Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: Kirin Class Shiba (5)
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A warm heat emanated from the woman's body embracing me.
-Splashhh.
Water poured from the showerhead mounted on the wall, and Azalea clung tightly to my body, refusing to let go, all while maintaining her smile.
Her marshmallow-like white, soft breasts pressed against my back, squishing softly.
"Doesn't your head sting?"
"Nah."
She lathered her hands with a ton of shampoo and washed my hair.
Having spent time living with Shiba instead of me, she seemed accustomed to washing others, her movements rivaling those of a professional stylist as she worked up a lather in my hair.
Ever so gently, like handling fine porcelain, to keep suds from getting in my eyes. Even as she shampooed my hair, she occasionally pressed her cheek against my back and let out hot breaths.
"This feels so good."
"...You like washing my hair?"
"That's nice too. Being together makes me happy. You wouldn't get it, huh?"
She stretched her arms to press her chest against me, grabbed the showerhead in front of me, and poured warm water over my head.
-Splashhh!
As the suds rinsed away completely, her delicate hands tousled my hair.
"Si-heon has so many girls around him. You wouldn't know."
Suddenly switching to half-formal speech, she buried her face in the nape of my neck.
She sniffed deeply, as if savoring the scent of the body wash.
"Know what?"
"There's this thing. How lonely it is to love just one person. And the feeling of watching girls always flock to that person's side... Imagining some unexpected other girl getting ahead of you, and that girl treating your loved one like scraps, borrowing him for a moment. You wouldn't know, right?"
"...Yeah?"
"Hng... Honestly, I don't know that well either. Just, sometimes when I think about it... I realize how naturally I came to like you. Something like that."
The steamy, misty bathroom was filled with vapor.
The mirror was fogged up, so I couldn't see Azalea clearly behind me, but her voice was so tender and pleasant to listen to.
"At first, I really hated it... but little by little. Very little by little. Even when things were tough, you just quietly shared a drink with me without a word—that gave me so much strength."
"Anyone could do that much, right?"
"If... you hadn't been there, I might have died. And yet—no, that's why—"
Her voice, smooth like rolling jade, sank low before slowly rising back to the surface.
"Thank you for accepting me."
-Splashhh.
Her soft confession wasn't drowned out by the shower noise; instead, it filled the bathroom, riding the saturated steam.
"...Saying stuff like this makes me think we're not your typical couple. Normally, it's supposed to be all about fun... just enjoying ourselves. Dating isn't about being each other's emotional trash bin; it's just messing around with someone, right? Meeting up outside, eating good food, and all that."
"Yeah."
"Sorry if I seem like I'm always leaning on you. Oh. We should go pick up Shiba now, right?"
Azalea gave me one last tight hug, then stood up, looked at me, and flashed a big smile.
There were faint tear tracks around her eyes.
"Get dressed... Shiba's waiting at daycare. Hehe."
Azalea covered her eyes with her hand for emphasis.
"Ugh... I did cry, so stop staring... It's embarrassing."
"You cried?"
"Don't play dumb; you've been staring right at my eyes since earlier..."
"Heh. Let's go."
Azalea took the lead, seemingly embarrassed after our serious talk.
Before she could get out of reach, I extended both arms and wrapped them around her neck in a hug.
"Hey."
"Y-Yes?"
"You still taking your meds these days?"
-Nod.
Azalea stiffened in the back hug, her face flushing as she looked up at me from the front.
"Don't worry so much from now on. You've worried and suffered enough already—why go through it again?"
"......"
"You're precious to me. Stop feeling insecure. You think I started dating you just to hear about you almost dying?"
I mixed in a bit of healing power, gently rubbing her cheek.
The red scar faded away slowly.
Azalea smiled awkwardly yet somehow moved, shyly.
"That's cringy."
"Yeah... hehe."
"That's how I felt too, you know. Come on."
I smacked her butt with a bit of power mixed in.
Azalea jolted her hips hard and widened her eyes at the vanished scar.
"Thank you."
Her words, laden with all sorts of meanings, were unfortunately muffled by the sound of the door opening.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The moment Azalea's room was tidied up, we headed to the daycare.
I entered my room and teleported us to the usual alley behind the daycare.
Having witnessed spatial magic firsthand, Azalea stared at my face with a dumbfounded expression.
"...Where'd you learn this?"
"From a mentor I know. Let's go."
Teleportation. Among everything I've learned so far, nothing's as useful as this.
Of course, the learning process was a nightmare.
I had to memorize all the related theories and papers while getting scolded harshly by Hwang Do... And since messing it up could slice my body apart or make it explode, I had to be extra careful using it.
Still, the rewards for learning it were sweet.
'Except for having to memorize A4 two pages worth of formulas for the coordinates of a single transfer point.'
Plenty generous magic.
Except it can't be used in battle situations where concentration breaks easily. It's the pinnacle of everyday magic.
Of course, others have to use expensive artifacts for it.
Spatial magic is so exclusive that most people don't even know a single mage can cast it.
Just searching online, tons of people believe spatial magic requires dozens of people.
"...What's your major anyway? Magic, swords. You didn't use martial arts in the tournament?"
"Yeah."
As we walked to the daycare, Azalea chattered curiously.
Indeed, after our one round of intimacy easing her lust, Azalea's face no longer showed the intense obsession from before.
"That's the daycare Shiba goes to."
The daycare sign came into view soon after turning the corner.
When I pointed it out, Azalea tightened her arm link and hurried toward it.
-Bye, teacher~!
The daycare kids' squeaky voices came from over there.
"The kids are so cute... Weren't we like that once?"
Azalea teased playfully, and I chuckled, nodding.
That age of pure innocence, full of joy and no worries.
We stepped aside slightly for the kids holding their parents' hands as they walked on the sidewalk.
Just then, at the daycare's main gate, Shiba—dressed in a yellow daycare uniform—emerged, clutching the teacher's stockings.
"What's wrong, Shiba...?"
"Ppi."
"Did friends bully you? Or something bad happen?"
"Ppi!"
"That's weird... No bibimbap today."
Did he mess with the teacher today?
Shin Hye-young's face looked extremely troubled.
Shiba's pouty face gripped the stockings like they might tear, but upon spotting me approaching, his expression hardened menacingly, and he let go.
"...Ppa!"
Finger-pointing straight at Daddy!
Azalea froze, I froze, and Shin Hye-young's fidgeting face turned icy too.
"Shi, Shiba, don't do that to Daddy. Don't! Nooo!"
Hye-young urgently scolded in baby talk, but Shiba seemed even more annoyed, puffing his cheeks full of air before turning to Azalea.
"Ppi?"
*Is that the one?*
Why's he acting up all of a sudden?
Azalea released her arm link, knelt in front of Shiba's nose, and reached out.
"What's wrong, Shiba?"
*Pat pat.*
Under the woman's touch, Shiba's face softened momentarily, but he quickly steadied his mouth and shook his head firmly.
"Mommy...! Nooo!"
Shock declaration.
"Huh... Mommy?"
"Eh?"
Azalea clapped her hand over her mouth in surprise, and beside her, Shin Hye-young widened her eyes and looked at me.
Why are you surprised?
"Ah, ah... So you're the mother."
Her quiet mutter—probably because she thought Hwang Do was Shiba's mom.
More surprising was Shiba suddenly calling Azalea mom.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 【 'World Tree of Purity' is startled! 】 'Yeah, she's your mom—so why's Azalea getting the mom treatment?'
Well, after me, Azalea's the one who's been around the longest.
Even when I was kidnapped unavoidably, Azalea was the first to barge into my room thinking of Shiba.
From a kid's perspective, it's natural to see her as mom.
*Why didn't you show your face in front of the kids at least?*
As I inwardly scolded, Purity attached a sad emoticon and poured out her feelings.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 【 'World Tree of Purity' sobs. 】 The words of a mother whose daughter was stolen.
Anyway, Azalea seemed deeply moved by the situation.
"...I'm mommy?"
"Momm—nooo!"
"Kyaa! Shiba, when did you learn to talk?"
Despite Shiba's cute resistance, Azalea scooped him up and rubbed her cheek against his while gently stroking his branch parts.
"Ppi, ppi...!"
Shiba, flustered, pressed his hand firmly against Azalea's cheek.
Like when you try to kiss a cat and it blocks your mouth with its paw pads—exactly like that.
But a kid's still a kid, huh.
In the warm embrace I'd felt myself, now with gentle, child-considerate touches added, Shiba's "nooo nooo" started slipping away bit by bit.
"Ppi! Nooo... ppi. Ppii. Ppi-hihi."
Shiba... surrendered.
Seeing Shiba—who always yelled and demanded his way—for the first time bend to someone else's will was surprising even for me.
Was all the time spent together paying off?
Azalea gently stroked Shiba's head, and Shiba started purring under her touch.
It had been a while since I heard Shiba's motorcycle-like purring.
"Isn't Shiba super cute? My daughter, my daughter... He called me mom."
"Uh... yeah, sure."
Shin Hye-young clasped her hands in prayer, amazed by Shiba's relaxed face.
"Ah~ So you're the mother... Nice to meet you."
"Hello. Shiba's... hehe. Shiba's mom."
She proudly mentioned the mom title again.
Shiba, having vented his anger only to be forcibly calmed, glared at me subtly, feeling wronged.
"......Ppi."
*Just this once, Dad.*
If I couldn't interpret it, I'd actually worry now.
I looked at Shiba resting his chin on Azalea's shoulder and teasingly smirked at our daughter.
Then I turned back to Shin Hye-young and Azalea.
The Shiba talk, once started, showed no signs of stopping, one topic leading to another endlessly.
"When Shiba's picky... somehow hanging up a picture of Shiba's dad makes him eat a bit."
"Really? He eats everything else... but weirdly won't touch bibimbap. Hehe."
"Bibimbap... Ah. No idea about that. He eats kimchi and veggies fine."
"Tomorrow's bibimbap... Should we try hanging a picture?"
"You will? Wait a sec. I have some saved on my phone... Give me your number; I'll Kakao it over."
"Ah, please do~..."
They pulled out their phones, exchanged photos and numbers.
This teacher, Shin Hye-young, really loves kids. Once you bring up a daycare kid, stories pour out like a dam breaking.
Like how she fell in love with kids after one bowed navel-style greeting in an alley—cute newbie teacher vows and all. That's why I left Shiba with her at first.
'...Anyway.'
"Ppi, ppiing."
Shiba.
You're in for it now.
Seeming to understand the chatter behind him, Shiba's face paled at the word "bibimbap."