chapter_0603

603 – Child and Baby

603 – Child and Baby

I went to the Level 1 Goblin Dungeon with Haneul and then returned home.

It was quite surprising that the Hobgoblin, a higher species of goblin, was frightened by my threat.

“Master, you were amazing…! The goblins couldn’t even move…!”

“Right.”

Has my wildness increased?

Indeed, effort does not betray a person.

“I’ll train hard and become like you, Master…!”

“Yeah. Someday, Haneul will be able to do this too.”

Swish, swish—

I patted Haneul’s head and cheered her on.

Perhaps she liked the patting, Haneul roared all the way home.

“Roar.”

Seeing Haneul roaring was nice, as it was different from her usual passive demeanor.

Of course, I loved the passive Haneul too, but I still wanted to see her more spirited.

‘She’s improving little by little.’

Someday, Haneul will show her bold side even in everyday life, right?

Wishing for that day to come soon, I returned to the Ggaemmi Guild with Haneul.

“Hey, everyone.”

At the guild, the kids were diligently working on their tasks.

Saebyeok and Bom were helping with the guild’s administration, while Gaeul stood by a sunny window with a blank expression, soaking up the sunlight.

And Levinas was…

“Everyone, Levinas has brought a mission!”

Just then, Levinas opened the guild door and came in.

Behind Levinas was Jeong Yuna, holding a baby in her arms.

“Wow… You have a baby too…?”

“Eh?! Gyeoul, I haven’t even gotten married yet?!”

“Yeah. Just kidding.”

If she had a child, she would have informed us, her family.

As I giggled mischievously, Jeong Yuna made a face as if she had been caught off guard.

“Has Gyeoul’s acting improved a lot?”

“Hehe… But why a baby?”

“Oh, it’s my cousin’s son. She asked me to watch him for a bit. But I’m short on time too, so…”

Jeong Yuna glanced at Levinas while speaking.

Then Levinas began to explain in her stead.

“It’s a mission! A mission!”

“A mission?”

“Yes! We received a mission to take care of a baby for our guild!”

I see.

So they are requesting help from the guild because they don’t have time to take care of the baby.

Since this is the guild’s official first request, I had to act seriously.

“How much do you plan to pay for the request?”

“I plan to throw a really awesome snack party as payment.”

“Really awesome…?”

Not just any party, but a really awesome one.

The kids would surely love it, right?

I had no choice but to accept the situation.

“Okay. I’ll register the request at the guild. Until when do we need to take care of the baby?”

“You just need to watch him for a little while. About… three hours?”

“Yes, three hours is fine.”

Three hours is indeed a short time.

I received the baby from Jeong Yuna.

“Wow.”

The child smiled brightly at me, which was adorable, but a bit heavy.

“I’m busy, so I’ll be going now. Please take good care of the baby, okay? If the baby poops or throws up, use this item.”

“Wow, there are items for childcare too?”

“This? I made it myself because cleaning up messes was hard.”

“Oh.”

Creating an item because childcare is tough.

No wonder she is called the best magician of dawn.

“Oh. The baby’s name is Haemin.”

“Haemin.”

After introducing the baby’s name, Jeong Yuna hurriedly ran outside.

Then the kids who had been watching the baby slowly began to approach.

Since this was an official mission from the guild, they had been observing from the back.

“Gyeoul! Are we taking care of the baby?”

“Yeah. We just need to watch him for three hours. Can you do it?”

At my question, the kids stared at me intently.

Why are they suddenly looking at me?

Just as I was puzzled, they all nodded their heads in unison.

Their reaction was so consistent that it felt strange, but I decided not to think too much about it.

The baby was more important right now.

**

We placed the baby on the desk.

Just in case, we also put down a soft cushion.

“Hey, everyone, what should we do with the baby?”

“Draw!”

“Draw?”

“Yes! There is no child in this world who dislikes drawing!”

Levinas, who had brought out drawing tools, began to draw in front of the kids.

With a pretty cool picture of a Horned Rabbit, confidence shone on Levinas’s face.

“Hey baby! Isn’t Levinas’s drawing amazing?! Don’t you want to try drawing too?!”

Levinas handed the drawing tools to Haemin.

After staring blankly at the tools for a moment, Haemin picked up a black crayon.

Swish, swish, swish—

Haemin scribbled randomly over Levinas’s drawing with the black crayon.

As the drawing was ruined in real-time, Levinas’s eyes widened in shock.

“Ah! Levinas’s drawing…!”

Perhaps because the drawing he had worked hard on was ruined, Levinas trailed off.

Just as I was about to say it was because Haemin was still a baby, Levinas raised both his thumbs.

“The baby has the spirit of an artist!”

“Spirit… of an artist’s soul?”

“Yes! Soul! The drawing is very original!”

Levinas was positively evaluating Haemin’s zigzag lines.

Perhaps because Levinas is an artist, he seemed to see the drawing from a different perspective than I did.

“Haemin could become a painter in the future!”

“Hehe!”

At Levinas’s praise, Haemin showed a pure smile unique to children.

It was a smile that made me happy just by looking at it.

Swish, swish—

Haemin focused on drawing for a while.

However, the baby was very curious and soon showed interest in something else.

Crawling toward the place where the laptop was, Haemin began to tap on the keyboard.

Strange letters like [ㄻㅗㅗㅇㅂㅂㅂ락ㅁ] appeared on the document that Bom was working on.

“Wow, causing mischief on the work. I learned a thing or two.”

“Bom, it’s just a baby. They don’t know anything.”

“Yeah. Just kidding.”

Bom laughed playfully at Haemin.

With a mischievous smile, she patted Haemin’s head.

“Just grow up like that.”

“As a little troublemaker?”

“Yeah! It would be so much fun if you two played tricks together later!”

Levinas was good at drawing, and Bom was good at playing tricks, so they both showed affection for Haemin.

Then, whose turn is it next?

I looked at the remaining Gaeul and Saebyeok.

“Saebyeok, don’t you have any ideas on how to play with the baby?”

“Um… Well…?”

As Saebyeok pondered, Gaeul confidently approached.

Among the kids, Gaeul was the closest to the baby.

She must have some good ideas.

“Gaeulrik.”

Gaeul began to pat her chest.

As if she understood, the baby also started to pat its own chest.

“Do you have a good game, Gaeul?”

“Yay!”

Gaeul, sticking out her tongue, picked up nearby objects.

Books, rolls of toilet paper, and even tissue boxes.

She began to stack all the items she could find.

“Oh, block play!”

It was a game that any baby would surely love.

I thought that perhaps our Gaeul might be the expert in childcare.

“Activate Ignite.”

Gaeul placed a book on top of the tissue, then another book on top of that.

In this way, Gaeul built a magnificent castle with the tools, including books.

“……”

Haemin stared intently at the castle made of books.

It seems that babies are destined to be interested in block play.

Just as I was looking at Haemin with some anticipation, something shocking happened.

Dodo dodo dodo—

Haemin crawled toward the block castle.

And without hesitation, like a bulldozer, she crashed into the castle that Gaeul had built.

“Huh?!”

The tower made for Haemin collapsed in an instant.

Gaeul’s eyes widened, and Haemin laughed gleefully.

“No, no.”

Gaeul waved her hand at Haemin and began to stack the tower again.

It didn’t seem like Gaeul wanted to play a game of knocking things down.

“Ignite Ignite.”

Gaeul handed Haemin a roll of toilet paper.

It seemed she wanted her to stack it on top of the tower, but Haemin, having received the tissue, only threw it at the tower that Gaeul had rebuilt.

Thud—

The tissue, almost rolling, knocked down the book that Gaeul had set up vertically.

Seeing the tower collapse again, Gaeul shook her head vigorously.

“No! No!”

To signal that this wasn’t the way to play, Gaeul’s voice rose slightly.

Perhaps startled, Haemin looked frightened.

“Waaah.”

Unable to hold back, Haemin burst into tears.

Seeing Haemin cry because of her, Gaeul’s eyes widened in surprise.

A look of regret appeared on Gaeul’s face.

“I-Ignite… I’m sorry…”

Gaeul tried to throw the tissue again, urging Haemin.

However, Haemin could only cry.

“……!”

Now that I think about it, was this Gaeul’s first time seeing someone cry?

Though crying and babies are inseparable, it was only natural for her to be flustered if it was her first experience.

“Ahh.”

Seeing Haemin crying, Gaeul, who had been restless, finally lifted her head.

With a flustered expression, Gaeul looked up at the guild ceiling and unexpectedly shouted.

“Waaahhhhhh.”

Gaeul had set off a siren in response to Haemin’s crying.

Not knowing how to stop the baby’s cries, Gaeul was asking for help from those around her.

“Waaah.”

“Waaahhhhhh.”

Gaeul and Haemin.

The cries of the two children echoed throughout the guild.

A word from the author (author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations! They always give me strength!!

Did you all know…!

Haemin and Gaeul are actually not that far apart in age…!

───

Thank you for the 50 coins, Heoheomi!