Chapter 30: Counseling (3)

“G-Guild Master!!”

The girl’s expression looked quite urgent.

With her round eyes wide open, she flapped her hands and rushed straight towards the Guild Master.

What’s this? Is she protesting for a hug?

Or was she scared being left alone?

The Guild Master and the sisters, who had been dead serious, naturally stretched out their arms.

They flinched.

They looked at each other as if to say, ‘Why are you reaching out?’

Even the usually stoic Guild Master’s natural reaction to welcome the girl sparked an odd sense of competition.

Who would the girl choose to embrace?!

“Th-there’s a bug in the drink!!”

However, the girl chose none of their embraces.

Seeing the three of them standing in a row with their hands stretched out.

Aha! They were secretly performing some suspicious heretic ritual!

Instead of hiding and doing this, why not just believe in the Almighty God and repent…

With a hmph, the girl ignored their outstretched hands and revealed a black egg she’d been hiding in her fist.

It was a round, shiny egg.

“This is…”

“Is this another heretic trick?! You’re trying to secretly feed me bug eggs so they’ll hatch in my stomach, then blackmail me into obedience if I want them removed, right?!”

The girl had accessed a lot of information on the internet.

She’d naturally learned about things like “crazy psycho lesbians” and “sister rice bowl.”

She suspected this black bug egg mixed into the drink might be the “poison” from martial arts novels.

It was an incredible imagination, but sadly, it wasn’t a bug egg at all.

Even the Guild Master, who rarely ate sweets, knew what this was.

Should they just laugh off this innocent behavior?

While the Guild Master and Han Dayeon were frozen, unable to answer or laugh,

Han Yuyeon quickly jumped in before anyone else could.

“It’s not a bug egg, it’s something you eat. It’s called tapioca pearl, made from… starch? Powder? Anyway, it’s a snack. They put it in drinks for texture.”

It seemed bubble tea was among the many drinks they’d ordered, intending to feed the girl various things.

But the girl wasn’t quick to believe.

After all, weren’t these three just performing a suspicious ritual moments ago?

She’d been so shocked when she saw the monks at the temple eating poisonous mushrooms, claiming they were edible!

Judging by how the Guild Master and the big-chested sister behind him were trembling at the corners of their mouths as if something was funny… this bug egg must be another of the heretics’ devious evangelism methods!

The girl, her heart still pounding, immediately scurried back to the room and returned with the drink.

“Then you drink it, sister.”

“Y-you want me to drink it now? Are you thinking of me…?”

She just didn’t want to drink the suspicious food herself.

“…Sister?”

Even though the pretty girl had misunderstood something and even called her ‘sister’.

“Yes. Drink it all!”

“Urk… T-this sister is touched! How can you be so kind and pretty and cute and squishy!!”

Han Yuyeon was simply overjoyed to receive the bubble tea as a gift from the girl.

It was enough to instantly overturn all her previous guilt and gloomy thoughts.

Han Yuyeon quickly took the bubble tea the girl offered.

Immediately, as if to show off to the other two who were late:

“Mmm! It’s delicious! Thank you!”

She sucked on the straw until her cheeks hollowed.

The drink sloshing in the translucent cup was instantly halved.

Using her superior Awakened physique, she even gulped down the tapioca pearls in one go.

“Ah…”

“If you want to taste it, just say so anytime. I’ll buy you more!”

The girl was slightly taken aback.

As expected, heretics are amazing…

How could she drink half the drink in one go!

Could she be a gluttony demon wearing a human disguise?

As the girl slowly backed away, her eyes met the Guild Master’s, who was sighing deeply.

He shook his head disapprovingly.

It was the “how pathetic” reaction she’d seen from the Sages, something he’d never shown while sightseeing in the city.

Aha!

That sister isn’t just gluttonous, she’s just childish!

Right.

Unless they were unusual like Mia when she was underground, people couldn’t resist food, could they?

Even when unidentified food appeared in dog bowls, they had to eat it desperately to survive, knowing it wasn’t right.

It was only natural that most of those believers, even as adults, couldn’t resist their gluttony when they saw delicious food.

The girl’s gaze towards Han Yuyeon changed to one of pity.

Then.

“Here, eat more…”

Without hesitation, the girl took out the snacks that came with the drinks and offered them.

“Ah, no, if you give her those…”

The meringue cookies and macadamia nut cookies she’d ordered to feed the girl fully were now in her good-for-nothing sister’s grasp.

She couldn’t say anything to the kind girl with her innocent, shining eyes, so she just glared at Han Yuyeon with a look that said ‘You’ll die if you eat that!’, but

“C-can I eat this too?”

“Yes. You were hungry, right? Go ahead and eat…”

With the girl right in front of her, clenching her tiny fist and offering snacks as a gift, her useless sister wasn’t even in her field of vision.

By this point, Han Yuyeon had completely forgotten that they were the ones who bought these drinks and snacks.

Crunch-!

In the end, the 3,000 won per piece cookies disappeared in an instant.

They vanished without a trace in just two bites.

Ah, so she really was hungry.

The heretics must have undergone harsh training like us.

The girl’s pitying gaze intensified.

Then this much won’t be enough, right?

“Please wait a moment!”

The girl hurried back to the room to get more snacks to feed her, just like when she was taking care of the starving Mia.

It was at that moment that the Guild Master sensed something was off.

“…The child seems unusually restless.”

The girl the Guild Master had seen until now was quite shy and pathologically averse to inconveniencing others or receiving gifts without giving something in return.

Surely she hadn’t become so close with the sisters or familiar with the guild building in such a short time.

To be honest, the idea that she’d instantly become friends with the sisters who had played mean tricks on her and left her at the mountain temple was as unlikely as North and South Korea achieving peaceful unification.

“Isn’t that how kids normally are?”

Han Dayeon tilted her head at the Guild Master’s muttering.

The only children the sisters had seen were extreme ADHD “golden” kids on TV, so they didn’t sense anything strange.

The Guild Master was about to dismiss his concerns as being overly worried when

“Waaah!”

The girl, rushing out with another fruit drink, almost fell forward after tripping on her own feet.

Oh no…!

How stupid to fall and spill this precious drink!

This time, even the angelic Guild Master will surely get angry!

In that split second, the girl closed her eyes tight, bracing for the pain and punishment to come.

“Be careful.”

There were two S-class Awakened present.

It would have been harder to fall while avoiding their eyes.

The Guild Master immediately caught the girl and the drink with his telekinesis, saving them both.

“Hehe, I’m sorry…”

Even then, the girl almost spilled the drink she’d brought out as she tried to hand it over, or repeated things she’d already said.

“…Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“…Eh.”

She stared blankly into space as if she hadn’t heard the Guild Master’s question, which she’d never missed before, among other clearly abnormal behaviors.

By this point, not only the sisters who had been thinking carelessly, but even the Guild Master was certain something was wrong.

“…We should call a doctor.”

Maybe the strain from virtual reality had some adverse effect on the child’s fragile body.

Did we push too hard?

As the Guild Master swallowed a sigh and reached for his phone,

“I’ll take a look first.”

Han Dayeon, who had been quiet until now, stepped forward.

“Ah… Right. You’re here.”

She was also an A-class Awakened, solely based on her recovery abilities.

He’d forgotten this because his mind had gone blank with worry for the girl.

Raising a child really isn’t easy.

So Han Dayeon carefully approached the girl and asked.

“Can I touch your forehead for a moment?”

She knelt down to meet the girl’s eyes and smiled brightly to show she wasn’t dangerous.

Only then did the girl’s blank eyes roll.

“Oh my.”

The girl’s gaze was fixed on none other than her chest.

Squeezed together like water balloons about to burst from being pressed against her knees as she knelt.

That crazy bitch is doing it again with her breasts?

So the examination was just an excuse, and she’s trying to monopolize the child!

Han Yuyeon started fuming as if she’d seen something she shouldn’t have, but.

Uh… But what can I do?

I’m hated for leaving the child on the mountain and coming down, aren’t I?

Moreover, I’m in the physical enhancement category, so there’s nothing I can do for the child?

I don’t even have an excuse to approach since I already received the drink?

I’m trash.

Still not fully recovered from the shock of the truth she’d heard from the Guild Master, instead of charging at Han Dayeon as usual, she sank into self-deprecation.

Thanks to this, Han Dayeon’s examination could continue leisurely.

“Instead of just watching, want to come here?”

The girl approached cautiously, like a wary cat, glancing around.

Han Dayeon stretched out her arms and hugged the girl close.

“Oof!”

She hugged her tight against the chest the girl had been staring at, slowly stroking her head.

Her hair felt cold and soft, like touching a river, as brilliant as water.

Ah.

Does this small child remember her mother’s embrace?

Captured and brainwashed at such a young age, she probably never felt a warm embrace.

Feeling tears well up, she looked up at the ceiling.

Far from being embarrassed, she felt only sorry.

What on earth were we thinking before, to consider it normal for this small child to hike and sleep alone in the mountains?

Were we under some kind of spell?

Han Dayeon slowly shook her head.

What spell?

Blaming a non-existent enemy for my mistakes might ease my mind.

So it’s simply my fault.

From now on, if the child wants, I should lend her my embrace anytime to repay this debt.

-“How is she? Any physical issues?”

The problem was that even after checking with her ability, she found no health issues with the girl.

-“None at all. She’s healthy to an extreme degree.”

No.

It wasn’t just a lack of problems.

She was in a perfectly clean state, without even potential viruses, inflammation, or muscle knots.

The girl’s body was so perfect it seemed as if someone had deliberately made it that way.

The Guild Master’s eyes darkened deeply at the report that her ability couldn’t do anything.

If it wasn’t a health problem, then it must be a mental issue.

The girl occasionally talked to herself like someone with schizophrenia, or acted as if she’d become someone else, so this might be an extension of that.

But they couldn’t take a brainwashed child to a psychiatrist or use mental-type abilities on her.

Rather than risk breaking the girl’s mind by forcing things, the Guild Master decided to ask subtly.

-“Keep holding her like that for a moment.”

Being held might be more comfortable for the child too.

The Guild Master looked at the top of the girl’s head peeking out over Han Dayeon’s shoulder and asked.

“Is there something worrying you? You seem anxious.”

Yes.

Now that he thought about it, the girl seemed unusually anxious.

She kept glancing around as if looking for something, or flinching and startling.

It was timid and worried behavior, completely opposite to when she was smiling and melting villains while brainwashed.

Only then did the girl, who had been squirming in Han Dayeon’s arms, peek her head out.

—