“Little one…” Mom gave me a smile. Though, it seemed more frightening than warm. “...Where did you learn that word?”

I subconsciously gulped. 

‘Sorry, kid Ihwa. Looks like you’ll have to take the blame.’

“I-I met a girl near the tree.”

“You did?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” I regained my calm as I continued with my lie. “She was holding a sword with something red on her face.”

“Blood?”

I shrugged.

“What else did she do?” Mom asked again, this time her tone was more worried.

‘Well, guess I have to mix in some truth.’

“Umm… she told me to call her ‘noona,’ ruffled my hair, kissed my cheek, and then ran away as soon as she saw Fenris approaching.”

Mom nodded severely. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain how you know that word.”

“The girl said it as she ran away.” I tilted my head innocently. “Is it a bad word?”

“Bad. Very bad.” Mom placed a finger to my lips. “Never say that again, alright?”

‘Not even when I grow up?’

Somehow, I already knew the answer to that question, so I decided not to ask.

Then, mom took out a notebook and a pen from seemingly nowhere and put on her reading glasses.

“Can you describe what that vile creatur— I mean noona looks like?”

‘...At least kid Ihwa will be safe for the next 6 months.’

“Ummm… black hair…”

Mom nodded and scribbled in her notebook.

“Purple eyes… and her skin is the same as mine… No, it’s a bit lighter than mine.”

“And what about her face? Is it hideous?”

‘If kid Ihwa is hideous then I don’t even want to know what I look like…’

“Uhhh… she has something red on her face so I couldn’t see very clearly but… I think she’s cute?”

Cute, as in how I, an adult, would see my own daughter if I were still with her.

However, mom took it very differently as she fervently shook her head in disbelief, absolutely revulsed by the notion of me finding a girl whom she deemed as worse than even the Demon king “cute.”

“...I’ll ask the guards to investigate this later,” she said as she put the notebook away. “Now, little one, let’s get you a bath and wash that bloody scent off you.”

.

.

.

6 months had passed since then.

Due to mom being extra, extra clingy, I couldn’t find any chance to slip away into the forest. Actually, there was, and it was every night when everyone but the guards were asleep, but I couldn’t risk getting caught and getting my only way out blocked before I could go to the Dungeon.

As such, my training was limited to increasing my Aura reserve by absorbing ambient Aura. As it turned out, I was wrong before. My Aura reserve wasn’t not improving, it was just growing at a very slow pace.

So slow, in fact, that my AUR stats only increased by 0.45 over the past 6 months.

‘This is nowhere near enough Aura to use the other forms of [Cosmic swordsmanship].’

But I didn’t need such advanced techniques to clear a mere 1-star dungeon. Since I couldn’t stock up on stuff for dungeon crawling for obvious reasons, the most I could bring with me was Kirion, Fenris, and a minor-enhanced backpack that could store up to 80kg of stuff.

Speaking of Fenris, he was even more excited than me about this. It looked like he really wanted to see kid Ihwa again; so much so that he was constantly biting my sleeves and dragging me toward the window ever since dusk fell.

‘Shit, I have to get stronger soon. I don’t want to be weaker than Kirion’s snack.’

During the past 6 months, Fenris had grown to be as big as me. Although it was a somewhat slow growth rate for a wolf, he would actually grow stronger than me if I couldn’t feed Kirion soon enough.

Although I was going to attack a Dungeon soon, I wasn’t concerned about mom going around and looking for me. After all, time flowed at a rate of 72:1 in 1-star and 2-star Dungeons. Meaning, for every three days inside a 1-star or 2-star Dungeon, an hour would pass in the real world.

Of course, the time would get closer and closer to real time as the Dungeon’s rank increased, but I didn’t need to worry about that right now.

I waited until midnight to be sure that even mom was dead asleep and opened the window. As I jumped on the window frame, I could feel cool gusts of wind brushing against my face. I looked down.

‘Good thing my room’s on the first floor.’ 

Since the soft moonlight was illuminating the nightscape, I could see things almost clearly.

‘Sometimes, I wish I was a mage so that I can give myself Nightvision with Mana. It’s annoying that infusing Aura into my eyes does nothing…’

That aside, I was lucky to have the moon shining tonight since any other source of illumination would just alert the guards of my position.

‘Let’s see, the best way to leave is through the garden.’

With my route planned out, I jumped down from the window and made my way toward the garden. The garden walls were tall, for sure, but I could jump over them with [Star steps].

Before I left, I stopped at the patch of flowers.

‘I might be a bit paranoid… and a bit too delusional but… it wouldn’t hurt to try.’

Thus, I carefully plucked a Marigold and jumped over the garden walls with Fenris. Now outside the mansion, I headed toward the forest.

.

.

.

As I went deeper and deeper into the forest, the familiar sound of the violently-flowing creek became more prominent. And, with Fenris leading the way, I wasn’t afraid of getting lost.

Eventually, I spotted a familiar figure on the other side of the creek.

“Ihwa,” I called out. “I’m here.”

Kid Ihwa turned around and gave me a happy nod.

Almost at the same time, Fenris wagged its tail happily and leaped across the stream of water. Yes, he’d gotten so strong that he could make his way over there with a single leap.

As for me, I had to spend some Aura to use [Star steps] and jump over it. 

As soon as I got to the other side, I saw Fenris pouncing on Ihwa, who caught him mid-air and hugged him.

“Aww… you got bigger, Fenris. And more fluffy too.”

There was genuine affection in her flat voice; even Fenris could recognize it too.

I coughed loudly to get their attention. 

Realizing that she was touching Fenris without permission, kid Ihwa hurriedly let go of him and apologized. “S-Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I said as I tapped my finger on Fenris’ muzzle. “You can do whatever you want with Fenris, but just remember that he’s mine.”

There was no way I was going to give my fluffy w— I mean Kirion’s snack over to some kids.

With that issue now resolved, I approached kid Ihwa with slow and steady steps. 

She looked at me approaching blankly, though I didn’t know if she was freezing in response to my unexpected action.

‘If so, buckle up, kiddo. Things are going to get more unexpected.’

As I stood in front of kid Ihwa, I tiptoed up and tried to brush a stray hair behind her ear.

‘Dammit, I forgot she’s taller than me.’

After much effort, I managed to do it. Then, I took out the Marigold and carefully placed it in her hair.

‘Are her cheeks getting a bit red? Well, that doesn’t matter.’

Clasping her hands, I said,

“House Magrise can go fuck themselves. I’d destroy them if they forbid you from meeting me again.”

Kid Ihwa blinked. Her confusion was clearly greater than her fluster, shyness, and embarrassment combined.

After a while, she managed a stammer.

“W-Why would they do that? A-And ‘f-uck’? W-What does that mean?” She tilted her head in confusion.

‘...Well, she’s definitely not my Ihwa.’

After all, there was no way she’d forget the exact lines I said when I proposed my love for her.

I didn’t know whether I should be disappointed or relieved by this. Sighing, I let go of her hand and patted Fenris’ head.

“Well, you can ignore that if you want. Do you mind leading me to the Dungeon now?”

“R-Right away…”

.

.

.

‘So, this is the Dungeon…’

I involuntarily gulped at the stone cave that towered over my body. It was just a natural reaction of this body, I swear!

It seemed that my body wasn’t as discreet about its fear as I thought, as kid Ihwa hugged me from behind, ruffled my hair, and whispered,

“It’s alright. Noona’s here.”

‘Aren’t you the one who asked me for help in the first place?’

But somehow, I found those words comforting.

‘Dammit, I hate this body.’

How could I, a Swordsmaster, be soothed by a mere child? My pride won over my body as I lightly pushed kid Ihwa away and said cooly,

“Let’s not delay any further.”

Kid Ihwa nodded and decided to take the lead. Strangely, she was holding my hand, though, I wasn’t sure if it was out of a sense of duty as an older kid or if it was to comfort herself. 

Then, we stepped into the dungeon.