A sweet and savory smell welcomed Do-Jun as he entered his apartment after work.
Byeol was asleep in the bedroom, and Ae-Kyung was busy cooking, reading from a recipe book. This book wasn’t something one could buy in stores; it was a collection of recipes compiled by Yoon-Hee herself.
“Hmm... one tablespoon of soy sauce...” Ae-Kyung muttered, so engrossed in the recipe that she didn’t even notice Do-Jun come in.
He smiled and walked behind her, deliberately keeping his presence hidden. Softly, he said, “Are you making dinner?”
Startled by a man’s voice behind her, Ae-Kyung immediately gathered her mana and assumed a combat stance. But as soon as she realized it was Do-Jun, she relaxed and let out a sigh of relief, clutching her chest.
“You scared me. I wasn’t expecting to hear a man behind me...”
“Sorry about that. Oh, and don’t worry, I handled the situation at the office,” Do-Jun said.
“The whole office misunderstood that you’re my wife.”
Do-Jun recalled what had happened earlier that morning. The office had been in an uproar when Ae-Kyung and Byeol came by to deliver the SpacePad. After they left, Do-Jun had to deal with a barrage of questions. He calmly deflected them, and fortunately, it all ended as a harmless misunderstanding.
Firmly denying the rumors had helped clear things up.
“Oh... Is that so? Well, I’m glad,” Ae-Kyung said, smiling awkwardly.
She then glanced back at the recipe. For some reason, a bitter smile lingered on her lips as she realized that once again, she was the only one who felt anxious. Sighing briefly, she returned to mixing the sauce for the braised short ribs.
“I prefer to eat at home when I can. My daughter is a good cook.”
She recalled Do-Jun’s words from the previous night while preparing a recipe from Yoon-Hee’s collection that was bookmarked.
A cracking sound jolted her from her thoughts. The spoon in her hand had snapped. She hadn’t realized she was gripping it too hard.
Flustered, Ae-Kyung glanced nervously at Do-Jun, who looked at her curiously.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“No, nothing at all.” Even as she denied it, she wondered why she was angry, as she had always been so calm and collected.
There really was no reason to be upset. If people thought she was his wife, it would have caused trouble for both of them. As such, Do-Jun handled the situation well.
“Anyway, you didn’t have to make dinner... Thank you,” Do-Jun said to Ae-Kyung.
“I-I just wanted to try cooking as it’s been a while. It doesn’t really mean anything,” Ae-Kyung said dismissively.
“Well, I’m going to go wash up. I’m looking forward to your cooking.” With a smile, Do-Jun headed to his room.
A faint smile crept across her lips as Ae-Kyung watched him disappear behind the firmly closed bedroom door. “He’s looking forward to my cooking...”
White porridge, side dishes heated in the microwave, and boneless braised short ribs cut into small pieces were carefully arranged for Byeol on a kid’s plate adorned with cute teddy bears.
Ae-Kyung scooped up some porridge with a baby spoon, fed it to her, and asked, “Tasty, Byeol?”
“Mm!” Byeol nodded enthusiastically.
The baby toys scattered around the apartment caught Do-Jun’s eyes. They were all bought by Ae-Kyung for Byeol.
Watching Do-Jun eat his braised short ribs, Ae-Kyung cautiously asked, “H-how is it, Supervisor Lee?”
With just that one word, a smile spread across Ae-Kyung’s face. It seemed she had followed the recipe properly.
“Daddy says it’s good,” she said, looking at Byeol.
Byeol quickly added, “Eat lots, Daddy!”
Do-Jun rested his chin on his hand, watching Ae-Kyung for a good ten seconds. He started to feel a little concerned. Was she becoming too immersed in her role? He wondered if she was taking this act of caring for Byeol too seriously.
He thought about saying something but decided against it. Instead, he changed the topic and asked Ae-Kyung, “Any word from the other guild members?”
“Sorry? Oh, I haven’t told the guild master or Jun-Yeol about this.”
“No, I meant about you being away.”
Though it had only been a day since Ae-Kyung started living here, she was still a member of the Behemoth Guild—one of the only three members. Naturally, her absence would be deeply felt.
“Everyone’s taking time off right now. They’re probably with their families,” Ae-Kyung explained.
“And you? Aren’t you going home?”
Ae-Kyung fell silent, avoiding the question. It seemed there was a story behind her silence.
Sensing that, Do-Jun didn’t press further and quietly resumed eating.
The gentle, yellow light from the bedside lamp softly illuminated the room.
“And so, the three little pigs lived happily ever after.” Ae-Kyung lay beside Byeol on the bed, reading her a fairy tale.
Sometime during the story, Byeol had fallen asleep in her arms.
“You could be a voice actor, you know,” Do-Jun said as he walked in, wiping his face with a towel after washing up.
Ae-Kyung’s face turned bright red as she stammered, “D-did you hear that?”
“Yes, I could hear everything from the bathroom.”
“Please... delete it from your memory.”
Do-Jun chuckled as he placed the towel on the desk and climbed into bed beside Byeol.
Ae-Kyung briefly wondered if one of them should be sleeping on the couch or the floor, but she decided not to bring it up.
“Should I turn off the lamp?” Do-Jun asked.
With the lamp switched off, the moonlight shining through the window became more prominent. Ae-Kyung turned her head to check if Do-Jun had fallen asleep. His eyes were closed.
“Supervisor Lee, are you sleeping?” she asked softly.
“Then, may I ask you for a favor?”
Ae-Kyung carefully got out of bed and placed a pair of pajamas by Do-Jun’s pillow. “If something like last night happens again, could you put these on me instead? The dress shirt rubs against me...”
Do-Jun asked, “You’re not doing it on purpose, are you?”
“N-no, of course not!”
Ae-Kyung returned to bed, glancing at Byeol, who was sleeping soundly, and then at Do-Jun, who lay still with his eyes closed.
Slowly, she drifted off to sleep.
A large banner hung at the BEXCO Convention Center in Busan that read: “International Hunter Festival.”
Even though Yoon-Hee’s group had arrived right after lunch, the plaza was already bustling with people. Given the location, most were Koreans, but since it was an international event, there were also a fair number of foreigners.
“This is so weird,” Yong-Yong muttered, looking around as if searching for something.
“What’s wrong, Yong-Yong?” Yoon-Hee asked.
“Why isn’t anyone selling Goblin Short Ribs here?”
At the previous Hunter Festival at Seoul’s COEX, there had been various food stalls selling not only Goblin Short Ribs but also all sorts of street food. However, there were no stalls in sight here.
Yoon-Hee pointed toward the convention center and replied, “If you want food, we’ll have to go inside. Once the teachers finish ticketing and handing out the entry passes, we’ll get some free time. We can check it out then.”
“Tch. And I already had my allowance ready in my hand...” Yong-Yong grumbled as he stuffed the crumpled 50,000 won bill in his hand into the little wallet pouch hanging around his neck.
Yoon-Hee giggled at the sight.
The money was a reward she had given him after he collected ten “Great Job!” stamps, and it looked like he had kept it all this time. Yong-Yong really was adorable.
“Class B, gather up,” called out Seo Sung-Rok, the instructor in charge of the first-year Class B students.
The students gathered around Seo Sung-Rok, who handed out long paper wristbands to each of them. The students wrapped the papers around their wrists like bracelets.
Then he gave them further instructions. “It’s twelve now, so I’ll give you some free time until four. Don’t just hang around outside, though. Once you enter the building, you’ll find booths displaying artifacts, skills, and Hunter culture from different countries, so take your time and explore.”
The students split into groups with their friends and wandered around the plaza or headed straight into the convention center to start browsing.
“It really is cool, though. A talking monster? I thought there weren’t many monsters that could talk. What exactly is he?” Hye-Jung asked as she stared at the two mini-dragons.
“I... I’m not really sure either,” Yoon-Hee replied vaguely.
To avoid Hye-Jung’s curious gaze, she fed Yong-Yong pieces of a Cockatrice skewer one by one.
After chewing and swallowing the meat, Yong-Yong turned to Hye-Jung and spoke. “What’s the big deal? We’ll tell you all about ourselves. Ready, Karsiel?”
“Of course. So, dragons naturally acquire Dragon Speech when they mature from hatchlings to adults, allowing them to understand and speak all languages...”
Before Karsiel could finish, Yoon-Hee hastily covered her mouth.
Hye-Jung tilted her head, confused by the mention of dragons and hatchlings. The thought briefly crossed her mind—could these two really be dragons? But she quickly dismissed it.
Masalis, the dragon, had appeared in the city three years ago. The Hunter’s Bureau had formed a special task force to capture that one dragon, deploying several S-rank and A-rank Hunters. Three S-rank Hunters had even died in the process.
Remembering that incident, Hye-Jung realized that it was impossible for these two to be dragons.
Yoon-Hee’s father was a civil servant. Although he had awakened as a Tamer a bit later in life than people usually did, it didn’t seem like his abilities were particularly exceptional. If he had really been a strong Hunter, why would he still be a civil servant?
Hye-Jung concluded that these two tamed monsters were probably not very powerful.
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the air outside the convention center. The people who had been browsing the booths turned toward the source of the sound, eyes fixed on a flying object visible through the massive glass windows.
“It’s Kanzaki Soshiro!” someone yelled.
People rushed outside to get a closer look.
One of the main events of the International Hunter Festival was the “Wyvern Air Show.”
In fact, many visitors had come specifically to see the extremely popular show. Seeing a tamed wyvern perform stunts across the sky was spectacular, a dream come true for taming Hunters especially.
“Let’s go watch it!” Hye-Jung exclaimed in excitement.
She dragged Yoon-Hee and Jin-Soo by the hands toward the exit, with Yong-Yong and Karsiel following closely behind.
Hundreds of people were already gathered outside.
An area of the plaza had been cleared for the wyvern to land, with control lines set up, and staff members were busy ensuring people didn’t cross the boundary.
“I wish I had a pet like that...”
People were taking pictures and recording videos nonstop, eager to capture the rare sight, something they might never see again in their lifetime.
The wyvern’s wings sent gusts of wind rippling through the crowd as it neared the final stage of its performance, preparing to land. Kanzaki Soshiro glanced down at the spectators below, smirking slightly. He decided to give them a little extra thrill.
The wyvern suddenly dove straight down at a steep angle, pulling up at the last second before its wings could touch the ground.
The wind gusted fiercely as if a typhoon had just swept by.
“Eek!” Yoon-Hee exclaimed as the strong wind accidentally caused her to drop the Cockatrice skewer on the ground. It was instantly covered in dust and dirt.
“F-five-second rule...!” Yong-Yong panicked and scrambled to grab the skewer with his front paw.
Just then, the wyvern landed with a heavy thud, shaking the ground like an earthquake. In the chaos, Karsiel unknowingly stepped on the skewer.
Yong-Yong shot her a frosty glare.
Trembling, Karsiel raised her paw and pointed at the wyvern. “I-it’s his fault!”