Guru proudly declared she would show she was the master, then commanded the SSS-rank hamster to “Roll over!” and “Paw!”
Though it looked terrified, it obediently followed her lead.
Honestly, he didn’t need her to prove it—he already knew.
He had read the truth through “internal interference”: the horrifying hamster his daughter had brought ho was already bound to her.
When he asked her what exactly she had done, her eyes sparkled as she replied:
“Gwuu opened da yawam!”
“Wike an ani main chawactuh!”
“Wike dis! Open sesa, yawam!”
She went on, saying things like, “In da yawam it didn’t feel cowd at aww, so Gwuu made a snowman and hewd hands—” and so on.
“Really? Daddy wants to go too.”
“Mm!”
“Wanna open it again?”
“Can’t now. It’s aww wiwty-wiwty.”
“Guru is?”
“Da spwout.”
“...Yeah, it does look wiwty-wiwty.”
“Nyesss...”
Talking to Guru made Jurim feel like he was communicating with an alien.
Still, he understood at least this much—Guru had done sothing.
Besides his older brother and Amakusa, he’d never encountered soone of this caliber in the crafting realm.
Even among Awakened, the ability spectrum was vast—people in the sa class could differ wildly, and the classifications themselves were convenient placeholders more than anything absolute. There were too many unknowns.
At the end of the day, as her father, he just had a headache because his daughter was too damn «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» brilliant.
Jurim frowned and crossed his arms.
Still, this is a bit much.
He’d promised to support whatever she did—but bringing ho sothing that ominous? He couldn’t let it slide.
It would be a problem if she kept bringing in creatures like that.
“On Guru. Is it okay to keep picking up living things like that?”
“But dis one didn’t have a mastuh.”
“Even so, becoming its master is a whole different matter. Taking care of life cos with responsibility.”
“Wesponsibiwity...”
“It might get hurt, or be a hassle sotis. But you still have to care for it. That’s what it ans for sothing like that to beco your ‘forever family.’ Are you okay with that?”
Guru drooped at the stern tone and fidgeted with her fingers.
Forever famiwy...
“Gw-Gwuu wiww!”
She glanced at Veilach, then lifted her chin.
“Gwuu gonna hug him evewy day. Wike dis.”
Guru threw her arms around Jurim and snuggled her cheek against his chest.
Her squishy cheeks and warm baby sll lted his hardened heart in an instant.
She’s doing it again...
Jurim tickled her with a disapproving look, and she burst into giggles.
“...Alright, if you promise a few things—”
His resolve had softened after just one hug.
“Muut!”
The hamster’s body twisted.
“...?”
Startled, Jurim took a step back while still holding Guru.
“Hot!”
“...?”
He looked toward where the hamster had been—now, a boy around Guru’s age was sitting there.
Jurim stared down at the child.
The boy, whose pupils were studded with starlike light, calmly looked up at him.
Pointing to Guru, the boy explained naturally.
“The Lord’s skill level seems to be low. Since I can’t channel all my power cleanly, it’s hard to maintain a stable form.”
Ever since joining up with Guru, he’d been acting like an instruction manual for the two idiots (the Lord and the Usurper) who didn’t know anything.
Jurim turned to Guru, then pointed at Veilach with his index finger.
“Put him back and co out.”
“Hiiiing—!”
* * *
“Phew.”
Guru locked herself in her room, bolting the door tight.
Through begging, pleading, hugging, kissing, whining, and cuteness overload, she’d succeeded in buying ti from Jurim.
Technically, it was just that Jurim had to go take care of work and postponed the conversation.
Guru had promised—again and again—to turn Veilach back into a hamster.
But I don’t know how!
She activated the skill [Grabber-Grabber] several tis, but since it wasn’t the cradle, it just wouldn’t work.
W-What do I do?
anwhile, the boy with starry eyes tilted his head.
“Do humans enjoy putting my kin into containers?”
“Mm? Whatchu talkin’ about?”
“I’m referring to the Lord—no, to Sheir. I sensed his aura in your father’s left hand earlier.”
Sheir was a being in a different league than him, and yet humans could seal that in their hand? Were they really human?
“As expected of the man raising a monstrous daughter like you.”
Muttering in a tone that was half awe, half resentnt, Veilach leaned in and asked:
“What’d you say? Lord? Seyii?”
“Not Seyii—Sheir. He’s no longer a Lord. I suppose I should say forr Lord.”
If Daddy’s left hand was what he ant... then that would an the master of the 99th Floor.
So the master of the 99th Floor was Sheir—Veilach’s forr master?
“Mm! Hold on. Gwuu has a question.”
“Of course. You know nothing.”
Veilach replied dryly, and Guru pouted her lips.
She didn’t like it, but it was true, so she had no retort.
“Den Gwuu gonna find out now... What’s a ‘kin’?”
The snow rabbit sleeping as a sprout was Guru’s first kin. Veilach had introduced himself as Sheir’s kin.
“In your Earth mythology, a creator god made humans from clay. For us, the Lord serves that role. Beings created directly in the cradle by the Lord are called ‘kin.’ All other lifeforms flourishing in civilizations are considered the Lord’s ‘followers.’”
“Hmm. I seeee.”
Guru nodded gravely.
What’s he saying?
“So dat ans Seyii is Bayii’s daddy?”
Like Guru and the snow rabbit?
Veilach shook his head.
“No, he’s my master. The one who can call Sheir ‘Father’—that’s that one.”
He pointed to the pudgy chick perched on Guru’s head.
“Sheir’s final creation, his last kin, born from a piece of his own power.”
“phi?”
“In Earth terms, phisto would be the only true descendant carrying Sheir’s genetic information. That’s why he’s the patricidal brat who sealed his own father.”
“Aha—phi’s a patwiciiide...”
“Yeah, yeah. Patwiciiide.”
Veilach replied half-heartedly, clearly not even trying to correct her anymore.
“Whassat an?”
After a pause, Veilach answered plainly:
“It ans the relationship between a father and son is bad.”
That should be easy enough to understand.
“Da rewationship is bad...”
Guru repeated, then Veilach glanced over at phisto.
“So it’s best not to let them et.”
“Mm? Why?”
If you don’t see each other just because things are bad, wouldn’t that only make the distance worse?
“He may be a dumb bird now, but who knows when he’ll snap out of—urk!”
Suddenly, Veilach grimaced and twisted his head side to side.
“Hot?”
Then, in the blink of an eye—
The boy vanished.
In his place sat a white hamster once again.
“Bayii!”
The round hamster let out a tiny cry with dazed eyes.
“Muut.”
“Gwuu didn’t do nuffin’!”
The hamster flopped on the ground and nodded lazily—as if saying, I know.
It seed the unstable transformation was caused by using a low-level skill that wasn’t strong enough.
W-Well... at least it turned out okay?
If he hadn’t reverted to a hamster, the Managent Bureau would’ve been the next stop for sure.
If the scary red ginseng man caught him...
Shivverrr...
Guru shook off the terrifying image that took over her head.
anwhile, Veilach crawled back into the bag like it was the comfiest spot in the world.
Is dat comfy?
Better than climbing onto her head and fighting phi, at least.
Gwuu gonna buy him a wittwe house an’ a wheel.
After watching the fist-sized hamster close the zipper from inside the bag, Guru flopped down and tilted her head.
“Huuum.”
She’d heard way too much today. Her brain felt like it was about to pop.
First, she thought about Jurim’s left glove.
So his na’s Sheir... Huh?
Sothing was tickling the back of her brain. Frowning, Guru started piecing everything together.
Master of the 99th Floor = Sheir
Sheir = phisto’s father
Then dat ans... inside Daddy... is phi’s daddy?!
Guru picked phi up from her head and placed him in her palm, locking eyes.
phisto looked entirely indifferent, like he’d just heard soone else’s life story.
“phi, do you not get awong wit’ yo daddy?”
“Peep?”
phisto tilted his head.
“Don’ wembuh?”
“Piii.”
“I seee.”
Suddenly, Guru rembered her own dad and grandpa, who hadn’t gotten along.
She didn’t know what had happened between them...
She jumped up, grabbed the glass jar of marshmallows off her desk, and popped the lid.
“phi, famiwy is impowtant. Soft an’ warm. Wike dis.”
phi chomped down on a marshmallow. His cheeks puffed up as he chewed and nodded.
“Peep!”
[♡]
A heart floated up for the first ti in a while.
Did he like the marshmallow?
When she tapped his head, phi rubbed his cheek against her fingertip.
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