Floating slimes bobbed up and down.
Some of them, despite having no eyes, were wearing goggles.
“Who would have thought our bath times would overlap like this? It must be fate, Great Lord!”
Frey exclaimed excitedly.
Around her, tiny fairies gathered in a flurry.
-(‘ & ©`)
-(^^)
Cheong, who had only seen Frey so far, shrank back at the sight of the noisy fairies.
He quickly hid behind Ara, peeking out cautiously.
“Hello, everyone. You’ve come to bathe too, huh?”
“Cheong is here too! Hello, Cheong!”
“H-Hello….”
Cheong greeted them shyly, his timid demeanor evident.
Ara patted him gently.
“Cheong is just feeling a little shy.”
“Too cute!”
Frey fluttered over and perched on Cheong’s head, making his eyes widen in surprise.
“Wow, Sister Frey is on my head!”
Cheong seemed slightly more at ease now.
In the meantime, Seon-ah and I quickly washed up.
“Shall we head in now?”
“Ooh! Sounds good!”
By then, Kkumuris and the slimes were already enjoying the hot springs.
The fairies showed interest in Cheong, who they were meeting for the first time, but seemed to respect his shyness and didn’t approach him.
“Big brother, there are so many sisters.”
Cheong watched the others entering the spring, unsure of what to do, and turned to Ara and me for guidance.
“Ara, how about you show Cheong how it’s done?”
“Sure!”
Ara carefully studied Cheong, then stepped into the water slowly, as if to demonstrate.
While Ara was naturally resistant to extreme temperatures, she took her time for Cheong’s sake.
“Ahhh, this feels nice.”
Cheong, curiosity lighting up his face, followed Ara’s example and dipped a toe into the water.
“It’s hot!”
Startled, he quickly pulled his foot back.
But when Seon-ah and I also entered the water, leaving Cheong behind, he started pacing nervously.
“It’s okay! It’s warm!”
Encouraged by Frey’s words, Cheong squeezed his eyes shut and stepped into the water.
“Wow, Cheong, you’re so brave!”
“Good job!”
Our praise gave him the final push, and he managed to fully immerse himself in the spring.
Soon enough, he relaxed, a content expression spreading across his face.
“It’s warm. It feels nice.”
“See? It’s good!”
The kids soon started splashing around, teaming up with the slimes for some water play.
Since this section of the spring was relatively lukewarm, they adapted quickly.
Splash! Splash!
Meanwhile, Seon-ah was off to the side, filming with a waterproof camera.
Her serious expression made it look like she was shooting a documentary.
“I’ll go warm up a bit over there.”
A recovery soak was much needed.
This spot had a higher temperature than the initial pool, enveloping my body in soothing warmth that felt like it was melting my bones.
“Ahhh.”
Here, too, slimes, Kkumuris, and fairies were enjoying the spring, but unlike the others, they wore expressions reminiscent of middle-aged men completely at ease.
“Nice. This is great.”
-(,,~ ~~)
They all looked like they were melting.
For a while, I enjoyed the hot spring, temporarily free from the duties of child-rearing.
Then, I heard the light pitter-patter of footsteps rushing toward me.
“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong! I’m joining this one!”
“Oh, sure.”
“Cheong’s here too!”
Cheong approached hesitantly.
Ara called out to him.
“Come on in!”
“I’m nervous.”
He seemed uneasy about moving to a new section of the spring.
Ara waited patiently beside him until, after a moment of hesitation, Cheong squeezed his eyes shut and entered the spring beside me.
Splash!
After a brief moment of adjustment, his expression gradually softened.
His cute reaction made me pat his head gently.
“How is it? Feels good, right?”
“It’s warm…”
Ara, who had been watching Cheong, joined him in the spring.
She leaned her arms back like an old man, thoroughly enjoying the hot spring.
“Ahh, this is refreshing.”
“Refreshing? But it’s warm!”
“Adults call this kind of thing refreshing. I’m an adult.”
“You’re an adult, Sis!”
Cheong looked at Ara with sparkling eyes.
Puffing her chest out proudly, Ara responded,
“If Cheong works hard, you can become an adult too!”
“I’ll work hard! I’ll be an adult!”
How adorable.
Their conversation was both amusing and heartwarming, making it even more enjoyable to relax in the hot spring.
Just then, I noticed Bokkeum.
True to his quiet nature, Bokkeum seemed to be enjoying the spring just as much.
“Bokkeum, do you have the juice stored somewhere?”
Bokke.
Understanding immediately, Bokkeum brought out some juice.
It was stored in a massive container that looked like a giant barrel.
Since I always carried cups, I distributed juice to the kids nearby.
“Juice is self-service.”
The fairies posed a small dilemma.
The cups were far too large for their tiny hands.
While I was pondering what to do, the fairies tore off pieces of the leaves they were wearing and fashioned their own little cups.
-(^0^)
(-~.)-
Their ingenuity was too adorable.
Looking satisfied with their makeshift cups, they each took their share of juice.
Thanks to that, we were able to enjoy refreshing juice in the warm spring.
“Ahhh.”
“Ahhh! So refreshing!”
“It’s delicious!”
Bokkeum truly was the best slime I’d ever seen.
Somehow, he could keep things perfectly chilled.
Bokke.
Even Bokkeum guzzled down the juice happily and then brought out another container.
The first one had been Layla juice, and now—strawberry juice!
With this impromptu juice party underway, the commotion drew Frey and Seon-ah, who arrived looking miffed.
“Hey, share with us too!”
“We have mouths, you know!”
In the end, all the kids in the hot spring gathered around me for the juice party.
It was a delightful end to a fun day.
***
Perhaps thanks to the relaxing hot spring, I woke up early the next morning, feeling completely refreshed despite going to bed later than usual.
“Ahhh!”
My noise woke up Ara and Cheong, who groggily opened their eyes.
“Awake!”
“Good morning!”
Though they still looked sleepy, they quickly got up when I told them they could sleep a little longer.
“Let’s wash up!”
“Wash up time!”
The two of them walked hand-in-hand toward the stream, chatting as they went.
Their small, round figures were irresistibly cute.
I decided to join them for a morning wash, which left me feeling refreshed and ready to start the day.
“Today’s mission is to plant apple trees!”
“Yay!”
“That’s amazing!”
We had three varieties of saplings: Hongok (deep red like rubies), Busa (the standard apple we all know), and Gamhong (highly sweet but challenging to grow).
In total, we had 60 saplings.
Deciding how to plant them was the key.
“First, let’s create a proper orchard.”
While I had considered planting them as part of the village’s landscaping, I decided to focus on setting up a separate orchard first.
If it succeeded, I could then plant fruit trees as part of the landscape.
Fortunately, I had asked the slimes the day before to prepare the land for planting, and they had done a perfect job.
Now, Ara and I just needed to turn it into a proper field.
“Phew! Time to get moving again!”
“Let’s do it!”
As Ara and I rolled up our sleeves, Cheong glanced around nervously, unsure of what was happening.
“Cheong, cheer us on! Your cheers will give us the energy to work hard.”
“Okay! I’ll cheer for you!”
Cheong clenched his fists with a determined look and nodded enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Ara grabbed her mysterious hoe, and I took a standard one as we stepped onto the land the slimes had prepared.
Nearby, Gwaa stood like a mystical guardian watching over the apple orchard.
‘Did I introduce Cheong to Gwaa?’
Maybe Seon-ah did yesterday.
Seeing how calm Cheong was around Gwaa, it seemed plausible.
Gwaa, still deep in slumber, was left undisturbed as we got to work plowing the field.
Our goal was to level the land and create planting spots for the saplings.
With only 60 trees to plant, it wouldn’t take long.
“How about we make this a race to see who finishes first—”
Wham!
“F-foul play!”
Ara had already started working at lightning speed.
Her straw hat stayed firmly on her head despite her intense movements.
“Whoa!”
“Amazing, noona!”
Cheong’s determined look melted into pure admiration.
Feeling that Ara might take over all the work, I hurried to start my task.
‘No, wait. Let’s divide the work.’
I decided Ara would level the ground, and I would dig the holes for the saplings.
Adjusting my plan, I began digging.
The slimes, waiting nearby, hopped into each hole to moisten the soil before hopping back out.
“Wow!”
“It’s done!”
By the time I finished preparing the holes, Ara had leveled all the ground for the 60 saplings.
She even crushed a few massive rocks along the way.
She was like a living bulldozer.
“Great job!”
“Did I win?”
“Yeah, Ara won. As a reward, I’ll make sweet potato fries for you later.”
“Fries!”
Ara’s face lit up with delight.
Noticing I was still digging spots for the saplings, she eagerly helped out.
Cheong crouched nearby, using his pestilence ability to do something.
It looked like he was cultivating beneficial microorganisms and bacteria for the apple trees.
Thanks to being a slime, he instinctively knew which organisms suited plants.
If he weren’t a slime, such a skill would have been much harder to utilize.
“Alright, shall we start planting?”
We divided the 60 saplings into three rows of 20, grouping them by variety.
By the time we finished, Seon-ah had woken up and started filming.
“You should’ve woken me up. All this footage, gone…”
She must have wanted to capture the kids planting saplings in their adorable way.
But it was too late to redo everything.
“Done!”
“All done!”
With the last sapling in place, the orchard looked quite decent, even though it was relatively small with only 60 trees.
“When will they grow big and bear fruit?”
“Hmm, it might take a little while.”
Ara tilted her head, holding up all ten fingers as if trying to calculate.
Cheong mimicked her, also holding up ten fingers with a pondering look.
Their cute gestures made me pinch their cheeks affectionately.
“Alright, let’s get ready to head out now!”
Today was the day I’d finally check the list of American items and meet Kyler.
I needed to find out what Kyler wanted from me and how much he knew about the Seven Deadly Sins.
“You’re going out again?”
Cheong looked up at me with a sorrowful expression.
Ara, standing beside him, patted his head gently.
“We’ll bring you back some chocolate!”
“Chocolate?”
“Something delicious! Kyu-seong Kyu-seong , we’re bringing Cheong chocolate!”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, of course. I’ll get lots of yummy stuff for you. Just wait a bit, okay, Cheong?”
Ah, my dear Cheong.
Despite trying to be brave, his tears started to well up again.
Wiping them away, he mustered up his courage.
“I’m sad… but, ah, have a safe trip!”
He quickly corrected himself, trying to sound cheerful.
After today, I’ll make sure to spend more time with Cheong.
…Or maybe I could just take him with me?
‘Once he’s a bit more comfortable, I’ll take him outside.’
With his humanoid form, he wouldn’t stand out much, just like Ara.
But I should still consult the guild about this.
‘Wait, Cheong’s ability is pestilence. Outside, he might actually be more dangerous than Ara.’
…Oh well, I’ll figure it out.
Cliche Novel 