Chapter 51 – Role-playing (2)

The living room was impressive with its floor-to-ceiling windows offering a clear view outside.

“Mama?”

Gyeonwoo instinctively hugged Pureumi at her call while absently scanning their surroundings.

She hadn’t noticed when with the monks and sisters Han Dayeon and Han Yuyeon, but…

It felt lonely.

Cold.

Too quiet.

The mansion felt enormous with just two tiny children left inside.

That’s when Gyeonwoo belatedly realized.

Ah. I’d been relying on the people around me more than I thought.

She’d unknowingly grown accustomed to this environment.

Perhaps because she’d been spacing out too long.

“Mama… crying…?”

Pureumi, clinging to her waist, reached up to gently wipe Gyeonwoo’s eyes.

Of course, there were no tears to wipe away.

Before her heart-to-heart with Mia, she would have seen such changes as weakness, but not anymore.

“No, I’m not crying. I have our Pureumi, don’t I?”

She wouldn’t cry, for the sake of those who cherished her.

Now she had a child to take care of too.

As for atoning for her parents…

It wasn’t too late to do that while taking care of the living first.

“Heave-ho!”

Gyeonwoo smiled brightly as she lifted Pureumi.

Using all her strength, she managed to float a finger’s width off the ground.

“Wow! Pureumi’s flying!”

“Hah… haah…”

Though her arms and legs trembled and she was breathing hard.

“Mama! Higher!”

“O-okay!”

If Pureumi’s enjoying it, I have to try harder!

Just as Gyeonwoo was about to use Mia’s Awakened ability to lift Pureumi higher…

Ding dong-!

Strange music started playing along with the doorbell.

“Eek!”

Startled by the sharp sound, Pureumi clung to Gyeonwoo like a sloth.

It was a precarious moment – they could have toppled backwards.

Fortunately, her body, enhanced by her Awakened ability, easily supported Pureumi’s weight.

They’d said this role-play was about strangers visiting when no adults were home, right?

Gyeonwoo calmly set Pureumi down and headed for the intercom.

“M-Mama! Mama’s not scared?”

Afraid of being left behind, Pureumi followed with tiny steps, her hair standing on end as she asked.

Ding dong-!

The bell rang again, more insistently.

But for Gyeonwoo, Pureumi was more important than any stranger.

“Are you scared of people?”

Gyeonwoo stopped and bent down to meet Pureumi’s eyes.

Though they looked identical like mirrors, unlike Gyeonwoo’s yellow eyes, Pureumi’s were closer to green.

It was a nature-friendly color, as if announcing her spirit nature.

…Hmm. That’s what you’d call nature-friendly, right?

At Gyeonwoo’s gentle voice, Pureumi stopped trembling and quickly ran to hug her waist.

“Yes! They said they’d kill Papa and Pureumi!”

“…Kill you?”

“Yes… They said they’d make me theirs…”

It seemed connected to what she’d heard underground.

The man had said he’d stayed to protect Pureumi.

What kind of evil, demon-like humans were they?

“It’s okay now. M-Mama’s here with you, right?”

Gyeonwoo ignored the persistent doorbell and hugged Pureumi tightly.

Despite her small frame, Pureumi fit perfectly in her arms.

“Mmm… They sprayed smelly stuff to make me come out…”

“Really? But you didn’t go out? Our Pureumi did well.”

“Yes. Papa said not to go out…”

“Our Pureumi’s so good at listening. You’re such a good girl.”

“Pureumi good?”

“Yes, you’re good. A perfect angel.”

“Pureumi wants to be angel!”

As the two children forgot about the role-play and cuddled…

“Sniff, our children have grown up so well.”

Han Dayeon, unaware of what was happening inside, shed tears of pride.

When adults weren’t home and the doorbell rang, they were supposed to ignore it and not answer.

She’d been worried about whether Gyeonwoo would follow the rule, but the smart child had done well.

“See! Our children are so smart!”

Han Dayeon proudly thrust out her chest, looking at her sister.

How dare you pressure such sweet children!

Woo woo, Han Yuyeon, are you even human?!

To Han Yuyeon, who specialized in physical enhancement, it was just ridiculous.

She’s so happy when she doesn’t even know what the kids are talking about inside.

Tsk tsk, like sister, like fool.

Han Yuyeon maintained her look of disdain.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Instead, she haughtily pointed at the doorbell with her chin and said:

“Well, since you’re here, try asking them properly to open the door. The role-play’s over, after all.”

“What? Of course they should open the door! Don’t tell me they shouldn’t open it even for us?”

“Just try it first.”

They’d heard somewhat about Pureumi’s troubled past.

But who would have thought it was this bad?

There were people who’d tried to kill that tiny child?

Ding dong-

“Kids, it’s your sister. The role-play’s over, can you open the door?”

Han Yuyeon gritted her teeth watching her sister’s foolishness.

She’d heard the Guild Master was tracking down the cult and those bastards.

Just let me find out who they are.

I’ll beat them until they beg for death.

At least it was fortunate that, as expected, Gyeonwoo and Pureumi were supporting and comforting each other’s wounds.

Ding dong- Ding dong-

“K-kids? It’s your sister. Please open the door…”

Ah. Of course, they’d have to try educating the children again.

Ding dong-

“Sniff. Kids… It’s your sister… Please open the door…”

They should probably stop the joke soon before her sister got traumatized thinking the kids had abandoned her.

“Haah. They’re not opening because they’re busy doing something else inside.”

“…Huh?”

Han Yuyeon pushed past her frustrating sister and opened the front door with her keycard.

They didn’t need to search long for the children.

They must have come to the intercom when the bell rang, as they found them right past the shoe rack in the hallway.

Gyeonwoo and Pureumi sat on the bare floor, facing each other in serious conversation.

“See, that’s when our Pureumi can use her spirit powers, right?”

“Yes! I can move water like this!”

“So you block their nose and mouth with water when they’re rude.”

“Yes yes! Nose and mouth!”

“Then you look them right in the eye and say this.”

“How?”

“Go to hell, you demon.”

“Oh! Go to hell, you demon!”

Uh, well.

How should they react to this?

They’d smiled fondly thinking the children huddled together must be playing some cute game.

Like playing house or something, but instead they found this.

“Oh! You’re here?”

She didn’t even seem to realize she’d done anything wrong.

As if her savage conversation with Pureumi had been a hallucination.

Meeting Han Dayeon and Han Yuyeon’s eyes, she just gave them a gentle smile.

“See?”

“Ugh…”

This time Han Yuyeon was right.

The children were smart, kind, and cute, but…

“Why are you standing there? Come in!”

They couldn’t leave such troubled children without proper education.

To think they didn’t open the door because they were busy with this!

How proud I’d been of them!

How much must Han Yuyeon have laughed at me!

As Han Dayeon stood dazed, Gyeonwoo tilted her head and scampered over to take her hand.

Left hand for Pureumi, right hand for Gyeonwoo.

They could barely grip a few of her fingers, and their pulling strength was weak, but…

H-how could anyone resist this…!

Han Dayeon briefly glared at Han Yuyeon.

But her expression quickly melted into a silly grin as she started following the children into the living room.

“Stop! What do you think you’re doing!”

Han Yuyeon grabbed her.

Han Dayeon awkwardly avoided her sister’s gaze, feeling the anger in her grip.

“Ah.”

“What do you mean ‘ah’! Did you forget about educating the kids?!”

“W-we can do it next time…”

“Will putting it off every time teach them anything good?”

“But…”

What can I do when the kids are so cute?

This is like a natural disaster, right?

It’s beyond human power to resist!

Unfortunately, Han Dayeon’s weak resistance wasn’t accepted.

Whether in Awakened rank or personal strength.

Han Yuyeon was superior in both, making physical resistance impossible.

“Don’t fight…”

“No fighting!”

“Haah… Sisters aren’t fighting.”

So please cooperate with the role-play so the sisters don’t fight.

And so the sisters immediately attempted a second role-play.

Like before, it was about strangers visiting when only children were home.

They’d emphasized many times not to open the door for strangers and to pretend not to be home.

Ding dong-!

“Hello! This is the residence of Awakened Han Dayeon and Han Yuyeon. The owners are currently away, so please state your business! Please leave packages or deliveries in the delivery box!”

“Leave them!”

“Ah…”

The second role-play failed spectacularly!

Who knows where they learned it, but their response was impressively precise, like an answering machine message that kids these days wouldn’t know about.

However.

“If you say that, people will know there are only children home without adults. Bad people might try to break in.”

No matter how composed the response was for their age, it wasn’t what the sisters wanted.

And so came the third attempt!

Ding dong-!

“Hmph! This time I absolutely won’t react!”

The girl wasn’t stupid.

She squeezed her eyes shut, taking the sisters’ repeated emphasis to heart.

“Mmm? Not opening for sisters?”

“No. Not right now.”

She admirably held back Pureumi who tried to open the door, but.

Ding dong-!

“There’s a villain outside! Help!”

At Han Dayeon’s ridiculous, awkward acting-

The firmly closed door opened without hesitation.

“…Oh dear.”

It seemed this education would take more than just one or two tries.