Chapter 130

Mia-ra shrieked as if Jun-sang had said something ridiculous, but he ignored her and extended his hand to Henes. It was natural that Henes quickly took his hand. The two of them began to walk down the forest path at a leisurely pace, as if they were taking a stroll, and the Crimson Wolf followed behind them with the child on its back.

“Aren’t you going to run?”

“…”

“Seriously, aren’t you going to run?”

“…”

“Seriously, seriously aren’t you going to run?”

Even if he wanted to ignore her, he couldn’t help but be bothered by her constant whining beside his ear. Jun-sang finally couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed Mia-ra’s wing as if catching a dragonfly, bringing her in front of his eyes. The fairy’s reaction was a sight to behold.

“Ooh, gently… I don’t like it rough.”

Seeing Mia-ra’s flushed face, twisting her body and speaking in a nasal voice, Jun-sang sighed again.

“Whew…”

But Henes, watching from the side, burst into laughter at the squabble between Jun-sang and the fairy.

“Hehe…”

It is often said that girls her age are at a time where they would laugh just by looking at a rolling leaf. While that is an exaggeration, it is certainly a time of purity and brightness. For Henes, not laughing at the comical squabble between the stoic Jun-sang and the tiny fairy was nothing short of torture.

“I-I’m sorry. It’s just…”

Henes, who had burst out laughing, quickly apologized to Jun-sang. But Jun-sang shook his head.

“It’s fine.”

He then asked Mia-ra, who was still twisting her body and speaking in a nasal voice with her wing caught, “Mia-ra.”

“Yes?”

“I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know anything about the Spirit Gate?”

But Mia-ra shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t really remember anything.”

“Is that so.”

Jun-sang nodded and gently placed her back on his shoulder. Mia-ra seemed to think for a moment and then said, “Hmm… the old lady Unia might know.”

“Unia?”

Jun-sang, who was trying to recall who that was, remembered the plump older fairy who had first given him the Fairy Powder and frowned. But Mia-ra, completely oblivious to Jun-sang’s expression, continued, “She’s the oldest fairy in the village right now.”

Come to think of it, in a village that felt like it was full of children, she was the only one who had an ‘older woman’ vibe.

“I see.”

As Jun-sang nodded with an expression of understanding, Mia-ra quickly added, “And she’s the best at magic.”

“Magic?”

“Yes. Even though I’m a fairy knight, if we were to really fight, I wouldn’t stand a chance against her. Once, she chased away a rat this big all by herself with magic.”

“…”

Henes looked like she believed it, but when the word ‘rat’ came up, Jun-sang’s face scrunched up as he remembered the fight with the rat during the tutorial.

In any case, as they walked quietly along the path, talking, they soon arrived at the clearing in front of the cave where the mercenaries had been digging. Jun-sang glanced around and saw that a fairly large clearing had been made, as if they intended to set up a camp there, and a pile of logs, seemingly for supporting a mineshaft, was stacked neatly on one side.

“It would be a good idea to stay here for a while.”

Jun-sang immediately took out the Container House from his inventory and placed it in the clearing. While Henes had seen this several times, it was an amazing sight for Mia-ra, the fairy knight, and the child on the Crimson Wolf.

“Wow! Wow! How is this possible!”

Mia-ra fussed and busily ran around the Container House, but Jun-sang ignored her, opened the door, and said to Henes, “Henes.”

“Yes.”

“Could I ask you for one favor?”

“Of course. Tell me.”

“I’d like you to take care of washing the child.”

Henes looked at the child, who was still mesmerized by the Container House with their mouth agape, and quickly nodded.

“That’s easy enough. Leave it to me.”

Jun-sang smiled and stroked Henes’s head. It was easy to say, but washing a child was no small task. Moreover, she was a young lady from a good family, who, as they say, had never had to get her hands wet.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Henes’s face flushed slightly as she accepted Jun-sang’s touch. When he took his hand away, she quickly approached the child and said softly, “Come here.”

The child still looked wary but did not resist Henes’s touch. Henes helped the child off the wolf’s back, just as Jun-sang had done for her, and then took their small hand and went inside the Container House.

“I’ll turn on the boiler, so wait a moment.”

“Okay. I’ll get ready.”

After Henes and the child went into the changing room, Jun-sang first went to the machine room, turned on the boiler, and checked how much water was left in the tank.

“Hmm…”

Since he had been staying in a hotel after going to Seoul, the water tank was quite empty. Jun-sang summoned the Elemental Dragon, fused it with Morning Dew, and filled the water tank. When he came back to the living room, he found Mia-ra looking around with a curious expression. What caught her attention the most was the large mirror on one side of the wall.

“Wow! Wow! How can this be!”

Seeing her cupping her cheeks with both hands and exclaiming in admiration, he was reminded of the first time Henes saw a hand mirror, and he let out a chuckle.

Jun-sang summoned all the wolves and let them roam around the Container House, and also gave Mong-mong-i and the Elemental Dragon some free time. Since there was no time limit on the quest anyway, he figured it was okay to relax for a day.

When Mong-mong-i was summoned, it quickly went up to the table, flapped its small wings, and briefly glanced at Mia-ra, who was flying around the Container House. But that was only for a moment. Mong-mong-i soon lost interest, took a chocolate bar out of its pocket, and started gnawing on it.

Mia-ra, who was looking around the Container House, saw the squirrel gnawing on a mysterious black lump and became curious.

“What’s that? Is it tasty?”

“…”

But Mong-mong-i ignored Mia-ra, lay on its back, placed the chocolate bar on its stomach, and focused solely on gnawing on it with its front paws.

When she was ignored like that, Mia-ra flared up and shouted, “How dare a mere squirrel ignore me, Mia-ra, a descendant of a hero fairy! Do you want to be punished?”

As something kept buzzing annoyingly next to it, Mong-mong-i, still lying on its back, turned its head slightly to look at Mia-ra. She was about to shout again at its serene attitude, but when a crimson light suddenly flashed in the squirrel’s eyes, Mia-ra quickly closed her mouth. Only then did she realize. That squirrel was one of the animals that Jun-sang raised, just like the Elemental Dragon.

“Hmph… I hope you get an upset stomach.”

In the end, all she could do was grumble and watch Mong-mong-i.

Jun-sang watched the scene and suddenly had a good idea.

“Mia-ra.”

“Yes?”

“Do you want to eat this?”

In his hand, a delicious-looking piece of chocolate bar had appeared.

“No… well… it’s not like I particularly want to eat it…”

There wasn’t a particularly delicious smell, nor was it brightly colored like fresh fruit, but seeing Mong-mong-i munch on it so happily had made her curious.

As Mia-ra hesitated, fidgeting with her fingers, Jun-sang said again, “You don’t want to eat it? Then I can’t help it. I’ll just have to give it to this guy.”

In the end, Mia-ra chose to satisfy her curiosity instead of her pride as a descendant of a hero fairy and her honor as a fairy knight.

“W-wait…”

“Hm?”

“If you insist, then I suppose I have no choice. I’ll give it a try out of courtesy.”

“…”

Jun-sang smiled silently, as if to say, ‘I knew it,’ and placed a piece of the chocolate bar on a small plate and handed it to Mia-ra.

Mia-ra looked at the piece of chocolate bar on the plate, took out the sword from her scabbard, and cut a small piece from the corner.

“Well… bon appétit.”

After politely saying her goodbyes, Mia-ra carefully put the piece of chocolate bar in her mouth.

“!”

Mia-ra’s eyes widened, and then her expression softened into a silly, wide smile.

“Hehe…”

It was a strange expression that was more than just from something being tasty. But that was only for a moment. Mia-ra once again took out her sword, skillfully cut the chocolate bar into smaller pieces, and then sat down on the plate and began to eat it happily.

One bite and a silly smile. Another bite and a silly smile. After repeating this somewhat goofy action, Mia-ra finally realized that she had finished all the chocolate bar on the plate, and her happy expression was replaced with one of despair.

“I-I already… ate it all…”

Seeing her look like she was about to cry, Jun-sang chuckled and asked, “Is it good?”

Mia-ra, as if she had been waiting for him to ask, nodded enthusiastically and replied, “Yes! It’s so, so, so delicious!”

“That’s good.”

Jun-sang said to Mia-ra, who was looking at him with a desperate expression, “Do you want more?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm… but this is a very rare item…”

“I-is it really?”

Jun-sang made a troubled expression and then said to Mia-ra again, “Actually… as I said before, I need information about the Spirit Gate. I was hoping you could go to the village and bring the fairies who know about it. Can you do that?”

Mia-ra jumped up and replied with a formal posture, just as she had when she was first appointed as a fairy knight, “Leave it to me! I, Mia-ra, will definitely complete this mission on the name of the hero fairy!”

Jun-sang couldn’t help but chuckle at her words. A name being sold for a single piece of chocolate. He wondered what the hero fairy would think if they saw this.

In any case, the deal was made.

“Then, I’m counting on you.”

“Yes!”

Mia-ra immediately flapped her wings and went out of the Container House. As Mia-ra left and the Container House became quiet, Jun-sang felt a little tired. He thought about it, and considering that he had been on his way to dinner when he received the quest, it was now the time he would have finished eating and gone to bed. Was this jet lag?

Jun-sang began to prepare dinner slowly. However, having been used to the gourmet meals of a luxury hotel for a short period, he couldn’t help but feel that the instant meals he had stored were a bit pathetic. Of course, considering the time he had to eat rat meat during the tutorial, being able to eat proper food at all, instant or otherwise, was a great luxury, but he didn’t like the idea of serving it to Henes.

In any case, as he was preparing dinner, the bathroom door opened, and Henes and the child appeared. Henes, wrapped in a robe, was holding the hand of the child, who was wrapped in a large white t-shirt. She saw Jun-sang preparing a meal in the kitchen.

“Jun-sang, what do you think? She’s unrecognizable, right?”

“…”

At Henes’s words, Jun-sang carefully looked at the child. As she said, after being washed clean, the child looked pretty enough to be mistaken for a noble. The unkempt hair was a bit of a flaw, but her large blue eyes and small, plump red lips made even the stoic Jun-sang find her very cute.

Jun-sang nodded and said to Henes, “You did well. Go and wait. I’ll be ready soon.”

“Okay!”

Henes replied in a bright voice and was about to take the child to the bed when she suddenly remembered something and turned back to Jun-sang.

“Oh, right, Jun-sang.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you know?”

“What?”

“This child… is a girl.”

Henes said it as if she had made a great discovery, but Jun-sang replied indifferently, “Is that so.” Henes, who had thought he might have known all along and entrusted her with the task of bathing the child, pouted at his calm reaction.