The Day Before Spring
The day before spring. At any rate, Mina had managed to get her luggage back. But then—
"Me! Doggy!"
The sight of those red eyes sparkling like a lone bonfire blooming in a pure white world made cold sweat trickle down her back. Yeeun, who had ridden down on Jun's back with him, had spotted Bomi in Mina's arms and was now staring with such fierce intensity that it was clear she desperately wanted to touch her.
"Whimper."
Of course, Bomi was clinging tightly to Mina's chest, shivering all over. Handing her over would scare the poor thing, but refusing to do so filled Mina with guilt. As she stood there, unsure what to do, Seok-jun spoke up.
"Choi Yeeun. What did I tell you about holding dogs?"
"Ah, wait a second!"
At his words, Yeeun immediately pulled something from her small bundle. It was a rope knotted like a bracelet. Seeing her slip it onto her arm, Mina recalled something and glanced at Seok-jun.
"Is that one of yours, Mr. Seok-jun?"
"Yes. I made it to function somewhat like a control device."
"I see."
It made sense. His magic had neutralizing properties but also shared traits with her own crafting type, so it would be effective at preventing the child from overusing her strength.
"Huff, huff."
Only then did Mina notice the thinner version of the same rope serving as a collar around the neck of the dachshund Yeeun had been dragging around. When the girl looked up at her again and asked, "Can I hug the doggy now?" Mina cautiously checked on Bomi.
"Sniff?"
Thanks to the bracelet made from Seok-jun's magic, Bomi had stopped trembling and was now staring at Yeeun with curious eyes.
"She's my sister's precious baby, so I have to be really careful, right?"
"Yep!"
In the end, Mina handed Bomi over while voicing her concerns, and Yeeun accepted her with a bright smile. Fortunately, Bomi didn't resist this time and settled quietly in her arms.
"Squeak! Sniff."
Being held so tightly made her let out a sound like a stuffed toy, but—
"Hehe! She's much fluffier than Gromit!"
"Gromit?"
"She apparently decided 'Fluffball' wasn't quite right after watching some cartoon, so she named him that."
At Seok-jun's explanation, Mina looked over at the dachshund again. While Yeeun was distracted with Bomi, the little dog had buried himself in the snow and was lazily enjoying the peace. It was hard to believe this was the same creature that had transformed into a massive monster. Without thinking, Mina reached out to pet him.
"Grr!"
"Ah..."
The dog pulled away as if warning her not to touch, leaving Mina with only a disappointed sound. Even though he was a short-haired breed, his black coat had grown even glossier in the time since she'd last seen him. She'd really wanted to stroke that shiny fur.
As she stood there feeling regretful, Seok-jun's voice reached her.
"By the way, I didn't realize you were raising a dog like that, Miss Mina."
As expected, he was talking about Bomi.
"You noticed?"
"Yes. I'd say she's around upper B-rank."
"I had no idea she was that strong..."
Mina had figured Bomi wasn't weak since she freely used psychokinesis to take care of her, but she hadn't expected her to be that capable.
"Has she caused any trouble?"
"Not at all. Actually, she barely used her magic, so I didn't even know until recently."
She had gone from secretly looking after Mina to doing so openly. Mina felt grateful, yet she still couldn't shake the sense of falling behind.
Meanwhile, Yeeun was rubbing her face against Bomi's soft belly while holding her.
That's something I only get to do once a week if I'm lucky!!
Mina was watching enviously when a somewhat familiar voice rang out from the side.
"You call us all the way out here and this is what you have to say?!"
When Mina turned toward the camp where several hunters had gathered, she saw Min-jeong shouting at the woman who had introduced herself as a detective. Other hunters around them were also voicing their displeasure.
Wondering what was going on, Mina started to approach, but suddenly felt a tug.
"Mr. Seok-jun?"
He had grabbed her arm to stop her before she could go over.
"They're upset about the request being canceled, so it's better if you stay away, Miss Mina."
"No way..."
Mina recalled how she had taken down that golem earlier.
"You're thinking correctly."
The reason this investigation team had been formed wasn't just because of the missing family. The hunters had been mobilized due to eyewitness accounts of a large, monster-like shadow on the ski slopes.
"Then... what about the request fee?"
"Since you handled it alone, you'll receive the fee minus any penalty charges."
She hadn't expected that the golem she had accidentally defeated first would create this kind of situation.
"Tell me about it. Thanks to that, we're operating at a loss."
Having overheard their conversation, Cheok-jeong approached.
"Ah, um, so..."
"I thought we'd finally get to work together after so long."
"Enough. Go calm them down already."
"Tsk, at least pretend to feel a little sorry. Anyway, we need to take another job, so we'll head out first."
While Mina fidgeted anxiously, Cheok-jeong finished speaking with Seok-jun and returned to where Min-jeong was, as if that had been all he came to say.
"Don't concern yourself with that matter. If not for you, Miss Mina, they wouldn't have been able to catch the Freeze Golem anyway."
Seok-jun said this, but Mina still felt it was all rather hollow. Was this really okay?
"Let's head into the resort before things get any more complicated. Jun, you too, Yeeun."
"OK."
"Okay!"
In the end, Mina followed her group toward the resort building, leaving behind Min-jeong and the other hunters raising their voices.
The lobby of the resort they entered was far more unique than she had imagined.
"Is this really a resort?"
The moment she stepped inside, light sparkled and poured from every direction. She knew resorts that doubled as hotels were usually lavishly decorated, but this place surpassed all expectations. The marble floors were one thing, but chandeliers made of transparent crystal and sharply carved mirrors on the round ceiling reflected light in every direction. Even the windows along the walls looked like stained glass.
"It's famous as the Mirror Resort."
"I've heard of it before."
Shortly after Mina had first come to this area, she had overheard the temple staff talking about a newly built resort and suggesting they all go there together. She had only heard about it, though.
At the time, because of Gu Gang-woo, Mina had rarely been able to join the others. Instead, she had gone straight home, grumbled that she had no time for resorts, and trained her magic even harder out of spite. Thanks to that, she had somehow reached A-rank, but she was still treated like the company's unwanted burden.
I never thought I'd end up coming here like this.
With a complicated heart, she approached the staff to check in.
"We're in Room 302. We'll be staying about a week, so please leave our luggage there and we'll retrieve it later."
"Then I'd like Room 303, please."
She decided to take the room right next to his so they could stay close.
"Do we really have to leave the doggy?"
Yeeun looked longingly at Bomi and Gromit being placed in the resort's pet hotel, but there was no helping it. This was a place used by many people, after all.
"Sniff."
"Grr."
The way Bomi and Gromit stared at each other in the pet hotel, as if sizing one another up, made Mina just as worried. Who would ever guess that these two cute short-legged dogs—who looked almost identical except for their slightly different breeds—were actually awakened beings stronger than most hunters?
"We'll take good care of them, so please don't worry."
The staff member seemed to think Mina's anxious gaze was only about the dogs and spoke reassuringly, but—
It's not just Bomi I'm worried about!
If those two dogs teamed up and tried to escape, there was no telling what might happen. Still, since they promised to look after them during their stay, she had no choice but to leave them there.
"At least it's reassuring that it's expensive."
"They make their living through service, after all."
Moreover, mirrors were installed at intervals along the hallway, making the name Mirror Resort feel well-earned.
"Grizzly! Look at this!"
Yeeun, who seemed to have already forgotten about leaving the dogs behind, was excitedly jumping up and down in front of one of the mirrors. Mina had seen a few on the way here, but these weren't ordinary mirrors. Most were convex or concave, designed to stretch their reflections sideways or make them look bigger.
"These are what they call magic mirrors, right?"
They might be based on science, but they certainly looked fascinating at first glance.
"My hair color changed!"
Mina realized that their reflections in the mirror Yeeun was looking at were slightly different from reality. Their overall appearances hadn't changed much, but their hair colors had become brightly multicolored. Mina's hair had turned blue, Yeeun's black, Seok-jun's green, and in Jun's case—
"Pfft! His, his helmet..."
For some reason, the armor-clad man had his helmet recognized as hair, making it shine brilliantly gold. Jun seemed quite pleased with this, striking a pose as if resting his chin on his hand.
"Ah, over there! That one too!"
Yeeun spotted another mirror and ran toward it.
"Huh? A boy?"
"What's going on—oh my?"
Approaching the mirror that Yeeun was staring at intently, Mina finally understood why the girl had been so surprised. In the reflection, there was a boy who looked like what Yeeun would have been if she were male. At the same time, standing where Mina should have been was a man facing her.
"Is something wrong?"
When Seok-jun approached the mirror shortly after, a woman's form appeared in his place as well.
"Pfft, don't we look like we've swapped appearances?"
Maybe because they both had silver hair? Aside from their eye colors, they looked exactly reversed. The man who had taken Mina's place had a gentler impression, while the woman in Seok-jun's place had sharp eyes and dark circles, giving her the vibe of a tough older sister.
"Hmm?"
The moment the armored figure approached from behind them, the reflections in the mirror simultaneously made expressions as if they'd seen something they shouldn't have. Because what they saw was—
"Oh, this is rather..."
Jun's reflection had transformed his entire armor into something resembling a female statue. Especially that chest area...
"Sh-should we head inside quickly?"
"Let's do that."
Especially after Jun struck a bodybuilder pose, they didn't need further discussion before retreating to their respective rooms.
Since Seok-jun had said to simply drop off their luggage, they didn't unpack before heading to his room. The first thing Mina heard upon entering was:
"From now on, we must get stranded."
"Pardon?"
Mina stared at him blankly, but Seok-jun's expression was completely serious.