Gallo

"Four Nalang!"

Seeing the boy before him lost in thought, the speaker raised his voice.

"Pay the remaining four Nalang of tuition, or don't bother coming to school starting tomorrow!"

The boy snapped back to reality, looking at the other person in a daze: "Wh... what..."

The latter's face flushed red, and he promptly chased the boy out of his office.

Standing outside the teacher's office, the boy shook his head in confusion, walking forward in a daze as he followed the route provided by the strange memories in his mind.

It wasn't until he walked out of the school gate that the boy's eyes began to clear.

"I... I've transmigrated!"

He thought that even if he went back to explain to the teacher that he had looked dazed because his mind was flooded with a massive amount of strange memory fragments, it would be useless.

Even if he said that, the teacher would surely think he had gone mad, and it would be even less likely for him to be allowed to study at school in the future.

He looked back at the school, at the two low iron gate pillars and the vertical sign hanging on the adjacent wall that read "Origa Middle School."

There was a relatively flat and spacious dirt courtyard and a three-story, forty-meter-wide red brick building.

This building contained six classrooms, the teachers' offices, a storage room for sundries, and restrooms, all housed within the same structure.

Looking at his surroundings, he found himself in an unfamiliar city with a Western modern style; there were no skyscrapers, and the surrounding buildings were all three or four-story Western-style houses.

Shops along the street displayed their goods through bright glass windows, and a black iron-clad carriage sped past.

In the boy's mind, the memory fragments that had been popping up were now integrated and in order.

His name was "Gallo Channing."

He was from "Tin City," the capital of the Iron Glory Empire, thirteen years old, had finished primary school, and was currently in his second year at Origa Middle School.

However, judging by the current situation, if he didn't pay the remaining four Nalang of tuition, his highest level of education would stop at the second year of middle school.

Following the route from school to home in his memories, Gallo began to walk back.

"My father was an army officer, a lieutenant I believe, but he sacrificed his life in the colonial war conflicts of the Southern Continent.

I was very young then, and my younger sister was only one year old. After Father sacrificed himself, Mother brought us from our hometown village to Tin City!"

As Gallo walked, he sorted through the memories in his mind. His father's face was already very blurry; even the original owner couldn't recall his father's features clearly.

"Mother's name is 'Aisha,' a very common name. She is very thin and works as a laborer at the Jenny Textile Mill. Her health isn't great; she coughs a lot lately, especially at night.

My younger sister is eight, named 'Lily Channing,' and hasn't started school yet... because our family's current circumstances can only afford to send me to study.

Our family is too poor."

Gallo returned to "Valen Street," where his home was located.

To be precise, the house they rented was here.

21 Valen Street was a three-story building. The first floor was a shop run by the landlord himself, selling daily sundries, while the second floor was where the landlord's family lived.

The so-called third floor was actually an attic, but the landlord had made some modifications, opening a small door on the right wall of the attic and building a narrow staircase so one could go directly to the third floor from the right side of the house.

This way, every time the third-floor tenants returned, they didn't need to pass through the first-floor shop and the second floor to reach the third floor.

Every time he came home, if he ran into the landlord couple tending the shop, Gallo would greet them.

Now that he had transmigrated, he didn't want to change this habit, but a plump woman was standing outside the shop. When she saw Gallo, she immediately called out: "Gallo!"

"Mrs. Jell."

Gallo took a few quick steps to her side; the woman before him was the landlord's wife.

The landlord was standing behind the counter in the shop, focused intently on several order forms on the table, oblivious to anything happening outside.

Unless a customer walked in.

"School's out, huh? I figured you'd be back around this time. Hurry home, your mother is waiting for you."

Gallo looked at her in confusion: "Mrs. Jell, my mother doesn't usually get off work at this time. The factory closes at seven in the evening, and it's only five o'clock now."

Mrs. Jell lowered her voice: "Two of Aisha's coworkers brought her back. Hurry home; they said your mother fainted while at work."

Gallo froze, and then he noticed a gaze coming from the counter. He turned his head to look at the landlord, Mr. Jell, who was looking up with a cold and calm expression.

But Gallo had no doubt that if his mother couldn't pay the rent, Mr. Jell would promptly kick the three of them out.

After saying goodbye to Mrs. Jell, Gallo immediately ran toward the narrow staircase on the right and returned home.

"Gallo!"

His younger sister ran over anxiously and threw herself into Gallo's arms. He soothed her emotions.

Gallo was then called to an old bed by a weak voice. His mother, Aisha, was lying on the bed, her face deathly pale.

The original owner's memories surged like a tide, carrying deep emotional imprints—the love of family, worry, and a sense of near-desperate helplessness.

The thin woman struggled to sit up from the bed, reached out to touch Gallo's head, and asked affectionately: "How was school today?"

"Mm..." Even though a different soul inhabited this body, Gallo did not feel repulsed by her actions.

He was hesitating over whether to tell her about the teacher's deadline to pay the tuition fees, as this impoverished household could by no means come up with four Nalang for tuition.

In the Iron Glory Empire, one Nalang was worth one hundred Copper Nil, and one Copper Nil was worth five Fenso.

Given the local cost of living, two Copper Nil could buy a cup of coffee and allow one to sit in a cafe for an entire day.

A large loaf of rye bread cost only one Copper Nil and three Fenso.

The rent for the attic they rented here was only one Nalang and thirty Copper Nil per month.

For their family, four Nalang in tuition was absolutely a massive expense.

After hesitating for a moment, Gallo decided to explain it directly to Aisha:

"I was kept behind by my teacher today to have a private talk in his office."

Gallo could feel the air grow tense; his mother Aisha's breathing suddenly became rapid, followed by a fit of violent coughing.

His younger sister Lily knelt on the bed, her heart aching as she gently patted her mother's back with her small fists.

"The teacher told me to pay the tuition I owe, along with the fees for the next semester, which comes to a total of four Nalang."

"Four Nalang!"

Almost simultaneously, his mother and sister cried out in shock.

"So the teacher told me to apply for a leave of absence, and I intend to do just that." This sentence was something Gallo had made up on the spot.

He knew that if he couldn't pay the four Nalang by tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to go back at all.

"No, I still have some money here. You should... first pay off the tuition you owe and discuss it with the teacher.

We can pay the rest slowly later."

Aisha took a handkerchief bundle from under her pillow and carefully opened it. Under the gaze of the two children, it contained one one-Nalang banknote.

There were seven ten-Copper Nil banknotes, a few one-Copper Nil coins, and several smaller one-Fenso coins.

Gallo sighed, wrapped the handkerchief back up, and looked earnestly into his mother Aisha's eyes as he said, "I've checked the dates.

Mr. Jell will be coming to collect the rent in two days.

And you are still sick.

I have already decided to take a leave of absence, and I will go tell the teacher tomorrow.

I will... go out and find a job as an apprentice."

"Oh, heavens!" Aisha let out a sorrowful cry, lying back on the bed as she said weakly, "That will work you to death!"

Gallo said nothing more. At that moment, a translucent operation panel appeared before him. After observing that his sister and mother had noticed nothing unusual, he began to look at the contents of the operation panel.

[Available Points: 5]

[Selectable Paths: Wisdom, Psionic, Physical]

Was this the golden finger belonging to him, a transmigrator?