Ch#116
The next day.
Tie woke up alone at five in the morning.
She tiptoed down the stairs so as not to wake the members.
Next, she found a fresh apple in the kitchen and munched on it crisply while asking.
"Blackie. How's your room?"
Lucarion, sitting in front of the first-floor fireplace, replied indifferently.
"Good."
"I see!"
Tie had asked Marshal yesterday to prepare just one room for Lucarion.
Of course, even though everyone knew Lucarion was Tie's summon,
'Right now, we're experimenting with the battery necklace from Berugon factory manager!'
Lucarion couldn't turn back into a dragon or a black stone when not using magic power.
Marshal readily showed her a room for Lucarion to stay in.
'Oh my, you should have said so earlier. There are plenty of rooms. Do you need anything? Toys, perhaps?'
Naturally, Lucarion refused the toys.
Instead, he gathered an armful of old books from the basement and went to his room.
They were difficult books meant for adults, but as expected, Lucarion was amazing.
Tie stopped eating her apple midway and grinned at Lucarion.
"See, Blackie? Veil oppa said, 'A summon living in luxury!' like that."
Then she lowered her voice to a whisper.
"But Tie thinks you should have the most power! Because Blackie was Tie's first companion ever."
At those words, Lucarion set down his book and stared at Tie.
At the same time, Ppuppu, who had been sitting on the floor, jumped up.
Ppuppu sulkily stomped its trunk on the ground, pak, pak.
But Tie gently petted Ppuppu's head and spoke to Lucarion again.
"See, Lucarion. At first Tie was a stray dog, but now we have a house and money too."
"……."
"So Lucarion will stay with Tie forever, right? Because Tie likes Lucarion the most in the whole world!"
Lucarion parted his lips.
"Uh, well……."
He fiddled with his ear in bewilderment.
Perhaps from sitting too long by the fireplace.
His ear felt hot.
As Lucarion circulated magic through his fingertips to cool his ear—
"Huh?"
Tie beside him suddenly jumped up.
And then,
"It's a meow!"
She flung open the large door and dashed out of the mansion.
* * *
"Hey, magic beast. Keep watch properly."
[You keep watch, lizard.]
Lucarion and Ppuppu sat in front of the grand mansion's entrance.
And they stared at Tie, who had been excitedly running around the garden since moments ago.
Tie had already been scampering through the garden for 10 minutes straight.
"This is grass, this is grass, this is…… flower, this is grass……."
Was it fun going around calling every plant 'this is grass'?
And was it really that fun picking up weird rocks and stuffing them in her pocket?
Astie really did some incomprehensible things sometimes.
Meanwhile, Tie was newly marveling at the mansion's exterior, several times larger than the inside.
"The yard is huge!"
She knew one friend in the quail class who lived in a house with a yard. Hyunwoo.
But even without a yard, apartment kids all had little garden-like areas in the complex.
'Come to think of it, only Tie didn't have a yard……?'
Gold Apartment Complex was squeezed right up against a narrow alley.
So there was no yard or garden to speak of.
But now Tie was the owner of this massive yard.
'This is what they call a body double laundry……!'
As Tie looked around in awe—
In the distance, she spotted a sturdy fence encircling the giant mansion.
Suddenly, Veil's reminder from last night came to mind.
'Kiddo, just in case— from now on, if you go anywhere, stick only to this front area? Stay inside the fenced garden. Got it?'
'Yes!'
Tie had answered spiritedly.
Tie was almost five—did they think she didn't know?
She'd learned at two years old not to wander outside the house carelessly.
'When going out beyond the fence, always go with us. Big cities with lots of people are actually more dangerous. Understand?'
But hearing that, even Tie had to snort.
Lots of people? As if it could be more crowded than Jongno-gu.
And Tie had even run errands to the neighborhood supermarket alone in Jongno-gu sometimes.
Being able to run errands meant Tie was super smart and mature for her age.
"Blackie! Tie'll go check the fence over there!"
At Tie's unusually grown-up words, Lucarion stood up.
But Tie had already run to the far right end of the front yard.
"Wow."
Tie gaped upon reaching the fence.
Beyond the fence was another mansion about the same size as Tie's.
"Tie's next door……?"
Mentioning next door immediately brought 107-room Grandma to mind.
The grandma who always called Tie over to share delicious food.
The grandma who babysat Tie when Dad was away and let her watch TV to her heart's content!
To Tie, close neighbors were practically family.
The child's face lit up as she gripped the fence tightly.
She might even be able to squeeze through the gaps into the next-door yard.
'Once inside, just do a belly bow greeting?'
Then say they'd just moved in and ask to get along well from now on.
No rice cakes, but there were apples in the kitchen…….
"Astie. Don't climb over."
But right then.
Lucarion's voice came as if reading her mind.
Turning around, Lucarion stood there with Ppuppu on his shoulder.
Tie mumbled hesitantly.
"But shouldn't we greet the neighbors as a courtesy……?"
"Who greets neighbors by climbing over the fence?"
"Then go out and around to the front gate?"
"Don't you remember what your members said?"
Tie drooped her eyes downward.
"Can't go outside the fence……."
"Right."
Lucarion took Tie's hand.
"Let's go back. Your members are up."
Tie had no choice but to start walking back toward the mansion.
But her eyes kept drifting next door, and a sigh escaped her.
Lucarion, looking back at Tie, said.
"That house is empty anyway."
"Huh?"
Lucarion pointed next door with his other hand.
"See, the second-floor window is open."
"Huh? Really?"
Sure enough, the next-door second-floor window was ajar awkwardly.
Every time the wind blew, the old frame clacked open and shut, tak, tak.
"It's been like that since yesterday. No one living there would leave it like that."
Tie's mouth fell open wide.
Come to think of it, the next-door yard was totally different from Tie's.
Lush overgrown grass. Even denser weeds on top.
Stone paths covered in moss, as if unused for ages…….
"Let's go."
Lucarion gently tugged Tie's hand.
Tie followed him reluctantly.
'Who lives there, I wonder?'
Why leave such a nice house empty?
Her head tilted curiously on its own.
* * *
After a simple breakfast.
"Tie, ready?"
Basto, calling Tie from the first floor, soon widened his eyes.
Tie came hopping down the stairs, clutching Marshal's hand tightly.
"Crazy……."
Veil, sprawled on the sofa, jumped up at the sight of Tie's hair.
The child's pigtails were braided with artistic precision.
"I thought Basto was actually good at braiding all this time."
At the very least, Marshal's skill with hair braiding was no joke.
The amazement didn't end there.
"K-Kiddo. Your outfit is…… insanely fancy?"
This morning.
Tie was dressed in something utterly bizarre.
Long-sleeved red top with a sleeveless layer on top, then a kids' dress over that.
She'd clearly gotten excited last night, put it on alone, and slept in it.
But now,
"Aunt Marshal did it for me!"
A cute dress of beige fabric with abundant light-green frills.
Even white hose clinging to her legs.
The shoes were a vivid pink that stood out on their own, but…….
"The Captain insisted on this no matter what."
Veil nodded understandingly at Marshal's troubled tone.
Then Tie, giggling to herself, pointed somewhere.
"Then Aunt, now Tie will put on the unit uniform!"
Veil stared at Tie in bewilderment.
"You go all out dolling up just to cover it all with the unit uniform?"
Tie tilted her head.
"Huh? Tani Pang's on the unit uniform, so of course."
