Time to go to school

Time to go to school

I couldn’t gauge how amazing the mana circulation method Somteol taught me was, so I couldn’t determine its value.

But one thing was certain: things obtained purely by luck often come with a price.

‘So rather than being greedy unnecessarily.’

I thought it was better to know my place and not grasp at excessive greed, while fidgeting with my tail.

‘There are plenty of ways to make money anyway…!’

If I train hard in magic and healing abilities, I’ll be able to make a lot of money like Han A-rin later.

But I’ve decided not to be greedy for such things.

Han A-rin added a few more things to me.

“Oh, and of course I have no intention of taking what Ha-eun told me for free. I plan to give Ha-eun a certain percentage of the research results, and as a co-owner of the related copyright…”

She’s telling me various things, but honestly, I don’t really understand what she’s saying.

I’m just blinking blankly with a confused expression.

Han A-rin smiles and tells me.

“Anyway, I’ll make sure it goes in a direction that will be helpful for you, Ha-eun, so you can look forward to it.”

I was about to say that it would be better to give it to Somteol rather than to me,

But Han A-rin says she needs to do research and tells me.

“Then I’ll be going to the research building for a while. Stay with the counselor today. Okay?”

Before I could say anything, Han A-rin hurriedly leaves the hospital room.

I’m staring blankly at Han A-rin’s back as she quickly disappears.

Chae-a, who was next to me, speaks to me in a very expectant voice.

“Then shall we go on an adventure?!”

I tilted my head at the word adventure.

I stared at Chae-a blankly, meaning to ask for a more detailed explanation.

Chae-a spoke to me and Yuna with an expectant look in her eyes.

“Chae-a saw it a long time ago…! There’s a big mountain over there. It looks like it would be fun if we go!”

Wondering if the mountain might be dangerous, I asked her to tell me the location just in case.

Chae-a ran quickly to the hospital room window and pointed to the mountain behind the association, saying:

“Early morning!”

At those words, Yuna, Chae-a, and I quickly gathered, stepped on the pillow, and strained to look out the back.

‘It might be doable to go that far?’

As long as we’re near the association, it should be fine if we just say we’re going to the mountain behind.

‘Besides, I’m an adult who’s here.’

It might be okay if I lead the kids well!

Feeling proud about setting a good example as an adult after a long time, I smiled confidently.

I wrote a detailed note on a post-it with a pen from the desk, saying we’d be going to the mountain behind.

‘This should do it.’

With this, all problems should be gone. Probably!

Thinking that writing this note would ease any worries, I said to Chae-a:

“Shall we go then?”

At my words, Chae-a’s eyes sparkled as she nodded vigorously.

*

Unexpectedly, the number of people deciding to climb the mountain behind had grown quite large.

At first, it was just me, Chae-a, and Yuna as the core members.

But then the fluffy one and the black ones also decided to join, so the number became larger than expected.

Thinking it had turned into something like a picnic, I smiled and.

Holding Chae-a and Yuna’s hands tightly, I explained the precautions:

“We shouldn’t run on the mountain, we shouldn’t play around, and also…”

After telling us all sorts of stories.

We decided to go on an adventure to the mysterious mountain behind.

Of course, we almost had an unfortunate incident where we couldn’t even start because the hospital room door was too high.

Thanks to the help of the little black ones, we somehow managed to get outside.

“Going out to play somewhere? Be careful not to fall!”

As we went outside, numerous Hunter-nims walking in the hallway greeted us.

We couldn’t ignore the greetings of these Hunter-nims, so we politely returned each one.

Every time we returned a greeting, the Hunter-nims gave us snacks, so our arms became filled with cookies and candies.

“…!?”

Chae-a was happy because she got snacks, and Yuna said she was happy to have emergency rations, so it wasn’t bad.

Just when I was wondering if it was okay to have so many snacks.

Chae-a raised the snacks she received above her head and said to me.

“I’m going to put these in the secret base and eat them when I’m hungry! Delicious…!”

She giggles, already in a good mood at the thought of eating snacks.

I smiled at Chae-a like that and carefully slipped out of the association building, looking around.

‘We should go that way.’

Since the hospital room was in this area, we should just go straight up this path.

As I was leading the children and looking around, I realized that the location of my hospital room was higher than I thought, and I became puzzled.

‘How on earth did Chae-a find her way to the hospital room?’

It seems there’s no explanation other than that she flew here.

I looked at Chae-a, wondering if she could possibly fly, but.

Chae-a was staring at the snack, seemingly in deep contemplation about whether to eat it or not.

She was so focused on her staring contest with the snack that she didn’t notice my gaze at all.

‘I don’t know.’

Since it’s unlikely that she crawled up the wall, it’s probably safe to assume she flew here.

As I was walking forward with these thoughts in mind.

Chae-a pointed to one side and said to me.

“There’s a baby over there.”

A baby?

I looked around blankly after hearing Yuna’s words.

While having a baby around wasn’t a problem, this mountain environment wasn’t particularly suitable for babies.

So, as I looked around with worried eyes.

I noticed a child crouching on a bench, staring blankly at something.

‘Is it okay for them to be like that without a guardian?’

Seeing this, I decided it wouldn’t do, so ‘as the adult,’ I made up my mind to take care of the baby sitting alone and walked briskly forward to speak to them.

“Baby, what are you doing here?”

At those words, a child who looked about 7 years old turned around and made a strange expression.

Even though they were taller than Yuna, the tallest among us, which felt a bit intimidating.

Still, as the adult, I endured this while trying to maintain the kindest smile possible, when I heard something I couldn’t just let slide.

“I’m not a baby. You’re the baby.”

At those words, I thought about arguing back, but I held it in and sat down on a nearby bench, asking various questions.

“It’s dangerous to be here alone! Where are your mom and dad?”

I showed my adult-like composure(?) and expressed concern for their safety.

However, the little one kept making strange expressions while looking at me and said.

“You’re a baby too. You’re even shorter than me.”

“……”

It was frustrating but true, so I lowered my tail dejectedly.

Yuna, who was next to me, seemed to think this wouldn’t do and stepped in to speak on my behalf.

“Ha-eun is an adult.”

At those words, the unfamiliar child looked at us with an expression of incomprehension, then looked down at me and said.

“An adult but short? That’s weird!”

Why do they have to cowardly speak the truth?

I held Yuna’s hand and thought for a moment, then quickly changed the subject, feeling it was necessary.

“Anyway, why are you here alone?”

 

It was an obvious subject change, but the baby in front of me didn’t seem to mind and went along with it.

“I can see animals if I stay here.”

Chae-a was the first to react to the mention of animals.

Chae-a, who had been hiding next to me, immediately jumped forward upon hearing the word ‘animals’.

Then, looking around here and there, she urgently said.

“Chae-a wants to see too!”

At those words, the child who was already sitting pointed to one side and said.

“They’re over there. Rabbits, squirrels, and sparrows.”

The animals were eating their food, just as the child had said.

It was such a peaceful scene that I found myself staring blankly at it.

Chae-a took out the snacks she had brought and said to us.

“Shall we eat too?”

Then she roughly tore open the bag as she spoke.

As Chae-a opened the snacks, the unfamiliar child seemed to become interested and looked at us.

I gestured that it was okay to eat as much as they wanted, and sat down nearby.

‘Seo-rin might scold me.’

Thinking that I might get scolded for sitting on the cold floor, I was crouching down when.

Yuna, seeing me like that, patted her lap with her palm and said.

“Ha-eun is a baby, so she shouldn’t sit here.”

Then, just like Seo-rin and Han A-rin used to do, she tried to pick me up.

I quickly shook my head and said it was okay.

When I refused, Yuna’s expression quickly became gloomy.

Seeing her expression, I hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly sat lightly on Yuna’s lap.

Yuna hugged me and wagged her tail quickly.

“So why are you guys here anyway?”

Perhaps we had become friendly thanks to the snacks?

The unfamiliar child, who had looked a bit sulky, softened their expression and spoke to us.

I answered their question briefly.

“I came to explore.”

“Explore? Ah, that sounds nice. I used to do that too.”

“…?”

That doesn’t sound right coming from a 7-year-old.

As I was feeling confused, the child sighed deeply and said.

“You guys are too young to understand, but when you’re 7, you have to prepare for elementary school and go to academies. It’s really tough.”

“……”

It’s awkward to know how to respond.

I’m awkwardly smiling and wagging my tail at those words.

Chae-a, who was nearby, spoke with sparkling eyes.

“School and academy. Chae-a wants to go too.”

“I used to feel that way when I was younger, but when I actually reached that age, my mind changed.”

Anyone listening would think this person has lived through it all.

Of course, I knew these words were just imitations of adults, so it was just cute.

Still, I was thinking it’s a bit sad to hear a baby talk like that when suddenly a voice called from afar.

“Jin-ah! Where are you? We need to go to the academy!”

At those words, the child who had just said “I used to feel that way” quickly froze, then started running away somewhere.