A single gold coin equals 1 million Kona.
In my pocket, there’s Aqum that turned back into stones and eight gold coins.
So…
“You said you’d only look at the statue. Did you end up going to the top of the waterfall?”
Even as my dad’s nagging flew at me, it didn’t really bother me much.
At the moment, I am in front of the temple of the main deity
The adults, including the Grand Priest, were laughing and chatting together. They pretended not to notice my dad’s parenting methods.
To explain this situation briefly, the timing was just a little off.
As I was coming down from the hill above the waterfall, my dad came out with Wyndis on his belt. I wasn’t on the Path of Emptiness connected to the shrine, so my dad started searching for me.
It wasn’t long before someone reported my whereabouts. It was the priest who had shown me the way to the waterfall.
Just then, my dad caught sight of me returning to the main temple.
“Berry.”
“Huh? Dad? Did you already meet Wyndis?”
“Why are you coming from that direction? Did you go to see the waterfall?”
“Oh. Uh, no?”
“You shouldn’t lie. Come here.”
“Alright,.”
Realizing that excuses were pointless, I confessed to my dad that I had indeed gone up to the waterfall.
That’s how I ended up in this current scolding situation.
But what’s a little scolding?
‘I have 8 million Kona in my pocket…!’
The sound of the ancient coins clinking as they spilled out from the ground was still vividly in my ears.
Jingle! Jingle!
That sweet, clear, and delightful sound.
‘Was the forest spirit who created the veins of this land rich?’
According to Aqum, forest spirits only use two gold coins at most when creating underground stream.
[Any more than that isn’t efficient. Forest spirits are… well, thrifty creatures. Two coins is plenty.]
Jingle!
“Oh…!”
[Three coins?]
Aqum started jumping with surprise when the third gold coin appeared. When eight coins eventually came out, Aqum said it felt unwell and turned back into a stone.
“Here, I’ll give you four of them, Aqum! After all, I’m your trustworthy partner!”
[Splitting them evenly? No need, I have plenty of gold coins. Just take all the little Quartz.]
“Oh. Are you rich, Aqum? Don’t tell me… you brought gold coins from Travel?”
[You’re pretty sharp, aren’t you? From now on, all the gold coins will be yours, partner. Ugh, I need to rest. Seeing something so irrational has made me feel unwell…]
Reflecting on it again, I felt delighted. It looks like I won’t have to worry about money for a while~
Though I was in the middle of being scolded by my dad, I was secretly humming a happy tune in my mind.
“It’s dangerous to wander around alone.”
“I was just so excited.”
I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.
“Did you get excited about going up to the waterfall?”
I’m sorry. You trusted me…
“Yeah. From there—”
“From there?”
“Uh…?”
A chill ran down my spine.
I quickly came to my senses and looked up at my dad.
He was looking at me with a face that seemed to say, ‘Go on, tell me more.’
“Mr. Reytan.”
“Yes?”
“Did I happen to say ‘I’m sorry’ about twice already?”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Hup.”
What a slip-up.
It seemed that, in my excitement, I had accidentally spoken my inner thoughts aloud.
In my memory, Crown Prince Theon was smirking at me, saying, ‘How careless.’
“Oh, Dad. Did you know something?”
“It’s not good to change the subject, Berry.”
“Just now, there was something like an earthquake.”
“An earthquake? When?”
My dad’s expression changed as he was about to start another round of scolding. He looked worried.
“When I was at the plaza by the waterfall! But it wasn’t an earthquake; it was Wyndis going berserk and shaking the ground, right? The boy I met there—”
“A boy?”
“Yeah. He was scared of the shaking, so I told him not to worry—”
“Master Reytan, have you finished talking with Berry?”
At that moment, the Grand Priest interjected in the conversation. He had been with the priests just now. When did he come over to us?
My dad, who had been listening to me, turned to look at him.
“Yes. We’re done.”
“Good. There’s something I need to discuss with you. Could you come over for a moment…?”
The Grand Priest led my dad away. Just before leaving, my dad tapped me lightly on the forehead as a closing gesture for the scolding and told me to go to Theon.
Left alone, I stared blankly at the Grand Priest’s somewhat awkward figure and tilted my head in confusion.
‘What’s going on?’
He seemed to approach us rather hastily.
Is it just my imagination?
***
But more importantly… money! Gold coins!
Although Aqum had given up the gold coin earnings to me, there was still someone else to share the profit with. It’s essential to be thorough in such matters.
“Theon! …Huh? What are you doing? Fanning yourself? Feeling hot?”
“No.”
Theon was standing behind a birch tree along the Path of Emptiness. He was staring into space, fanning himself with his hand, but when I called out, he quickly lowered his hand.
“Really? Then just wait a second. I need to talk to you.”
I grabbed Theon’s hand and led him into the main temple. My dad witnessed the scene, but he didn’t say anything.
Unlike me, Theon had my dad’s full trust…!
Not that I’m jealous of their bond or anything.
The relationship between a teacher and disciple can’t really be deeper than a blood tie. Then again, if I think about how Theon will become the crown prince, maybe it should be stronger. But still.
‘Oh. No one’s here.’
The grand entrance hall of the main temple was completely empty.
“Berry, how far are we going?”
“Just to here!”
Out of the adults’ sight, I hid behind the massive statue of Aubawth.
I took out a gold coin from my pocket and placed it in Theon’s hand.
“This is your share, Theon.”
I grinned, but Theon didn’t say anything. His expression was like, ‘Why are you giving me this gold coin?’
I whispered to him.
“I got it thanks to you, Theon.”
Well, not exactly thanks to this Theon. But, like me, it would be tough for him to find another source of income besides allowance for the next few years.
Theon wouldn’t officially become the crown prince until he turned twenty.
‘Theon will need some emergency funds too, right? Explaining how I got the gold coin would be pointless since he wouldn’t believe me.’
Besides, I had no intention of revealing to anyone the memories that had entered my mind.
But who would refuse a gold coin being offered to them? Right?
I nudged Theon playfully with my arm, winking at him.
“Just take it. Go on, take it.”
“I can’t accept this.”
“Seriously? Here it is, right here.”
Theon turned away, refusing my gold coin.
“I’ll tell teacher about this—”
“No, you can’t do that!”
I grabbed Theon by the waist, holding on tightly.
How could he repay my gift by tattling?
“Then tell me where you got it from.”
“What?”
Left with no choice, I resorted to my backup plan.
“We got our allowance from the Grand Priest Grandpa, alright? He asked me not to tell Dad, so I’m secretly giving it to you.”
I tilted my head to look up at Theon. Since I was hugging his waist, I could only see his chin.
Theon glanced down towards the top of my head, his fingers twitching slightly against my hair.
After a moment of silence, Theon hesitantly opened his mouth.
“Why didn’t you say that from the start?”
“Huh?”
“…We’re part of a secret society, aren’t we?”
Surprised by his words, I let go of Theon’s waist and looked up at him properly.
It was as if I could see invisible, drooping triangle-shaped ears above Theon’s head, as he spoke with a slightly sullen tone.
My mouth dropped open. Good thing only I saw this. If anyone else saw, they’d surely find Theon adorable.
“Aren’t we supposed to keep no secrets from each other?”
There was a hint of reproach in Theon’s dark eyes.
‘He’s acting…!’
I almost fell for it.
He was pretending to be pitiful!
‘There’s no way Theon would take a kids’ game like a secret society seriously.’
This meant that Theon, being older and more experienced, was using a clever tactic against me, who was younger.
It’s called persuasive manipulation.
‘I get why he’s doing this. Dad told Theon to keep an eye on whether I’m getting into trouble or not. It was the condition for taking him as a disciple.’
Since he saw Wyndis today, his admiration for Dad probably grew even stronger. So now he’s curious to know what I’ve been up to, without any secrets!
But I’m a seven-year-old with the memories of a twenty-four-year-old, a strange child who knows quite a lot.
So, I was the one with the upper hand here.
“What about Jeffrey?”
Feigning innocence, I asked Theon.
Theon pursed his lips, deep in thought. I could practically hear the wheels turning in his head as he searched for an excuse.
“Jeffrey… is a newcomer….”
Theon finally responded after much thought.
So, are we not newcomers ourselves? By Theon’s logic, this was a few minutes of seniority established in the secret society just created yesterday.
“Oh, because he’s a newcomer….”
I held back a smirk, pressing my lips together to stop it from spreading.
I wanted to tease him for being so gullible, but doing that might just make Theon declare he’s cutting ties with me. His face was so red right now.
‘There are no secrets, huh.’
So, I guess we’re sharing information about whatever happens from now on?
“Alright. But you have to accept the gold coin, okay? And keep it a secret from everyone else.”
“Okay.”
Finally, the revenue sharing for this adventure was complete. We sat behind the statue, each holding a gold coin and admiring it.
Theon murmured as he fiddled with the coin.
“This is the first time I’ve held a gold coin.”
“Right? Same here.”
Today was the first time I’d ever touched one myself.
It was so dazzling. Now I understood – to me, gold coins were like what Wyndis was to Theon.
Under the spell of the coin’s beauty, I found myself saying out loud,
“I want to make a bed out of gold coins….”
“Why?”
“It’d be awesome.”
Theon looked at me like he couldn’t understand my answer.
Well, we were both too young to grasp the idea of capitalism – with our monthly allowance of only 10,000 Kona.
‘Wait a second.’
Since we were sharing secrets, I had a question.
I whispered to Theon,
“Theon, how much allowance did you get this month?”
Theon opened his hand and showed me his fingers.
Five fingers held up.
“Whoa….”
So, the allowance difference between a seven-year-old and a ten-year-old was fivefold.
The world truly wasn’t fair.
