We Are Adults Now
"From now on, I will be Yun Ayoung, who will be with all of you!"
"....?"
At first, I was stunned.
But it was only the beginning.
"If you're in pain, please tell me?"
"O....?"
With a healing touch, I treated the body that had been beaten and mangled in the struggle.
"I'll give you a short massage!"
"Hnya aaah....!"
I gently unraveled the mana-rods that had been forced upon you.
"Your hair is all burned off. May I take a moment?"
"Ne? Eeuk, hauek....?!"
As I restored the damaged body, I gained additional cosmetic effects.
This is the might of an A-rank Healer.
I never knew when I didn't have it, but now that I do, I feel as if she is indispensable.
Perhaps she sensed that letting her slip by would mean missing out.
"From now on, any attacks aimed at Unnie will be treated as attacks on me, so please beat the crap out of them!"
"Unnie.... Can't you give another massage...? Ne....?"
"Thank you, Unnie. Ah, after you're done, will you go to the cafe with me?"
Just like that, the three members of Nature closed the distance in an instant.
"Thank you all for your warm welcome!"
Yun Ayoung did not turn anyone away and instead embraced them all, wearing a warm smile.
That sight made me feel as if she had grown another step, and I was secretly pleased.
'Back then, there was no way....'
Now she had become a splendid Unnie.
Even when I was in our party, or even as the youngest, she was of an age where she could be called Unnie.
The problem was that she had been so reluctant to go out that it was an issue.
Perhaps it was the presence of the NTR Party that had hindered Ayoung's growth and kept her complacent.
Back then, I might not have thought of it, but seeing how she had adapted so well and earned the title of Unnie, I found myself nodding without realizing it.
"How was it? Did I bring you well?"
"Yeah. How did you bring me?"
"While dealing with the villain incident before, I had a chance to call Ayoung. That was when the conversation went like this, so I brought her along."
"Well done. You are truly commendable."
Unless she were a pregnant woman, of course.
Without a word, I forced Hye-won to explain.
"....It couldn't be helped."
Hye-won answered.
Over the past few months, she had been financially exploited by the villain until there was no turning back.
She did receive a reward, but even that was not enough to raise a child.
Therefore, she had been offered a job, and ─
"He said it was nice to work together with oppa."
"....If you put it that way, I have no choice but to say something."
It's not as if there were no problems at all.
An A-rank Hunter was no ordinary stray dog bone, and if an A-rank Healer came to help on her own two feet, you had to be grateful and pay tribute right from the start.
"Anyway, thanks to you, I think we can raise the training intensity a bit more."
"Ne?"
"Because of the kids' recovery speed, we had to adjust the tempo, but with a Healer on board, there's no reason to hold back, right?"
"Just a moment, Instructor."
"Hey, what do you mean Instructor between us?"
So what are you trying to say, Boss?
"....Please save me."
"It's fine. I won't kill you."
I will only go that far before I kill you.
I gave a bright smile and raised my thumb.
"....Just in case, I'm asking because of what I asked you to do before, right?"
"Asking? Ah, that Dance Dance Revolution?"
"Ne? Ee, ne. That's it."
"No way I'm doing that?"
I feel irritated that I have to dance in front of the kids and rewrite my black history, or that by doing so much effort now, my work later will be reduced.
Why didn't I tear up the contract that day and just sign?
Was Nature created in the first place so that I would be suffering like this?
"....I don't have any such thoughts at all!"
"............"
"What. Why. What."
As I said before, Spirit Contractors are basically upright.
Don't you know that a person like me has very good character?
Especially with the Fucking Lazyists in the Hero Party, I am a fine person!
"Haaaa. Should I give you overtime pay?"
"Am I doing this because of money right now?"
"But you can solve it with money?"
"That's not entirely wrong."
Hye-won shook her head and said she would take care of it well later.
So it wasn't the problem, but I would gratefully accept the money she offered.
"Ah, Sunwoo-nim!"
"Ne?"
I was quietly watching the Nature members when Yun Ayoung approached me.
Yun Ayoung walked toward me with a bright smile on her face and clasped her hands together.
"L... How was today?"
"Today? That... From the kids' expressions, it looks like it was exactly what I expected."
"Please say it in your mouth, Sunwoo-nim."
"Why is the kid doing something she never did before? That's not a good person."
What.
Her acts of cutesiness had suddenly increased.
Just a few months ago, she used to gnash her teeth, but now she was approaching me like this, and I was only flustered.
'Still....'
I didn't feel bad at all.
Thinking about the past seemed necessary.
Come to think of it, even the old me was quite something.
"Having someone pat your head is not something a novel protagonist would do...."
"....Are you going to pat my head?"
"Eh?"
Yun Ayoung's sudden outburst.
Yun Ayoung looked up at me and whispered.
"If I did well, will you pat my head....?"
"E......"
Wet eyes.
A strangely seductive voice.
On top of that, the sensation of appearing strangely feminine.
The past of repeatedly rejecting her clashed with the present of suddenly accepting her, and inside me, the word 'Yun Ayoung' seemed to trigger a Gestalt collapse.
Or rather, it wasn't bad.
I just didn't have words because it was too unfamiliar....
I slowly raised my hand and slowly brought it to her head.
"Even so, a bit, right?"
"Ee."
I brought my hand to the back of her head.
Feeling a bit awkward, I ruffled her hair with my hand.
Yun Ayoung looked flustered.
I had no choice as her partner.
"What kind of age are we now? Back then, I was clueless and did it, but now it's a bit too much."
"....Is that so?"
Her eyes showed clear disappointment.
However, she did not reach out with her hand again.
It was good to draw lines in advance for such things.
"Still, you really did well today. It reminded me of the old days when I was in the party."
"....Thank you."
Even with her mouth, she received praise.
Her expression brightened a little.
However, it didn't completely erase her sullen expression, but she no longer seemed to have any intention of doing anything.
In the end, Yun Ayoung returned to the Nature members, and I just quietly watched her back.
"Surprising?"
"What. Did you think I would lose my mind and keep patting my head like before?"
"Ne."
"....Even with words, shouldn't you say no?"
That was what it was back then.
I was a bit high on the High School 2 disease, or something.
But it wasn't particularly strange, was it?
"A Spirit Contractor who manipulates three rare Spirits even at the Academy, and upon graduation, she is guaranteed to be at least C-rank or higher."
It was a time when the protagonist of this world was none other than the nation itself, and there was nothing unusual about it.
Of course, the actual protagonist seemed to be someone in that Hero Party over there.
"Back then, oppa was amazing in many ways."
"Not anymore."
"You have grown up?"
"We have become adults."
Adulthood meant falling straight into hell if you did something unbearable.
Upon my answer, Hye-won pressed her elbow against my side as if she was pleased.
I gave her a light elbow jab, and Hye-won giggled and smiled.
"Adults. It doesn't seem like it."
"I'm not a Buddha yet, so in front of the kids, I behave like one."
"What is that? Do I look like a kid to you?"
"........"
"Where are you looking and talking!"
Where am I looking.
You're looking at my Double A battery.
We approached the three Nature members who were joking with each other and continuing their training.
"Here, I have come!"
"Go back!"
"This is tyranny....!"
"Nyaa! Nya nya, nya!"
Why was Harin the only one doing the nya nya?
I showed the three members my full commitment to training once again.
".............."
Throughout the entire training session.
Yun Ayoung smiled silently in the back.
***
A few days later.
"An advertisement came in."
"....?"
Yun Ayoung suddenly called me and said something strange.
Advertisement. Advertisement. Well, advertisements do come in.
I keep saying that A-rank Hunters are not stray dog bones on the ground, but I do receive advertisements often, but that doesn't mean they are good ones....?
"Let's listen first."
"Oppa. Do you remember the villain incident before?"
"Villain? Ah... that hypnosis app?"
That hypnosis app.
I heard it was recently executed.
Hye-won nodded and took out a tablet from her bag and showed it to me.
"The words oppa said back then spread through internet broadcasting."
"Broadcasting? What broadcasting is that...."
No, no.
Internet broadcasting was running.
Hye-won played a video on the tablet and showed it to me.
[We came to save you.]
[So, to prevent you from falling into situations like this, download [North VPN] right now! Protect your IP address!]
"Seeing this appearance, you must have been deeply impressed."
"Really?"
"Thanks to you, the number of subscribers increased by about 30% compared to last year."
"Is that real?"
I was at a loss for words.
I shook my head and leaned back against the chair's backrest.
"If that's the case, then you must have already received the resentment you wanted, right?"
"I asked out of curiosity, and they said they want to do a case study, but if they just give it, it would violate the law, so please."
"Then..."
"Actually, it's a free advertisement."
Hye-won took out the advertisement plan and showed it to me.
"There was a performance you showed when you caught the villain before? They want to shoot it in a similar composition."
By the way, the ad budget is this much.
I squinted my eyes carefully so as not to misread the zero.
"....It seems like one more zero was attached?"
"Hundreds of millions of won."
"........."
They really wanted to do a case study.
Without any other intention, it was purely the goodwill of North VPN, so I slowly nodded and asked.
"So, what are you thinking?"
"Ne? What do you mean by thinking?"
"Even when an advertisement comes, you used to only ask 'Shall I do it?' but now you're unconsciously forcing it, aren't you?"
"....What do you mean?"
Denying it was impossible because there were too many things in my eyes.
I took a moment to exhale and threw a keyword that came to mind.
"Is it related to Nature?"
"........."
"Probably with Harin. Since she is the party member involved, it will attract a lot of attention."
"....Hehe."
"Say something."
"Please help, Producer!"
According to Hye-won.
She said I couldn't miss this opportunity to advertise idols this openly.
Well, since my eyes had already turned to the 100 million won, there was no reason to refuse.... But.
"Why did you follow me again?"
"Because Sunwoo-nim is going that way!"
"Go back."
"Ne?"
"Go back."
"............."
Yun Ayoung was sent back.
You have to take care of the training center kids, why are you following me like this.