"What!?"
"Oh, you fools!"
Before his family could finish, Tazuna suddenly broke into a run, heading for his house.
The bewildered people of the Land of Waves followed Tazuna home.
When they saw the gleaming gold bars and banknotes in Tazuna's house, everyone stared in shock.
Honestly, no one in the Land of Waves had ever seen so much treasure!
Even if everyone in the entire country pooled everything they owned, it might not amount to this much!
With this money, there was nothing they couldn't do...
"Oh, now we owe them a huge debt!"
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Tazuna let out a long sigh, leaving them puzzled.
Only Tazuna remembered his conversation with that black-haired young man. He had thought it was merely a joke—
"No, this money isn't ours. You saved this country. How could I let you... Anyway, I can't accept it!"
Despite the gleaming gold behind those combination locks and inside the safes, Tazuna wasn't tempted in the slightest. Instead, he firmly refused.
"Sir, this is money Gato made by squeezing you people dry in the first place. Besides, your country needs money right now, doesn't it? Why won't you accept it?"
The blond-haired young man who had arrived later asked in confusion.
"That's not true. Gato's Shipping Company did do plenty of terrible things in the Land of Waves, but it was only here for a little over a year. It couldn't possibly have made this much. Some of this money came from other places!"
"Our country may be poor, but we used to make our living through honest work. I know perfectly well how much we could earn in a year."
"Besides, what the Land of Waves needs more right now is courage, not money..."
Tazuna waved a hand. His words were upright, though