Troublemaker Baby (2)
Troublemaker Baby (2)
Spirit arts.
Setting aside how exceedingly few can wield it, once mastered, the art allows the user to command spirits in numbers comparable to an entire army.
When scattered in every direction, those spirits demonstrate search capabilities so exceptional that most detection-type abilities are rendered meaningless by comparison.
That was why Liana also joined the search.
It was not something anyone forced upon her—Liana volunteered.
Siyoram was no less thrown into upheaval by Lee Ha-yul's disappearance.
For Atra, who personally instructed Lee Ha-yul, and for Liana, his homeroom professor, the news struck with all the abruptness of a bolt from the blue.
Especially Atra...
"Oh dear, oh dear..."
Calming her down had been utterly exhausting.
Liana had been shocked too, but the person beside her was practically foaming at the mouth, so...
Either way, after settling Atra down, Liana went to China and began her search.
China's territory was vast. No matter how transcendent a detection-type user, no matter how enormous a quantity of spirits Liana commanded, searching every inch of that land was a difficult task.
She did not need to search everywhere.
The location had already been narrowed down.
The vicinity of the Huabei-Dongbei border, the site where the Twin-headed Poison Dragon had been slain—that was pinpointed too.
She also had the testimony of the Successor of Taesan, Lee Ji-yeon, who had confronted the Twin-headed Poison Dragon alongside Lee Ha-yul.
Though Lee Ji-yeon's mental state was so far from lucid that physical injuries were the least of the concern, they had managed to glean information about the dungeon Lee Ha-yul had entered right before she lost consciousness.
Liana scattered spirits en masse and scoured the entire area.
In the process, she succeeded in locating something resembling the dungeon entrance Lee Ji-yeon had described.
Contrary to the testimony, she saw no mist, but she discovered the dungeon entrance within a cave set into the middle of a cliff face.
Entry had been impossible for some reason, but after several days she confirmed the entrance had opened and hastily entered the dungeon.
The interior of the dungeon also differed slightly from the testimony.
The testimony said it was full of hazy mist... different. The space was clear, without a wisp of fog.
The testimony mentioned a dreamlike lake shimmering faintly... different.
Traces of a lake remained. The water itself had vanished somewhere, leaving an open pit.
In the center of that pit was a pure white child.
The moment she laid eyes on him, Liana's thoughts seized up entirely.
The child radiated such a mysterious aura that even Liana momentarily froze, her mouth hanging open.
Pure white hair without a single trace of impurity, and skin that retained a fine, healthy flush even under the clinging dirt and grime.
Three pairs of blue-green wings, enormous compared to the child's small frame, were draped over him like a blanket, and he was crawling along the ground, mewling and whimpering.
A small child... his appearance closely resembled the fairies Liana had seen.
Even saying "closely resembled" might be strange.
As far as Liana was concerned, this was simply a fairy.
He had changed greatly, yet... there were very many features similar to the Lee Ha-yul she knew.
Above all, those wings were the artifact Lee Ha-yul always wore.
Though she could not fathom why a small prosthetic arm sized for a child's frame was attached to the left...?
'Wait, isn't that an artifact?'
A high-grade artifact, at a glance.
...Setting that aside, the child was Lee Ha-yul.
Liana hurriedly rushed to Lee Ha-yul and administered standard first aid.
She checked his consciousness, stripped away the tattered cloth that could not even serve as a floor rag, and wrapped him in a soft blanket.
She administered emergency treatment with basic recovery magic.
Then she slowly fed him a stamina-recovery potion that would not strain the patient's body.
And then...
"You held on well. Now, let's go outside and—"
- Squeeze...
"—and. Ha-eung...?!"
Her chest was grabbed.
.
.
.
Liana pressed her lips tightly together.
Setting aside the embarrassing sound that slipped out, the peculiar sensation trailing down her spine made her back arch gently.
A feeling difficult to describe with words.
Liana lowered her faintly trembling gaze.
She could see her chest. She could not see her feet. That was normal.
She could see pure white hair.
The younger Lee Ha-yul was burying his face firmly into her chest as if indulging in a fit of clinginess.
She understood.
Liana knew that Lee Ha-yul, though he habitually pretended otherwise, was someone who secretly wanted to be spoiled.
That child had been isolated alone in this dungeon for the past several days.
His body had regressed, he could barely move properly... and he had endured by crawling along the bare ground.
He had done so in a place where merely finding food was difficult. She could assume his mind and body were worn ragged.
True to form, Lee Ha-yul came squirming and burrowing into her embrace with little cries.
So without giving it much thought, she opened her arms to him. She held him tight so he could feel warmth, and she gently stroked his head and back to reassure him.
Amid all those thoughts, she had not expected him to grab her chest.
- Squish...
"W-wait just a moment... Cadet Lee Ha-yul...?"
Lee Ha-yul kept kneading her breast.
Though she had only just noticed—his burns were gone from his hand.
Not that it mattered—next to her chest, his hand was exceedingly tiny and adorable. His fingers sank deep into the full swell.
Soft flesh spilled out between the delicate little fingers, unable to be fully contained.
At that sight... and at the unfamiliar sensation rising from her chest, a flush surged to Liana's face.
It was something she had never even imagined.
Never in her life had she thought her chest would be touched so blatantly by another person.
Flustered, she grabbed the hand kneading her breast and pulled it away. Even that touch was handled with immense care, as though afraid she might hurt him.
"N-no, no... you can't just touch a woman's chest however you like..."
The awkward scolding that followed.
Liana had never raised a child. She had little idea how to properly admonish one who had misbehaved.
Of course, Lee Ha-yul was not actually a young child, but considering his upbringing, let alone his current physical state, he was close to one.
She tapped lightly at Lee Ha-yul's nose and mustered what she intended as a stern voice.
- Eeehh...
[Nooo, don't like...]
At that clumsy scolding, Lee Ha-yul let out a whimpering complaint.
The hand that had been so full of happiness was now empty.
A vague sorrow welled up. Embers in his heart flared, heating the heart he had just poured out in clinginess.
Also, certain parts of his mind were frozen solid and refused to surface in his thoughts.
The rationality to recognize such strangeness was as blurred as it had been before.
Downcast, Lee Ha-yul buried his face back into her chest.
Soon, his breathing steadied.
"Uh, ah? Hold on. You can't fall asleep just yet..."
At the sound of breathing that suggested he might drop off at any moment, Liana shook him in alarm.
Assuming that the missing Lee Ha-yul might have sustained injuries critical enough to prevent him from sending a return signal, she had stockpiled a great quantity of medicine suitable for such a patient.
The only thing she had fed him so far was the patient-grade stamina-recovery potion.
Above all, the very monster Lee Ha-yul had grappled with was the Twin-headed Poison Dragon, which wielded deadly venom and disease.
True, the disease head had not been identified, and he seemed fine for the moment... but she had brought every manner of antidote since problems might arise later.
Those all had to be administered while he was still clearly conscious.
[Sleepy...]
[Warm]
[Like]
[Cozy...]
"Cadet Lee Ha-yul? Dear? You can't sleep. You need to take your medicine first..."
Liana shook Lee Ha-yul—gently enough not to make him dizzy—and carefully detached his head from her chest.
Even so, Lee Ha-yul's consciousness seemed to be gradually sinking into dreamland.
His vitality already appeared severely drained. It would not have been strange for him to lose consciousness.
"I need to give him the medicine as soon as possible..."
Just as she was debating whether to administer it even while he was half in a daze.
Liana abruptly remembered that just moments ago, Lee Ha-yul had been fairly lucid.
Specifically... the way he had been focused while kneading and fondling her breast...
"......"
Liana let her thoughts whirl for a moment. Honestly, wasn't this an utterly indecent notion? But then, thinking about it another way, did it really matter?
In truth, Liana felt little aversion to being touched by Lee Ha-yul. She had merely been startled by the suddenness—she did not feel displeased or anything of the sort.
"Erm... h-here..."
With truly no other choice... in order to get the medicine into him even a minute or a second sooner, Liana placed her breast onto the hand of the child who was nodding off listlessly.
Lee Ha-yul's body flinched, and then his hand began to knead and squeeze.
"Nnh..."
Liana shivered at the peculiar sensation, yet still, lest Lee Ha-yul fall asleep again, she hastily produced all the various medicines.
.
.
.
[Rescue target (Lee Ha-yul) located and emergency treatment complete. Moving toward nearest city.]
[Transmit via special communications network (WE3-32)?]
[Yes / No]
Tap—
The hologram flickered once and the message was sent.
"...A few of them should at least check it."
The mana wave disturbances in this gray zone had always been poor.
Moreover, dungeons were rampaging one after another in real time, while monsters, undead, and superhumans ran wild—the mana wave disturbances would be even more chaotic now.
Because of that, transmissions might be impaired and fail to deliver properly... but she still had to send it.
"I'm exhausted..."
It was deep into the night.
The sky was dark, but in the center of the clearing made by felling a few trees, she had set up a heat-emitting magic tool in place of a campfire.
After that, once she had taken minimal security measures, it felt like even the strength she had left drained completely away.
Only then did Liana, leaning against a thick tree, let out a deep sigh and stretch her body out.
Thanks to the heat-emitting magic tool, the surroundings were fairly warm even as the night temperature dropped.
Maybe because the area was dyed in a sunset-like orange glow, it also had a certain charm.
By the time she had finished feeding Lee Ha-yul all the medicine and was moving swiftly toward the nearest city, the sun had set.
It was not that Liana could not operate at night... but she too was quite worn out.
Liana had been no less shocked by the news of Lee Ha-yul's disappearance.
It was Liana who had stopped Atra from flying into a frenzy, and it was Liana who, leaving behind Atra—who was hopeless at search operations—had devoted herself to the search over the past several days without sleeping a wink.
Both stamina and mental strength had been depleted.
Even accounting for that, Liana could still have remained fully active. The problem lay elsewhere.
- Cwoo...
[Happy]
[Happy]
[Warm body heat]
"......"
A warm breath touching her cleavage in a steady rhythm. The satisfying sensation of something fitting perfectly in her arms...
Liana glanced downward.
There lay Lee Ha-yul, fast asleep, having claimed her embrace as if it were his own.
Lee Ha-yul was indisputably a patient. A patient who had, for unknown reasons, even grown younger, and whose condition was not fully grasped.
To haul such a child around without rest would be excessively harsh.
So Liana intended to rest as well, making camp nearby and spending the night.
She studied Lee Ha-yul for a moment. In her field of vision, she could see Lee Ha-yul's face buried in her chest, sound asleep.
Liana stroked Lee Ha-yul's hair, her expression unreadable.
'Oh...'
She let out an unconscious murmur of admiration. She had felt it before, but the texture, already lovely, had become even more incredible.
It was outrageously addictive. Without restraint, she could easily imagine herself hugging him to her chest and petting him all day long.
[Like being stroked]
[Happy...]
[Cozy]
The emotional state the necklace clicked and relayed was rather precious too.
She spread a sleeping bag on the ground.
Thanks to the barrier she had laid, no cold wind blew in.
She had set up protective magic as well, and countless spirits stood guard in every direction, watching for any possible danger.
She lay down upon the soft sleeping bag. Lee Ha-yul, naturally cradled in her arms, lay down with her.
Lee Ha-yul pillowed his head on her arm and burrowed right back into her embrace.
[Soft and fluffy...]
At that clingy behavior, a cozy smile formed on her lips unbidden.
She gave his back a light pat.
In response, the child—who even in sleep seemed to react to pleasant things—let out a soft purring sound, and she let out a small laugh.
"...Truly fascinating."
Liana murmured, toying gently with Lee Ha-yul's cheek.
Liana was a retired hero.
She had graduated as the top seat from the finest academy in her district, and had graduated from Siyoram as well, placing first in her academic year all four years.
Immediately after graduation, she crossed over to the Demon Realm and served as a rather key asset until her retirement, then retired under the pretext of injury.
She could have chosen not to retire.
It was true she had been injured. The Demon Realm was an extremely dangerous place, and Liana too had been in a hazardous zone where a single misstep could lead to injury.
It was no major injury. Rather than affecting her capabilities, it was a light wound that, with a little healing, would have been fully cured without a single aftereffect.
Liana had intended to return to the frontlines.
- This is the Vice Headmaster of Siyoram, Venus Litera. If you happen to have the time, could I borrow a moment?
The Vice Headmaster of Siyoram came to find Liana just as she was preparing to return.
The Vice Headmaster, whose external activities were exceedingly rare—though not to the degree of the completely reclusive Headmaster—had paid her a personal visit.
Intrigued, Liana agreed to hear her out and listened to the proposal.
She accepted the proposal.
And so she entered Siyoram as a first-year professor... specifically, to serve as Lee Ha-yul's homeroom professor.
"Hmm..."
Toying with the child's cheek felt quite nice.
The texture was silky-smooth and tender like a steamed bun, perfect for idly touching.
Holding him in her arms felt wonderful too—both before and now that he had grown younger. It filled her to the brim with a sense of fulfillment.
Nor was it only now.
Strangely, it had been that way since their very first meeting.
Liana had felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and affection toward Lee Ha-yul.
Now she understood the reason, at least a little.
'Fairy.'
Fairies resemble spirits. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say fairies are a higher-order species than spirits.
At any rate, they are species-adjacent.
Liana was a spirit caster. She had been born with an affinity for spirits, and spirits likewise felt familiarity toward her, making contracts easy.
It was not strange that she would feel familiarity toward Lee Ha-yul, who appeared to be a fairy.
Of course, even accounting for that, she was feeling stronger familiarity and affection than toward the fairies she had met before, or the fairy baby named Seo-yul she had recently encountered...
- Hero Liana, you will be able to achieve what you desire.
"...Something I desire..."
Liana tilted her head.
Something she desired. A wish? A dream? Or a goal.
She had no particularly special goal she wished to achieve... or attain.
Just living safely, peacefully, without any significant threat—that was all.
Later on, perhaps buying a suitable plot of land and building a log cabin. Brewing coffee by hand and leisurely reading while sitting in a rocking chair before a rustic stove.
It was an unremarkable dream, and not a particularly difficult one.
For Liana, who had amassed more than enough wealth and fame, it was a simple matter.
Barring the world abruptly ending, that is how it would be.
The night deepened.
"...Should I remove the prosthetic arm?"
Restoring the real arm would be better, though...
Her mind drifting with idle thoughts, Liana spent the night holding Lee Ha-yul in her arms.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Measurement]
...
▶Mental State
｢Fairy(?)｣ : ?
｢Un?｣ : ?
...
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Liana Bellus
●●●●●●●○○○(71▶74/100)
｢Affection｣ ｢Gratitude｣ ｢Gentle Adult｣ ｢Squishy｣ ｢Warmth｣