Chapter 44

“Phew.”

“Are you nervous? Should we do this another time?”

At Dusik’s worried words, I shook my head.

Of course, I’m nervous. Naturally, I am.

But when it’s time to do it, it’s now.

“Mom, who are you calling?”

Kabe was holding onto the hem of my transformation outfit.

“Well…”

As nervous as I was, I patted Kabe’s head.

Alright. Let’s go then.

Click, click, click—the sharp sound of heels echoed through the space.

I placed my left hand on the round sphere.

A warm heat began to spread from my lower abdomen.

How did I summon Kabe last time…?

I can’t remember well, but I think I just shoved it in recklessly.

Recalling that memory, I ruthlessly shoved magic power into my left hand.

The more I put in, the better the result, right? It’s a bit childish, but it worked last time.

A humming sound grew louder and louder.

“Hup!”

—Weeeeeeeeeeeng…

The operating noise faded.

A puff sound came from the steam vent, and my gaze naturally turned that way.

The shadow… seems a bit big.

Smaller than me, but much bigger than Kabe, the shadow began to move without waiting for the steam to clear.

And beneath the steam, the figure that emerged was a tall, beautiful girl with traces of youth still on her face.

With each step, her neatly tied-up crimson hair swayed lightly.

The girl, who seemed to float towards me, moved her red lips and met my gaze.

“My name is Dan Sohee. I hurried here in response to your call, sister. I hope I haven’t delayed.”

The problem is, she’s wearing a pitch-black hanbok.

The girl… no, Dan Sohee, who introduced herself, bowed deeply to me, and I sighed inwardly.

What is this now?

Why do all the characters that come out have such strong personalities?

How am I supposed to handle this one?

“First, stand up.”

“Call me Mokhwa or Sohee.”

“Alright, Sohee. Stand up.”

Judging by her speech, she seems like a character who likes historical dramas.

Her way of speaking and her clothes.

Though I’ve never seen a hanbok this black in any historical drama I’ve watched.

“Do you like historical dramas?”

“Historical…? Ah, you mean shrimp. Understood. Shall I prepare some shrimp?”

“Huh? What? Wait!”

I reached out to stop the girl, who was about to go somewhere, holding the hem of her hanbok.

And as my hand touched hers, her face turned bright red.

This is driving me crazy.

Sitting on the sofa in the summoning room, I was lost in thought.

One thing I realized after summoning Kabe is that all the children I summon have infinite loyalty to me.

However, this is just my guess, but I don’t know how this loyalty will manifest. In other words, this loyalty ensures that they will never betray me, but in Kabe’s case, it’s a mother-daughter relationship, and in Sohee’s case, who was summoned today…

“Sister, is there anything Sohee can help you with?”

Judging by how she’s sitting next to me on the sofa, clinging to my arm and rubbing her cheek against it, it seems like a slightly… abnormal sisterly relationship.

“Get away!”

“Sister, what is this little one?”

“Kabe is my daughter! She’s not a little one!”

They don’t seem to know each other.

At the mention of being a mother and daughter,

And seeing Kabe struggling to climb onto my lap,

And me scooping her up and holding her,

Sohee’s already pale face turned even paler.

I could feel her hands trembling as she clung to my arm.

“Sister… when, when did you get married…? Why didn’t you tell me even a word…?”

Marriage? What marriage? I just met you today.

“Hey, calm down.”

“Who are you?”

This time, it was Dusik in his transformed form.

My lieutenant, Dusik, noticing how tired I looked, seemed to want to take Sohee away to let me rest, reaching out to stop her.

“I’m Kwak Dusik. The boss’s…”

“Sister, no!”

At Sohee’s sudden scream, not only me but even Kabe was startled.

Scared me. I thought my eardrums would burst.

“Sister, no, no…! How could you make such a choice…!”

Her voice trembling with tears, I looked at Sohee in panic.

“Sohee, what do you mean no…?”

“Sister, I can never accept this! How, how could you take such a man as your lifelong partner! Could it be, could it be…! That he forced himself on you…!”

“What?!”

There’s definitely a serious misunderstanding.

I need to clear this up before it gets worse.

“Sohee, that’s not it…!”

“You heartless villain! There’s no way sister would give her heart to a scoundrel like you! You must have used some despicable means to defile her pure body!”

Crack.

I heard it. Definitely heard it. In this atmosphere, somewhere, I heard the sound of something breaking.

“Listen to me!”

“Дух, скрытый в тени, отвечай на мой призыв!”

Wrong.

She’s not listening to me at all.

As Sohee’s small mouth began the incantation, a circular magic circle appeared beneath her feet.

The golden circle, with letters inscribed within it, seemed to be nearing completion.

There was no flash of light, but what Sohee held in her hands left me, Kabe, and Dusik speechless.

In her pitch-black hanbok, Sohee held a giant scythe.

The scythe of the Grim Reaper, the one that reaps the souls of the living.

The scythe, also pitch black, reflecting no light, held by the girl in the black hanbok.

“Cool, huh?”

That was my honest thought.

“I will slay this villain and save my sister!”

Let’s put the admiration aside for now and deal with this mess.

“Hey, hey, hey, stop! Stop it!”

“I will never forgive this villain who defiled my sister!”

I didn’t defile her!

She’s not my real daughter!

He’s not a villain!

He’s not even my husband!

How many misunderstandings are stacked here?!

Already out of her mind, Sohee charged at Dusik with a crazed look.

Dusik, not understanding what’s happening, raised a barrier.

And I, trying to calm her down, sent a Rocket Punch to Sohee’s stomach.

*

“Um, so… close combat type?”

“That is correct.”

There was a bit of a commotion.

Sohee, hit by the Rocket Punch, flew into a corner, smashed part of the production device, and got stuck there. She tried to charge again, but after Dusik revealed his true form, the misunderstanding was finally cleared.

“Well, I did think the niece was too cute compared to her father.”

Dusik’s vein seemed to pop on his forehead, but we decided to let it go.

Anyway, close combat type.

I had a slight hope that if she were a long-range type, she could support me, but considering the purpose of the summoning, since she’s meant to lead the minions as a mid-level command unit, it might be better for a close combat type to come out first.

“Alright. Let’s go up.”

The production device is on the third basement level. The parking lot goes down to the second basement level, and one level below that is a space intended for storage, which was perfect for setting up the production device.

The problem is, the production device is broken again.

I had to use the Rocket Punch to stop Sohee, and she flew into it, smashing it. It’s going to take time to fix that.

Eve is going to be annoyed, but what can I do?

If I hadn’t, Dusik might have gotten hurt.

As we rode the elevator up, Kabe, who I was holding, started snoring softly.

“Dusik, take Kabe to sleep with you tonight.”

“Yes, sister. Understood.”

“Wait, you.”

As I was about to hand Kabe over to Dusik, Sohee glared at him with a fierce look.

“What’s the matter?”

Dusik, who probably doesn’t have a good impression of Sohee either, had a sharp edge to his voice.

“As a lieutenant, you should act like one. It’s inappropriate to call her ‘sister.’ Don’t you know the chain of command?”

Sohee, where did your historical drama speech go?

“Isn’t that right, sister?”

Sohee looked up at me as if to say, “I did well, right?”

I met her gaze.

So, it seems she wants to be the only one to call me ‘sister.’

Glancing at Dusik, he was biting his lip tightly.

What Sohee said isn’t exactly wrong.

But, I make the rules here.

I reached out and grabbed Dusik’s shoulder, pulling him towards me.

Dusik’s body was pulled in without resistance.

I hugged him tightly, putting strength into the hand on his shoulder.

And my gaze fixed on Sohee.

“My lieutenant can call me whatever I decide. ‘Sister’ is fine. I prefer it that way. Sohee, don’t cross the line.”

My words seemed to hit home as Sohee flinched.

“If it’s sister’s will, I will obey. This girl has overstepped.”

Sohee backed off without another word.

Still, I feel a bit uneasy…

*

The 8th floor has three rooms. The innermost and largest room is used by me, Kabe, and Keru, one by Dusik, and one is empty.

I was planning to have Sohee share the space with Dusik, but after seeing them confront each other in the elevator, I thought it might be too soon.

After making sure Kabe was handed over to Dusik and he went to his room, I opened the front door.

“Come in.”

“Sister… your scent…”

“Stop saying weird things and come in.”

I entered and released my transformation.

A plain pair of jeans and a thick hoodie were revealed.

“Sit anywhere comfortable.”

I opened the fridge and took out a can of beer.

I also grabbed a bag of leftover dried squid from a few days ago and opened it, popping the beer can.

“Want a drink?”

“My apologies, sister. I cannot drink alcohol.”

“Alright. What else do you want to drink?”

“Anything is fine…”

“Hmm.”

Then, how about cola?

I took a can of cola from the fridge and placed it in front of Sohee.

“So, Dan Sohee… right?”

“That is correct.”

“Close combat type… how’s your combat power?”

“Do you mean combat power in the Great Light Realm?”

“Yeah.”

“Against a Heavenly Flower level, it would be difficult… but against an Earth Flower level, I can guarantee victory against one, hold my own against two, struggle against three, and be certain to lose against four.”

Heavenly Flower level, Earth Flower level? What’s that?

“You… were you last in the Mogmog Group…”

No, wait.

Assuming she hasn’t been summoned in this era.

She didn’t use the term ‘Magical Girl’ when talking about combat power, and the ranking system seems different from the current terminology.

Then she probably wasn’t part of the Mogmog Group, so she wouldn’t know.

“Sohee, when were you last summoned in this world?”

“I don’t know the exact year… but it was when this land was called Joseon.”

Wow.

That’s way too far in the past.

Wait, then she might know about historical events.

“How can you remember such things? Sister, you’re teasing me.”

Well, that’s how it goes.

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