Chapter 41
“A Hidden-Strength Child Is Looking for Her Dad”
Inside the luxurious guest room of the Government Office.
Tie placed the papers and pencil she had found on the floor, then lay flat in front of them.
With a serious expression, she began writing in clear Korean letters:
[Future Plaen.]
Startled, she quickly erased it and wrote again.
[Future Plaen Plan.]
Tie beamed proudly and continued moving her little fingers.
[First goal. Meet Dad. Make Daddy happy in our hometown.]
This had been Tie’s goal ever since she first came to this world—to meet her dad and make sure he never returned to Korea again.
Judging by what Kkamangi had said about the “law of destiny regression,” it wouldn’t be strange if her dad suddenly ended up back in Korea at any time.
Next,
[Second goal. Protect Kkamangi.]
Tie stopped writing and fell into deep thought.
Kkamangi was her benefactor and friend—the one who had brought her to this world.
Tie had been calling Kkamangi her summoned beast.
It was to help protect Kkamangi more easily, since he always looked like he was being chased by someone.
‘Yes, Tie was doing really well.’
She thought that if she kept doing things like this, everything would be fine.
However…
[A young spirit may show you the way.]
[If you stay by their side, Lucarion will eventually….]
For some reason, it felt like Tie’s responsibilities didn’t end there.
She gripped her pencil again and continued writing.
[Find out Kkamangi’s identity.]
Kkamangi wasn’t a Tanipang, nor a Puppetmon.
Even Princess Seradin, whom they had met just a moment ago, had spoken as though Kkamangi was a spirit like her.
‘Is Kkamangi really a spirit?’
If so, then where were the spirits of this world…?
After thinking long and hard, Tie wrote the next line.
[Third goal. Figure out the truth of the magic stones too!]
From what Tie could tell, there seemed to be some kind of special relationship between spirits and magic stones.
‘When I asked Princess Seradin why she became a magic stone, she gave a weird answer.’
Seradin said she had lost her power for certain reasons.
She then told Tie something about the “Mother Tree.”
[A tree with rotten roots will have withering leaves. We have something called a Mother Tree.]
“Mommy tree…?”
[Yes. That tree has governed things like life, nature, and purity since ancient times. The power we spirits use also comes from there. But….]
Unfortunately, Seradin’s explanation ended there.
Still, Tie worked her little brain hard to piece things together.
[Furst of all, there’s not only one or two spirits.]
Seradin had spoken as though there were other spirits besides her.
She kept referring to them as “we.”
Naturally, a suspicion flashed through Tie’s mind.
‘Could it be that the Mommy Tree got hurt, and the baby spirits became lost children?’
If the “certain reason” Seradin mentioned meant the roots of the Mother Tree had rotted,
then it made sense that the spirits would be in trouble.
After mulling it over, Tie wrote:
[Lost spirits become magic stones?]
Seradin had lost her power and turned into a magic stone.
So were the other spirits the same?
If Lucarion had also been like that, and if all the magic stones in the world were actually spirits…
Tie shook her head hard.
“Mm-mm, this is still just a maybe.”
The information Seradin gave was too limited.
Which meant there were things Tie had to investigate herself.
“Then…”
Biting her pencil, she wrote at the bottom:
[To check later: Find the Mommy Tree, check if other magic stones also have spirits.]
Satisfied, Tie set her pencil down and proudly picked up the paper.
“Heheung.”
Even though it had been a long time since she last wrote, her handwriting was neat.
Her kindergarten teacher would definitely have praised her….
Tie’s eyes grew wistful.
‘I wanna go to kindergarten again.’
She liked Basto, Veil, and Nordics.
She liked traveling with them and meeting new people.
But Tie still needed friends her own age.
‘I heard kids get ignored in elementary school if they don’t go to kindergarten these days….’
But going to kindergarten looking like this would be ridiculous.
Because Tie was currently acting as the Necromancer King.
She stood up.
She slipped the paper into her bag and walked to the door.
But the moment she touched the doorknob—
Her stomach growled.
Grrrok—grololok—
Truthfully, she had been hungry since waking up.
She endured it for the sake of rewriting her plan, but—
She hurried out and was greeted by the luxurious hallway.
“…Right! Tie came to the Government Office!”
Pride bubbled up inside her.
She had forgotten they moved lodgings thanks to Marianne’s help.
‘The food here must be even tastier.’
Excited, she walked down the central staircase.
Someone familiar waved from the lobby.
“Captain. Did you sleep well?”
“Veil oppa!”
Tie, delighted, ran and hugged Veil tightly.
She tugged on his coat hem cheerfully.
“Oppa, y’know, Tie was thinkin’, y’know! The magic stones…!”
But she suddenly felt something strange and closed her mouth.
Veil had an odd expression on his face.
And he wasn’t looking at Tie—
he was staring behind her.
Tie paused, then slowly turned around.
And jumped in shock.
“D-Dephty Governer sonss…?!”
Right beside the staircase—
The two sons of the Deputy Governor she had rescued last night stood side by side.
Looking quite stunned.
“Ah, Necromancer King, um…”
The one called Enzo stammered, and Tie felt a boulder drop on her head.
‘Idiot, idiot.’
She forgot.
Inside Pearl City, she always had to pretend to be the Necromancer King.
Tie anxiously replayed her actions.
She had run down the stairs, called Veil “oppa,” and acted completely like a child…!
“V-Veil o—”
Not knowing what to do, she looked up at Veil.
“You— You two don’t move a muscle. If you take one step, forget about joining anything.”
Veil spoke quickly, scooped Tie up, and bolted away.
Through the shaking vision, Tie saw Raul and Enzo still standing frozen in place.
Both were staring at Tie with wide, shocked eyes.
* * *
“Tie did wrong!”
Tie lowered her head deeply before Basto, Nordics, and Veil.
Her eyes were teary.
“I tried to act perfektly, but I forgot for a moment…”
The members struggled to hide their troubled expressions.
Truthfully, Tie’s acting had never been perfect.
She was supposed to act like an adult.
But no matter how good of an actress she was, she was still only four years old—she couldn’t act like an adult perfectly.
“What do we dooo? The Dephty Governer sons found out Tie’s sekrit…”
Meanwhile, gloomy thoughts bloomed inside her head.
Raul and Enzo leaving the Government Office and spreading the rumor that Tie was actually a four-year-old child.
Citizens getting disappointed in her.
Eventually the rumor reaching the Deputy Governor’s ears…
‘Sorry, Tie? The Government Office is a no-kids zone. You have to leave.’
Tie getting kicked out along with her luggage…!
“This is bad. What do I do.”
Tie began pacing in circles anxiously.
Just as Basto was about to say something—
“Ah!”
A spark flashed through Tie’s mind.
Her eyes glittered as she looked down at her wrist.
Hanging there was the pretty bracelet she hadn’t had until yesterday.
A gift from Princess Seradin, the spirit of the sea.
“The Holy Relic of Forgetfulness!”
[If you touch someone with the hand wearing the relic, you can erase whatever memory you choose from them.]
Turning quickly to the others, Tie said:
“Should Tie erase them?”
The members flinched.
But Tie didn’t stop.
“Should Tie erase both Dephty Governer sons?”
Of course, she meant erase their memories.
But the three men all went pale instantly.
