“Oppaw?”

In a split second, Han Roun’s eyes widened. His pupils dilated and his mouth parted open.

“Gwuu-chan!”

Kazuki, who had somehow already approached, scooped up the child into his arms.

Behind them, murmuring began to fill the exhibition hall.

It was because the monster specimens standing like pillars had started turning their heads and swinging their arms.

“What the? They move too?”

“Wow, that’s insane. They look so real.”

“Shit! They’re so real!”

As the commotion grew, Kazuki moved even faster, with the baby bird on his head and the child who had been holding Guru’s hand following closely behind.

Even as she was carried away in Kazuki’s ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) arms, Guru couldn’t take her eyes off Han Roun.

Their eyes stayed locked for quite a while, but then a line of people formed between them, blocking her view.

“......”

Han Roun stared down at his now-empty hands where the photo card had been and clenched his faintly trembling fist.

“Master?”

At that moment, a boy wearing a mask approached and called out to him.

“Your face is red.”

“...Really?”

Han Roun smiled and brushed his cheek with the back of his hand.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm his racing heart.

“Maybe the density’s too high. I told you, I don’t like places like this. In Korea, they call people who come to places like this otakus. Did you know?”

“I thought we were done with that topic. Are you whining again? You're already cute enough, let’s not do this, Yul. Did you get the photo card?”

Yurian scrunched up his face in protest.

“I don’t care about stuff like that!”

“Really?”

Han Roun chuckled softly.

“By the way, how’s Korea? Think you’ll be able to get by?”

Yurian pulled his mask down slightly and smiled sweetly.

“It’s nice. The infrastructure’s well-developed, the people are friendly—it’s a good place. Except Dominic’s a clown and Reiji’s a lunatic.”

Han Roun let out a quiet laugh.

“Didn’t meet any decent friends in Korea?”

“Why do you just let those erratic people do as they please? Every organization needs proper discipline, and its members are supposed to uphold that for the collective wellbeing, right?”

“Hmmm, you’re even pricklier than usual today. Is it because I dragged you somewhere full of these otaku people?”

Yurian smiled faintly, but quickly sealed his lips into a flat line and blinked slowly.

“Think whatever you want. But Master.”

“Yeah?”

“That kid from earlier. Is she a test subject too?”

Yurian pointed toward where Guru had disappeared.

“Who knows. Maybe...”

His words trailed off.

Han Roun recalled Guru’s gaze as she stared at him.

The child’s eyes had clearly been a soft coral color.

Test subjects usually had golden or reddish hues. Which meant her eye color had likely changed later.

There had to be a reason Jurim chose to take the child in and raise her.

After On Ijo’s death, the researchers had scattered with their data, and since then, Han Roun had encountered countless test subjects across the world.

She was probably just one among many.

So why had he reacted so strongly to just that one child?

“Are you going to bring her here?”

For a moment, Han Roun pressed his lips together. Then he smiled with wide, round eyes.

“Yul, today’s rule is no more questions, okay?”

Yurian looked like he still had more he wanted to ask, but he swallowed it down and gave a short reply.

“Okay.”

He put his mask back on, and instead of continuing the conversation, held out his palm.

This was the real reason he’d come today.

“I got the core.”

The core of the first floor of the tower—something that should’ve originally been destroyed.

Yurian had extracted it from the specimen of the tower’s original owner.

“Good job.”

“But the specimen...”

“Yeah?”

Yurian spoke with genuine confusion.

“It moved.”

“Ahh...”

“It didn’t seem like it was supposed to do that. But it suddenly moved...”

Yurian ran his hand roughly through his hair. He seemed annoyed because the movement had drawn more people over.

Han Roun smiled faintly.

“That won’t happen anymore.”

“Huh?”

Why suddenly not? Yurian tilted his head in confusion at the knowing tone.

“I need to go get another photo card. Let’s go line up.”

“Wh-what?!”

Yurian was pushed along by the grinning Han Roun and reluctantly moved to join the line.

***

At that moment, sitting on a bench in the exhibit hall corridor, Guru kept her eyes fixed on the fidgeting Kazuki.

“Sabbuu—no, wait...”

In a crowded place like this, calling him Sabbuu would draw unnecessary attention. She’d agreed to call him Uncle instead.

“Uncwe?”

Ah. Only then did Kazuki sit down across from Guru and ask,

“Gwuu-chan, did you maybe use a skill earlier?”

Skill? Guru shook her head.

“Nope. Gwuu didn’t.”

“Right?”

“I think the master still can’t control her skills.”

“Beep-beep. Beep-beep—beep—”

Veilach and Mephisto cut into their conversation.

Mephisto explained that the spoon had moved before too, and Veilach nodded.

“She’s had incidents before of failing to control her skill.”

Kazuki pressed his palm to his forehead. So it was that after all...

Only Guru, who didn’t understand what they were talking about, tilted her head and asked,

“Why? What happened?”

“It means your skill control is trash-tier.”

“Twash?”

Kazuki echoed, “Trash?” and then explained.

“Ah, I mean... your skill, Gwuu-chan. It looks like it activates even when you don’t want it to.”

Gasp! Guru inhaled sharply.

“I’m sure it was like that just a minute ago, but now...”

“Hm. Yeah, I don’t feel it now either.”

Kazuki and Veilach locked eyes.

Did she suddenly regain control?

Something was definitely off.

Just then, Kazuki noticed Guru had two photo cards in her hand.

They were only supposed to give one per person, right?

And the photo card with the bwing-bwing eyes Guru had wanted so badly... Kazuki could even feel mana coming from it.

“This thing...”

“Yesh?”

Kazuki took the card from her and lightly licked the corner.

After scanning the info, he looked serious and asked,

“...Gwuu-chan, where’d you get this?”

“Oh! Wight. I was gonna twade it with some mistuh but I just bwought it instead...”

Well, not exactly stole it—it was more like, in a flash, he had handed the card to her.

Guru recalled that when Kazuki had picked her up, the mister had placed the photo card in her hand.

“This is acting as a regulator.”

“Yup.”

Kazuki nodded at Veilach’s remark.

The skill was being controlled just enough not to strain the child’s body.

Since it was in photo card form, it wasn’t something pre-made. If someone had noticed her mana leaking and made the regulator on the spot, they had to be at least A-rank.

There were plenty of Hunters at today’s tour, so it wasn’t impossible, but...

Kazuki looked to Veilach.

Veilach shook his head knowingly.

“He was just a normal human. Didn’t sense any danger.”

Kazuki seemed slightly relieved by that, but still unsettled, he stood up and said,

“Still, just in case, let’s go home for today.”

“Okaay...”

Guru nodded dejectedly and hopped down from the bench.

“Let’s go.”

Guru hesitated before reaching for Kazuki’s hand and asked,

“Uncwe, did Gwuu do somethin’ bad?”

“No! Absolutely not. Why would you think that?”

Guru fidgeted with her fingers and murmured,

“Uuung... ’cause Gwuu made things hawd fow evewyone...”

They hadn’t even finished the tour and were going home already. It felt like she’d caused trouble again without meaning to.

“No, no. When babies grow up, all kinds of things happen. It’s never Gwuu-chan’s fault. Uncle just panicked over nothing. Right?”

Kazuki scooped Guru up.

Guru wrapped her arms around his neck, and Kazuki patted her back.

“When Uncle first awakened, it was way worse. Everything I touched broke, so I had to wear these super thick gloves all the time.”

“Reawwy?”

“Yup. That’s why Uncle got good at making gloves.”

Guru giggled, and Kazuki kissed her on the cheek.

“In exchange, let’s take good care of this photo card, okay? It’s helping keep your skill from going wild. Got it?”

“Okaay!”

Guru nodded firmly.

Clutching the bwing-bwing photo card tightly, she rolled her eyes.

Since she got the bwing-bwing, she had to give the mister the smooshy-sleepy one in return...

If he happened to be on the same tour bus, she’d find a chance to give it back.

“Alright. Let’s get home and rest.”

The two stepped out through the gate.

Leaning her chin on Kazuki’s shoulder as they passed through, Guru thought of the smooshy-sleepy mister she had stared at until the very last second their gazes had met.

It tickled...

Whenever she looked at him, her head got all fuzzy and her heart went thump-thump.

Maybe it was because he was a pwetty mistuh.

He sorta looked like Daddychann too... but when she tried to think of him again, his face got blurry and she couldn’t remember it.

Hm? That’s stwange.

A face that wooks wike Daddychann...

Grunting, Guru squished her face trying to recall everything about Jurim’s face.

Then suddenly she looked up with a jolt and asked,

“Ah! Uncwe! Are Daddychann’s gwoves aww done?”

“Yup. No more need to worry.”

“Wowwaaa—”

“...That.”

Just then, Veilach, who had been listening to their conversation, opened his mouth—then closed it again.

“Ung? Bayi, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

No need to add another worry now.

They’d find out soon enough anyway.