Ch#28
Tiye hesitated.
Asking for a name or where someone lived was a sensitive question for a kid.
“Th-that’s somethin’ you shouldn’t ask, right?”
The world these days was a super scary place.
Scary enough that if someone offered you tasty stuff and asked you to come along, you had to report them to the police right away!
‘But…….’
Grandpa Nordix and Uncle Basto weren’t bad people.
And Tiye knew that better than anyone.
Still conflicted, Tiye decided to ask just in case.
“B-but why do you wanna know that?”
“We have so few clues about your dad that it feels like we’re wasting time,” he could say.
Oh, so that’s what it was.
Tiye nodded.
Of course. From Grandpa Nordix and Uncle Basto’s perspective, that’s probably how it felt.
‘Tiye hasn’t properly told them about Dad either.’
Besides, these two were Tiye’s comrades now.
Meaning they’d have to stick together from now on, like it or not.
“Actually……”
Tiye, having made up her mind, opened her mouth.
“Tiye and Dad live in Jongno-gu! Gold Villa first floor room 6!”
Without realizing it, she’d mimicked 203-room Auntie’s speech.
203-room Auntie never said “room 203,” but always “second floor room 3!”
Feeling like a grown-up like Auntie, she cleared her throat with an ahem, but Nordix asked back.
“What, what?”
“Tiye. Jongno-gu?”
Basto looked just as baffled.
Tiye nodded.
“Yup! Uncle and Grandpa wouldn’t know? Jongno-gu has Gyeongbokgung too, tons of puppies at Cheonggyecheon, and twisted donuts at Gwangjang Market too!”
But the more she spoke, the more confused Nordix and Basto looked.
Veil, who’d brought food, had stopped at the doorway, staring at Tiye with a dumbfounded face.
Tiye took a breath as if to say wait and see, then continued.
“So like, what happened was, my dad was a super strong Holy Knight, but suddenly he went to Korea with Tiye, and Korea’s this country shaped like a tiger with China above it and stuff!”
“……”
“We lived in Jongno-gu there, and then Dad……”
At the part where she had to say Dad had passed away in an accident, her lips stuck together.
Tiye hesitated and glossed over it.
“Uh, anyway, suddenly we got separated from Dad, so Tiye was sad at night and then poof met Kkamangi and came here.”
Silence fell over the room.
Veil, setting the tray on the side table, muttered, “This is insane.”
How long did the silence last?
Nordix hesitantly asked.
“So…… Korea is Jongno-gu?”
“Yup!”
“And you lived there?”
“Yup! It’s Seoul! Seoul is three……!”
“What’s Seoul?”
“Dunno.”
Basto was exchanging meaningful glances with Veil.
Tiye, frustrated, held out the Hanbit Kindergarten bag from on the bed.
“Nooo, look! It’s got Hangul here. Han. Bit. Yu. Chi. Won.”
Basto, Veil, and Nordix tilted their heads.
“That’s not just some pattern?”
“Nope!”
“Hold on, everyone calm down.”
Then Nordix raised one hand and stepped forward.
He knelt on one knee in front of Tiye, meeting her eyes.
“Then, what’s your dad’s name?”
Tiye’s eyes widened a bit.
Dad’s name.
Tiye was four years old, but of course she knew her dad’s name.
When writing parents’ names at kindergarten, Tiye had written Dad’s the prettiest and most neatly in Quail Class.
“My dad’s name is……”
“The name?”
Tiye beamed.
“Kim, Young letter, Su letter!”
Veil, who’d been stiff, couldn’t hold back and wedged between Tiye and Nordix.
“You crazy? Name’s Kim Youngjasuja?”
“Nooo, Kim, Young letter, Su letter, I said?”
“Kid. Answer straight. We’re not messing with you.”
Tiye’s mouth fell open a little.
Tiye pouted with a whiny eeng and answered.
“Not messing……? It’s really Kim Youngsu……”
“Earlier you said Kim Youngjasuja.”
“Huh? Yup! Kim, Young letter, Su letter.”
“No, just now you said Kim Youngsu! Which is it?!”
“Uh……? They’re the same.”
“What?!”
“Come out a sec, Veil.”
Basto stopped Veil.
Basto calmly stepped up to Tiye and asked.
“You said you came here from Jongno-gu? Do you know how?”
Tiye shut her mouth and rolled her eyes.
Of course the memory of that day was vivid.
Dad had passed, and 107-room Grandmother came home with the Relics Box.
Tiye opened the Relics Box and met Kkamangi.
But…….
‘Can’t talk about Kkamangi though?’
Kkamangi here feared being ‘tracked.’
Just like Tiye and Dad in Korea had feared tracking.
‘Kkamangi said his power’s a secret. That’s why we said summon instead.’
Tiye had to keep her promise to Kkamangi.
She couldn’t say she’d opened a dimension and come here.
Tiye finally answered hesitantly.
“Somehow…… just……”
Silence fell again.
How long did it last before Veil spoke.
“Nordix old man’s right.”
Nordix turned.
“Kid doesn’t seem to be lying. But the answers are like……”
“Veil.”
“Whatever. Asking the kid was pointless anyway, no clues. Hey, kid.”
Tiye flinched and met Veil’s gaze.
“Ung……?”
“You’re sure your dad’s here, right?”
Tiye nodded vigorously.
“Yup! Tiye’s dad is here! Earlier too……!”
She’d seen Dad with her own two eyes at the pier.
But somehow the dream from just before stuck in her mind, and she shut her mouth.
“Good. Then we stick to the plan for now. Head to the Capital and check the Holy Knight headquarters.”
“Yup!”
“Then. If you find your dad, you leaving Agabert?”
Tiye’s eyes went wide.
“Huh?”
Leaving Agabert? Weird question.
“I’m asking if you’ll ditch us once you find Dad, say you’re gonna live with him, quit being Necrolord and bail.”
Tiye’s mouth slowly opened.
Veil’s words poked right at Tiye’s conscience.
“Th-that’s.”
Actually, at first, yeah, that’s what she’d planned.
Tiye had only become a mercenary to get into the Capital.
Once she found Dad inside the Capital, she’d quit being a mercenary.
To keep Dad from falling into Korea again, she’d have to live with him and watch over him constantly.
But…….
‘Dad’s not the old Dad anymore.’
She remembered the pier.
Dad’s gaze that ignored Tiye like she was some stranger kid.
Here, Tiye wasn’t Dad’s daughter anymore.
The idea that they could live together was just Tiye’s naive wishful thinking.
And also…….
‘Asking Dad to take responsibility for Tiye again would be selfish, right?’
Dad in Korea had been so exhausted because of Tiye.
Tiye knew from all the Gold Villa folks’ talk.
‘That bachelor in 6 would’ve had it easier without a kid.’
‘Exactly! For an unwed dad, he’s diligent~ Could’ve dumped the kid at daycare no problem.’
‘Again, gossiping about others! Shut your traps! Or I’ll sew ‘em shut!’
107-room Grandmother would step in and quiet everyone…….
Tiye shook her head after thinking it over.
“……Tiye’s not leaving.”
“What?”
“Tiye’s gonna keep being Necrolord. Agabert’s Tiye’s mercenary group.”
Maybe it was lucky that Tiye had found her place in this world.
“Dad’s Dad, and Tiye’s Tiye……”
Veil froze in shock.
“……For real?”
Tiye nodded bravely.
“Yup. Tiye’s gonna be independent from Dad now.”
