Chapter 10
The Hidden Power Child Is Looking for Her Dad
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Vale blinked in disbelief.
“So, mister, listen! Vale oppa is making a mercenary group~”
Right in front of him, the little girl’s head bobbed up and down enthusiastically.
“The mercenary test is about smashing a small magic stone! But he’s scared to go alone, so he needs two more people~”
The large man who had just returned home—Basto—looked just as confused.
The moment he stepped inside, the little kid ran straight to him and grabbed his sleeve.
Now he was stuck listening to her endless chatter.
“Mister, you’re the hammer man, so you’re super strong!”
Basto glanced at Vale.
Vale frowned but didn’t look away.
“Tie is strong too ‘cause she has the legendary Puppetmon! So if the two of us join Vale oppa’s mercenary team, we can smash the small magic stone and get your ID number back!”
She had spoken so fast that she was panting by the end of it.
Basto stared at her for a moment, then spoke.
“…So, let me get this straight.”
He turned to Vale and repeated the summary.
“This Vale guy is making a mercenary team, and he’s looking for two more members besides himself?”
“Yes!”
“And you think it’d be good if you and I joined him?”
“Yes!”
A heavy silence settled over the inn’s first floor.
Finally, Vale couldn’t take it anymore and stood up.
“Hey, kid. Who said you could join in?”
Tië flinched and spun toward him.
“You think small magic stones are a joke? If they were, I would’ve just done it myself.”
A small magic stone was still a magic stone.
It could open cracks and summon bothersome monsters.
Sure, it wasn’t as hard as attacking a medium or large one, but it was still dangerous.
“When I said I needed two more people, I meant real fighters. What am I supposed to do with a hammer guy and—what was it—Pooke, Poo-pet-mon? You think that’s going to help…?”
He bit back the rest of his words—“a furball and a snot-nosed brat won’t be any help”—since the big muscular man did look kind of intimidating.
But then came a completely unexpected answer.
“I can handle a small magic stone by myself.”
Basto, who had picked up Tië at the doorway, strode further inside.
He hung his coat over a chair and sat down across from Vale.
“So it’s true? That you’re planning to make a mercenary team?”
Tië, sitting on his knee, looked up at Vale with wide, sparkling eyes.
Caught off guard, Vale coughed to hide his fluster.
“Yeah.”
“And you’re really looking for teammates to take the mercenary exam with?”
“I said yeah, didn’t I!”
Nowadays, the mercenary exam involved conquering a small magic stone.
If you collected all the monster cores from it and took them to the Mercenary Registry, you’d be given an official identification number.
With that, you could legally work as a mercenary—
enter the capital freely, earn rewards for each conquest, and if you were lucky enough to have your team ranked on the mercenary board,
you’d be rolling in money in no time.
That’s why it was so important for Vale.
“Let me make it clear—I’m only looking for competent people. You just said you can take down a small magic stone alone. You serious?”
Basto nodded firmly.
“Yes. I already conquered one six days ago. The small stone in Brio Wood.”
Vale’s brows furrowed.
He suddenly remembered the commotion near the gates a few days ago.
“Hey, everyone, look! Cal Worven of Death Hound brings back a gift for His Majesty!”
The guy with long, messy hair had looked like trouble from the start.
“What are you all doing just standing there? Rank 12! The immortal Death Hound is back!”
That man had been drinking with the gate knights for days, boasting loudly.
“A flying beast showed up outta nowhere, but who am I? Took them all down single-handedly, no backup, ha!”
From what Vale had heard, that guy also claimed to have conquered Brio Wood’s small magic stone.
But Vale knew there was only one small stone in Brio Wood.
His eyes narrowed.
“You’d better not be lying to me…”
“It’s not a lie, you dummy!”
Tië suddenly jumped up on Basto’s lap, fuming.
“That was originally Hammer Mister’s stone! That bad Cal guy stole it and lied! He even made Hammer Mister’s ID number disappear! You don’t even know, oppa!”
Vale’s eyebrow twitched.
He still wasn’t sure, but the girl’s story made a certain sense.
“That kind of thing’s not rare among mercenaries,” he thought.
“People steal credit from each other all the time—sometimes even kill for it.”
He’d been lingering around the gate for two months now, trying to find teammates for the exam.
He’d wanted to take it as soon as possible, but things hadn’t gone smoothly.
“One wrong choice and you could die.”
If you picked the wrong teammates and made one mistake during the test—
you wouldn’t get a second chance.
Then what about his little siblings back home, still waiting desperately for news of him…?
Vale ran a hand through his hair roughly.
It tangled, but that was the least of his worries—his mind was a complete mess.
“So this musclehead got his credit stolen, huh.”
He even remembered seeing the big man and the kid being refused entry at the gate the other day.
“The Death Hound must’ve had their ID erased, to cover his tracks.”
Now that the situation was clear, the decision came easier.
Vale took a deep breath and looked at Basto.
“You sure you can handle more than one man’s share of work? At least one and a half?”
He clearly meant to ignore the child’s contribution—but Tië didn’t seem to notice.
Basto nodded.
“Of course. Just don’t get in my way.”
The Next Day
“Chew-chew your food~ No picky eating~”
Tië hummed her “no picky eating” song, one she rarely sang.
On her right was Basto the hammer man.
On her left was the handsome oppa, Vale.
And she was holding both their hands, walking toward the mercenary exam.
She was thrilled.
“A team!”
It hadn’t even been a week since she came to this world, and she already had a team.
When Kkamangi (Blackie) woke up, he’d definitely praise her for doing a great job.
“Since Kkamangi’s a legendary Puppetmon, he must be super strong even without magic, right?”
He could even shapeshift freely!
And Tië was confident she’d be useful to the team too.
“I was the fastest in the Quail Class!”
Hide and seek, tag, cops and robbers—
if Tië was “it,” the other kids didn’t stand a chance.
“Oppaa, don’t worry so much!”
When Vale’s expression stiffened, she reached out to comfort him, but he frowned and pulled away in disgust.
Tië shrugged, then turned to Basto.
“Mister! Don’t worry. Tië’s super strong!”
But for some reason, Basto suddenly stopped walking.
He crouched down and looked at the puzzled girl.
“Astie. You’re not coming.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve hired someone. You’ll wait for us at the base near the stone.”
Her big eyes wavered, as if the sky had just collapsed.
“Why… why not?”
“Fighting monsters isn’t child’s play, Astie.”
Her head spun, but Basto’s low voice brought her back.
“What’s the thing you’re most afraid of?”
Tië hesitated, rolling her eyes upward.
“…Tyrannosaurus?”
“I don’t know what that is, but imagine something ten times scarier. That’s what monsters are.”
The twig in Tië’s hand slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground with a soft thud.
