Chapter 127
Theory was the least frequent of the Hunter classes. The content itself wasn't anything special; we learned things like Hunter ethics or how to identify the weaknesses of similar types of monsters found inside gates. Most of it was stuff I already knew but had trouble putting to use.
“Ugh….”
“Theory class wasn't fun. Right?”
“Exactly.”
After fifth period, as we were heading home, I talked with Choa and found out she hadn't found it particularly fun either. The seniors had been sleeping a lot, and the Hunter theory teacher seemed like the type who didn't really care, so I listened while half-asleep. Honestly, I barely remember any of it.
“Eve, what are you doing after school on Friday?”
“H-huh? After school on Friday..? I don't think I have anything planned….”
“Then let's go hang out. We're all getting together to go to a slime café.”
“A slime café..?”
What on earth was a slime café? Did slimes come out of an entrance-type gate or something? Of course not…. Since nobody in the Yoo Choa cartel besides Choa was Awakened, they wouldn't be going into a gate.
“Look at this. They said it just opened.”
“Ah, slime.”
It was a place where you played with the stuff we called liquid monsters back in my day. But did you really need a whole café just to play with that? Apparently, you didn't just touch it and play with it; you put all kinds of things inside and made one of your own.
Choa continued listing off the schedule.
“After dinner, the girls said they wanted to go to Artbox, so we'll probably go there too? Or Ten by Ten. We could go to Wappen House as well.”
“Uh, um, y-yeah. I see.”
“And there's a pop-up store we absolutely have to visit.”
“Hmm….”
Honestly, none of the things she was describing were schedules I could even imagine, so I didn't understand any of it. I felt like I should ask Ophelia, but to be honest, I didn't particularly want to go.
These were kids I found uncomfortable to be around even at school. Did I really have to stay with them after school too? That was a little much.
* * * * *
Ophelia ended up giving me permission. To be honest, I'd forgotten to tell her, but then the girls suddenly swarmed over during break and kept insisting that I had to go with them.
“Call her, hurry!!”
“Ah, okay….”
ㅡRing, ring….
“What is it, Prin—
“Hello!! Are you Eve's parents?!”
“We're Eve's friends!! We really want to go hang out with Eve!!”
“We'll take good care of Eve and bring her back!! Do you have location sharing turned on?? We'll tell you everywhere we go!!”
“….”
They unleashed the ultimate, super-special move of bona fide elementary schoolgirls—500 times the whining—and I couldn't even say, ‘I don't actually want to go, so please just tell them no, Ophelia.’
“Hmm, all right, then. To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, would it be all right if I took down one of her friends' phone numbers?”
“Oh, yes!! I'll give you mine!!”
“Thank you!!”
“Aww….”
In the end, Ophelia's permission was granted with the entire Yoo Choa cartel listening.
And this was the result.
“What is Park Chaeyeon's pose supposed to be? What is she expressing?”
“Ah, what the heck. Why did I come out like this?”
“Why does Kim Minseo look so cute? This isn't right.”
“Lee Suyeon is challenging someone to a duel, right?”
The photo showed Park Chaeyeon, Lee Suyeon, Yoon Yisol, Yoo Choa, me, and Kim Minseo, in that order from the back. Looking at it, there was no mistaking it for anything but a kids' café full of elementary schoolers.
“Sol's mouth is seriously huge.”
“She looks like she could swallow Eve in one bite.”
“Why did I come out so big? What kind of filter is this?”
“That's just your face….”
“Lee Suyeon's hair is insanely bright. Doesn't your hair-dyeing teacher say anything?”
“Your hair is red too, Choa….”
“I'm Awakened.”
Everyone added their own comment, making the whole place so noisy I couldn't think straight. I was looking at my own picture too, and to be honest, I was the cutest one.
‘Mm, just as expected of me.’
But the others kept looking at my face and saying things.
“Eve doesn't look like that. Why does she photograph so badly?”
“Her face is so white. Eve needs tone-down makeup like a celebrity.”
“White hair really is cheating.”
“Honestly, red hair is so annoying. It doesn't match your skin or personal color at all, and it ruins the color balance of the whole photo.”
“Choa's personal color is just malatang.”
“Can Minseo fight?”
“It's illegal for an Awakened person to hit someone.”
“Sol's natural brown hair is a lie, right?”
“It's the lighting. My hair isn't this bright.”
“Lee Suyeon just looks like a foreigner.”
“So what was Park Chaeyeon expressing?”
“Your future.”
“What's with Minseo's tongue? Is she Dooly?”
“Want me to do a Hoit?”
“What comes out if you do that?”
“Park Chaeyeon's scream.”
“Ah, ah! It hurts!”
After that, we ate malatang, got dragged to a bunch of places I couldn't identify, and did all sorts of things. The only things I really remember are Chiikawa and Sanrio character merchandise, keychains, and the slime I made myself—or rather, the other girls chose every part of it for me.
It was around eight in the evening before I could finally make it home, but Ophelia came to pick me up, so I got back a little earlier.
ㅡScreeeech….
“Ah, looks like she's here.”
“That? That's really a Rolls-Royce?”
“I told you, Eve's family is rich.”
“Whoa, that's crazy.”
“Ahaha…. I don't think we're exactly rich….”
Weren't the girls in the Yoo Choa cartel from extremely wealthy families too? They'd all said they got 500,000 won in allowance. Mine was the smallest.
And the moment Ophelia got out of the car, the girls clapped their hands over their mouths and started looking back and forth between Ophelia and me.
“Whoa, what? Is that your mom? Why is your mom so pretty?”
“Hello! We're Eve's friends!”
Ophelia had come out wearing an incredibly elegant outfit. We'd decided to pretend she was my mother when other friends were around.
“M-Mom…. You're here..?”
“Did you have fun?”
“Ah, um…. Yes! I think so….”
“You're so pretty! Is your hair natural?”
“So there was a reason Eve is pretty…. Ugh, my mom.”
“But where did Eve get her height genes?”
“She'll grow soon.”
“G-guys! I'm going to go!”
“Oh, right. Go on!”
“Goodbye!”
“All right, thank you. Be careful going home, everyone.”
And so I waved goodbye after receiving a barrage of farewells from those elementary-school kids. I was so drained that I felt even more exhausted than I had after going into a gate.
“Ugh…. My whole body hurts.”
I really had no idea where elementary-school kids got all that energy. Wasn't this basically perpetual motion? If you gave them slime to hold instead of food, I felt like they could keep spinning on a hamster wheel for a hundred days.
“Did you enjoy yourself, Princess?”
“Hmm….”
On the way home, Ophelia asked me whether I'd enjoyed the day. To be honest, it had been fun, but I was a little low on energy. I probably would've had the most fun if we'd only hung out for about an hour. We'd been together for almost five hours.
“It was fun.”
“I'm glad to hear it.”
* * * * *
“Hee-heeheehee….”
Today, I had an extremely important appointment. And what was it?
“Finally! I see!”
“Yes, that's right.”
It was the day to increase the number of soldier golems! Last time, the Powerless Princess skill had risen in rank inside the Info Dungeon, so I could now create and maintain far more golems than before.
Actually, even last time, I could make around 80 golems at B-rank output, maybe? In any case, I could make more than the number I currently had. And now that I had plenty of money I could use immediately, I was going to make more golems.
“Whaaaat..! H-how many people is this supposed to be for..?!”
“Twenty units.”
“H-how could this be..!”
The golem materials were laid out in orderly rows. The exact weights and quality of the mana stones were the same as last time. The problem was that there were 20 units! Honestly, making this many all at once was a little frightening.
“My growth is scary..! Mwahaha.”
“Kwahaha! We'll have to step up our material procurement!”
“Ehehe.”
Construction was already underway inside the gate we'd bought last time. With only five people, progress had been a little slow, but once 20 more joined them, the work would be completely finished. Bradamante was working inside that gate too, wasn't she?
ㅡClack!
“Princess! You're cute!”
“P-please call me cool….”
“You're cool and cute, Princess!”
ㅡBeep-beep!!
ㅡKii….
Unfortunately, I didn't think the new soldiers could join Bradamante's command just yet. Making cavalry would require even more materials, after all. The fact that Bradamante herself had a high completion rate was another factor.
If there was too much of a gap between the commander and her subordinates' specs, they couldn't fight together inside the gate. But making a high-completion cavalry unit right now? We still didn't have enough materials.
“Then I'll do it!”
“I'll watch, Princess!”
ㅡClack!
“Just stay calm. As always, I'm sure you'll do well, Princess.”
“Of course! Naturally!”
The senior golems beside us were watching me with excitement too.
“I-I'll make you some juniors!!”
ㅡClack-clack!!!
ㅡCreeeak!!!!
The golem soldiers had no voices, but they spread both arms wide and cheered. The house fairies hurried around carrying the final materials, then stacked themselves into a pyramid in rows of four, three, two, and one before giving me thumbs-up. They only had three fingers, but they had thumbs, so thumbs-up was possible.
“Whew… Answer the princess's summons! Twenty golem soldiers—!!!”
ㅡWooooooong..!!!
“Hwaaaat..! Ah, um.”
Less mana than I'd expected was drawn in, and all 20 golems began taking shape at once. They finished one after another with a rapid-fire flash—then all emitted a powerful burst of light and dropped to one knee with a resounding thud, perfectly aligned.
“Wooooooow!! It worked!!!”
“It was a success, Princess.”
“Golem soldiers! All rise!”
The golem soldiers moved in perfect, machine-like unison. But how should I put it? They seemed much more disciplined than last time..?
‘They're trembling..?’
Looking closely, something was strange. The golems were moving incredibly precisely, but it seemed like they were all trembling slightly. I approached to see what was wrong, but unlike last time, they showed no particular reaction and merely kept twitching.
“Hmm..? What's wrong?”
Ophelia, who had been watching them, came over and spoke carefully.
“Princess. Please look around you.”
“Hmm? Around?”
I slowly passed the 20 golem soldiers and looked around.
“Is there a problem, Princess?”
“Hmm….”
“Princess! Do you need help?!”
“Ah….”
ㅡClack!
“I see….”
I realized it. This was probably something only I could notice because I was me. Other elementary-school kids wouldn't have noticed it. In fact, nobody else here except Ophelia probably knew.
“G-Grandpa…. Please go into the forge and get some rest….”
“Huh?”
“Bradamante, you worked hard coming all this way too. Let's all rest today..! Minyum too!”
“Oh, should we?”
ㅡClack!
There were 20 privates standing beside a whole bunch of division commanders.