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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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Ha-young’s eyes widened.
“Are you a genius, Oppa?”
At those words, Gang-so smiled.
“A genius? Well? Do I seem like a genius?”
“Yes!”
Finally in a good mood, Ha-young ran around, tumbling and playing, then sat Kkorong down in front of her and said,
“Kkorong! Big sister is going camping tomorrow.”
“Kkikyu?”
“Camping is when you go somewhere far away and sleep there, and you cook and eat there, and you do something called a campfire.”
“Kkikyu.”
“Sounds fun, right?”
“Kyu. Kkikyu.”
“And look at this! Isn’t it cool? Gang-so Oppa made it for me! I’m going to brag about it to my friends tomorrow!”
Seeing Ha-young so happy made Gang-so’s heart flutter for some reason, and he smiled.
Yoo Soon-tae quietly approached Gang-so and said,
“Thank you.”
“…?”
“Thanks to you, Ha-young is happy now.”
“It’s nothing, I did it for myself. I even got a kiss from Ha-young.”
Gang-so chuckled.
“Then I’ll head down.”
Ignoring Kkorong’s pleading eyes, Gang-so went back down to the first floor.
His heart was still fluttering.
It seemed that the fact that his carving skills could make someone happy was tickling his heart.
It wasn’t a bad feeling at all.
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The next day,
Ha-young and Lim So-young boarded a chartered bus with the other children and parents from the kindergarten and headed towards a nearby hill.
It used to be a place where people went for forest bathing to escape the city’s pollution, but the forest had long since disappeared after it was ravaged by fire-attribute monsters.
It was also the place where Seedling Kindergarten held its annual tree-planting camp.
“Alright, Seedling children! Let’s plant trees diligently so the Earth’s air can become clean!”
“Yes!”
The children of Seedling Kindergarten replied energetically to their teacher.
On one side of the campsite, there was an army green tent with the silver triangle emblem of the Hunter Assembly.
Sitting in the shade of the tent, watching over the children, were members of the Hunter Assembly who came to act as guards for the children participating in the event.
A young male hunter yawned widely and said to the woman in a suit standing stiffly next to him,
“Sigh-! Why do I have to be stuck here on such a nice day? My girlfriend’s company is closed today, so we were supposed to go on a date.”
The woman standing next to him pushed up her glasses and replied,
“Because acting as a guard for children is the best activity for managing one’s image.”
“Secretary Jin, what I’m asking is why do *I* have to come here?”
The woman called Secretary Jin said,
“Because the Guild Leader said to send the rookie with the fewest missions. And there are no exceptions, even if that person is the Guild Leader’s son.”
“…I have nothing to say to that.”
The twenty-one-year-old B-rank hunter’s name was Kim Ho-eun.
He was the son of the Red Dragon Guild Leader.
“But there’s another reason why we’re here.”
Secretary Jin pushed up her glasses again and said,
“Because I heard that *he* will be here today.”
Her gaze landed on an old man who looked like a rugged bandit.
“It’s Elder Seo Cheol, the only craftsman in the country who can create S-rank artifacts.”
He was looking at the children with a big, incongruous smile, repeatedly saying, “Oh, they’re so cute! So cute!”
“He practically lives in the workshop inside the association, so there’s no chance for guild members like us to meet him, but he only participates in Assembly activities related to children, so I was able to arrange this opportunity.”
“I’ve seen him on screen, but this is the first time I’m seeing him in person. But why does he only participate in activities related to children?”
“There’s… a story behind that. Didn’t I tell you in the car this morning?”
“D-Did you? Hahaha.”
“You’re feigning ignorance again. If you keep doing this, I’ll have no choice but to tell Ji-eun.”
At Secretary Jin’s words, Kim Ho-eun’s face turned pale.
“Why would you say such a scary thing! Do you want to see me die?”
“Of course not.”
The object of Kim Ho-eun’s fear, Ji-eun, was his older sister by two years and was a more terrifying existence than his father, the Guild Leader.
“Anyway, we must take advantage of opportunities like this to build connections with him. With the appearance of the unidentified Zero-rank awakened, Elder Seo Cheol, who can make S-rank artifacts, is a VVVIP among hunters.”
“Sigh-. I’m not good at building connections and such. Where did Ji-eun noona go when I need her!”
“Ji-eun is currently… engaged in her hobby.”
“…Huh? Hobby?”
“It’s a thing. Anyway, you should go and greet him.”
“Alright. Sigh! Earning my keep is hard.”
Kim Ho-eun got up and approached craftsman Seo Cheol.
“Hello! Elder! It’s an honor to meet you!”
Seo Cheol curtly responded to his exaggerated greeting,
“Who are you?”
“Yes! I’m Kim Ho-eun from the Red Dragon Guild.”
“Is that so? Nice to meet you. If you’re done with the greetings, go sit down quietly over there.”
“Huh?”
“I’m saying, don’t disturb my only healing time.”
At his words, Seo Cheol’s disciple quickly shook his head and gestured for him to stay put.
‘As rumored, he’s a grumpy old man!’
Just then.
“Waaaaah-!”
A girl’s cry was heard from where the children were gathered.
At the cry, Seo Cheol jumped up, and Kim Ho-eun looked over to see what was going on.
It was a girl with pigtails, and a broken trowel lay at her feet.
About fifteen minutes ago.
While the Seedling Kindergarten teacher went to where the parents were gathered to explain things, the children were playing and joking amongst themselves.
The accompanying teachers didn’t interfere unless it was dangerous.
“Ha-young!”
Ha-young turned her head at the sound of her name, and her friend, Lee Yoon-joo, pointed to her trowel and asked,
“Is that Jjong-i on your trowel?”
“Yes! It’s Jjong-i!”
“Wow! That’s awesome! Everyone! Look at Ha-young’s trowel!”
At Yoon-joo’s words, the other children gathered around to look at Ha-young’s trowel and watering can.
“You didn’t buy this, did you?”
“No! My oppa made it for me!”
“Your oppa is amazing!”
“Did he really make this? Wow! Ha-young’s oppa must be a genius!”
“Someone even greater than a genius is an awakened one!”
“Then is Ha-young’s oppa an awakened one?”
“Let me see too!”
“I want to see it first!”
As usual, a fight broke out among the children, and they began to pull on the trowel, each wanting to see it first.
“Ah-!”
Just then, one child let go of the trowel, and the other child fell backward, dropping the trowel as well.
The trowel flew into the air and, gaining momentum, crashed into a large tree nearby, breaking the handle.
If Gang-so had imbued the carving with his energy, it wouldn’t have broken so easily, but he deliberately didn’t imbue it with energy because it could cause trouble if someone noticed the energy within it.
Therefore, the carving was just an ordinary piece of wood.
“Oh! Ha-young’s trowel is broken!”
“It’s their fault!”
“No! They did it too!”
As the children argued, shifting blame out of fear of getting scolded, Yoon-joo shouted,
“Hey! Apologize first! Apologize to Ha-young now!”
“I’m sorry.”
“…Sorry.”
But their apologies didn’t reach Ha-young’s ears. She could only see the broken trowel.
“Oppa made it for me… I really liked it…”
And she burst into tears.
“Waaaaah-!”
At her cries, the teachers and Lim So-young came running, and Go So-ra asked the children,
“What happened?”
Yoon-joo explained what had happened.
“Did you apologize?”
“Yes. We apologized, but…”
Yoon-joo continued,
“Even if we apologize, the broken trowel can’t be fixed.”
The fact that some things couldn’t be undone, even with an apology, made Ha-young even more upset.
“What should we do? Our daughter is so upset! Stop crying! We’ll ask Uncle Gang-so to make you another one, so stop crying!”
“But, but… Waaaaah-! Even if he makes the same one, that one is the only one! Hiccup! I’m sorry to Oppa because it broke!”
“…”
Ha-young wasn’t just crying because the trowel broke; she was also crying because she felt sorry for Gang-so.
Just then.
“Should this old man fix it for you?”
At the gruff voice next to her, Ha-young looked up.
An old man with a bushy beard was holding the broken trowel and asking.
“Can you fix it, grandpa?”
“Of course! There’s nothing this old man can’t fix.”
“Please fix it!”
Meanwhile, Lim So-young was surprised.
Because she realized that the old man was the famous Seo Cheol, known as the ‘Unquenchable Flame’.
Whether people were surprised or not, Seo Cheol said to his disciple,
“Bring my tools quickly.”
“Yes!”
The disciple brought a large metal box, and Seo Cheol took out some tools from inside and started repairing the broken trowel handle.
“This looks hand-carved. Who made this for you?”
“My Oppa did.”
“Your Oppa must love you very much! To carve this with such care!”
Seo Cheol was a skilled craftsman, before being a blacksmith.
Therefore, he could see the effort and passion Gang-so had put into the carving.
‘What amazing skill! Even among my disciples, there’s no one who can carve this well.’
Before they knew it, the broken trowel was magically fixed in Seo Cheol’s hands.
“Here, it’s done!”
“It’s really fixed! Amazing! Thank you, grandpa!”
Ha-young, no longer crying, cheered.
“Now then, use that to diligently plant trees!”
“Yes!”
Lim So-young bowed her head and thanked Seo Cheol.
“Alright, Seedling children! Now let’s all plant trees!”
“Yes!”
Ha-young started planting trees with the fixed trowel, and Seo Cheol watched her with a satisfied smile.
And Kim Ho-eun, who was watching this, muttered to himself,
‘A grumpy yet kind old man… He’s an odd one!’
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Perhaps because it was Arbor Day, Yang Chun Gak was busier than usual.
“I’ve collected the dishes.”
“You’re back?”
Gang-so’s return with the collected dishes signaled the end of the business day.
“Kkikyu!”
Kkorong jumped up and landed on Gang-so’s shoulder.
“That child must have been waiting for you, Oppa.”
Kim Ji-eun, who was there as a part-timer, said with a smile, and Gang-so glanced at Kkorong.
Just then, Yoo Soon-tae glanced outside and said,
“I wonder if Ha-young and So-young are doing alright.”
“Don’t worry. The Hunter Assembly is guarding the camp organized by Seedling Kindergarten.”
She continued her explanation.
“Seedling Kindergarten was established by the Hunter Assembly. So whenever there’s an outside event, the Hunter Assembly provides guards. The best hunters from each guild are there, so even if an A-rank gate opens, the children will be safe.”
At those words, Gang-so asked,
“Ah, is that why Seedling Kindergarten is located in front of the Hunter Assembly?”
“That’s right. And they chose that location because it’s the safest place in front of the Hunter Assembly.”
Yoo Soon-tae continued,
“That’s reassuring, but how does Ji-eun know that kind of information?”
“Ah! That’s…”
Slightly flustered, Kim Ji-eun smiled cutely and said,
“It’s a secret. Tee-hee!”
“…”
Yoo Soon-tae decided not to ask any further.
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