Chapter 111: B-Class Hero Promotion... Field Trip (2)

I searched the bag thoroughly, wondering if the dragon kids might have followed me.

But how could Hwaryeon be here beside me?

I asked Hwaryeon, who was chewing on vines wrapped around a streetlight.

"Hwaryeon."

"This is tough! I can't eat it!"

"Lee Hwaryeon. How on earth did you follow me?"

"That's obvious!"

Hwaryeon put her hands on her hips and said proudly.

"I stuck to Dad's back like clay!"

"..."

"How about that, aren't I amazing!"

Puff-

Hwaryeon boasted, not knowing how my heart was burning. Seeing this, I sighed.

"I can't take her back home now. Hah, Senior Han Ji-soo."

"Yeah?"

"Keep this a secret from the other heroes here. I'll try to hide her somehow until the mission is over."

If they found out I brought Hwaryeon, I might face disadvantages.

I might hear things like 'You brought a child to work? Did you think this was a picnic?!' and the promotion test itself might be canceled.

That outcome absolutely can't happen. 

I held the hand of the distracted Hwaryeon and said as I moved away.

"Anyway, keep it a secret. I'll go ahead with Hwaryeon."

"Wait, Lee Ha-jun. Are you saying you'll take your daughter to that dangerous place? Even if your ability is great, this is a place where even A-class heroes could die if they're not careful."

Snap-

Was Hwaryeon offended by being underestimated? She growled at Han Ji-soo and shouted.

"I'm strong! Weak humans shouldn’t worry about me!"

"Now, now, Lee Hwaryeon. Watch your mouth."

"Grrrr-!"

I covered the mouth of the rampaging Hwaryeon. Then I spoke to Han Ji-soo, who looked clearly flustered.

"Thanks for worrying, but it'll be fine. Hwaryeon has abilities similar to mine."

"You mean magical beasts avoid your daughter too? Can we consider it hereditary?"

"Well, you could say that."

To say it's hereditary...

I'm the one who received Hwaryeon's ability, but anyway, I gave a rough explanation and left with Hwaryeon's hand in mine.

I guess I should be thankful it's a solo mission. 

I held Hwaryeon's hand tightly and said as we walked through the city turned jungle.

"Since you followed me, we have to go together. But if you do anything dangerous here, Dad will really get angry."

"I got it! I just won't do anything, right!"

"Yes, quietly follow Dad while holding my hand."

Squeeze-

Tiny Hwaryeon's hand. I held her hand filled with warm energy and pushed through the vegetation covering the asphalt road.

'I need to find the dimensional core quickly and return.'

Even if Hwaryeon is a dragon, areas eroded by dimensions are dangerous.

Unpredictable phenomena or magical beasts often appear here.

"Don't let go of my hand, Lee Hwaryeon."

"Hmph, I'll do as I please!"

Hwaryeon grumbled but held my hand tightly. And so, the two of us started our dangerous picnic together.

***

Currently.

Bupyeong-gu, Incheon where I am is in a state eroded by a dimensional gate. The city has turned into a jungle, and danger could approach at any time.

But even if it's an A-class dimension, magical beasts are afraid of dragons. Hwaryeon pointed at leopard-like magical beasts glaring at us from afar and said.

"Dad, there are magical beasts over there!"

"Be careful, we don't know when they might attack."

Weak magical beasts run away immediately when they feel a dragon's aura. But those ones seemed confident in their strength, glaring at us.

If a gap appears, they would attack us at any time. Hwaryeon didn't like those guys, so she threatened them with her dragon roar.

"Raaah-!!"

Only then did the leopards stop glaring. Hwaryeon, impressed by her own power, tugged at my clothes.

"Dad, did you see that? I beat them without even using my strength!"

"Yes, you did well. I'm very proud of Hwaryeon."

"Hmph, hurry up and praise me more!"

Pat pat-

Hwaryeon enjoyed the praise with a smug expression.

"As expected of me!"

"Yes. Yes."

Occasionally when magical beasts appeared, Hwaryeon would roar "Raaah-!" to chase them away. Sometimes when dense vegetation blocked our way, we'd use the Hwaryeon radiator to clear a path.

Hwaryeon and I had been walking around the city without any problems so far.

"What's that?"

"It's a huge flower!"

That was until an enormous rose appeared before our eyes.

The red rose twisted grotesquely as it swayed in the wind. Then suddenly its stem bent in our direction, and in an instant, it started shooting thorns at us.

"Dangerous!"

I hugged Hwaryeon to protect her from the sudden attack. At that moment, I felt countless rose thorns piercing my back.

"Dad!"

It hurt like hell, but I picked up Hwaryeon and hid in an abandoned building. Only then did the rose stop shooting thorns, and we could find some stability.

"Ow, it hurts so much..."

"Dad! You're bleeding from your back! There are thorns stuck in you!"

"Yeah, Dad's in a lot of pain. Are you hurt anywhere, Hwaryeon?"

"I'm fine! So worry about yourself, Dad!"

Hwaryeon shouted loudly with a slightly tearful voice.

I smiled faintly and said.

"You're crying even though I'm not dying."

"I'm not crying!"

"Okay. Then, stop it and can you pull out the thorns in my back?"

"I said I'm not crying!"

Sniff-

Hwaryeon wiped away the few tears that had fallen and started pulling out the thorns stuck in my back one by one.

'Ow, ow, it hurts like hell...'

Thorns hurt more coming out than going in, but a father shouldn't show weakness in front of his children.

I gritted my teeth and endured the pain of having the thorns pulled out.

"F-Finally, I got them all out, Dad! Does it not hurt anymore?"

"Yeah, it feels a bit better now. Thanks, Hwaryeon."

If Hwaryeon hadn't been here, I might have been walking around like a porcupine. Hwaryeon looked at me with worried eyes, then turned to where the giant rose had been.

"How dare you, a mere plant! Making Dad hurt! I won't let you off!"

Jump-!

Hwaryeon stood up with blazing eyes. Seeing this, I hurriedly grabbed Hwaryeon's hand to stop her.

Hwaryeon shook her arm vigorously to break free from my hand.

"Let go, Dad! I have to avenge Dad in heaven!"

"I'm not dead, you fool! Besides, what are you going to do!"

"Everything! I'm going to burn it all!"

Growl-

Hwaryeon walked proudly towards where the rose had been. Seeing this, I thought to myself.

'I just got the thorns out. Looks like I'm about to get stuck again.'

Sob sob-

I followed Hwaryeon, prepared to get thorns stuck in me again. Hwaryeon stood in front of the grotesquely moving rose and shouted loudly.

"Hey! You hurt Dad! You're dead to me now!"

Swish-

The giant rose bent its stem towards Hwaryeon. And at the moment it was about to shoot thorns, Hwaryeon opened her mouth wide towards the rose.

"Burn to ashes! Raaah-!!"

Whoosh-!

Intense flames engulfed the rose in an instant. The thorns shot at Hwaryeon all turned to ash, and the red rose was also enveloped in flames and disappeared.

'Has her firepower increased since I last saw it...?'

Just as Suryeon used her emotions manipulate the weather, Hwaryeon seemed to adjust her flame output according to her emotions.

Hwaryeon exhaled black smoke and said smugly.

"Hmph, how dare you! This is for Dad!"

"A dragon is indeed a dragon."

It's an amazing ability. That single breath was enough to spread fire to the surrounding plants.

"...I hope this doesn't turn into a big fire?"

Just as I was starting to worry, a voice came through the radio I had been supplied with.

-Hey, rookie. Looks like there's a fire over there. Did you cause trouble, newbie?

I remember this voice as A-class hero Kim Chang-soo.

Judging by his tone, he didn't seem to have good feelings towards me.

Just as I was about to give a vague answer, Hwaryeon frowned and spoke first.

"You stupid human! Don't talk to Dad! You idiot!"

-W-What did you say! Has this rookie bastard gone crazy? Are you so full of yourself you can't see straight? Just wait till I see you next time. I'll-

"Hmph, you're the one who's going to die! You idiot! Shut up!"

This won't do.

I cut off the radio communication before Hwaryeon could say more. Not realizing the communication had been cut, Hwaryeon continued to growl.

"Who are you to yell at Dad! Don't get cocky! I'm stronger than you!"

"Hwaryeon."

"You're just like my punching bag, I'll just-"

"Lee Hwaryeon. Stop it."

She only listens when I use her full name. I stopped Hwaryeon's rampage and held her hand as we moved forward.

"Let's not fight unnecessarily and go. We need to get home quickly."

"I'm having fun here, I'd like to stay longer!"

"Even though there's no meat here and it's all vegetable side dishes?"

"...Let's go home quickly, Dad!"

Seems she doesn't like a life without meat dishes. Hwaryeon ran ahead excitedly.

Maybe because our compatibility is good compared to the danger level, we were still able to walk around feeling like we were on a picnic.

"Ah, there's a butterfly here! Butterfly, come here!"

"Lee Hwaryeon, I told you not to let go of my hand!"

"This is exciting! Yay!"

I wondered if we could find the core in time.

I had slight doubts about that part.

Still, the picnic with Hwaryeon was quite fun because I could keep seeing my daughter's smiling face.

***

The house without Dad.

Suryeon and Choryeon opened the refrigerator to prepare dinner.

"Come to think of it, the side dishes are cold because Hwaryeon isn't here."

"That's right. Of all people, Hwaryeon is missing."

They couldn't heat up the side dishes, but Suryeon and Choryeon didn't particularly mind.

"I prefer cold side dishes anyway."

Even the stir-fried sausages with ketchup taste better cold.

Suryeon ate the cold side dishes with hot rice without complaint, and it was the same for Choryeon.

"I only eat vegetable side dishes anyway, so it doesn't matter. It's fine even without Hwaryeon."

Munch-

Choryeon ate side dishes like kimchi and bean sprouts. The two didn't particularly feel Hwaryeon's absence.

Rather, they felt more comfortable without Hwaryeon.

'It's comfortable without big sister. There's no one above me. I'm the boss here.'

Rising to the top of the hierarchy.

Suryeon wielded the power to choose TV channels, which only the top-ranked could do. It was nice to be able to focus on just the TV sound in a quiet house without noise.

"Dad's not here today either. So it's my world."

I should eat snacks as I please too. Suryeon brought the potato chips she usually gave up and put them in her mouth.

Crunch crunch-

"So this is what potato chips taste like."

And so. With no one to interfere, Suryeon watched TV and ate snacks until late at night without even turning on the lights. And it was the same for Choryeon and Mangmung.

"Here, Mangmung, eat some beef jerky too."

"Woof-!"

"Let's watch TV late today!"

"Woof woof-!"

Doing things they could only do when Dad wasn't around, the children spent their time enjoying Dad's absence skillfully.

However, if Dad's return was delayed, it was clear the children wouldn't enjoy the time without Dad either.