The next day, a post arrived at the house and inside were 30 cheap foldable umbrellas. Gyeoul took five of them and tied a pretty knot with a ribbon.
“…Bye bye.”
Yu Jitae waved back.
He would be slightly busier today since the Vintage Clock had alerted him of the appearance of the second hostility.
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] warns of the coming of the [Second Night].>
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] states that it will likely consist of approximately 30 monsters and a boss.>
Unlike before, the clock’s analysis of the ‘Great Hostility’ reached 20%, thanks to which it was able to notice it 15 days before the arrival.
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] estimates the attribute of the boss to be [Augmentation].>
Besides, the images in his mind became clearer after hitting 20%.
The structure of the Second Night appeared in front of his eyes. A large and bizarre cluster of muscle repeatedly contracted and relaxed whilst giving off a disgusting aura.
In a world without Yu Jitae, this would have been a fairly big threat but it wouldn’t be that dangerous since this world had a regressor who was living through his 7th iteration.
However, he couldn’t be too relaxed because the [Hostility] of the far-off dimension can control the reality itself of the 7th iteration.
The key question here was the principle behind its control over reality. It takes such a long time for the [Great Hostility] to arrive and yet Ha Saetbyul and Wei Yan had been under its manipulation from the start.
Have you found out the principle yet?
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] states that it is still unclear.>
<The Authority, [Vintage Clock (EX)] notifies that an instant control over reality cannot result in a large effect.>
The Vintage Clock was right.
Wei Yan, 30-man special force squad, Ha Saetbyul.
After controlling the reality up to that point, the [Hostility on the other side of the Horizon] seemingly noticed how those couldn’t impact Yu Jitae that much. It is estimated that the Hostility has not even given it another try afterwards.
And the analysis on Hostility?
<[Hostility]’s Trace Fragments gathered: 42.1%…>
5% of fragments had been gathered from the First Night and Kyalkaophe whom Clone 1 had smashed into pieces. For now this seemed to be the limit.
In any case, Yu Jitae alerted Clone 1 of the same information and also decided to head to the Association for some affairs. This enemy in particular required a more careful approach because the boss had the attribute [Augmentation].
In the past, the Tower of Mages had picked 3 most difficult attributes to encounter. Those were none other than augmentation, immortality and creativity.
Creativity was the reason why the human-type chimera who had been acting like BM’s son was dangerous – they developed endlessly, contemplated and grew in unimaginable directions.
Immortality referred to undying beings.
But in truth, ‘undying beings’ were impossible to exist. Even Yu Jitae would definitely die one day and that was simply what Providence was.
Therefore, a being not dying when it is supposed to has incredible and complex reasons behind it. No matter how weak a monster was, it was deemed like a time bomb if it was an undying being that could be hiding inconceivable truths. So when a specific target was confirmed to be of the immortal attribute, the Association’s ‘Immortal Monster Disposal Squad’ had to depart.
In fact, the leader of this squad was the old man that was crushed by Yu Jitae, the King of Mercenaries Christoff, one of the 5 transcendents of Chaliovan.
And lastly, augmentation.
This was an extreme headache to deal with.
Augmentation referred to the borrowing of someone else’s power to increase their own. In the history of the world’s Providence, there was a time for something to appear as well as a definite time for something to disappear. Like the warring race [Karl-Gullakwa] that had reigned supreme over the distant dimension, [Ancient Forest] – beings that were too dangerous and had to be vanished.
Augmentation allowed one to borrow the powers of such ancient beings. Let alone their danger, they were known to manipulate unfamiliar and bizarre abilities.
Clone 1 would probably not lose.
However, there cannot be a sliver of uncertainty in protecting humanity.
Thus, Yu Jitae stepped into the Association for the first time in a long time.
It was then.
Uuuunng…
His watch rang – it was a call from Lair Public Elementary School.
“Hello.”
– Hello. Is this the guardian of Yu Gyeoul?
“Yes. Yu Jitae speaking.”
– Right. I’m the homeroom teacher of Gyeoul, Hikigaya Kanako. It’s just that I heard how Gyeoul had brought umbrellas to school and was privately selling it to her school friends. I would like to consult with you regarding this problem. Would you be okay with coming to the school for a short meeting?
“…”
She was caught red-handed it seemed.
Yu Jitae turned his feet.
*
He had a meeting with Gyeoul’s homeroom teacher.
To the question, why was a child selling umbrellas, Yu Jitae couldn’t really think of anything to say. “Maybe she just wanted to,” was all he could think of but he received a warning that any conduct for private benefit inside school premises was not allowed.
The meeting was held in the staff room. It was in fact the deputy principal nearby that was sweating and becoming nervous from each and every word of the teacher. The name of Yu household was quite famous in Lair but this young Japanese teacher was very passionate.
Yu Jitae decided to agree. The teacher wasn’t saying anything wrong and it was Gyeoul’s fault for conducting a business without approval. Yu Jitae apologised and Gyeoul also lowered her head.
On the way back to the dormitory hand in hand with Gyeoul,
“How many did you sell.”
Yu Jitae asked.
“…Five.”
“You have 25 left then.”
“…Should I refund them?”
“If you want to.”
Although it might be a shameful and wrong method as a businessperson, Yu Jitae wasn’t a guardian leading the child down the ‘moral and correct path’. His opinion was that it would be fine as long as Gyeoul was happy even if she happened to be selfish. Besides, businessmen that did bad things tended to succeed more often, proven by history.
However, after returning to their house she realised that the umbrellas could not be refunded. It was because she had bought them in a pile of 30, and yet 5 were missing.
“…Why, is this happening to me?”
Placing both of her hands on her cap, Gyeoul complained about her life. “…Huiing!” In the end, she was forced to keep 25 umbrellas as unsold stocks.
That was just what a business was like.
He looked at Gyeoul staring at a pile of umbrellas heaving constant sighs with an amused gaze.
Should I tease her a little.
“Gyeoul.”
“…Yes?”
“You have 12 days left to pay your money back.”
“…Aht.”
The debtor’s expression darkened.
“You’ll pay me back right?”
“…Yes.”
“Don’t be late.”
“…”
Gyeoul asked with a worried expression.
“…What if I’m late?”
“Huh?”
“…What will you do, if I’m late?”
“Hmm.”
Let’s see, what should I do.
Yu Jitae thought to himself before deciding to tease her a bit more. What did Gyeoul dislike? It was the protector.
“You will have to wear a helmet until you pay everything back.”
“…Helmet?”
“That thing.”
He pointed at the head of the protector who was watching TV in the living room. After suddenly being pointed at, the protector’s eyes became little dots as it stared at the two of them in puzzlement.
Gyeoul’s expression turned serious. Wearing a bizarre helmet like that?
“…Isn’t it heavy?”
“Still.”
“…Isn’t it ugly?”
“Then should you be wearing something pretty? It’s for your punishment.”
“…”
“By ugly, you mean me? Young lady, even though I look like this, I was fairly popular among the living armo–” the protector tried to speak for itself.
“…You be quiet, ahjussi.”
“…”
“…I will pay it back.”
With a serious look on her face, Gyeoul wrote something down on a piece of cardboard with a marker before leaving the dormitory. However, she didn’t sell anything until night. She appeared sincerely sad when she returned so Yu Jitae decided to stop teasing her.
“Let’s go together.”
“…Nn?”
He stopped acting like a creditor.
Holding the child’s hand, the guardian walked outside with a bag full of the umbrellas. Dazedly, Gyeoul walked outside and began walking through the rain.
The place he headed to was Colosseo Lair. The rain had begun falling around 2 days ago and today was the day that cadets who had entered a 3-day training session would leave.
Carrying the piece of cardboard, Yu Jitae and Gyeoul sold umbrellas to the cadets.
[Foldable Umbrella $2]
“…Will it sell?”
Gyeoul, who couldn’t sell a single umbrella by herself for the past few hours, doubtfully asked him.
“Who knows.”
He wasn’t certain either. Even in his repeating iterations, he had never sold umbrellas at Lair.
“But you will be wearing a helmet if they don’t sell.”
“…Huingg. I dun want to.”
Around the time when the cadets came flooding out of the centre after their training, cadets without their guardians waiting or those that had been planning to play by themselves were met with the sudden downpour. They then spotted Yu Jitae and Gyeoul who were selling umbrellas near them.
“Ahjussi. Three of these please.”
“…Uh, uh. 6 dollars please.”
“Ahh. Yeah, right. Where do you want the money?”
“…To me please.”
One of the cadets handed her a note. Gyeoul widened her eyes in response.
“Oh my. She’s seriously so cute…”
“You’re right. She really is…”
Gyeoul opened her mouth after receiving compliments from the cadets.
“…We dun take refunds.”
The cadets burst into laughter.
Their first transaction was a success. Gyeoul waved the note in front of Yu Jitae.
“You did well.”
“…You did well too.”
“Thanks.”
The cadets did not recognise Yu Jitae since he had pulled his cap all the way down. Sometimes when a staff member of Colosseo Lair walked up to regulate the unauthorised selling of goods, Yu Jitae raised his cap and showed his face. “Aht… hello sir…?” said the staff members with an awkward smile after recognising his face, and they quickly walked away.
The stocks that had been unsold for a few hours began to sell rapidly, to the point that Gyeoul struggled to keep up with the speed while giving them the change. Since it was also raining, she was in an extremely good mood and the smile hanging on her lips refused to leave.
“Do you like earning money that much?”
“…Yes.”
“Why.”
“…It’s a secret.”
Kuhihi… Excited, Gyeoul grabbed onto his pants and bumped her forehead constantly on his thigh. It was something she did very often these days to people she was close to.
More than 20 umbrellas were sold in an instant leaving only one umbrella to Yu Jitae and Gyeoul. However, the cadets that had been participating in the group training had already left. The gates of Colosseo Lair closed and it was only Yu Jitae and Gyeoul standing under the dark rain.
“Should we go back now?”
“…No?”
“Why. We sold almost all of them. It’s late as well.”
“…Nnnn.”
Gyeoul shook her head.
“…I want to sell everything.”
“Can’t we do it tomorrow? There’s no-one here.”
“…Don’t want to.”
“Why.”
“…It’s not perfect.”
Dragons were all relatively stubborn and Gyeoul too was a dragon.
The two of them were both carrying their own umbrellas already. Yu Jitae pondered what to do, before breaking the umbrella he was using and throwing it into a bin.
“…?”
Yu Jitae was suddenly without an umbrella, open to the rain. Surprised, Gyeoul reached her arms up and tried to cover him with her umbrella but her arms were too short. In a fluster, she floated into the air and covered his head.
Although he was already wet, Yu Jitae opened his wallet with an indifferent expression and asked.
“How much is it.”
“…Nn?”
“Can I buy one.”
“…!”
His expression was the same as always. A colloquial way to describe it would be that he appeared expressionless as heck.
Thus, Gyeoul in a fluster wondered if he became mad because of her stubbornness and quickly gave him the remaining stock of umbrella. Seeing that, Yu Jitae pondered about what had surprised the child before showing her a faint smile.
He then put 2 dollars into the child’s pocket.
“Thank you.”
Only then did Gyeoul understand what he was doing and a bright smile appeared on her face.
“…Thank you.”
Then, she also folded her umbrella with a wide smile and threw it inside the bin. “What are you doing,” he asked and she replied, “…There’s no, umbrella now.” It was rare for Gyeoul to show such an innocent and childish smile.
On the way back, Yu Jitae had to lift her up and place her on his elbow. The two of them had to be closer than usual because the foldable umbrella was very small.
Making their way through the rain, they returned to the dormitory.
Shaa…
Yu Jitae didn’t like the rain.
Shaaaa….
But today, the sound of raindrops didn’t sound all that bad.