chapter_0585

585 – Children’s Protection Zone

585 – Children’s Protection Zone

Gaeul seemed frightened by the sound coming from her throat, as she fidgeted with her neck for a while.

Then, perhaps realizing that touching it wouldn’t give her a proper assessment, she asked me.

“Is Gaeul’s throat broken?”

“No, Gaeul’s throat is fine. It’s all good.”

“Is it not broken?”

“Yeah. It’s not broken.”

I could see Gaeul sighing in relief at my answer.

Then, looking a bit puzzled, she tilted her head.

“Why not?”

Gaeul pointed to her throat.

There was a sound like a crack, but it didn’t break, leaving her bewildered.

“It can make a cracking sound even if it’s not broken.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Want to hear?”

I pressed on my finger joints.

But for some reason, no sound came out.

Thanks to that, Gaeul’s head tilted again.

“Huh?”

“Wait a second…”

Maybe my strength was too weak.

I pressed harder on the joint.

Just as a bit of fear began to creep in, a crack sounded from my finger.

A sound also escaped my mouth.

“Crack!”

Did she think my finger broke?

Startled, Gaeul grabbed my hand.

“Do it again!”

“Yeah. A cracking sound came from my finger, right?”

“…Huh?”

“No, you don’t have to say ‘huh.’ My finger isn’t broken.”

I showed Gaeul my finger.

Even though it looked fine, Gaeul started licking my hand.

Lick lick—

She thought licking would make it better.

Seeing Gaeul continuously licking my finger seemed strange, so Saebyeok approached me.

“What are you doing?”

“I cracked my finger, and Gaeul is licking it.”

“Cracked? Did you get hurt?”

Saebyeok sent me a worried glance.

I made a cracking sound with my other hand for Saebyeok.

I thought I’d be used to it after doing it once, but I was startled again with a ‘crack.’

“Oh, you made a sound with your hand?”

“Yeah. Can you do it too, Saebyeok?”

“Hmm…”

Saebyeok, looking down at her hand, lightly pressed on her finger joint.

Then, a loud crack echoed, and she was taken aback.

“Uh…?”

Is it really broken?

I grabbed Saebyeok’s wrist in surprise, but she didn’t seem to be in pain.

“Saebyeok, are you okay…?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

Seeing Saebyeok looking perfectly fine gave me a sense of relief.

I could understand why Gaeul was so startled.

“Making a cracking sound is kind of scary.”

“Yeah. Then I won’t do it anymore…”

Saebyeok stopped mid-sentence and stared at something.

Following Saebyeok’s gaze, I saw Gaeul pressing her finger joints.

“Medicine…! Medicine…!”

It seemed like she wanted to make a cracking sound like us, but unfortunately, no sound came out.

Making a cracking sound surprisingly required skill.

“…Crack.”

After a moment of contemplation, Gaeul made a sound with her mouth.

Then she glanced at us.

“Wow.”

“Gaeul made a sound too.”

A sound made with the mouth is still a sound.

I praised Gaeul along with Saebyeok.

Perhaps because we became part of the same cracking family, Gaeul burst into giggles.

Our kids knew how to enjoy even the smallest things.

**

That afternoon.

I visited the guild’s blacksmith with the kids.

It was to see Haneul’s amazing skills.

“Don’t touch this because it’s hot…?”

“Okay! Got it!”

Haneul took out the molten glass from the furnace.

Then she poured the molten glass into a mold she had prepared in advance.

“This magic circle here will cool the glass quickly.”

Haneul tapped on the panel with the magic circle drawn on it.

Then the circle began to glow, and it started cooling the red-hot glass.

“Is it done?”

“Yes…”

Haneul took the glass out of the mold.

What came out was a perfectly shaped ‘empty bottle.’

“Whoa!”

“…!”

The ones most surprised by the empty bottle were Levinas and Gaeul.

Levinas was so astonished that he fell to his knees.

“Haneul-nim.”

“Yes, yes…?”

“Ju-in…”

“Uh…”

Levinas, still on his knees, grabbed Haneul’s hand.

Gaeul also followed Levinas and grabbed Haneul’s hand.

Gaeul calling Haneul ‘master’ was shocking.

“We are now rich! We’ll make tons of empty bottles and sell them…!”

“Let’s do it!”

Levinas and Gaeul spun around Haneul excitedly.

“Levinas will sell a lot of empty bottles and build a castle of carrots!”

“Gaeul will eat! Slurp slurp.”

“Slurp slurp? A swimming pool filled with a hundred won?!”

“Gah…!”

While Levinas and Gaeul were blooming with imagination, Haneul wiggled her mechanical fingers and poked Levinas’s shoulder.

“Um, Levinas-nim…”

“Yeah?”

“Unfortunately, it costs more to make empty bottles…”

“Huh? How much does it cost?”

“It’s about four hundred won in losses…”

“…”

Thud.

Levinas collapsed onto the blacksmith’s floor.

I thought he would be in despair, but he looked somewhat happy.

“Levinas, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Levinas is satisfied with having big dreams…!”

“Wow.”

That was quite mature.

I squatted down and patted Levinas’s belly.

“Sorry, we can’t afford it… I wanted to show you how to make empty bottles…”

“It’s okay! It was fun to see how the bottles are made! And Levinas can pick them up and sell them himself!”

“Magic!”

Even though they could have been disappointed, our kids didn’t express any dissatisfaction towards Haneul.

Thanks to that, Haneul’s tail wagged quickly.

“Since we’re on the topic, Levinas should go pick up some cool bottles!”

“Gaeul too.”

Levinas and Gaeul ran off to pick up bottles.

Since we didn’t have anything particular to do, we followed behind Levinas and Gaeul.

“Gaeul, where are we picking up bottles today?”

“Jokki.”

We walked along Gaeul’s finger.

It didn’t seem like we were walking according to any rules; it just looked like we were walking according to our moods.

As we wandered through the neighborhood alleys, Levinas jumped over a fence.

Beyond the fence was a surprisingly small playground.

“Wow! A tiny playground.”

“Yeah. It looks like a daycare playground.”

“Daycare? Is this a house for children?”

“Um… not really, it’s more like a kindergarten.”

“Kindergarten! Levinas has outgrown kindergarten!”

Ahem.

Levinas puffed out his chest and started walking.

Then he let out another long gasp.

“Hmm?”

Is there something surprising nearby?

I looked around, but there didn’t seem to be anything remarkable.

Just as I was about to ask Levinas what was going on, he walked down the street with a serious yet confident demeanor.

He stretched his arms back and forth like a soldier on parade.

“Levinas.”

“Yeah?”

“What was that just now?”

At my question, Levinas raised his chin.

Then he pointed to the words written on the ground with his finger.

[Children’s Protection Zone]

“Children’s Protection Zone?”

“Yeah! This is a zone that protects children!”

A sign instructing drivers to be cautious because it’s a road frequently traveled by children.

It seemed Levinas interpreted it in a different way.

“It’s a zone where children are protected?”

“Yeah! If something scary happens, they can come here!”

“Oh…”

A zone that protects children.

It was a novel idea that made me chuckle.

“But who protects the children?”

“…Magic?”

“Magic?”

“Yeah! There’s magic here that punishes people who do bad things to children!”

“Wow.”

It would be nice if such a zone existed.

But unfortunately, the Children’s Protection Zone wasn’t that kind of place.

Just as I was about to reveal the truth to Levinas, he suddenly started running off in the distance.

“Levinas, where are you going?”

“Wait here for a moment!”

“Huh?”

We stood in the Children’s Protection Zone, waiting for Levinas.

After waiting for about five minutes, we spotted Levinas running towards us, screaming.

“Stop right there!”

“Eek!”

Levinas was running away from us, chased by Hanyeoreum.

Both of them looked like they were playing around, laughing.

“Ahem!”

Levinas, who reached us and stepped into the Children’s Protection Zone, looked up at Hanyeoreum with his chest puffed out.

Suddenly stopping and looking up confidently seemed odd, causing Hanyeoreum to tilt her head.

“What’s up?”

“Children’s Protection Zone!”

“Children… oh?!”

Hanyeoreum grabbed her head after confirming the white words written on the ground.

Then she began to act like a villain.

“Cough, to enter the Children’s Protection Zone…!”

“Hehe! Children are invincible here!”

Levinas shook his shoulders side to side.

Hanyeoreum chuckled at his provocative behavior.

“But do you know, Levinas?”

“Yeah?”

“Inside, I’m still a child.”

At Hanyeoreum’s statement, Levinas’s ears perked up.

We quietly watched the intriguing scene.

“If your heart is young, what’s the difference…?”

“If your heart is young, you’re treated as a child in the Children’s Protection Zone.”

“Gasp! Is that so?!”

“Yeah. And it doesn’t apply to children among themselves!”

Thud.

Hanyeoreum lifted Levinas up.

Gasp.

She started tickling the surprised Levinas.

“Everyone run away! The Children’s Protection Zone doesn’t apply!”

“Whoa!”

At Levinas’s shout, we instinctively turned around and ran away.

Eek eek!

Levinas, puffed up in the Children’s Protection Zone, met his end.