Ch#85
"Gasp!"
Tie froze in place.
Then, belatedly looking at Ppuppu,
"Kyuu, kyuu...?"
Ppuppu was already frozen like a robber caught red-handed raiding a bank.
"The 'thing' I mentioned is exactly that."
Just then, Nordics closed the door and spoke.
Cold sweat trickled down Tie's back.
'Grandpa Nordics knew about Ppuppu?'
She had warned Ppuppu so earnestly all this time.
To stay quietly in the bag only!
As the child's eyes shook unsteadily, Veil walked up to Ppuppu.
He crouched down and gazed steadily at Ppuppu before saying,
"Astie."
Just hearing her name made dry saliva gulp down her throat.
And rightly so, Veil had hardly ever called Tie by name until now.
He had always called her kid...
'Busted, totally busted.'
It seemed the members had figured out Ppuppu's true nature.
Sensing big trouble, Tie squeezed her eyes shut.
Then, after inhaling deeply, she shouted like a confession.
"Veil oppa. Tie really really loves Ppuppu!"
"...What?"
"No one can separate Tie from Ppuppu. Even if they give ten thousand—no, forty thousand won, no way!"
Lifting her head with a poignant gaze, Veil was staring at her with his mouth slightly agape.
Tie glanced back at Basto and Nordics behind him and asked,
"Please let Tie live with Ppuppu, okay?"
She knew she might get scolded.
Even if it was an accident, bringing Ppuppu had been Tie's solo decision without consulting the members.
And there was another reason Tie was wary of this situation.
Suddenly, she recalled something from Korea.
'Baby, you must never ever pick up things like this casually, got it?'
She had just brought home one stray kitten playing alone under the alley wall,
and 107-room Grandma had scolded her with a serious face.
'Cats abandon kittens touched by humans right away. They smell human scent. Understand?'
'Uuum... but if the mom cat abandons it, Tie can raise it instead, right?'
She had simply suggested an easy solution, but Grandma's expression darkened further.
'Raise it? You?'
'Yeees, Tie will give milk and clean poop and raise it!'
'What if it gets sick? Do you have money to take it to the vet? Who watches it while you're at kindergarten?'
At first, she felt upset.
She really didn't want to let go of the tiny creature in her hands because it was so cute.
But when 203-room auntie joined after hearing the commotion, Tie had even less to say.
'Tie. One thing you must have for living things is responsibility, okay?'
'Responsibility...?'
'Can you stay by this kitten's side until it lives happily and goes to heaven?'
At first, out of stubbornness, she wanted to say yes.
But thinking it over, Tie realized she couldn't always be by the kitten's side, just as auntie said.
'...No.'
'See? That's why you don't take living things lightly. Even animals know. Loneliness, sadness, missing their owner when left alone.'
Looking back now, 203-room auntie was right.
Tie had to leave everything behind when leaving Korea.
So if she had started living with the kitten then, she would have had to abandon it when leaving.
Thankfully, the kitten met its mom and left.
Afterward, she was sometimes spotted sunbathing on the wall with her mom.
'So Tie knows not to pick up strays casually.'
She knew deciding to raise something required sufficient responsibility and thought!
But Ppuppu had nowhere to go right away.
And it had followed Tie, thinking of her as mom from the start.
As she fidgeted with her hands wondering how to explain, Veil's sigh came.
"Haa."
Her shoulders hunched involuntarily.
'Everyone's mad...'
Now she saw Basto, Nordics, Raoul, and Enzo too.
All had somewhat sunken expressions.
'Because Tie didn't consult them!'
What if they told her to return Ppuppu to where it came from?
Or treated Ppuppu like a monster? As she agonized,
"Its name is Ppuppu?"
Veil asked casually.
Tie nodded hesitantly in surprise.
"Y-yeah, Ppuppu."
"Kid, do you want to keep going around with Ppuppu from now on?"
At the more positive reaction than expected, saliva gulped down.
"Yeah, super... Tie already promised to be Ppuppu's mom."
"Then do what you want, Tie."
Basto from behind approached.
He brushed Tie's messy hair with his hand and said,
"Isn't it hard acting in front of people all the time?"
Tie tilted her head.
Why ask that suddenly?
Of course, she was sometimes scared of getting caught...
She shook her head to mean it was fine, but Basto's expression didn't soften.
"You don't have to say you're okay every time."
"Yeah, kid. It's okay to say it's hard when it is."
Even Veil chimed in, making Tie's eyes widen round.
Weird, wasn't Veil's role teasing or joking with Tie every day?
"Thinking about it, since forming the mercenary group, we haven't done anything you really wanted once."
"Uung?"
"We moved to find your dad, sure, but we never really did what you wanted."
Tie's mouth fell open.
True. Going to Pearl City, coming to the Weapon District.
She had followed the members' plans.
But wasn't it unavoidable?
Even as leader, Tie knew little about this world.
"You kept saying you wanted to go to kindergarten or daycare, but we couldn't even do that."
"Th-that's..."
She had sometimes said that on days she missed kindergarten.
Wanting to go back to kindergarten.
The members looked troubled once they understood what it was.
Seeming perplexed due to the mercenary group's constant travel.
Veil, lost in thought, asked casually,
"Ppuppu, it's safe, right?"
Tie nodded quickly.
"Yeah! Super super safe! But Veil oppa, aren't you curious where Ppuppu came from?"
"We already know. No need to say."
Tie's eyes widened round.
Veil glanced at Nordics and smiled faintly.
"If it were dangerous, you wouldn't be so stubborn about it."
"Gasp. Veil oppaa..."
"But if anything seems off, tell us right away? Can't have you in danger, kid."
...So gentle.
Unusually gentle today!
As Tie nodded with a dazed expression,
"Once we reach the Capital, we plan to exchange all the magic beast cores we've gathered so far for compensation, Tie."
Nordics, who had been watching, stepped forward.
"Then use that money to buy a mansion— what do you think? It'd be good for us to have a base."
Her eyes went round.
"A house?"
"A home. With a house in the Capital, you can go to the kindergarten you want, and fewer eyes on us, wouldn't it be easier?"
Tie's lips parted.
A house. Buying Tie's house in the Capital with the money earned so far.
It was a good idea. Definitely good, but...
The child soon looked around worriedly.
"But can all six of us fit in Tie's house? Now with Kkamang-i and Ppuppu too..."
To Tie, who had only ever had Gold Apartment Complex 106 as a home since birth.
This was a very serious and important issue.
