episode_0084

The sun rose.

The day after the terrorist incident had arrived.

It wasn’t a house. It wasn’t the guild home either.

One person was sleeping on the floor of a cozy studio apartment.

“I ended up falling asleep after all.”

He was deeply immersed in the clean and fluffy scent of the sun-soaked pillow, even drooling.

The thin blanket was enough to keep him warm in the mild weather.

It was spring in May.

While the residential area of the Tower maintained a consistent climate, here, the vivid sense of seasons was alive.

Perhaps there would be winter and snowfall. Even that might be for the children.

“Sometimes, it would be nice to go outside the Tower and feel the change of seasons.”

He got up from his relaxed position, lost in his brief contemplation, and absentmindedly glanced at the items placed beside his head.

It was the first time he found looking at his phone so terrifying.

[Mom, I love you.]

[Missed call (78)]

“Damn it.”

The 78th missed call.

He couldn’t help but think he was screwed.

Although he had sent a message before turning off his phone saying, “I’ll be with Lea for a while, so I’ll be out of touch for a bit,” the other person would not likely be convinced by that.

To assess the situation, he ignored his sister’s message and checked the message from Ian.

[Today’s incoming call]

[Same-age Witch]

[8 a.m.]

“I barely managed to put the lady to sleep.”

“If you can, come down with the kid.”

“If not, at least try to persuade her.”

“I’ll handle things here, so don’t worry.”

Why are the women around me always so difficult to deal with?

For now, he replied, “I’ll report the situation and try to persuade her, so please wait a few days.”

-“Understood.”

There were no further exchanges.

It seemed like they were tired over there as well.

He got up and looked around, realizing once again that it was Lea’s house.

The atmosphere had become awkward after the incident, and she had suggested, “It’s late, so you should go to sleep.”

He was grateful for the offer of a place to stay instead of sleeping on the streets, but…

“Even though she’s my girlfriend, she lives more cleanly than me.”

The neatly folded blanket, laundry hanging outside the window, and the spotless floor made it seem like she had just cleaned the place.

Apart from the essential items for daily life, there was almost nothing to be seen in the room.

Even though she was a girl, it wouldn’t be strange to have dolls or decorative items…

Were there any photos at least?

There were several photos lined up on the desk in square frames.

Most of them were pictures of Lea with a blue-skinned witch, and seeing Lea smiling slightly, it seemed like this witch had been a nanny for about three years.

“They’re all similar photos…”

The only exception was a frame that was turned over.

Curious, he reached out to it.

“…Sir.”

He heard Lea’s voice and turned his head.

His outstretched hand was naturally withdrawn.

“It’s not a good habit to snoop around someone else’s room.”

“Isn’t it inappropriate for a girl who lets a stranger into her room to say that?”

“Do you see an elementary school student as a target of desire?”

“Come on, don’t be like that. Take my joke as a joke. I almost had a heart attack for real.”

The red-haired girl with an apron brought over the table.

She was tall like a middle schooler but slender, and with a slight hesitation, she prepared a simple breakfast.

It was even a Korean-style meal, not just a simple dish.

Those who have lived alone for a long time would understand.

Even a simple soybean paste stew, as your experience of living alone grows, you tend to avoid making it because it becomes too much of a hassle.

“Please, have some.”

After spending a night in the elementary school girl’s borrowed house and having a meal prepared by her, he wondered what he was doing now.

“She’s even better than me.”

When I tasted the dish made by an elementary school student, my tongue danced with joy, and I nodded my head, commanding them to move their jaws.

There was not a single word exchanged until the end of the meal.

Nevertheless, she knew what I was thinking, and she spoke up while doing the dishes.

“What are you going to do, sir? Will you stay on the 15th floor, or are you going down? Please let me know.”

“Yesterday, it seemed like Sister Yama lost her mind. She’s probably using it as an excuse to take a breather after sending a text to persuade her.”

“What will happen if you go down?”

“You’ll probably interrogate me, asking where we met.”

It’s not a joke.

It’s really scary to think it might happen.

“What about you?”

“Yesterday, due to that incident, an emergency school closure order was issued. When I asked my fellow teachers, they said they’re taking a month-long breather.”

“Do they know your identity?”

“Vaguely. They suspected right away because the scent of a graduated student emanated from the body of the new apprentice.”

“They almost know, don’t they?”

“Really just one or two people. Especially my former homeroom teacher was quick to catch on.”

I was marveling at the strange ecology when the water stopped.

She wiped her hands on her apron and approached me.

“Aren’t you going to ask anything else?”

“Like what?”

“You must be curious. Don’t you want to know why I said that to Auntie?”

“I am curious. But it doesn’t seem necessary to force you to talk about it.”

“If you weren’t there at that time, I would have died. So you can ask that much.”

She’s talking about the terror.

Well, there was no one else but me to clean up that mess.

“You’ve appealed twice, so it seems like you need someone to talk to, right?”

“Um.”

When I deliberately smiled and asked, she seemed uncomfortable and stepped back.

“She’s right.”

After all, I spent three years with the apprentice.

Everyone was either driven by lust or obsessed with children.

There were children around who didn’t fit Lea’s standards.

Since there would be no one to talk to about it, I could understand this reaction.

“That’s fine, but we still have time. Let’s not get to the point right away and talk slowly.”

“What kind of story?”

“Just about what you’ve been doing. What you usually do and how you felt when you first came. What you thought and how you got along with your friends. How you got along with the teachers and how you ended up being the class president. I have so many questions.”

“It’s just everyday stories. Maybe Auntie is coming to get you, so is that important?”

“Why? It could be important. It’s not every day that a young kid spends three years alone, right?”

“I’m not your kid.”

“Even if she’s not your kid, asking when you’re worried is what people and adults do. …I’m saying this, but I’m still in my twenties.”

“It’s really creepy to obsess over a kid you don’t know.”

“Don’t poke at me when I’m aware of it. Are you really going to cry, sir? Do you want to see a big guy like you lying on the floor crying??”

“Hehe. Did you know that? I’ve seen that enough already.”

“…Yeah. There were plenty of those kinds of people on the floor below.”

But she laughed.

Actually, I’m not at the age to be treated like a sir.

Although Lea’s mother might be moving, Lea seemed to like it.

Since she finally spoke up, I listened to her story.

*

Contrary to the initial impression of being quiet, she enjoyed talking.

She spoke fluently, as if yesterday, from the stories she heard right after arriving here to her time with Mama Emma.

– She was suddenly transferred here from the elementary school outside the tower during school hours.

– At first, she was surprised. But after seeing Emma’s actions and hearing the guild workers talk about the combat prohibition class, she felt relieved.

– She wandered the streets at first, but was immediately caught and assigned to the facility, with Mama Emma assigned to her within a day.

After hearing the loud noise coming from the top floor, Taeju realized the situation.

Although she summarized it briefly, her explanation was very long.

Lea vividly remembered the emotions she was feeling at the time.

For some reason, she was feeling exhausted, and she had come here and cried sincerely.

At first, she was overly cautious towards the spirit, and now she realizes there was no need for that.

She harbored hostility towards the spirit who claimed to be her parent, and it took a year for that to finally dissipate.

Her life afterwards was so peaceful that she said, “The past events felt like a lie.”

…The past events.

There were too many things that bothered her, but she pretended not to notice and asked, “How good was it?”

“It was so good that I felt like I might understand why kids become fools.”

It was a brief and accurate assessment.

“Is the caretaker treating you well? Is there anything uncomfortable?”

“It feels like meeting my father for the first time in years after the divorce.”

Even thinking about it made me bow my head deeply.

Lea smiled again.

She was a child who laughed more than I expected.

“Even though you spent three years with the spirit, you must have developed an attachment and your own thoughts about it. Am I wrong?”

“No, you’re right.”

We looked at the picture frame on the desk together.

– School-sponsored sports day.

– Parent-teacher association cultural festival.

– Neighborhood talent show festival.

– Cherry blossom viewing in spring.

– Hiking for the reed flower festival in autumn.

– Beach in summer.

– Snowball fight in winter.

She was so sincere that she would run out with an umbrella on rainy days.

She could say it briefly, but how many of those things did she actually do?

“They’re almost like real parents.”

“Yes. They are real parents. At least until their true nature comes out.”

She talked about memories like that but didn’t dwell on them.

She had a sense of nostalgia, but she spoke as if it were an old story.

“Even if they act like real parents, they are ultimately spirits. Maternal love itself is the culprit that stimulates their sexual desires, so on the day after big festivals or events where parents and children participate together, they lock themselves in their rooms and indulge in self-pleasure.”

I thought it was a good story, but that one thing ruined it all.

“So at some point, I stopped giving them affection. They may have affection, but I felt like their sexual desires took precedence.”

“Do you still see them?”

“We keep in touch. Just exchanging greetings. But every time we meet, it’s awkward because they show me pictures of the child they are raising now.”

“If that’s the case, it’s laughable-”

“-When I finally moved on from being an apprentice spirit to a real spirit, they offered to lend me the sex toy they used.”

“Stop. It hurts inside.”

What are you saying to an elementary school student, you trash?

They were good parents, but in the end, they were just females.

“Is that so? Should we stop here?”

“No, let’s take a break and talk some more. Since you’ve heard my story, I want to hear about your school life too.”

“Haven’t you seen it in Kids World?”

“Oh. Did you read that? The vice president really liked it.”

“He was my best friend.”

“He said you did well in school? The kids trust and follow you a lot, right?”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far… I’m not sure.”

“If it wasn’t that much, you wouldn’t have left such a longing message on your desk. You did well on your own. You made a lot of friends and had good times.”

As a compliment, he patted her head and tousled her hair into a mess.

Her beautifully arranged red hair fluttered like silk.

“……”

“…Why. Are you so calm? Are you feeling bad?”

“No.”

“Okay. Let’s leave it at that.”

Lea looked out at the balcony while stroking her own hair.

Once again, sirens blared and the surroundings became chaotic.

It wasn’t as bad as yesterday’s terror, but it was clear that if left alone, things would escalate.

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Will you be back soon?”

“If you don’t intervene, you’ll be like that all day. I see that when you come back, it’ll be dinner time again, so eat first.”

“Looks like I’ll be getting another commendation.”

“That’s right. I’ve never received one at school, but I seem to get them all from the Association.”

Whether it’s a mechanic or another hunter, if they’re around here, it’s definitely because of Lea.

If it’s the former, we can resolve it peacefully, and if it’s the latter, we’ll have to resort to force.

“I should just announce that I found her and collect the reward instead of keeping her with me-”

Feeling a bit uneasy, I put on my coat and leaped high over the balcony.