*
Inside an old bathroom under renovation.
Jurim shoved the two corpses—killed by having their brains torn apart—into the corner and turned his gaze toward the closed bathroom stall.
Two young presences.
He carefully opened the door so the children wouldn’t be startled.
Screech. The sound of old hinges sent ringing through his ears.
Jurim, having washed his face, let out a long sigh.
“This is something I couldn’t do twice.”
Jurim tapped his muffled ears as though he’d just emerged from deep water. It seemed his eardrums had burst; he had indeed overdone it. He leaned against the wall with his elbow and looked down at the child.
Geuru looked up at Jurim while hugging a boy she’d never seen before.
“That’s why I can’t do it twice. Got it?”
Tears welled up in her large eyes. Perhaps because a flood of emotions finally surged forth, Geuru’s face—having held up remarkably well until now—flushed bright red. Her tiny lips, like a chick’s, quivered.
“Guild Master….”
Smiling, Jurim picked Geuru up. Feeling the child’s slightly feverish temperature, it finally felt as though his heart was beating again. He closed his eyes, buried his nose in her small head, and took a deep breath. From the moment he’d truly realized the child was gone, he hadn’t known how to breathe. Jurim exhaled deeply, as though learning to breathe for the first time.
An unfamiliar sense of relief settled over his entire body like a feather.
It was worlds apart from the liberating feeling of having conquered a tower and stepped out. A slightly warmer warmth accompanied it.
*
Jurim, Geuru, and Uju sat side by side on the chairs at the Missing Children’s Shelter.
Because both Jurim and Uju were widely recognized, the people inside the shelter were frantically tapping away on their phones.
Feeling their furtive glances, Geuru grabbed a fistful of Jurim’s clothes. Her tension quickly subsided.
The relief of having an adult she could rely on.
She now thought she understood why the first quest had told her to make a guardian, and why it had told her to choose guardians. Adults who could cherish only her, protect only her. Because she realized it gave her a sense of security that couldn’t compare to when she lived at the orphanage.
Uju’s eyes darted around before she quietly whispered to Geuru.
“Is On Jurim—no, is Hunter On Jurim your guardian?”
“Uh-huh. Geuru was at the orphanage, then got adopted.”
“R-really?”
She had wanted to ask many other things, but when the words “orphanage” and “adopted” came out, Uju clamped her mouth shut.
Before long, a gaudily dressed woman burst through the door of the Missing Children’s Shelter.
“Seo Uju!”
Uju’s shoulders flinched at the sharp tone. As though afraid people would recognize Uju, the woman pulled a hat down low over the child’s face.
“Because of the trouble you caused, I can’t face your father.”
“Is this my fault?”
When Uju shot her a defiant glare, the woman let out a frustrated sigh and swept her hair back.
“You’re getting more ill-tempered by the day? This is why they say children shouldn’t enter society too early….”
“Ajumma. Looking after a child is the guardian’s responsibility.”
“Even in this situation, you’re going to call me Ajumma?”
She raised her voice, but clamped her mouth shut when gazes turned toward them. After checking her surroundings, she spoke quietly and quickly.
“Let’s go. We’ll talk at home.”
Uju stood up.
“Ajumma, give me my phone.”
Frowning, the woman took a phone out of her clutch. Uju took the phone and held it out to Geuru.
“Put in your number.”
“Ah, uh-huh.”
Geuru punched in the number. Then, as Uju took the phone back, Geuru grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear.
“You okay?”
Uju saved the number and replied brusquely.
“What?”
“No….”
Geuru glanced once at the woman’s face as she stared at the phone while waiting for Uju, then shook her head.
“I owe you for today. Since I got your number, I’ll pay you back.”
“No, I was going to anyway.”
“Dummy. I’m doing this because it’s easier for me. It’s not because I like you, so you don’t have to say no.”
Geuru giggled.
“Uju is pretty and nice.”
Uju scrunched up her face as if to say “not again.” Even so, her ears burned red. Uju chewed on her lip for a moment, then ran over to the woman waiting for her.
“Let’s go now.”
After hurrying the woman, Uju said coolly,
“I’m off. See you next time, pretty girl.”
“Uh-huh, bye-bye.”
Geuru waved her hand, and Jurim—caught off guard—coughed softly.
“Pretty girl?”
“…?”
Geuru looked up at him as if to ask what the problem was.
This only confused Jurim further. Hadn’t they met for the first time today? And yet “pretty girl”? What was that about?
Come to think of it, when he had first gone to the orphanage to pick up Geuru, a boy had been clinging to her pathetically.
‘Are all kids like this these days?’
He didn’t know who she was, but Uju was certainly much prettier than that orphanage kid. Still, the one who seemed to be her mother didn’t give a particularly good impression.
Just as his runaway train of thought barreled toward in-law conflicts, Jurim failed to compose his expression.
Agents entered the shelter. Behind them, an elderly woman appeared with a large entourage of agents in black suits.
Jurim gave her a short nod.
‘It’s the grandmother from before!’
The very same elderly woman whose eyes had met Geuru’s inside the exhibition hall when she tried to call for help.
She looked at Geuru and smiled benevolently.
“Child, so you’re Geuru. I’m Grandmother Nam Jiwon. I own this amusement park.”
The owner of the amusement park?! Geuru blankly opened her mouth, then hastily greeted her.
“Ah, hello!”
“You were truly impressive earlier. I heard you caught a pickpocket?”
It seemed she had seen the pickpocket frozen stiff, holding onto Geuru’s cart.
Geuru blushed and hung her head. Was this the right timing to show her Hunter License card?
Just then, the elderly woman continued.
“We’ve received much help from you. Thank you.”
“Huh? Ah! It wasn’t Geuru. The Guild Master found Geuru and Uju!”
As Geuru giggled and tugged on Jurim’s hand, the elderly woman shook her head.
“That child is nothing but a muscle-bound thug. You’re the one who helped me. The criminals who stole your watch were after me, you see.”
The rumor that she carried a USB on her person had been deliberately spread, and what was inside wasn’t the real will they wanted. But she had decided to keep that to herself.
Either way, it was a ploy to catch the other party’s tail, and it was true that the child had been a great help in that.
“Let’s stop with the difficult talk. I would like to give you a gift to express my gratitude.”
“Uumm….”
Is this okay? Actually, Geuru hadn’t really done much.
When Geuru hesitated at the excessive praise, she gently pinched the child’s soft cheek.
“Child, when an adult gives you something, you accept it gratefully without complaint.”
Huh! So that’s how it works!
Geuru received the box the elderly woman held out and hurriedly bowed her head.
“Thank you!”
Her eyes curving into crescents, she whispered into Geuru’s ear.
“Open it when you’re alone at home. It might make Jurim jealous, so what’s inside is a secret, alright?”
“Yes!”
A secret! Geuru quickly nodded her head.
Soon, she straightened her back and turned to Jurim.
“I’d heard you’d adopted a child, but I hadn’t realized she was so bright and pretty. You must be quite blessed.”
“Yes…. I, too, think I’ve always been rather lucky.”
“How shameless.”
She seemed not to dislike that side of him and smiled.
“Your father is doing well. I also heard about your adoption from your father. He was burning with impatience to see his granddaughter.”