There’s one fact I had completely forgotten about:
“Uncle! Let’s go over there! Over there too!”
“What’s that over there, Uncle?”
Kids are as lively as three hyperactive puppies. Even an adult’s stamina would tire out. To be exact, it was more mentally exhausting than physically.
“I’ll go, so stop hurrying me.”
How many shops had we been to already? Being looked at with oddly warm gazes wherever we went was mentally torturous.
I’m not the kids’ dad…
We don’t even look alike. Our skin colors are totally different, and I don’t have cat ears.
Ah, I just imagined it. As that sudden image of me with cat ears popped into my head, I felt nauseous. I could see how it would be used as an eye-terrorizing tactic even on demons.
But I would never do that.
[Contractor, is that Terry? That kid’s moved further away?]
Ah, I can’t take my eyes off them for a second. I quickly caught up to Terry, who was about ten steps ahead.
“I said to not fall behind.”
“But there was a cat over there!”
“Still, we were heading to the candy store you really wanted to go to.”
“Ah! Right!”
Seeing her hold my hand and smile made scolding her feel a bit off. If I scolded her here, it would feel like I was truly acting like a dad.
Even though I feel like I already have a daughter named Millia, she can at least take care of herself to some extent.
“Uncle! I want to go quickly!”
“Call me brother then.”
“But you’re still an uncle, right?”
Her legs wrapped around my neck are pounding on my chest. It doesn’t hurt much, but is it really easy to keep balance when wiggling those legs like that? I grabbed Lulu’s legs, which were swinging back and forth on my neck, and pinned them down.
“Stay still; it’s dangerous.”
“I won’t fall!”
“There’s never been a kid who says they won’t fall and doesn’t fall.”
“It’s fun!”
“Well, I don’t find it fun, so I recommend staying still. If you keep this up, we won’t go to the candy store and will head back instead.”
“Got it!”
Laughter erupted around us. Glancing over, I saw some older ladies looking at me with warm smiles. Somehow, it seemed like misunderstandings were piling up, but I couldn’t just abandon the kids, so I held back a sigh that was rising from my throat and moved towards the candy store.
Starting from the doll shop, then the fountain, and the minstrel playing on the street, the last thing would be getting some sweets from the candy store and sending them to Sif; that would wrap up today’s schedule.
Even though I had set the schedule myself, I’d try to avoid this kind of thing next time. Taking care of two little kids is way harder than managing 300 theology students.
“Welcome!”
“Hi!”
“Oh my, little one, did you come with your dad?”
“I’m not his dad! He’s my uncle!”
“Right! He’s my uncle!”
At my kids’ replies, the shop assistant looked at me with a strange gaze before diverting her eyes and said.
“Got it, then have a great time at the candy store.”
“Yep!”
I didn’t know. Let’s just take a look around. I held Terry’s hand and ventured through the candy store. As expected from a shop specializing in candies, the place was filled with colorful candies in clear glass jars.
“Uncle! I want this one!”
“Sure.”
Is that a cherry-flavored candy? I grabbed a couple of candies from the two jars next to the entrance. One was for the kids, and one was meant to be a gift for Karina and the other students at Yeomyeong-gwan.
As the kids picked out their candies, the two jars quickly filled up.
Shall we get going?
Just as I was about to head to the counter, a thought struck me, and I posed a question to Lulu.
“Lulu, what kind of candy does Sif like?”
“Hmm~ White egg candies!”
“She only eats those, meow.”
White egg candies… I suppose she means the ones made solely from hardened sugar?
I stopped and glanced around the assortment of candies. The sight of colorful candies lined up in glass jars passed by my eyes like a panorama.
Well, there wouldn’t be any ordinary egg candies in a place like this.
It’s hard to imagine cheap sweets existing in such an upscale place.
I resumed my steps towards the counter. As I handed over the jars of candy, the middle-aged woman who seemed to be the owner stretched her lips into a proud smile and said.
“That’ll be three gold coins.”
“That’s pricier than I thought.”
“We’re the best candy store around here!”
Her response was filled with pride. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her words as I took out three gold coins from my pouch. To be honest, it wasn’t a small sum, but to me right now, three gold coins were like pocket change.
“Have a nice day!”
“Hehe, I’ll give some candy to my sister too!”
Terry, with the glass jar cradled in his arms, smiled brightly, looking pleased after buying so much candy.
“Shall we head back and sneak some into your sister’s mouth, who’s busy working?”
“Yeah!”
—————————–
“Sis! Look at this, meow!”
“What? So much candy…”
“Uncle bought it for me!”
“Johann, I’m sorry… I’ll pay you back.”
Sif pulled out a pouch of gold coins from beside her desk and extended it towards me. Somehow, she knew the exact amount of three coins. After all, Sif’s obsessed with money; she might have memorized the local prices.
Taking her outstretched hand, I folded it back gently.
“It’s fine. A jar of candy is just pocket change for me.”
“Then what…”
“Big sis! You should choose a candy too!”
Terry pushed the candy jar towards Sif. Sif glanced down at the colorful candies filling the jar for a moment before shaking her head.
“I’m good. You two eat it. But don’t eat too much. It’ll soon be dinner time, right?”
“What’s for dinner today?”
“Well, if you check the cafeteria, you’ll find out.”
“I hope it’s meat!”
“Meat sounds good!”
Is it already dinner time? I smiled as I watched Sif petting her siblings’ heads while looking at them. It felt like a warm family moment. What was my past life like?
No memories of my previous life came to mind, no matter how hard I tried to recall them, as if they were veiled in fog. Did I have a family back then?
I should have asked the Status Window about this too.
I should have asked why my memories of my past life were so blurry.
“I’m heading back.”
“Ah, see you later!”
“Uncle, take care!”
“Come back again!”
Had our internal intimacy skyrocketed just because I played with them for a day? I smiled at the contrast between the temperature when I first met them a few hours ago and now.
“Well then, see you later.”
“Wait, I have to come out to greet you.”
Sif followed me down to the entrance of the upper building with her siblings.
“See you in three days!”
“Take care~”
As Sif and the kids waved me off, I headed towards Yeomyeong-gwan.
—————–
The journey back was peaceful.
The city of Kalon is a safe place, and no one bold enough to bother me seeing my size was around. I stepped over the academy’s main gates and continued walking to Yeomyeong-gwan without any interruptions.
Walking alone like this isn’t so bad.
Thinking about it, I rarely get to spend personal time at this hour. If I was at Yeomyeong-gwan, someone would usually be by my side unless I was in my room.
[Contractor, what does candy taste like?]
“It’s sweet. Very.”
A taste you could never have on a deserted island.
[I’d love to try it. If only I had a mouth… ]
“That’s too bad. If you had a mouth, I would have fed you some candy.”
[Ugh. Just give me one candy. I want to at least taste it.]
I opened the jar and took out a single candy to hand over to Rue. Rue placed the candy atop her tentacles and started admiring it like it was a jewel.
[Humans are fascinating. They create things like this… ]
“From a human’s perspective, you’re the more fascinating existence.”
[Is that so?]
As I chatted with Rue while walking, I began to see the grand entrance of Yeomyeong-gwan up ahead. Surrounded by a crimson hue, the mansion looked picturesque enough to make one want to take a screenshot.
Once I get inside, I will put the candy jar down and then head to wash up. And then—
“Guess who!~”
“Millia! Don’t suddenly cling to me like that.”
“Hmm? How did you know?”
“Who else would cling to me like a monkey but you?”
“Calling me a monkey! That’s unfair!”
Then don’t cling to me! I watched as Millia detached herself from my face and picked up her skateboard that lay abandoned on the floor.
“Did you take a walk or something?”
“Yep! I was bored! Karina asked to come along, but she told me to go alone since she had a lot of homework!”
“I see…”
Well, I suppose the theology department does assign quite a bit of homework.
“Johann, what’s that in your hand?”
“It’s candy.”
I held out the jar of candy to Millia. She took it, inspected it from all sides, then looked at me and asked.
“Can I eat it?”
“Finish dinner first, and then you can share with the other kids.”
“Got it!”
…Why does it feel like Sif’s siblings and I don’t have much of an age gap mentally?
I hummed a tune as I walked alongside Millia into Yeomyeong-gwan. It was eerily quiet inside.
What’s going on?
I opened the door and stepped into the lobby.
And before I could even fully open the door, I was met with the sight of two beauties waiting in the lobby, and I greeted them happily…
…But why is the atmosphere like this?
“Karina. Elisa. Is something going on?”
“Johann…”
“Johann-nim…”
Chills ran down my spine. I felt as if I had been thrown outside into the cold winter naked, and my mind sharpened in the face of the sudden chill. What’s going on? What happened?
Creeeeak—
The huge door closed behind me, and I remained frozen as Karina and Elisa approached slowly.
“Hmm? Karina, what’s the matter?”
Millia seemed unaware of the situation’s cause.
Finally, upon receiving Millia’s question, Karina blurted out the answer.
“Millia… it seems Johann has been wandering around the city with two little kids today… and a certain girl was seen by Peria bidding him a warm farewell in front of some building.”
Peria?
Ah, that was the name of the maid working here.
“Johann-nim… you’ve been leaving us behind for another lover…”
“What? Really?”
I never expected to be misunderstood like this.
I sighed while receiving the scorching glares coming at me from all sides.
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