"You're back? How was ballet?"
"Today, I learned this!"
Geuru greeted him cutely, stood on her tiptoes, and showed him a plié (a ballet move where you bend your knees).
"Pliié—"
Jurim smiled as he watched Geuru straining and grunting with the effort, then kissed her on the cheek.
Geuru kissed Jurim's cheek in return, then suddenly looked around as if searching for something.
"Where is it?"
"Hm? What?"
"Daddy's fwiend!"
"……?"
Did I ever have something like that?
While Jurim was wondering,
"Geuru-chan!"
Kazuki emerged from the curtain, pulling up his pants as he called out to her cheerfully.
"……?!"
At the same time, Geuru's eyes, which had been brimming with anticipation, trembled violently.
"F-fwiiend……?"
Her face seemed to say, *My goodness, that thug?*
Geuru looked back and forth between Jurim, who was neatly dressed in a suit, and the tattooed man who was struggling to pull up his pants and fasten his zipper.
*How are those two fwiends?*
Her mouth fell open at the utterly mismatched pairing.
"No…… hold on a minute."
Meanwhile, a sense of urgency welled up in Jurim. He had to dispel this misunderstanding.
He couldn't remain as a friend to that thug of a pervert in his daughter's mind.
Jurim met Geuru's eyes and spoke gently.
"He's not a friend."
"Then……?"
"I mean……."
After agonizing over how to explain, Jurim soon reached a conclusion and spoke kindly.
"He's like a machine that makes Daddy's gloves."
"Gasp!"
So he wasn't even being treated like a person at all.
"Ahaha!"
Kazuki laughed as if he'd heard a hilarious prank, but Geuru knew exactly how serious Jurim was.
No matter how rose-tinted her glasses were, Daddy was too much…….
Geuru, deeply shocked by Jurim's personality, clung to his leg and said.
"……Be fwiends, you two. Hm?"
A thug friend was better than a glove-making machine.
"……."
Tch. Jurim clicked his tongue briefly at Geuru's face full of worry, regretting his needless words.
Had he been too honest?
Meanwhile, Kazuki alone had failed to read the atmosphere from the start and was laughing heartily by himself.
"Don't worry, Geuru-chan. We're fwiends."
"Reawwy, reawwy fwiends?"
"Yeah, fwiends."
Kazuki bared his sharp canines in a grin and threw an arm around Jurim's shoulder.
Jurim furrowed his brow but didn't brush him off.
Because Geuru looked a little relieved at the word "fwiends"…….
Kazuki bent down to meet her eyes and greeted the relieved Geuru.
"Cute Geuru-chan, I'm Uncle Kazuki. I missed you so much."
His words didn't seem to be a lie.
Because—
[Attachment index met. Guardian registration now available.]
The attachment index had been filled the moment they met, to the point where Guardian registration was possible immediately!
*So fast!*
Wasn't this the fastest among all Guardians?
Geuru was about to register him as a Guardian but asked with a puzzled face.
"Is Uncle an S-Rank too?"
That must be why Guardian registration was possible.
"Hm? That's right."
Kazuki giggled, seeming amused that the child didn't recognize him.
Geuru racked her brain.
*A Japanese S-Rank?*
No way.
"Amakusa Bikyeo?"
"Yeah, that's right! Uncle's name. It's not Bikyeo, it's Amakusa Kazuki."
"Gasp!"
"What does Geuru like? What should I make for you?"
When Kazuki raised his index finger and twirled it around, thread followed his movement, and a sparkling, beautifully gleaming lump of dough rose into the air.
That was…….
The very Amakusa who had constantly been set up in a Korea-Japan rivalry with her in the media was right in front of her eyes!
To think she'd meet Japan's treasure here like this.
As expected of Amakusa Bikyeo.
Could he have come to meet his fated rival, the Fake S?
*Hm.*
Geuru scanned Kazuki with wary eyes.
Although he was dressed in a suit, the tattoos etched into his neck and hands stood out, making him look dangerous in an entirely different way.
*He looks strong!*
Should Geuru put on her teddy bear suit to match him?
But she couldn't reveal her identity……!
Was she really going to have to let her country's business rival go so futilely, even though it was maddening?
When Geuru glared at Kazuki with an expression of utter injustice and sorrow, he rolled his eyes and signaled toward Jurim.
In response, Jurim shook his head as if to say he had no idea either.
*Huh.*
Were the two of them very close?
The fact that her father's only (probably) friend was Geuru's rival was truly a cause for lamentation.
*Ah!*
At that moment, a very wicked and sly idea to completely crush Kazuki flashed through Geuru's mind.
The hesitation of *Isn't this too evil?* lasted only a moment.
Geuru immediately sat down and knelt.
The two standing before her were startled and tried to lift her up, but Geuru placed both hands on her knees and shouted resolutely.
"Uncle! Please become Geuru's Master!"
"Master?"
Geuru pressed her lips into a straight line and nodded seriously.
Lowering her head slightly so the two stunned men couldn't see, she secretly curled up one corner of her mouth.
They must have been very surprised that Geuru, their rival, was asking to be taken as a disciple.
But *Zombie Hunter*, episode 19's subtitle: "Trojan Horse!"
It was the episode where the protagonist became the human hunter's disciple in order to defeat him.
*That's it.*
No matter how high his affection points were, Uncle Kazuki couldn't become a Guardian.
Because Uncle Kazuki was Geuru's rival!
Instead—
Like a Trojan Horse, Geuru would infiltrate under the Uncle's tutelage, pretending to be a harmless disciple!
After learning the know-how and raising her proficiency like that…….
*Uncle Kazuki. I'll thoroughly abandon you without even registering you as a Guardian.*
To think she'd have such wicked thoughts about an adult. Geuru shuddered.
*Geuru, you're so evil.*
But they say you sometimes have to dirty your hands to survive.
"Master!"
Geuru looked up at Kazuki plaintively.
"Masterrr?"
Jurim replied sarcastically, looking displeased.
"Mmm……?"
Kazuki squatted down with a troubled expression, meeting Geuru's eyes.
"Geuru-chan, you're an Awakener?"
Nod nod!
"You mean you want to train your skills?"
"Yeth!"
Aha, then……. He tilted his head as if thinking about something, then extended a large hand in front of Geuru.
"Geuru-chan, hand."
Hm? When she reflexively raised her hand like a puppy, Kazuki repeatedly muttered, "Small, cute," and lifted her hand.
And then.
Lick!
"Eek!"
Slurp!
Geuru let out a strange sound at the slick sensation of a tongue touching her palm.
Jurim sighed and grabbed Kazuki by the scruff of his neck, pulling him up.
"Are you trying to do something terrible to my daughter?"
"Ah, sorry, sorry. Geuru-chan, did I surprise you?"
Kazuki laughed awkwardly, haha, then continued with a slightly stern face.
"But you know, Uncle was even more surprised. Geuru-chan, you're an S-Rank?"
"Yeth…… huh?!"
Startled by the sudden question, Geuru clapped both hands over her mouth.
"Wha, how?"
Kazuki stuck out his tongue.
The tattoo etched into his tongue, the character 知, gleamed.
[Gustatory Interpretation (SS)]
Able to completely analyze anything licked with the tongue.
"I've never seen a skill like Geuru-chan's in my life. An L-Rank— isn't it the first since Yi Jo-sang?"
When Kazuki looked at Jurim as if seeking agreement, Geuru asked in surprise.
"Uncle. Have you licked that many things?"
At that, Kazuki smiled slightly and asked, hesitating a bit.
"Uh, um…… Can I say?"
"No."
Jurim cut him off.
But Geuru nodded as if she roughly understood. So he'd licked a lot.
*Like a big puppy.*
Come to think of it, she somehow felt like she could see a wagging tail behind Uncle Kazuki…….
Kazuki smiled at Geuru, who was looking around with wary eyes.
"Cute, Geuru-chan."
Hm? His smiling face resembled someone.
Who was it?
Geuru shook her head vigorously, about to fall into contemplation.
This was no time for that! Geuru placed both hands back on her knees with a plop.
"Uncle, please! Be Geuru's Master!"
"Hmm, Geuru-chan is an L-Rank, which is more amazing than Uncle, though……."
Kazuki shook off Jurim's hand, met Geuru's eyes again, and sat down.
"Alright."
"Ooh—"
As if to stop Geuru, who was about to shout, Kazuki tapped his cheek.
"If you give me a smooch right here."
"What?!"
The one who raised his voice in surprise was Jurim, and at the same time, the one who lunged forward was Geuru.
Smooch!
When she hugged his neck and kissed his cheek, Kazuki lifted Geuru into his arms.
"Great, from now on, Geuru-chan is Uncle's disciple!"
She did it! Geuru's face flushed red.
"Master!"
"Disciple!"
"Master!"
"Disciple!"
At the sight of the two S-Rank production-class individuals hugging each other and spinning around, Jurim rubbed his face in exasperation.
He simply couldn't understand why he was surrounded by people whose mental ages matched that of a five-year-old.