Chapter 82

I heard Yuna mention something about Chae-a playing the flute and turned my gaze back to Chae-a.

Just as Yuna had said, when Chae-a stepped forward, it was indeed reminiscent of how all the little ones came running along after her.

As I watched this scene, I chuckled for a while before raising my phone to record it.

“Wow, she’s so cute!”

Showing everyone just how adorable our Chae-a could be, I raised my phone, and instantly a chat window popped up.

[SeorinSeorin – Awwwww, Chae-a is too cute! I wanna bite her cheeks.]

[CloseRangeBest – Hahahahaha everyone flocking over is hilarious. Look at the parents’ confused faces.]

[SidewaysRoll – I wanna come watch too. If only we weren’t in a dungeon.]

Watching this, I had one question.

Why was Seorin typing in the chat even though she was nearby?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out the reason, so I decided to stop thinking and turned my head sharply.

‘Slowly, I should calm Chae-a down.’

If we keep going like this, she might continue doing this until evening.

It’s time to stop here and start our fun sticker game instead.

Thinking this, I grabbed Yuna’s hand and walked toward Chae-a.

Chung-chung sounds echoed as we moved forward.

With the chung-chung shoes Chae-a wore added to the other babies’ similar footwear, chung-chung sounds reverberated everywhere around us when suddenly Yuna giggled and whispered to me.

“The chung-chung sound makes her happy.”

She seemed to really enjoy the sound.

I thought if Yuna was happy, that was good enough and wagged my tail when…

Chae-a noticed us walking toward her and started running over.

“It’s Haeuni and Yuna!”

Then she grinned, showing off the many stickers she still had left.

“The stickers won’t disappear! They’re infinitely growing stickers!”

And with a confident laugh, she handed out stickers to the nearby children.

I gently patted Chae-a’s head, praising her, then asked her.

“How about we stick some on ourselves now?”

At this question, Chae-a looked at me, clearly wanting to do the same, nodded, and while staring at the remaining stickers, puckered her lips and extended them toward me.

“What should we do with these?”

As I pondered this, Han Arin, who had been watching from behind, stepped forward with a gentle smile.

“I’ll distribute these using magic, so don’t worry.”

She flicked her finger, making the stickers float into the air, then sent them flying to the children who hadn’t received any yet.

Chae-a couldn’t take her eyes off this magical sight, looking utterly delighted.

Seeing her so enchanted, I simply smiled.

*

We returned to the guild covered in stickers.

While the Spirit Masters and other hunters looked on in bewilderment at our state, which I found hilariously amusing, Chae-a ran up to Han Arin and said,

“I want to see things fluttering around again.”

Apparently, the magic she witnessed earlier had left a deep impression.

Hearing this, Han Arin smirked and playfully teased Chae-a.

“Hmm… Should I teach you or not?”

This made Chae-a fidget anxiously as she looked up at Han Arin.

Han Arin pointed to her cheek and said,

“If you give me a kiss, I might teach you.”

At this, Chae-a closed her eyes and went in for a cheek kiss.

Han Arin pretended not to notice, accepted it happily, then told Chae-a,

“Nope, that wasn’t enough. If you hug me and act cute, I might consider teaching you next time.”

At this, Chae-a quickly ran into Han Arin’s arms and started acting “cute.”

“Chae-a mimics ants really well!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Want me to show you?”

She then used her hands to mimic ant antennae.

“Ant, ant…”

Though it looked more like a rabbit than an ant, such trivialities didn’t matter.

Han Arin, thoroughly pleased, began petting Chae-a while saying,

“In the next magic lesson, I’ll teach you telekinesis along with quick movement. You must complete the homework I assign, okay?”

“Yup!”

“Our Chae-a is so sweet.”

Chae-a giggled, grabbed her own hands, and began daydreaming.

“I’ll study hard to lift ants, earthworms, and Kamangis with magic!”

“Huh?”

“There are hundreds of ant friends, so Chae-a needs to work hard!”

At this, Han Arin’s expression momentarily shifted to “Is this right?” but quickly returned to normal as she continued petting Chae-a’s head.

“People shouldn’t be levitated, got it?”

“Yup!”

Though it was unclear if she truly understood, I nodded, thinking it was fortunate she was happy.

* * *

By nightfall, I was training in various skills:

For instance, palm enlargement exercises, height growth practice, lifting and lowering pillows for strength training, physical conditioning, and also the magic lessons taught by Han Arin and Perseus. Nights were busier than days.

Among these, the magic training was what I was most dedicated to lately because I desperately wanted to learn Cleaning Magic, which we had agreed upon earlier.

‘This way, I can help Seorin more!’

I grinned imagining Seorin’s delighted face every time I used Cleaning Magic.

Meanwhile, Chae-a was energetically dancing with the Kamangis nearby.

‘I’m not sure, but she says this gets her pumped.’

So every night, it became routine to dance around chanting “Let’s go!” Meanwhile…

I tried not to laugh seeing Yuna sprawled out on the bed—she looked like a sloth, which was incredibly cute.

Curious about what Yuna was doing, I asked.

“I’m playing dinosaur. Dinosaurs stay still like this.”

Apparently, inspired by some dinosaur figurines, she equated staying motionless with playing dinosaur.

Looking at Yuna’s tail wagging aimlessly in the air, I couldn’t help but tease.

“Yuna, move your tail!”

Startled by my words, Yuna tried her best to calm her tail but failed, causing it to droop limply as she pouted and said,

“I’m practicing!”

Moved by her determination, I patted her head encouragingly and turned away.

The important thing now was to focus on magic practice.

“Practicing mana flow.”

Even though it was my first time, doubts kept creeping in about whether I was doing it right. But since I was alone, I pushed aside my unease and pressed on.

After manipulating mana for quite a while, Somtul, who had been sleeping nearby, suddenly jumped up with a “Peeek!” (due to Chae-a’s shoe stuck to its fur) and said something to me.

“Peeeek?”

It was asking if it could help.

Nodding cautiously, Somtul hopped into my arms and began concentrating with a “Peek.”

Not entirely sure how it would help, but trusting its intentions, I followed the method I’d practiced earlier and focused.

A warm sensation spread throughout my body, guiding my mana like a beacon showing where it should go.

Following this guidance, I directed my mana accordingly.

“Peeeek, peek-peek.”

Somtul skillfully led me, slowly circulating my mana and then collapsed panting on the floor.

I petted Somtul’s head in gratitude, and it happily bounced around with joy.

“Amazing.”

I never knew Somtul had this ability.

Or maybe it made sense given its enhancement powers—was this how it worked?

Considering that enhancement might involve mana circulation, I began practicing the flow Somtul had shown me.

* * *

The next morning, I eagerly ran up to Han Arin, who had visited the hospital room, to show her the results of last night’s mana training.

Of course, one night of practice wouldn’t bring dramatic changes, but I wanted to confirm I wasn’t heading in the wrong direction.

Embarrassed, I demonstrated, and Han Arin immediately reacted with surprise, bombarding me with questions.

“H-Hae-un? Where did you learn this?”

Worried I might have done something wrong, I hugged my tail, hesitated for a moment, then explained the situation slowly.

To my relief, Han Arin’s shocked expression transformed into excitement.

“This might be a groundbreaking discovery that could revolutionize the Mage Academy.”

Relieved that I wasn’t heading in the wrong direction, she appeared genuinely thrilled.

I gestured toward Somtul and said,

“Somtul showed me. If you praise Somtul, he’ll probably leave.”

Hearing this, Han Arin chuckled and simultaneously patted both my head and Somtul’s.

“Somtul is amazing, and so is Hae-un.”

Though I hadn’t done much, Somtul didn’t seem to mind, so I awkwardly smiled.

Han Arin gazed at us for a moment before making a request.

“Can I research this mana circulation method? Of course, only if Hae-un and Somtul approve. If you don’t want me to, you can say no.”

Since Somtul’s opinion mattered more than mine, I looked at it.

Somtul didn’t seem to care and nodded with a “Peeek.”

Grateful, Han Arin once again patted our heads affectionately.

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