Chapter 113
Regardless of how I felt, the kid swung his legs in the air as if he were outright excited. At some point, both Lee Hoin and I had stopped moving. A subtly ominous feeling crept up from the tips of my toes.
“… someone is waiting for me. Unfortunately. And I have to leave together with the guy next to me. We have the same goal.”
At that, the kid grabbed me and started shouting.
“Don’t lie!! If you don’t have a family, who would be waiting for you?!”
“Quiet.”
I tried to calm him down, but it didn’t work. He was already worked up, shouting hysterically.
I briefly looked around, wondering if the statues or Ernst would come.
“Look at me! I’m talking right now!! Why are you ignoring me!!”
—
[What a child… every word is a gem.]
—
“Who do you think you are, ignoring me!!”
After that typical bratty noble line, a tiny fist came flying.
Well then.
I raised an eyebrow and set him down.
“I told you to be quiet.”
“No! Why should I!! Who do you think you are!!”
Even that insult made my head spin a little, but the kid kept screaming. Eventually, after scanning the surroundings, I gestured to Lee Hoin.
We’re leaving him behind. We’ve basically reached the place where we can find the next will anyway. There was no need to keep indulging this brat.
Of course, I don’t know if the next will is the last one or not. Still, we’ve managed to find them so far without him… it should be fine.
‘He makes things easier, but he’s not essential.’
As I walked away, the kid who had been shouting froze.
“……”
I could feel his gaze following me as I passed by. Whether he watched or not, I kept walking.
Lee Hoin let out a small sigh.
There’s no need to pity him. He crossed the line. No, rather than me acting like this because he crossed the line…
‘Something feels off.’
I don’t know if he’s acting like this because he’s just a spoiled kid, or because he’s something other than human. But no matter how you look at it, he’s not a normal child.
In the end, he stared at me with shocked eyes, then ran up and struck the back of my knee precisely with his fist.
‘What the–’
I nearly collapsed awkwardly, but before I could fall, Lee Hoin caught me and steadied me.
“Answer me!!”
He looked ready to grab me by the collar at any moment. I sighed and said:
“Answer what? I already answered. I have to leave, and someone is waiting for me outside.”
His face filled with dissatisfaction, unable to understand. It was obvious from his eyes that he believed I was lying.
“For such a… trivial reason…”
“Do you want me to say it more directly?”
I don’t know if words like this would get through to a kid.
“I don’t want to live here. I have somewhere I need to go, somewhere I need to return to. Whether someone’s waiting for me or not… that’s not the point.”
“…What?”
His eyes widened in shock.
“No matter how much you shout at me, that won’t change. I can’t stay here. I didn’t come here to stay in the first place.”
I spoke clearly, word by word, looking at the kid. Otherwise, it didn’t seem like he’d understand.
“From your perspective, we’re invaders, right? From our perspective, you’re the invaders. That’s why we came here.”
His eyes went round. As if hearing this for the first time, he stared at me blankly, stunned.
“…What did you say?”
I thought he’d given up. So I slowly walked past him again. Staying here wasn’t a good idea anyway… he kept shouting.
At that moment, a ringing sound filled my ears.
BEEEEP
A sharp, piercing noise.
And the source of that ringing…
“LIVE HERE!!”
It was him.
His voice cut through the ringing, making my head spin. I grabbed my head and stopped in place.
“I’M ORDERING YOU!!”
—
[You have heard a chilling sound.]
[Sanity has decreased by 1.]
—
My sanity dropped.
From just that one scream.
As soon as I regained my senses, I started moving faster. With a voice that loud, there was no way anything would come.
As I moved, the kid rushed after me and started hitting my body repeatedly, panting as he kept striking me.
Ah, seriously.
‘…I’ve never properly learned child counseling techniques.’
It’s not like I’m completely clueless. I’ve done volunteer work related to counseling a few times… but only as an assistant. I don’t have any professional skills.
What I did there was just basic work, observing children’s behavior during counseling and writing it down, delivering documents, and cleaning up toys.
Of course, I learned something from it, but…
‘I never really studied child-specific programs.’
My focus was mostly on teenagers. Or adults. Honestly, child counseling felt like a whole different level… too difficult to grasp, so I gave up on it.
I glanced around briefly. Despite the kid screaming like this, not a single statue or even a trace of Ernst appeared.
I don’t know why.
“Stop.”
I grabbed his striking hand and pulled it down. Even after being caught, his hand kept thrashing, trying to hit me.
“Fine. Go ahead. I’ll wait until you calm down.”
Even at my words, the boy struggled angrily for a long time before finally breaking down, his voice trembling.
“Stay here. Live here……”
As I listened to his muttering, I calmly asked:
“Why do you want me to live here?”
He hesitated.
After chewing his lips several times, he slowly spoke.
“…Because I’m scared.”
And at that moment…
—
[You have acquired a client.]
—
A window appeared.
—
[‘Shabby Counseling Center’ skill is activated.]
—
The skill was activated on him. My expression, which had been about to falter, completely collapsed at the next message.
—
[Due to the low level of the skill, the client ‘□□□□□’ begins to waver into something else instead of entering counseling.]
—
…This skill works on him? On someone who might be an “agent”? And instead of counseling, it turns into something else? Can it avoid it like that?
Everything about this goes completely beyond what I know.
‘What the hell…’
While I stood there in shock, the kid kept speaking.
“Every day, the same day repeats… Ernst cries, and Father is buried in the backyard and cries there……”
“……”
“This place is full of crying. The only ones who don’t cry are you. You bandits.”
Tears fell from his eyes, only to evaporate the moment they dropped.
For a moment, my body wavered. My vision began to fill with “something else.”
***
In a corridor filled with antique elegance, small footsteps moved quickly.
“Young master! Don’t run–you’ll get hurt!”
At the nanny’s affectionate warning, the boy finally stopped running and hurried forward, grabbing the doorknob and flinging the door open.
The well-oiled hinges made no sound.
“…Is that so?”
“I’m sorry, but…”
As the voices carried through, the boy immediately clung to the door.
Of course he did.
The owner of that hushed voice was…
Ernst!
The boy’s eyes filled with admiration.
Ernst… who was he?
His father’s disciple, a hero with countless achievements, someone the boy deeply admired.
After fidgeting for a moment, unable to hold back, the boy stepped inside. The voices became clearer.
They seemed more serious than usual, but they were still the same two people.
“That won’t do, Ernst.”
“Master!”
“It’s time to show those ignorant fools that my work was not in vain. If we can just succeed in lifting the curse–”
Amid words the boy couldn’t understand, he stepped forward.
“Ernst!”
At the sound of his clear voice, the conversation cut off abruptly.
Then both of them turned with smiles… the familiar faces he always knew.
Still Ernst. Still his father.
Perhaps a role that would never change.
“How did you come in? Didn’t I teach you how to behave when guests are present?”
At the stern voice, the boy instinctively buried himself in Ernst’s arms.
“But Ernst isn’t a guest…” he mumbled.
Ernst gently embraced him and answered in his stead:
“That’s right. I’m not a guest, am I?”
His father smiled helplessly, while Ernst looked down at him warmly.
Seeing them both, the boy smiled brightly.
His father, who seemed strict but could never truly be harsh to him. And Ernst, who always treated him gently.
From the boy’s perspective, they were too tall to clearly see their faces.
But Ernst was still family.
His mother had said so. His father had, in the end, acknowledged it too.
Ernst was undoubtedly…
I forcibly cut off the continuing narration.
This…
Is he showing this to me?
What I’m seeing right now…
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