The taste of shabu-shabu, which I was trying for the first time in this life, was truly shocking.  

The meat melted in my mouth like snowflakes, and it was certainly no ordinary cut of meat.

“How is it?”  

Yeoreum looked at us expectantly, her eyes full of anticipation.  

Levinas was the first to respond.

“It’s delicious! But this chili sauce is too spicy!”

“I agree as well. It’s tasty, but a bit too hot.”

“Really? Maybe it’s too spicy for beast-kin?”  

Yeoreum glanced over at me, clearly wanting to hear my opinion.

Was it because my body had grown younger?  

It was a little spicy for me as well, but not unbearable.

“I’m fine with it.”

“Really? You handle spicy food well, Gyeoul? Should I make it even spicier?”

“Oh, no! I think this is spicy enough.”  

Any spicier and my tongue would only feel pain.  

Possibly even my internal organs.@@novelbin@@

I didn’t enjoy food that was painful to eat, so I quietly avoided Yeoreum’s gaze and focused on eating the carrot.  

The taste of the carrot we had grown ourselves was absolutely fantastic.

“I guess vegetables grown with care come with a buff effect, huh?”

“Really? I didn’t notice.”

“It’s probably because you’re not used to handling mana yet.”

That was true.  

I had only just started learning how to control mana.

Curious, I closed my eyes and tried to sense if the carrot had absorbed any enhanced mana, but all I could feel was its taste.  

That naturally sweet flavor was simply wonderful.

“Gyeoul, you’re eating your vegetables really well! Most kids would be complaining and refusing to eat them.”  

I’m not some child.  

Complaining about vegetables?  

Her comment was so out of place that I just shrugged in response.

“I don’t have picky eating habits.”

“Impressive.”  

Yeoreum giggled and then stood up.  

She picked up the bottle of chili sauce and waved it at us.

“I’ll head to the kitchen for a bit. I think I need to tone down this sauce.”

“Okay.”  

I kept munching on the carrot, watching her as she left.  

Just then, I heard someone open the front door.

*Huh?*  

Two sets of footsteps.  

My ears perked up instinctively, and soon, Choi Jinhyuk and Jung Yu-na appeared in the doorway.

“You’re here?”

“Uh, yeah…”  

“Yeoreum told us to come for lunch.”

I see.  

We were going to have lunch together with everyone.  

For some reason, that thought filled me with a sense of joy, and my tail wagged slightly.

“G-Gyeoul… is Yeoreum here?”  

“She’s in the kitchen.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll go have a word with her.”

“Me too…”  

Both of them had strange expressions on their faces as they looked at me.  

It was as if they were shaken by something, their eyes trembling noticeably.

What’s going on with Jung Yu-na and Choi Jinhyuk?  

I pondered as they moved toward the kitchen.

As I watched them leave, my tail continued to wag lightly.  

But the moment they disappeared from sight, my tail stopped all on its own.  

It’s part of my body, but it really has a mind of its own sometimes.

---

Yeoreum was humming a little tune in the kitchen.  

Jung Yu-na hated that she had to break her cheerful mood.

Should I wait a bit longer?  

She considered it, but they had made a promise to put Gyeoul’s wellbeing first.  

It was painful, but to honor that promise and for Gyeoul’s sake, she had to go through with it.

“Yeoreum…”

“Oh, you’re here?”  

Yeoreum turned around with a bright smile, but upon seeing her friends' troubled expressions, she quickly wiped the smile off her face.

“…Is something wrong?”

“Y-Yeah. It’s something serious.”

“…What is it?”  

As soon as Yeoreum stopped what she was doing, Jung Yu-na cast a soundproofing spell, ensuring that Gyeoul wouldn’t overhear their conversation from the living room.

“You know how Gyeoul mentioned being bullied? How she was hit on the back of the head and pushed?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, it seems like it wasn’t as simple as we thought.”

“Well… it was bullying, right?”

There’s no such thing as “simple” bullying.  

It can ruin someone’s life.  

Yeoreum felt disappointed, as if Jung Yu-na wasn’t taking Gyeoul’s pain seriously enough.

“No, think about it. Gyeoul nearly died to a horned rabbit, right?”

“Yeah.”

“She was hit by someone much stronger than that rabbit. Don’t you think it must have felt like a life-threatening experience for her?”

“Huh…?”

Yeoreum froze in place as she listened to Jung Yu-na’s explanation.  

It hit her like a massive iron hammer.  

She realized that she hadn’t truly grasped the gravity of the bullying Gyeoul had endured.  

She hadn’t considered that Gyeoul might have been close to dying.

*That’s true…*  

Back when Gyeoul had no mana, even a slight blow could have been fatal.  

Yeoreum couldn’t believe how oblivious she had been to that fact.

---

After we finished eating, I found myself with nothing to do.  

I thought about it for a while and decided to visit the dungeon.

“Um…”

“…Yeah?”

“Never mind.”  

I was about to tell Yeoreum that I was heading to the dungeon, but for some reason, she looked really serious.  

Choi Jinhyuk and Jung Yu-na had similar expressions on their faces.

*Sophia’s… asleep.*  

Sophia was sitting on the couch, dozing off.  

Levinas was next to her, watching TV.

It seemed like I should sneak out quietly.  

I kept as quiet as possible as I grabbed my gear and slipped out of the building.

Just as I was heading toward the dungeon, having grabbed my weapons from the container house,  

I noticed three familiar figures in the distance—Encia, Argo, and the Master.

“Where are you going, Gyeoul?”

“I’m going to the dungeon.”

“Alone, Captain?!”

Thud!  

Argo, excited, slammed his giant tail on the ground, cracking the asphalt.  

The Master’s brow twitched.

“I can handle the goblin dungeon alone now.”

“Even so, it’s still dangerous. Isn’t there anyone to go with you?”

“No…”

Hearing this, Encia turned to look at the Master.  

She was an impressive wolf-woman, standing tall even in front of such an intimidating person.

“Kang Jinho, could we reschedule our task for later? I don’t feel comfortable letting Gyeoul go alone.”

“…Aren’t Yeoreum or the others around?”  

Kang Jinho looked down at me with a cold, disinterested gaze.  

Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, I found myself lowering my head.

“They seem busy, so I snuck out on my own…”

“I see. Then let’s postpone the task for now.”

Was I disrupting their plans?  

Panicking, I quickly waved my hands.

“It’s okay! I can go alone.”

“No. Your safety comes first, Gyeoul.”

“That’s right, Captain! Your life is the most important!”

Were they both really worried about me?  

Argo may be a bit rough, but he had a warm heart.  

I had no choice but to nod in agreement.

“Then, I’ll be on my way…”

“No, you’re not imposing at all.”

“O-Okay…”

With that, we all started heading toward the dungeon.  

The goblin dungeon wasn’t far, so we decided to walk.

As we walked, I glanced back.  

The Master was following right behind me.

Why is the Dawn Guild’s Master following me?  

I’d heard Yeoreum say he was the strongest in the world.  

I was a little scared, but I wasn’t in any position to tell him what to do.  

I let him follow.

“I’m going to take down ten goblins today…”

“I see.”

“We’re almost there…”

“Hmm.”  

I tried to make conversation to ease the tension, but he only responded with short answers.

*…Is he just not talkative?*  

Or maybe he didn’t like me?  

I wasn’t sure, but I knew it was beyond my ability to keep trying to talk to him.  

So, I just walked quietly toward the dungeon.

“Here we are…”  

We finally arrived at the goblin dungeon.  

For some reason, there weren’t many people today.  

I noticed there was no line at the counter as I approached the dungeon manager, Kim Min-jun.

“You’re here, Gyeoul?”

“Yes…”

Maybe because I visited the goblin dungeon so often,  

I was able to have casual conversations with him.  

The counter he sat behind was too high, so I had to stand on my tiptoes to talk to him.

“Who’s your guardian today?”

“Encia, Argo, and the Master are with me…”

“The Master?”

“Yes. Over there.”  

Kim Min-jun’s gaze followed my pointing finger.  

A short distance away, the Master stood with his arms crossed, watching us.  

His fierce eyes made it look like he was glaring at us.

“Whoa…!”

Kim Min-jun gasped in shock.  

His mouth gaped open so wide it looked

 like I could fit my whole fist in there.  

Though, I do have small hands.

“…The ‘Master’ is just what our guild members call him.”

“Oh…”

Right.  

I wasn’t a formal guild member yet.  

Realizing my mistake, I shrank back in embarrassment.

“Just call me ‘Uncle.’”

“U-Uncle?”

*Uncle?*  

Wasn’t that even more disrespectful?  

I hesitated, unsure what to say, and Kim Min-jun let out another startled gasp.

“Whoa…!”

It seemed he was just as terrified of the Master as I was.