This was bad.
This wasn't a fun prank, but rather a 'major disaster' that brought juvenile detention to mind all over again!
There was only one way out of this.
'…Let's turn it into the perfect crime.'
Cold sweat poured down in streams as Geuru's head spun round and round, desperate to hide the crime.
She would bribe everyone who knew and make it like it never happened.
Right now, Huiyeon was the only one who knew Geuru had cleared the dungeon without permission. Because they had entered the dungeon together.
If she approached Huiyeon… and bribed her with Geuru's transformation item…!
'But it's the only prototype in existence right now!'
It was just as Geuru was choking back tears at the thought of the transformation magic wand.
"How could they catch me when I didn't even leave a trace…"
Geuru suddenly lifted her gaze to Sereuhi, who was exhaling a mutter.
Hey? A criminal who avoided going to prison!
When Sereuhi first came to Hyeonak, Geuru had pressed her ear against the seminar room door to eavesdrop, so she knew a few things from back then.
That Sereuhi had brought a core capable of opening a dungeon and cut a deal for a reduced sentence.
And perhaps helping the Management Bureau now was an extension of that line of events.
Then?
If Geuru helped the Management Bureau by solving criminal cases.
=>
The Management Bureau would praise the valorous, supreme Geuru's great feats and overlook the crime Geuru committed.
Great…!
"N-no fun… Geuru wanth shomething elshe."
Geuru grabbed another document, sweating buckets.
She would secretly look through the documents like this and magnificently solve every case she could.
Snorting with enthusiasm, Geuru opened a document.
Inside a document stating that a person of interest had been confirmed entering Korea was a photo of a man talking to Japan's Mouse Prime Minister.
Geuru's eyes narrowed. She looked closely at the man, pulled back, then checked again.
His name was written beside it.
Reiji.
"…Gamja friend?"
Why was Potato friend here?
Beneath the name Reiji were densely written the incidents he had committed.
So many parts were blacked out that she couldn't read a single one properly.
'Such-and-such blacked-out incident, such-and-such blacked-out operation obstruction…'
She didn't know what they were, but it was obvious he had committed a whole lot of something.
To think even her friend was a great villain.
How cruel would the Management Bureau misunderstand Geuru to be?
Geuru shuddered, briefly recalling the scary Uncle Heungsam.
Then, her watch rang, and a message popped up.
[Dad: Where are you?]
[Dad: Dad's done with work]
[Dad: We're going to the mart, right?]
"Ah, right. We have to go to the mart."
Today, she was going to make dinner with Dad!
During the variety show filming, her master had said craftsmanship was important for production, and that cooking was good for getting the feel of production and raising dexterity.
Normally she would have gone grocery shopping and made dinner with her master, but because she had felt jealous of him, she had changed course and begged Dad to go with her instead.
"Geuru hath to go nyo… Gotta go to the mawt with Dad."
As Geuru drooped her shoulders and trudged out, Sereuhi asked in confusion.
"Why do you suddenly have no energy?"
Geuru opened the door halfway and spoke in a piteous tone.
"It'sh 'cause Geuru ish wowwying."
"Worrying? You?"
"Geuru wowwies too. 'Cause Geuru… hath to thell out Potato fwiend."
It was a bond transcending nationality and age, but before prison, even the size of bonds tended to change a little.
She had no choice but to survive, even if it meant selling out Potato friend…
Sereuhi closed her mouth for a moment. Seeing the child's expression as if she carried all the world's sorrows, she let out a hollow sigh.
It was my fault for asking.
"Go."
"U-ung…"
*
Though worries were piled up, one had to focus on the matter at hand first.
Geuru took Jurim's hand and headed straight for the mart.
Jurim spoke after parking the car in the mart lot.
"Wait a moment."
Before getting out of the car, Jurim put a bonnet-style character hat on Geuru and tied a ribbon under her chin.
Straps hung long on both sides of the hat, and if you pressed the ends, they squeaked and the ears flapped.
He had prepared it wondering if hiding her eye-catching hair color would make her stand out a little less, but—
Squeak!
As Geuru flapped the ears and blinked her big eyes looking up, Jurim burst into a small laugh.
She'd probably stand out even more because she's cuter.
"It can't be helped. I can't make something cute not cute."
Jurim pinched Geuru's soft cheek without hurting her.
Squeak, squeak!
Geuru giggled and kept flapping the ears, and perhaps because it was noisy, Mephisto, who had been sleeping inside the bag, woke up and flew wobbling over to sit on top of Geuru's hat.
After tidying up Geuru's appearance like that, Jurim checked his own reflection in the rearview mirror.
It would be hard to recognize him wearing a mask and hat.
For Jurim, being photographed was an everyday occurrence, but photos of the father-daughter pair with Geuru sold terrifyingly well, so the paparazzi chased them even more aggressively.
He got out of the car, took Geuru's hand, and approached the bustling mart entrance.
Where the carts were gathered, Geuru's eyes began to sparkle upon discovering a plastic cart with a car attached for children.
"Can Geuru wwide this?"
"Yeah."
Geuru slipped into the car cart and grabbed the steering wheel.
Jurim smiled back at Geuru, who stuck only her head out the window and grinned widely, and asked.
"What did you say you were going to make?"
"Whatchamacawwitt… U-ung… Eggs in Heww (a dish with eggs in spicy tomato sauce)!"
As Geuru carefully recited the name she found on her phone, Jurim frowned with a sour expression.
"…It's difficult from the name alone."
"Itsch fine."
"I don't think it'll be fine…"
Jurim muttered, pulling the cart, while Geuru spun the steering wheel vroom-vroom.
"Vwoom vwoom. Eggsth-"
Wondering if she held a grudge against eggs from filming the variety show, Jurim headed to the egg corner following the child's guidance, who wanted to eat yet another egg dish from hell.
Geuru hopped down and checked the eggs.
"Thiwty."
"Too many."
"I'm gonna eat a wot, though?"
"How much can you even eat?"
"Tenth! And Mephi eatsth tenth."
"Peep!"
Geuru put her hands on her hips as if asking what he thought.
Mephisto also raised his wing together and looked at Jurim.
"Have I been raising a pig, not a bird?"
"Peep?!"
Mephisto, who had uncannily realized he was being insulted, flapped his wings and protested violently, but Jurim was busy worrying about how many eggs to buy regardless.
Ding-a-ling—
"Ung?"
An old-looking bell made a clear sound before Geuru's eyes.
The bell floated before her eyes as if it were a drone.
"What is it?"
Just as Geuru's hand was about to touch the bell, once again—
Ding-a-ling—
A pretty sound rang out.
Geuru grabbed the bell right before her eyes.
'How is the bell floating by itself?'
Jurim didn't seem to react much, so it seemed like a sound only Geuru could hear.
Geuru held the bell and examined it this way and that.
There were curved letters that looked like Japanese written on the bell, and it had a knot with a red background and black stains.
Rather than a child's toy… it looked like a tool used by someone like a shaman.
It was then.
"Peeeeeep!"
"Muuuut!"
Mephisto and Beillakeu suddenly began to glow.
"Hng?"
As if wanting to say something, Mephisto and Beillakeu flapped their wings and waved their short limbs.
"Peep peep peep!"
"Mut mut mut!"
But she couldn't understand them at all.
Could it be because of the bell? That was the only thing she could think of.
Geuru hopped in place, holding Mephisto and Beillakeu.
Anyway, they both looked urgent, so she needed to hear them out. But she couldn't turn Beillakeu into child form here.
Even now people were glancing at Geuru and Dad; if a hamster turned into a person, the mart would surely be turned upside down.
"Dad, Geuru baffwoom!"
Having said that, Geuru ran into the bathroom.
After confirming Geuru had gone all the way into the bathroom, Jurim picked up the eggs and examined them this way and that.
King eggs, animal welfare eggs, whatever—they were the same number of eggs, yet the prices varied wildly.
Jurim let out a sigh.
He needed to know what he was doing.
Should he have come with the housekeeper?
The meal kit corner beside him caught the eye of the perplexed Jurim.
Should he secretly hide a meal kit in the cart?
Geuru would hate it, but then there'd be no chance of failure.
It was when Jurim, eventually holding a meal kit, was looking around in case Geuru might see him.
["This one looks fresher than that."]
A man who spoke thus said, picking up another meal kit and smiling broadly.
Jurim's brows furrowed as he recognized the man's face.