Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 7

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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 7
“If you have no intention of using my ability, why are you being so kind to me?”
“That’s what I’d like to ask you. What made you sleep here without suspicion?”
“I lived on the streets for two years. I’m quite good at distinguishing whether someone means me harm or not.”
“Merely that…!”
“Besides, I have the ability to foresee the future.”
The moment I mentioned my ability, the Old Gentleman’s angry expression softened somewhat. Yet his face remained stern as he spoke in a reproachful tone.
“No matter how strong your foresight is, trusting a stranger is dangerous.”
“When I’m about to starve to death, what does danger matter?”
If I could have, I would have sold my very soul.
At my self-deprecating words, the Old Gentleman stared at me with eyes that had gone rigid, as though he’d been struck hard in the head by someone.
I lifted the corners of my mouth, attempting to shift the mood.
“I think I’ve explained why I stayed here. But what about you? Why are you being so kind to me?”
The Old Gentleman was momentarily at a loss for words, his throat constricted.
How much time passed? Slowly, he parted his lips.
“You resemble my first love.”
“…Pardon?”
“If she had borne a child, I think they would have had a face exactly like yours.”
“Oh… She must have been beautiful.”
“She was.”
Bitterness lingered at the end of his soft laugh. It seemed to be a love that never came to pass.
I had occasionally wondered why he chose to take me in when the Back Alley was teeming with orphans.
I never expected there to be such a backstory to it.
Is that why he disliked it when I called him father? Did thoughts of his unrequited first love resurface?
Lost in melancholy thoughts, I was chewing on my food absentmindedly when it happened.
The Old Gentleman reached out and tucked my disheveled hair behind my ear, tidying it.
“You must have been terribly hungry. I see you’re even chewing on your hair.”
“Ah….”
The hurt I had felt melted away at that small gesture, leaving only a warm, fuzzy feeling in its place.
I laughed playfully and deliberately chewed on my hair again, then offered my face forward as if asking him to do it once more.
“Hehe, here too.”

✦ ✦ ✦
After finishing breakfast, we made our way to the Shopping District to purchase the necessary supplies.
As expected, the Old Gentleman was dressed in a full-length robe with his hood pulled deep over his head.
Wrapping his face completely would have drawn more attention, so this was clearly the method he’d chosen.
A life spent fleeing from someone every moment of every day—that was the existence the Old Gentleman endured.
In this lifetime, I would make certain he could live with dignity, without needing to hide his face.
I reached out to take the Old Gentleman’s hand, but then realized we’d only met a day ago and withdrew my hand.
Sensing my hesitation, he quietly extended his hand toward me.
“There are many people around.”
I smiled brightly at his kindness and took his hand.
The size difference was considerable—I could only grasp two of his fingers.
“By the way, is it really all right for you to spend this much time because of me?”
“I have no commissions at the moment, so it’s fine.”
“I just worried that my presence might have disrupted your schedule, commission or not.”
“That’s not something you need to concern yourself with.”
I was about to express my gratitude when—
my gaze lingered on the golden-brown roasted chicken skewers at the street stall.
“Would you like some?”
“Yes. They look delicious—I’ll take three.”
“I appreciate your honesty.”
He handed silver coins to the skewer vendor with a satisfied expression.
The vendor, apparently having overheard our conversation, opened his mouth as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
“Three skewers, is it? Ha! Your daughter has quite an appetite despite being so thin!”
Oh no.
Aiden absolutely hated being mistaken for my father!
I glanced at Aiden, whose expression was slowly hardening at the word “daughter,” and quickly spoke up.
“He’s not my father.”
“What?”
“Just look at that young, handsome face. He’s clearly unmarried—how could you possibly mistake him for a child’s father?”
“Oh, I… I suppose you’re right?”
“Besides! We don’t share a single resemblance except for the basic features—eyes, nose, mouth. How could you possibly confuse us for father and daughter?”
“I, I see. I apologize for the misunderstanding.”
I exhaled sharply and looked at Aiden with an expression that said, “Didn’t I handle that perfectly?”
“Thank… you.”
His expression seemed somewhat reluctant.
I thought his anger had completely dissipated thanks to my flawless intervention, and I accepted the skewers with a satisfied expression before leaving the stall.
As I walked through the Shopping District with both hands full of skewers, Aiden beside me—
“Tania?”
Surprised that someone knew me at this point in time, I turned around to find a familiar man standing there.
“Oh, Merchant Leader?”
Both the Merchant Leader and Aiden looked at me with expressions asking who this person was.
I awkwardly laughed and introduced both sides to each other.
“Old Gentleman, this is the person who helped me reach the Capital. Merchant Leader, this is the person I’m currently staying with.”
Aiden seemed to have resolved his confusion from my introduction, but the Merchant Leader’s expression darkened.
“Tania, didn’t you say you were going to enter the Abiliter Orphanage?”
“The Old Gentleman said it was fine for me to stay at home, so I delayed it a bit.”
“What?”
At my response, the Merchant Leader stared at me with a serious expression as if questioning what I meant.
“Tania, come here.”
The Merchant Leader pulled my hand and positioned me behind him.
“I thought you were a clever child, but you’ve done something quite dangerous. What made you stay at a stranger’s home?”
“That’s exactly what I’ve been saying.”
Aiden, whom I expected to show displeasure, agreed with the Merchant Leader’s words and continued speaking while rubbing his temples.
“All my efforts to figure out how to persuade the child were wasted—I can’t tell you how much it hurt when she simply thanked me and left.”
Wait, shouldn’t you be on my side, Old Gentleman?
The Merchant Leader seemed flustered by his reaction, hesitated briefly, then spoke with a firm expression as if delivering a decree.
“Thank you for taking care of the child all this time. From now on, I will take her with the Trading Caravan and assume responsibility.”
At his words about taking me away, Aiden’s eyes transformed in an instant, gleaming like a predator’s.
“That won’t do. It’s true that you helped Tania for a time, but that doesn’t mean I can fully trust you.”
The Merchant Leader asked with displeasure, as though interrogating him.
“I’d like to ask whether you’re a safe person yourself. What is your occupation, if I may ask?”
“…I’m a mercenary.”
“Do you have any children?”
“…I’m unmarried.”
“So you’re asking me to entrust a young girl to an unmarried man who is a mercenary, frequently absent from home for each contract?”
“That is…”
Sensing the situation was becoming uncomfortable, I stepped between them to mediate.
“Excuse me, you two? If two men with intimidating faces argue about taking a young child away, people will get the wrong idea.”
Only then did the two men become conscious of the surrounding gazes.
Being in the crowded Shopping District, all eyes were intensely focused on us.
“Ahem!”
“…I would prefer if we could have a conversation between just the two of us in a quieter place.”
“Very well. Let us go to our Trading Caravan.”
The Merchant Leader promptly took us to the Trading Caravan he operated.
The building was quite large and neat, suggesting decent sales.
As we opened the door, the sound of tinkling bells mixed with the voices of employees.
“You’ve returned early, Merchant Leader. I heard you had business.”
“Oh, isn’t that little Tania beside you?”
People I had become acquainted with on my way to the Capital recognized me and greeted me.
While I waved my hands cheerfully, the Merchant Leader lightly ignored them and said what he needed to say.
“Wait, I need to have a word with our guest. The rest of you, stop slacking and get back to work.”
With that, he led Aiden up the stairs and gestured toward somewhere above.
“Ron, you keep our guest company in my stead. They’re an important visitor, so treat them with courtesy.”
This must be the Merchant Leader’s son he’d mentioned before.
Ron had blonde hair and blue eyes—the kind of aristocratic features that turned heads.
Whether it was appropriate to say so about a child, I wasn’t sure, but he had the air of a philandering pretty boy who’d break hearts once he grew older.
He looked to be around ten or twelve years old.
Either way, I had no intention of speaking to him formally, so it hardly mattered.
I watched the Merchant Leader and Aiden disappear up to the second floor, then greeted Ron, who was sprawled lazily across the guest sofa.
“Hello.”
What came back to me was an expression of utter annoyance and words to match.
“If you’re here to suck my father’s blood like some parasite, don’t bother pretending to be friendly—just get lost upstairs.”
Ha, how amusing.
I thought to myself that the Merchant Leader’s parenting had clearly hit a rough patch, then sat down directly on the sofa where Ron was lying.
That’s right.
I sat right on top of him.

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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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