Chick 185
by Cristae185
‘Heh.’
Now there was hope for victory!
Groo was happily composing a message when Veilach glanced off to one side, then turned his head back.
[Blue 159: Red 148]
“It’s lunchtime for the kindergarteners! I’ll show you the Grootping lunchbox my aunt packed for me.”
Groo, feeling lighthearted, tapped her sturdy lunch bag with pride.
Grootping was a character in the Tinyping series Groo had invented in her imagination. Yeongran had recreated it, clumsy doodle and all, as a special lunch just for her.
“Bii bipbip!”
As Mephisto cheered, Veilach pretended not to notice, casting his eyes elsewhere.
‘A gaze.’
There were always people taking pictures of Groo now that she’d become somewhat of a minor celebrity—two S-rankers from Hyunak had even been following just moments ago…
But this wasn’t the gaze of someone watching a child.
‘They’re watching me.’
Someone had been tracking him since the ball rolling game.
Whoever it was, they’d been dead silent, masking their presence entirely.
‘What is their goal?’
If they were after his young master, he’d have to eliminate them. But since the focus was on him, it wasn’t so simple.
With the event open to outsiders, there were plenty of hunters around.
It was too risky to start killing people over nothing and risk drawing their attention.
Just then, suddenly, the presence vanished.
‘…?!’
To mask themselves this completely?
This person was more skilled than expected.
Veilach stayed on high alert, even as Groo tugged him toward the vegetable garden.
At that moment—
The presence swooped in close.
‘It’s coming!’
Veilach, like a cat with all its fur on end, checked their surroundings, nerves taut.
‘Should I dodge? Or—’
But then—
Tap!
A thick, calloused hand suddenly grabbed Veilach’s wrist.
At the same time, his mana was being drawn out and analyzed by the stranger.
‘Too slow.’
It all happened in a flash. Veilach looked up at the person holding him.
A middle-aged man met his gaze, his eyes rounding in surprise.
[“To think a monster would be here in a place like this, in this form.”]
Incomprehensible Japanese left Groo, Veilach, and Mephisto frozen in place.
But one word was clear:
‘Monster.’
The man had grabbed Veilach’s wrist and called him a monster.
‘This is bad.’
He’d realized what Veilach really was.
What to do?
A fragment of advice from Dad flashed through Groo’s mind.
“Don’t just go around calling anything a monster in public.”
Interpol, the international police, had taken charge of the recent Jeju incident. Dad had warned her: if they realized Veilach was missing, they might come looking.
International police = foreigner = Japanese!
Veilach will be taken away by the police!
Snap!
Groo grabbed the man’s wrist.
He looked back at her in genuine surprise.
“He is my friend! Best friend! No monster!”
She tried to stress their friendship, but the man looked only more bemused.
When that didn’t work, Groo knew another tactic.
She pulled out a beautifully wrapped steamed potato from her lunch bag and spoke slyly:
“This potato is delicious! Present for you.”
A bribe—always effective.
They had an unexpected guest for lunch.
‘I brought plenty, anyway.’
Groo had asked for a big lunch, thinking Uju and his dad might show up.
Now, she sat on a picnic mat, casting furtive glances at the Interpol detective (probably).
Amakusa Reiji was eating his potato as he gazed out over the green fields.
[“Nice view over the potato field. I thought I’d be eating with the scent of blood again today.”]
“Good, good.”
He replied cheerfully, understanding nothing. Reiji gave a little laugh at that.
Why was he here, after all?
Was it the child’s boldness in grabbing his hand?
Any normal child would have been instinctively afraid of a man like him.
But then, given she had a top-grade monster at her side and called it her friend, maybe it wasn’t so odd that she was unafraid of him.
He smiled unhurriedly, speaking with gentle warmth.
[“I’m sorry to the little one. I’ve never had cause to kill a Korean, so I never needed to learn the language.”]
The child’s big eyes rolled in confusion.
“Yes. Good.”
It was the same answer every time, but Reiji found the absurd exchange strangely delightful.
There was something exhilarating in connecting even with no shared language.
“Is that boy SSS?”
Reiji tried simple English.
Veilach gave Groo a look, asking silently if he could answer.
“Yeees.”
Groo replied with a nod, swallowing her steamed potato.
“SSS. But good boy.”
Proudly emphasizing “good boy,” Groo kept on, until Reiji broke into laughter.
If it was an SSS, that narrowed things down.
After the Jeju deal had gone off the rails, rumors had run wild about an SSS-class monster disappearing.
If it could take human form, this had to be the monster that had escaped from Jeju.
There was no trace of the gold seals that should have been wrapped around its arms and legs—and how had it ended up beside this small child?
So many questions, but Reiji merely kept eating lunch with his chopsticks.
“Hmm, really tastes great.”
He complimented the character lunchbox, and Groo grinned happily.
Because “Yes” and “Good” were the only words they really shared.
When Groo offered him more imitation crab, Reiji traded some of his side dishes, and together they shared their lunch with easy camaraderie.
Beside them, the SSS-class monster eyed him warily as he nibbled.
Meeting Veilach’s gaze, Reiji’s eyes crinkled.
‘Hmm.’
The child didn’t mean any harm, and maybe this scary monster just wanted a friend because the child was cute.
‘No sign of parents.’
Didn’t have any?
For a moment, Reiji was overcome by a wave of pity and thought of his own son.
‘When was the last time I even saw him…?’
His son’s face was getting hazier by the day.
Just then, Groo shot to her feet.
“Oh! I have to get to the next sports event!”
“…?”
“Uhm… Sports day!”
She mimed running.
Reiji watched the little act with a question mark above his head.
Groo mimed running in place, then threw her arms wide, panting.
“Goal! Gooall!”
She wiped her forehead, pointing dramatically to the sky.
High above, the hologram displayed the scores for Blue and Red teams.
“Blue win!”
Reiji nodded.
“Aha! Ok, ok. You have to go, I understand.”
He ruffled Groo’s hair with a smile.
[“If only my son had been as cute as this little one.”]
Groo nodded, taking it as a compliment to her acting prowess.
“Thank you! You good too!”
“Haha!”
Reiji laughed heartily. Groo beamed back.
He seemed like a good man.
He’d eaten lunch happily, and even knowing Veilach was a monster, he hadn’t acted hostile.
He had realized Veilach was SSS-class… hmm?
Not afraid of an SSS-class monster?
‘Is he secretly super strong?’
There was no notification of possible caregiver registration, so maybe he was just an A-rank?
Would an A-rank not fear even an SSS-class monster?
Groo was deep in these musings when Veilach stealthily tugged on her sleeve.
‘Right!’
Now wasn’t the time to be making friends.
Groo glanced at Veilach, then looked up at the man.
“He is my friend…”
At that, Reiji brought a finger to his lips and made a shushing gesture.
[“Let’s keep today’s events a secret between us.”]
He added “secret,” for Groo’s understanding.
Groo’s face lit up in gratitude and she chanted “Thank you, thank you,” dancing around him.
“Thank you, you are my friend too!”
[“You’re offering me your friendship?”]
“Yes, yes. Good.”
Reiji gazed at her with rare affection.
He didn’t know exactly what it was, but there was something irresistible about the child—a specialness that just demanded love.
[“You shared your lunch with me and even made me your friend. It’s only right that I repay you.”]
“Good, good.”
[“If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll help you out. Ask for anything. I can bring you the world’s most expensive toy, or kill the person you hate most. How about it?”]
Groo blinked in confusion at his question.
Not understanding a word, she could only give the one answer she knew.
“Yes, good!”