Chapter 114: A Peaceful Day in the Life of a B-Class Hero

After successfully completing this mission, I was officially recognized as a B-class hero.

My face was on TV at that moment.

-The newly promoted B-class hero Lee Ha-jun has achieved B-rank in a short time due to his outstanding performance despite low public recognition.

They know their stuff. The news anchor seemed to know my information thoroughly.

I hope I don't get too many DMs, though.

I nudged Suryeon sitting next to me and boasted.

"Did you see that, Suryeon? Dad's amazing enough to be on TV."

"Criminals appear on TV too. Even ordinary people appear in interviews. Being on TV doesn't make you amazing."

"..."

Suryeon seems to be a capital T.

Dejected that my boasting didn't work, I opened my smartphone with a gloomy expression.

I thought I would have received quite a few messages by now.

"Let's see... Employment agency manager... Gu Bong-gu... Tubby and Weakling... Wait, why are they all men?"

I appreciate the congratulations, but it doesn't feel great to only receive them from men.

"This can't be right!"

Suryeon coldly said to me.

"That's reality. Accept it, Dad."

"No, this isn't reality!"

Surely if I open my DM inbox, there will be countless messages from pretty women. I tapped on the Outstagram app and logged into the account I made before.

'My DM inbox should be on fire by now.'

However.

Contrary to my expectations, my DM inbox was completely empty.

There wasn't even a single follow request. It felt like my world was disconnected and blocked from everyone else's.

I sighed at the bleak reality and put my smartphone in my pocket.

"Sigh, is my romance business a failure this time too?"

"Failed again, Dad."

Snicker-

Suryeon, who was fiddling with her pad next to me mocked me and muttered.

"What romance, Dad? There's no need to even check your DMs. Just give up."

Suryeon coldly advised me to give up on romance. But I couldn't do that.

"I still need to try dating."

"Why bother? You have us."

"That's why I want to try. Don't you kids need a mom?"

Mom.

I think the dragons need a mother. There should be a parent to fill in when I'm away. The kids depend on me too much.

But Suryeon seemed to disagree, narrowing her eyes and saying.

"Dad."

"Yes?"

"What mom? We don't need a mom. We just need Dad."

And then.

"You said you'd marry me when I grow up. So, we don't need a mom. Dad."

Suryeon's words about not needing a mom seemed sincere. More than that, she still remembers that.

As expected of a dragon, her memory is good.

"Do you still want to marry Dad?"

"...There are no suitable humans. I just thought it would be better to marry Dad instead."

Suryeon hid her face behind her A-pad, seemingly embarrassed.

Anyway, I thought that maybe a mother figure isn't really necessary, as Suryeon said.

Still.

"It's okay if there's no mom, but Dad can have a girlfriend, right?"

"You're an idiot, Dad."

Huff-

Suryeon turned her head as if she didn't want to talk to me anymore. 

For some reason, she seemed quite upset. With her back turned, Suryeon muttered quietly.

"Good thing I blocked it in advance."

"What did you say, Suryeon?"

"...Nothing."

I felt uneasy about something.

Suryeon had already turned her back and cut off our conversation.

And so, my romance business, which I thought would blossom into a field of pink flowers after being promoted to B-class, didn't make any progress much to my disappointment.

'At least I'll save a lot of money.'

***

Weekend afternoon. A day off from work.

I went up to the rooftop with the children.

The crops we planted before had grown a bit.

'I also have the Venus flytrap seeds I picked up in Bupyeong.'

It's not an edible plant, but I thought it might be useful for something if we grow it. With that in mind, I handed the Venus flytrap seeds to Choryeon.

"Here, Choryeon. These are new seeds. Take them."

"Yes, I got them! But what kind of plant are these seeds for?"

"Venus flytrap. It opens its mouth wide and eats insects. Like this!"

Roar-!

I made a big mouth with my arms and pretended to bite Choryeon. Choryeon, caught in my arms, giggled as she was lifted into the air.

"Ahaha! Father, it tickles! Put me down!"

"Choryeon, come here!"

"Hehehe!"

As I was playing Venus flytrap with Choryeon like this, Hwaryeon, seemingly jealous of us, headbutted me.

"Let's get to work quickly, Dad! Power Rangers is about to start!"

Thud-!

With that headbutt, Choryeon and I rolled on the rooftop floor. Her strength was really something.

"Ow, that hurts... Lee Hwaryeon, we could have gotten hurt because of you!"

"Hmph, a dragon's dad won't get hurt by something like that!"

"Are you okay, Choryeon?"

Choryeon, who rolled on the floor with me. Choryeon seemed fine, grinning as she answered.

"Hehe, I'm okay! I'm not hurt!"

"That's good."

Heave-ho-

I checked Choryeon's body once more and got up. Then, I decided to check the grown crops and assign tasks.

"Lee Hwaryeon, you're on peppers!"

"Okay!"

"Lee Suryeon, you're on lettuce!"

"Got it."

"Lee Choryeon, you're planting Venus flytraps with me!"

"Okay, Father!"

Pitter-patter-

Choryeon quickly ran to the empty flower bed. She filled it with soil and diligently made space for the seeds with a trowel.

"If I dig like this... It's done! Yay!"

"Want to put in the seeds too?"

"Yes!"

Choryeon carefully placed the seeds like a master craftsman and covered them perfectly with soil.

"Ta-da! It's done. Father, let's pray together!"

"Pray?"

"Yes, for the Venus flytrap... But since 'trap' sounds too bad, let's call it Venus flyhaven! Let's put our hands together and pray for the Venus flyhaven!"

"O-Okay..."

I guess "flytrap" does sound a bit harsh.

I sat next to Choryeon, who was putting her hands together to pray. And I prayed with Choryeon for the Venus flytrap... I mean, flyhaven.

"Grow big and strong!"

"Grow big and strong."

A short and simple prayer.

Since Choryeon, the Green Dragon, prayed for it, it should grow well on its own.

'If it grows strangely after my daughter prayed for it...'

Of course, if it doesn't grow well, I plan to break it off. If my good daughter prayed for it, it should grow well on its own.

After offering a short prayer, I turned to look at Hwaryeon and Suryeon. They seemed to have harvested all the crops I assigned them.

"Looks like everyone's done. Let's go down. Dad will make dinner."

"Yay! It's mealtime!"

Dash-

Excited by the mention of mealtime, Hwaryeon ran ahead. I chased after Hwaryeon, shouting.

"Hey, Lee Hwaryeon! I told you not to run on the stairs!"

"I won't fall! It's fine!"

"Oh, you little rebel."

"I'm not a rebel! I'm a dragon!"

She never lets me have the last word. That's just like Hwaryeon, though.

***

After finishing the B-class mission, my daily life returned to peace.

In the morning, I take the kids to kindergarten, quickly go to locations when called, and pick up the kids when kindergarten ends.

Then, I hold their hands and walk home in the sunset.

"What did you learn today?"

Choryeon answered my question with a smile.

"Today we solved math problems, played with blocks, and read storybooks!"

"Sounds like you had fun."

"Yes!"

Choryeon answered with a bright smile. However, Suryeon spoke in a haughty tone.

"Hmm, kindergarten classes don't match my level. It's all trivial content."

Well. To Suryeon, the internet addict, the class content might seem trivial.

"...Dad, what are you thinking right now?"

"Huh? Nothing?"

"Hmm..."

Suryeon looked at me with suspicious eyes. She's quite perceptive indeed.

As we were talking about what happened today and heading home, Hwaryeon and Mangmung, who had run ahead, stopped in front of a stationery store.

'What's this, why are they standing there?'

I approached the two troublemakers who had stopped and asked.

"Why aren't you going forward? What are you doing?"

"Woof-! Woof woof-!"

"Sorry. I don't understand what you're saying, Mangmung. Not you."

"Woof..."

Mangmung became dejected for no reason. Hwaryeon pointed inside the stationery store and said.

"Dad! There's an old man inside!"

"An old man?"

"He's sleeping! We could take junk food now and he wouldn't know!"

"No stealing, you rascal."

Bonk-

I lightly hit Hwaryeon's head. Hwaryeon had a fit and shouted.

"Why did you hit me! Dad, are you picking a fight?"

"Be quiet. But Hwaryeon, do you want junk food?"

"Yes!"

"Then I'll buy you one."

Let's buy some junk food as a snack for once. I boldly opened the door and went in.

Ding-

With the sound of the bell, the old man sleeping in a chair at the stationery store woke up.

"W-Who is it!"

"It's us. We came to buy junk food."

"Ah, it's your family. Damn, I must have fallen asleep without realizing it. I've been busy lately."

"Busy? Wasn't this stationery store about to go out of business?"

Snap-

The old man seemed offended by my words and shouted irritably.

"What do you mean going out of business! I'm selling adult toys diligently!"

"Ah, right. You were selling guns here. Getting a lot of orders these days?"

"Yeah, too many unnecessary orders. Like something's about to happen."

The stationery store owner sighed with an uneasy look. Then he turned to us and said.

"You should be careful when you're out for a while. After getting so many guns in bulk like this, something always happens. And, take all the remaining junk food too."

"What? You're telling us to take all of this?"

Even for someone who likes free stuff like me, this pricks my conscience. But the stationery store owner glared and said.

"I was planning to quit this junk food business anyway. It doesn't make money and no one buys it except you guys. So take it quickly."

Shoo shoo-

The stationery store owner gestured for us to take it and leave quickly.

I felt a bit uncomfortable, but the kids were excited at the thought of getting all the junk food and were scooping it up.

"Let's take this too!"

"This is enough for me."

"Hmm, I'll be happy with this and this."

"Woof-!"

These little thieves who love freebies. They seem to have taken after my bad side.

I thanked the stationery store owner with the kids and went outside.

'Is something about to happen... I should ask Tubby and Weakling later.'

I hoped nothing big would happen to us. The kids' birthdays were coming up soon.

I prayed earnestly that nothing would happen on their birthday, hoping it would be a day of joy, blessings, and happiness.