One Day, My Dad Disappeared - Chapter 30

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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 30
How to Verify a Core.
“Should I drop it?”
“Go ahead.”
To avoid confusion like that fake Ruby from last time, Aidan had devised a method. It was a verification technique based on research records about Hedron’s Nucleus that had remained at the Gate Research Institute.
A Core made from Hedron’s Nucleus is nearly indistinguishable from ordinary gems to the naked eye. But internally, it possesses an Ether Crystal Layer unlike ordinary minerals.
When that crystal layer comes into contact with Copper Nitrate Solution—made by reacting copper with silver nitrate—it emits a faint, iridescent glow for a very brief moment.
In other words, dropping just a little Copper Nitrate Solution will tell us whether it’s a genuine Core or merely an ordinary mineral.
I carefully let drops of the Copper Nitrate Solution fall. The instant a single drop touched the surface seemed to stretch on for dozens of minutes.
Tap.
The solution fell onto the Fountain Pen. Above the drop on the surface, an iridescent thread bloomed, then spread swiftly along the crystal layer.
Red light and blue light and violet light rippled like waves, then vanished without a trace the moment I blinked.
“Did you see it? Did you?”
“I saw it.”
Aidan and I turned to face each other at the same moment. The Core’s reaction—which I’d only ever read about in reports—was unmistakable.
“So this is Hedron’s Nucleus.”
Aidan murmured softly. I held the Fountain Pen with care.
“We finally found one.”
I held the first key to finding Father in my hand at last.

* * *

After that, whenever news reached us of mysterious gem-like minerals appearing suddenly, Aidan and I would head there, maintaining the pretense of performing our official role with the Special Audit Department.
“Another dead end.”
But none of them were genuine Cores. More than a month had passed since we’d found the one at Eastern Central Neodymium, and we hadn’t uncovered a single lead since.
“Exactly. I was sure this one was real!”
A yellow gem-like object had appeared in someone’s home suddenly, and I’d thought it genuine, but it turned out the homeowner’s granddaughter had picked it up somewhere, and the reagent showed no reaction.
“And we came all this way to the Western Region.”
“We needed to visit the west eventually anyway.”
“In your capacity as Special Audit Department?”
“Naturally.”
Aidan seemed determined to conduct the Special Audit Department’s duties properly, even if they were ultimately a cover. He’d been meticulous about investigating tax collection practices on the way here.
“That said, there really isn’t much out here in the west.”
The landscape was entirely different from the Southern Region, crowded with tourists, or the Eastern Region, with its endless fields and orchards.
Here, vast grasslands stretched where cultivated land should be, and herds of horses grazed peacefully across them.
“There are more animals than people here.”
If the Eastern Region was famous for crops, the Western Region was famous for livestock. Vast pastures allowed for raising many animals—horses, cattle, sheep—all kept free to graze. Turtley in particular, where we were now, was the finest horse-breeding country of them all. I’d heard that most of the Knight Order’s cavalry mounts were raised here.
“The horses are certainly larger. And their coats are beautiful.”
“Our house uses no horse but Turtley-bred stock.”
Blue sky and open green stretching to the horizon. White clouds drifting lazily overhead.
So this is what peace feels like, I thought. Gazing at the vast grassland, my heart seemed to expand to match it.
The air was so fresh I stood lost in thought, and then suddenly a large brown horse thrust its head forward beside me.
“Yelp!”
Startled, I stumbled backward and my foot twisted beneath me.
“Ow!”
The horse that had frightened me simply continued on its leisurely way.
“What are you doing sitting on the ground?”
Aidan, who had just finished surveying the surroundings, looked down at me with exasperation. I looked exactly like a child on a picnic who couldn’t read the situation.
“Oh, no. It’s just…….”
I got to my feet without fuss and brushed the grass from my skirt. It just had to be white. I hoped it wouldn’t stain—laundry would be such a bother.
“The Core wasn’t here, and we’ve finished our Audit Department duties, so let’s head back.”
“No, we’re staying the night in Turtley and leaving tomorrow.”
“Here? You mean here?”
True, it took considerable time to travel from Turtley to the Capital, but the sun hadn’t set yet. If we left now, we’d reach the Capital by nightfall. Why linger?
“Yes. There’s a public inn here.”
“A public inn?”
“What.”
“Oh, nothing……. I just wondered if you didn’t have a private residence here.”
At my question, he looked at me with something like disbelief.
“You think our house maintains country estates across all imperial territories?”
No, or rather, it sounded almost like disappointment.
“N-no, of course not. It’s just that when you mentioned sleeping first, I thought maybe you had a villa somewhere.”
Because I hate shared lodgings!
“Well, I don’t particularly enjoy staying in such places, but….”
Eyes that matched the sunset fixed on my legs.
“It’s better to rest than to strain yourself moving around on that ankle.”
“Ah….”
I reflexively looked down at my legs. Now that he mentioned it, was there some swelling?
“Wait—you saw me fall earlier?”
“Yes, and quite spectacularly too, I might add.”
“I wasn’t that dramatic about it!”
“How could any reasonable person not be startled by a horse?”
“Y-you can be startled even if you know how to ride!”
“You learned Horsemanship as basic education at the Academy.”
“Knowing how to ride doesn’t mean seeing a horse won’t catch you off guard!”
Aidan and I bickered back and forth as we made our way toward the carriage.
Fortunately, the shared lodging wasn’t far from where we were.
“Ow, ow—it’s swollen even more now.”
Lying on the narrow bed and looking down at my feet, I could see my ankle was noticeably puffier than before.
“If only I had some ointment….”
I’d have to ask the lodging manager if they had a First Aid Kit or something. Limping downstairs, I found the manager, who had been sitting on the first floor just moments ago, was nowhere to be seen.
Where had they gone? I couldn’t exactly rummage through things on my own.
In that moment of uncertainty, someone tapped my shoulder lightly from behind.
“Over here.”
I turned to see a girl about my age with brown hair braided in two plaits.
“What are you looking for?”
“Ah, I was wondering if you had any medicine….”
“Where are you hurt? Wait just a moment.”
She retrieved the supplies with practiced efficiency.
“Goodness, what on earth happened to your leg?”
“I got startled by a horse out in the meadow earlier and fell.”
“Oh, the horses we let loose in the meadow are all docile and gentle. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
The girl smiled cheerfully and introduced herself.
“I’m Meliot—I care for the horses that come to the shared lodging. You’re the ones who arrived by carriage earlier, right? Starlang and Moon.”
“Starlang and Moon?”
“Yes, I raised both of them myself.”
Meliot wrapped a bandage around my leg while explaining how remarkably intelligent both Thoroughbreds were. She was more talkative than I’d expected.
“You really do know a lot about horses.”
“Of course! I love all sorts of animals, but horses especially—they’re creatures that connect with you so naturally.”
She finished treating me and smiled.
“Actually, my family was a famous Breeder Specialist in this village.”
“A Breeder Specialist?”
“Yes, we research bloodlines and determine which Thoroughbreds should be bred together. But….”
Meliot’s smile became strained.
“My grandfather was a terrible gambling addict. He kept putting the fine horses our family owned on the gambling tables, one by one, until we eventually lost them all.”
Meliot pointed to a notice posted on the wall.
“So my father entered that competition many times over, trying to win Breeding Rights to a Thoroughbred. But he fell from his horse last year and lost the use of one of his legs. Now I support us by working here, caring for the horses.”
I followed her pointing finger and turned my gaze toward the wall.

[Turtley Horsemanship Competition
Ride across the vast plains with a horse that loves the open earth, and seize your chance to breed with a pure-blooded Thoroughbred!
Grand Prize: Breeding Rights to a Thoroughbred
Silver Bridle crafted by the master artisans of Turtley, and a saddle of the finest quality.
Commemorative Medal]

The poster looked like a neighborhood market discount advertisement, but the photograph embedded in it captured my attention.
“Ah, isn’t that saddle beautiful? Especially the Cubic Zirconia set into this one—the village elder found it in a storage shed, and it’s apparently as pretty as a real gemstone! That’s why all the girls in town are going crazy trying to win it.”
“Found it in a storage shed? It wasn’t there originally?”
“Hmm? No, it wasn’t. The elder said he had no memory of it being there.”
“So it’s not actually a gem, then?”
“At first, I thought it was a gemstone and had it appraised, but they said it was just a pretty mineral.”
I looked back at the poster.
“The village chief insists he has no memory of buying it, but surely something like that couldn’t just fall out of the sky. He must have purchased it and forgotten.”
Meliot spoke with a smile.
A pretty mineral that had appeared suddenly, not a jewel at all.
Could it be a Core?

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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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