I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 53

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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 53

Marshall Grandmother recognized my genius last year, when I was six years old.
The day after I ran a high fever, I would convalesce at Marshall Grandmother’s house.
Father went out to earn money, and Marshall Grandmother went out to gather medicinal herbs.
Confined indoors and alone in Marshall Grandmother’s room, my eyes fell upon her bookshelves, crammed full of her collection.
It was the time when my front teeth had fallen out, and my speech whistled slightly with each word.

“Long-term success through… investment philosophy.”

Marshall Grandmother was a reclusive master of the investment world.
Bored out of my mind, I began pulling out her books and reading them whenever I was alone.

“Tsk, tsk. This quarter’s performance is absolutely dreadful. They boasted about expecting dividends, yet now I must consider withdrawing my investment.”
“You mustn’t withdraw yet. The report mentions climate issues, so we should wait until next year. Instead, invest in that brewery venture you were considering last week! Now is the perfect time!”
“…How on earth did my little chick know such things?”
“Hehe.”
“You’ve read all my mail?”

I expected praise, as I would have received reading books in a library.
That day, Marshall Grandmother scolded me terribly.
I learned for the first time that I must never read another person’s mail without permission—no matter how neatly it was laid out on the dining table.
And my grandmother gave me strict instructions.
Before I turned ten, I was never to speak of diversified investments or anything like that again.

“Why?”
“Your father will worry himself sick. More than when you’re ill.”
“Oh.”

Still, thanks to what happened that day, Marshall Grandmother and I understood each other well.
This transaction itself was only possible because Marshall Grandmother had recognized my competence long ago.
“Enough about Izra. Do you like the article content?”
“Yes!”
I nodded while reading the exclusive report from Daily Sunrise.
Grandmother got the article; I got a lifetime of massage vouchers and a jackpot business opportunity.
‘The information from that newspaper Calips threw at me a few days ago turned out to be quite useful!’
An ornamental plant that came as a bonus gift along with a pumpkin variety officially imported into the Port Kingdom.
It would be revealed four years later that it’s a material for recovery potions, causing its value to skyrocket.
Right now it costs five thousand Cona per unit, but later, due to high rarity and supply shortages, the price supposedly shoots up to a single gold coin.
“But Grandmother, revealing even the potion-making method feels like I’m losing out no matter how I think about it!”
“…Oh my. What additional conditions is our little chick trying to add with such talk?”
“Hehe.”
I pushed the newspaper toward Marshall Grandmother and spoke.
“If you secure the import monopoly rights, the cultivation can be handled in Leaf—”
“…Haha…!”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, I heard an unfamiliar man’s laughter. I startled and turned to look beside me.
The sound came from beyond the wall. It wasn’t perfectly clear through the wall, but the voice was audible enough.
“Oh no. Is the soundproofing not very good?”
“Don’t worry. It’s been quiet until now, so whoever’s over there probably just arrived. That’s quite a hearty laugh they have.”
Marshall Grandmother spoke casually. Still, just in case.
“Shh—.”
I made a zipping motion across my lips to indicate we’d talk about it later. Just then, a waiter entered carrying food.

***

The restaurant walls were thin.
Laksek Iron Trabel couldn’t help but let out the laughter that burst forth.
‘Audacious…!’
Unlike his eyes creased with laughter, his golden gaze remained sharp.

About an hour earlier.
Laksek Iron Trabel had arrived in this relatively bustling village with Callet.
A bit further and it would be Leaf Village, but there was a need to reconsider the destination.
According to what Callet had learned, it was a small village with barely fifty residents.
He had come disguised as a nobleman of lower rank to hide the fact that he was Count Trabel, but Laksek Iron Trabel’s appearance was far from ordinary.
The moment he entered Leaf Village, news of a visit from a large elderly man would spread throughout the village in an instant.

“Will they find out?”
“They will.”

Callet stated it plainly.
It posed no problem for Laksek if the villagers discovered he was Count Trabel.
But the thought of his reckless son looking at him with strange eyes made my palms itch and my fingers twitch with agitation.
A low groan escaped me.
Laksek sighed. This was all because the High Priest had scratched at my composure, going on about how my granddaughter had called him grandfather and such.
To have come all this way in a fit of emotion—it seemed I truly was growing old.

“Let’s go back.”
“Won’t you see Miss Berry before we leave?”
“Who came all this way to see that pea-sized girl? She’ll come around eventually. I should eat something first. I’m hungry.”

No one here would recognize me in disguise. Laksek entered a nearby Restaurant.
After being shown to a room and finishing his meal, it was when Callet stepped away on an errand.
A guest entered the adjacent room. I could even hear the waiter and what seemed to be the guest conversing.
The soundproofing was abysmal.
Laksek’s brow furrowed.

“Show me the newspaper, please! Grandmother!”

A child’s voice immediately captured Count Trabel’s attention.
That bold, crystalline voice was…!
It was my youngest granddaughter’s voice.
But who had come with her? Last time she called the High Priest grandfather, and now who was she calling grandmother?
Laksek disapproved of his granddaughter’s friendliness, yet focused all his attention on the sounds coming from the adjacent room.

“Hehe. Still, President Izra, you seem excited? I saw how you pulled out ‘Imperial Decree’ right at the headline.”

And I doubted my own ears.
One of Laksek’s morning routines was reading the newspaper.
He typically skimmed through articles from three major newspapers, including the Daily Sunrise.
So Laksek was aware of the contents of today’s newspaper article with the headline “Imperial Decree.”
My youngest granddaughter couldn’t read, could she? Yet those words just now were clearly spoken after reading a newspaper.
Could it be a different child with a similar voice?
Nothing is ever one hundred percent certain. Cautious as always, Laksek listened intently to the continuing conversation.

“Today’s newspaper must have sold incredibly well, don’t you think? It’s an inter-species human rights issue.”
“Don’t speak of such things in front of your father. …Reytan….”

The name of a wayward son that fell from the old man’s lips, paired with a level of conversation that couldn’t possibly belong to a child.
Laksek Iron Trabel was certain.
My youngest granddaughter had actually dared to deceive me. How audaciously.
“…Kh…haha!”
I could no longer suppress the laughter that had been threatening to escape my lips.
‘Here I am, Laksek Iron Trabel, played for a fool by a seven-year-old!’
The days when I had fretted over the news that Berry couldn’t read flashed through my mind.
Though I couldn’t fathom why she had lied, one thing was certain—everyone had fallen for her performance. Wasn’t it absurd that adults who had lived many times longer than her had been so thoroughly deceived?
My heart, which had grown accustomed to not being greatly startled by anything, now trembled violently.
‘Is it innate?’
My fist clenched of its own accord. Blood surged through my veins. The youthful vigor of my younger days seemed to envelop my body.
At the sound of Count Trabel’s laughter, Callet, who was returning, hastily opened the door.
“Cou—”
He could say nothing.
Laksek Iron Trabel, erasing the smile from his face at Callet’s appearance, brought his index finger to his lips as if to say not a word.
Then he rose from his seat and strode briskly out of the room. Callet followed in his wake.
As they exited the Restaurant, a carriage awaited. Laksek Iron Trabel opened his mouth, which had been firmly sealed.
“Callet.”
“Yes.”
“What became of Marquis Ash?”
“The Investigation Bureau has moved. Demian Knox, the Investigation Department chief, was dispatched, and the Marquis has just appeared before the local lord and the Investigation Bureau. And since Leaf Village has no informants planted there, they will soon send people—”
“Never mind.”
“…Sir?”
Callet was bewildered by Laksek Iron Trabel’s words.
Until just before entering the Restaurant, hadn’t he been anxious about investigating news of Miss Berry?
Callet lost his words and hesitated at the Count’s sudden reversal, as if he had flipped his palm.
Laksek Iron Trabel boarded the carriage with an unbothered expression, speaking to Callet with firm finality.
“Whatever happens there, pay it no mind. It has nothing to do with the Trabel Family.”

***

That evening.
In the parlor of Baron Voltman’s Log House, serious conversation among adults was underway. Present were Baron Voltman, the Baroness, Father, Marshall Grandmother, and Zikal.
Theon, Jeffrey, and Anne stood with the door cracked open, ears perked to catch the conversation drifting from the parlor.
“You’re asking that this plant be cultivated in Leaf Village?”
Baron Voltman examined the potted plant in his hands as he spoke.

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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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