Round 381

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After finishing the race in the Elf Village, we returned again.  

Today as well, I handed over a proper amount of ingredients and kept running diligently.  

In that way, we arrived at the Elf Village, which is almost two days away.  

“Phew!”  

I wiped off the light sweat and let myself relax in the stream.  

Soaking in the cool water felt like paradise.  

“Ugh, this is so good.”  

I let out an old-man-like sigh just like Ara and floated along the stream.  

A few Kkumuris were also floating nearby Ara.  

These Kkumuris had been hard to see lately because they were busy with a massive construction project, but now that it’s over, they’ve immediately turned into idle spirits.  

‘I can’t just let them rest forever… Should I build a house?’  

I flinched for a moment.  

Why am I turning into such a tyrannical employer!?  

I tried to shift my thoughts, but seeing the Kkumuris leisurely floating along made me feel greedy again.  

“That’s it! I’ll go ask Dad to design a house!”  

“Oh! House! A house indeed!”  

-Heheh.  

Where could Dad be?  

Yesterday he went sea fishing, so today he might be enjoying freshwater fishing.  

If I head a bit south from here, there’s a lake, though we haven’t been there in a while.  

Just in case, I decided to check the beach first.  

And somehow, Levi noticed our arrival and swam toward us urgently.  

-Ssssh!  

“Levi is adorable as always.”  

Ara hugged Levi tightly and waddled along.  

Levi, limp in Ara’s arms, looked at me and smiled brightly.  

-Sssh!  

“Levi, do you want to come to the lake too?”  

After checking around, I confirmed Dad wasn’t here.  

We should go to the lake first, and if he’s not there, he’s probably resting with Mom.  

With our new companion Levi, we returned to the Slime Village and looked around.  

‘Mom’s not here either.’  

It seemed both of them had gone somewhere, so we started walking toward the lake.  

-Ssssh, ssssh!  

“Oh! I’m glad you like it. So, are you going to go on adventures every day now?”  

-Ssssh!  

“You’ve made a lot of new friends too? That’s amazing!”  

Watching Ara and Levi have such an enthusiastic conversation made me curious as we headed toward the lake.  

Ara can eat and absorb anything.  

Mamon is a universal poison.  

Lars has super strength.  

Ashu is all about cooking and speed.  

Bell crafts items.  

So what kind of ability does Levi have?  

‘Jealousy… I can’t guess at all.’  

Even though Levi carries the deadly sin of jealousy, there’s no sign of envy at all.  

There was a little bit of playful jealousy once, but it wasn’t intense.  

As a sea dragon, Levi should be powerful, but just look at that.  

-Ssssh.  

Clap clap clap.  

Levi clapping belly-style looked just like a baby seal.  

Even if Levi is a sea dragon, honestly, Gwaa is way more dragon-like in appearance.  

“Hmmm.”  

Well, as long as Levi’s cute, it doesn’t matter.  

Our adorable baby seal Levi, just grow up happy.  

“We’ve arrived! But no one is here!”  

“Yeah.”  

Seeing that Ara had walked all the way here cuddling Levi without saying a word, I already had a hunch.  

If our parents had been here, they would’ve let us know.  

“Then where on earth did they go?”  

“It’s hide and seek! We must find them!”  

“Okay. But how about we rest at the lake a bit first?”  

“Sounds good!!”  

Ara and Levi immediately jumped into the lake.  

Splash!  

Swimming in the stream and now swimming in the lake—  

Today must be freshwater swimming day.  

Honestly, I slightly prefer freshwater.  

Of course, the sea is better for clamming, but for just swimming, nothing beats salt-free freshwater.  

‘And it’s peaceful too.’  

I don’t come here often, but maybe Dad does—there were well-arranged sunbeds.  

I unfolded one of the tidy sunbeds and lay down, watching the kids play in the lake.  

“Huh? Uncle!”  

At that moment, I heard a familiar voice behind me.  

“Emily, hey there.”  

“You came to the lake today, huh?”  

“Yeah. I was looking for Dad and ended up here.”  

“Oh! Grandpa is at our house right now.”  

“He’s at your place?”  

“Yup! He came to see my dad. But of all times, we ran out of green tea, so I was on my way to get some.”  

“Aha.”  

Luckily, Kyler’s house is close to this lake.  

Once the kids are done playing, I should head to Kyler’s place.  

“I want to swim too!”  

Weren’t you on an errand just now?  

Seeing Ara and Levi playing, Emily couldn’t resist and ran straight into the lake.  

Well, Bokkeum has the green tea anyway, so I could just go hand it over myself.  

Ara and Levi got even more excited with Emily joining in.  

And since Emily is also a Level 9 Awakener, she could easily keep up with their intense play.  

Splash!  

A tidal wave formed as they splashed.  

Emily rode her black sword like a surfboard on the wave.  

“Yahoo!”  

“Whoa! I want to try that too!”  

-Ssssh!  

The scale is on a whole other level.  

The children’s endless water play only came to a stop when Kyler arrived.  

“I sent you on an errand, and you’re playing, huh?”  

“Dad!”  

Soaked like a wet mouse, Emily giggled and ran over to Kyler.  

“Ah, did you wait long? I should’ve just brought the green tea myself.”  

“No, not at all. Actually, I was just on my way to get it myself. Haha.”  

“But why is Father here…?”  

“Oh, nothing major—he said he wants to build a boat, so he came to discuss it with me.”  

“Aha!”  

I remember he briefly mentioned something about a boat before—looks like he’s planning to build it with Kyler.  

Trying to put a Level 10 Awakener to work… that’s quite the bold move.  

It’s impressive, really.  

But why does he want to build a boat himself anyway?  

“He could just buy one.”  

“He says that lacks romance.”  

“…Then maybe we should just buy one and save it for when he wants to enjoy the ‘romance.’”  

We weren’t spending money anyway, since most of it was going to donations and taxes.  

This is the kind of time we should spend some.  

Might as well get the most expensive yacht there is.  

It’ll be great for the kids to use too.  

“There are magic stone-powered cars—do you think there’s such a thing as a magic stone-powered yacht?”  

“The world is vast and full of rich people. Those are exactly the kinds of people who’d make a yacht like that first.”  

“Ooh. I need to look into that right away.”  

“But, if I may ask… what brings you here, Kyu-seong?”  

“Ah!”  

I had completely forgotten the reason I came here looking for Dad.  

It’s just so peaceful here that I keep forgetting.  

“I want to build a house.”  

“A house! That’s great. I always thought it was a shame that you didn’t have your own place. I’ll gladly help.”  

“Thank you. Honestly, the idea came to me when I saw the Kkumuris lounging around so lazily. Please, feel free to put them to work.”  

“…Do you have a grudge against the Kkumuris?”  

“No, not at all. They just kind of… have the kind of faces you want to mess with.”  

Kyler looked at me with a meaningful stare at my answer.  

Hey now, don’t misunderstand.  

It’s not like that. I just had a simple, harmless urge to bother them a bit.  

‘Wait, is that a misunderstanding?’  

As I was having those silly thoughts, the kids finished swimming and came out.  

I helped dry them off with a towel.  

“I’ve got the green tea. Let’s go together.”  

“Sure.”  

“Kyler’s house has a pool too!”  

-Ssssh!  

Is today some kind of swimming day? Not bad.  

All of us cheerfully headed to Kyler’s house.  

Along the way, I noticed Kyler glancing at me like he had something to say.  

“Kyler, what’s up?”  

“Hmmmm.”  

He looked like he was struggling a bit.  

That made me more anxious.  

“Is it something serious?”  

“To be honest, I didn’t sleep well last night because of your new ability, Kyu-seong.”  

“Huh? Why?”  

“As you probably know, your ability is far more impactful than it seems. It raises someone’s awakening level unconditionally—no questions asked.”  

“Yeah, that’s true. You became a Level 10, and Emily became a Level 9 Awakener.”  

“The higher you go, the bigger the gap between each level becomes—exponentially so. Until now, we only had comparisons between Level 8 and 9, but now that I’ve reached Level 10… it’s a whole different matter.”  

I did think my power was impressive, but…  

Kyler seemed to view it as even greater than I imagined.  

And he’s probably right.  

‘Is it… dangerous?’  

‘Danger…’  

I swallowed dryly, and Kyler gave me a bitter smile.  

“But as long as neither Emily nor I go out into the world, and you don’t talk about it, there shouldn’t be any problems.”  

“Got it.”  

“Still, be careful. Especially with Level 9 Awakeners—many of them are desperate to move up. You might end up harassed by them.”  

“Thanks for the warning. I’ll be careful.”  

We arrived at Kyler’s house.  

It was as amazing as ever.  

It might’ve looked a little cluttered, but its huge cabin-like design harmonized beautifully with nature—such a charming home.  

“What the—Kyu-seong, you’re here too?”  

“I was looking for Dad.”  

As always, I greeted Dad and also spotted Mom sitting nearby.  

“Oh, you’re here too, Mom.”  

“Just came to check out the house. Hoho.”  

Since we were on the topic, I casually brought up the house with Dad.  

He nodded and replied.  

“After I build the boat first.”  

“You’re really not going to buy one?”  

“Yeah.”  

“Hm, building a house and a boat are pretty different, no?”  

“Still, I want to try. I’ve got plenty of time, after all.”  

“If that’s what you want.”  

I told him to let me know if he needed help, then took a short break at Kyler’s place.  

Of course, I planned to head out soon to look into yachts.  

**  

They say to strike while the iron’s hot, so I immediately headed out with Ara.  

Despite swimming all day, Ara was still full of energy and excitement.  

“We’re buying a boat! A big boat!”  

“Not too big—just something big enough for our family to use comfortably.”  

“Okay!”  

First, I needed some help.  

Let’s start by contacting the Guildmaster…  

—The Ironblood Group manufactures yachts as well.  

That was the reply I got.  

Seriously, what don’t the Ironblood Group make?  

It seems like anything related to magic stones is within their scope.  

So I contacted CEO Baek again, and he picked up right away.  

“Kyu-seong! It’s been a while!”  

“Ah, I’m sorry I haven’t reached out in so long.”  

We exchanged friendly greetings, and I quickly brought up the yacht matter.  

“Ah! Yachts—give me just a moment.”  

After looking into it briefly, CEO Baek spoke.  

“There’s a showroom closest to your location in Goseong, Gangwon-do. If you plan to visit, I’ll let them know in advance.”  

“Thank you so much, sir.”  

With his support, I got ready to head out.  

Goseong in Gangwon-do—it’s going to take a bit.  

Ding.

Just as I got in the car with Ara, my phone rang again.  

Caller ID was restricted.  

Huh?  

“Hello?”  

—Mr. Kyu-seong, long time no see. It’s Nathan.  

“Ah! Nathan! It’s been a while!”  

Emily’s uncle, and the director of the U.S. Intelligence Agency, Nathan.  

This was the first time he’d contacted me since Emily moved here.  

It really had been a long time.  

—I’m visiting Korea briefly. Could we find time to meet?  

“Of course. Anytime works for me.”  

—Thank you. Um…  

Nathan hesitated for a moment.  

Then he let out a faint sigh.  

—Are Kyler and Emily doing well?  

“Yes. They’re very happy.”  

—Hmm.  

That reaction was… odd.  

“Nathan, is something wrong?”  

—Well… Mr. Kyu-seong. This may be a shameless request, but…  

“Please, go ahead.”  

A request from Nathan?  

Was it another patient to heal?  

But contrary to my expectation, Nathan brought up something I never saw coming.  

—Would it be alright… if I moved there too?  

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