On the top floor of the Yeomyeong Guild building, Han Yeoreum was standing with her hands clasped behind her back, looking down at the floor.
This was due to the middle-aged man who was glaring at her with fierce eyes.
"So, our people neglected an eight-year-old child to the brink of death?"
"Yes..."
Kang Jinho, known as the living legend of the Hunter community in South Korea, was the one speaking.
Just facing him made Han Yeoreum's heart shrink.
"Why did they do such a thing?"
His voice was cold, like that of someone interrogating a criminal.
Despite knowing it was all her fault, Yeoreum struggled to make an excuse under the unbearable pressure.
"It's, it's because the child had no mana at all.""Mana?"
"Yes. Maybe because of the side effects, the child appeared too mature. She was almost as tall as me and disguised as a boy..."
Kang Jinho scanned Han Yeoreum from head to toe.
She must be at least in the mid-160s.
Certainly, it was hard to see her as an eight-year-old child, but convincing Kang Jinho was another matter.
"So, they thought she was an adult and left her to nearly die?"
"No, no! That's not what I meant!"
Yeoreum hastily waved her hands, unable to figure out how to defend herself in this twisted situation.
"Then what?"
"Well..."
Yeoreum took a deep breath, trying to calm down and explain everything from the beginning.
"I never knew someone could be so frail that they could die from being pricked by a horned rabbit."
"…Since she had no mana, her skin must have been softer than jelly."
If she truly had no mana, that is.
Even though Kang Jinho was skeptical, he only said it inwardly.
All the guild members consistently stated the child had no mana.
"Yes. And it might sound like an excuse, but at first, we did help her a lot. We taught her how to hunt monsters and even rescued her from chases..."
"But you let her be because there was no progress?"
"Yes... We were a bit tired of it."
"Hmm..."
Tap-
Tap-
Kang Jinho tapped on the desk.
An adult man who couldn't even properly catch a single horned rabbit despite being taught and helped, lacking talent as an adventurer but still coming to the hunting grounds for years seeking help.
It was a situation where anyone less than a saint would inevitably feel annoyed.
'It must've been like torture.'
So, that torturer was actually a child?
A child abandoned by her parents due to lack of mana, struggling to survive.
Although it was ultimately the guild's fault, it was hard to blame Yeoreum due to a series of misunderstandings.
"You should have helped her when she was being chased."
"I'm sorry. We just thought it was a ridiculous situation..."
"Well, it is..."
The thought of an adult man being scared and running away from a horned rabbit.
If Kang Jinho hadn't known the true identity of the child, he might have just watched from afar too.
In the end, he would have helped, but...
'She was running for her life.'
Despite the misunderstanding, the guild had ignored and neglected such a child—a fragile child fleeing for her life from monsters.
Even the cold-hearted Kang Jinho felt suffocated by the situation.
"There wasn't anyone in the guild who physically harmed the child, right?"
"No. There were some who verbally abused her, but no one physically assaulted her."
"Thankfully, that's one less worry."
Tsk.
Yeoreum shivered as Kang Jinho clicked his tongue.
"But other adventurers might have hit and bullied her..."
"You didn't stop them?"
"We did when we saw it, but we couldn't always be around her..."
She must have suffered a lot where they couldn't see.
Yeoreum bit her lip, feeling guilty.
"Alright, I understand. I'll overlook the unauthorized use of the blessing. Just make sure to take good care of the child with the guild's resources."
"Yes..."
Bow-
Yeoreum bowed deeply towards Kang Jinho, her heart heavy with turmoil.
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"Um..."
The burly man was approaching me, his presence overwhelming me entirely.
"P-please go..."
What was he planning to do, approaching so slowly like that?
Instinctively, I clutched my tail with both hands.
"No, I, I wanted to apologize."
"Really...?"
Apologize, now of all times?
I was so startled that my eyes widened in surprise.
"Last time, I said some harsh words. I'm really sorry. I want to sincerely apologize."
The man bent down towards me.
I knew his apology wasn't sincere, but I couldn't guess his motive.
"Okay, I got it. But please leave me alone..."
"Ah, okay."
Just as I thought the man would do something, he bowed his head and then walked away into the distance.
His baffling behavior left me tilting my head in confusion.
"What's that about?"
A new form of harassment?
Or was he acting on the girl's orders to observe my reaction?
I didn't know, but I had no intention of playing into his hands.
'Playing with people like that.'
Such a cruel organization.
As I harbored these thoughts, a familiar woman appeared around the corner, holding more than ten shopping bags in her hand.
"Gyeoul, did I make you wait too long?"
"No... I just waited a bit..."
"Really? That's good."
The girl approached me quickly and showed me the shopping bags she was holding.
The clothes inside didn't look as worn as I had imagined.
There seemed to be quite a lot of clothes, though.
I had only planned to buy two sets each of tops and bottoms.
The larger-than-expected number of clothes was overwhelming.
"Um, how many pieces are these...?"
"These? About fifty pieces, I guess?"
"Eh..."
At a thousand won each, fifty pieces would cost fifty thousand won.
The amount was burdensome, but I knew this was a forced sale.
They would try to squeeze every penny out of me no matter what.
Fifty thousand won was a lot, but I decided to just buy them.
After all, I had a fortune of three million won.
"Gyeoul, isn't this pretty? It even has lace on it."
Ugh.
There were clothes with lace as well.
Knowing my situation, she deliberately packed impractical clothes.
Typical witch-like thinking.
"Um, but I'm too weak to carry all this."
"Don't worry. I'll carry it for you. That's okay, right?"
"Yes..."
Using a high level adventurer as a delivery person for just fifty thousand won.
This was worth the money spent.
'Hmph.'
How about that.
Not such an easy target, am I?
I looked up at her triumphantly and then grabbed one of the shopping bags.
Before wearing the clothes, I planned to adjust them to fit my body.
"I'll just step outside for a moment!"
"Ah! I'll come with you!"
She followed me as I dashed out of the building, all the way to the garden in front of the building, where trees, flowers, grass, and soil were.
"What are you going to do outside?"
"I'm going to adjust the clothes."
"Clothes?"
Ignoring the girl's puzzled look, I took out a garment from the shopping bag.
It was a character T-shirt with a white cat drawn on it.
I placed the shirt on the garden bed and scrubbed it as if washing clothes.
It was a pity to dirty the pristine shirt, but it was necessary for my survival.
"Gye, Gyeoul?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing...?"
"Adjusting the clothes?"
Scrub scrub scrub-
As I rubbed the shirt on the garden bed, the pure white cat started to turn a dirt color.
Green stains from the grass appeared here and there.
It wasn't enough, but since it was a clean shirt I had just gotten, I was satisfied with this level of modification and reached for the next one.
"Wa, wait a minute, Gyeoul!"
"Yes?"
"Do you really need to dirty the clothes?"
Need to dirty them?
Doesn't a seasoned adventurer understand such simple logic?
I thought it was pathetic, but I decided to explain it for her benefit.
"It's for camouflage."
"Camouflage...?"
"Yes. It needs to blend with the natural colors, so animals and monsters don't easily notice you. I also use grass and soil to mask the scent."
I sniffed the newly taken-out clothes.
The artificial scent of detergent was fragrant, but it was definitely not something to wear in the woods.
The sweet scent would attract creatures like wild boars.
Just the thought made my skin crawl.
"Shouldn't you have a few everyday clothes, though? For days when you're resting?"
"Everyday clothes?"
"Yes. It would be nice to wear clean clothes on your days off, right?"
Days off?
When was the last time I had a day off?
I tried to recall, but couldn't think of any specific day.
"I don't have days off."
"No days off...?"
"Yes. If I rest today, tomorrow will be harder."
Was my answer strange?
The girl's face turned pale.
As white as the cat T-shirt before it got dirty.
"What about, like, breaks...?"
"Well... I do have breaks."
"Ah! You do?!"
The girl showed sudden joy.
Was she excited about what she could do to harass me during my break time?
Sadly for her, things wouldn't go as she expected.
"Once a month, maybe."
"On, once a month?"
Disappointed by the length of my rest periods, her mouth hung open.
"I ate a hamburger earlier. That was my break time."
"Uh... That wasn't a break, more like breakfast, wasn't it...?"
"Yes. Right, but usually I finish eating in under five minutes and then go right back to work. But today, the burger was so delicious that I savored it for an hour."
The burger was indeed delicious.
If I worked hard enough, maybe one day I'd get to eat it again.
Yum.
I wanted more.
As I recalled the taste of the hamburger and crouched down to adjust the clothes, the girl suddenly muttered to herself.
"What a world."
Was she disappointed because she couldn't harass me during my break time?
I silently scoffed at her in my mind.
Puhaha.
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