The Staff Room's Perfect Crime
Na Hwiyeon leaned against the sofa in the staff lounge, staring into empty space with the eyes of a dead fish. His insides were currently beyond words.
Why did I have to open my big mouth so confidently back then?
"Personally, rather than just following the emergency manual, I'd focus on doing everything possible to prevent emergencies from happening in the first place."
That was the ill-fated remark he'd spat out on his very first day of work, when Yoo Jinchae asked whether he'd even read the manual.
Proactive prevention, my ass…….
By his current state of mind, he wanted to curl up and die of embarrassment. Not one ounce of his own will had gone into it, but it was an undeniable fact that incidents and accidents had plagued the place at an extraordinary rate ever since he joined.
And today, one more had just been added to the pile.
I'm supposed to be the one who keeps his word.
Just picturing the Elumis that should be in Dolphin Class even now made him want to weep.
……But in any case, what was done was done.
From the moment Na Hwiyeon had seen the Elumis inside Nam Taejae's bag, he'd spent the entire day agonizing over it.
What do I do? How do I clean this mess up?
He had taken whatever stopgap measures he could manage in his panic, but…
It was only as dismissal time drew near that he finally reached his conclusion.
This is not something I can solve alone.
A powerful instinct told him that if he rushed out to patch things up by himself, the situation might only balloon further.
And so, all the teachers had been hastily gathered in the staff lounge.
Collective wisdom.
He needed it now, desperately.
He gave a brief explanation, framing what he'd gone through at the "F-Rank Elumis Sanctuary" and what had happened today as one continuous storyline.
Naturally, he focused as much as possible on the single most problematic aspect of the situation: "Taejae smuggled the Elumis out."
And, unsurprisingly, the teachers' reactions upon hearing the whole story were… uniformly devastating.
"Good heavens, if you're going to cause trouble, might as well make it a big one. So you can carry a dungeon monster outside?"
"Team Leader Lee Gyeon is going to keel over when he finds out about this."
"This is… a big problem."
In the midst of that atmosphere, Na Hwiyeon went ahead and presented his opinion first — the conclusion he'd barely managed to wring out of his overheated brain after racking it half to death alone.
"I think the most honest and best course of action would be to tell the company the truth and find a way to send it back."
The frontal approach, plain and simple.
Come out and say it proudly, then clean up the mess!
And the others seemed to think Na Hwiyeon's opinion wasn't half bad, either.
"That is the most honest option, yeah."
"Sounds clean to me? The kid didn't even do it on purpose — surely they'd cut a child some slack~?"
With the sole exception, that is, of the two field-hunter alumni, Yoo Jinchae and Kwon Haeseong.
Yoo Jinchae and Kwon Haeseong looked at each other without a word. For a heartbeat, it was as if the same thought had struck them both.
Yoo Jinchae slowly pulled her gaze away, propped her chin on her hand, and smirked.
……She smirked?
A momentary wave of unease washed over him. Holding his breath without realizing it, he listened to what she said next.
"Frontal approach, love it~ But let's all take note of one thing first, my fellow Bada Kindergarten teachers."
Park Edeun, Kang Sagwa, and Na Hwiyeon all turned to look at her as if entranced.
"Dungeon Management Act, Article 23, Clause 2. Any person who, for any reason whatsoever, transports a monster outside of a dungeon shall be punished by a fine of no less than ten million won or imprisonment of no less than one year."
……
Dear God.
"Oh my gosh. Taejae's going to the slammer?"
Park Edeun, is now really the time to be joking?
He grabbed his head.
A variable no one had accounted for. No, wait — a fine of ten million won minimum, or a year behind bars minimum?
Our kid was going to come out of this with a criminal record?
"Absolutely not."
"Right, absolutely not. The slammer thing was a joke."
"Then does anyone have another idea?"
At Kang Sagwa's question, Na Hwiyeon grabbed his head yet again. Why did life demand so much thinking lately!
For starters… the frontal approach was officially scrapped.
Should he just sneak into the underground dungeon alone, toss the Elumis in, and walk away?
……No. Impossible. Listen to yourself.
The official entrance to the underground dungeon could only be accessed after clearing every conceivable security check.
He still remembered recoiling from all the various identity-verification procedures he'd had to slog through while trailing behind Lee Gyeon.
How on earth would I sneak in there?
Just as he was wearing himself out over alternatives that dead-ended no matter how he turned them, Yoo Jinchae said something unexpected.
"Well, I do happen to know someone who's very good at exactly that kind of thing."
!
"Someone who does… that kind of thing?"
"Someone who knows how to move quietly, nice and sneaky. And as it happens, they're one of ours — BOND people…. Care to be introduced?"
Whoosh.
From the looks of it, Kwon Haeseong knew the person too.
Seeming to agree it wasn't a bad offer, Kwon Haeseong nodded and added his two cents.
"……If it's that person, it should be fine. They have underground dungeon access too…. And their ability is suited to that sort of thing."
Someone Yoo Jinchae could introduce to him.
A BOND person, with underground dungeon clearance, who was supposedly excellent at moving unnoticed.
……Perfect.
The absolute ideal person to sneak the Elumis back into the underground dungeon without anyone finding out.
Clutching at that straw for dear life, Na Hwiyeon shouted.
"Yes! Please introduce us!"
And then… roughly three minutes later.
His straw for survival materialized in the staff lounge like a bolt of lightning.
"W-why'd you call for meee~?" (Why did you call for me?)
Arriving with a goofy expression and a toothbrush stuffed in his foam-flecked mouth.
While the adults were busy dreaming up the perfect cover-up in the staff lounge…
In Dolphin Class, the children were buzzing over the sudden appearance of a "new friend."
"Nam Taejae, what's its name?"
"I haven't picked one yet."
"Really? Then I'll name it for you. Hmm…. How about Deokgu?"
"I like it."
Not liking it!! Not one single bit!! What's to like about being named the same thing as your invisible friend I can't even see?!
The fairy bug the teacher had placed inside an insect cage beat its wings frantically, ramming its head against the bars again and again.
Baek Cheonji, who had been quietly watching, tilted his head and asked.
"But…. it's a fairy? It looks different from the fairies I know."
"The fairy in Cinderella had a magic wand and everything! Why doesn't this one have one? Lee Seoro, do you know?"
"No idea. Guess Deokgu just doesn't have that kind of power."
Why are there so many insane little humans in this place?!
The insect cage sat on top of the bookshelf.
In front of it, five children crowded around in a cozy huddle, busy chattering away.
"I want to see it up close!"
At Lee Seora's words, Nam Taejae pondered for a moment, then stretched out his arm and gently set the insect cage down on the floor.
"Are we allowed to put it down? Teacher said look with our eyes only!"
"He didn't say don't touch it, though."
"……Did he?"
"Taejae's right. All he said was 'Look with your eyes only!'"
"Whoa! Nam Taejae really is smart!"
With the cage set down on the floor, the children gathered into a full circle around it, and each of them pulled out the doll they always carried with them.
The animal dolls that resembled each of them — the ones Baek Cheonji had given them as presents.
And they arranged them in a ring beside the cage.
Naturally, that included the little white puppy doll that looked like their teacher.
"Now the fairy won't be lonely either."
"Hey, fairy! What do you think? Cute, right? Mine's a black cat!"
"What does it even eat? Wonder if it eats grass?"
"Hmm…. in books, fairies only eat dew and honey."
"What~? Really? Oh, you poor fairy~ I get to eat meat and rice!"
While the children were in the middle of their lively debate over the "Elumis"…
the Elumis trapped in that tiny insect cage was angry enough to lose its mind.
It had clearly believed its business with the humans was finished — so why was it in here of all places?!
And of course, it knew exactly whose fault it was.
That deranged little human!
That human had suddenly stuffed it into a small, smelly leather pouch. It had screamed and flared up, begging to be let out, but nothing worked.
By the time its voice had worn past hoarse and was on the verge of cracking, and it was finally taken out again…
it had been trapped in a transparent glass jar, shoved behind a bookcase for half a day.
The Elumis would never forget that hellish, endless waiting.
And then… only when night fell did the human come looking for it again, hugging the glass jar as it flopped into bed and chattered on and on all night long.
"I saw the giganticest Deokgu ever today. But it turns out it wasn't the real Deokgu? Oh, right — fairy, can you see Deokgu? He doesn't only show up for good children, does he?"
"Can fairies grant wishes too? I hope you can~ My wish is for Grandma and Noah and Deokgu to… and my kindergarten friends, and our teacher… and for Mom and Dad to be happy again."
"Fairy, you really can't see my Deokgu?"
Deokgu this. Deokgu that.
I thought I was going to lose my mind entirely!
But…. and now what was this?
That big human from yesterday had gone and locked it inside this cramped cage — the one that existed to exterminate fairykind itself.
AAAAAARGH!! Once I get out of here, I'm not sparing a single one of you!!
[ "Shut up." ]
Whip.
The Elumis turned its head.
Furry lumps were leaning against the outside of the transparent cage, one by one.
And from among them… a single white lump spoke in an insolent voice.
[ "My ears hurt. Shut up. Be quiet for once." ]
Huh? Who is this tacky little nobody?
[ "Tacky? What's tacky? And why does someone as old as you talk so much?" ]
Oh, so it's young, tacky, and all mouth.
[ "Don't know what you're on about. If you're that old, hurry up and go back into the earth's embrace. Or what — want a rest instead?" ]