Summoning a New Comrade and a Surprising Revelation
“Hoo.”
“If you’re feeling tense, shall we do it next time?”
Kwak Doosik’s worried words made me shake my head.
Tense? Of course I’m tense.
But I have to do this. And right now is the perfect time.
“Mommy, who are you calling?”
Kabe was tugging at the hem of my transformation outfit.
“Hmm…”
Feeling tense, I gently stroked Kabe’s hair.
Alright, time to go.
Tap tap tap—the sharp sound of heels echoed through the space.
I placed my left hand on the rounded surface.
From my lower abdomen, a warm heat began to spread.
How did I summon Kabe before…?
My memory was fuzzy, but it felt like I had stabbed at it relentlessly.
Recalling that memory, I mercilessly shoved my magic power into my left hand.
It was a somewhat childish thought that more would yield better results, but the last time I had done it this way and it worked.
Rum rum rum—the sound kept growing louder.
“Hah!”
-Wiiiiiiiiing…
The summoning sound faded away.
A whoosh came from the steam outlet, and naturally my gaze followed it.
The shadow… was somewhat large.
Smaller than me, but still much bigger than Kabe, the shadow moved without waiting for the steam to clear.
And beneath the steam appeared a slender young woman of tall stature with a still-youthful beauty.
As she walked, her raven-black hair was elegantly styled and lightly swayed.
Then the girl, who had flown in lightly right in front of me, looked up with her red lips parted.
“I am Dan Sohee. Your call has summoned me at once, but I fear I may have been late.”
The problem was that she was wearing an entirely black hanbok.
Looking down at the girl in black hanbok who bowed before me—Dan Sohee, her name—I sighed inwardly.
What on earth is this?
Why does everything come out as such uniquely flamboyant characters?
How was I supposed to deal with this one?
“First, stand up.”
“Call me Mukhwa or Sohee.”
“Th-that’s… Sohee. Stand up.”
Her speech pattern suggested she was the type who would adore historical dramas.
Her manner of speaking and even her clothing.
I hadn’t seen a completely black hanbok in any historical drama I’d watched before.
“Do you like historical dramas?”
“Historical…? Ah, I believe it’s also called ‘shrimp.’ Understood. Shall I prepare the shrimp?”
“Huh? What? Wait, hold on!”
Reaching out to stop the girl who was about to head somewhere while lightly grabbing the hem of her hanbok.
And the moment our hands touched, her face flushed bright red.
I really do turn into stone.
Seated on the sofa provided in one corner of the summoning room, I fell into deep thought.
Since summoning Kabe, I had realized something more: all the children I summoned possessed infinite loyalty to me.
Though it was only a guess, that loyalty might appear in any form. It would surely manifest as the children never betraying me. In Kabe’s case, it was mother and daughter; in Sohee’s case today…
“Onii, shouldn’t Sohee help as well?”
She was sitting right next to me on the sofa, repeatedly rubbing her cheek against my arm as if glued to me, which suggested a somewhat… abnormal sisterly bond.
“Get away!”
“Onii, what is this little thing?”
“Kabe is Mommy’s daughter! She’s not a little thing!”
They didn’t know each other?
At the mention of mother and daughter, and Kabe crawling onto my lap while struggling,
Sohee’s already pale face grew even paler as I scooped her up and held her in my arms.
Instead of rubbing her cheek, Sohee’s hands trembled as they clutched my arm.
“Onii… When… when did you perform the wedding ceremony…? Why has Sohee been left without even a single word…?”
Word or hostage, I’d only seen you for the first time today.
“Hey, calm down.”
“Who are you?”
This time it was Doosik in her transformation form.
My subordinate Doosik seemed to have noticed I looked tired, so despite Kabe being unavoidable, she tried to pull Sohee away to let me rest.
“I am Kwak Doosik. Boss…”
“Onii, no!”
Sohee’s sudden scream-like outburst startled me and even Kabe.
Shocked. I thought her eardrums would burst.
“Onii, no, no…! Why would you make such a choice…!”
Her voice trembled with bitter tears, leaving me bewildered as I looked at Sohee.
“Hey, Sohee. What’s not allowed…”
“Onii, I can never accept this! How, how can you accept a man as your lifelong partner! Perhaps, perhaps…! You have forcibly sullied your body…!”
“What?!”
There was no doubt a serious misunderstanding had occurred.
I had to resolve it before the misunderstanding deepened further.
“Sohee, that’s not it…”
“You wretch who has no conscience even bigger than your hair! I will never give my heart to a villain like you! Surely you have sullied Onii’s delicate body with some ruthless trick!”
Crack.
I heard it. Definitely heard it. In this atmosphere, somewhere a sound like a crack had echoed.
“Listen to me!”
“Spirit hidden in the shadow, answer my call!”
It was wrong.
My words didn’t reach her ears even slightly.
A spell began from Sohee’s small mouth, and a round magic circle was drawn beneath my feet.
Just as the golden light within the circle seemed to complete the engraved characters.
No flash or anything, but the black-hanbok-clad Sohee holding what looked like a massive scythe left both me, Kabe, and Doosik speechless.
The great scythe that the messenger of the Western fairy tale constantly carried to collect the souls of the living.
Sohee in black hanbok holding a black scythe of completely dark, opaque color that reflected no light.
“It’s cool.”
It was an honest impression.
“I will defeat this evil and save Onii!”
While I shelved my honest impression, I had to deal with this mess first.
“Hey, hey, hey, stop! Stop!”
“This evil who sullied Onii’s body! I will never forgive you!”
I didn’t sully anything!
I’m not your real daughter!
I’m not evil!
I’m not even your husband!
How many misunderstandings had piled up already!
Sohee, who looked like her eyes were spinning, rushed toward Doosik.
Doosik, who had no idea what was happening, immediately spread a barrier.
And I turned sideways and delivered a rocket punch straight to Sohee’s stomach to calm her down.
[Context — what happens when it reaches zero]
“Um, so… it’s a close-range type?”
“That is correct.”
There was a brief commotion.
Sohee, who had been hit directly by the rocket punch, flew into the corner and crashed into the production facility’s side, then was stopped from rushing again after Doosik revealed her true form. Finally the misunderstanding was resolved.
“Indeed, I thought my niece was too cute compared to Dad.”
Doosik’s forehead veins seemed to bulge, but I decided to let it go for now.
That said, close-range type.
I had hoped that if it were a long-range type, I might be able to use her as a support, but thinking about the summoning purpose, this was probably a middle-command unit to lead the Main, so close-range might suit better.
“Alright, let’s go up.”
The production facility was on the third basement floor. The space below the second basement parking lot, which was planned to be used as a warehouse, was wide enough for it.
The problem was the production facility was broken again.
It had been damaged when I threw a rocket punch to stop Sohee and she flew away and crashed. Repairing it would take time.
Eve would be annoyed, but there was no helping it.
If I hadn’t done that, Doosik might have been injured.
As we rode the elevator up, the Kabe I was holding let out soft snoring sounds.
“Doosik, have Kabe sleep with you today.”
“Understood, Onii.”
“Wait, you.”
As I tried to hand Kabe over to Doosik, Sohee glared at her with a fierce look.
“What’s wrong?”
Doosik, who also didn’t have good feelings toward Sohee, spoke sharply.
“As a subordinate, you should act like one. Calling me ‘Onii’ is improper. Don’t you know about hierarchy?”
Where had Sohee’s historical drama speech concept gone?
“Isn’t that so, Onii?”
Looking up at me as if she had done well.
I met Sohee’s gaze.
That meant she wanted to use only the title ‘Onii’ for herself.
Glimpsing at Doosik, she was biting her lip tightly.
Her words weren’t entirely wrong.
But the law here was set by me.
I reached out and wrapped my arm around Doosik’s shoulder, then pulled her close.
Doosik’s body was pulled weakly toward me.
I held her tightly in my arms and squeezed her shoulder.
And my gaze met Sohee’s directly.
“The name I call my subordinate is up to me. Even if you call me Onii, it’s fine. I prefer it that way. Sohee, do not overstep your bounds anymore.”
Whether my words reached her properly, Sohee’s body trembled slightly.
“If it is Onii’s will, I will obey. This girl has overstepped for a moment.”
Without another word, she backed away.
I felt a bit uneasy…
On the eighth floor there were three guest rooms. The innermost and largest one was used by me, Kabe, and Keru; one by Doosik; and the last one was empty.
Now that Sohee had been summoned, I had planned to have her share space with Doosik, but seeing the two of them confront each other in the elevator earlier, I thought it might be premature.
After confirming I handed Kabe over to Doosik and entered my own room, I opened the front door.
“Come in.”
“O-Onii’s fragrance…”
“Don’t say strange things and come inside.”
As I entered and canceled my transformation.
A fairly thick hoodie over ordinary jeans was revealed.
“Sit anywhere comfortable over there.”
I opened the fridge and took out a can of beer.
I brought out a pack of squid jerky I had left from a few days ago and placed it alongside, then opened the beer can.
“Want some alcohol?”
“I beg your pardon, Onii. I cannot even bring alcohol to my lips.”
“Really? Then what would you like to drink?”
“Anything is fine…”
“Hm.”
Then cola?
I took out a cola can from the fridge and placed it in front of Sohee.
“Alright, Dan Sohee… right?”
“That is correct.”
“Close-range type… and combat power?”
“Did you mean Light Realm combat power?”
“Yeah.”
“Against Earth-Flower Grade it would be difficult… but against one person it would be a sure win, against two it would be competitive, against three it would be tough, and against four it would be a loss.”
Earth-Flower Grade, what was that?
“You… last time on the Mogumogu-dan…”
No, that wasn’t it.
Guessing, this one had probably never been summoned onto this era’s board.
Not using the term “magical girl” when asked for combat power, and the grading system seeming different from today’s terms.
So she had probably never belonged to Mogumogu-dan, so answering that way would confuse her.
“Sohee, when was the last time you were summoned onto this board?”
“I don’t know the exact year, but… it was during the time when this land was called Joseon.”
Whoa.
Calling it past felt a bit too far back.
Hey, then if I asked about past events, she might know them.
“How can I remember such things? You are also being cheeky.”
Well, that would happen.