Volume 1 Chapter 33 Let's Try Making an Abacus V
"Next, I've gotta check if this world actually has something called an 'abacus'."
Without missing a beat, Cain headed back to his room to get the legendary 'abacus No. 8.'.
With 'abacus No. 8' in hand, he set off to find Luke and Lydia. He finally tracked them down in the lounge, sipping 'fragrant tea' before dinner.
"Father, Mother Lydia──can you take a look at this?"
Cain held out the 'abacus No. 8' for them to see.
"So, what exactly is that thing with all the beads?"
Luke watched Cain holding the 'abacus No.
8,' curiosity flickering in his eyes.
"This is an 'abacus.' I read about it in the Hero's book──a tool for arithmetic. Supposedly makes calculations way easier."
He explained it, leaning hard into the 'I-read-this-in-the-Hero's-book' routine.
"Abacus? That's a new one for me. How is it supposed to help with math, exactly?"
Lydia took the 'abacus No. 8' from Cain, turning it over in her hands, intrigued.
Cain dove straight into a demo──addition, subtraction, multiplication, division──showing off how the 'abacus' made everything faster, and a lot less error-prone.
"Th-this is amazing! Randolph──are you around?"
The two of them blurted it out in unison.
"Did you call for me, Master, Madam?"
Right on cue, as if he'd been waiting for the summons, the lounge door swung open.
'*Whoa──!* Was there some hidden camera, or was this a special Skill?'
Randolph's actually terrifying...
Cain stared in disbelief as Randolph glided into the room.
Maybe they were just used to this, but both Luke and Lydia showed Randolph the 'abacus No. 8' and started explaining everything Cain had described.
The 3 of them dove into an excited huddle, tossing out things like, "This is incredible!", "We need this," and "Let's get started right away.".
Before he knew it, all 3 of them closed in around Cain.
"Cain, just how did you make this thing?"
"Are you the only one who knows how to craft these, Cain?"
"Young master Cain, how many could you make in one day?"
They fired questions at him almost in perfect sync.
Cain froze, a little overwhelmed.
"I made this with 'magic.' Since it's my own magic, I'm the only one who knows how it's done. If I really push myself, I can crank out a hundred or even 2 hundred a day. Sorry for making something like this.".
In the end, the pressure from all 3 of them was just too much──even though he hadn't done anything wrong, the words "I'm sorry" slipped out of him.
"Don't worry, Cain. I'm not scolding you at all."
Lydia hugged him gently, her hand stroking his head with perfect warmth.
"Sorry, Cain. It's just... when I realized this 'abacus' might actually save the Sanroze family, I got a little carried away."
Luke reached over, ruffling his hair, his tone a little sheepish.
"My deepest apologies, Young master Cain. I confess, I got swept up in the excitement as well."
Randolph bowed his head low in genuine remorse.
"Really, everyone, I'm fine now."
'Even so, being so small, when 3 adults started booming at me from above, I'd totally panicked before I could stop them.'
Cain gave them all a bright, forgiving smile, accepting their apologies without a hint of bitterness.
"Alright, then. I'll show you how I make an 'abacus.'"
He told them, "Just give me a minute," then hurried outside. He filled a cloth sack with enough earth──the perfect amount for crafting an 'abacus'──and brought it back in.
Right there in front of the 3 of them, he chanted "Create Clay," transforming the raw soil into an abacus on the spot.
All 3 leaned in close, comparing the brand-new "abacus number 9" to "abacus number 8," inspecting every inch──then, with a single, satisfied nod, they agreed it was perfect.
From that day on, every afternoon turned into 'abacus-making time,' and the routine kept going until the stash finally reached 2 thousand.
'Something felt off. Why? How did this happen? Weren't I only planning to make a few, just for Sister Alice?'
As Cain stared at the mountain of 2 thousand abacuses piling up before him, he couldn't help but wonder.
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