Story updated, new chapter added and there are still more chapter to come.
[MAY PEACE BE WITH YOU]
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CHAPTER 12: GOLD FEVER
[The next morning]
"Hmmm~, Hmmm~, Hmmm~, Hmmm~,"
Saito slowly opened his eyes when he heard the beautiful humming voice that echoed in the room. It was a familiar voice that he always heard almost every morning back in Halkeginia. He looks to his left and found Louise sitting up on the bed while staring towards the window. At the same time, she kept humming the beautiful tune without realizing that she had awoken him. This is a side of her that only Saito knew about and it's one of the things that he loved about her.
"Louise~?" She stops humming when she heard Saito calling her name and immediately turned to face him.
"Ah, Saito. Did I wake you up? Sorry~" said Louise with a gentle smile.
"No, it's okay, I- eh? W-wait a minute!" Saito immediately grabs Louise's shoulder and looked at her straight in the eye.
"Louise, are you alright? Do you still feel dizzy? C-can you walk? Do you need anything? Do I need to-," Saito keeps talking without stopping for a breath, that is until Louise puts a finger to his lips.
"Saito. I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."
"B- but"
"Look, I'm fine, let me prove it," Louise jumped out of bed and starts to casually walk around the room to prove her point.
"See? I'm fine," she returned back to the bed beside Saito, who starts to look relieved.
"Sigh~ I'm glad you're okay. You looked terrible last night,"
"Sorry~. I didn't mean to make you worry,"
"Hey, it's okay. You saved our lives so I'm in no position to complain,"
"Well, I'm not gonna deny that," Louise smiled at Saito, who smiled back at her with his signature grin.
"By the way Louise," said Saito.
"Yes?"
"You look lovely when you were humming that tune,"
"R-really?" Louise blushes from Saito's compliment while trying to look away from him.
"Yeah. You look so lovely that I felt like I want to kiss you," Saito leaned in and gave her a kiss which she gladly accepted. The two fell back to the bed with their lips locked to each other and their tongues fighting for dominance.
"My, my. Never thought you two were already on it this early," teased Derflinger who had kept silence from the start.
The two instantly broke off with their faces red. They completely forget that Derflinger is still alongside them.
"We really need to find him a new blade," said Louise while staring at Saito's rune where Derflinger resided.
"Agreed. But, for now, let's take a shower and head downstairs," replied Saito.
The two headed downstairs to meet the family, but when they went to the kitchen, they only found Asuna sitting alone while silently eating her breakfast. Her expression seems to be a tense one which is very unusual for her.
"Morning sis. Where's mom and dad?" asked Saito.
Asuna raised her eyes to meet the two in front of her. She didn't give an immediate reply which makes the situation felt a bit awkward.
"They're over there," Asuna pointed to the living room where her parents can be seen to be in a conversation.
"Err.. sis? Are you okay? You are acting weird," asks Louise, who notice her odd behavior.
"Louise right, are you sick or something," said Saito.
"It's not that it's just-" Asuna stops for a while as of feeling hesitated to say it. However, she knew the couple deserves to know.
"Well, something came up this morning," said Asuna in a low voice like a whisper.
"Which is?"
"It's about- err. Well, you know that mom and dad make a loan to buy this house, right?" Saito replied with a nod while Louise pretended like she understands it.
"You see, since the past few months, we're having some financial problems so we missed a few payments. Now, they had just sent a letter and demand us to pay it up or... I'm sure you got the idea."
"Woah, so dad's not joking when he said he couldn't afford us here," said Saito.
"Lot's of things had happened since you were gone. I even had to find a job to pay for my university fees."
"How much do we owe them?"
"If you want to know, go ask dad yourself."
Hearing Asuna's reply, Saito and Louise head to the living room where their parent's faces can be seen to be filled with worry.
"Morning mom, morning dad," said the two in unison.
Yuno looked towards the two while Ryuji tries to hide the letter from their sight. They then replied the greeting while forming a smile to hide the worries they just had earlier.
"Ah, Louise, are you alright? You should not walk around if you don't feel well yet," said Yuno.
"It's okay mom, I'm perfectly fine. Sorry for making everyone worry."
"Ah, it's fine. You're part of the family now. So it's only natural that we felt worried about you," said Ryuji.
"By the way, dad, what's that letter you're hiding?", Saito bluntly points out the letter Ryuji desperately tried to hide.
"W-what? What letter? There's no letter. We're just-"
"They know dad. I already told them," said Asuna who, merged out of the kitchen and walk into the living room to join them.
"Ah~Asuna why did you tell them?" said Yuno.
"I just figured that they should know. There's no point in hiding it from them. Besides, they would find out eventually."
"Asuna's right, dad. You shouldn't hide it from us. Like you just said, we're part of the family so we deserved to know," said Saito with a serious tone.
"I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to know how bad our conditions are right after you just came home," said Ryuji while keeping his face down in shame.
"Your father's right. We just didn't want to burden you with this. Especially after what happened yesterday," said Yuno.
"Is it really that serious? How much did we owe them?"
"Well, including the interest, it's around 425,000 yen," said Ryuji.
"Wow, that's quite a lot," said Saito a bit shocked by the huge sum.
"Err... how much is that exactly?" asked Louise who is not familiar with the currency in Japan.
"I explain that to you later. Anyway, can you pay it, dad?"
"I was planning to borrow some money from our relatives but, I don't think they would give us that much. I haven't even paid them back the last time."
"We're sorry. It seems you came back home at the wrong time." said Yuno.
Saito and Louise glanced at each other as of trying to say something before turning back to their family with a smile.
"You know what? I think I just return home at the right time." Saito's words left his family in confusion.
"Just wait here. I'll show it to you." Saito rushed upstairs and in mere moments, he returns with a small pouch in his hand.
"This is what I was trying to tell you yesterday." Saito tosses the pouch in front them which only makes them more confused.
"Saito, what is this?" asked Yuno.
"Just open it, mom. You'll see that all your problems would vanish in an instant."
Without a second thought, Ryuji opened the pouch and found something that he never expected to find.
"Is-is that?" Asuna stuttered as she couldn't believe what she is seeing.
"Oh my," is all Yuno could say before becoming completely speechless.
Inside the pouch are golden coins and each was engraved with Halkeginian symbols. The whole family couldn't believe the marvelous sight in front of them.
"That is Ecu. It's the common currency we used in Halkeginia. Saito said that it would be worth a fortune here so we decided to bring some along," explained Louise.
"Is-is this solid gold?" asked Ryuji while picking up one of the coins to examine it.
"Yes, dad. It's 100% pure gold. I had confirmed it a lot earlier. I'm sure this would be enough to pay the loans."
"Pay the loans? This is more than enough to buy 2 new houses!", said Ryuji.
"Yay! Finally, I can now quit that stupid job of mine and buy that new bow I always wanted," said Asuna in excitement
"Oh~ now I can get all the kitchen appliances I need for my dream kitchen," said Yuno.
The three Hiragas were completely lost in their own dreams and all their worries had been washed away like it had never occurred. Saito and Louise just keep watching from the side as their family was already lost in their own world.
"They are really happy, huh?" said Louise.
"Well, put a bunch of gold in front of anyone and they would surely become like that." replied Saito.
Asuna, who had finally seemed to be awoken from her dream world unexpectedly pulled both Saito and Louise into a hug.
"Oh Saito, Louise. I love you two. From now on, you two are my most beloved brother and sister."
"S-sis not too tight," said Louise.
"A-Asuna get off me, you're creeping me out! Besides, aren't we your only brother and sister?" said Saito while struggling to get free.
"That's the point silly. You two will always be my beloved brother and sister."
"Okay I'm serious, you're really creeping me out right now. Let me go!"
"Oh, fine." Asuna released the two from her hold then muttered, "Killjoy"
Saito took a few deep breaths to recover from his sister's actions. He never thought that his sister would react like that. He then looked back to his father who also had seemed to have already return to reality.
"So dad, can you please go exchange it for money? I would do it myself, but a teen with a bunch of gold might raise some suspicion," said Saito.
"Y-yes, absolutely. But still, this is a bit too much," said Ryuji, who seemed a bit reluctant.
"Your father's right, is it okay to just give it to us like this?" said Yuno who felt a bit guilty to receive something so valuable even though it's from her own son.
"It's okay mom. That's just a hundred Ecu. Even my monthly allowance is a lot more than that besides, we still have lots of those back at our villa," said Louise to reassure her parents.
"That's right. So you don't need to feel guilty about it. It's the least I could do to repay you for... well, everything," said Saito.
"Thank you, son, and you too Louise. You both are really a lifesaver," said Ryuji.
"Yes, we're so grateful to you. I don't know how to thank you both," said Yuno.
"Then don't. Just think it as an apology for me disappearing all of a sudden for two years," said Saito.
"Well, if you would put it like that then, apology accepted son," said Ryuji who, snatched the pouch without any feeling of guilt.
"Oh dear~," said Yuno before pinching her husband due to his behavior.
"Ouch! I'm just joking."
The whole family is brought to laughter to the scene. They later planned out how to use the gold to pay all their debts and how to distribute it among themselves. During their discussion, Asuna looked at the clock on the wall and realized something.
"Ummm... dad? Shouldn't you be at work right now?"
"Ah, you're right. Hmm... maybe I should take another day off," said Ryuji before getting his ear pulled by his wife.
"Not a chance. Just because we're kinda rich now, it doesn't mean you can quit your job yet."
"Ow, ow, ow, okay, okay, I'll go to work right now," said Ryuji before being released.
"Don't forget about the gold too dad. Make sure you don't lose it, said Asuna.
"I know, I'll keep it safe, Ryuji grabs the pouch and put it into his briefcase for safe keeping.
"I'll head out right now,"
"Make sure you get home safe, and with the money too," said Yuno.
Ryuji heads out of his home before heading to the train station with his mind only thinking about the money he would make with the gold.
"Ahhh, I can't wait for it. We will be rich at last!." said Asuna in excitement.
"Yeah, yeah. Jeez, calm down for a while," said Saito.
Asuna ignored Saito's comment and start thinking what she would do with her part of the money while skipping happily to her room.
"Seems like she's completely lost in her own world," said Louise.
"Yeah, it seems like that. Anyway, mom do you-"
"First, I would buy a brand new refrigerator, then I should buy a microwave, after that I buy an oven, oh, maybe I should buy some new jewelry as well," muttered Yuno to herself.
"Seems like she's also lost in her own world," said Saito.
"Well, we couldn't blame them, could we?" said Louise.
Saito and Louise just giggled before heading to the kitchen for their breakfast leaving the rest of the family in their own dreams.
