Gru felt his heart drop. The guild leader’s reaction was anything but ordinary. Though he did not know what had gone wrong, Gru was a quick-witted child when it came to sensing from the atmosphere whether he was about to be scolded.
Was he going to have to go to the police station?
Wee-woo, wee-woo.
Guilty! Bang, bang, bang.
Goodbye, twenty million won!
Watching a hallucination of an onion sprouting wings and flying away, Gru felt as though his soul were about to leave his body.
He had to somehow get through this situation. Fortunately, Gru had picked up some useful know-how during his years at the orphanage.
Gru opened Onion Market on his kids’ phone, went to My Page, and held it out to him with both hands.
“Here, Guild Leada. Gru give you all.”
Gru’s arms trembled as he offered up his entire fortune.
“Take dis. Gru can earn more again.”
Not understanding what on earth the child was saying, Jurim accepted the kids’ phone and checked the screen.
Twenty million won. It was quite a large sum for a kindergartener to possess. Though he had no idea why the boy was giving it to him.
“Is this bribery?”
Bribery? Bribe-sticks? Gru’s mouth fell open.
“Yeees.”
Gru simply agreed again. In fact, it was not too far from his original intention.
Jurim pressed a hand to his forehead again.
“If you give this to me, how are you going to make money afterward?”
“Gru look on Onion Market. Then join a guild and earn more…….”
“……What guild?”
“Any guild.”
Gru swiftly searched through the guild recruitment listings before selecting a guild with a cute name.
“Dis one?”
“…….”
Turnip Flower Garden. A newly established guild, supposedly created by two D-rank Hunters.
The fact that they had posted an advertisement on Onion Market made it obvious. They would do anything dangerous, as long as they were paid.
And sitting in front of him was an S-rank kindergartener who intended to walk straight into such a guild of his own accord. It was painfully clear that the little boy knew nothing about the ways of the world.
“Guild Leada, bathroom’s over dere.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“Yeees.”
Jurim, on the contrary, was having the experience of his mind turning completely blank.
After the silence continued for a while, Gru checked the time on his kids’ phone.
‘Ten o’clock!’
This was bad. Gru whimpered like a puppy, nervously watching Jurim’s expression.
“Gru has to go sleepy now…….”
“…….”
Of course. It was time for a kindergartener to go to bed. Jurim rubbed his face dryly and stood up.
“Go to sleep for now. We’ll talk about the rest tomorrow…….”
Jurim supported Gru under the arms and lifted him down from the desk.
“Yeees—”
Gru answered brightly and ran out of the storage room.
Jurim silently watched the child’s retreating back as he entered the main building. As soon as the child’s silhouette disappeared, he pulled out a cigarette.
“This is driving me insane.”
Under the circumstances, Gru’s criminal act was not really a major problem.
The issue was not whether to report him or not. The issue was what would become of this S-rank kindergartener who had neither parents nor family.
Korea would praise this young S-rank, and the child would surely be dragged into the interests and schemes of cunning adults and cruelly exploited.
The child clearly needed a guardian.
“Phew—”
He exhaled a plume of cigarette smoke.
But did that mean he had to shoulder such a heavy responsibility?
No.
Could he take the child in and raise him properly?
No.
Looking back, Jurim’s family history consisted of nothing but tragedy and failure. He did not know how to be a good family, nor could he become one.
‘There it is.’
He had a perfectly good excuse for not taking the child in.
Jurim crushed the cigarette butt beneath his shoe.
*
The next day.
A sports car from Company P came to a stop in front of the orphanage playground.
When a tall man dressed sharply in a suit stepped out, all the children playing in the yard turned to look at him.
The man removed his sunglasses and read the sign, illuminated by the morning sun, once more.
[Milal Orphanage]
He had come after all.
Though his fierce inner struggle was still ongoing.
With his long legs striding awkwardly, he avoided the main entrance and stood with his back against the wall.
‘Should I turn back now, before I do something I’ll regret?’
The child was quite pretty. Surely there was at least one kind guardian in Korea who wanted to take him in.
Otherwise, this would just be pointless meddling.
Jurim was searching his pockets for a cigarette, enduring his final bout of hesitation, when he heard arguing from beyond the wall.
“You’re like that because even your hair color is weird!”
Hair color? Jurim frowned, having a pretty good idea who they were talking about.
Gru stared blankly at the orphan who was picking a fight with him.
Go Yeongho, who had recently turned six, was scheduled to be adopted by the middle-aged couple who had visited some time ago.
On the day his adoption was finalized, Yeongho had secretly called Gru out at night, and Gru had followed him with small, eager steps.
Gru had been thrilled, thinking Yeongho might be offering him one of his toys. But before leaving, Yeongho had said there was something he wanted to tell him—and then confessed that he actually liked Gru.
He had asked Gru to date him and promised to come see him again, but when Gru immediately refused, saying he did not want to, Yeongho seemed to have been deeply offended. Ever since then, he had begun picking fights with Gru at every opportunity.
“No one’s going to take a weird kid like you, right?”
When Yeongho asked the other children, laughter burst out among them.
Everyone at the orphanage knew that Gru was being passed over in the adoption order because he was mixed-race. Yeongho had deliberately pointed that out.
Suddenly put on the defensive, Gru lowered his eyes and pouted.
Gru knew it too. Parents who came to see the children praised him for being pretty and well-behaved, but then told the director that they felt reluctant because the child was a little different.
It had happened several times, so Gru was no longer bothered by it.
“It’s okay if nobody takes Gru. Gru gonna find real Mommy and Daddy…….”
“What? You think somebody’s coming to take you?”
Laughter erupted from all around them again.
“He thinks his mommy’s going to come looking for him.”
“What an idiot.”
With the children’s laughter ringing in his ears, Gru felt his throat tighten.
He had never gotten along particularly well with the other children because his appearance was a little different, but this was the first time he had been bullied so relentlessly.
He was so angry and sad that tears began to fall, one after another.
If I just make an account, I can find Mommy and Daddy too.
Not wanting to let the children see him cry, Gru lowered his head and pressed his feet together.
Just then, a tear landed with a soft plop on the toe of his white sneaker.
Someone suddenly scooped him up into their arms.
“I’m the one taking Gru with me.”
Gru opened his eyes wide and looked at the man holding him. When their long, narrow eyes met, the man slightly furrowed his brow.
“Han Gru, are you crying again?”
“Guild Leada?”
Why was he here? More tears that had gathered at the corners of Gru’s eyes came tumbling down.
Jurim wiped the tears from Gru’s eyes with the back of his hand.
“Hic!”
Gru held his breath again.
Jurim muttered that he did not understand why the child kept holding his breath and patted him on the back.
“Hey! It’s Jurim!”
“Whoa! Is he for real? The real Jurim?”
“Why is Jurim here?”
Was that how children talked these days?
Having no immunity to children, he let out a hollow breath with a haggard expression.
At the sudden appearance of a celebrity, the children began gathering in a circle around him.
“What? Why is On Jurim here?”
“Jurim says he’s taking Gru with him.”
“No way, seriously?”
“Are you really taking Gru with you?”
Amid the whispers, a sharp-looking girl asked him.
Gru squeezed his eyes shut and clutched Jurim’s clothes tighter. Jurim patted his back as if to calm him.
“Yes.”
“Wooooow!”
Envious cries broke out among the children.
Yeongho stood there with his mouth hanging open as though his jaw were about to fall off.
Jurim looked down at Yeongho with a hum. So this was the one who had been bullying Gru.
He did not make a habit of bullying children…… Jurim let out a short sigh while continuing to pat Gru’s small back, which still did not seem to have calmed down. Even so, he ought to give the boy a warning.
Jurim tilted his head and met Yeongho’s eyes. Yeongho flinched, his face instantly turning into one that desperately wanted to run away.
“Name.”
“G-Go Yeongho…….”
“You’re the one who bullied Gru, aren’t you?”
“…….”
The child went pale and clamped his mouth shut.
Children were difficult. Thinking this indifferently, Jurim opened his skill window.
[The skill ‘Fear’ has been unlocked.]
It was a skill he had obtained after conquering the Druid’s Master.
Giving him just a little fright should be fine.