Ch.148148 – Guardian Observation

<148 – Guardian Visitation>

“Papa~!”

“Ogu-ogu, how’s my baby Titosoga doing?”

“Good! I made friends too!”

Titosoga squealed with delight as the middle-aged man grabbed her by the waist, lifted her up, and spun her around in the air.

“Hmph. How nice.”

While listening to their cheerful laughter, I sat blankly on a chair in the visitation area.

Gift Academy had designated visitation areas due to its many important facilities, dangerous zones, and security areas, so visitors had to come directly to the visitation building.

Guardian visitation day, once a month.

Meet with your guardian after a long time, observe classes to feel reassured about the curriculum, eat nutritious school meals together, and say goodbye.

That’s what I remember about guardian visitation.

This is the overview of the mini-event <Guardian Visitation> that follows the <Random Papa Event>.

<Guardian Visitation Event>

Today is the long-awaited guardian visitation day.

There might be a guardian who has come to see you.

Could it be family? A friend?

Or perhaps an acquaintance who received their request?

If you wait earnestly, someone from your pre-academy relationships might come to see you.

Have you been a bad child outside too?

Then don’t even dream of having visitors!

You’ve been a good child, you say?

Then congratulations! At least you can get a free meal with your guardian!

As soon as I realized what day it was, the event notification appeared with a slight headache.

I feel a bit low on energy, probably from playing too hard with the Heugmag princess all night.

‘It’s because your collection rate is too low!’

If my health stat was off the charts, I wouldn’t be this tired after playing late into the night.

When Jona comes, I should ask him to buy me lots of delicious things that are hard to collect outside.

‘So they really do have actual parents.’

I had imagined that since they were NPCs, their parents wouldn’t exist as data and would only send letters, but seeing the visitation building filled with guardians, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Thanks to this, my curiosity has grown tremendously.

So my papa must also exist somewhere in this world, not just in letters.

So what exactly is Papa?

There are many evil organizations targeting the academy, but some change their names each time, and new ones are born, so I can’t guess which organization it is this time.

Papa who belongs to the Wiheomhae Foundation.

‘Could he be a hitman?’

A high-profile contract killer!

Evil-aligned papas are a bit different during vacation.

When I go to meet him during the home return event, I help with household chores, but if Papa is a bad person, then naturally his work would be bad too.

Still, I personally find it somewhat appealing.

A contract killer’s targets are likely to be high-ranking officials working in the Imperial Palace, named knights, or corrupt nobles.

All of them are formidable opponents who know how to enjoy food and have high collection rates.

Naturally, contract killers would know various means to raise their specs to match them, such as efficient collection, skill mastery, and other spec-up methods.

Most of them probably already know these things, but if I could receive secret techniques or help with collection, it would be hard to find a better papa as a player.

‘But what if an unexpectedly good papa shows up?’

If a good papa like Titosoga’s, who’s giving her a piggyback ride over there, shows up, I might personally be disappointed.

Good people are generally weaker, so they wouldn’t be helpful for spec-ups!

I had such rational reasons, but…

Now I’d be happy with either type.

I just wish they would come soon.

“Bye, Oknodie! I’m going to play with Papa first!”

“Okay. Bye, Titosoga!”

Titosoga, who came with me to meet her guardian, left to play a long time ago.

Whether it’s a good papa or a bad papa, I wish anyone would come—butler Jona, maid Leaf, anyone.

I’ve long stopped swinging my legs cheerfully while sitting by the window, and now they’re neatly placed on the chair legs. My head, which kept turning whenever the door opened, is now showing signs of fatigue.

Just maybe, really just maybe…

No one’s going to come at all, are they?

-A student’s guarantor or representative from a guarantor institution can only visit the academy once a month, on a designated day. I will visit you when the time comes.

Right, Jona promised.

He said we would meet again.

He made a promise, so he wouldn’t break it.

The butler is a working adult?

We have a formal employment contract.

I’m not the one paying him; he’s just a butler assigned by Papa.

But still, as someone who takes care of me, he should listen to me.

I told him I would wait.

So he must come.

The necklace in Papa’s letter.

I tightly gripped the butler-summoning whistle hidden deep within it.

* *

“Sigh. I can’t bear to watch, it’s too pitiful.”

“That little mouse, usually so strong and brave, now looking so dejected. Shouldn’t we just drag her out and play with her outside?”

“Leave her be. Oknodie wouldn’t want that. There’s a saying that the joy of reunion includes the pain of loneliness from waiting.”

Even after Isabelle and Son Ocheon left in frustration at Giselle’s mature advice, Giselle remained alone at a nearby table with a view of the visitation room.

If she left too, there would be no one to greet Oknodie when she walked out alone.

After all the hardships and difficulties Oknodie had endured while living under the foundation’s name.

How could the foundation subject Oknodie to such humiliation?

They sent a notification about a guardian’s visit but didn’t give any indication of when they would arrive.

As a result, Oknodie had been sitting in the visitation room all day, even skipping meals to keep her place.

She was afraid that her papa or butler might come looking for her while she was out eating lunch.

“Why is that child alone? I’m sure I saw her this morning too.”

On the weekend, the visitation building was open.

Northern Grand Duchess Irene, who was wandering around inside after hearing rumors about point-earning opportunities unique to this place, approached and spoke.

Ice Princess, Cold Woman, Rude.

Considering how many nicknames she had for someone who rarely communicated with others, regardless of her actual personality, it was truly rare for Irene to initiate a conversation with someone.

“She’s waiting because her guardian hasn’t arrived yet. Are you waiting for your guardian too, Miss Irene?”

Irene shook her head.

“The North isn’t well off enough to spend on expensive tickets for visitation. I receive all the necessary information by letter, so it’s fine.”

Considering the increasing tension in the North due to the demonic race’s suspicious activities, it wasn’t surprising that Irene’s guardian didn’t visit.

“How mature of you.”

“Because I’m a Grand Duchess.”

That single phrase contained so much.

The Northern Grand Duchess—not a child, not someone’s daughter, but the hope of the North carrying everyone’s expectations.

There was no room to prioritize personal happiness or advancement in the face of such responsibility and duty.

A person as pitiful as Oknodie.

Sensing Giselle’s sympathy toward her, Irene frowned with displeasure and asked:

“What about you?”

“Ah. I’m an orphan.”

“…You must have had quite a talent.”

“Haha. At least I didn’t grow up starving. I’m quite business-savvy. This is a secret, but outside, I ran a business as a ticket scalper selling academy admission tickets.”

“A ticket scalper enrolled in the academy?”

“Funny, isn’t it? Haha. I never expected things to turn out this way either. If I hadn’t met Oknodie, I would never have thought of such an adventure in my life.”

“How much do you know about that child?”

“What would you like to know about Oknodie?”

Honestly, she was curious.

Oknodie was the top student in her year.

Apart from her skills, her bright nature was admirable.

Her fearlessness in occupying the back of a frost mage was absurdly bold.

Her eccentric habit of eating stones was strange too.

While she didn’t watch her every move, whenever Oknodie was in sight, she couldn’t take her eyes off her.

“That child’s place.”

“Her place… you mean?”

There was a strange nuance to it.

Giselle asked, just in case:

“Are you perhaps interested in recruiting Oknodie?”

“The North is always lacking in everything.”

The warmth of the sun.

Weapons to fight the enemy.

Alcohol to warm the body.

Soldiers to fight on the front lines.

Commanders to lead them.

To Irene, who suffered from chronic shortages of human and material resources, Oknodie appeared to be an attractive talent.

“The place she’s supposed to return to doesn’t seem that great either.”

“Oknodie loves her parents and butler.”

“We don’t know if they love her back.”

If they truly cared for Oknodie, would they leave an 11-year-old child so lonely and desolate?

Giselle had no proper response to Irene’s point.

Honestly, she agreed.

The Wiheomhae Foundation.

All the bad rumors surrounding them might be true.

That Oknodie grew up being abused, is still being threatened by them, and that an even darker future awaits her at the end of her brief freedom at the academy.

In that case, wouldn’t it be better for Oknodie’s future to follow Irene to the North?

Northern Grand Duchess Irene’s image in the North surpasses that of the Emperor in the Central Empire.

With her popularity exceeding even that of the Northern Kingdom’s royal family, many people would cherish, protect, and keep Oknodie company if she were with Irene.

A future might come where they, as her friends and protectors, would also migrate to the North.

‘Huh. I’ve really fallen for that child too much.’

From abandoning my main job to enroll in the academy, to imagining a future where we go to the North together after graduation—I now find it hard to imagine a life apart from that child.

“Well, we’ll see.”

Oknodie had buried her head on the table, fidgeting with her hair.

Watching her pitiful figure from afar, the two simply waited.

Wondering when those shameless so-called guardians of Oknodie would finally show up.