No Days Off
Rest days? On the top floor of the Yeomyeong Guild building, Han Yeoreum stood with her hands clasped behind her back, staring down at the floor. It was because of the middle-aged man glaring at her with fierce eyes.
"So, my guild members left an eight-year-old kid on the brink of death?"
"Y-yes, sir..."
Kang Jin-ho, the living legend of Korea's hunter world. Just facing him made Han Yeoreum's heart shrink.
"Why would my kids do something like that?"
His voice was cold, like interrogating a criminal.
Yeoreum knew it was all her fault, but the pressure was too much—she couldn't help but spit out an excuse.
"W-well, the kid had absolutely no mana in their body."
"No mana?"
"Yes. Maybe because of some side effect, the kid looked way too mature. About my height, dressed in boys' clothes and..."
Kang Jin-ho scanned Yeoreum up and down. She was at least mid-160s in height. Sure, it was hard to see the kid as eight, but that wouldn't convince the guild master.
"You left them on the verge of death because you thought they were an adult?"
"N-no, that's not what I meant!"
Yeoreum frantically waved her hands. The situation was so tangled; she had no idea how to defend herself.
"Then what did you mean?"
"W-well..."
Calm down and explain from the beginning, step by step. Yeoreum let out a long sigh and carefully opened her mouth.
"I never imagined someone could be so fragile they'd die from a horn rabbit stab."
"...You said they had no mana, so their skin was probably softer than jelly."
If they really had no mana, that is. Kang Jin-ho kept his suspicions to himself. All the guild members had consistently testified that the kid had no mana.
"Yes. And it might sound like an excuse, but we did help a lot at first. Taught them how to hunt monsters, saved them when they were chased..."
"But there was no progress, so you left them to it?"
"Yes... I was getting a bit tired."
"Hmm..."
Tap, tap. Kang Jin-ho drummed on the desk. An adult man who couldn't even catch a single horn rabbit properly, despite all the guidance and help. No talent as an adventurer, yet showing up at the hunting ground for years, leeching off others. Unless you were some saintly adult, resentment was inevitable.
They must've thought he was some torture officer.
But that "torture officer" turned out to be a child. Abandoned by parents for lacking mana, struggling desperately just to survive. In the end, it was the guild's fault, but with misunderstanding piled on misunderstanding, it was hard to blame Yeoreum harshly.
"Still, you should've helped when they were being chased."
"I'm sorry. I just thought it was a ridiculous situation..."
"Fair enough, but..."
An adult adventurer running scared from a horn rabbit, coming all the way to the hunting ground? If Kang Jin-ho hadn't known the truth, he might've watched from afar too. He probably would've helped eventually, though.
But it was a life-or-death chase.
Misunderstanding or not, the guild had ignored and neglected that child. A frail kid risking their life fleeing from a monster. Even the cool-headed Kang Jin-ho felt his breath catch.
"None of the guild members laid a hand on the kid, right?"
"No. Some talked smack, but no one physically assaulted them."
"Lucky break."
Tsk. Yeoreum flinched at Kang Jin-ho's tongue-click.
"But other adventurers probably beat and bullied them...?"
"...You didn't stop that?"
"I did when I saw it, but I couldn't be glued to the kid's side every time..."
They must've gotten it bad when no one was looking. Yeoreum bit her lip, guilt gnawing at her.
"...Got it. I'll overlook using the Beast God's Blessing without reporting it. Take good care of the kid—don't skimp on guild resources."
"Yes, sir..."
Yeoreum bowed deeply to Kang Jin-ho. Her troubled heart kept her head down for a while.
"Um..."
A hulking man approached me. His intimidating presence made my whole body shrink.
"G-go away..."
What was he planning, creeping up so slowly? Instinctively, I clutched my tail with both hands.
"No, I-I just wanted to apologize."
"Pardon...?"
An apology out of nowhere, at a time like this? I was so flustered my eyes went wide.
"I said some nasty stuff last time. I'm really sorry. I mean it."
The man bowed to me. I knew it wasn't sincere, but I had no clue what his angle was.
"O-okay. But please leave..."
"Ah, sure."
He backed away, then bowed once more before heading off into the distance. I tilted my head at his baffling behavior.
"What the...?"
New form of bullying? Or some girl's order to test my reaction? Whatever it was, I wasn't playing along.
Playing games with people.
This really was a cruel organization. As I grumbled inwardly, a familiar woman appeared from around the corner ahead. She carried over ten shopping bags.
"Gyeowol, sorry sis took so long, huh?"
"N-no... I haven't been waiting long..."
"Good. Then we're all set."
The girl hurried over and showed me the bags. The clothes inside didn't look as worn as I'd expected. There were a ton of them, though. I'd only planned for two tops and two bottoms.
The sheer volume was overwhelming.
"U-um, how many outfits is this total...?"
"These? About fifty, I'd say?"
"Eek..."
At a grand each, fifty would be fifty thousand won. A hefty sum, but I knew this was a hard sell. They'd pry the money out of me no matter what. It stung, but I'd buy them. I had three million won, after all.
"Gyeowol, aren't these super cute? Look, some even have lace!"
Cough. Lace clothes too? She knew my situation and still stuffed the bag with impractical junk. Classic witch move.
"U-um, but I'm too weak to carry all this..."
"Yeah. Sis'll handle it. That okay?"
"Y-yeah..."
Turning a top-tier adventurer into a delivery girl for fifty thousand won? Totally worth it.
Heh.
How's that? Not an easy mark, am I? I looked up at her smugly and grabbed one bag. I'd process the clothes to fit my body before wearing them.
"I'll step out for a sec!"
"Ah! Wait up!"
The girl followed as I dashed outside to the flower bed in front of the building, lined with trees, flowers, grass, and dirt.
"What're you doing out here?"
"Fixing the clothes."
"Clothes?"
Ignoring the girl's puzzled look, I pulled a shirt from the bag. A white T-shirt with a cat character on it.
I laid it on the flower bed and scrubbed it like laundry. It pained me to dirty such pristine white fabric, but survival came first.
"Gy-Gyeowol?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing right now...?"
"Fixing the clothes?"
Scrub, scrub. Rubbing it against the flower bed turned the pure white cat muddy brown. Green stains from the grass dotted it here and there. A bit lacking, but good enough for clothes I'd scavenged. Satisfied, I reached for the next one.
"W-wait, Gyeowol!"
"Yes?"
"D-do you really need to dirty them?"
Need to dirty them? As an adventurer, how could she not know this basic common sense? I pitied her but decided to explain anyway.
"It's camouflage."
"Camouflage...?"
"Yeah. Has to match natural colors so beasts and monsters don't spot you easily. Grass and dirt mask the scent too."
I sniffed the new shirt. The artificial detergent smelled nice, but it was suicide for wandering the woods. Sweet scents would draw boars and such. The thought alone gave me chills.
"I get what you're saying, but don't you need some everyday clothes too?"
"Everyday clothes?"
"Yeah. Something clean for rest days."
Rest days? When was the last time I'd had one? I racked my brain, but nothing came up.
"I don't have rest days."
"You don't...?"
"No. If I rest today, tomorrow's brutal."
Was my answer that weird? The girl's face went pale, white as the cat T-shirt before I dirtied it.
"Th-then, like break time or something...?"
"Hm... I do have breaks."
"Ah! You do?!"
The girl perked up with glee. Planning to torment me during breaks? Too bad for her.
"Once a month or so."
"O-once a month?!"
Her mouth gaped at my long break interval—disappointed, maybe?
"You ate that hamburger earlier, right? That's my break."
"Uh... wasn't that just breakfast...?"
"Yeah, but normally I finish in five minutes and get back to work. Today the burger was so good I savored it for a whole hour."
That burger was delicious. If I worked hard, maybe I'd get another someday. Slurp. I wanna eat it again. Recalling the taste, I squatted to finish processing the clothes.
That's when the girl muttered to herself.
"What a world."
Disappointed she couldn't harass me during breaks? I snickered inwardly.
Puhaha.