Chick 219
by Cristae219
Chapter: Crime Must Be Considered with Mitigating Circumstances
The official recruitment for new members at Guild Orchestra had begun in earnest.
One by one, those who passed the document screening were coming and going from the building for their interviews.
‘Not today either.’
Recently, Groo had taken to hiding in the corridor every day, checking to see if Chuen would show up, only to turn away disappointed.
‘Is Chuu-unnie really not coming after all?’
Groo bowed his head, downcast. Maybe with so many people, she was too shy to apply.
Then again, if it was Chuen, she could probably bypass the whole process and join, just like Sergey. There were even those who insisted on going through official channels only because the Guildmaster disagreed.
Groo eyed the jovial man with a broad, hearty laugh.
Kazuki, evidently amused by the situation, was signing the back of Gidan’s recruiting vest for fun.
Behind Gidan, more guild members had lined up, asking for autographs as well.
‘…Should I get an autograph too?’
Are Hunters like celebrities…?
Groo’s eyes thinned to triangles as he became increasingly dissatisfied with the situation.
“Hunter Amakusa! If the weapon’s ownership is transferred, will we be able to see it here at Orchestra?”
That must be the reason. The S+ grade Amakusa series.
“Wow, Gidan’s bold. Asking openly like that.”
“I honestly wanted to know!”
“Me too!”
“Same here.”
Kazuki laughed cheerfully at the chorus from those around him.
“The Amakusa series is currently owned by the Japanese government, right?”
“Yes, that’s true… but, I’ll have to bring them here to Orchestra.”
“Ooh—!”
“Wow!”
Surprised cheers and exclamations burst out all around.
Seeing the joy on everyone’s faces, Groo clenched his little fists and trembled.
Groo’s heart was darkening again—jealousy bubbling up inside him!
‘None of them ever clung to me like that!’
Granted, Master made the S+ series, and Groo’s was just a prototype with different grades and uses…
Still, as another craftsman, he couldn’t help but feel his pride wounded.
‘Should I transform into Jjapso and make an appearance?’
But what if no one’s interested then, either?
If so, Groo’s attention-craving heart would be torn to shreds.
While Groo was quietly brooding in half-view, burning with envy, the guild members spotted him.
“Groo, why are you over there? Come here.”
“Our Groo, you’re wearing such a cute outfit today.”
“Hey, Groogroo.”
They called out to him as if coaxing a wary wild animal, one after another, waving treats.
Groo struggled to keep his mouth from stretching into a beaming smile.
Should he go? As he pondered, Kazuki suddenly came over and scooped him up.
“Groo-chan, how’s Master today?”
Kazuki had covered all his tattoos and slicked back his hair for the interview, and looked especially sharp today, but—
Groo stuck out his lip.
“Not good…”
“Why?!”
“Just because…”
“What’s wrong, what happened? There’s your duck bill again.”
Gidan came up behind, grinning slyly.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Instead of admitting to the primitive urge of feeling slighted as a fellow S-class craftsman, Groo quietly took out an acorn from his pocket and handed it to Kazuki.
“Master, here.”
“Ah…”
Kazuki took the acorn and, for some reason, wore a bittersweet smile.
“…It’s fully grown already.”
“Mm?”
As Groo looked at him questioningly, Kazuki’s voice a little gloomy, he offered a bright smile again.
“Thank you, Groo-chan.”
Whispering his gratitude, he kissed Groo on the cheek and quickly tucked the acorn into his inventory.
“Master, you’re not going to use the acorn?”
“Mhm, I’ll use it later.”
When’s later?
Groo wanted to ask, but couldn’t bring himself to. Something about Kazuki’s face was strangely somber.
Suddenly, he remembered Kazuki’s caregiver quest.
[Caregiver Quest]
[Caregiver ‘Amakusa Kazuki’ can’t seem to make up his mind. Let’s help your caregiver and show some filial piety!]
“Fuuu…?”
As the crowd thickened, Groo slipped out from Kazuki’s arms and headed for Sergey’s office.
Sergey, perusing documents, glanced up as Groo trotted in.
He briefly thought it strange Groo was dressed so properly today.
But then Groo pulled out his magic wand, spun it in a circle as if performing a dance, and—chara-rang!—made a sound.
“Miracle Change! Transform!”
A light flashed over Groo’s body and, pop, in Groo’s place stood an Unfinished Bear.
It was a prototype of the transformable toy scheduled for release.
“Oh.”
The transformation seemed to interest Sergey.
“That’s that new transform toy, right?”
— That’s right. It’s not battle-grade armor, but it’s optimized for kids who want to transform.
He added that it could store two different costumes, and with the wand, you could switch between them, and since transforming was the only function, it didn’t use up much mana stone power.
“Those’ll sell well.”
Even adults would have a hard time resisting that.
—Heh heh.
Groo strutted up, propping his elbow on the desk and offered slyly:
—Sergey, don’t you have anything you’d like to ask an S-class craftsman?
Watching Unfinished Bear’s comically raised eyebrows, Sergey replied instantly.
“Nope.”
Bong—!
—Think carefully. Groo could make you something amazing… no, tremendously amazing!
“I thought about it. Still no.”
Again with no hesitation.
Groo’s disappointed face scrunched up, eyebrows practically scraping his hairline.
—Don’t magic users need, like, buffing weapons?
“Uh, not really.”
—Why not?
“I’m still the youngest on the team, so I don’t really do much.”
Siiiigh.
So that was why Sergey wasn’t interested in Master either?
Fuming quietly, Groo transformed again with a ching! sound. Sergey snickered at the sight.
Groo, glued to the armrest right beside Sergey’s chair, started grumbling.
“Why does no one ever ask Groo to make them this or that?”
“Well, that’s…”
Instead of saying, “Because your dad’s right there glaring daggers,” Sergey answered carelessly.
“You’re F-grade, right?”
If he made a request and that rascal went running to argue with the guildmaster, Sergey would get blamed.
“No, but I’m not Jjapso. And besides, Dani oppa knows everything and doesn’t ask, either. And he even got Master’s autograph. He’s S-class, same as me.”
“You just found out? He really is an idiot.”
Sergey, seemingly holding a grudge against Gidan as well, went on,
“He’s a total psycho. At his house, there are maybe five hundred shirts with baseball players’ autographs. If you touch them, he goes nuts—not kidding, it’s war.”
He went on, scoffing, saying even cultists wouldn’t act like that, and added incredulously,
“He even has the guildmaster’s autograph at home.”
Groo’s jaw dropped. Dani oppa has Dad’s autograph at home?!
“But then… why doesn’t he ask Groo?”
“Ask what?”
“To sign something.”
“Ah… Well, obviously not.”
Sergey turned back to the paperwork.
Siiiigh….
Maybe Groo just isn’t impressive enough yet?
“I want to be as popular as Master.”
“You insatiable little thing. Grow a bit more.”
“How much more?”
“As much as me?”
Groo would need about twelve more years to reach Sergey’s height.
“Hmph.”
Groo pouted and tried to sneak a look at Sergey’s file.
It said “investigation related”—so he was clearly still helping his brother, Jin Siwon.
Groo read the header, printed in large letters at the top of the page.
[Unregistered S-grade Instance Dungeon Unauthorized Raid: Case Summary]
‘Hm?’
[Location Discovered: Justitia International School]
‘Hmm?’
[Given the dungeon grade, the perpetrator is likely a group rather than an individual…]
‘Hmmm?!’
Groo’s eyes widened as he snuggled into Sergey’s side and read the case summary.
It was exactly as the title said: an S-grade dungeon discovered at Justitia International School had been “illegally raided by multiple unknown perpetrators,” and an investigation was underway to identify them.
Groo pressed his hands anxiously over his shrunken heart.
The S-grade dungeon that appeared at Justitia International School.
Wasn’t that the slime dungeon Groo’d been enthusiastically stabbing with a fork?
“Oppa, what does this mean? Why can’t you clear dungeons like that?”
“If bad people clear dungeons at will, they might use the items or experience for evil, right? That’s why dungeons are strictly regulated.”
Sweat dripped down Groo’s back.
‘I’m in big trouble.’
Groo clung to his sinking heart.
‘Groo’s a criminal again?!’