“...I’m Ihwa.”

“Well, what a coincidence,” I gave her a flat chuckle. “I guess I have to die for you now.”

“W-What?” Her eyes widened. “No! Don’t—”

“It’s just a joke.”

“O-Oh…” Her face turned expressionless again.

After sitting in silence for a while, I asked her,

“Is your name really Ihwa?”

“Mhm…”

“...I see.”

I wasn’t that surprised. After all, Ihwa’s name must’ve become popular since she was part of the Hero’s party, just like how my name was also popular.

“Well, it’s nice meeting you. I’ll go back n—”

“W-Wait!” Ihwa stopped me from standing up.

“What is it?”

“D-Do you want to h-hunt Monsters with me?”

‘She must’ve been impressed by my power.’

Heh.

But flattery won’t work on me. As I was about to just reject her, I thought of something.

“...You said ‘hunting monsters’… do you happen to know where a Monster den is?”

Ihwa heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing that she’d caught my attention. “N-Not just a Monster den, b-but a 1-star Dungeon.”

‘A-A dungeon?’

“Please be my wife!” I clasped her hands.

“W-What?!”

Realizing my mistake, I let go of her and coughed loudly. “H-Haha, forgive me, I was too excited.”

How couldn’t I be? Ever since Guilds started monopolizing Dungeons, they had become extremely valuable. I remembered paying 5,000 Arens just to enter a 2-star Dungeon in my past life.

‘And I made just enough to break even! Dammit! Fuck that Guild!’

So, for this Ihwa to tell me she had the location of a Dungeon meant that:

One, she was extremely naive, which was unlikely to be the case.

Two, she trusted me completely, which wasn’t probable since I hadn’t even known her for 10 minutes.

Three, she needed my power.

The third option was the most probable for obvious reasons.

Thus, without hesitation, I accepted her offer.

“I’ll help you. But we need to discuss how to divide the loots. I’ll go get a labor contract.”

“La-bor con-tr-act?” Ihwa tilted her head in confusion.

‘Oh, right, I forgot she’s still a kid.’

But that raised another question.

“Forget about the contract. Tell me, what’s a kid like you doing here?”

“But you’re younger than me…”

“Yet I killed the Monsters that you pissed your pants running away from.”

‘Ihwa would definitely scold me for cursing in front of kids but… I’ll worry about that later.’

Kid Ihwa’s face still remained blank, but I could tell that she was sulky.

‘Damn, I can’t even make a joke without upsetting the kid.’

“Sorry for making fun of you…”

Ihwa observed my face for a few seconds before relenting and patting my head, finally acting like she was older than me. 

“There, there. Noona forgives you.”

‘As expected, children don’t hold grudges for long. But seriously, “noona”? Are her parents Korean or something? That would explain the name, though.’

“So, can you tell me?”

Ihwa nodded. “Father told me to clear the Dungeon to pass his test.”

‘Test?’

Hearing the answer that she gave with an innocent tone, I could tell that many things were fucked up.

Setting aside the morality of telling a 9-year-old kid to clear a Dungeon by herself, the fact that her father assigned her a Dungeon all to herself meant that her family was filthy rich—most likely a big Guild or a noble House.

“Is the Dungeon near here?”

“Mhm. Just a 30-minute walk.”

‘Shit… to think that it’s so near…’

And that a powerful family could locate the dungeon inside House Leinfall’s territory when the Leinfall House itself couldn’t. They must’ve hired some really high-ranked scouts.

‘Do they want to wage war with Leinfall?’

But I shrugged. It wasn’t any of my problems. All that mattered was that I could help this girl clear this Dungeon and “respectfully” take (all) the loot.

However, even if I was a Swordsmaster in my past life, rushing head-first into a Dungeon was suicidal.

“How long does the ‘test’ last?”

“...Until next year.”

“So 7 more months…”

‘That should be enough time.’

Nodding, I extended my hand out to her.

“Let’s meet here again in 6 months. I’ll make sure that you pass this ‘test.’”

Ihwa happily shook my hand.

“Mhm!”

“Hah, just be sure to not poke any bear’s eyes and get yourself killed until then.”

Instead of being sulky, Ihwa smiled widely for the first time I’d met her. Ruffling my hair one last time, she gave me a quick peck on the cheek, turned around, and ran back where she came.

‘Ihwa, if you’re watching, it’s not my fault! Don’t get jealous over a kid!’

Sighing, I picked Fenris up from the ground and hugged it with my left arm.

“Now then, show me the way you came here.”

But Fenris shook his head and pointed his muzzle toward the creek, implying that he wouldn’t tell me and that I should just swim to the other side.

I pinched his cheek.

“Are you serious? You want me to swim in this temperature? Tell me now, or I’ll pinch your other cheek too.”

Fenris yelped and finally relented.

Turned out, he crossed over a log just a few hundred meters away from where I stood to get here.

…

I got back to the big tree behind the mansion.

‘Let’s see… no blood on my clothes, no sweat either, the only thing off is my messy hair.’

But that was easy to make an excuse for. As such, I marched back into the mansion with confidence. I got into my room, placed Fenris down, and “played” with him to wait until mom got home.

Not even 30 minutes later, the door to my room burst open, and mom rushed in.

“Sorry! I was gone for too long! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fin—”

But she hugged me tightly before I could finish my sentence. Unlike the times before, however, she… sniffed me. From the back of my neck to my hair.

Distancing herself a bit from me, she said,

“Little one, where had you been? Why do you smell of blood?”

Then, she scrunched her nose one more time.

“Why do you have a girl’s scent on you? And… why is there a lipstick mark on your cheek?”

‘W-What? Dammit! I forgot to check my face!’

I didn’t expect a 9-year-old child to put on lipstick, however light it might be, and go hunt Monsters!

“Fuck!” I inadvertently let out a curse.

“...”

“...”

“...”

‘Shit! Did I just fucking curse in front of mom?’