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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Warehouse Treasures
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The warehouse cleanup began in earnest.
The children changed into clothes they wouldn't mind getting dirty and wrapped their heads with scarves to keep the dust out.
Just in case, they also covered their noses and mouths with handkerchiefs.
"Nini turned into a thief!"
Nibelria, delighted with her outfit, shouted excitedly at Solles and Arep, urging them to take a look at her.
"Then you kids check the bottom shelves. Muniel and I will handle the top ones. Be careful not to let anything topple over."
"Let's race to see who finishes first!"
The thrilled Nibelria proposed a contest.
"You could get hurt that way, so how about we take it slow and careful?"
"Sounds good!"
And so the warehouse cleanup got underway.
The warehouse was filled with all sorts of things.
Old books and mysterious paintings.
Cracked antique plates and silver candelabras.
Porcelain dolls that seemed like they might walk around at night, and even thin, soft fabrics wrapped around unidentified chunks of metal.
"Wow..."
Nibelria couldn't tear her eyes away.
The warehouse, reminiscent of a museum, was utterly fascinating. Who knew our house had so many fun things?
Everything felt like treasure.
And maybe that's why.
"How much do you think this is worth?"
"Hmm, not sure..."
"Maybe enough for ten loaves of bread?"
The kids' conversation was utterly materialistic.
"I bet this painting is super expensive. Maybe some unknown artist sold their soul to create this masterpiece?"
"Nini likes this one! This is it, that thing! A diamond!"
"That sword hanging over there looks pricey. Dad said knights' swords are so expensive they could buy a house!"
The warehouse cleanup had somehow devolved into a "Who Can Find the Most Expensive Treasure First!" competition.
Every time the kids spoke, their handkerchiefs fluttered over their noses and mouths.
Muniel Dayamor and Ardores Dayamor exchanged glances and smiled quietly.
"As long as they're having fun."
"Yeah, that's what matters."
The warehouse cleanup had been nothing more than an excuse to play with the kids from the start.
Seeing them chattering and enjoying themselves made it feel like the day would pass without incident.
"Huh?"
That's when something caught Nibelria's eye.
A coin lay on the floor.
"It's money!"
It was a beautifully crafted gold coin, delicate and exquisite.
The yellow gold featured what looked like a woman's image on one side, and some inscription on the back.
"That's ancient script."
Solles explained.
"Ancient script?"
"It means the language people used long ago. But since the coin is so pristine, it can't be that old."
"......"
Arep stared at the woman's image on the coin for a long moment before turning to Muniel Dayamor.
"...She looks like Saintess."
Muniel Dayamor smiled as if he'd given the right answer.
What Nibelria had found was a commemorative coin minted to honor Saintess Muniel Dayamor, who had exterminated the demon beasts forty years ago and led the Crepatna War to victory.
"Memories are flooding back."
Muniel Dayamor fiddled with the gold coin, lost in nostalgia.
"Those bastards who made this, I should hunt them down myself and kill the—"
"Ahem!"
Ardores Dayamor's fake cough boomed like a beast's roar, cutting her off.
Realizing her slip, Muniel Dayamor quickly corrected herself.
"...They put their heart into it."
"Why?"
Arep asked.
Having one's face engraved on gold was proof of a great accomplishment, or so he'd learned in kindergarten.
So why punish the people who made it?
The kids couldn't quite wrap their heads around it.
"Because the war made life hard for so many people, and wasting money on useless things like this was wrong."
The Crepatna War.
Some called it the Human-Demon War, or the end of the world.
Humanity had fought the demon beasts expecting their own demise.
And after a long struggle, the war ended in humanity's victory.
Thanks to heroes led by Saintess Muniel Dayamor.
There was no time to bask in triumph. The survivors had to rebuild the ravaged world.
Every coin counted for reconstruction.
Yet they minted these gold coins?
"Grandma begged the ones who came up with this idea, pleading on her knees for them never to make something like it again."
Don't you dare use me as your shield of power, you filthy lot.
If you want to be the losers of a second war, be my guest.
...Would water be cleaner than dirt, though?
In the end, after Muniel Dayamor's earnest persuasion, every last one of the gold coins bearing her face was collected.
And with them, shelters were built for orphans and the elderly.
"The building they made back then is now the capital's general hospital."
The empire's largest and most skilled general hospital paid rent to the Dayamor family every month.
That was Muniel Dayamor.
"Wow!"
The children applauded her heartwarming tale.
"......"
Ardores Dayamor silently recalled those days.
'Quite a few got thrashed...'
How much blood had been spilled in her holy name because of that gold coin, by all the guilty wretches.
Thinking back, Muniel Dayamor had truly become human.
"Grandma."
Nibelria handed the gold coin back and asked.
"Can Nini keep this?"
"Of course, dear."
"Hehe! Mommy's face!"
Nibelria clutched the gold coin tightly in both hands.
"It's not Mom, it's Grandma."
Solles corrected her, assuming she'd mixed it up again.
"......"
But instead of replying, Nibelria sneaked a glance at Muniel Dayamor.
Muniel Dayamor met her eyes and winked, pressing a finger to her lips.
Nibelria responded by squeezing both eyes shut tight. She wasn't quite used to winking with just one eye yet.
The warehouse cleanup continued.
This time, they worked in earnest, checking and noting where everything was while moving diligently.
Nibelria pitched in too, sorting and wiping down items.
That's when they found tents for outdoor setups, chairs, and tools for grilling meat.
The discovered items were carried to the garden, dusted off thoroughly, and washed clean with water.
Worried about getting wet, Nibelria hid behind Ardores Dayamor's broad back and just watched.
"Phew."
Nibelria wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
Then she stretched her arms and legs out like she was doing a big stretch.
"All done!"
"......"
"All done, yay!"
"A-All done...!"
Arep followed suit, stretching his arms out.
"That was fun. Can we clean the warehouse again next time?"
Solles, who had enjoyed exploring the warehouse, asked Ardores Dayamor if they could do it together again sometime.
Ardores Dayamor gladly agreed.
His grandson's eagerness to learn the family history was so endearing that Ardores Dayamor enveloped him in a big bear hug with his thick arms.
"Me too! Hug me too!"
Nibelria came running up, jumping and whining.
Ardores Dayamor scooped her up and hugged her tight as well. Her clear, joyful squeal rang out high into the sky.
Then he gave Arep, who had been waiting patiently, a hearty squeeze too.
Muniel Dayamor watched her husband playing with the children, her eyes full of affection.
But soon, a question flitted through her mind.
'...I put the remaining gold coins in a box.'
Muniel Dayamor had gathered every last one of the coins with her face on them.
'How could I leave something so embarrassing lying around?'
Most had been melted down and recast into standard gold coins for circulation, but a few had been kept as mementos in a box by Ardores Dayamor and stored in the warehouse.
Yet one had gone missing.
"......"
Muniel Dayamor's blue gaze turned toward the mansion.
Her eyes, honed sharp by the years, had spotted something hidden in the warehouse.
'That lizard...'
How should she deal with it?
"...And so, as instructed, I informed Petra's young master about the mining venture investment in the Prok Kingdom."
"......"
Della Tura listened to her subordinate's concise report while meticulously reviewing the detailed documents.
"Well done."
Della Tura removed her glasses and praised the subordinate.
"Keep proceeding as planned. If there's any request you need..."
"......"
"Della-crack?"
The subordinate, currently posing as the information broker's owner under the name 'Della-crack,' couldn't hide his uneasy expression.
Della Tura waited silently for him to speak.
"It's... a bit scary."
Della Tura's brow furrowed ever so slightly.
"Is that child bothering you?"
The subordinate didn't deny it.
He let out a long, trembling breath.
"Ma'am. What I'm about to say... I know it's not something someone in the information trade should admit."
A bead of cold sweat formed on the face of the agency's most handsome employee.
"...Fear stems from ignorance. That's the creed our information agency lives by."
"Yes. And I built this agency on that very principle."
In her youth.
Della Tura, once frustrated by her lack of learning, now held the empire's every secret in her grasp.
The subordinate hesitated again.
"But that child..."
Della Tura could guess what he wanted to say.
To uncover a rival's weakness.
Or to track a spouse's infidelity.
Customers came to the information agency with all sorts of motives and requests.
The agency collected not just their commissions, but their personal stories too.
No one was exempt.
The newest client to partner with the agency was no different.
But the more they dug into this new client's background, the more the subordinate shuddered at the inexplicable eeriness.
"That child, Rima, knows too much."
The little girl Della Tura had brought in herself.
The small, delicate child with striking pink hair.
Rima had casually spilled top-secret intel that even agency brokers struggled to obtain, as if recounting a neighbor's spat.
The Prok Kingdom's mining operations, the hidden secrets in the Petra family's succession dispute, the location of the Egg of the Evil Dragon Ater.
"But..."
The subordinate shivered involuntarily.
"Considering her past actions and current situation..."
"She knows things she shouldn't?"
