I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 85

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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 85

Rad Street 28.
A sanctuary for gamblers where nobles and commoners alike needed only coin to enter.
Yosel had fallen into that place when he’d barely come of age.
He’d followed an acquaintance there by chance and played a single poker game. In one night, 1 million cona became 54 million cona.
Yosel’s eyes had gone mad.
Why struggle to run a business? Couldn’t I simply fill my quotas with poker?
But that first lucky streak was a fool’s fortune.
Determined to recover his losses, he’d lived there except when sleeping, yet the sums he lost only grew. The occasional wins drove him further into madness. Each time he felt certain that one more game would bring the jackpot, and he couldn’t bring himself to quit.

“Idiot!!”

After months of living that way.
Laksek had sent knights to drag Yosel back. At Count Trabel’s thunderous decree—as terrifying as heaven itself—Yosel had trembled uncontrollably.
His father was the only thing Yosel feared more than money.
He’d begged and pleaded that he’d never do it again, his hands and feet desperate, and had been forbidden from going out. Even then, he’d been the master of Emerald House.
Living in that shame, he’d sworn never to set foot in a gambling den again.
“Ugh….”
Yosel shoved his fist into his mouth, swallowing his sobs. He couldn’t bear to believe that empty safe was his own.

“Y-yes, yes. You’re quite the noble, aren’t you? I’m just… from a backwater village…”
“Hmph. Looks it. How old is that hat? Never mind. Do you know how to play poker?”
“I learned by watching over someone’s shoulder… I know a little…”

A little, my foot!
“Damn… cough, bas… tard….”
If he’d learned from the front instead of over the shoulder, that cursed bastard would have stripped away even my Clothing Shop as his winnings.
His shabby appearance had lulled me into carelessness.

“Ah, oh dear. I’ve lost it all to you, sir. It was an inheritance from a relative…”
“What can you do? Your skill simply wasn’t sufficient. Inheritance or not, there’s nothing to be done. This is a world of cold, merciless competition.”
“S-sir. I have a gold ring… Could I play just one more hand with this…?”
“Is it genuine gold? There’s an appraiser in the lobby. Go have it checked.”

I wasn’t accepting the final proposal simply intoxicated by consecutive victories.
After that, Yosel continued to lose.
There was no way I, blessed with fortune, could lose to that shabby country bumpkin. I had even driven the man into a corner.

“Oh, oh my. You’ve lost so much… what shall we do? You did say this was the world of cold-blooded competition, so I cannot return the money to the young master…”
“…Will you come back tomorrow? Bring all the money you won today. I’ll show you clearly the difference between luck and skill.”

I should have stopped that first day.
All I’d done was increase the stakes.
Two days, four days, five days…
On the fifth day, my eyes cleared as if scales had fallen from them, but the country bumpkin had vanished, and so had my money.

Two billion was Victor Stings’ investment. The Trabel Family had even provided a joint guarantee for it.
If my family had to pay the guarantee liability, my performance in this Separate House competition would suffer a twofold loss.
Four billion. Minus four billion. In contrast, Reytan’s performance was zero.
Reytan doesn’t operate any business. He’s not causing the kind of reckless damage that would warrant compensation from the Trabel Count Family like before.
Though I still need to see four more years of results, at this rate, my Emerald House will—
“T-the Manager isn’t here!”
I heard the Shop Manager’s urgent cry. Yosel, who had been crouching in front of the safe, perked up his ears.
Crash!
Before I could even grasp the situation, someone burst into the Manager’s Office.
The sound of footsteps in sturdy shoes stopped nearby. I slowly lifted my head. A man in a light checkered suit looked down at me and smiled, raising the corners of his mouth.
“Gasp. M-Merchant Lord.”
“So you are here?”

***

It was morning.
Theon and Jeffrey brought me to the Education Hall before their morning training.
“Do your best with studying~”
“See you later.”
“Thanks for bringing me!”
I greeted the two of them and entered the Education Hall building. Then I went straight ahead and came out through the back door where the Outdoor Corridor connected to the Main Estate.
‘I arrived too early…!’
To display the appearance of being the lowest-ranked, I usually arrived just before class.
But as Theon and Jeffrey gradually started leaving for training earlier, the time I arrived at the Education Hall kept getting pushed forward.
Arriving early itself wasn’t a problem, but the issue was that Ciel, being a model student, also tended to arrive at the classroom early.
‘Being alone with Ciel just the two of us is still awkward.’
Ever since my first riding lesson, Ciel had been particularly eager to stick close to me. She generally liked becoming close with other people, but some of the topics Ciel occasionally brought up made me uncomfortable.

“How close are you two? Does he normally not greet other people?”
“Having to live under the same roof as someone so taciturn… Berry must have it rough.”
“You don’t want to say anything harsh because he’s your friend? Don’t worry—if he says you two shouldn’t be friends, I’ll play with you instead.”

So Ciel really does like Theon, doesn’t she…?
In any case, today I planned to position myself near the Outdoor Corridor, and when Madam Frea passed by, I would casually enter the Classroom with her as if by coincidence.
Hehe. That way, Ciel wouldn’t say anything to me either—perfect.
“How did you manage to butter up the riding instructor?”
Eek. I jumped in alarm at the voice coming from above my head and spun my body around. A window on the First Floor of the Main Estate’s corridor was open. The voice had come from there.
“G-Grandfather!?”
“Indeed. Why are you so startled all of a sudden?”
Count Trabel’s golden eyes held a look of bewilderment.
“Y-You startled me by speaking so suddenly, sir.”
Most of my private conversations with Grandfather took place in Grandfather’s Study. It was specially soundproofed, and when the door was closed, only Callet would usually visit.
It had been a long time since I’d seen Grandfather like this from outside. Perhaps because the setting was different, I felt an imposing presence emanating from him that I hadn’t sensed in ages.
“Tsk. You’re quite the coward, aren’t you?”
Noticing my slight fear, Grandfather clicked his tongue disapprovingly and pointed toward the Study with the tip of his chin.
“Come inside for a moment.”

***

I made my way to Grandfather’s Study while avoiding the eyes of others. The door was slightly ajar as if inviting me in, and as I approached, it swung wide open—Grandfather had opened it from inside.
“The riding instructor asked me to buy a pony. She said she’d find a gentle one that wouldn’t be dangerous for you to ride.”
Grandfather closed the door behind me and returned to the conversation he’d started when he called out to me earlier.
Ah. I felt much more at ease seeing Grandfather here in the Study.
“A pony?”
“I clearly opposed the idea of a pony as well. Yet you were trying to persuade me that you desperately wanted to ride. Shall I buy one for you?”
Wow. If Grandfather bought me a pony, I could take riding lessons before the year was out!
I scurried over to Grandfather, took his hand, and looked up at him with eager eyes. Then I pleaded with him, my gaze full of longing.
“Will you really buy one? Truly? I want to ride so badly!”
“…So this is how you butter people up. Very well, I’ll buy one for you.”
“Thank you so much!”
“Indeed.”
Grandfather patted my head. Then he shifted the conversation to another matter.
“Have you heard from the Dwarves in the meantime?”
“From Baron Oldman? No, I haven’t heard anything!”
Since the letter regarding Crest Mine, Baron Oldman had finished his business with the Dwarves, so there was even less reason to contact us.
Instead, I felt it necessary to find out what Baltar was searching for within the mine.
I had asked Zena Chaser to investigate the mountains near Crest Mine, and not long ago, I received word through Jack Jack that she had discovered an external cavern connected to the mine.

“There haven’t been any signs of recent visitors,” he said.

It seemed the Dwarves had stopped visiting the Mines for a while.
‘Perhaps they’ve decided not to go because they think Baron Oldman knows something.’
I’m curious. I want to learn more…! But there’s no way a seven-year-old can go to the Crest Mine alone.
“But why the Dwarves?”
“We’re planning to visit the Dwarf Village to commemorate our trade agreement with them.”
Grandfather spoke with delight. My ears perked up.
“Oh, then—!”
“That’s right, it’s the experiential learning you enjoy. An invitation will be sent to the Education Hall soon. Go and plan what you’d like to do there.”
“…Yes!”

***

That afternoon.
As I returned to Stone House, I blinked at the sight of a man loitering near the Arborvitae Trees.
‘Uncle Yosel?’

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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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