Yeongho suddenly felt the surroundings grow dark and eerie, and his body trembled.
As Yeongho stepped back and shook his head, Jurim smiled faintly.
“You should be honest, shouldn’t you?”
The child began to hiccup.
“Sorry, I’m sorry……. I’m sorry.”
When Yeongho looked terrified, as if he might burst into tears at any moment, Jurim immediately deactivated his Skill.
“Let’s get along with your friend.”
“Y-yes!”
Yeongho nodded repeatedly and approached hesitantly.
“Will you apologize?”
“Yeeees…….”
Jurim set Geuru down on the floor.
“Geuru, I’m sorry…….”
Geuru fidgeted with both hands and shook her head.
“……It’s okay.”
“……I was sad too when you cried.”
“Geuru too……. You said we should go out, but I tangled it up. Sorry.”
Had he asked her out? Surprised by the children’s early romance, Jurim looked back and forth between the two.
“No, I’m more sorry. Let’s get along from now on.”
“Uh-huh, sure.”
Geuru and Yeongho held hands and shook them up and down.
So sweet. Having watched the reconciliation, Jurim stroked Geuru’s head.
Just then, the orphanage teachers, having noticed a stranger’s arrival, came rushing over.
The teachers discovered the person who had come to the orphanage and couldn’t hide their astonishment. From their expressions, one could almost hear the question: *‘Is that the real On Jurim?’*
“Are you the caretaker? Pleased to meet you. I’m On Jurim.”
“Huh? Y-yes, that’s right. Hello, Guild Leader On Jurim. But what brings you all the way here……?”
There likely weren’t many people in the Republic of Korea who didn’t know Guild Leader On Jurim’s face.
He spoke with the splendid smile that only appeared occasionally during interviews.
“I’ve come to pick up my child.”
“Your child?! A child?”
The teacher’s gaze dropped downward.
When Jurim lightly tapped the top of the child’s head, Geuru blinked vacantly.
*
Geuru sat on the sofa in the director’s office, staring blankly at the director and the Guild Leader.
The bald director was a good person but tended to make a fuss, and the event of a celebrity’s visit seemed to have excited him to no end.
After taking photos of himself shaking hands with Jurim and smiling together while holding hands, he took time to introduce the autobiography he had written.
After that, he brought a large stack of A4 paper and received dozens of signatures before finally beginning to discuss the adoption procedures.
Having finished all the procedures, Jurim sat down next to Geuru looking more tired than usual.
“I intend to raise Geuru properly in Hyeonak.”
And when Jurim said this in front of the director, Geuru had to clamp her hands over her mouth to keep from squealing.
She had been half-convinced when he said he came to pick her up.
*He’s going to raise me in Hyeonak!*
It felt as if dozens of earthworms celebrating their birthdays were squirming around in her chest, wildly firing off celebratory cannons with a bang.
The director seemed equally bewildered by those words, stammering.
“S-so……. Geuru is……. an, an, Awakener, you say?”
“Yes. She hasn’t been registered with the Administration yet, but she is an Awakener.”
“Good heavens!”
The director smacked the armrest.
“Our Geuru has been such a pretty, outstanding child since she was no bigger than a fingernail, never crying and always smiling so brightly.”
A torrent of praise poured from the director, who was smiling ear to ear. Geuru secretly puffed up with pride and squared her shoulders.
*Please praise me more in front of the Guild Leader, Director.*
But without regard for Geuru’s feelings, Jurim immediately threw cold water on it.
“She’s not that extraordinary—just a little better than an ordinary person.”
Bam—!
How cruel!
“But still, an Awakener! Isn’t she the youngest? Wow~ Geuru! An Awakener in Hyeonak! How commendable, how splendid!”
*Hehe, right?* Geuru’s lips curved up again, and she smiled goofily.
The director doted on Geuru for quite a while, then pressed himself close to the Guild Leader again. Jurim subtly leaned back, but the director stubbornly clasped both of Jurim’s hands.
“Oh my, Guild Leader. To make such a difficult decision—you must be truly blessed. The country actively supports adoptions by socially prestigious individuals such as yourself, so please don’t worry about a thing. As long as you fill out and submit the paperwork properly, it’ll all~ be fine.”
The director earnestly told him to trust in him, but Jurim was instead having the startling experience of his faith withering away.
“I see,” Jurim said, subtly pulling his hand free and continuing.
“And there’s one more thing I’d like to ask, if possible.”
“Yes, yes, please say the word. Anything is possible.”
“Regarding Geuru’s residence, could she be moved to my house immediately tomorrow?”
“Huh? Tomorrow?”
“To be honest, I’m concerned because Geuru’s awakened state is still unstable.”
The director’s face turned deathly pale.
After all, he must have often seen on the news the casualties caused by unstable Awakeners running rampant.
The truth was that it was to prevent Han Geuru from being illegally traded on the black market, but…
Having lied with an innocent face, Jurim unconsciously checked Geuru’s expression.
“U-unstable…….”
Geuru was mumbling “unstable” with a pale face. She looked quite shocked.
Only after Jurim whispered helplessly that it was a lie did Geuru burst into giggles again.
“If Guild Leader On is personally watching over her, we can only be grateful……. Geuru, is it okay if you go with Guild Leader On right away?”
“Yeees!”
Geuru smiled brightly and took Jurim’s hand.
Geuru was in Hyeonak too! The thought of now living with the Guild Leader made her heart pound even faster.
With Geuru readily accepting, the director called somewhere to begin the emergency Awakener protection procedures to transfer Geuru’s residence to Jurim’s house.
At the same time, a status window appeared before Geuru’s eyes.
[Quest: A child needs a steadfast guardian.]
[Complete!]
A stamp shaped like a cat’s paw had been slammed down on the completed section with a bang!
Geuru opened her eyes wide and cupped her cheeks with both hands.
*A guardian appeared!*
*
It was that night when Geuru finally regained her composure.
She had been out of her mind all day answering the older girls, older boys, and friends who came to see her about Jurim.
Only after being pestered until just before lights-out did she lie down and finally organize her thoughts.
*The Guild Leader said he’s adopting Geuru. Then will the Guild Leader become my dad now?*
Thump-thump.
Family……. Her heart began to pound with nerves and excitement.
It was then.
“Geuru, Auntie has a baby in her tummy.”
In an instant, a memory from long ago sliced through her mind like a blade.
Her thumping heart hardened like a dry leaf.
The other children didn’t seem to know, but there had been exactly one time before when Geuru was adopted. It had lasted only three months.
“Our pretty Geuru. It would be so nice if you called me Mom.”
The middle-aged couple with gentle faces had showered the adopted Geuru with sweet love.
The tender voice telling her to call her Mom, the loving gaze, the gentle hands that embraced her.
She had been so happy that her whole body felt full to bursting, like a firmly inflated balloon, as if happiness would spill from the corners of her mouth whenever she smiled.
But that time hadn’t lasted even three months.
“Geuru, Auntie has a baby in her tummy.”
The day she greeted Mom returning from the hospital, Mom had said that to Geuru.
*You can’t call me Mom anymore.*
It was as if she was saying that.
And as if following a predetermined procedure, Geuru returned to the orphanage.
The couple had shed tears. They said they were afraid Geuru would feel alienated because of the new baby, and that they hoped she would find a family that could make her happier.
Geuru would have been fine even if a younger sibling was born. She had been confident that she could love the baby just as Mom had loved her.
Her vision blurred, and she rubbed her eyes with her sleeve.
*He’s not Dad……. He’s the Guild Leader.*
She now knew that an adopted child without a blood tie could be sent back to the orphanage at any time.
But what if it was a Guild Leader and a guild member? If he was only taking her because she was S-rank, then Geuru’s place would always be in Hyeonak.