Chick 278
by Cristae278
Lea leaned against the bus window, watching the German team’s coach, Thomas Kunz, through the gap in the seats.
Scrolling rapidly on his phone, he looked angry enough for his ears to burn red.
She could also hear the commotion from the other team members and coaches.
No matter that the Korean team had two S-ranks—bringing a kindergartener was, to most, an outrageous arrogance and an insult.
‘We’ll have to work hard.’
Lea let out a quiet grunt and tried to sink out of sight in her seat.
Losing to the Korean team was now inconceivable.
Worse than national disgrace, the blame would surely fall on Lea, who had pushed for this exchange with Korea.
‘But that kid is in Korea…’
In truth, the exchange itself was of little interest to her. She just needed a reason to go to Korea to find that child.
Then, the bus came to a halt.
[“Is this it?”]
[“Looks like a typical Justitia.”]
[“Honestly, it doesn’t look much different from our school.”]
From the window, the students began to make comments as they saw Korea’s Justitia International School.
Soon, following the coach and coaching staff, the students disembarked.
The German team was to stay in this school’s dormitory until the end of the exchange.
The adults headed toward the dorm, deep in conversation, while the students stood and looked around the buildings.
[“Take a look around, but come straight back to the dorm.”]
Coach Kunz handed out card keys, and a brown-haired boy who looked like the leader replied, “We’ll be quick.”
Watching from afar was a child hidden behind a tree near the parking lot—Groo peeked out, spying on the German team.
With so many eyes glancing at the newcomers, they didn’t even notice Groo.
‘Even better.’
Groo was well aware of all the skeptical looks aimed his way after his inclusion in Team Korea.
To everyone, Groo was no more than “the extra,” “Hyeonak’s tag-along,” “2+1,” “the real main is the drone”—but—
“I’ll be helpful too.”
“Pip!”
Mephisto, perched atop Groo’s head, vigorously flapped its wings as if to show he could do it.
Today, Operation “Be Helpful to Team Korea” was officially underway.
Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will win every battle.
Right now, Groo was on a covert mission to find the German team’s weaknesses.
He was about to sneak after the German team in their uniforms and duffel bags when—
“Wait.”
Thump!
A strange voice spoke from behind.
‘Don’t tell me—German team?!’
Had they noticed Groo spying on them?
Creak. Creak.
Groo turned his head like a broken robot and blinked when he saw who it was.
It wasn’t the German team who had called his name—it was an entirely unexpected figure.
It was the bespectacled boy Groo had met at the Administration Bureau.
His glasses were so thick with compressed lenses that his face was barely visible.
Today, he wore the Justitia school uniform, and his name tag read, “Yurian.”
Yurian stared at Groo for a while before blurting out,
“How did you handle Dominic?”
Dominic?
‘What’s Dominic?’
Groo opened his mouth, looking utterly clueless.
“I mean Dominic. The SSS, or rather…”
Yurian hesitated for a moment, as though puzzled, then spread out his hand.
“This. You know?”
Sticky, slime-like liquid gathered on his palm, slowly taking shape.
In moments, it shifted between Dominic’s upper body and a monster’s form.
“Ah!”
Groo slapped both hands over his mouth.
That was—
‘The tentacle pervert?!’
It was the monster that had kidnapped Bailach and Mephisto—and Groo had turned into takoyaki and fed to Mephisto.
As the memory came back to him, Groo’s eyes narrowed.
‘He was a bad one.’
He almost admitted he knew—then a sudden thought made him close his mouth tight again.
Why is he looking for that monster? Dominic is a monster, after all.
Groo cocked his head thoughtfully.
There’s no reason for a person to be searching for a monster, and with that school uniform, he probably wasn’t law enforcement, either.
So, only one thing came to mind.
‘Is he… a friend?’
Maybe, like Groo and Bailach, this boy was Dominic’s human friend.
That thought made Groo’s heart drop, cold sweat rolling down his back.
‘Then I absolutely can’t admit I made takoyaki out of his friend and fed it to someone!’
Eating someone’s friend was both horrifying and barbaric.
If someone did that to Bailach—
Groo shivered.
He was just about to play dumb instead of confessing to such a dreadful act.
But before Groo could speak, Mephisto, oblivious, chirped up boldly.
“Pip-pip!” (That bad guy? I ate him!)
“Ah!”
Groo’s eyes flew wide open, staring up at Mephisto.
Mephisto snorted happily atop Groo’s head, unbothered.
Fortunately, the boy didn’t seem to understand. To be fair, Groo had picked up the idea more by intuition anyway.
Yet, even if he hadn’t understood, Yurian examined Mephisto suspiciously.
‘No idea what kind of skill he has, but if I don’t do something fast, he might catch on…!’
There was only one solution.
‘Run.’
“Groo doesn’t know anything about that!”
Groo grabbed Mephisto from his own head, clamped his beak shut, and dashed off.
“Hey, hey!”
Yurian tried to grab Groo by the scruff of the neck, but Groo ducked at the last second.
“…!”
Yurian paused in surprise at Groo’s nimble movement.
Groo, startled by his own reflexes, stole a backward glance before sprinting off again.
‘My heart is pounding!’
Moments later, Yurian started after him.
“Stop! You do know, don’t you?”
“I don’t! Groo doesn’t know anything!”
Realizing he’d be caught if he ran straight, Groo made a sharp turn along the side of the gym.
It was the right move, but the sudden turn twisted his ankle.
“Ow!”
He yelped and stumbled to the ground, scraping his knee.
Yurian hesitated, a bit flustered, when—
Whoosh—
A whistling sound cut through the air, and a swift, slender fist came flying.
Thud!
A fist smashed into the wall, punching a deep hole in the concrete. Chunks of stone tumbled away.
Groo’s eyes, pale with shock, quivered like a boat in a storm.
‘She punched a hole in the wall…!’
Lea fixed Yurian with a fierce glance, having narrowly intercepted.
[“What do you think you’re doing to a baby?”]
She shouted at Yurian, and Groo blinked blankly.
It looked as though the boy had been bullying an innocent child, but the truth was Groo was in the wrong.
‘Lying and running away!’
Yet what was more confusing was Yurian’s reaction.
Without a word or confession, he shielded his face, then vanished in a flash.
That suspicious exit made a crack show in Lea’s brow.
But there was nothing to be done—he was already gone.
With a sigh, Lea approached Groo and helped him to his feet.
[“Are you okay, sweetheart?”]
She briskly dusted off Groo’s tennis skirt, straightening his clothes.
‘Oh?’
A wild wave of wavy chestnut hair, bright coral eyes glinting beneath.
The two met eyes and studied each other, as if analyzing the other’s features.
Groo stared at those eyes—the exact same color as his own—then glanced over at the broken wall.
Gulping, he took a cautious step back, bowing deeply over and over.
“Th-thank you. Thank you very much.”
His mind spun with images of “German team members who punch through walls with their fists…”
‘I’m scared!’
Groo tried to edge away, trembling, but suddenly—clack!—a hand caught his shoulder.
“Eek!”
[“You’re hurt.”]
Lea brushed her hair behind her ear and bent down.
Her gaze settled on Groo’s scraped, bleeding knee.
At that moment, the German starters wandered over.
[“What are you running for?”]
[“Lea, what are you up to?”]
Lea easily picked Groo up and gave him a squeeze.
[“Look at this. Cute, right? Just found her.”]
[“Stop picking up random things.”]
[“She’s adorable. But did she get hurt?”]
[“Looks like she just tripped while running. Let’s heal her. Where’s the coach?”]
[“Probably already headed to the dorm.”]
[“Let’s go then. Can’t let a baby stay injured—we’d better fetch a potion.”]
Cradled under Lea’s arm, Groo was carried toward the dormitory.
As Groo, dangling helplessly, found himself brought along to the German team’s dorm, a cartoonish question mark appeared above his head.
‘Huh?’