I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 63

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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 63

14. The Azure Hourglass and the Merchant Lord

The view beyond the window bustled with more activity than anywhere else. Supply wagons moved in procession down the main thoroughfare. Merchants hurried about their business.
This was Goldport, the merchants’ city, situated near Hisport Town.
“We’ve arrived.”
The carriage came to a halt before a grand building.
As Father, Theon, and I descended from the carriage in turn, the eyes of passersby fixed upon us.
Understandably so.
‘Business is all about presentation!’
The three of us, standing in a line before the building, exuded refinement from head to toe.
These were custom-tailored suits from the Trang Clothing Shop. Theon’s head kept dipping downward, as though unaccustomed to such expensive attire.
“Theon, stand with confidence.”
I said this, though I myself felt equally awkward in my dress. Beyond the gown itself, there were the lace gloves and the bonnet perched atop my head—something I’d only ever seen placed on dolls.
‘But this is the decisive battleground where everything will be determined!’
No matter how uncomfortable, I couldn’t let it show.
“We’re here as investors, after all.”
“Right.”
Theon straightened his posture and fixed his gaze forward, following my lead. A grand entrance came into view.
Above it hung a blue sign bearing the image of a white hourglass.
‘The Blue Company!’
Father, gazing at the same sight as I, spoke with a tone tinged with resignation.
“…We’ve finally arrived.”
Father had achieved homeownership starting from nothing in Bonwell Village. Such a feat would have been impossible through labor income alone.
During those years when he did whatever was necessary to make ends meet while raising me alone, the investment knowledge he’d learned from Marshall Grandmother had proven to be his true calling.
That’s why I’d asked Father to invest in the Blue Company as a way of apologizing to him.

“Invest in the Blue Company? Without even asking why?”
“Yes!”
“I really should know the reason.”
“Marshall Grandmother says it’s a goldmine! If we strike it big, buy recovery potions for Theon by the crate. Marshall Grandmother won’t give them away for free anyway. And since you’re responsible for Theon, Jeffrey, and Anne, we’ll need plenty of emergency funds.”
“…I’ll look into it carefully.”

If Marshall Grandmother succeeds in investments through experience and intuition, Father is the type who succeeds after meticulous investigation.
Father listened to my words and investigated the Blue Company, determining it was worth investing in—
‘But he learned that Uncle had already received an investment proposal.’
Because of that, Father had refused to invest, but I threw a tantrum at the last moment, and here we were.
That was also why Father seemed lukewarm now.
“Father, do I need to ring the doorbell?”
“Of course you do.”
Just then, the entrance door opened, and a neatly dressed middle-aged man emerged from inside.
In a fleeting moment, his seasoned gaze swept over the three of us—our clothing and the carriage behind us.
Father’s handsome features, the Windis at his waist, the two children standing to his left, and the eagle emblem of the Trabel Family carved into the carriage.
“Welcome, Reytan Quartz Trabel.”
The man, having instantly discerned Father’s identity, bowed deeply.
“I heard you were coming and have been waiting. It is an honor to meet you. I am the Manager of the Blue Company.”
“Good to see you. Where is the merchant lord?”
“He is waiting for you.”
The Manager guided us to where the merchant lord was. It was a lavishly decorated Reception Room.
There, a man dressed in foreign attire greeted us.
Semi-curly gray hair, tall and lean frame. Eyes so narrow and elongated that his pupils were barely visible when he smiled.
“Welcome, Reytan. I am the merchant lord of the Blue Company.”
Victor Stings.
His nickname was the man with a serpent’s tongue.
‘A nickname earned because he’ll say anything for money, I suppose?’
The merchant lord guided us to the sofa seating in the center of the Reception Room.
“Please, sit. I’ve had refreshments prepared. Reytan, this way for you.”
Three leather sofas were arranged around a walnut table in the center.
Father took the seat of honor—a single-person sofa—while Theon and I sat on the sofa across from the merchant lord.
“How do you do?”
The merchant lord turned his gaze toward Theon and me, offering his greeting.
Gray eyes watching us intently, contrasting with the curved lines of his eye shape.
‘Interesting.’
This seemed like a simple greeting, but it was closer to the intimidation tactic unique to this industry. Those who could dominate always seized the advantage from the start.
‘Is he trying to frighten the children into silence from the beginning?’
But this didn’t faze me at all. Count Trabel’s quiet presence or Father’s angry gaze was far more terrifying.
I stared directly at the merchant lord and grinned.
“Hello!”
“Hello.”
Following my spirited greeting came Theon’s calm response.
“…You’re quite bright, aren’t you?”
The merchant lord let out a soft exclamation as if amused, then turned his head toward Father.
“I was quite surprised when you contacted me, Reytan. To think I’d meet the protagonist of that shortage scandal in person.”
“…A shortage crisis?”
Father’s expression grew uncomfortable, as if he hadn’t expected the wanted poster to be mentioned here as well.
The merchant company owner maintained his bright smile as he spoke.
“You didn’t know? Ever since we posted Reytan’s wanted poster, people have been snatching them up continuously. It sells out the moment it arrives. What’s it like being a celebrity? I wouldn’t know since I’ve never experienced it, but it can’t be easy, can it?”
“I’m not sure myself.”
“How humble of you. But today—are you here as the second son of Count Trabel, or as the Grand Master?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does matter.”
The merchant company owner smirked.
“The Grand Master would have less capital to invest compared to the Trabel Family.”
Just as I remembered from my other life, I couldn’t help but smirk inwardly at the merchant company owner’s true nature.
The owner of the Blue Company was obsessed with money.
According to recent information from Butler Serber, the Blue Company still hadn’t received a confirmed investment commitment from my Uncle.
‘What if Father steps forward to invest at this very moment when the deal with Uncle isn’t going as planned?’
Though ranked at the lowest tier, it was an opportunity to forge a connection with the wealthy Trabel Family.
Father would impose the condition that he wouldn’t accept investments from any other direct family members.
The merchant company owner would lose his connection with Uncle, so he’d have no leverage to exploit.
“There shouldn’t be much difference.”
“Is that so?”
At Father’s words, the merchant company owner briefly fidgeted with the signet ring on his index finger. Then he continued.
“You mentioned wanting to invest in our company. Since Reytan has taken time out of his busy schedule, I’ll get straight to the point as well.”
And without warning, came the main point.
“I must decline the investment.”

***

Click.
The sound of the reception room door closing echoed.
…
Victor, who had been bowing until Reytan’s group left, straightened his upper body.
The merchant company owner’s expression, which had maintained an inscrutable smile, rapidly hardened.
Gray irises deepening with turbid light. Simultaneously, his vision blurred.
“…Damn it.”
It felt like viewing the world through a toilet paper tube. His field of vision narrowed to the size of the hole. Everything around it was dark and square.
A hereditary disease of his family. Victor’s eyes would go blind within months.
“I just kicked away the chance to receive investment from the Trabel Family.”
It wasn’t about approaching Hevanth Cornelian Trabel.
The eldest son of Count Trabel. The alchemists he employs had developed a new medicine that temporarily restores vision, or so he’d heard.
Victor had approached Hevanth under the guise of investment to test the drug’s effectiveness.

“You seem to have some trouble with your eyes, don’t you?”
“Pardon? I’m not sure what you mean.”
“The plate on your left—it looks like it’s about to fall off the table. I wondered if perhaps you couldn’t see it.”

I had nearly exposed my weakness instead.
Though I glossed over it that day, Hevanth had clearly sensed something amiss.
He’d sent along a medicine recently developed by the Alchemists, accompanied by a letter proposing a private meeting soon. I’d had it examined just in case, but it contained no poison.
The medicine I’d tested this morning certainly showed results. But only for half a day.
During my conversation with Reytan and his companions, I felt the effects wearing off, so I hastily ended the discussion.
‘I cannot become entangled with the Trabel Family.’
For a merchant, blindness was a grave vulnerability. It directly undermined trust. If word spread, the Blue Company would collapse.
“We struggled so hard to gain momentum. I won’t let the head of the company ruin everything because of failing eyesight.”
Victor Stings clenched his teeth and muttered to himself.

Knock, knock.
Someone rapped on the closed Reception Room door. The Manager, perhaps. Convenient timing.
“Come in.”
At Victor’s word, the door opened. But the figure entering his field of vision was small in stature.
A boy with black hair. And behind the boy, a bright, cheerful voice.
“Father!”
Victor was startled.
It was unmistakably the voice of that doll-like girl—Reytan Quartz Trabel’s daughter.
The girl who had remained unfazed even under his pressure.
“Young lady? Why have you returned?”
“Because Father wouldn’t come out!”
“….”
At those words, a chill ran down my spine.
Victor shifted his gaze to the side. Within his narrow field of vision, a man came into view, leaning against the wall beside the door.
Wheat-colored hair, a model-like physique, a sword at his waist.
“That’s—”
Reytan spoke to the flustered Victor.
“My apologies. I tend to investigate potential investments quite thoroughly.”

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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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