Lair Expansion (2)

Lair Expansion (2)

 

Many things are needed to create a basement.

For example, installing support beams to prevent the ground from collapsing, creating ventilation fans for air circulation, and preparing in advance to prevent flooding from water leaks.

Ha-eun anticipated all sorts of difficulties, but she couldn’t give up on her dream.

She tried to dig down, but encountered an unexpectedly huge problem.

“Hey Ha-eun? Isn’t there a basement floor below?”

“…?”

The big problem was that she couldn’t dig underground from the start…!

I momentarily blanked out, blinking my eyes, then crouched down to look at the floor, lost in thought.

‘… Does this mean I can’t make a basement?’

Even trying to find a solution, nothing particular came to mind.

While I was shrinking back, faced with an insurmountable wall of reality, Han A-rin looked at me with a small smile and continued speaking.

“I’m just kidding. We can make it with magic.”

At the mention of magic, I felt a glimmer of hope and looked at Han A-rin.

Han A-rin explained the method to me.

“This lair was originally created using space expansion magic, right? We can apply that to the area below as well.”

Ah, so that’s how it can be done.

I nodded with sparkling eyes, and Han A-rin chuckled and said to me.

“I’ll prepare for that, so Ha-eun, you think about how you want to decorate the other areas.”

Thinking that was a good idea, I nodded and giggled.

*

If I were to decorate the entire lair to my taste from top to bottom, it would have a sense of unity.

But since I thought of the lair as a place where everyone could rest comfortably, I decided to incorporate the opinions of Chae-a, Yuna, and Seo-a when decorating.

‘It might not be a bad idea to divide it into sections and let each person decorate their own area as they see fit.’

As I was contemplating how to divide the areas…

Ha-eun carefully approached my side and grabbed my hand tightly while speaking.

“I want to bring the bear uncle.”

For Ha-eun to approach first and express what she wants, she must have really wanted the teddy bear.

Remembering how Ha-eun always tried to yield to me before, I nodded, deciding to step up for Ha-eun this time.

“Shall we go get it then?”

“Yes, please.”

How much money did I have saved up?

I decided to use the money I had earned by helping Seo-rin, Han A-rin, and others, and was about to head towards the convenience store.

Seo-rin hurriedly approached us and said.

“Where are you going?”

Ha-eun answered instead to that question.

“We’re going to bring the bear uncle.”

“Bear uncle? Oh, the big teddy bear?”

Seo-rin nodded upon hearing that and said.

“Then let’s take Chae-a and Seo-a too. Okay?”

At those words, Ha-eun and I nodded simultaneously and agreed to do so.

*

“Bear!”

“That’s right. It’s the bear uncle.”

Ha-eun stood behind me, holding Seo-a’s hand tightly.

Looking at the two of them, I spoke to Seo-rin while holding Chae-a’s hand.

“Is it close?”

“Yeah, let’s go!”

Seo-rin seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the idea of everyone moving together in a group, as she held onto my and Yuna’s hands with a very happy expression while moving forward.

As we approached the convenience store, the Spirit User Uncle who was eating ice cream looked at us with wide eyes.

“Oh, the little ones are here? Hey, do you want me to buy you some ice cream?”

The Spirit User Uncle, seemingly happy to see us, welcomed us while waving his chestnut-flavored ice cream.

At those words, Chae-a shouted “Ice cream!” and giggled.

Yuna’s ears and tail twitched as if she was very tempted, but she tried her best to hold back while looking back and forth between me and Seo-a.

‘Could it be that she’s holding back because she feels she needs to take care of me and Seo-a?’

While I was patting Yuna’s head, thinking how admirable she was in many ways.

Seo-a clung to me and mumbled “Myam-mya…” softly, as if she wanted to eat ice cream too.

Seeing this, I decided to buy them ice cream and was about to take out some money when the Spirit User Uncle waved his hand and said.

“Hey now, children shouldn’t spend money when adults are around.”

I wasn’t a child but an adult, so his words didn’t apply to me.

However, the Spirit User Uncle, seemingly intent on ignoring my opinion, took out his card and said.

“Choose whatever you want to eat, it’s my treat today!”

“Wooow! That’s amazing. Then can Chae-a eat candy too? It’s Chae-a’s lifelong wish…!”

As I mentioned before, Chae-a had a habit of using polite speech whenever she wanted something.

This time was no different, as she made her request using polite speech.

The Spirit User Uncle chuckled at her words and shouted “Eat as much as you want!”, showing off his adult flex.

Yuna, who was listening to those words, suddenly had her eyes sparkle.

She left me and Seo-a with Seo-rin and rushed off somewhere in a hurry.

Wondering where she went, I stared blankly, and then I saw Yuna hugging a large teddy bear.

Yuna buried her face in the bear while hugging it tightly, wagging her tail vigorously.

Then she looked at the Spirit User Uncle with sparkling eyes and pointed at it.

“I want the bear uncle.”

“Huh?”

“Can I have it?”

Hearing this, Seo-rin, who was nearby, was startled and quickly approached, saying,

“You can ignore her!”

Even though hunters earn a lot of money, large teddy bears are quite expensive, so asking for one was considered very rude. Seo-rin quickly said it was okay, but.

“Really? Buy that too.”

The Spirit User Uncle was among the highest-earning hunters,

Plus, the Elder Dragons and Grandma Lecia were watching over the association.

From the perspective of the Spirit User Uncle, who was the child’s father, it seemed he couldn’t refuse a child who had lost her parents asking for a teddy bear.

I was feeling awkward and smiling apologetically to the Spirit User Uncle.

Seo-rin took out a card from her pocket and said,

“No, really, it’s okay. I have a lot of money too, so this much is nothing.”

“Is that so? I have a lot too.”

Seo-rin, seemingly at a loss for words, just smiled awkwardly.

The Spirit User Uncle looked at Seo-rin and chuckled, then told her to quickly choose an ice cream as well.

“Th-Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. You and Ha-eun are both just babies after all.”

Seo-rin, seemingly unaccustomed to being treated like a baby, blinked her eyes in a flustered reaction.

Seeing this, I felt like Seo-rin finally understood my pain…! (or not) and giggled to myself.

*

With the help of the Spirit User Uncle, we headed to the lair carrying a large teddy bear, ice cream, and snacks.

While I was giggling at the sight of Seo-a sucking on the small tip of the squeeze ice cream,

I saw Han A-rin approaching us, wiping her sweat, having seemingly finished her basic work.

“Oh, Spirit User is here too.”

“Hello.”

I left the adults to greet each other and

Asked Yuna where we should place the large teddy bear we brought.

In response to my question, Yuna looked around with a serious expression, then pointed towards the entrance and said,

“Here. If we put it here, the bear uncle can wave like this.”

It seemed she meant it would be good to place it as if it were welcoming people.

So I asked Seo-rin to place the large white teddy bear near the entrance.

“Bear uncle… good.”

Yuna, apparently very pleased with the large teddy bear, ran over to hug it and wagged her tail again.

I patted Yuna’s back, smiling proudly,

Then turned my attention to fulfilling Chae-a and Seo-a’s requests.

“What do Chae-a and Seo-a want to put in?”

When asked what they wanted, Chae-a, like before, wanted a ‘playground’.

Seo-a, seemingly unsure, just smiled brightly and repeated what Chae-a said.

‘Then it would be good to start by making a playground.’

Although I’ve grown a lot compared to the past, it’s still impossible to lift heavy construction materials.

It would be better to make a playground using a different method, rather than using heavy materials.

As I was thinking about what method would be good, I asked Chae-a what kind of playground she wanted.

“Chae-a is going to make such an amazing playground…! Look at this?”

Suddenly, she went to a pile of dirt and used twigs and pebbles to stack it up like a tower.

Then she made something unidentifiable and showed it to me with a very proud expression, saying:

“Ta-da…!”

Looking at this, I could realize one fact.

The threshold between adults and babies is different, so they’re satisfied even if you just show them something that looks like a slight imitation.

Realizing this fact, I became very proud and smiled with a ‘heh’.

‘As expected, I’m an adult…!’

Just as I was feeling proud, thinking that as an adult I could only think from an adult’s perspective.

Seo-a, who was standing behind, was chewing on the hem of my clothes, then her eyes sparkled as if she liked the playground Chae-a made, and she moved towards it.

“Myamya. Come!”

Then, as if she wanted to build her own playground next to it, she eagerly scattered dirt to the side and tried to make something.

It was such an adorable sight that I was watching it with a warm smile, wagging my tail, when suddenly.

Ha-eun proudly looks at the scattered pile of dirt, then points to it and eagerly says:

“Ta-da!”

It seems she’s imitating Chae-a’s earlier “ta-da!”

I think her voice is so cute that I can’t help but smile, grinning from ear to ear.