth time I’d attempted to read the ancient language in various ways.
[Is it because little Quartz is too small?]
Akum’s tail drooped.
“Maybe it’s because we’re not on Trabel land?”
I couldn’t afford to lose my business partner’s trust, so I offered a plausible hypothesis as an excuse.
[Is that so? Now that I think about it, this is my first time leaving Trabel too, so I’m not sure. I’ve never heard Quartz mention it either.]
Fortunately, Akum seemed convinced by my explanation.
After all, Akum had said they were being cautious because they didn’t know what would happen if they used their power outside of Trabel.
‘For now we can let this pass, but I need to find a solution.’
My chest felt uneasy. I tried to recall useful information from my other memories.
Ancient language, ancient language.
Just as I had appraised gems or solved mathematical problems before, as time passed, the knowledge, experiences, and memories of my other self gradually dissolved into my mind.
While I wasn’t quite a know-it-all who had answers at my fingertips, I could recall things if I thought hard enough.
Then one memory suddenly surfaced.
It was a memory of reading books in the Crown Prince’s Library.

– Wow. You’ve read all of this? I had no idea Your Highness was researching ancient languages.
– That’s my line. Can you at least read and write it?
– Of course. Should I try? “Year eight-six-five.” …Why are you smiling?
– The numerals in that passage shouldn’t be read that way. For someone so confident, that was sloppy. Did you teach yourself?

How fortunate to have a place to learn, I thought to myself. Theon Phil Igselona was the Crown Prince, and I was merely a noble. The line had to be maintained.
In truth, there were multiple perspectives on how to pronounce ancient language aloud. Since it was a language passed down only in written form, one had to guess at its pronunciation.
The way the other me read it wasn’t necessarily wrong, but—
‘If the numbers were read differently….’
I glanced sideways.
I was gauging Akum’s reaction.
Akum only managed the ancient language within the Trabel Estate.
If creating water veins was the spirits’ method, then perhaps each spirit read the ancient language differently.
“Hey, Akum.”
[What a shame. If it’s been this long, gold coins might actually be buried here.]
“Gold coins?”
My ears perked up instantly.
[Water gets along well with wealth, you see? When we first created the water vein, we buried gold coins to help it establish its position. Once the water vein was connected, the gold coins weren’t needed anymore, so when we sent down the ancient language initially, the coins were expelled.]
“…This too?”
[There’s a good chance of it~ The fact that it’s been floating in empty space this long means there’s no entity managing it. It’s abandoned ancient language.]
“I see.”
[But well, little Quartz probably can’t do it anyway. Let’s just go.]
Akum draped itself across my shoulders and smacked its lips.
My heart raced as if I’d found a four-leaf clover of fortune.
The Heishal Empire was currently a society built on capitalism and class systems.
While nobles and commoners were fundamentally divided by rank, it often happened that extremely wealthy commoners received better treatment than extremely poor nobles.
The Trabel Count Family was wealthy, but I only began receiving a maintenance allowance at sixteen.
Until then, all I had was pocket money from Father. Though I dreamed of creating my own secret fund that no one knew about, it was proving incredibly difficult to realize.
Money was the most effective means when used broadly.
In this society, money was necessary. Even more so for me, who needed to save Father.
And what stood before my eyes was—
‘A precious source of income…!’
I didn’t hesitate for even a moment before moving my lips.
“‘Water! Eight thousand five hundred seventy-three, three hundred twenty-four!'”
[What?!]
Brilliant light flooded my face.
A bright light shone on my face.

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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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