One Day, My Dad Disappeared - Chapter 37

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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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Episode 37
“A frequency that horses can hear?”
“Yes. Horses can hear high-pitched sounds that humans can’t.”
“But how does that work? If it’s a high sound, wouldn’t humans hear it too?”

Unlike Meliot, who looked bewildered, Aidan understood my meaning and nodded.

“Humans can typically hear sounds up to 20 kilohertz, but horses can hear beyond that.”
“Exactly. So I’m planning to make a whistle that produces sound in that frequency range.”
“What would you use it for?”
“If I blow the whistle during the race, other horses would panic at the sudden noise, wouldn’t they?”
“But Star would keep running.”

Meliot’s eyes gleamed.

“Of course, this is cheating. So I won’t use this method unless the other side uses some obvious foul play first.”

But they’d already cheated first. That much was certain.
I pulled the whistle I’d been wearing around my neck and held it up.
Foul play deserved a foul response.

I drew a deep breath and blew the whistle hard.
Of course, I heard nothing. Star wouldn’t hear it either.
“Neigh—!”
“What? Why is this horse suddenly acting up?”
“Ahhh!”
From all directions came the screams of horses and the startled shouts of riders. Horses stumbling at the sudden noise, others stopping dead, still others losing all sense of direction—complete chaos.
The white horse that Drodence had been leading so confidently met the same fate.
“What the hell? Where do you think you’re going?”
Drodence tried desperately to rein the white horse back, but it had already lost its balance. He tumbled from the saddle and rolled across the sand.
The spectators watching were left confused, unable to make sense of what had just happened.
“Look there!”
“That black horse—it’s the only one running straight!”
Star ran with all his might. Of course, he wasn’t fast.
“That horse doesn’t look hurt, does it?”
Limping on his hind legs but refusing to give up until the very end, Star glided smoothly through the finish line.
“Champion—! This year’s champion is number three, Star!”
The moment Star crossed the finish line, his legs gave out. He slowly bent his knees and collapsed. I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Star! You’re the best!”
“Are you both all right?”
“Cynthia, are you hurt?”
The two of them came rushing over from the finish line where they’d been waiting.
“I’m fine! Meliot, can you check Star’s hind legs? He seemed to have gotten hurt when he jumped the obstacles.”
Meliot quickly examined Star’s condition.
“Something seems caught. The horseshoe is bent all to pieces.”
Just as she said, the horseshoe protecting the racehorse’s hoof was bent nearly in half. Star’s hoof was covered in a mixture of dirt and blood—whether scraped by the broken horseshoe or by something else, it was impossible to tell.
“Cynthia, when did Star start limping?”
“Right after he jumped the second obstacle. We should examine the landing site.”
At my words, Aidan made a light gesture and issued instructions to his men.
“This is cheating!”
That’s when Drodence shouted.
“All the other horses were acting wild, but that horse ran perfectly fine!”
“If you call limping ‘perfectly fine,’ sure. Didn’t you see him struggling?”
He glanced at Aidan and hesitated, but then pointed a finger at me and started ranting again.
“That’s just the groom being careless or making a mistake with the horseshoe!”
“Or maybe your horse just didn’t want to carry someone as ugly as you.”
“That’s not an argument! What kind of racehorse acts wild during a race?!”
“How should I know? Maybe he couldn’t stomach the sight of you.”
Aidan was needling him with surgical precision. Or was it a sledgehammer? Hard to tell.
“My lord, we found it!”
That’s when Aidan’s man cried out.
“We’ve found several strange metal shards embedded in the soil! It looks like someone mixed them in to keep the horseshoes from holding up.”
“It’s not just the second obstacle. There are pieces in the third and fourth as well. They must have planted multiple sabotages in case one failed.”
“How thoughtful. Instead of dreaming up such schemes, they ought to be spending their time practicing horsemanship.”
Aidan picked up one of the metal shards his subordinate had brought, hefted it lightly in his gloved hand, then let it drop to the ground.
The shard embedded itself in the earth on impact. Devastating. Even a horseshoe wouldn’t stand a chance against that—any hoof that stepped on it would feel unmistakable pain.
So Star’s hooves had taken that kind of damage……
No matter how strong a racehorse was, when that much agony shot through its hooves at the moment of landing, it would instinctively rear back and stop, or buck its rider clean off.
But Star didn’t stop. He kept running even as his horseshoes crumpled. He didn’t throw me off. He ran, not walked, all the way to the finish line.
“Thank you, Star……”
Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t forget to embrace him. The horse leaned his head against my shoulder, breathing heavily through his nostrils in shallow gasps.
“Whoever did this must be someone from the Association.”
Aidan held out the metal shards menacingly as he asked.
“Should we conduct a proper investigation to find out who the real culprit is?”
Aidan’s green eyes narrowed into a dangerous crescent.
Thus Aidan wielded the power of the duchy alongside the authority of the “Special Audit Bureau,” and proceeded to turn over the Turtle Lee lord’s residence from top to bottom.
They’d been sloppier than expected. Confident no one would discover their scheme, they’d left their own contract and a record of what they’d done to the favored racehorse and how much they’d been paid—not in a secret vault, but openly in the study drawer.
When word spread that Drodence had been rigging competitions for years, people were understandably outraged.
“Did you hear? They even made bets on it!”
“Made bets?”
“Well, there are always betting pools at events like these, aren’t there? Apparently they wagered their own money on their victories.”
Meliot puffed out both cheeks in exasperation.
“But I’m sorry—because I used the whistle, our first-place finish got cancelled too.”
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that.”
Meliot tried to reassure me that it was all right, but I genuinely felt terrible.
“What are you worried about?”
Just then, Aidan returned from sorting out the situation.
“Here.”
“What is this?”
Meliot’s eyes widened as she carefully accepted the document he offered.
“This is… all of it……”
“What’s wrong?”
“Drodence has admitted that he prevented your father from winning all these years, and this is compensation for the fall that resulted from his interference—the one that left your father with a damaged leg.”
“Thank you, truly thank you!”
“Are you satisfied with this? I was thinking I might extract more money from him.”
“No, this is enough for me.”
Along with the breeding rights for a superior horse, what Meliot had recovered was everything that had been taken from her family.
“With the breeding rights, our family can start over.”
“That’s good then.”
“But Cynthia—are you really satisfied with just a saddle?”
“Of course.”
To be honest, I don’t even need the saddle; all I want is that cubic to take away right now.
I can’t wait to run experiments with it in the carriage!
“By the way, what about Star? Is his leg treatment finished?”
At my question, Meliot hesitated before nodding.
“The scab has fallen away now and it looks better. But I’m afraid he won’t be able to run again.”
“That’s……”
“A racehorse has no value if it can’t run.”
At Aidan’s cold remark, I found myself glaring at him. No value? How could he say that about a living creature?
“What’s going to happen to Star?”
“The Association took him away today. Since he can’t run anymore, probably……”
Meliot couldn’t bring herself to finish. I didn’t need to hear the rest to understand.
“There’s nothing that can be done.”
“You really do have no heart or tears, do you!”
“He’s already been taken. What do you expect me to do about it?”
He answered irritably and climbed into the carriage ahead of us.
“Get in already.”
……
“Cynthia, Aidan. I really can’t thank you enough.”
Meliot bowed to us and waved goodbye. I waved a light hand to her before climbing into the carriage.
“Did you test the reagent yet?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sigh. Give it here.”
Aidan took the Saddle from my hand and dripped the Reagent onto it. At once, a shimmering rainbow of light blossomed and faded.

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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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