The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I headed to Sharon Abner’s office with Miel and Soya in tow.

No matter how I thought about it, the answer came down to Coel scamming Abner.

‘What nerve. To scam a ducal family.’

But if that wasn’t the case, there was no way a contaminated vein could suddenly be purified.

‘There was a lot of talk about it in my previous life too.’

People suspected that Coel had manipulated the contamination of the Abner mine.

Of course, Coel covered it up with money and the suspicions quickly died down.

I shook my head inwardly.

‘If it’s true, that’s really awful. Of all things to mess with, they had to mess with that mine.’

There was actually a hidden backstory to the Abner Family’s magic stone mine.

Abner had always been a family that placed great emphasis on military power.

So during the unification wars, they wielded quite formidable influence.

They were called the shield that protected the north, and they always held positions of honor without fail.

That era could truly be called Abner’s golden age.

But the problem began after the war ended and the Empire established itself.

As the country stabilized, a new discipline called magic studies arrived on the continent.

The previous generations of Abner failed to keep up with the rapidly changing world.

The branch families lost their purpose, and the retainers were incompetent.

They only had the intention of seizing the scraps that would fall when the main family collapsed.

So when Sharon Abner had just become duke, the family’s situation was dire.

When famine struck during this crisis, everyone thought Abner would fall.

However, the Abner family did not simply decline.

Instead, they gradually rose again.

It started when Sharon Abner discovered this magic stone vein in the northern territory.

In short, the magic stone mine was nothing less than the key that reversed Abner’s fate.

‘Magic stones came pouring out in droves from the north, which they thought was useless land.’

Then most people would think this way.

The Abner family is rich now.

But the mining business wasn’t that simple.

‘Usually mines require enormous initial development costs.’

Just finding the vein and building the tunnels requires astronomical amounts of money.

‘Sharon Abner received Coel’s help back then.’

Of course, she never could have imagined that Coel would later stab her in the back.

After nodding and raising my gaze, I was in front of the reception room.

When I knocked briefly, Wendel came out.

“Young miss. How did you come here…?”

I greeted Wendel, then ran quickly to Sharon Abner.

Sharon Abner put down the glasses she was wearing and looked at me indifferently.

“It’s you. What brings you here.”

“Duke, are you very busy right now?”

While asking, I quickly scanned the top of her desk.

In front of her, documents were piled up like a mountain.

However, Sharon Abner immediately shook her head.

“No. Not at all.”

Fortunately, they seemed to be documents she had already finished.

I went in front of her desk, stuck my head out and said.

“Then, I have something I’m really, really curious about. Can I ask? If you say no, I’ll just go.”

“What is it. Tell me.”

I took a breath and then spoke.

“I saw in the newspaper that Abner has a magic stone mine. They said it’s a mine that you found, Duke…”

Sharon Abner’s expression immediately became serious.

“But magic stone mines are really, really precious. You can make a lot of money too.”

“…”

“But why isn’t the Abner family rich?”

Sharon Abner’s eyes momentarily became dazed.

Wendel, who was standing by the door, also looked at me.

I tilted my head.

“It was in 【Today’s Imperial Terra】 too! The content about how the Abner family has the least money among the twenty great nobles!”

【Today’s Imperial Terra】 was the economic column of the Empire’s most successful newspaper.

Teacher Ann at Evehill Orphanage read this column every week.

Thanks to that, this column was always piled up in heaps in the corner of the orphanage bookshelf.

‘After regressing, I’m glad I read the past year’s worth just in case.’

I had read them thinking they might be useful somewhere, but I didn’t know they would help like this.

“Why? Why is the Abner family poor? You even have a magic stone mine, so why?”

I continued to ask persistently.

‘Actually, I already roughly guess the reason.’

I was determined to keep asking until Sharon Abner answered.

This story had to come from her mouth for me to naturally execute my plan.

Sharon Abner made a complicated expression while looking at Annellia’s face full of curiosity.

“…Why the family has no money.”

It seemed like a question a child might ask, but also not.

“Yes! You can make a lot of money by selling magic stones, so why isn’t Abner rich?”

Sharon Abner pondered.

Since she had permitted the question, she had to give an answer.

However, she didn’t know how far or how to explain.

She eventually answered after thinking for a long time.

“First of all. Magic stones aren’t something you can sell as soon as you mine them.”

“Huh! Then what?”

“What comes out of the mine is, precisely speaking, raw stones. To turn raw stones into magic stones, you need a refinery and a refining formula.”

“Ah, refining formula! I know that!”

Sharon Abner was momentarily shocked and opened her mouth.

‘She knows about refining formulas?’

Magic stone refining formulas were very complex magical formulas.

In the Empire, only two families possessed this refining formula: Longton and Coel.

Of course, since that was a kind of technology, the two families always tried to encrypt the refining formulas to prevent them from being exposed to outsiders.

‘But how does she know that…?’

“Then can you really make magic stones with that refining formula?”

Sharon Abner came to her senses.

“Yes.”

And she slowly added in a way the child could understand.

“But to use the refining formula, you have to pay money to the family that has that refining formula.”

“Why?”

“Because the refining formula is something they created, something that belongs to them. If we want to use it, we have to pay a usage fee.”

“Ah, I see!”

Annellia nodded vigorously as if she understood.

Her expression seemed to truly understand everything she was saying.

That reaction somehow strangely encouraged her will, so Sharon Abner unconsciously continued adding to her words.

“For example. If you earn 10 tera by selling magic stones, half of that goes to those who provided the refining formula.”

“Huh! Half?!”

“Yes. And there’s one more thing.”

Sharon Abner unconsciously rose from her desk and came in front of Annellia.

Then she bent one knee and met the child’s gaze.

“Let’s say you discovered there are magic stones deep underground. But to extract them, you’d need to dig as deep as your height and move heavy rocks too. Could you do it alone?”

The child shook her head.

“No, I can’t do it alone… I’d ask the worker uncles to break the stones for me. And to dig the ground too.”

“But would they just do it for free?”

“They’d probably ask for money!”

“But if you don’t have money.”

The child closed her mouth.

Then she began struggling with furrowed brows.

“If I don’t have money, um…”

Her contemplating eyes slowly turned toward her.

“Should I borrow just a little from the Duke…?”

Sharon Abner nodded, feeling a smile spread across her face without realizing it.

“That’s right. Adults call that investment.”

Sharon Abner lifted Annellia and seated her on the sofa.

Then she sat across from her.

“When the mine was established in Abner, there were people who helped create that mine. When we sell magic stones and earn money, we have to give those people a small reward each time.”

“Why? Can’t we just give back what we borrowed initially? Why do we have to give it every time?”

“…That’s how adult promises work. Once decided, they can’t be withdrawn.”

That meant she had made a contract with Coel.

Sharon Abner’s eyes darkened.

Suddenly, she recalled the time before the mine development.

“How can we trust you, madam?”

“It’s not just a few coins, but 7 billion tera is a bit much…”

“Is there even anything there in the first place?”

“You’ve only been involved in social activities your whole life. If something goes wrong, how will you take responsibility…”

With their family fortune declining day by day, they needed capital more than ever, but it wasn’t forthcoming.

It was because no one believed in her analysis and judgment.

Of course, the situation within Abner was similar.

“We absolutely cannot tolerate the ducal title going to Sharon Michaeliann!”

“Good heavens. With a grown heir standing right there, how could this happen!”

“She should just drink tea and dance.”

“This is why we said the Michaeliann Bloodline was unacceptable!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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