Haeli was bored. It was because Uncle had some work and went out with Aunt.
“He’ll be back after work, so listen well to Uncle and Unnie.”
‘But that wasn’t all.’
As Haeli roamed around the restaurant for a while,she heard a thunderous voice.
“Because Uncle is busy, he doesn’t pay enough attention to our Haeli. There are too many people, and I’m worried Haeli might get hurt from the hot food… So, maybe she should wait upstairs for a bit? Soon, Jaewoo, who lives next door, will come over to play.”
It was lunchtime, the peak hour.
“I hope Jaewoo oppa comes to play soon, rather than playing with Jaewoo oppa! When will Sister Yeona come?”
Because of that, Haeli was alone. It would be at least another hour before high school student Yeona came home.
Haeli pouted and kicked the ground absentmindedly. And then it happened.
“Haeli, come upstairs.”
Oh Jaewoo’s dad, who lived in the same alley, came up to the second floor. He had come after hearing Dok Jong-pal’s SOS, feeling concerned that Haeli was alone.
That’s why they say it takes a village to raise a child.
“Uncle, Jaewoo oppa. Hi.”
“Yeah. Haeli was alone, so I brought Jaewoo oppa with me. We even brought toys.”
“Hehe. Hi, Haeli.”
Oh Moon-se, Oh Jaewoo’s dad, shook the toy bundle.
“Toys? I have toys too!”
Haeli also had toys. Didn’t Trigo make them for her? She took out a toy she had been playing with in the yard and showed it. She even swung it around.
“Oh. Ha. Ha. Is that Haeli’s toy?”
“Yeah. You grab this and play by hammering like this. Bang bang bang!”
Oh Moon-se chuckled with a puzzled smile as he looked at Haeli. It’s no wonder, as what was in Haeli’s hands was a small hammer.
“That’s a toy? It’s just a small hammer in size. Wow. Quite sturdy form, too! Truly, this household is unique.”
Indeed, it was a member of an extraordinary household. If the somewhat timid son could be with Haeli, he might become more confident.
“I see. Haeli is quite brave.”
“Hehe. Thank you, no, thank you very much!”
“Yeah. But since we brought new toys today, have fun with them. I’ll give them to Jaewoo oppa before I leave. Okay?”
Dragons naturally like flashy things. Haeli, whose attention was instinctively drawn to the colorful and dazzling toys, nodded her head.
After Oh Moon-se left, only Oh Jaewoo and Haeli were left on the second-floor yard. Oh Jaewoo unpacked the toy bundle.
“Alright, let me show you! Look at this.”
The toy turned out to be none other than a laundry playset. It included a stick, soap, a washing machine, and clothes.
Jaewoo divided the clothes and explained the game to Haeli.
“First, you dip the soap in water and scrub the clothes with it, then use the stick to beat the clothes to get rid of the dirty germs. Finally, put them in the washing machine, and it’s done!”
“Wow!”
“Shall we quickly get rid of the dirty germs?”
“Sure!”
“The one who beats faster wins!”
However, there was a problem. There were many clothes, but only one stick. And this posed a very big problem. The problem started with competitiveness.
Some time later.
“Give me the stick quickly, too, oppa!”
“Just a moment. I’m doing the laundry now.”
I want to do the laundry too! Haeli felt like her heart would burst waiting for the stick.
Whether he knew Haeli’s feelings or not, Jaewoo continued to play with the stick. Bang! Bang! Bang!
“I want to do it too. You’ve been doing it all along, oppa! When I washed two, you washed five.”
“Oh no! You can’t! I brought this!”
Eventually, a stick-snatching battle ensued. Jaewoo, holding the stick, began to run around, avoiding Haeli’s attempts to grab it.
If she used her abilities, she could easily snatch the stick. But Haeli endured and chose another way.
“Oppa, give me the stick or I’ll dirty the clean clothes.”
Threatening with the clothes scattered on the floor as hostages. This startled Jaewoo, who exclaimed.
“Haeli, you’re such a mischievous kid, aren’t you?”
“You’re short too, oppa,” she retorted.
“Hey, no informal language!”
Haeli, already tired from her lessons in proper speech, felt a headache coming on. Getting scolded for speaking casually again… tears welled up in her eyes.
“I’m short too… wahh!”
“Are you kidding me? Does being pretty make it okay to be rude?”
“Yeah. Because I’m pretty.”
“Fine, whatever!”
“Then give me the stick.”
Oops, that wasn’t what he meant. Jaewoo quickly backpedaled.
“Let’s decide this fairly. Whoever did more laundry gets the stick!”
“…Okay.” Haeli agreed.
A small smile crept onto her face. Time for victory! She reached out her hand for the prize.
Jaewoo’s pile of laundry looked sad and small.
Meanwhile, Haeli’s pile was still big and fluffy.
Moments later…
“Hehe, I have fifteen! How many do you have, oppa?”
“Seven.”
“Looks like oppa lost?”
“That can’t be right. This isn’t fair!”
“That’s because you didn’t wash as hard as I did.”
“Haeli, stop talking like that!”
Jaewoo’s outburst made Haeli frown.
“Ugh, I don’t like it! You said to be fair.”
“You get more strength when you’re seven! Little kids would always win.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“For example, imagine a Cockatrice walking, and there’s a Blood Mantis. Think of the Cockatrice as being seven years old and the Blood Mantis as five.”
“…?”
“But the Blood Mantis attacks, right? Then the Cockatrice would eat the Blood Mantis! It’s the same thing.”
“Are you saying you’ll eat me?”
“For example! And the Cockatrice can breathe fire. Like this.”
Jaewoo conjured a fireball the size of a ping-pong ball on his palm.
“So, now, you’ll burn me?”
“That’s not what I meant! But, for example! And the Cockatrice can breathe fire. Like this.”
Startled by Haeli’s words, Jaewoo quickly dispelled the fireball.
“What have I done? Oh no, this is bad. What should I do?”
Jaewoo reflected on his actions, his face filled with fear. Then he apologized.
“I didn’t mean… I’m sorry, I messed up. Haeli, I’ll give you the stick…”
But before Jaewoo could finish speaking,
Haeli conjured an even larger fireball.
“See, I can breathe bigger fire! You can’t burn Haeli!”
“Uh, uh, uh?”
Haeli shouted aggressively, and Jaewoo whimpered. A moment of silence fell.
“….”
“….”
“Whimper.”
Jaewoo, with wide eyes and his mouth shut tight. Seeing him like that, Haeli belatedly remembered her father’s advice.
But the milk was already spilled.
She had no choice but to clean up quickly.
“Oppa showed me first, so I showed him! So, do we have to keep this a secret? Why won’t you answer?”
“Uh… uh.”
“In return, I’ll give you my toy, oppa.”
Haeli discreetly handed over the stick.
It was the price of keeping the secret.
Thus, Haeli learned instinctively how to handle situations.
***
The atmosphere among the masterminds planning the Association’s terrorist attack was extremely somber.
Their mission to eliminate the awakened beings had failed.
“[…According to Association officials, many of the terrorists have been identified as Association employees, causing great astonishment among many. Currently, the Association is appointing awakened individuals as investigators to reconstruct the traces of the terrorist attack. As a result, a significant number of terrorists have been identified. The Association is…].”
The news of the disastrous plan failure continued to come through the news. And the hearts of those watching it were heavy.
Why wouldn’t they be? The first mission given after the contract ended in such a dismal failure. Failure inevitably leads to turmoil.
“They praised us so much for being so good at this, but look at how we messed up? How is it that not a single person came back?”
“We delegated the roles as suborganizations, right? Did those bastards convey the instructions properly?”
“Suborganizations my foot. Haven’t you heard the news that they’re tracing the terrorists? At this rate, our identities might be exposed too.”
Some members of the command began to criticize the villain who was supposed to be responsible for conveying the mission. Of course, the former villain wasn’t just sitting there quietly.
“Who’s saying what to whom! Damn it, I recruited these kids to carry out the mission, and not a single one succeeded? What are these dimensionals? Huh? This is why we didn’t use the Association’s trash in the first place. If you give proper instructions, what’s the problem? If they can’t follow through. Huh?”
“Enough of this nonsense. Did you not hear the news about tracing the terrorists? Are you really affiliated with the Association’s sidekicks?”
“But…!”
“Isn’t that right? Even in your opinion, doesn’t your argument make sense? Are you speechless?”
“But this guy is really…”
Just as the situation was about to escalate, someone spoke up.
“Didn’t we say not to fight among siblings?”
Someone found the secret room. It was Park Won. His appearance quickly diffused the tense atmosphere.
“Ahem…”
“We weren’t fighting. We were just having a discussion!”
“Didn’t we say there was a meeting today that we couldn’t attend?”
“I heard that too, but what’s going on here? Didn’t we clearly say we were going to get the necessary information for the next plan?”
Someone asked Park Won, and he threw the documents he was holding onto the table.
“That’s right. If only that guy wasn’t there.”
It was a report to be sent to the head of the Iron Blood Guild, Park Won’s father.
The document contained the Association’s investigation results and information related to the terrorist attack that had not been disclosed to the press.
Of course, there was also information about Dok Jong-sik. His related matters alone took up three pages.
The gathered individuals meticulously scanned the documents. And at one point, their gaze stopped as if they had stumbled upon something.
It was none other than this part:
[Dok Jong-sik]
– Possesses the ability to discern Demonic energy.
.
.
.
“What? There was a variable? It’s because of this guy that the terrorist attack failed! How did this bastard figure us out?”
“More importantly, this guy doesn’t seem like an ordinary guy.”
And because of this, Park Won skipped the meeting scheduled for today. Just in case he ran into Jong-sik. And also, in case he recognized his whole team.
“Yeah. Dok Jong-sik isn’t an ordinary guy. He’s a stumbling block threatening our hegemony. A stumbling block deeply buried underground.”
Park Won said this with gritted teeth.
***
At that moment.
Jong-sik arrived at the Blue House with Pyeong-ari.
It was to attend a meeting hosted by the Blue House. Park Won was also supposed to participate in that meeting.
“But is it really a place I need to go?”
“Of course. Without Commander Dok, the Jong-pal Team would be incomplete! So you must attend this meeting.”
“The Jong-pal Team without Jong-pal?”
“No, it’s the Jong-sik Team without Jong-sik.”
I have no idea what they’re talking about. Seeing Jong-sik’s puzzled expression, Pyeong-ari laughed and added.
“The topic of the meeting requires Commander Jong-sik’s attendance.”
“What on earth is the topic?”
“That’s…”
