The Fun of Matching Strides
Ding-dong!
The instant the doorbell rang and the visitors were confirmed, Karen opened the door. Chaerin and Director Kang had said they would come today. The moment Ellie heard the bell, she raced to the entrance and welcomed them with a deep bow from the waist.
"Welcome!"
"You look way better than last time, Ellie."
"You certainly look much healthier, Miss Ellie."
"You look so pretty today too! And Director Kang, that suit looks amazing on you!"
The two of them had agreed not to call Ellie Saintess. Chaerin would simply speak casually with her, while Director Kang had settled on polite speech for the time being.
Chaerin and Director Kang made their way to the sofa beside Karen and sat down as if they belonged there. Finished with her greetings, Ellie came over and carefully took a seat at Karen's side.
It's nicer sitting next to him.
There were three sofas in the spacious living room, but Ellie had deliberately chosen the one Karen occupied.
"So, Chaerin. Why'd you call us all together today?"
Chaerin had been the one to set up the meeting. Every eye in the room turned toward her.
"It's important."
The way she dropped her voice made everyone lean in a little further, waiting for what came next.
"We're buying Ellie some clothes. How long are you planning to keep her in that one outfit?"
Every gaze swung from Chaerin to Ellie. They hadn't noticed — she'd been asleep more than she'd been awake since coming to the house — but it was the same clothes she'd arrived in. They'd been through the washer and dryer, so they were clean enough, but there was no helping the fraying seams and the general look of something worn to threads.
"Nobody noticed, right? And it's not like Ellie could bring it up herself."
"I'm fine, really. As long as it's clean, that's enough—"
"She's right."
Karen agreed. It wasn't that he hadn't cared. The problem had never even occurred to him. He had no interest in clothes himself — if it was comfortable, it was good enough. And Samsaek, for his part, didn't wear clothes at all.
"Let's go right now. Yeah?"
Chaerin urged them all on, her face lit up with excitement. She herself lived in athletic wear, but shopping for someone else was a joy. And if Ellie already shone like that in those shabby old clothes — that face, that cuteness — what would she look like in something that actually fit?
"She'd be cute, right? She'd be so cute."
"She would indeed be adorable."
"Mrow."
"Then right this minute—"
"Not now. We'd stand out too much, and we still don't know how the Church is responding."
Everyone had been half out of their seats, ready to bolt for the door, but Karen's words planted them back on the sofa.
They all nodded. Karen, with his silver hair and looks that could rival any celebrity. S-rank Hunter Lee Chaerin. A doll-like girl with golden hair and golden eyes. And on top of that, a cat stuffed inside a spaceship-shaped carrier. Even in the Alliance, where every race and personality under the sun mixed together, they had long since blown past the outer limits of ordinary.
"I'm really fine! Um? Hello... everyone?"
They all sank into disappointed thought, hunting for a solution. Ellie tried to say something in her fluster, but they were already too deep in the fantasy of dressing her up to hear a word the person in question was saying.
"I have a way."
At Director Kang's words, every gaze in the room swung toward him.
"The timing happens to be perfect. If you'll excuse me, I need to make a call."
"No need to step outside. Just take it here."
"Thank you, Mr. Karen."
The number Director Kang dialed belonged to the Dandelion Foundation.
"Among the people our foundation has recently assisted, there was a chairman connected to a department store, wasn't there? Put me through, please."
The ringing had barely ended before a middle-aged man's voice came through, thick with delighted warmth.
"That's wonderful news. How is your nephew's rehabilitation coming along?"
"Of course. The founder is well aware of your sentiments, Chairman."
That wasn't a lie. The founder was sitting right there listening. Karen seemed amused by the whole situation — in a good mood, if anything.
"I appreciate you saying so first. As it happens, I have a small favor to ask, which is why I called so suddenly."
"Hahaha! I'm grateful for your consideration, Chairman. It's not a large request. I'd like to do a bit of shopping at your department store tonight."
Ellie jumped. Shopping? They were going to borrow a whole department store just for her?
"And the founder is rather shy, you see."
"Mrow? Master, shy?"
Samsaek's little jab slipped in quietly, but Karen's hand shot out and subdued him on the spot.
Leave it to a chairman — his instincts were razor-sharp. He'd grasped Director Kang's meaning in a single breath and answered with a hearty laugh.
"We're grateful for your consideration, Chairman."
"Thank you."
Director Kang hung up and smiled.
"Shall we go shopping tonight?"
"You don't have to do all that just because of me—"
"Then we'll get ready! While we're at it, let's buy other stuff too. Ellie, is there anything you need for your room? Want me to get you a punching bag or something?"
Chaerin hauled a still-protesting Ellie upstairs the same way she'd kidnapped her before, and the living room was left to Karen and Director Kang.
"You've been doing some interesting things with the foundation, huh?"
Karen looked at Director Kang with genuine appreciation. He'd figured the man was just using the Mandrake to treat people here and there. Apparently he was doing a great deal more than that.
I told him to handle it himself, and he really is handling everything.
Even a Mandrake only shone in the hands of someone who knew how to use it. The more Karen watched him, the more he saw a genuinely capable man.
"I could hardly do a sloppy job of something that concerns you, Mr. Karen. And from now on, you can call this number."
Director Kang handed Karen a business card made of crisp, stiff paper — the kind you hardly saw anymore. He could have sent it to a watch, but a man who valued courtesy and formality as much as Director Kang had prepared a paper card specifically for him.
"The Dandelion Dedicated Department?"
"Since you prefer not to have your name known, I made 'Dandelion' your code name. This department exists twenty-four hours a day for you and you alone."
"Twenty-four hours?"
"Yes. The benefits are rock-solid. The foundation has more money than it knows what to do with, so I put them on six-hour shifts in a four-team rotation, with vacation, insurance, and bonuses all more than adequate. We'll carry out your instructions through the spiderweb of connections formed by the Mandrake treatments."
Sometimes a network of people was a greater power than money. He squeezed cash out of the scum, and for the decent, influential ones, he treated the loved ones who'd fallen into vegetative states and racked up debts of gratitude — just like the chairman who had so readily lent them a department store.
"Director Kang, I appreciate it, but... aren't you busy enough at the company, being a director and all?"
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about, Mr. Karen."
"What is it?"
"Would it be possible for me to leave Joseon Pharmaceuticals and come work under you?"
Karen and Samsaek both stared at him. They had talked enough by now to know exactly what Joseon Pharmaceuticals meant to a man named Kang Il — the company to which he had given the whole of his youth.
So that's why he showed up in a suit.
Director Kang always dressed neatly, but today Karen had wondered if there was some family occasion afterward. It turned out he'd come for a job interview.
"Why?"
Karen didn't refuse outright, and Director Kang allowed himself a measure of relief.
"There's something of a problem inside the company. No — a problem I caused, more like."
A shadow crossed his face; whatever it was, it was serious.
"I've become a stumbling block for the company."
"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, huh?"
"As expected of you, Mr. Karen. That's exactly it."
It was an internal matter, plain and simple. The problem was that a great many people had staked their lives on that company.
"Yes. Thanks to you, the company has been expanding into all sorts of fields, but the pressure coming in from the president's relatives — both sides of the family, no exceptions — is no joke."
Karen nodded, recalling the director who'd been Manager Kang's superior, the one he had driven out last time. That one had called the president of Joseon Pharmaceuticals his brother-in-law, too.
"The president has been shielding me as much as he can. But your existence itself is classified, so even he is having trouble making a case."
He couldn't put Karen forward, which meant he couldn't explain why he'd been promoted either. Suddenly Director Kang had the president's favor, had become a director at a relatively young age, and was riding the highest wave in the company — so of course he had made plenty of enemies.
"Alright. You're in."
Karen answered without hesitation. The trust he'd built watching this man was more than enough. Once Karen believed in someone, he believed in them all the way — that was his way. It was how he'd ended up a king, after all.
"Thank you! Of course, I'll continue to maintain our ties with Joseon Pharmaceuticals."
"Good. I like the president of Joseon Pharmaceuticals, personally. But Director Kang... aren't you already a director here anyway?"
"Not just a director. Representative Director."
"A promotion, then. Congratulations."
"Mrow! Congratulations!"
Everyone offered Director Kang their congratulations, and Chaerin and Ellie came down from upstairs wearing matching looks of confusion.
"What's going on?"
"I'll tell you in a bit. We've got plenty of time until tonight anyway."
Squeak.
"Hm?"
A sudden mouse-squeak made every ear in the room prick up.
"A mouse? There's a mouse in Karen's house?"
"No way."
"There is! I caught a mouse. Mrow!"
Something was squirming under Samsaek's cotton-ball of a paw. They looked, and a white puff of fluff was pinned there, kicking. The problem was that Tori, teleporting in to see Ellie for the first time in a while, had landed right next to Samsaek.
Squeak! Squeak!
"Tori?"
"Hey! That's not an actual mouse!"
"Mrow?"
Everyone shouting at him made Samsaek startle and lift his paw.
Tori scampered to Ellie in a heartbroken little scramble and burrowed straight into her arms.
Squeak!
Then he pointed at Samsaek and stamped his tiny feet, as if demanding she scold him.
"That one can teleport, can't he? Why didn't he just get away?"
"He says once he uses it, it takes a while before he can use it again. And that you're a bad cat? No, you just didn't know."
Ellie, the only one who could understand Tori, translated for Karen.
"Hey, how did you even catch that?"
That slippery mouse Hangil had tried so hard and still failed to catch — no, that Divine Beast — and he'd grabbed it that easily?
"Mrow? What's the big deal about a cat catching a mouse?"
"Fair point. So you're just being a regular cat now?"
"No! I take it back! I am not a cat! This is all because Master keeps calling me a cat every day."
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you two can get friendly and go grab some drinks from the cafe. Tori, was it? Can you drink?"
Squeak!
Tori nodded so hard his whole body shook, and Karen picked him up and set him on Samsaek's back.
"Master! I don't give rides to anyone except—"
"You stepped on him. Give him a ride as an apology."
"Mrow..."
Watching a cat give a mouse a ride and disappear down the hall, everyone clapped a hand over their mouth and tried not to laugh.
"Th-there's a really old cartoon with a cat and a mouse, isn't there? Tom and—"
"Shh. That one's got sharp ears."
Time slipped by, and night had fallen by the time they were on the road to the department store.
"You're a pretty good driver."
"Holy Warriors hold every basic license as a matter of professional qualification. This much is standard."
Karen gave Hangil another look.
This guy's more useful than I thought.
It wasn't just the driving. He could cook, too. He showed up at every meal, tied on an apron, and whipped up every kind of food without breaking a sweat. Karen had brought him along without much thought at first, but as a caretaker, he was ideal.
"Did you all really need to tag along?"
Karen said it to the rearview mirror.
Ellie was sandwiched in the back seat between Director Kang and Chaerin. The Humvee was on the large side, though, and Ellie was so small that there was still plenty of room.
"Wouldn't it be nicer having another girl help pick things out?"
"I came to give directions. The department store has a dedicated passage that doesn't even show up on GPS."
Fine. That much made sense. But why had these two come along?
"Mrow! I want to come look around too!"
Squeak!
"He says he just wants to play for one day."
A couple of curious little things, those two.
"It's that way."
A parking passage on the opposite side from the department store's main entrance. A man who looked like an ordinary parking attendant checked Director Kang's face, then opened a sealed door.
With a low mechanical hum, it parted. Unlike any ordinary garage door, the underground passage leading into the department store was lined with beautiful murals, and soft classical music drifted through the air. Before long they arrived at a parking area reserved for the chairman's immediate family.
"Welcome."
Staff in immaculate suits bowed politely and opened the car doors.
"We received word from the chairman. How may we assist you?"
"Children's wear. And get this one some decent clothes while you're at it."
Karen pointed at Hangil, who startled and waved both hands in protest.
"What? Me too? I'm fine—"
"So you're just going to keep walking around in that eye-catching outfit?"
"...."
"This way, please."
Still in his Holy Warrior garb, Hangil meekly followed the staff member and vanished. Karen's group set off as well, guided by another attendant.
"Hm?"
Karen felt a tug from behind and turned his head. Ellie was there, gently pinching the hem of his clothes between her fingers, trailing along in his wake.
"Ah! Is this bothering you? I'm sorry."
Ellie flinched the moment he looked back and asked in a rush.
"No, but why are you walking behind me? Come walk beside me."
"Is that really okay?"
What could have made this tiny child so timid? At Karen's words, Ellie broke into a bright smile and trotted up to walk alongside him. She still didn't let go of the clothes she'd grabbed.
Watching from behind, two people and one Spiritual Beast put their heads together and murmured.
"That's a nice sight, isn't it?"
"They look like a father and daughter."
"But they haven't known each other that long, have they?"
"Mrow. I know why. I saw it at the zoo. The thing where baby ducks follow the mother duck. It's called the imprinting effect."
"...Ellie's a person."
They thought they were being quiet, but they weren't even a few steps back. Every word carried.
"Just ignore what that creature says."
Even after Karen said that, Ellie just giggled, happy simply to be walking with him. Something felt different from before, though.
What is it?
She searched for the difference, and then her face lit up. Earlier she had been having to trot along behind him just to keep up. Now she could walk at her own short stride and it was perfectly comfortable.
"Mister..."
"Hm? What is it?"
"It's nothing!"
Karen found her sudden words and behavior puzzling, but he nodded after a moment.
She's excited about coming to buy clothes, I guess. Good thing we came.
Karen kept walking, matching his stride to Ellie, who was radiating brightness from every inch of her being.