“I’ll grant you any request. Just say the word.”

“Den Gwu has a favor... oh! But fiwst!”

Guru cleared her throat and asked, with an unusually solemn face, each word carefully enunciated.

“Do you wuv Sabbuu?”

“...Huh?”

Reiji couldn’t help but show an expression of complete disbelief.

“You gotta ansuh dat to get da favow. Do you wuv Sabbuu?”

It sounded like she was officiating a wedding. Reiji could only gape in response to such a serious question.

And just then, whoosh, the faint smell of a baby reached his nose. It stirred up memories from the very first time he had held Kazuki.

That tiny hand that had grasped his index finger.

Those days, when his face was still all wrinkled and small, and he’d worked himself mad trying to finish everything just to go see him—back when Reiji was still just a regular person.

“...Of course. I love him. Very much.”

There was no reason to lie to a child.

He figured the kid would ask for something adorable like, “If you wuv Sabbuu, den go meet Kazuki.”

That wasn’t hard to do.

Whether Kazuki, who once declared he’d kill his own father, would be happy about it was another matter.

There had never been some grand reason Reiji hadn’t met with Kazuki until now.

He was simply a man born with such nature.

A man who wore polite, elegant manners to conceal an impulsive, destructive core.

Completely unlike Kazuki, who even cried for the relatives who had abused him.

That’s why he had kept Kazuki at a distance—to avoid turning him into someone like his wife, who had cried every day watching Reiji live in the shadows. That was all.

So Reiji had assumed the kid’s request would be easy to accept.

But the real adorable request was something entirely different.

“Den, pwease give Gwu da awwest team.”

“...?”

“...What?”

“...?”

This time, even Reiji and Veilach—and Jurim, who’d been standing behind with arms crossed—stared blankly at Guru.

“You shouwd apowogize fow doin’ bad stuff. An’ be a good daddy so you can meet Sabbuu.”

“...Be ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a good daddy?”

“Yeshh... ‘cause Sabbuu wooks wike he’s got a wot of wowwies.”

Guru’s shoulders drooped as she continued quietly.

“Sabbuu is sick wight now. He gotta take medicine but he’s not takin’ it. I dink he doesn’t wanna.”

“...He’s sick but won’t take his medicine?”

“Uh-huh. So... maybe Sabbuu weawwy doesn’t wanna get bettew. I dunno why, but...”

The quest had said Kazuki was hesitating.

For someone as young as Guru, understanding the complicated feelings of adults wasn’t easy.

For her, taking medicine when you’re sick was the obvious thing to do.

“......”

Guru looked at Reiji’s serious expression, then shot a quick glance at Veilach.

Veilach shook his head, clearly thinking there was no way such a request would be granted.

But the moment Guru mentioned Kazuki being sick, Reiji’s expression froze.

Maybe he was a bad person, but not a bad father.

“So Gwu just wanna hewp Sabbuu feew bettew. An’ make wots of fun, happy stuff happen. ‘Cause when you wanna be happy, dat’s when you most wanna get bettew.”

Guru trembled, remembering the past.

“Like when Gwu wanted to get bettew fast ‘cause da fwiends were pwayin’ house without me...”

Back at the orphanage, when she was lying sick in bed, it had hurt so much to see her friends playing house under the blankets without her.

Who knew why being sick made you want to play even more?

“Dat’s why Sabbuu needs stwength to take da medicine. So be Sabbuu’s good daddy, pwease.”

Guru clenched her little fist.

“Dat’s how Sabbuu can be happy!”

“......”

A heavy silence fell.

Guru rolled her eyes toward Reiji, who still hadn’t replied.

Did I say someding wrong? The thought suddenly scared her.

Then, Reiji, who had listened to her silently, broke into a soft smile.

“Seems I’ve become something he worries about.”

Guru frowned.

“Dat’s not a nice fing...”

“Malice is better than indifference.”

“...?!”

Is it? Guru blinked, unsure what to make of such twisted affection. Jurim quietly chimed in.

“Don’t teach weird stuff to kids.”

Reiji chuckled low and met Guru’s eyes.

“What pretty eyes.”

Guru beamed at the compliment.

He realized then that he had grown deeply fond and curious about this bubbly child.

So much so that he wanted to grant her utterly ridiculous request.

“Wiw’ one. I have a proposaw too. Can da awwest be... watew? I got a few tings to take cawe of fiwst.”

“Umm...”

He could run away with that excuse. But Guru saw the sincerity in his eyes and gave a small nod.

“Oki. Dat’s fine.”

“Thank you.”

“Pwomise!”

Guru raised her pinky, and Reiji sealed the promise with a pinky swear and a copy spell.

“Ah, awso! Gwu has to be da one to awwest you.”

That way, her crimes might be taken into account with leniency!

But she didn’t say that part out loud. She couldn’t let Jurim know she’d become a criminal again.

Reiji chuckled and patted her head.

“I promise that too. I’ll make sure I get caught by you and you alone.”

“Mmh!”

Only after hearing that did Guru hand over the key to the handcuffs.

Once they were off, Jurim spoke.

“Guru, put what you modified back where it was.”

“Yeshh.”

“Wiw’ one, wait. Can you dewiver dis to Kazuki-chan?”

“Oki?”

Reiji pulled out a small, decades-old toy train from his coat.

Then he wrote a message on it in Japanese with a fountain pen.

Guru took the toy, her mouth wide open.

“Dunno if dis wiww take away Kazuki’s wowwies... but maybe it can give him a wittwe bit of happiness. Enough to wanna get bettew.”

Guru grinned brightly.

“Gwu wiww dewiver it for suwe!”

Waving her tiny fists, Guru carefully stored the train in her inventory. Then she and Veilach walked off to return the handcuffs.

“...Whew.”

Jurim watched, dumbfounded, as Guru—using only a pinky—had captured the legendary Reiji.

Interpol, whose HQ had once been half-destroyed just for approaching Reiji, and nations who’d lost VIPs to assassination attempts, would probably celebrate with both hands raised.

But the thought of a five-year-old girl delivering that monster to them already gave him a headache.

No doubt the international crime agencies were about to be turned upside down.

And really, for someone like Reiji, that couldn’t have been an easy decision.

Jurim was just beginning to worry “Should I start prepping the Hyeonak HQ for potential explosions?” when Reiji straightened his back with a bright smile.

“I’ve got a lot to take care of before I’m arrested.”

Reiji sighed and then laughed heartily.

“Never imagined someone would ask me to get arrested. But your daughter’s cute, kind, and quite the little oddball.”

“...I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It absolutely is. She captured me, didn’t she?”

“Even now, if she asked for something else, I’d still say yes.”

“I didn’t want to. I got curious what kind of ‘good daddy’ a child like her meant.”

“More importantly, Reiji—about the child...”

Reiji smiled again.

“Don’t worry, On-chan. One of my few virtues is knowing what not to speak of.”

Reiji looked back at the girl trotting toward the handcuff spot, then took a step—and began to vanish like smoke.

Guru’s eyes went wide.

Apparently, no one else could see him, since they all walked past him while shopping like nothing was happening.

Reiji waved to Guru, then turned to Jurim.

“Would you say you’re a good daddy?”

“Of course.”

Reiji burst into laughter at Jurim’s shameless reply.

“I doubted my ears when I heard you adopted a daughter. But now you’re a proper dad.”

“Sure. At least I’m not the kind of dad who gets arrested by a smart, cute, lovely five-year-old genius.”

“Is this revenge for the letter? You’ve become a doting dad, but your heart’s grown stingier.”

Jurim shrugged.

With a twitch of his brow, Reiji waved Guru over.

“Mmh?”

As Guru toddled over, he whispered something into her ear.

A thin line creased Jurim’s brow. What’s he saying?

And just like that, Reiji’s form snuffed out like a candle flame.

Moments later, Guru rushed over and looked under the shopping cart.

“Ack! It’s weawwy hewe! Da miwkit!”

Ah. Busted.

Jurim had hidden it way down at the bottom, but apparently Reiji had tipped her off.

He quickly snatched the meal kit before Guru could steal it.

Guru squealed, trying to grab it back.

Why’s he dragging me into being the “bad dad” too?! It’s enough that HE’S one!

Frustrated, Jurim scooped up the wriggling Guru.

Guru pouted and clung to his neck.

Jurim smiled and kissed her cheek.

Guru’s giggles rang out, and Veilach, watching, let out a helpless laugh.

‘She really pulled it off.’

He’d thought it was nonsense from the start when she said she’d arrest him with toy handcuffs.

Even without the key, Reiji could’ve just broken them and disappeared.

He’d assumed they’d have to fight, or maybe even kill him.

Veilach had lived long enough to believe he could assess the situation better than his master.

But in the end, it was his master who pulled it off peacefully and got everything she wanted.

It was all a bit ridiculous... but Veilach looked at Guru, happily held in Jurim’s arms, and smiled.

Maybe this isn’t so bad after all.

This teeny-tiny girl, the complete opposite of Sheir, was always overflowing with passion and love.

At first, he’d just given in and become her follower out of apathy...

Veilach, feeling his form shift again, headed toward the restroom.

...He might be a failure right now, but if she grows just a little more, she really might become his perfect master.