Chapter 56………………………………………………..
Wasn’t it the same for Earthlings too? They always said long-term investment in blue-chip stocks was important.
Even the wastelands Julie would sometimes click her tongue at, saying it was just throwing money away, later turned out to be jackpot real estate whose value skyrocketed in the future.
So really, it was a safe investment—as long as you just held onto the guaranteed winning ticket until land prices soared.
‘No, but my benefactor doesn’t even know the future like I do, so why is he spending money so recklessly?’
He didn’t just spend—it was constant buying and selling, over and over, busily repeating it all.
Sure, maybe because he was a hero destined to do great things, luck strangely followed him and he made huge profits each time… but how long could odds like that possibly last?
Lin, who had grown up reading her mother’s research notes more often than fairy tales, was extremely good at math.
To her eyes, Kaidan’s investment style was a perilous tightrope walk—one wrong step and he’d be reduced to utter poverty.
And he was already the protagonist of a heroic epic who would face endless trials once the original story began.
Shouldn’t she at least spare her poor benefactor from ending up completely broke on top of all those heroic hardships?
‘He’s the hero who’ll save the world. If he turns into a beggar, that’d be a disaster.’
Lin herself was just a small-time commoner enjoying modest investment profits thanks to her knowledge of the original story—but her benefactor, who would shoulder a hero’s destiny, was different.
‘Kaidan said his uncle stepped down, so… he doesn’t even get money from his family anymore.’
No allowance at all. How harsh and pitiful.
Was all this nonsensical behavior just his desperate attempt to escape that miserable situation?
“Kaidan. Kids like us should save little by little and use our allowance wisely. You can’t already be chasing overnight riches and gambling on speculative investments! That’s not investing—it’s gambling!”
“It’s not gambling, it’s information—… no. Thanks for worrying, but I’ll take the sentiment.”
“Hey now, Kaidan. If you listen to your big sister, you’ll find rice cakes even in your sleep.”
“What does that even mean…? And are you really planning to keep up this ‘big sister’ role-play?”
Lin watched Kaidan’s back anxiously as he headed out again, saying they could play childish games later when there was time.
‘Heroes must really have no sense of money. He just throws cash around like he’s trusting some scam artist.’
Her young benefactor had a worrying side that made it nerve-racking to just watch.
‘Sigh. Can’t be helped. I’ll just have to teach him economics properly.’
Kaidan might be prickly because of the hardships he’d endured so young, but she, with her higher mental age, needed to understand him. Teach him patiently.
Every time she said things like this, Kaidan would look at her like she was ridiculous, but Lin didn’t mind.
In the original story, her cool protagonist benefactor getting mixed up in weird things—his family must really be struggling, making him too easily swayed.
Since he’d help her family in the future, she decided she needed to look after him.
Clenching her small fist tightly, Lin made a resolution that would have made Kaidan shake his head if he’d heard it.
“First, I’ll finish ten more Lores Pool fusion experiments today.”
Lately, Lin had been busy researching how to extract amplification properties from the Lores Pool, or how to combine them with magical tools to improve their performance.
After spending the afternoon working in the research space of her mother’s study, Lin stretched deeply as she returned to her room at the end of the day.
“Staying healthy and studying every day—so busy, so busy.”
Imitating the groans adults made when standing up, Lin opened the door—and her eyes landed on a familiar shape.
A black Pegasus plush doll with soft, fluffy mane.
“I worked really hard today.”
Hugging the plush tightly, Lin dragged out her words in a pout, unconsciously waiting for an answer.
“……”
She wanted to chatter about everything she’d done today, but the doll’s black eyes merely reflected light, offering no reply.
Lin hugged the plush—her former companion—once more, then let it fall limply as she muttered,
“Caligo… I hope you come back soon.”
I miss you.
Did he go too far away just to figure out what kind of divine beast I am?
What if he can’t come back because he’s gone too far?
For a moment, Lin thought of her grandfather who had left for the Eastern Continent and never returned, and fear gripped her heart.
“No. Caligo is supposed to be an incredibly amazing divine beast.”
Still, she answered herself as if reassuring her own ears, pressing her lips together.
[I am Caligo, the black divine beast who governs half of this world. The black dragon who destroys mana and rules yin and darkness.]
She recalled the terrifyingly enormous form Caligo had shown her at first.
“He’s huge, and super strong. He’ll definitely come back.”
Repeating Caligo’s boastful words to steady herself, Lin calmed her anxious heart.
At that same moment—
Caligo was in a world that would have been familiar to Lin as well.
A place different from the human world Lin had seen.
Deep within the mountains, hidden farther than the sea’s depths, where forgotten spirits and mysteries still breathed.
In an inner chamber where extreme heat and extreme cold coexisted, Caligo lounged in a thoroughly relaxed posture, conversing with someone.
After listening boredly for a while, Caligo suddenly sat up.
“What? What do you even eat to grow?”
“Is it really that surprising?”
Others surrounding Caligo chuckled lightly at his incredulous reaction.
“It’s weird, okay! It’s way too vague. You’d starve to death like that.”
“It’s not quite as bad as you think.”
“Hah. If you’re clear-cut like me, how nice is that? Destroy the world’s mana. Simple, right?”
“That, too, is admirable.”
As Caligo grumbled like an old man, his counterpart smiled gently.
“After spending tens of thousands of years, it’s only natural. To someone who’s lived several thousand years, I suppose I must seem old.”
“I’m the oldest living being in my world, you know? Stop treating me like some brat whose blood hasn’t even dried yet.”
At that youthfully indignant response, cheerful smiles spread across the other divine beasts’ faces.
Caligo’s sharp eyes narrowed irritably, clearly aware of the mood around him.
‘Seriously. Of all the divine beasts I searched for across multiple stars, it had to be here.’
Still, Caligo had achieved the goal he’d promised Lin.
A divine beast like her.
Here, he’d seen what that frail, newborn form from his world would look like once it reached maturity.
It was a form that made him look forward to the kid’s growth.
If he went back and told her, she’d probably get so excited she’d run laps around the room.
Imagining the tiny divine beast charging around on leaf-thin legs, Caligo let out a soft chuckle.
“Miss Lin, I’ve brought the letters addressed to you.”
“Huh?”
Lin stared in amazement at the pile of letters placed in front of her.
Before her ability-awakening party, she’d been treated like a baby not fully grown—no one ever sent letters with Lin as the recipient.
But now, she was being treated like a proper child, receiving invitations of her own.
Beaming, Lin picked up a letter from the plate.
“The Elephant Crest… ‘The Elepha family invites you to a tea time. Your presence would bring joy to all.’”
As Lin carefully read the invitation aloud, her nanny Julie added some background information.
“It’s a tea-time invitation from the Elepha family, famous for their scholars. The Elephas regularly host academic gatherings, and they created this tea time so guests could bring their children along.”
Originally meant for scholars’ children, the event became so popular that it expanded to include children of nearby nobles as well.
“They say it’s good for young nobles to build connections early. The guardians pushed for a larger scale, but the children themselves really enjoyed it. The Elepha family must be good at preparing activities for young beastfolk.”
“I see.”
Just like Turis said—there would be lots of kids her age.
