chapter_0613

613 – Encia of the Past

613 – Encia of the Past

Gaeul stood there blankly for a while after having her coin purse stolen.

Even when the children stopped by the convenience store to buy ice cream, she remained still.

“Gaeul, eat this.”

Bomi placed milk-flavored ice cream on Gaeul’s lips.

Gaeul, in a daze, only moved her tongue to lick the ice cream.

Lick, lick—

Perhaps it was thanks to taking her time to lick all the ice cream?

Gaeul, having regained her senses, ran to me.

“Juin.”

“Yes.”

“Gaeul Baekgeon innerbunnyotto.”

Had she decided to ask me for help after much deliberation?

But losing her coins? Something about her words felt off.

“You didn’t lose a hundred won, someone took it, right?”

“Heck…”

Gaeul nodded, confirming it.

She seemed to understand the situation clearly.

It seemed Gaeul didn’t want to portray Kwon Arin as a bad person, so she used the word ‘lost.’

“Gaeul, shall we go look for the coins again?”

“Naeng!”

“Before we go, we need to throw away the trash from the ice cream, okay?”

“Naeng!”

After throwing away the trash, we all moved together, following Kwon Arin’s trail.

Kwon Arin’s scent led to her house, and Ensia’s scent was there too.

“She must be home.”

Knock, knock—

I knocked on Kwon Arin’s door.

The children beside me also knocked on the door, each to their own rhythm and beat.

“Who is it?”

“Gaeul-ick!”

“Hmm… If it’s really Gaeul, you need to say the password.”

“Ing?”

Gaeul turned her head to look at me.

But unfortunately, I didn’t know the password either.

It seemed we needed to put our heads together here.

“Does anyone know the password?”

“Me…!”

Haneul raised her hand.

Smart Haneul might actually know the password.

“Haneul, what’s the password?”

“The password is…!”

Haneul took out various tools from the tool bag she always carried.

There were all sorts of tools, but the only one I knew the name of was a screwdriver.

“Haneul, is that the password?”

“Yes…! I can open the door with this…!”

“Huh?”

As I looked puzzled, Haneul started knocking on the door with the tool.

I didn’t know what she touched, but after waiting for a moment, the door surprisingly opened.

“Uh…?”

Opening the door using her skills.

Since she opened the door, could this be considered an answer to the password?

Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Kwon Arin behind the door and we who were watching were all flustered.

“M-my house door…”

“S-sorry… It’s Bad Children’s Day today… I’ll fix it again…”

I thought Haneul was a bit scary.

So it was because it was Bad Children’s Day.

Whew.

Relieved, I entered Kwon Arin’s house with the children.

“Juttaeo.”

Gaeul held out both hands towards Kwon Arin.

Kwon Arin started whistling and pretending not to notice.

“Did I take something?”

“Gaeul’s jumeonni!”

Udadada—

Gaeul spun around Kwon Arin.

It seemed to be her own way of protesting for the return of her coin purse.

“Coin purse? Where did I put the coin purse?”

“You put it in the shoe cabinet over there.”

Ensia, who had been watching the situation, pointed to the closed shoe cabinet.

Kwon Arin’s neck twisted creakily at Ensia’s sudden betrayal.

“Ensia is betraying me.”

“You asked where it was…”

“…Ensia, do you want to enjoy Bad Children’s Day too?”

“Not particularly. I graduated from Bad Children’s Day a few years ago.”

“Really?”

Ensia blushed and nodded.

It was hard to believe that Ensia would do bad things even on a holiday.

“I can’t really imagine it.”

“I had a childhood too, you know.”

“That’s true.”

Kwon Arin nodded and took out the coin purse from the shoe cabinet.

Then, without any hesitation, she handed the coin purse to Gaeul.

“I wasn’t going to give it back if Gaeul was a really bad child, but you’re actually a good kid, so I’m giving it back.”

“Naeng. Gaeul is chakkae.”

Gaeul, having received the coin purse, wagged her tail.

It seemed she was trying to teach the lesson that bad children might get punished in reverse.

“No, more than that, my house door…”

“I fixed it…! It’s stronger than before…!”

“Oh…”

She fixed it even stronger than before while we were talking.

Our Haneul’s blacksmith skills were growing at an astonishingly rapid pace.

I felt that I should work hard so as not to fall behind Haneul.

**

We enjoyed playing games at Kwon Arin’s house and then came outside.

Ensia was with us in the park, and I kept looking up at Ensia.

“Ensia, I can’t believe that you would play bad pranks.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. To me, Ensia is always a smart and reliable adult.”

“I am grateful that you think of me that way.”

Ensia took my hand.

Just walking together like this was reassuring.

“Ensia must have been this cool since she was young, right?”

“Ah, maybe…”

Ensia trailed off.

Did that mean not really?

Well, whatever her past was, she’s this cool now.

Just as I was about to respond with a smile, Argo ran towards us.

“Went to the Dungeon and back!”

Jeong Yuna was behind Argo, who was running and waving his hand.

It seemed they had formed a party and gone to the Dungeon together.

“You’ve returned.”

“Oh! Were you with the Captain?!”

“Yes. We were talking for a while.”

Argo’s large lizard tail wagged when he saw me.

Jeong Yuna’s body staggered as she was hit by the tail.

“Ugh, ugh. What were you two talking about?”

“Just old stories.”

“Old stories?”

“Yes. I was wondering if Ensia was this cool even when she was young.”

“Hmm… Maybe?”

It was the moment when I looked back at Ensia with Jeong Yuna.

Argo laughed heartily, “Kyakya.”

“In the past…”

Ensia grabbed Argo’s long snout tightly as he was about to say something.

He looked like an alligator with his mouth tied with rope.

“What? Why are you hiding it?”

“T-that’s…”

“This makes me even more curious.”

“N-nothing much. It’s just that I’m embarrassed because the past is different from now.”

“Hmm…?”

Jeong Yuna scanned Ensia with suspicious eyes.

I was curious too, but I didn’t want to pry into something she was trying to hide.

“Well, everyone has secrets. I won’t pry unless it’s a secret that puts the children in danger.”

Twitch—

Ensia shuddered at Jeong Yuna’s words.

The movement was quite large, so everyone there could see it.

“What? Is it a problematic secret?”

“…Yes. It may be problematic, but the probability is very low.”

“What is it…?”

Everyone’s eyes were focused on Ensia.

Argo was the only one among us who seemed to know what it was.

“Well, there are items that bring back the past, right?”

“Oh. This?”

Jeong Yuna took out an item that looked like a pocket watch from her pouch.

Ensia was startled and took a step back when she saw it.

“H-how do you have that?”

“I picked it up in the Dungeon.”

“It’s a wicked item. You should get rid of it quickly…”

“This is very expensive, you know?”

Ensia was surprised and wanted to get rid of the item, while Jeong Yuna refused.

I didn’t know why the two of them were acting like this.

“What is it?”

“It’s an item that brings back the other person’s past.”

“Huh? Time reversal?!”

Isn’t that an amazing skill?

As I was amazed, Jeong Yuna shook her head.

“It doesn’t turn back time, but it brings back the me that remains in memories or unconsciousness. Maybe for about an hour?”

“Wow.”

What an amazing item.

Seeing Ensia afraid of it, her past self must have been very different from now.

As I stared at the pocket watch item, Argo grabbed the item.

“Argo doesn’t think there’s any need to hide the past!”

“B-but Argo…”

“A true subordinate doesn’t hide the past! Our Captain would like Ensia of the past too!”

“T-that’s true, but…?!”

Argo struck Ensia’s head with the pocket watch.

Then, mysterious Mana spread out and began to envelop Ensia’s body.

Swish—

Ensia’s body began to shrink.

Ensia was quite tall, but now she was even smaller than Jeong Yuna.

“Wow.”

It’s young Ensia.

Maybe around middle school age.

I could see it the moment she wagged her tail.

Ensia’s eyes were sharper than usual, and her face was full of venom.

“Who are you?”

“Excuse me…?”

Ensia’s tone is harsh.

Is it because she brought back her past self?

She didn’t even know who I was.

“Kid, aren’t you going to get out of here?”

“E, Ensia…?”

I looked up at Jeong Yuna in embarrassment.

Jeong Yuna was also very surprised, and her pupils were shaking.

“Ensia must have been very scary when she was young…?”

“Y-yeah…”

So that’s why she hid her past.

Of course, the fact that Ensia was fierce in the past didn’t change my perception of Ensia now.

The Ensia I know is someone who sincerely cares about us.

“Anyway, we’re in big trouble.”

“Why?”

“When she returns to her original form, she remembers what happened when she changed.”

“Ah.”

When she returns to her original form, she will remember everything that happened.

Then it could definitely be said that we were in big trouble.

If it’s the Ensia I know…

She might bang her head on the floor.

Author’s Note

PIA1747014585384 Thank you so much for reading today!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations! It’s always a source of strength!

Middle school syndrome Ensia…!

───

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