Chick 299
by Cristae299
Chapter A Day Without Dad
Joorim went to the Blue House the very next day, having been summoned by the president.
He took a small army of lawyers with him, saying, “Daddy has work to do and will be very busy for several days.”
Eavesdropping, Gru realized it must be for an official apology over the recent incident, as well as the Mephisto Series Mk.3 contract.
Joorim seemed terribly worried about Gru, but Gru’s eyes sparkled.
‘If that’s the case…’
Today was a day without Dad!
As soon as the sitter dropped her at the office, Gru begged for the trunk to be opened.
“Why? Are you planning to ride your bike today?”
“Yup!”
“I thought you said you hated it after getting in trouble for riding it.”
Gru shook her head.
“Mmm-mmm, today is special.”
Because—
‘A day without Dad = a day with no patrols!’
Instead of a long explanation, Gru simply put on her star-shaped sunglasses.
Maybe she’d go a little faster today?
Today, there was no one to stop Gru’s mischief!
Up she hopped onto her tricycle, waved a cheery ‘Bye-bye~!’ to the sitter, and sped off across the lobby.
‘This feeling, this freedom.’
It was exactly what Gru had longed for.
Buzzing with the thrill of 15 kilometers per hour, Gru arrived at the first-floor café.
“Hey Gru, hello! You’re wearing such cute glasses today.”
“Good morning.”
Gru bowed politely to the staff and, pretending to study the menu, narrowed her eyes slyly.
“Should I get you a chocolate latte?”
“No, thank you!”
Today, Gru was an adult. That meant she’d go to work with an Americano in hand.
After all, grown-ups need to have grown-up potions.
“A cup of amewicano for a gweown-up, please.”
“Are you sure? Can you drink it?”
“Yes! Gru’s a grown-up today.”
“…A grown-up, huh?”
Gru nodded solemnly.
“That’s why I need a grown-up’s potion, please.”
She opened and closed her hands impatiently, urging the staff on.
The staff member smiled, a little troubled.
“Hm…”
In the end, she expertly pulled a shot, diluted it with lots of water until it was barely there, and served it to Gru.
Gru accepted the takeout cup with both hands.
Ba-thump, ba-thump.
‘This is a grown-up’s potion.’
They said drinking this made drowsy eyes clear and brought strength to a sluggish body.
Clearing her throat importantly, Gru took a sip.
“Ugh-bweh…”
Dribble.
She didn’t swallow a single drop; the coffee dribbled right back into the cup.
‘Bitter!’
Stunned, Gru wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Do grown-ups drink this bitter stuff every day? Especially On Joorim—he drank this like water every day…!
Wasn’t this more like torture than potion?
‘No wonder it makes you wide awake! Dad’s a total idiot?!’
The staffer, watching Gru tremble, laughed softly.
“Do you want me to trade it for a grown-up’s chocolate latte instead?”
“But…”
“If I swap it into the same cup, no one will ever know.”
“Okay…”
In the end, the contents of the takeout cup were exchanged for a grown-up’s chocolate latte.
Still shuddering from the lingering bitterness, Gru gulped the chocolate latte until her cheeks were round and full.
Gru went up to the guildmaster’s office on the top floor and took a seat.
Dad thought Gru would get into trouble as soon as he was gone, but that was a huge misunderstanding.
As the guildmaster’s daughter, Gru felt a deep sense of responsibility. Today, in place of Dad, she had to protect the guild and act like an adult.
Whenever she sensed someone approaching, she’d jump up and fuss over the leaves of the seed potato planter, mimicking powerful figures from dramas.
She lined up Mephisto, Bailach, Lucifer, and Yurian at the edge of the desk and pretended to hold a small meeting.
“Okay, the topic of today’s meeting is……”
Gru pondered how to boost morale among the guild members.
Unlike Bailach and Yurian, who just yawned widely, Mephisto and Lucifer chirped and squeaked, full of enthusiasm, but—
‘I have no idea what they’re saying.’
“Uh-huh.”
Feigning understanding, Gru jotted down notes to suit herself.
- Give out free hugs (by Dad)
- Lift the company speed limit (Good!)
- Stock yogurt in the break room (The best!)
- Grown-up’s potion is garbage (Uuu-)
“Hm.”
Gru wrote neatly on A4 paper, then sank into her chair. Squeak—the chair spun sideways.
She was bored.
Being a grown-up was no fun at all.
‘Should I watch a drama?’
Today, there was no one to stop her from watching dramas all day!
“Ehehe.”
Gru giggled mischievously and turned on Joorim’s laptop.
“YouTube~ YouTube~”
At the sound of ‘YouTube,’ Bailach’s eyes lit up and he climbed onto her shoulder.
Mephisto landed on her head, and Lucifer snuggled into her lap.
Humming cheerfully, surrounded by her familiars, Gru rummaged through the desktop and found a folder labeled ‘G.’
“G is for Groot’s G~ Gru’s G~”
She sang nonsense lyrics as she opened the folder, but stopped short.
Inside, there was a pdf file with Chuen’s face and personal details.
“Chueu unni?”
Her eyes brightened. Did Dad know Chuen unni too?
Gru opened the video file next to it.
Chuen’s voice played—a recorded call with Joorim.
— Yes, Guildmaster On.
— You’re saying she’s dead?
‘Hm?’
Startled by Joorim’s blunt question, Gru widened her eyes.
Who died?
Just then, Chuen answered calmly.
— Yes, just as I texted you. The person who sent Hangru to the orphanage is dead.
Gru gazed blankly, stunned.
The person who left her at the orphanage…
‘The one who gave me my name.’
Gru had always thought this person must have been one of her parents.
‘Mom or Dad.’
With tiny fingers, she replayed the audio.
— The person who sent Hangru to the orphanage is dead.
‘Dead…’
Dead. Dead.
Chuen’s words echoed in her head.
The person who left Gru at the orphanage was dead. That might mean Gru’s mother or father was already gone.
Thud. It felt as if her heart dropped all the way to her toes. Her vision darkened.
Suddenly, a coldness swept over her that she hadn’t even felt in the snowfield.
What constricted her breath and turned her body icy wasn’t the temperature, but a sudden, crushing loneliness.
Crack—
A fissure sounded at her chest.
It was the sound of Gru’s control device—Joorim’s photocard, which she always wore around her neck—splitting apart.
Chuen walked through the snowfield. She hadn’t expected the museum to be connected to a place like this.
After confirming that Gru had safely reunited with her father, she’d slipped past the investigators and returned to the basement.
She needed to determine where the A-class monsters had come from.
Wandering through the first basement exhibition hall, Chuen found a path concealed by illusion magic. Following it brought her here, to this snowfield.
“Hah…”
She breathed out, white frost rising in the air.
She had been here so long, she had lost all sense of time.
This snowfield warped both time and space; the sky was always a clear blue, never a hint of afternoon sun or nighttime darkness.
It was clearly a subspace, unbound by real-world time.
Were those “failed prototype” monsters created here?
‘How is Gru connected to all of this?’
Gru had once produced a snowfield just like this.
This place wasn’t all that different from the one Gru had made, though the cold here didn’t bite quite as deeply.
Crunch, crunch, Chuen continued across the snow. Spotting a figure in the distance, she stopped.
A man stood in the middle of the snowfield,
amidst piles of monster corpses.
He turned around.
“Well, hello, Chuen. I didn’t expect to meet you here. I was about to look for you myself, so perhaps I should call myself lucky.”
His handsome smile dimpled his cheeks.
Chuen looked up at him, expressionless.
“What is all this?”
“These are failed prototypes. Things just haven’t turned out as I’d hoped. Must be because it’s an artificial snowfield…”
Artificial snowfield? Chuen clenched her fists, feeling her resolve tighten.
She was convinced: The museum’s monsters were artificial creatures engineered by this man.
“And this place—what is it?”
“Welcome to the 99th floor that I created.”
Wind biting with the cold of snow swept through.