Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 14

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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 14
“Haha! What a bold answer.”
He laughed heartily, bending at the waist to meet my gaze. His eyes gleamed with genuine affection.
“Would you like me to help you leave this place, child?”
“How would you do that?”
“Well, as you said, my hobby is buying those whose eyes catch my fancy and then setting them free.”
“You don’t keep them—you release them?”
“That’s right.”
I felt a wave of relief wash over me, realizing this old man wasn’t quite as terrible as I’d feared.
But no matter how freely he released them…
Spending money here only perpetuated and encouraged the very existence of this place.
At least his intentions seemed genuinely good, which was something.
I revised my assessment of the old man upward slightly and asked him a question.
“Why spend all that money just to let them go?”
He answered in a hushed, conspiratorial tone.
“Because if you do it that way, there’s a slim chance you’ll find a loyal companion for life—someone willing to stake everything, even their own existence, for you.”
“What if they simply thank you and leave?”
“Then I’ve saved one person’s life.”
Certainly, during the old man’s active years, he’d always been surrounded by fiercely loyal talents.
In particular, his closest associates were renowned throughout society for their unwavering devotion.
But there was one thing that puzzled me…
“Is it really alright to tell me this, the person involved?”
“I never force loyalty on anyone. Think about it—how could I use someone as my right hand unless they chose to follow me, knowing exactly what kind of person I am?”
“Haha, you’re not being honest with yourself, grandfather.”
“…What?”
“You simply wanted to save those with a strong will to live, didn’t you?”
Unless those who served him were fools, they would never pledge loyalty to some trash trying to exploit them.
They followed him simply because he was worthy of their loyalty.
“There’s always a reason why people follow someone.”
“…Are you saying I’m that kind of person?”
“Yes.”
“Heh, the more we talk, the more entertaining you become. Keeping you nearby wouldn’t be boring at all.”
His voice had grown so warm that I could instantly sense the smile hidden behind his mask—a genuine arc of contentment.
“But if I had power like yours, I don’t think I’d do the same.”
“No?”
The very fact that he’d entered this Auction House proved he possessed both power and wealth.
And most of all, this old man…
I glared at him provocatively through the gaps in the iron bars.
“I’d burn this wretched Auction House to the ground.”
“…Haha.”
The warmth in his eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a chilling coldness that seemed to freeze the very air around us.
“Don’t be so arrogant, child. Do you have any idea how many noble houses are entangled with this wretched Market? Do you truly believe you could speak so carelessly even if you possessed power equal to mine?”
He had too much to protect, and disturbing this place with its web of interconnected families would only escalate matters unnecessarily.
Releasing those with strong will to survive in this place was likely the last remnant of his conscience.
I lifted the corners of my mouth and broke into a radiant smile.
“Then, Grandfather, would you care to make a wager with me?”
“…What sort of wager?”
“Whether I can reduce this Auction House to ashes in the future.”
“You, whose very survival is questionable without my immediate intervention, dare speak such things?”
“Yes. Since the odds are overwhelmingly against me, if you lose, please grant me one wish.”
At my audacious proposal, he gazed at the restraints binding my wrists.
He seemed to be verifying that the sealing incantation embedded in the shackles was properly in place.
“I’m curious how you intend to reduce this place to ashes when your Ability is sealed by such bindings.”
“Aren’t you?”
But the old man was overlooking one crucial detail.
Sufficiently powerful Abilities cannot be bound by mere sealing incantations.
And I was precisely such a case.
“However, you’ve forgotten the most important element of any wager, child. You haven’t specified a deadline.”
“As soon as possible.”
“Vague standards indeed.”
He lost interest, his gaze drifting elsewhere.
Ah, even the wealthy could be petty.
“…What time is it now?”
At my question, the old man withdrew a pocket watch from his waist as if offering one final courtesy, without a word.
With a click, the watch face opened. He held it before my eyes.
“The Central Clock Tower will soon toll the hour.”
There was little time remaining until noon.
Our conversation had made the time pass faster than I’d anticipated.
“Hmm. For the deadline until devastation… approximately this long…?”
I spread all ten fingers before the old man’s eyes.
“Ten years? You’re asking me to wait until you’ve fully matured?”
“No, allow me to correct myself. Approximately this long?”
I lowered my left hand, displaying only five fingers, then slowly folded the remaining five down one by one.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
“What are you doing right now…?”
“Yes, right now.”
Dong, dong, dong.
The faint sound of the Central Clock Tower announcing noon reached our ears.
I smiled brightly and covered my ears with my hands.
KABOOM—!
The moment I covered my ears, a deafening roar erupted as the building shattered around me, debris crashing down from every direction.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“A monster! A monster has breached the facility!”
“The building is collapsing, run!”
“Hey, manager! Shouldn’t you release us before we escape?”
Amid the chaos of the rampaging monster and screaming people, the old man simply stared at me.
He was clearly flustered—his pupils trembled slightly, betraying his shock.
“…Did you cause this?”
I pulled out the key I’d stolen before entering from my disheveled hair and unlocked my shackles.
“Something like that. Oh, and just so you know, making good friends is naturally part of my abilities too, right?”
Click.
[Overlaying current viewpoint onto Viewpoint 1.]
The moment the shackles came free, I saved my perspective and began rotating my wrists, loosening the stiffened muscles.
Just then, a four-legged monster lunged toward the old man from behind.
“Oh, behind you, grandfather…!”
Crack—!
My mouth fell open at the situation that unfolded in an instant.
Without even glancing back, he had obliterated the charging monster.
It was literal annihilation.
I grimaced at the gruesome remains of the monster corpse.
“Ah! Grandfather, couldn’t you have waited before killing it?”
“…What?”
I grumbled about how someone his age lacked patience, then drew upon my power.
“It’s a good thing I make saving viewpoints a habit. I almost lost my ride.”
[Loading Viewpoint 1.]
I rewound the moment to before the monster’s death and immediately yanked the old man’s sleeve with all my strength.
“Grandfather, this way!”
The old man followed without resistance, pulled along by my grip.
At the same instant, the monster charged forward, shredding the iron bars where the old man had been standing like paper.
The monster, having warped the bars in an instant, rushed toward me and nuzzled my face with a low growl.
It was the beast Raspi had prepared for my safety and mobility when he would lay waste to this place.
I mounted the monster and brazenly made my demand to the old man.
“Ah, I’ll count this rescue as a separate debt from our wager.”
“…W-what?”
I thoroughly exploited the old man right to the end, then slipped out through the iron bars that had confined us.
Then I dashed toward where Rosemary was imprisoned, shouting back at the bewildered old man.
“Well then, I have urgent matters to attend to, so I’ll be going first! I’ll tell you my wish when we meet next time!”

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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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