🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 7
Gold coins.
The very first thing visible was the pile of gold coins glittering in the morning sunlight.
Beside them was a fist-sized ruby scattering brilliant light, then emeralds said to contain healing powers, sapphires, and even diamonds shining so brightly they were almost blinding.
Even to Vivian, who knew nothing about the value of gemstones, they looked incredible.
Jean picked up the largest gem among them and handed it to Vivian. It was nearly half the size of her face.
Seeing Vivian startled again because the jewel was heavy, Jean laughed and joked playfully.
“All of this belongs to Daddy—no, to us, Vivi. We can buy as much chocolate as we want now. So you don’t have to save it and eat it little by little anymore.”
“Woooow, it’s huge, Daddy!”
“Right? It’s super huge, isn’t it?”
“Yeah! It’s really pretty! Where did you get something like this, Daddy?”
“From the deserted island~”
“What’s a deserted island?”
“It means an island where there isn’t a single person.”
When Vivian tilted her head in confusion, Jean pretended to cry as he pulled the child into his arms.
“Boo hoo hoo, Daddy was trapped there for two whole years, so I couldn’t come see our princess.”
Gasp.
Vivian’s mouth fell open in shock.
“R-Really? There really wasn’t eeeeven one person there?”
Vivian’s face quickly crumpled.
Even though she had Ron, Mary, and Peter in the house, she had still been terribly lonely. Sometimes she had been so scared she was afraid to even go into her room.
With a tiny whimper, Vivian wrapped her arms tightly around her father’s neck.
Jean’s large hand patted her back gently. Even so, he didn’t stop exaggerating dramatically.
“Yep. Daddy almost forgot how to talk. There was nothing on the island except monkeys and birds.”
“What’s a monkey?”
It was a word she had never heard before.
There were dogs, cats, horses, and sheep in Vivian’s village, but no monkeys. In fact, they weren’t common animals even in the Empire.
“Hmm, a monkey is an animal that looks kind of like a person. Sheep and puppies walk on four legs, right? But monkeys can use their hands like we do. And the sound they make is—”
[Ookiki!]
“Ookiki?”
This time, Jean’s mouth dropped open.
“Huh? That’s right! Vivi, how did you know?”
“That egg cried like that!”
“Egg? Where’s an egg in there?”
Vivian climbed down from Jean’s arms with a little “Hup!” and rummaged through the treasure chest before pulling out an unusually round black gemstone. It was almost as big as her torso.
“That’s not an egg, it’s just a round jewel.”
“Geez! Daddy, can’t you hear it? It’s being really noisy, saying it wants to come out already!”
“Really? Daddy can’t hear anything. Maybe it’s a fairy that only talks to little children!”
Jean remembered how Vivian had once claimed she had fairy friends when she was four, so he figured she must have made another imaginary friend.
“Really? Mister Fairy? Are you Mister Fairy?”
Before he knew it, Vivian had already lost interest in the treasure chest and was talking to the black round jewel—egg instead.
It was cute, but at the same time—
‘Vivi, did you already forget that Daddy was trapped on a deserted island?’
The childish thought crossed his mind.
Jean let out a hollow laugh.
‘Seriously. It’s not like I’m whining to a kid because I want sympathy for my hardships.’
Then he began tidying up the jewels Vivian had scattered around the chest.
[Fairy, my foot. I’m far nobler than some fairy!]
“Then what are you?”
[I am, I am! This great being is— Grr! First, get me out of here!]
If he had known Vivian was truly holding an egg rather than a jewel, and that the egg was actually talking, he wouldn’t have brushed it off so easily.
Unfortunately, only Vivian could hear the egg’s voice.
“How am I supposed to get you out?”
[Give me your power!]
“Cheer up!”
Vivian clenched her little fists and cheered enthusiastically, but the reaction was underwhelming.
[Grr! You stupid human! Not that kind of power!]
Whatever was inside the egg exploded in anger. Maybe this fairy had a really awful personality.
Vivian hugged the egg and sprang to her feet.
Her concern for her lonely father trapped on the deserted island had already drifted far, far away.
It was unavoidable.
A talking egg.
Was there even a single child who wouldn’t be fascinated by that?
Vivian certainly wasn’t one of them.
“What’s your name?”
[I don’t have one.]
“You don’t have a name? Why?”
[Because nobody ever gave me one.]
“Why?”
[Because I was on a deserted isla— Ah! Enough with the ‘why, why’ already! Stop asking!]
“You sound just like Peter.”
[You just insulted me, didn’t you?]
The egg was surprisingly quick-witted.
Vivian darted her eyes away slightly and flopped onto the bed while hugging the egg. It still felt like it would take some time to get used to such a soft bed.
“Why can’t Daddy hear your voice? Daddy doesn’t believe me.”
Vivian had already realized Jean was only humoring her.
She just stayed quiet because she didn’t want to argue with the father she had only just reunited with.
The egg answered indifferently.
[Your daddy has no power. Did you think just anyone could hear my voice?]
“Then do I have power?”
[Yeah. Weird. You’re definitely an ordinary human, so why do you have this kind of power? …Anyway. You have the power to wake me up, so you have to wake me! Being trapped inside an egg is super frustrating.]
“Mmm. That makes sense. It does sound frustrating. But I don’t know how.”
As the egg’s voice turned pitiful, Vivian’s eyebrows drooped sympathetically too.
Sensing that Vivian might grant its request, the voice quickly became sly.
[You just need to share your power with me. I know the method, so don’t worry. You just have to keep holding me. I can receive power just by staying near you.]
“Really? That’s all I have to do? That’s easy! Okay. I’ll help you.”
[Really? No taking it back! Finally, I’m getting out of this boring egg! Excellent, little human. If you really free me, I’ll specially share my abilities with you. I swear.]
“Abilities? What kind?”
[The power to communicate with animals.]
“What does ‘communicate’ mean?”
[Stupid human.]
“I’m not stupid! I just… I just haven’t learned it yet!”
[Right. Human who still has a lot to learn. Communication means that just like you and I are talking now, you’ll be able to understand what animals say. And animals will understand you too.]
“Mmm. I see.”
Her lukewarm reaction startled the egg instead.
[What’s with that reaction?! Do you know how amazing this ability is?!]
“Is understanding what kind of grass sheep want to eat really that amazing?”
To Vivian, who grew up in a modest country village, that was about the extent of how useful talking to animals sounded.
The egg, which had been boasting proudly, instantly deflated.
[Why did I even bother telling you… Fine. Fine. I was going to give you another ability too, but I guess you don’t need it.]
Vivian shook her head quickly.
“No! I need it. It’s always good to accept anything you can get.”
[Where did an undergrown human learn something like that?]
“Well… whenever I didn’t accept what people gave me, they took away even what I already had.”
[……Just what kind of life have you lived, little human? Fine then. I’ll also give you the ability to make plants grow well.]
“Wow! Then whenever I’m hungry, I can grow beans or carrots anywhere and eat them? Amazing!”
[Beans… carrots……]
Vivian bounced happily up and down on the bed, but the egg sounded utterly dumbfounded.
Still, when Vivian pressed a loud kiss onto the egg’s surface and hugged it tightly, it didn’t seem to dislike it.
“Okay! I know. Until you wake up, I’ll huuug you tightly!”
[Hmph. It’ll probably be heavy for you to carry around. Let’s see how long you can endure it!]
