Kidnappers!!!

Kidnappers!!!

 

The moment Chae-a realized that Ha-eun and Seo-a had ‘run away’, she decided to leave the house.

After all, Ha-eun and Seo-a were babies who needed to be protected.

They were her favorite younger siblings…! Of course, Yuna too.

Anyway, with that in mind, she tried to hold Yuna’s hand tightly and go look for Ha-eun and Seo-a, but.

Ha-eun was nowhere to be found, and confusion set in.

“What should we do?”

Just as I was lost in thought, unable to come to a conclusion no matter how much I pondered.

Yuna came up with a good idea.

“Why don’t we ask Somteol?”

At the mention of Somteol, I looked at the fluffy creature sprawled on the floor like a rice cake.

Somteol stood up proudly, as if telling us to trust him, and let out a ‘peep!’ sound.

Then, flapping its wings, it started sniffing around.

“Peep! Pee!” (I’ll find her for you!)

Somteol was amazing, so amazing. It seemed he could find Ha-eun just by smell…!

I was in awe, exclaiming “Woah” at how incredible it was.

Feeling quite proud, Somteol bounced up and down, heading outside to show us which way to go.

* * * * *

“Myam-myamya. Ppyayaya!”

Seo-a, happy to be outside with me, hummed a song and giggled beside me.

I’m not sure why she’s so happy, but it’s nice to see Seo-a cheerful, I thought, chuckling along.

Just then, Seo-a pointed to one side and tilted her head.

“Myam?”

Wondering what was wrong, I turned to look and saw a scene on TV of a happy family laughing together.

Seeing this, I was a bit flustered, thinking that maybe Seo-a wanted something similar, when.

In the distance, I noticed the Spirit User Uncle waving at us.

‘Ah, so that’s why because of Spirit User Uncle.’

I felt a strange sense of relief and smiled awkwardly.

After all, parents were something I couldn’t replace.

So as I was awkwardly bowing to Spirit User Uncle, he asked us curiously.

“Where did you leave your older sisters and why are you two alone?”

“Myam! Koom!”

“Yes, yes, uncle is actually a bear.”

“Byaaa…!”

Spirit User Uncle patted Seo-a’s head, finding her cute.

I explained to Spirit User Uncle why only the two of us were out.

“Seo-rin is out on an errand.”

“Seo-rin? I see. Then I should…”

He saw the documents in my hand and was about to reach out to offer to deliver them instead.

But then he seemed to remember something, shook his head, and told us.

“Right… It’s good to try running errands without your older sisters too. The training ground is this way, so be careful not to get lost, okay?”

“Yes!”

“Myam!”

“Good. And if any problems come up, call uncle anytime.”

Spirit User Uncle seemed worried and couldn’t leave right away.

Only after repeating that we should definitely contact him if anything happens did he finally walk away.

I bowed my head in gratitude, then held Seo-a’s hand tightly so as not to lose her, and headed towards the training ground.

* * *

On the way to the training ground, I encountered many hunters.

I bowed repeatedly to every hunter I met to express my gratitude to those who usually treat us kindly and help us.

Although there were minor incidents where hunters who witnessed this scene screamed in apparent happiness…

‘In any case, we managed to arrive at the training ground without any major issues.’

I smiled, thinking that whatever happened, it was good.

As I was patting the head of Seo-a, who was clinging to me and talking enthusiastically about something like Chae-a, while waiting for Seo-rin to arrive…

I noticed a fierce-looking woman approaching us from the distance, grumbling.

‘It must be… Hunter Seong Na-yeon.’

I feel nervous, probably because she looks a bit scary.

As I held Seo-a’s hand tightly and trembled, preparing for any possible situation.

Hunter Seong Na-yeon stood in front of us and spoke.

“… Hah.”

Seo-a, also scared of Na-yeon, clung to my body while holding my hand tightly.

As I patted Seo-a to reassure her that it was okay and stared blankly at Na-yeon.

Na-yeon continued speaking to us.

“Ha… Ha-eun, h-hello?”

“…?”

The fierce and rough impression disappeared completely.

Only a shy woman remained in front of us.

As I tilted my head, wondering why she was so embarrassed, Na-yeon screamed and broke into a big smile.

“Ah, so cute. Tsk, should unnie buy you something tasty? There’s a dessert shop nearby.”

Is she talking about that dessert shop over there?

As I remembered Han A-rin buying me something there before, I unconsciously turned my gaze in that direction.

Seong Na-yeon looked at me and said very happily.

“Just say the word. I make good money, you know!”

“… Myam?”

Seo-a seemed to realize that Seong Na-yeon wasn’t as scary as she thought, and peeked out her face.

Then she giggled and clung right onto Seong Na-yeon.

Just as I was admiring Seo-a’s incredible social skills, even more impressive than Chae-a’s.

Seong Na-yeon sat down on the ground as if collapsing and said.

“Are you an angel?”

Hearing this, I wondered if hunters had to take some kind of cheesy pickup line class.

As I was giggling, thinking her reaction was funny, I noticed Seo-rin quietly coming out of the training ground.

“Here she is…!”

I called out to Seo-rin, happy to see her.

Seo-rin initially acted no different from Seong Na-yeon, but then…

“Ahem.”

As soon as she realized Seong Na-yeon was watching from the side, she tried to act aloof for the sake of social appearances (which had already disappeared).

“Ha-eun and Seo-a are here?”

Judging by how Seo-rin was imitating Han A-rin.

Ha-eun unexpectedly seemed to admire Han A-rin.

I giggled and ran over to them, and Seo-rin patted my head and Seo-a’s as she spoke.

“Thanks for bringing the documents. But where did Chae-a and Yuna go?”

I briefly explained the situation to her.

Seo-rin nodded in understanding and picked up the documents.

“Oh, I see? The older sisters will be worried, so you should go back soon.”

“Okay.”

“Thanks for the documents. I’d like to take you back myself, but I’m too busy right now.”

… She certainly looks extremely busy.

Usually, Seo-rin always looked neat even after rough training.

Today, she didn’t even have time to tidy up, her hair was disheveled, and she didn’t look in good shape overall.

Worried about Seo-rin, I carefully handed her a candy from my pocket.

Seo-rin’s expression brightened as she smiled widely.

“Ha-eun, you’re a lifesaver, really…!”

Then she hugged me and Seo-a, rubbing our cheeks vigorously.

Seo-a seemed to enjoy this warmth, giggling and shouting ‘Kkom!’

As we were enjoying this happy moment, Seong Na-yeon, who was nearby, cleared her throat and made a suggestion.

“Um… well. It might be dangerous to send the kids back alone, so I could take them?”

Seo-rin seemed to consider this for a moment.

Deciding it would be safer to entrust us to Seong Na-yeon, she asked her to take care of us and got up from her seat.

I could only tilt my head as I watched Seong Na-yeon, who was pretending not to be excited but was actually very thrilled.

* * *

“If there’s anything you like, just tell me! I’ll buy it all for you!”

Seong Na-yeon followed behind us, repeatedly saying to let her know if we wanted anything.

I was smiling to myself, thinking that it was obvious she wanted to become friends but didn’t know how.

She looked at me and asked one question.

“Um, Ha-eun? There’s something I’m curious about?”

Judging by her strange way of speaking, she seemed nervous.

Wondering why, I looked up at her face, and Seong Na-yeon continued speaking with an awkward smile.

“Well, if it’s not too much trouble? I mean, if you don’t mind? Could you do the flower pose just once?”

It wasn’t a difficult request, but it was quite an embarrassing proposal, so I hesitated.

As I was hesitating and unable to give a definite answer, Seo-a stepped forward in front of Seong Na-yeon instead.

“Flower!”

She confidently hugged her and smiled brightly.

This seemed to be enough for Seong Na-yeon, who carefully embraced Seo-a and showed a very happy reaction.

While I thought everyone was happy with the situation, we heard a shocked voice calling out to us from afar.

“Kidnapper…! Give Ha-eun and Seo-a back!”

“If you give them back, I’ll give you candy!”

It was Chae-a and Yuna.

The moment I saw the two of them, I quickly waved my hands to indicate that Seong Na-yeon wasn’t a kidnapper.

But they either didn’t see my gesture or ignored it, as they urgently ran towards us, striking the most threatening poses they could manage, and firmly demanded that we be returned.

“Chae-a is scary when she’s angry…!”

“So is Yuna.”

Seong Na-yeon looked at the two terrifying creatures raising their arms and growling, with an expression just short of bursting into laughter, then plopped down on the floor.