The Ghost in the Blanket
After going through winter, where on earth had Saebyeok gone? I rummaged through the blankets, but there was no trace of her anywhere. Using the beastkin’s keen sense of smell, I caught a faint whiff of Saebyeok’s distinctive scent. “What the…” If the smell was this strong, it meant she’d been in contact with the blanket. Had she disappeared somewhere in that short time?
Unable to make sense of the situation, I turned to Levinas, but she only stared back with wide, horned-rabbit eyes.
“A g-ghost…!”
Levinas’s ears trembled. Honestly, I felt much the same. It meant the blanket had moved on its own, acting like a ghost.
Winter and Levinas stared down at the blanket for a long while. We were still doing so when Han Yeoreum opened the door and stepped inside.
“Kids, big sis is home…?”
She stopped in the living room doorway, clearly curious about what we were doing.
“Waaah!” Levinas bolted straight into her arms and trembled.
“What happened?”
“A ghost appeared!”
“A ghost?”
Han Yeoreum looked between us, puzzled. I decided to explain on Levinas’s behalf.
“The blanket moved by itself.”
“It did?”
“Yes. It even made ghost noises like ‘wooo,’ but there was no one inside.”
“Hmm.”
Han Yeoreum stroked her chin, then approached the blanket. Levinas gasped when she boldly reached inside.
“You can’t touch the inside of a ghost!”
“It’s fine. Big sis is strong, remember?”
“Really?!”
“Of course.”
Smiling, Han Yeoreum rummaged through the blanket and pulled out several beads the size of fingernails. Faint mana swirled across their surfaces—barely visible unless you looked closely.
“What are those?”
“Hmm…”
At my question, Han Yeoreum’s smile turned awkward. I couldn’t understand her sudden change in demeanor.
“Are they dangerous?”
“No, they’re just toys.”
“T-toys…?”
In this world, did toys move by magic? The only toys I’d ever seen were a few dolls, so I was completely bewildered.
“Has Winter never played with toys before?”
“No, it’s my first time, so I didn’t know…”
Being startled by something as ordinary as a toy was embarrassing. My own ignorance made me ashamed. Thankfully, Han Yeoreum didn’t tease me. Instead, she wore a wistful expression.
“Let’s play with lots of them from now on, okay?”
“Uh…”
“Yeah!”
Levinas answered brightly in my place. Just as Han Yeoreum looked satisfied, Saebyeok peeked out from behind the door.
“Did I do well?”
“Yes. You’re doing a great job as big sis.”
Han Yeoreum patted Saebyeok’s head. Levinas waited eagerly beside her for her turn.
“What on earth…”
What had she done well? What “big sis role” had she played? I couldn’t understand their conversation at all. I’d thought I was getting used to this world, but I realized I still had a long way to go. I probably needed to study common sense properly.
The next day.
On a rare day off, Sofia and I sat alone on a park bench.
“So you want to learn common sense?”
“Yes. I think I’m lacking quite a bit.”
“Hmm…”
Sofia looked me up and down, her eyes slightly narrowed.
“Why?”
“At your age, that level is already quite excellent. Time will fill in whatever common sense you’re missing.”
“That’s…”
Sofia’s only flaw had surfaced again. Because she was so old, she viewed everyone around her as children. The guild master was probably just a kid in her eyes too.
“Still, if you truly wish to learn, I’ll teach you. Having the right attitude toward learning is important, after all.”
“Yes. Thank you, Sofia.”
So she was going to help after all. My tail wagged happily.
“First, I need to check exactly how much common sense Winter has.”
“Is it a test?”
“Yes. The scope of common sense is endless, after all.”
“Okay.”
Sofia was right. Common sense covered an enormous range. I decided to simply follow whatever test she gave.
“Here, look at this.”
Sofia took a piece of chocolate from her pocket. Expecting her usual habit of feeding me, I opened my mouth—only for her to toss the chocolate onto the ground.
“Huh?”
Why throw such precious chocolate on the dirt? With my mouth still open, I lowered my head to stare at it.
“What will you do now?”
“Uh… I’ll pick it up and eat it.”
“…Even though it’s covered in dirt?”
“I can wash it with water.”
I bent down and reached for the fallen chocolate, but Sofia stopped my hand.
“Normally, you don’t eat food that’s fallen on the ground.”
“I-is that so…?”
“Yes. Of course, that doesn’t apply to everything. Fruits and vegetables can be washed and eaten.”
“Uh…”
Vegetables were fine, but chocolate wasn’t? Couldn’t you just wash both? Sofia’s common sense seemed strange, but I couldn’t voice my doubts, so I only rolled my eyes.
“Then, do you know which plants in this park are edible?”
“Yes. There are many.”
I pointed them out one by one—dandelions, azaleas, foxtails, and every other edible plant I could see.
“All correct. Excellent.”
“It’s my specialty.”
Praise from Sofia made me happy. My tail wagged so hard it nearly fluttered. I wasn’t used to receiving compliments, so I was especially weak to them.
“As expected, Winter’s common sense is heavily concentrated in one area.”
“My common sense?”
“Yes. It’s focused entirely on survival.”
“Uh…?”
Was that true? I’d never really thought about it.
“If you’re doubtful, shall we verify?”
“How?”
“By comparing it with the common sense of ordinary people around you.”
Ordinary people. The guild adventurers were too busy, so there weren’t many I could compare with right away.
“Levinas or Saebyeok?”
“No, those children are still lacking in common sense themselves.”
“Then who should I compare with?”
“Over there.”
Sofia pointed across the park. Several people were resting on a picnic mat.
“It’s best to compare with ordinary people. Guild members aren’t ordinary, after all.”
“Aha.”
Sofia was right. We were far from ordinary—I already knew that. I walked toward the park visitors with her, hoping my common sense wasn’t too twisted.
Yeomyeong Guild meeting room.
Chae Juyeon and the guild members sat around a circular table.
“So it’s been decided we’ll take turns?”
Chae Juyeon looked around at everyone. Jeong Yuna answered.
“Yes. Since we’re directly experiencing trauma, we should be as careful as possible.”
“Good idea.”
The trauma was severe enough to annihilate an evil-attribute spirit. According to the guild’s explanation, the child’s trauma was deep and wide. It was better for several people to take turns rather than one person experiencing everything.
“Winter is a girl, so the three of us—me, Yuna, and Yeoreum—will take turns watching.”
We would use the spirit’s magic stone to experience Winter’s life. We might see embarrassing moments. For Winter’s sake, it was only right that people of the same gender watched. Choi Jinhyuk and Kang Jinho nodded in agreement.
“We’ll share what we see with each other. Remember, the goal is to heal Winter’s emotional wounds.”
“Yes.”
Everyone in the guild was moving for the sake of one child. Chae Juyeon smiled faintly as she gripped the magic stone.
“I’ll go first to demonstrate how it works.”
Divine Guild. As the name suggested, Chae Juyeon was an adventurer who wielded divine power. With absolute superiority against evil attributes, she could control the magic stone as she wished.
Whoosh—!
The magic stone reacted to her divine power and released red mana. It swirled around her as if trying to protect itself. Normally she could have shaken it off, but Chae Juyeon didn’t resist. Her goal was to glimpse the memories inside.
“This is terrible.”
Just entrusting her body to the mana already felt this intense. The moment Chae Juyeon bit her lip, she realized she had arrived in a vast grassland.
“Where is this…”
It was a familiar hunting ground—the beginner area managed by Yeomyeong Guild. Just as she was looking around—
Thud—!
Something powerful pierced straight through her stomach.
“……!”
Chae Juyeon couldn’t even scream as she tumbled backward three times.
“W-what…!”
The pain was overwhelming. It felt like a fist-sized hole had been punched through her abdomen. What had hit her? She frantically searched for her attacker.
“This is…”
A small white ball of fur. A tiny creature she wouldn’t normally even notice was now embedded in her stomach.
“H-horned rabbit…?”
She could barely move a finger. Every nerve in her body felt like it was being stabbed with needles. How could a mere horned rabbit be this strong? No—were horned rabbits actually this powerful? Trembling from both agony and shock, Chae Juyeon realized she was seeing everything through Winter’s eyes.