<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family Chapter 172>
Park Ki-hyuk was deep in thought over Euria’s request.
Park Bom and Hena were rapidly growing closer.
“Bom can’t accept that.”
“Only you? I can’t either. I can’t accept it.”
“Alright, let’s fight again!”
“Alright, come at me!”
…Don’t misunderstand. They were indeed getting closer.
A heartfelt friendship was blossoming amid the flurry of punches. They were undoubtedly growing closer.
“Bom won! You started crying first!!”
“You did too!”
“Look here. No tears came from Bom’s eyes. But you cried. Bom won!”
“Ahh, no! You idiot!!”
“Eh… How?! Such harsh words!! Bom isn’t an idiot!!”
“You calling yourself by your own name makes you one!”
“Eeeek!! You!! Come here.”
“Hehe. Maelong!!”
In fact, it was fate that these two would become close.
They were alike.
Park Bom under Park Ki-hyuk and Hena under Euria both possessed extraordinary power that transcended human limits, even as young children.
A strength so great that even ordinary adults couldn’t match them.
In such a situation, how could they mingle properly with children their own age?
For instance, Park Bom is constantly on edge at kindergarten. She worries her friends might get hurt from an accidental movement of her arms or legs.
The same goes for Hena.
Being a secret existence, Hena had to live solely in this forest since birth. She has met fewer people than a full set of fingers.
She lacked any peers her age.
If these two children thought they could live carefree lives…
If they could live without worrying or restraining themselves, as regular children their age do—reaching out for anything interesting first before thinking—if they simply lived as ordinary children, what would happen?
Monster (怪物).
They would be called monsters.
Hence, these two had shackled themselves to remain human.
And now, these two had met each other.
How exciting it must be!
They could make mistakes as children do.
“Ah, sorry! It was a mistake. Does it hurt?”
“Haha, it’s fine. Not a problem.”
They didn’t have to restrain their strength.
“Ah-! You! Using magic is cheating!”
“You started it!”
“It’s not magic! It’s bloodline!”
“I’m not using magic either! This is ‘freak.’”
And they didn’t have to worry about anything.
“Bom can jump this far.”
“Hum. I can jump this far.”
“Bom can jump this… uh?! Oh no!! You, stop transforming!”
“It’s ‘freak,’ you fool. I’m going ahead~.”
It’s thrilling! Super thrilling!
The sky is vast, and the land is vast, but they are having a blast!!
They had fun. Everything they did together was interesting.
The days were too short. When it was time to sleep, they wondered what they would do to play the next day, their hearts fluttering with anticipation.
“Is Bom your first friend, Hena?”
“Uh… uh-huh.”
“R-r-really?”
“…”
“…”
“Sorry. Can you forgive me? I told a lie.”
“Uh, I thought so. So, you’re number two?”
“……number three.”
“Ah, is that so. Third place, huh. Who is it?”
“My uncle ‘Asis’ and ‘Nephthys’ Auntie. Asis Uncle scolds a lot. He constantly reminds me to be careful. In contrast, Aunt Nephthys is nice. She listens to anything I say.”
“Ah, I see. So for children, I’m the first then?”
“Yes!”
“Then let’s be first. We’ll be uncle and aunt to each other.”
“Alright, that works! You go first.”
“Shall we go play?”
“What do you want to do?”
“Let’s build a house. We’ll construct a cabin by the stream.”
“Okay.”
Holding hands, the two children leaped.
And just like that, another day passed.
In the bed.
As usual, Euria lay in bed, gently patting Hena’s stomach.
“So you know! Bom decided to set up a pillar with wood, and I was going to build the walls with stones from the stream. So what do you think I did…”
And she chattered on.
Her cherry-sized mouth didn’t stop moving, brimming with excitement with every syllable.
Every now and then, Euria chimed in with “I see,” “So that’s what happened,” “That’s amazing!” This only sent Hena’s energy soaring beyond the universe.
“Is having a friend really this good?”
She was grateful, but at the same time, her heart ached.
If she had known Hena would be this happy, she should have let her go sooner. Her selfishness had left Hena living alone, and it stung her heart.
On the other hand, she believed her decision had been the right one.
“It’s true… Humans need to live among other humans.”
Euria had long agonized over asking Park Ki-hyuk to care for Hena.
Was it the right choice? Wouldn’t it be better if she kept Hena herself?
Maybe she could just tough it out until Hena grew up.
Was that selfishness too?
Doubts and worries piled upon each other, and as a result, Euria’s emotions swung wildly dozens of times a day.
So much so that even Euria herself felt confused.
“I’m ashamed as a guardian spirit.”
Nevertheless…
Ironically, this confusion became a great factor in giving her certainty about her decision.
Looking at it objectively, it wasn’t as if they would be parted forever.
Just a few years. At most, a few decades.
While that might seem like a long time for humans, for a guardian spirit who lives eternally, it was just a handful of moments. Still, if parting for even this short time could upset her so much…
If something bad happened to Hena, would she be able to make the right decision?
The current Euria had no answer to this question.
Therefore…
She had to send her away.
Thus, Euria had to painfully… painfully open her lips that couldn’t let go.
“Leave this place, Hena.”
Fly into the world, far from the arms of this mother.
“What’s wrong with your face? Did you cry?!”
Seeing her friend’s swollen panda-like eyes, Bom was startled and rushed over.
However, it wasn’t a good decision.
“Sniff, sniff…”
Hena’s lips trembled violently.
WAAAAAAA!!
Finally, the cry she had been holding back burst forth.
The sadness in her voice resonated so much it made the insects in the forest shrink back.
Bom was restless, not knowing what to do.
What should I do, what should I do?
Then she remembered how her dad always hugged her tightly whenever she cried.
Let’s hug her first.
Bom hugged the crying Hena and patted her back.
“Why are you crying? Bom… no, tell me. I’ll listen.”
“Sniff, sniff. A… Auntie… Auntie…”
“What did Auntie say?”
Bom attentively listened as her friend spoke.
After a long talk, summarized, Aunt Euria had asked Hena to leave this place.
“Why?”
“I… for me… Uhuh… Aunt said it’s not good to stay with her. Uhuh…”
“That’s what she said… hold on!”
Let’s set aside Bom the affectionate for a moment; now serious Bom is needed.
For Hena, it’s not good to be by Auntie’s side?
Think, Bom.
Let’s gather the facts.
“…The fairy Auntie is a guardian spirit. Aunt Euria is similar to the fairy Auntie, so she must be a guardian spirit too.”
The words the Fairy Auntie said suddenly came to mind.
When was it? When Bom was studying interesting history with the Fairy Auntie. They were discussing the horrors of war, and Bom had once asked,
“If it’s this bad, why can’t the Fairy Auntie stop it?”
The Fairy Auntie smiled then and said,
“It’s not that simple, Bom. We guardian spirits exist to maintain the balance of this world. We must always remain neutral. If I were to stop the war, it would mean taking someone’s side.”
“Balance. Guardian spirits must not take anyone’s side…”
Looking at Hena again, why did Auntie Euria ask Hena to leave?
“Auntie really loves Hena. You can see it just from her smile. The smile Auntie makes when looking at Hena is similar to the one Dad makes when looking at me.”
Euria cherished Hena dearly.
Finally, it clicked in Bom’s mind.
“I understand.”
Auntie Euria seemed to have taken sides with Hena. If a guardian spirit sided with someone, it would be wrong.
And the punishment for wrongdoing is scary.
Auntie was probably afraid Hena might have to face that punishment too.
After consoling the crying Hena,
“Hena.”
“Uh… yes…?”
“Auntie must love you a lot.”
“How would you know that?”
“Bom knows everything.”
While wiping away Hena’s swollen eyes, she gave her a cheerfully bright smile.
She didn’t forget to put a chocolate she’d kept in her pocket into Hena’s mouth. Her older sister Strawberry had said that sweet things calm people down.
And indeed, shortly afterward, Hena miraculously calmed down.
Strawberry Auntie really was smart.
With her heart at ease, Hena began to reveal her true thoughts.
“Actually, I already knew. That Aunt Euria is my mom.”
“Is that so?”
“If I call her mom, she breaks down. She loses her focus, fidgets, and then eventually looks sad.”
“Did you not like that?”
“Yeah, I didn’t like it. That’s why I call her Aunt.”
Having heard the secret of her friend, Park Bom hesitated for a moment and then revealed her own secret.
“Me too. You know there’s another mom and dad who had me.”
“Wh… What?”
“If I tell Dad this, he gets extremely surprised. He sways like a scarecrow? I’ve never seen Dad so stunned before. Isn’t it amazing?”
“Uncle is so tall! Scarecrow… I can’t even imagine that.”
“Hehe. So I don’t say it. Right now, Park Ki-hyuk is the only dad I have.”
Adults make a mistake. They think children don’t know anything.
But children know everything they need to.
They just don’t say it.
For someone precious.
“Shall we go eat tteokbokki?”
“Tteokbokki? What’s that?”
“It exists. It’s something true friends eat together.”
Bom confidently stood up and extended her hand.
“Let’s go.”
The length of the time they had spent together didn’t matter. Already, Park Bom and Hena were true “friends” in the deepest sense of the word.
Jin Yu-ri’s eyebrows twitched.
“The kids seem to be coming. What are they saying? Their lip movements… tteokbokki? Looks like they want tteokbokki.”
“Can you tell from that?”
“They’re inside the Gate, not outside. It’s no big deal.”
“Ho… impressive.”
Apparently, Jin Yu-ri was gathering information through her spread-out mana. Being able to sense lip movements shows she has almost reached a highly refined level of mana control.
“Good thing I made it when we left earlier.”
“You were making tteokbokki?”
“You didn’t know?”
“How would I know that?”
“That’s why dads are so… lacking in subtlety.”
Jin Yu-ri shot me a cold look and continued.
“Let’s continue the story. You’ve only gone as far as Euria asking us to take care of Hena, right?”
“That’s it. She’s been worrying about this alone.”
“Conclusion?”
“You’re the one I’m asking.”
“Anyone else know about this?”
“You’re the first.”
“My mother?”
“Her too.”
Upon hearing that, Jin Yu-ri suddenly looked very proud.
And I suddenly felt unlucky.
“You’re recognizing me now, aren’t you? Hmm. I think it’s time you did.”
“…Are you gonna babble?”
“Don’t be shy.”
She puckered her eyebrows but isn’t the kind to care about my mood.
Jin Yu-ri’s expression changed in an instant. It looked as if she was faced with a once-in-a-lifetime difficult problem. She furrowed her brows as she concentrated deeply.
And the result of that focus was…
“I think it would be better if we take care of her.”
“Why?”
“It will be good for Bom in many ways.”
“Explain.”
“Think Bom is normal?”
“…”
Jin Yu-ri moistened her lips with a drink and continued.
“While you were trotting around places like the US and Japan, I was in charge of Bom, right? I really watched her carefully. Just in case she felt uncomfortable around me. But I saw something interesting.”
Bom had difficulty being around children.
Whether during class or playing at the playground, Bom intentionally avoided running around and playing with the kids.
“Bom knows she’s not an ordinary child.”
“I didn’t know. She got along well with Hyun-Ji, though.”
“That kid is a bit special.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“How should I say this… detection ability? Sensitivity? I’ll go with sensitivity. Her mana sensitivity is quite unusually high. So, she instinctively gravitated towards Bom.”
“Ah…”
“Probably soon, she’ll awaken her mana abilities, or she might have already. She’s blessed with good fortune.”
“So, because Bom is special, she needs a friend like Hena?”
“Hena is the same. Imagine her trying to fit in with regular kids. It wouldn’t be surprising if something went wrong immediately.”
“For both of them.”
“Exactly. That’s the crux. This is subjective to me, but I believe genuine friendship arises from a horizontal relationship.”
It’s an extreme stance but not entirely incorrect.
The essence of interpersonal relations is balance. A lopsided relationship is not healthy.
“None of that matters, have you seen Bom this happy?”
Jin Yu-ri flicked her finger, and the air rippled to project an image.
Bom and Hena eating tteokbokki.
Both children had their faces covered with the red seasoning but were laughing.
“This smile is the answer.”
I see.
The scales of my heart were finally tipped.
In downtown Cairo.
A large outlet, equipped with groceries, clothes, and even jewelry.
A woman was checking something on her phone.
“Head to the grocery section once. If you see us, introduce the civilian in the clothing section and replace them with our personnel immediately.”
“Understood.”
“We’ll eat fries and cola here, then enter the corner street. I’ll ask if anyone wants to use the restroom, so don’t panic if someone says they do.”
“Confirmed.”
“Let’s continue this way.”
It’s the umpteenth time she’s going through the checks.
The woman meticulously recorded every single detail from start to end.
This was typically her style, but given the magnitude of this mission, it was almost excessive. But thinking about the operation’s importance, this was mild.
“Pay attention. This is our one chance. There can be no margin for error.”
Her name was Nephthys.
One of the closest underlings to Guardian Spirit Euria, she’s one of the people Hena refers to as ‘Auntie.’
“Moving on.”
