Chapter 20

“Can you say that again?”

“Chicken coop.”

“……”

Gayeon confidently places both hands on her hips and sticks out her stomach.

Astra, at a loss for words, looks at me.

Her eyes clearly say, “Did you teach her that?”

I shook my head.

Why would I teach her that?

Astra forces a smile, suppressing her murderous intent, and locks eyes with Gayeon.

“What. Does. That. Mean. Do you. Know. Our friend~?”

“Yeah, I know. She said ‘chicken coop’ to an older woman.”

“……”

‘Wow, that seems to have hit a nerve.’

Astra’s hair starts to rise into the air.

Along with it, objects in the office begin to float.

“Oh my, unnie~ you’re still in your vibrant twenties, right?”

“…Really? Sorry. I didn’t know you were that young.”

Gulp.

“About thirty? I thought you were around that age… Sorry.”

Gulp.

Gayeon lowers her head deeply.

…Gayeon, why are you poking the bear like that?

‘Astra’s stamina is already at zero…’

Astra trembles all over.

The objects in the office swirl around us like a storm.

Gayeon looks at Astra with wide eyes,

while Astra’s expression grows increasingly murderous.

“But when I turn twenty, how old will you be, ahjumma?”

“Hey now—”

“Alright, that’s enough.”

I cover Gayeon’s mouth with my hand and apologize to Astra.

“I’m sorry, Astra. She’s still young and from the slums, so she might have picked up some bad habits.”

“Mmph mmph mmph…”

“Ms. Gayeon. It’s not polite to say such things to someone you’ve just met. And you shouldn’t lie. How could Astra possibly look like she’s in her thirties?”

“It’s not a lie…”

“Sigh.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Gayeon lowers her head and glances at me.

I turn my gaze back to Astra.

“She’s reflecting on her actions. Could you find it in your heart to forgive her?”

“Sigh… Alright.”

She plops back into her chair and rubs her temples.

***

“W-what? You want me to take care of the kid?”

“I need a favor. The training room…”

A while later, after calming down from the earlier incident,

I requested a private conversation with Astra.

‘What will you do with the child?’

‘If you could assign someone to look after her, I’d be grateful.’

As I asked for someone to take care of the child, Ahn Yeri appeared.

She arrived at the office wearing an oversized T-shirt and dolphin shorts, the so-called “missing bottom” fashion.

“I’ll leave her in your care, Yeri.”

“B-both of you need me… right?”

“Yes, Yeri. And even if that weren’t the case, you’re always needed.”

At my words, she blinked her eyes and then giggled with a silly smile.

From what I overheard, she was muttering, “They need me!”

“Ehe… ehehe…”

“……”

“Uhee, heeheehee.”

She twisted her body and laughed like a dork who just made her first friend.

“I-if I can help, I’ll do my best…!”

“Then I’ll leave it to you. Ms. Gayeon? Could you stay with this pretty unnie for a while?”

“Okay. Got it, oppa.”

She nodded and scurried over to Yeri.

“T-then I’ll be in my room… come get me later…”

I nodded, and Yeri and Gayeon left the office.

“So, that brat—I mean, that kid with no manners is Maker’s first subordinate?”

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

“Sigh…”

Still angry, Astra furrowed her brow and swept her hair back.

“Kidnapping?”

“No.”

“You didn’t lure her with promises of tasty food, did you?”

“No.”

Well, it’s kind of similar, but no.

“Then what?”

“I saved her just before something bad happened.”

“And then?”

“She wanted to repay the favor, so she followed me.”

“…She’s a good kid. If only she could speak more politely.”

Tsk.

She clicked her tongue.

‘Don’t click your tongue while thinking about the kid… How much did that sting?’

She used her psychokinesis to bring a cup of water from afar, drank it, and looked at me.

“So, you plan to have her join you in the next terror mission?”

“That seems to be the case.”

She looked at me with a serious expression.

“What’s her ability?”

“She’s a multi-ability user… that’s the best way I can describe it.”

I gave a rough explanation of her abilities.

She might have dozens, maybe even hundreds, of abilities within her.

“What kind of…?”

“I didn’t know something like that was possible.”

Actually, I did know, but it’s too complicated to explain, so I said I found her by chance.

“If you don’t believe me, you can call her and ask her to demonstrate her abilities.”

“…No, I believe you. Why would Maker lie to me about something like that?”

Well, that’s true.

If I gave her a mission, the truth would come out quickly. No one would lie about this.

“How powerful are her abilities?”

“It varies depending on the ability.”

Some abilities seemed almost useless, while others were strong enough to rival single-ability users.

“…That’s quite unique.”

Unique and useful.

Usually, multi-ability users have weaker individual abilities compared to single-ability users.

But our Gayeon is an irregular who breaks that rule.

If we can identify and train a few of her useful abilities, she could easily become a high-ranking member, not just a low-level grunt.

‘There’s just one problem…’

“The issue is that she doesn’t know what abilities she has or which ones are strong or weak.”

Since her abilities were forcibly implanted, not innate, it’s understandable, but it’s still a headache.

“That’s why I think we should train her for a few months.”

“Teach her combat methods and help her understand her abilities before full-scale activities? Sounds good.”

Astra nodded and scribbled something on a piece of paper.

“Does she have any abilities she can use properly right now?”

“Currently, only teleportation.”

Among her abilities, at least her teleportation is on par with other warp-type ability users.

“…Got it.”

We’ll figure out her other abilities during training.

Astra put down her pen.

“What are you planning to do now? Since you brought a subordinate, I assume you’re not planning to work at the cafe for a while…”

“Exactly as you guessed, I’m planning a terror mission.”

“Won’t it take a while to prepare for a terror mission? You have to train her too.”

True.

Even if we start preparing now, it’ll take about a month.

We can’t just sit around doing nothing during that time. So…

Swoosh.

“I think I’ll go hunting some people here.”

“All assassination missions?”

What I showed her were some of the assassination missions within Eclipse.

Specifically, I picked out those who would cause trouble for Eclipse, especially in the latter part of the story.

‘And the ones I chose all have elixirs.’

I won’t be able to kill all of them in a month, but I’ll take out as many as I can.

Wait for me, Gayeon! Oppa will bring you an elixir!

‘Plus, I can test the results from the research lab before the terror mission, killing two birds with one stone.’

“Alright. Come see me before you go on the mission to get it signed.”

I nodded at her words.

***

After leaving Astra’s office.

‘Well, time to go pick them up.’

I headed to Yeri’s room to meet Gayeon and Yeri.

‘It’s pretty far.’

Whether she chose the room herself or not, it was in a remote corner.

It kind of reflects her introverted nature, doesn’t it?

After walking for a while, I could faintly see her room.

‘Almost there.’

Just as I was about to pick up the pace.

“Waaahhhhhh…!!!!!”

“…Yeri?”

A woman’s scream echoed.

I hurried to her room and opened the door to find a tear-soaked Yeri and Gayeon, who looked completely clueless about why she was crying.

“Ma-Maker…!!”

As soon as she saw me, she rushed over and hugged me tightly.

Her overwhelming pressure made it hard to breathe.

“Waaahhhhh…! Waaahhh!!”

“…What happened?”

“Gayeon… Gayeon said…”

“Chicken coop ahjumma. Don’t cling to oppa, it’s uncomfortable.”

“Waaahhh…!! Sniff. Sniff. I-I’m not a chicken coop!!”

Yeri sobbed but still managed to retort angrily.

…That alone gave me a rough idea of the situation.

Seems like our Gayeon struck a nerve again.

“Not a chicken coop? Chicken coops are in a hurry to get married and wear sexy underwear to seduce someone. Ahjumma, your underwear…”

“T-that’s just my preference! Preference…!!”

“So you’re not in a hurry?”

“T-that’s…! Sniff, sniff…!!!”

Yeri started bawling again.

“I’m only twenty-three…!!”

“Oppa. Why do these unnies have such high face value?”

Don’t throw the bomb at me.

“I-I’m not a chicken coop… Waaahhh…!!!”

…You lost a verbal fight to a kid… Never mind.

“Maker… Waaahhhhh…!!!”

“Chicken coop. Stop wagging your tail at oppa.”

“I-I’m not wagging my tail… Waaahhh…!!!”

“……”

Gayeon kept poking at Yeri, trying to pull her away from me,

while Yeri, hurt by her words, clung to me even more.

‘Damn it…’

Someone save me.

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