5
# Chapter 5
It’s a rabbit.
But it’s also a pig.
Don’t understand what I mean? Honestly, neither do I. What can I do when the situation is simply like this?
“Kyuiik—”
The creature bared its teeth as we approached.
Normally, I would have stopped Ye-eun, but the rabbit in front of us didn’t seem particularly dangerous.
And for good reason. Its swollen belly was touching the ground, presumably because of how much mana grass it had eaten.
But perhaps it didn’t like our reaction.
“Oh? It’s getting up!”
“Oh···.”
It tried to stand on its hind legs.
The problem was that the rabbit’s bloated stomach was something else entirely.
Just when it seemed to have barely managed to stand on its hind legs, it lost the battle against the weight of its belly
and toppled over.
“Ppooik—”
The rabbit’s stomach was compressed, producing a strange sound.
Naturally, we burst out laughing.
“Kyahahaha!!”
“Pfft!”
“It went ppooik! Ppooik! Kyahahaha!”
“Ahem! Ye-eun, you shouldn’t tease it too much··· It’s pitiful.”
“Kyuiik!!”
The strange thing was that the rabbit seemed to understand our reactions.
It irritably thumped the ground with its hind legs before standing up again with all its strength, as though telling us
to watch carefully.
“Oh!”
“You can do it!”
With Ye-eun cheering it on, the rabbit wobbled but barely managed to maintain its balance. Just as we were about to
applaud—
Its center of gravity shifted.
This time, backward.
“······.”
“······.”
······.
Silence filled the air. The rabbit flailed its limbs, trying to get back up, but when it realized it was useless, it
eventually lowered its head helplessly.
“Kyuiik—”
“Kyahahaha!!”
It seemed our laughter would continue for a little while longer.
---
“So that’s why you were laughing so happily since morning.”
“Thanks to this little guy, we had a good laugh.”
“Ugh, my tummy hurts.”
“Daddy’s hand is a magic hand~.”
I rubbed Ye-eun’s stomach with the hand covered in [Refreshing Healing Breeze (C)] and looked at the rabbit in front of
us.
“Kyui!”
The rabbit glared fiercely with both eyes, as though telling us to forget its earlier humiliation. But no matter how it
looked at us, it was still adorable.
“But didn’t you say Team Leader Ham Gilyeong was coming today? If it ate this much, won’t there be a problem?”
“It certainly did eat······ one entire mana herb.”
“J-Just one?”
“One whole mana herb. Think about how much the mana herbs grew yesterday.”
“Ah.”
Shock spread across Ms. Jia’s face as she looked at the rabbit.
Considering that the mana herbs had grown up to Ye-eun’s waist, this little guy had eaten more than its own body weight.
“No wonder its stomach looks like that.”
Poke, poke.
When I prodded its protruding side, the rabbit glared at me furiously. Then it charged at me in revenge for earlier,
but···
[Wooden Skin (B)]
Clack!
I instantly transformed my skin into tree bark. The startled creature once again toppled backward.
“Pfft.”
Laughing at the sight of it flailing around like a turtle, I placed it inside a makeshift wooden enclosure.
“Kyuiik—!”
“Even if you’re uncomfortable, endure it. Frost Beast, what are you acting so proud about?”
“Pboo—”
“Daddy, it stuck its tongue out at me!”
“What a naughty rabbit.”
“That’s right, it’s bad!”
“Ppuit!”
Ye-eun and the rabbit exchanged gestures using their entire bodies, while Ms. Jia captured everything on her phone.
“Is it recording well?”
“Of course.”
I had regretted not recording my daughter’s growth. It was something I would regret for a long time.
Children grow up quickly, and moments that happen only once truly slip through your fingers like grains of sand.
Perhaps one of a parent’s roles was to preserve those grains of sand so that their child could look back on these
moments someday.
I hoped Ye-eun would be able to recall this time and smile in the future.
But just as I was filming the two of them bickering and making all sorts of noises—
Twitch!
“Vroom—”
The rabbit’s ears shot up. Hearing the sound of a car outside, it seemed the team leader had arrived.
When I went outside, I saw the team leader, just as expected.
But he wasn’t alone.
A man and woman dressed in suits stepped out of the car alongside him. They glanced at me before bowing their heads.
“Haha, they’re my subordinates. Whenever I have something urgent to attend to in the future, you can contact these two.”
“Hello. I’m Park Youngcheol from the Crisis Management Headquarters of the Hunter Association.”
“Hello! I’m Kim Miyeong from the same department!”
This was overwhelming.
“You don’t need to think too much of it. I’m just a retired father.”
“Yes!”
“Ah, understood!”
Perhaps she had bitten her tongue somewhere along the way, because Ms. Miyeong’s eyes were brimming with tears. I gave
her a bitter smile and stepped back.
If I said anything more, I would only make her feel more uncomfortable.
“Shall we go, then?”
“Haha, yes. You two, wait here for a moment.”
“Yes!”
The team leader and I slowly headed toward the field while continuing our conversation.
“Both of them seem capable. You brought them along yourself.”
“Oh my, you noticed. They say young people tend to make life difficult for themselves. I have a feeling I’ll be seeing
you quite often, Mr. Taejun, so the more connections I have, the better.”
“I feel more at ease since you’re being honest with me.”
Judging by the way the team leader spoke, he must have trusted them.
As for me, I also preferred dealing with a few trustworthy people rather than having strangers constantly coming and
going.
“And if you’re planning to take all that away, having several people would be better.”
“Good heavens······.”
The team leader couldn’t close his mouth as he stared at the enormous pile of mana herbs.
Understanding how he felt, I gave an awkward smile.
“These haven’t been harvested yet because of an incident this morning.”
“W-Wait······ Are you saying all of this grew in just two days?”
“Yes.”
The team leader let out a hollow laugh.
“Did you know that mana herbs are sensitive to their environment and die when grown this close together?”
“Ah, I suppose I should research them more carefully before planting them next time.”
If it weren’t for Sprout, all our hard work might have been useless even if we managed to grow them.
[The Young World Tree proudly waves its leaves.]
I smiled faintly and discreetly gave Sprout a thumbs-up.
Meanwhile, the team leader seemed half-dazed by the imposing mountain of mana herbs and took out a device.
Beep—
He dipped something resembling a pointed antenna into the mana herb sap, and the needle on the gauge moved from red to
blue.
It seemed to be a device for measuring the mana contained in the sap.
“They’re all top quality.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried there might be a problem because I wasn’t very experienced at managing them.”
“They’re in such excellent condition that you don’t need to worry about that. Besides, the air around here is already
overflowing with mana.”
It was true. Thanks to Sprout’s influence, the already-clean country air was now filled with mana, making it feel even
fresher.
“Would it be all right if I built a house somewhere around here after I retire?”
“I’m not the landowner, so you don’t need to ask me for permission.”
“If this much comes out every day, you’ll be sitting on a fortune soon enough. You could simply buy the entire area.”
“Ah, speaking of that.”
I smiled at the team leader and dropped a bombshell.
“I’ll sell all the mana herbs here at their previous price. The same goes for everything we produce in the future.”
“······Pardon?”
As the team leader blinked blankly, I explained what we had discussed among ourselves the previous day.
“This whole thing started because Ye-eun wanted to make sure the hunter uncles wouldn’t get hurt.”
“No, but······.”
“I know. If we sell them at a time like this, we could make an enormous amount of money. But then how much would potion
prices decrease?”
Even the Association had limits to how much it could normalize prices while absorbing losses.
“Money? Of course, it’s nice to have. But if that were everything, I would have continued being a hunter. As you saw
yourself, Team Leader, I have the ability.”
“Mr. Taejun······.”
“So I’ll only accept the previous price for the mana herbs. In return, I want the Association to promise to provide
potions to small and medium-sized guilds until prices return to normal.”
The final clause was there in case something unexpected happened.
‘When money becomes involved, even people without greed can develop it.’
Even if I sold the mana herbs cheaply, everything would be meaningless if the Association didn’t adjust the prices.
But if we included the provision to supply potions to small and medium-sized guilds, we could resolve that issue.
“···There will still be people who try to profit from this.”
“Of course. But I believe you’ll be able to catch those people, Team Leader. What do you think?”
‘Would someone with [Lie Detection] really remain merely the team leader of the Crisis Management Team?’
I didn’t think so.
He was probably someone responsible for the Association’s internal self-correction.
I had heard that people like that existed within the Association. The team leader was likely one of them.
“And you’re Ye-eun’s ‘good mister,’ after all.”
“······Mr. Taejun.”
“Yes?”
“Is it just my imagination, or do you think this world is going to change in many ways because of Ye-eun’s choices?”
“Hmm.”
“Daddy~! The older brother and sister gave me chocolate!”
I smiled as Ye-eun came running toward us with chocolate smeared around her mouth.
“Well, we’ll see~.”
“Faith has never been a light burden, but this one feels particularly heavy.”
“Protecting a child’s dreams is an adult’s responsibility, isn’t it?”
“···Hahaha, yes, it is. Still, Mr. Taejun, I want you to know one thing.”
As I lifted Ye-eun into my arms and looked at the team leader, he narrowed his eyes as though the sunlight was too
bright and spoke.
“What I’ve learned throughout my life is that even if you try to hide goodwill, its fragrance eventually finds a way to
spread. I guarantee it. Someday, everyone will come to know the goodwill you showed today.”
“Then, when that happens······.”
I held Ye-eun by her sides and lifted her beneath the brilliant sunlight.
“I’ll help the child make her own choice.”
Whether she chose to embrace glory or avoid it because it felt burdensome, she could move forward however she wanted.
“If adults protect a child’s dreams, then parents simply have to quietly watch over their child as they move forward.”
“······You’re making me reflect on myself as a parent.”
“It’s not too late at all. I only realized it myself very late, and I’m trying to make things right now.”
“Kyahahaha!”
For Ye-eun’s laughter, I could run as far as necessary. I would do my best so that she would never feel lonely again.
“So grow up healthy.”
“Mm-hmm!”
That was all Daddy needed.
---
The contract was completed smoothly. We stuffed the harvested mana herbs into the trunk and back seats, and somehow
managed to fit everything inside.
Once the work was finished, the team leader smiled.
“Come to think of it, I bought a present for Ye-eun.”
“A present?!”
“Of course. It’s such a big present that Ye-eun will be surprised when she sees it.”
“W-What is it?!”
With her eyes sparkling in anticipation, the team leader proudly held out the doll he had been hiding behind his back.
“Ta-da!”
The present was a rabbit doll with soft-looking pink fur.
“What do you think? It’s a really big rabbit, isn’t it?!”
The team leader’s eyes shone with expectation, but Ms. Jia and I exchanged a discreet glance and gave bitter smiles.
The timing was terrible.
After carefully examining the rabbit doll, Ye-eun tilted her head. Then she brought over the enclosure containing the
rabbit.
“This one’s tummy is bigger!”
“Uh···?”
“Now~! Our Ye-eun, what do you say when you receive a present?”
“Thank you for the present! But I think this one is cuter.”
Although she accepted the rabbit doll, her eyes remained fixed on the rabbit inside the enclosure, which had apparently
grown accustomed to its surroundings and was even snoring.
The team leader’s face fell as he realized the situation.
“Haha··· Of all things, a rabbit······ And its belly is that big! Hahahaha!!”
“Team Leader, let’s go.”
“You can’t beat that.”
“Hahahaha!!!”
Even as his subordinates dragged him into the car, the team leader continued glaring at the rabbit.
“Grrr—”
The target of his glare, meanwhile, was scratching its belly.
His first present was a complete defeat.
“Th-Then, I’ll see you next time.”
“Have a safe trip.”
Vroom—!
The car carrying the team leader and his two subordinates drove away. After waving goodbye, we returned to our daily
routine.
Together with Ms. Jia, we cleaned up the remains of our dinner, rested, and chatted.
Naturally, the topic was what to do with the pig-rabbit.
“What should we do with this Frost Beast?”
“Even after we let it go, it can’t take its eyes off the field. I think it’ll come back.”
“Considering it even broke through Sprout’s defenses, I don’t think that would work.”
How should we describe this? Its appetite had far surpassed its survival instincts.
More importantly, sending it away would be difficult because Ye-eun showed no signs of taking her eyes off the
pig-rabbit.
She was already holding the rabbit doll from the team leader in her arms.
In the end, there was only one answer.
“Let’s raise it ourselves. I think this guy is the one who damaged the other fields. If we let it go, it’ll probably
repeat the same thing.”
“But its appetite is no joke. Will that really be okay?”
“That’s the biggest problem.”
Moreover, it was strangely intelligent. Even now, it was trying to escape the enclosure by rolling its oversized body.
We quickly grabbed it when it tried to fall off the table.
“Kyuiik!”
It bit the hand holding the enclosure as though it hated me, but my hand covered in [Wooden Skin (B)] didn’t budge.
Eventually, it began throwing a tantrum, waving its short limbs around.
“Kyuu! Kyuiik!”
What were we supposed to do with this fatso?
“Ah!! What about trying the method I mentioned earlier? The one that might be useful for dieting!”
“Vegetables grown with mana?”
“Yes! I looked into it separately, and apparently they aren’t harmful to the human body.”
Ms. Jia showed me an online article on her phone.
“But as you said, they have almost no flavor, so attempts to commercialize them failed.”
“Hmm, but I don’t think the ones I grew were tasteless.”
“Then maybe you’re the cause, Mr. Taejun. From what I’ve seen, you’re not exactly ordinary···.”
“Hahaha, is that so?”
“It’s amazing!”
“It’s amazing!”
Both of them were full of energy.
“But we don’t have any land left to grow more crops. Even if we try to expand, Sprout is still young.”
“Hmm, then how about this? We plant and grow diet crops in a place where we have some spare land.”
“To sell them in small quantities?”
“No!”
Ms. Jia pointed at the rabbit.
“We have an excellent model right here! We feed them to the rabbit and record it on video!”
“Ah, like the before-and-after comparisons at gyms?”
“Exactly! Wouldn’t that help us after we start growing mana herbs?”
“Are we becoming YouTubers?!”
Ye-eun’s reaction was explosive. Thanks to her, my skeptical thoughts also began to turn positive.
‘That’s right. They’re both so excited about it. There’s no harm in trying.’
First, we needed to do something about the rabbit, which had realized what was happening and was now shamelessly
pretending to be cute.
“Kyuu!”
“Let’s lose some weight.”
The rabbit protested, but its fate had already been decided.
After that, our conversation shifted toward Ye-eun’s kindergarten graduation ceremony, which was only a few days away.
“Would it be all right for me to attend the graduation ceremony without doing anything special? I’ve never experienced
something like this, so I feel like I should bring something.”
“You can come comfortably. But have you thought of anything in particular?”
“Hmm······.”
It might have been greedy of me to think this way now, but I wanted Ye-eun to be able to proudly acknowledge her
father’s presence at her graduation ceremony.
‘But I can’t give them mana herbs or diet vegetables···.’
Wait a moment.
“I just thought of a good idea.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll have to discuss it with the kindergarten, but what do you think about giving the children an unforgettable
graduation memory?”
“A memory?”
Instead of offering any further explanation, I took rose seeds from my inventory and bowed my head playfully.
“Let’s invite the little gentlemen and ladies into a fairy tale.”
I presented Ye-eun with a bouquet of fully bloomed roses.
What’s so great about having a druid for a father? You have to make use of it at times like this.