Chapter 4
## Episode 4
### Chapter 3: A Hero Needs Friends
* * *
Yes.
This was a major incident.
Just one full day after arriving in the North, a shocking fact was revealed.
That day, Iri spotted a dark fog lingering around a cheerful maid.
‘That’s it, magi!’
Hero-like, Iri tried to purify her. But...
"Servant-nim, sorry for suddenly grabbing your hand!"
"Y-Yes? Why are you grabbing my muscular hand! In the North, suddenly grabbing someone's hand means you intend to kill them..."
"Th-that's not it! Um, do you feel anything from my hand?"
"...Soft? Cute? Moist? A hand that could never exist in the North?"
‘What? The hazy fog isn’t going away!’
She was clearly supposed to be the ‘purifier.’
She thought it would be easy to purify once she came North.
But even touching it did nothing—no purification at all. Moreover, the hazy fog wasn’t visible to everyone, only to a few people.
Right now, she had no clue what to do.
To make matters worse.
"Um, when will Duke Your Highness come?"
"Well... It seems he won’t return within a week. Duke Your Highness said to take care of all Lady Iri’s needs. Please rest comfortably."
This was a huge problem.
‘Then after six more nights of sleep, I get sent away? Without even meeting Duke Ortejo? Without purifying anyone?’
Shock.
‘And the world just perishes like that?!’
Iri clenched her fist tightly.
She couldn’t just sit like this.
‘Let’s think. What did they do in 『Hero of Justice Regent』 at times like this?’
『Hero of Justice Regent』.
The animation she’d watched diligently back when she was Arin.
True to form, Iri—who remembered Regent’s lines perfectly—quickly reached a simple conclusion.
There was a famous scene where Regent coolly put an evil villain in their place.
“Regent, I lost... How the hell did you beat me...!”
“Because I’m different from villains like you.”
“What’s different?! What makes you able to beat me!”
“A true hero fights together with friends.”
Five friends stepped out from behind Regent.
And a magnificent sunset settled over their heads.
‘An incredible famous scene!’
[Don’t forget your child friends too. A true hero gets along with friends and helps each other.]
‘Right, I can’t do it alone!’
Yes. A hero always has other hero friends by their side.
Iri clenched her fist determinedly as she recalled the future she’d seen.
‘There’s a friend sleeping here who will make me even stronger!’
The very ‘friend’ that no one could ever have in the original story.
At this point, Iri had no idea.
Just how ‘terrifying’ the monster she was about to summon truly was!
* * *
Deep night had arrived before she knew it.
The hour when all the adults were fast asleep.
But the awesome child Iri clutched her growling tummy and slipped out of bed.
‘The great hero’s first step begins!’
Suddenly, the background music from 『Hero of Justice Regent』 played in Iri’s head.
*Dudung, dududung.*
With the epic music as her backdrop, Iri took a bold step forward—thud.
But the moment she opened the door.
“Eh, Roundy-Roundy-nim? No, baby, right.”
The Northern servants were blocking the hallway.
“I have something to say.”
“Ah, really! What is it? Do you need me to play with you using this sturdy strength of mine?”
“Or maybe a midnight snack? We have fermented sardine pie right now! Perfect food for building strong muscles.”
*No, I really don’t want that. Fermented sardine pie...*
While Iri hesitated in confusion, five pro maids surrounded her tightly.
Iri shrank back a little at the sight of adults several times her size.
‘But no backing down! I have to summon my monster friend!’
Fortunately, she’d already figured out how to win over the maids.
Iri quickly clasped her hands in a polite gongsu pose.
Then she bowed deeply toward them.
“Um, I have a favor to ask.”
“A f-favor, not an order...? A r-request...?”
“Yes! A favor!”
Iri smirked slyly to herself inside—*keke*.
The servants here were all muscle-bound giants.
Super rough too, and unlike Southern maids, they barely knew etiquette.
But they were honest about their feelings.
When Iri acted politely, they always got flustered.
Just like people who’d only ever seen evil kids snatching tanghulu skewers from other children.
That was their weakness!
Iri declared confidently.
“Yes. I want to take a walk in the garden right out front!”
“R-Right now?”
“Yup. Sorry to bother you when you’re so busy. But I really, really want to stroll in the garden.”
The maids froze solid, deep in thought.
*‘Have we ever heard the word ‘sorry’ from anyone...?’*
Iri added the finishing touch, ever so carefully.
“Is that no good...?”
Sparkling eyes.
Gentle tone.
That single line asking their opinion made the maids crumble instantly.
* * *
‘Just as planned—keke.’
Iri covered her mouth and chuckled, recalling Regent’s famous line from the show.
‘The tree hiding my monster friend must be super hard to find!’
But she’d spent years playing with plants alongside her flower-loving grandma.
And just like that, they reached the garden!
Iri blinked in surprise.
“Th-there’s only one tree?”
“Yes, the only living tree in the North. The rest... because of the magi...”
Unbelievable.
She’d found the tree immediately.
Now the only hurdle left!
Shaking off the maids who gazed at her with sparkling eyes, asking ‘Roundy-Roundy-nim, where are you going?’ as they trailed after her!
‘As expected of a hero—a great idea!’
Iri stood before the tree and announced grandly.
“Huh, but... Can we play hide-and-seek?”
“Hide-and-seek?”
Iri nodded vigorously.
But would the maids actually play hide-and-seek with her?
Wouldn’t she come off like a fussy kid?
Still, ‘hide-and-seek’ was the only thing that popped into Iri’s little head to send the maids far away.
Just as worry bubbled up, one maid’s eyes started to well up.
*‘Wh-what?!’*
“Ah... A child saying they want to play hide-and-seek *with us*... Roundy-Roundy-nim is the first.”
“Usually they yell ‘Try and catch me!’ while cursing and kicking us until *we’re* the seekers.”
*No way—how rotten are these Northern kids?!*
But thanks to their harsh surroundings, Iri got to play hide-and-seek easily.
“Great! Then I’ll be the seeker! Everyone hide!”
Iri pretended to count while secretly eyeing the knothole near the Persimmon Tree.
*‘The reason no one’s found this place until now!’*
Iri recalled the contents of 『Monster Family of the Northern Snowfields』.
*‘To formally summon a summon and form a ‘contract,’ your ‘wavelengths’ have to match.’*
No one had matched wavelengths so far.
But Iri, the hero destined to save the world, matched the summon’s wavelength.
Iri glanced around—*shh shh*—confirmed everyone was gone, then swiftly thrust her hand toward the knothole.
She had to summon her summon friend before they returned.
They were adults.
Dangerous creatures with eyes even on the backs of their heads!
They’d notice right away if Iri got distracted from hide-and-seek.
Iri clenched her fists tight and moved straight to the next step.
Right...
“O summon with great power. No—summon!”
She did her very best with her short little tongue!
Iri shoved her face right into the knothole and whispered low.
“I am of the Ortejo bloodline.”
...What came next again?
Iri paused for a second, then shouted.
“Please appear in ‘that form’ I know—quickly...!”
