Chapter 13

Hunter Community.

As always, countless posts were flooding in, but one post was rapidly gaining recommendations and climbing the ranks.

—

[3-Line Summary of Investigation ft. Terror

1. About 100 hunters with Observation Skill helped out.

2. An official investigation request regarding prisons and terror locations has been submitted to the Guild; expecting a reply within a few days.

3. Thanks for your interest, y’all!]

– This needs to be dug into till the end, no doubt. If we let this get buried, our country’s as good as gone.

– For real, how can a nation that can’t even protect its children call itself a nation? It’s just a pseudo-country.

– Watching that kid cry genuinely broke my heart. Let me know if you need donations.

—

This was an update on the additional investigation into the terrorist group.

Normally, when the scale of an issue grew, opinions would split, leading to conflict. But…

“Because the victims are babies barely 3 or 4 years old…”

And because the community had seen Ha-eun crying her eyes out after seeing her lair destroyed, it seemed to have struck a chord with many people.

Unusually, instead of division, there was collaboration in handling the situation.

“Of course, even in such a situation, there are still those trying to grab attention.”

But due to an official notice from the Guild stating that anyone crossing the line would face penalties beyond legal procedures…

All that was left were absurd comments like “I want to snatch Ha-eun’s tail and make her cry,” or “I want to bite Ha-eun’s tail.”

It was an unprecedentedly clean thread, causing Perseus to smirk slightly before checking the report.

[Postponement of Contact]

The Guild’s unofficial response: Please delay meeting Ha-eun for now.

Ordinarily, he’d have thought they weren’t worth listening to and stormed in immediately, but…

After reading the detailed explanation below, he had no choice but to comply with the Guild’s request.

[We’ve reviewed your email thoroughly, but Ha-eun’s condition is still unstable. Since we don’t know what side effects the ancient dragon blood surgery might cause, it’s best for her to stay here until she stabilizes.]

Additionally, there was mention of Seorin and Ha-eun’s attachment relationship. Even though the hospital room’s lair had collapsed, it was still considered home by Ha-eun. And most importantly, the Guild Master was protecting Ha-eun.

‘So, I guess I’ll just wait and see for now.’

Dragons lived much longer than humans anyway. Their infancy and childhood phases lasted dozens of times longer than humans’, so there was no rush.

***

Entering the hospital room, I felt uneasy due to some embarrassing experiences outside. Unable to help myself, I started chewing on my tail gently.

Annyangnyang.

Of course, I wasn’t biting hard—it’s part of my body, after all. I was lightly nibbling repeatedly. Then, mid-nibble, sanity returned, and I managed to stop.

‘What am I doing?’

I suppressed the strange emptiness and anxiety in my heart, thinking, ‘I’m not a kid anymore; I shouldn’t be chewing my tail.’ Just then…

“Contractor…! I wanna try too!”

Chae-a, who’d been watching me carefully, pointed at her mouth while looking at my tail.

“Umm…?”

“I wanna chew your tail!”

At this, my tail twitched nervously and slinked away from Chae-a. Grabbing my fleeing tail, I hesitated briefly before offering it to her.

“You have to be gentle.”

“Wooong!”

Since she’s such a good girl, I trusted she wouldn’t bite too hard. Leaving her to play with my tail, I turned my gaze to Seorin tidying up clothes nearby.

If it’s Chae-a’s clothes, fine, but tidying mine too feels a bit off.

I moved closer to Seorin and started helping her organize the clothes.

“Is this… are you helping me?”

More like doing what I should be doing, but since Seorin looked so happy, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything and just nodded.

“Maybe you’re the happiest person in the world right now. Thank you so much!”

I wriggled as Seorin hugged me tightly and rubbed her face against mine. Meanwhile, Chae-a, who’d been playing with my tail, saw this and spread her arms wide.

“Me too!”

“Alright, come join us!”

The sound of laughter echoed through the room. Feeling the warmth of everyone around me, I found myself smiling without realizing it.

Seorin’s phone began vibrating.

“Ahhh…”

A brief sigh. Though she quickly masked it so we wouldn’t worry, since our faces were so close, I could read her expression.

Wondering what the problem was, I looked at Seorin anxiously. She eventually told us with a sad look:

“Sis, I have to go train now…”

Ah, so she didn’t want to train. Remembering our promise, I thought for a moment before calmly speaking.

“Well then… Can I come to the training ground too? We promised towels and water.”

“Huh?”

Due to debts accumulated while shopping, I declared I’d work to pay them off quickly. Seorin looked slightly surprised but soon smiled widely and nodded eagerly.

“Then, shall we take Ha-eun to the training ground together?”

Nodding in agreement, I noticed Chae-a waving her hands to get our attention.

“I can carry water too… and give towels!”

She was signaling she wanted to come along. Looking at Seorin with hopeful eyes, Chae-a demonstrated her strength by shaking a rock from her pocket and indicated she’d listen well by placing her palms beside her ears and opening her eyes wide.

‘Guess she misunderstood “listen well” as “hear sounds accurately.”’

Finding her misunderstanding adorable, I giggled. Chae-a followed suit and started laughing too.

“Alright, then Chae-a can come too?”

“Yes! Great!”

“Let’s go then!”

Just as we were about to head to the training ground…

“The kids, what do we do with them? Non-hunters aren’t allowed in the training grounds because it’s dangerous.”

Our plans were thwarted by a guard in his early 30s blocking us—specifically me and Chae-a. Surprised, Seorin quickly showed her hunter ID, but…

“What? Don’t I count as a guardian if I’m here?”

“I’m sorry, but since you’re still a trainee, you can’t act as a guardian.”

“Oh…”

Even with talent, unless you’re a certified hunter, you can’t be granted guardian rights. The rejection was harsh. Seeing this, I decided to spare Seorin further embarrassment and prepared to return to the hospital room with Chae-a.

“Hmm? What’s going on here?”

Han Arin, passing by, noticed us and approached curiously. Trying not to cause trouble, I was about to say nothing was wrong, but…

“Chae-a wants to play here too…”

Chae-a hid behind me while expressing her desire to enter the training ground, exposing our situation.

“To the training ground? Ah…”

Han Arin alternated glances between the awkwardly smiling Seorin, me, and Chae-a before understanding and smiling kindly.

“Hmm… How about I take you all to the training ground?”

At this, Chae-a trembled with excitement before peeking out from behind me with shining eyes.

“Really…?”

“Yes, really. But there’s one condition.”

“Okay! Chae-a can carry water perfectly!”

“It’s not about water. The condition is eating snacks with me.”

“Chae-a loves snacks…!”

“Good, then.”

Watching this scene, I resolved to later tell Chae-a not to follow strangers offering tasty treats. Meanwhile, Seorin thought for a moment before making a request to Han Arin with an apologetic expression.

“Han Arin Hunter, I’m really sorry, but could you watch the kids for a bit?”

“Sure, I was free anyway, so it’s fine.”

“Thank you so much…”

Though hesitant, Seorin handed us over to Han Arin with a pouty face, likely reluctant to leave us. With little time left before training started, she rushed off to the training hall.

Watching her go, I waved goodbye. Han Arin smiled gently at me.

“Shall we grab a quick snack and then head to the training ground? I know a place nearby with really delicious desserts.”

Chae-a, hearing this, tilted her head and asked, “What’s dessert?”

Thinking she mistook dessert for a type of cookie, I petted her head and explained.

“Dessert is a snack.”

“Ooh! Chae-a hasn’t eaten dessert before…!”

Apparently misunderstanding dessert as a specific kind of cookie, I chuckled and gave her a proper explanation.

“Let’s go, shall we?”

With that, Han Arin used magic to lift us up and headed toward a nearby café.

“I can walk by myself…”

“Nope, you can’t.”

“Huh?”

Caught off guard by the immediate refusal, I blinked dumbly before realizing we’d already arrived. Rubbing my cheeks, which felt warm from embarrassment, I said softly,

“Thank you…”

Though she smiled happily, Han Arin seemed somewhat wistful as she patted my head and placed Chae-a and me on nearby chairs.

“So, what would you like?”

Looking at the menu board, I froze.

[VANILLA ICE CREAM – 12,900]

[STRAWBERRY SORBET – 13,000]

[MANGO SMOOTHIE – 9,600]

Too expensive.

In Korean terms, you’d need to work at least an hour to afford a single dessert. Overwhelmed, I stopped moving and fell into deep thought.

‘What should I do…’

While pondering, Chae-a, noticing my expression, cheerfully told Han Arin,

“We don’t have money, so we can’t eat…”

That single sentence struck Han Arin like all the shocks in the world combined as she stared at us in disbelief.

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