I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 37

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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 37

One gold coin was worth one million cona.
In my pocket were Akum, now transformed back into a pebble, and eight gold coins.
Which meant.
“I said you’d only observe the statue. You went all the way up to the Hill Above the Waterfall?”
Father’s nagging barely landed a blow on me.

I was standing in front of the Main Holy Temple.
The adults, including the High Priest, were chuckling and chatting among themselves, deliberately ignoring Father’s parenting discipline moment.
To briefly explain how I’d ended up in this situation, the timing had been slightly off.
As I was descending from the Hill Above the Waterfall, Father had emerged with Windis fastened to his belt. Naturally, I wasn’t on the Path of Emptiness connected to the Main Holy Temple, so Father went searching for me.
Not long after, an informant appeared—the Priest who had shown me the way to the Waterfall.
Just as Father was pressing his hand to his head, I happened to come into his line of sight, returning to the Main Holy Temple.

“Berry.”
“Huh? Father? You already met Windis?”
“Why are you coming from that direction? Did you go see the Waterfall?”
“Gasp. Uh, no?”
“You mustn’t lie. Come here.”
“Yes, sir.”

Realizing that making excuses was futile, I confessed to Father that I had indeed gone all the way up to the Hill Above the Waterfall.
And so I’d arrived at my current situation of being scolded.
But what did a scolding matter?
‘Eight million cona is in my pocket…!’
The sound of the ancient language sinking into the earth and spitting out gold coins still echoed vividly in my ears.
Clink! Clink!
That clear, cheerful, lovely sound.
‘Was the Forest Spirit who created the water vein here wealthy?’
According to Akum, the Forest Spirit used at most two gold coins when creating water veins.

[Anything more than that isn’t efficient. The Forest Spirit is a cheapskate, so two coins is already quite a lot~.]
Clink!
“Ooh…!”
[T-three coins?]

Akum started jumping excitedly from the third gold coin onwards, but when eight appeared, he complained of feeling unwell and said he was turning back into a pebble.

“Here, I’ll give you four of them! I’m a trustworthy business partner, after all!”
[Split them evenly? There are plenty of gold coins, so never mind. You take them all, little Quartz.]
“Oh. Akum, are you wealthy? Don’t tell me you’ve been taking the gold coins from Trabel….”
[You’re quick on the uptake, aren’t you? From now on, the business partner gets all the gold coins. Ugh, I need to sleep now. Seeing something so abnormal has made me feel queasy….]

Recalling it again filled me with joy. I wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while~
Even though I was being scolded by Father, I hummed contentedly to myself.
“It’s dangerous to wander around alone.”
“It was so thrilling.”
I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.
“You found it thrilling to go up to the Hill Above the Waterfall?”
I’m sorry. You trusted me.
“Yes. There, at—”
“At—?”
“Um…?”
A chill ran down my spine.
I suddenly came to my senses and looked up at Father.
Father, who had been prompting me along naturally while I confessed, was now looking at me with an expression that said, “Go ahead, tell me more.”
“Reytan.”
“Yes?”
“Did I not apologize about twice?”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Oh no.”
What a blunder.
In my excitement, I had let my true feelings slip out.
I could almost hear Theon Phil Igselona from my memories saying, “How careless,” while mocking me.
“Oh, Father. Did you know?”
“Changing the subject is a bad habit, Berry.”
“There was an earthquake or something earlier.”
“An earthquake? When?”
Father’s expression, which had been gearing up for another lecture, changed. He looked deeply worried.
“When I was at the Waterfall Plaza earlier! But it wasn’t an earthquake—it was Windis going berserk that shook the ground, right? And there was this boy I met there—”
“A boy?”
“Yes. He was scared when the ground was shaking, so I told him not to worry—”
“Reytan, have you finished discussing everything with Berry?”
Then the High Priest interjected into our conversation. He had been with the Priests just moments ago. When had he come over to us?
Father, who had been listening intently to my words, turned his gaze away.
“Yes. We’ve finished.”
“How fortunate. There is a matter we must discuss. Please, come this way for a moment….”
The High Priest led Father away from the gathering. Before departing, Father gave my forehead a gentle tap as a final reprimand, then instructed me to stay with Theon.
Left alone, I gazed at the High Priest’s oddly stiff retreating figure and tilted my head in confusion.
‘What was that?’
He seemed to speak in haste.
Or was I mistaken?

***

More pressing than that—money! Gold coins!
Akum had yielded the gold coin profits to me, but there remained one more person who deserved a share. Such matters demanded thoroughness.
“Theon! …Oh? What are you doing? Fanning yourself? Are you hot?”
“No.”
Theon stood behind a birch tree along the Path of Emptiness. He had been staring into empty space while fanning himself, but he quickly lowered his hand when I spoke.
“Is that so? Then wait a moment. I have something to tell you.”
I took Theon’s hand and led him into the Main Holy Temple. Father witnessed the scene but said nothing.
Unlike me, Theon enjoyed Father’s complete trust…!
Not that I was jealous of the two of them or anything.
The bond between master and disciple cannot run deeper than blood ties, after all. Well, considering that Theon would become the Crown Prince, perhaps it should be deeper. Still.
‘Oh. There’s no one here.’
The vast entrance hall of the Main Holy Temple was empty.
“Berry, how far are we going?”
“Just here!”
I hid behind the colossal statue of the Aubaut God, out of sight of the adults.
I withdrew a single gold coin from my pocket and pressed it into Theon’s hand.
“This is your share.”
I giggled, but Theon remained silent. His expression suggested he was questioning why I was giving him a gold coin.
I whispered into Theon’s ear.
“I obtained this thanks to you.”
Not thanks to the current Theon, of course. But like me, Theon would likely struggle to find income beyond his allowance for several more years.
He would not become Crown Prince until he turned twenty.
‘Theon must need emergency funds too. And even if I tried to explain how I obtained the gold coins, he would never believe me anyway.’
Besides, I had no intention of revealing the memories that had entered my mind to anyone.
But who would refuse gold coins when offered? Right?
I winked at Theon and tapped his arm repeatedly.
“Just take it. Just take it.”
“I cannot accept it.”
“What? It’s right here.”
Theon, who had rejected my gold coin, turned away.
“I must inform Master-.”
“No, no, that won’t do!”
I grabbed Theon around the waist without hesitation.
I’d given him gold coins, and this was how he repaid me—by tattling?
“Then tell me where you got it from.”
“Huh?”
“There’s no way a child could have gold coins. Berry.”
“I, I do!”
“How?”
“….”
I had no choice but to deploy my backup plan.
“I got my allowance from High Priest Grandfather, right? He told me not to tell Father about the allowance, so I’ve been secretly giving it to Theon.”
I turned my head to look up at Theon. With my arms wrapped around his waist, I could only see his chin.
Theon’s gaze shifted downward toward my head. His fingers, brushing against my temple, trembled slightly.
Theon fell silent for a moment, then hesitated before moving his lips.
“Why didn’t you say that from the beginning?”
“Huh?”
“…We’re a Secret Society, aren’t we?”
Startled by his unexpected words, I released Theon’s waist and looked up at him properly.
It seemed as though invisible, triangular ears sat atop Theon’s head. The way he spoke—drooping those ears and looking forlorn—was almost endearing.
My mouth fell open. Thank goodness only I was seeing this. If anyone else witnessed it, they’d all find Theon adorable.
“Shouldn’t we have no secrets from each other?”
A hint of resentment flickered in Theon’s dark eyes.
‘Acting, is it…!’
I nearly fell for it.
He was feigning pity!
‘There’s no way Theon would take a children’s game like a Secret Society seriously.’
In other words, Theon—older and more experienced than me—was employing a cunning tactic befitting someone with more life experience.
In other words, sweet-talking.
‘I understand why he’s doing this. Father told Theon to watch whether I cause trouble or not. It was a condition for becoming Father’s disciple.’
Now that he’d seen Windis today, his admiration for Father must have grown even stronger. So he wants to know everything I’ve done without hiding anything!
But I was a peculiar child—seven years old, yet carrying the memories of someone twenty-four, knowing everything worth knowing.
The upper hand was mine.
“Even to Jeffrey?”
I asked Theon with an innocent expression.
Theon closed his mouth and fell into thought. I could hear it—the sound of his mind spinning, searching for an excuse.
“Je, Jeffrey is a new member, so….”
Theon spoke after his mind had worked through the problem.
Then what were we? By Theon’s logic, this was mere seniority hazing happening within a Secret Society founded just yesterday.
“Oh, I see. Because he’s a new member….”
I pressed my lips together firmly to suppress the smile threatening to break free.
I wanted to tease him about how careless he was, but if I did, Theon might actually declare we were no longer friends. Besides, his face was already flushed crimson.
‘No secrets, then.’
So I suppose I should think of it as simply sharing information about what happens going forward?
“Understood. But I’m taking the gold coins, right? Keep it secret from everyone else.”
“Yes.”
Finally, our profit settlement was complete. We sat behind the statue, each holding a gold coin and admiring it.
Theon turned the gold coin over in his fingers, murmuring softly.
“I’ve never touched a gold coin before.”
“Right? Me neither.”
This was my first time holding the real thing in my hands.
How brilliantly it gleamed. Now I understood. For me, the gold coin was what Windis was to Theon.
Captivated by the coin, words spilled unbidden from my lips.
“I want to make a bed out of gold coins….”
“Why?”
“It would be amazing.”
At my answer, Theon’s expression showed he didn’t understand.
Well, we were still too young to grasp capitalism—we’d only received one month’s allowance so far.
‘Wait a moment.’
Since there were no secrets between us now, a question came to mind.
I leaned close and whispered to Theon.
“Theon, how much allowance did you get this month?”
“….”
Theon silently held up his fingers.
Five fingers extended.
“Wow….”
The difference in allowance between a seven-year-old and a ten-year-old was five times.
The world was terribly unfair.

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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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