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Chapter 20
Alderlowered Ennio looked so unstable it seemed as if he might collapse straight into the floor.
“Listen carefully. What matters to our clan right now is not meaningless memories. Those won’t even buy us a single meal. What we need right now is—”
“I already know. It’s money.”
Dahlia cut him off, making Harold’s eyebrow twitch.
“…Yes. To resolve this crisis and rebuild what has collapsed, we need enormous funds.”
“But Clan Head doesn’t have money. You’re a broke pauper.”
At the baby sea otter’s words, Ennio’s eyes widened.
How dare she call the head of the Orcadan family a pauper…!
“What did you say? Pauper?”
Dahlia immediately corrected herself.
“Then… a beggar?”
“……”
In an instant, the great orca clan head had been reduced to a penniless beggar.
Harold’s face turned red and blue in alternating waves, as if about to explode.
He wanted to argue, but he couldn’t deny it—he really was broke.
A conflicted clan head who couldn’t refute the truth, and a baby sea otter casually delivering fact after fact.
Ennio, watching from between them, let out a short sound.
“…Pfft.”
“…Ennio, did you just laugh?”
“Ennio, are you laughing?”
Both voices overlapped.
Ennio quickly shook his head, even pinching his thigh to stop himself.
Harold shot him a displeased glare before turning back to Dahlia.
“Fine. As you said, what our clan needs is money. First money, second money, third—money!”
Yes.
That was exactly why Dahlia had rushed here.
The orca clan, struck by unexpected disaster, would pour everything into reconstruction, weakening their power in the process.
And the great white shark clan, always watching for an opportunity, would never miss it.
‘This won’t do. I have to help the orca clan.’
Her reason was simple.
If you want to defeat an enemy, support their enemy!
“I know of a place. There are lots and lots of treasures buried there.”
“What?”
“What?”
Harold and Ennio both turned to her at once.
Even Harold, who would normally dismiss such nonsense, couldn’t ignore it this time.
In their current desperate situation, even ten marins mattered.
And Dahlia had previously proven useful when she pointed them toward valuable pearl fields.
“Speak. Treasure? Where? What land? Is it pearls again?”
“Clan Head, calm down.”
“Ahem!”
Harold awkwardly cleared his throat.
Dahlia giggled and continued calmly.
“There’s an island at the edge of the orca territory. The place marked with ancient intent! That’s it!”
“Ancient intent…? Hah. You mean the abandoned ancient island?”
Harold clicked his tongue openly.
Wrinkles deepened on his face.
Ennio spoke instead, his tone slightly disappointed.
“…Dahlia, you probably don’t know this, but the Ancient Island is a forsaken land. It’s so barren that no beastmen can live there.”
Dahlia shook her head hard.
“No! There’s tons of ‘Blue Cobalt’ buried there!”
“W-what? Blue Cobalt?”
Harold’s voice shot up immediately.
He tried to stand but had to clutch his chest from the pain.
Ennio also swallowed hard.
Blue Cobalt—what was that?
In simple terms, it was like a gold mine, or even a diamond field.
Not only was it valuable as a gemstone, but more importantly, it was the only ore that contained ancient magical power.
Blue Cobalt could amplify a beastman’s innate abilities. It could be embedded in weapons or made into accessories.
Its uses were limitless.
And the only known Blue Cobalt mine in the Emerald Coast was owned by the royal family.
But even that mine had reportedly dried up completely.
It was, quite literally, priceless.
“Is that true?”
“Y-yes!!”
“Ridiculous. Even if it were true… how could a brat like you know such information?”
Harold narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
Dahlia shrank back under his gaze.
“Th-the shark beastmen told me…”
“The great white sharks?”
It sounded unbelievable—but she wasn’t lying.
The so-called “Ancient Island,” located in the gray zone and considered useless, had once been owned by the orca clan. But due to financial pressure, they had sold it off.
“To the shark beastmen!”
And years later, the great white sharks discovered Blue Cobalt there and made a fortune.
The orca clan had demanded it back, but of course, the sharks never returned it.
Of course, Dahlia couldn’t say any of that.
Naturally, Harold remained suspicious.
“Explain this. Why would those sharks give such information to a brat like you?”
“I… I…”
While she stammered for an answer, Ennio suddenly clapped his hands.
“Wait…! Is that why you were being chased?”
“Huh?”
“When Big Brother first found you, you were being chased by the sharks!”
“Mm, yes.”
“So they realized the information leaked and came after you to silence you!”
Ennio had found a plausible explanation.
Dahlia quickly grabbed onto it.
“Y-yes! That’s right! They chased me because of that! I tried to escape, but…”
She curled up as if remembering the terrifying chase.
“Grandpa. Instead of doubting her, shouldn’t we go confirm it ourselves?”
“Hm…”
Harold fell into thought.
But then—
“That will not be necessary, Clan Head.”
A voice interrupted.
“Hm, Daxston. I’d like to hear your opinion.”
Daxston had served the Orcadan family for generations.
A loyal retainer whose ancestors had all served the clan.
Now he acted as both butler and advisor.
“As I said earlier, selling that land would immediately cover reconstruction costs.”
Dahlia’s eyes widened as she flailed her small arms.
“You can’t sell it!”
“Dahlia is right, Grandpa! We’ve trusted her before and it worked!”
Ennio supported her as well.
But the opposition now came not from Harold—but from Daxston.
“Young master. This is not child’s play. This concerns the fate of the Orcadan family.”
His gaze behind his glasses was cold.
“Yes… your point is valid.”
Daxston was the one Harold trusted most.
When his foolish son had left the clan, and when the young heirs were still too inexperienced, Daxston had been his steady lighthouse.
“Grandpa! No, don’t sell it! There are really treasures there…!”
Dahlia panicked.
Selling land worth hundreds of billions—maybe trillions—of marins for cheap was unthinkable.
