Chapter 53

Early in the morning, Jungwoo woke up and scurried over to her neighbor Elsee’s house, her close older brother.

She had remembered a fun game she thought of the day before.

Even though Elsee hadn’t been spending much time with her lately, she was sure he’d light up and beg to play if he heard about her new idea.

Imagining Elsee grabbing her skirt and pleading to play, Jungwoo giggled to herself.

“Elsee oppa, let’s play~.”

“No. I have to go to school.”

“Chee~. Meanie. You always go to school and have fun.”

“That’s not it!”

Elsee unintentionally raised his voice at Jungwoo’s words.

It wasn’t like Elsee wanted to go to school.

Sure, playing with friends at school was fun, but like most boys his age, class time was just boring and painful.

And here Jungwoo was, casually talking as if he was going to school to have fun.

But soon, Jungwoo, hit by Elsee’s genuine irritation, opened her eyes wide like a bird struck by a slingshot and burst into tears.

“….Sniff……. Sniff! Waaah! Elsee oppa got mad at me!”

“No……. That’s not it…….”

Once Jungwoo started crying, all the sadness from Elsee not playing with her came flooding back, and she began wailing loudly in front of his house.

Elsee hadn’t expected his little irritation to make her cry so pitifully.

He was flustered, not knowing what to do.

In the end, Elsee chose to flee.

“Ah! I’m going to be late for school! Sorry, Jungwoo. I’ll play with you a lot after school!”

With that, Elsee ran off, and Jungwoo cried pitifully in front of his house for a while.

—

“See……. Elsee oppa. He wasn’t like this before. It’s all because of school…….”

Jungwoo, still crying with red eyes, muttered as she trudged along.

What’s so great about studying, multiplication tables, or whatever?

Something more important than playing with her? He wasn’t like this before.

It was all because of that place called school he entered last year.

To little Jungwoo, school seemed like a monster that stole Elsee oppa from her.

A very mean monster at that.

Normally, Jungwoo would have sulked and gone home, but today, for some reason, she didn’t feel like going back.

Even if she went home, her dad had left for work, so she’d just be sitting around bored.

Maybe it’d be better to go to the bustling market and cheer herself up.

Her dad had warned her not to go to the market alone, saying there were scary monsters that ate children, but today, Jungwoo felt like being a little bad and not listening. She convinced herself nothing would happen and headed to the market.

—

The market, which she had sneaked into alone, was full of fascinating things.

Jungwoo soon forgot her earlier frustration and wandered around, curious about everything.

“Wow~. So cool! What’s this?”

Jungwoo pointed at a nine-tailed lizard, her eyes sparkling.

The lizard swallowed a bug the merchant gave it and stood still, pretending nothing had happened, which was quite funny.

But the merchant didn’t answer her question. Instead, he smiled kindly and said,

“Oh dear. Little girl, why are you here alone? Where’s your dad?”

“I came alone today! I’m all grown up now!”

“Such a brave little girl.”

“Right? Heehee.”

Jungwoo not only chatted with the merchant but also imagined the taste of the delicious-looking fruits at the fruit store and sniffed the air outside a high-end restaurant she’d never been in.

There were merchants selling strange animals, shops with tasty food, and even stores with tools she couldn’t guess the use of.

Most were humans, but here and there were a cat-eared lady, a dwarf uncle with arms like a bull, and even a lizard-like man she’d seen at the merchant’s stall earlier.

It was a diverse crowd, not something you’d see in the mostly human residential areas.

Jungwoo wandered around the market, losing track of time.

—

“Hehehe. That was fun. Dad said the market was dangerous alone, but it wasn’t scary at all.”

Having bravely completed her adventure, Jungwoo headed home, feeling like she’d had a fulfilling day.

The sun moving overhead meant it was almost lunchtime, which meant it was time to go home and eat.

“What kind of dishes do they serve at that fancy restaurant in the bustling area? It must be something amazing, beyond my imagination.”

Maybe it was the honey-preserved fruits her dad saved for special occasions, piled high on a plate.

As Jungwoo thought this, she suddenly felt something strange and cautiously looked back.

What she saw was the usual market scene.

Mostly humans, with the occasional bull-horned man, a lady with white wings singing beautifully, a fairy brother clapping excitedly, and the lizard-like man.

Wait, the lizard man?

Hadn’t she seen him earlier?

Realizing this, Jungwoo felt her brave adventurous spirit shrink rapidly.

And creeping into her heart was the story her dad had told her about monsters that ate children.

Jungwoo suddenly remembered the lizard at the merchant’s stall, swallowing a bug and pretending nothing happened.

“Ehehe……. Must be my imagination.”

But Jungwoo shook her head and continued walking home.

Her steps were oddly faster than usual, but still leisurely compared to an adult’s pace.

After walking for a while, Jungwoo sneakily looked back again.

What she saw was the lizard man, still following her even though she’d left the market.

The lizard man pretended not to notice her, but to little Jungwoo, it looked like he was licking his lips, ready to eat her.

“Eek…!”

Seeing this, Jungwoo forgot her earlier frustration with Elsee and the excitement of exploring the market. Tears welled up as she ran away.

Thud thud.

How long had she been running?

When she finally came to her senses, Jungwoo realized she had strayed from the path home and was wandering a deserted alley.

The unfamiliar path was scary, but what terrified Jungwoo the most was the lizard monster her dad had warned her about.

Of course, it was just a lie her dad made up to keep her from wandering outside, and he’d never said the monster was a Lizardman. But in Jungwoo’s mind, the child-eating monster now looked like Kurt.

Taking a deep breath, Jungwoo looked back.

But despite her desperate escape, the lizard man was still following her, maintaining the same distance.

Like a mirage in a desert, no matter how close or far, the lizard man kept circling Jungwoo.

As if waiting for her to collapse from exhaustion.

“Sniff……. Sniff……. Mommy…….”

Finally, Jungwoo couldn’t hold back and cried, calling for her mom who had passed away when she was even younger.

But perhaps heaven hadn’t abandoned her.

“Are you okay, little girl?”

“Sniff……. Huh?”

The one who reached out to her was the merchant she’d seen earlier at the market.

The man smiled kindly and extended his hand to Jungwoo.

Objectively, it was suspicious why the merchant, who should still be at the market during lunchtime, was in this remote alley. But little Jungwoo wasn’t insightful enough to question it.

Moreover, she was terrified by the Lizardman chasing her.

“Merchant uncle!”

“Oh dear. Yes, little girl. What’s wrong?”

“It’s…! Over there, there’s a monster that eats children…! Sniff…! Sob…!”

But Jungwoo couldn’t finish her sentence because the kind merchant suddenly changed his demeanor, covering her mouth and skillfully tying her limbs with a cloth.

“Hehehe. A monster that eats children? That’s me, little girl. Didn’t your mom teach you not to trust strangers?”

“Sniff…! Sob……!”

“Stay still. I don’t want to hurt my precious merchandise. Hehehe. Children are great. There’s a lot of demand for them.”

Jungwoo struggled desperately, but a child’s flailing was no match for an adult’s strength.

Eventually, as her limbs were completely bound, someone appeared before Jungwoo and the merchant.

“Huh?”

“I thought you were having a friendly chat, but I guess not.”

“What? Who are you?”

Blocking the merchant’s path was a human.

It was Kurt, who had stopped by the market to buy ingredients for his diet.

While shopping, he noticed a little girl wandering alone and, seeing a suspicious man following her, decided to keep an eye on them.

Though the man didn’t overtly show he was tracking her, Kurt, with his hunter’s experience, could tell he was following Jungwoo.

But just because he was following her didn’t necessarily mean he was bad.

He could be a worried father, or perhaps Jungwoo was from a wealthy family with a bodyguard.

Still, an adult following a child was unsettling, so Kurt quietly trailed the merchant.

Of course, Kurt didn’t hide himself, which is why Jungwoo got scared and ran away when she noticed him following the merchant.

That was the whole story.

And now, as soon as Jungwoo entered a deserted alley, the merchant revealed his true colors and tried to kidnap her.

“Hoo……. If I hadn’t seen this, it could’ve been a disaster.”

“What? If you don’t want to die, just leave.”

At Kurt’s words, the merchant pulled out a dagger and threatened him.

But instead of being scared, Kurt’s expression turned even more displeased, his eyes narrowing.

Perhaps realizing Kurt wasn’t going to back down, or maybe having already decided to kill once his crime was exposed, the merchant suddenly charged at Kurt with the dagger.

—