I can not help but bring up this story, even though it is a bit difficult to tell, because it was a turning point in my life. The mention of kidnapping women and children caused Lacius’s eyes to narrow. Scum, he must have thought.
“There, Mom suffered a serious injury to her leg while reporting the situation.”
“It was honourable.”
“Hmm, that is right.”
Someone who dedicates their life to defending and shielding others is known as a knight. Getting hurt trying to carry out a knight’s duties was, in Lacius’s view, a noble endeavour. There were numerous reasons why the war ended, but the photographs on my mother’s camera must have played a role.
“At the hospital, they said she might not be able to walk again, but my mother did not despair; even when she fell into a coma, she eventually woke up, and I cannot tell you how well she has been doing in rehab since then.”
But if there was one problem with this story, it was a huge amount of debt.
It took place overseas. And it was a dangerous area. Losing a leg didn’t mean she could ask the country for help. She wasn’t an unscrupulous person who would stretch out her hands for taxes soaked in other people’s sweat. Neither my dad nor my mom. But realistically, a lot of money was needed. Grandpa helped a little, but we eventually had to sell everything we owned.
“I was so busy caring for my mother that I realized I was already three years older.”
Sixteen. Fortunately, that was the legal age to work part-time.
“I started working right away.”
I had no idea how harsh reality could be until that moment.
Money that does not even meet the minimum hourly wage. At the time, my hourly wage was 3,800 won*. It went up to 4,000 won after two months of work, and I sobbed over the meagre 200 won increase. I did not even know I could report it to the labour office because I was young and unsure of what to do. I was just busy doing odd jobs, and my father was constantly juggling work and caring for my mother.
*(Around 3 US dollars)
I spent three years in the hospital caring for my mother, so I had no friends, and we moved out of our neighbourhood to a completely remote location. So at the time, I didn’t know where to ask for help or who to turn to.
Besides, what if I get fired? Where else can I get a job if I get fired? I don’t think there could be a better place than here. Such fear gripped my ankles. It wasn’t until several more years had passed since then that I realized that that kind of fear was only inflicted on the weak.
“It was hard, but I liked seeing my mom, because she would read the newspapers with political and economic stories, organize them, and teach them to me.”
“She’s an amazing woman.”
“Isn’t she?”
“I can see why you have excellent political sense and excellent management skills.”
“Yeah, my mom always told me: ‘Even though we live in a mouldy house like this now, you won’t live here forever’.”
A mother’s words have a huge impact on her young daughter. I believed and trusted my mom’s words like they were from God.
“You’re going to be great, and you’re going to live in a high place with a great view.”
I’m living like this now, but it won’t be like this later. I believed so.
“Then things got a little better at home. Mom started writing a novel!”
“A novelist. What a great person. She never stopped working.”
“That’s right. We still had a lot of debt, but I still believed we would be able to move into a better house.”
Lacius was now looking at me in silence, concentrating. I spoke, careful not to spit out any words related to the real world.
“I wanted to turn what my mom wrote into a picture book.”
It might become a hit, let’s do it. I’ll turn my mom’s popular novel into a webcomic.
There was a day when my mom and I laughed about that promise, even though it never happened.
“One day, a really big fire broke out. A really huge one.”
“A lot of people must have been hurt.”
“Yeah. Of course, my dad rushed to the place, while my mom and I were waiting anxiously. Then… um, morning came, but there was no news from him.”
“No way…”
Yes, I hoped too. I didn’t expect another misfortune to come so suddenly. Once was enough, right? I was thinking that way without even realizing it. That is, until I heard that my dad was badly injured.
“It was a fire that killed dozens of people. Dad came out with a girl, and then he shouldn’t have gone back in because the building was on the verge of collapsing, and he’s running out of oxygen, and he’s exhausted, and he… he… has to value his life.”
“Yes.”
“But it turns out the little girl he saved has a twin. They saved one, but the other was still inside. They couldn’t find him, so my father ran back into that burning building, past all the other people who couldn’t move. Isn’t that cool? He’s my dad, but he’s really cool…”
I gently bit my lower lip. The story of my life has reached its climax here. I opened my mouth, pressing down hard on what was brewing inside me.
“There is something like a magic tool that my dad uses. It prevents black smoke from entering the body. Later, when I heard the story, they said… that he put it on the twin, that magic tool.”
Gas mask. It wasn’t on Dad’s face. So Dad got badly injured.
“The twins’ parents were wealthy aristocrats.”
If there is a class in reality, the parents of those kids would be nobles. They had a house in Gangnam that was over 80 square meters and two big dogs, and they also had vacation homes in the provinces and foreign countries.
“They gave me some money to pay for the treatment because they were grateful and felt guilty.”
“It must have been a wealthy and high-ranking nobleman.”
“Yeah. I thought the money was a good thing, because it gave me hope that I could save my father. We have tried all possible treatments; however… he still died in the end.”
After that, it was just pain.
A large company held a charity event, and I was able to get sponsorship because I was the daughter of a firefighter. It was just one ray of light. After my father died, I worked really hard because I still have debts to pay.
My mom also worked really hard on her novel. Right before I transmigrated, I had saved up for a deposit on an apartment with the money I’d been saving so frugally, hoping that a better life would come my way.
“Now that I’m older and have learned, I realize I can do so much more, so I’ve been working really hard as if my life depends on it.”
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