I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 6

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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 6

After Father and Sherry left Stone House.
I found myself in a subtle standoff with Anne.
“Sherry said there are rabbits on the walking path near the West Gate. Want to go see them?”
I was eager to head toward the West Gate, where the Red Eagle Knights Training Ground was located.
“The West Gate, Miss? That’s far too distant. Wouldn’t you prefer to tell me more about your time in Bonwell Village instead?”
Anne, alone with me in this room, was probing for details about how Father had lived.
In Bonwell Village, I had been a champion crayfish catcher. The secret lay in scouting the right locations and using appetizing bait.
It was all about imagining which bait would look most delicious to a crayfish and dangling it before them!
“Well, I suppose there’s no helping it then.”
I spoke to Anne, who was organizing clothes while sprawled across the bed.
“That’s right—last time Father and I went to the fruit shop, I saw a wanted poster—”
“A wanted poster for Young Master Raytan?”
And the most delicious bait for Anne was Father’s past, which no one else knew.
At the bait I dangled, Anne abandoned her task and came to the bed, pressing for more.
“You saw a wanted poster with a bounty in front of the fruit shop? And then?”
“And then I couldn’t even buy strawberries…. Ugh, I’m so sleepy.”
“Miss, if you sleep more today, you won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Would you like to go see the rabbits?”
“Isn’t it far?”
“It’s manageable if we walk. It will take some time, but if we talk along the way, it won’t be tedious.”
“Really? Should I ask the other maids if they want to come too—”
“They’ll all be too busy.”
Anne, tempted by my bait, had conveniently eliminated the other maids herself. Her calculation was that a conversation would flow more smoothly between just the two of us.
I wanted that too.
‘Hehehehe.’
Fishing expedition: a resounding success.

How long had Anne and I walked after leaving Stone House?
‘This is it!’
Though I had never seen this building before, I recognized it instantly. I came to an abrupt halt, still holding Anne’s hand.
“Miss? The walking path continues further ahead.”
“Anne…”
I looked up at her with glistening eyes, my gaze tinged with melancholy.
“My legs hurt. I can’t walk anymore…”
The words struck Anne like a bolt from the blue.
Yesterday and today—Father had carried me frequently, and Anne, who worked at Stone House, had witnessed it all.
Judging by the confusion in her eyes, she was likely wrestling with the thought: ‘Do I need to carry her too?’
But unlike Father, who effortlessly hoisted me up with one arm, Anne was merely an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl.
While a few meters might have been manageable, carrying a seven-year-old over a distance exceeding one kilometer was simply beyond her strength.
“Oh, what should I do? There’s no one nearby to ask for help…”
The western wall area had no living quarters for the direct family members, making it a place people rarely visited.
The only place to seek assistance was the Red Eagle Knights Training Ground.
‘Be brave, Anne!’
However, the training ground was teeming with knights, and it seemed frightening for a maid only five months into her service to enter alone.
The massive crimson eagle banner hanging from the building fluttered with an intimidating presence.
Either carry me, or enter the training ground.
Anne stood hesitating between these two choices before asking me:
“…You truly cannot walk at all?”
I nodded and looked up at her—wearing the exact expression Marshall had described.

“Don’t make that face. Even a soaked chick must take its medicine.”

What sort of expression does a soaked chick make, I wondered.
In any case, Anne let out a reluctant groan as she deliberated, then seemed to steel herself and crossed the threshold into the training ground. She seated me on a bench in the courtyard of the Red Eagle Knights Training Ground and gave me strict instructions.
“Please wait here. I’ll bring a knight I know. Do you understand? You mustn’t leave the building.”
“Okay! I won’t go outside the building!”
I answered brightly, and Anne, reassured, left me alone and headed toward the main building.
‘Perfect!’
The moment Anne disappeared from sight, I began exploring the training ground. Since Teon, the Crown Prince, had entered the Trabel Family around the same time as me, there was a high chance he was here.
What I was aiming for was a meeting disguised as coincidence.
Since I didn’t know when Uncle would expel Teon, I had to make contact as quickly and as frequently as possible. Becoming friends took time, after all.
‘Today, I’ll just exchange names! Then I’ll return to Stone House before Father comes back. I have plenty of time!’

***

Boing. Boing.
‘I can’t see it.’
The corridor on the first floor of the Annex Building.
I was bouncing up and down frantically, trying to peer through the window.
The windows were designed for adults and far too high—even on my tiptoes, I could barely glimpse the sill.
‘I heard Uncle Lex’s voice and I really want to see inside.’
This time, I’d have to jump with more force.
‘One more time!’
I tensed my legs, bent my knees, and launched myself upward with all my strength.
“Upper thrust!”
Just then, Uncle Lex called out the name of the next technique. Startled by his booming voice, I managed to jump higher than before—!
“Oh!”
My eyes locked with those of the knight standing near the window.
“Upper thrust…!?”
Damn. I’d been caught.
The knight’s voice cracked as he called out the technique, and as I landed, my heart pounded like a thief caught red-handed.
“…!?”
After a moment of silence, Uncle Lex’s angry voice echoed from the Training Hall.
“Who’s making such foolish noises during sacred training time!”
“Commander, I have something to report.”
We’d only locked eyes for a moment, but the knight was already preparing to tattle without hesitation.
“Report? Acial! That’s your problem right there—your focus! How distracted were you during training! Back in my day—!”
The man’s voice grew louder.
If Uncle Lex discovered me, I’d have no choice but to return to Stone House. There was no reason for me to stay here anyway.
‘I haven’t even seen Theon yet. I can’t get caught now…!’
Panicked, my mind raced.
In my distraction, I failed to notice the person passing by me and entering the Training Hall.
“I brought what you asked for.”
“Ah, later. Theon. The Commander is angry right now.”
‘What!?’
In the quiet exchange, one name struck my ear like a bell. I turned around too late, but the back door to the Training Hall was already closed.
‘I have to get inside the Training Hall…!’
To even greet Theon, I needed an excuse to enter. The back door? The front door?
“Back in my day, I would never have dared to lose focus during training! When Young Master Leitan—.”
“Father?”
Using Father’s name that had just left Uncle Lex’s lips as my pretext, I rushed toward the nearest door and, on my tiptoes, grabbed the handle and pulled.
It was the front door.
“….”
More than thirty knights’ gazes instantly fixed upon me.
‘Who is that child?’ their expressions seemed to ask.
When embarrassed, laughter is the best remedy.
I chuckled nervously and asked as though I knew nothing.
“Is my father here?”

***

“Young Master Raytan’s daughter?”
“She doesn’t look like him at all…? You’re certain she’s his biological daughter?”
“That’s the mystery of life itself. She inherited not a single trace of her father’s crude features—just look at that adorableness.”
“So that’s why you retired from active duty. With such a precious daughter, what does a holy sword matter?”
“It matters. It’s a holy sword, after all.”
I caught every word of their whispered conversation.
I sat in an enormous chair the knights had brought from somewhere. My body didn’t even reach the backrest, so it felt more like I was perched on it.
A plush crimson cushion stuffed with cotton, ornate carvings adorning the golden legs and armrests.
This was entirely Uncle’s taste.
‘Ugh. Did he sit here and backseat command the knights?’
Uncle had always harbored a romantic notion of becoming the head of the family and mastering the blade, but sadly he’d abandoned that dream in childhood. He lacked the talent, and besides, a genius who could accomplish anything stood right beside him.
My father.
‘Uncle loves being flashy and drawing attention. It’s a shame his skills don’t match his ambitions.’
So whenever he felt inferior to the direct line, he’d visit the training ground to relieve stress. He derived pleasure from watching the knights move at his command—a petty indulgence.
These knights had to take training orders from someone without a shred of swordsmanship skill.
‘A victim of workplace harassment right before my eyes….’
I gazed sympathetically at the restless man before me.
The Commander of the Red Eagle Knights. This man appeared frequently in my other memories.
Seeing him in person, he was truly massive—bear-like in stature. He apparently feared small creatures because they looked like they’d burst if touched.
“Um, Miss Sherry? I understand Young Master Raytan is currently away, but….”
“Yes! He said he’d be back before dinner!”
“I see. I’ve already sent someone to the Young Master’s Separate House, so someone will arrive shortly. …But, did you come alone?”
“Yes! Is it okay if I wait here?”
“Well, we’re in the middle of training….”
“Commander, now that Miss Sherry has arrived, shall we call it a day?”
One of the knights seized the opportunity to suggest it, but there was no way it would work on the Commander.
The man turned around, his eyes flashing like those of a wild bear.
“Do you honestly think you can defeat an enemy with that careless attitude toward training?”
“Oh, no sir. What I just said was a joke….”
“Right now, 500 push-ups, 500 overhead strikes, and 50 laps around the Training Hall. Begin.”
“…Beginning.”
Then he turned back to me, fidgeting anxiously.
“Would you prefer to wait in the Commander’s Office? There are delicious snacks there and cute figurines….”
“Sounds great!”
As I nodded, Uncle’s face brightened as though he’d found the solution.
“I shall assign a knight for your guidance and protection. Acial, please escort Miss Sherry—”
No, this won’t do! All this effort to reach the Training Hall would be for nothing!
I quickly pointed to a specific location and asked Uncle.
“Is it alright if I ask my friend to come with me instead?”
“Your friend?”
The knights’ gazes followed the direction I was pointing.

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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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