Chapter 108

Chapter 108: Building Completion Ceremony, A Happy Day

Ji-young lowered herself to meet Rin at eye level.

"How can you be so cute?"

"Hehe! Tank you."

I told Ji-young,

"Rin is the first daughter Ria and I brought into our hearts."

I didn't bother explaining she was a Dryad.

Rin had tiny twig-like antlers on her forehead and leaves and a flower on either side of her head.

Small vines and leaves twined around the arms and legs exposed by her short sleeves and shorts.

Anyone could tell she was a non-human species without being told.

"Ah! So that's why she calls you Papa, Chef."

"That's right."

Ji-young said to Rin,

"As the Chef introduced me, I'm your Aunt Ji-young. Let's get along well, Rin."

"Yes! Auntie."

"Eeee! Too cute! Just like a little fairy! Rin, can I give you a hug?"

"Yes!"

Ji-young scooped Rin up and beamed.

I told Ria,

"Ji-young loves babies. She loved babies so much her original dream was to be a kindergarten teacher."

"Really? How sweet."

Then Ria noticed that the side of my magical armor was pierced through.

And the bloodstain that hadn't been fully cleaned.

"Seon-u... don't tell me you were hurt?"

"Well, about that..."

For a moment, Ji-young bowed her head as if she were a criminal.

I told Ria everything that had happened.

"I see. Ji-young, raise your head. From what I've heard, there's nothing you did wrong."

"Still, I'm sorry, my lady."

"It's because Seon-u trusted you. Normally, when he senses a threat, his magical armor's shield would have activated—but he hadn't put up any guard against you at all."

I nodded at Ria's words.

"I truly didn't think our youngest would stab me."

"...I'm sorry, Chef."

"I'm teasing. Raise your head."

Then Ria wondered aloud,

"Though, to pierce magical leather armor, one would have to be at least a B-Rank Hunter. Ji-young, how high are your stats?"

Now that she mentioned it, that was true.

To pierce Drake Leather Armor, one had to be at least B-Rank.

"Stats? Including the five points each that rose from the Elixir the Chef had me drink, right now my Strength is 75, Agility 77, Dexterity 81, Mana 65, and Stamina 73."

Wow...

The average of her Strength-Agility-Stamina was 75.

This girl had incredible potential.

Even accounting for the average five-point rise from my Elixir, her base stats had been very high too.

Ji-young currently had the combat stats of an A-Rank.

"And my skill is Penetration. It's a skill that partially ignores defense."

"Ah, so that's how you pierced my armor. That skill could be useful in cooking too."

"Couldn't it? It'd be good for cutting hard ingredients."

Hearing Ji-young's stats made me hesitate.

'Hmm, what to do.'

Whether or not to form the Sovereign's Bond with Ji-young too.

Four of the ten slots for the Sovereign's Bond were currently filled.

Ji-young's stats were very high for someone who'd just Awakened, but not to the level where a Sovereign's Bond was warranted.

'Well, I can form it and release it later.'

All right, let's form it.

If the Sovereign's Bond buff raised her Dexterity, it would help with cooking.

But before forming the Bond, there was something I had to do.

"Ji-young, first go register as Awakened at the Hunter Association."

If she arrived already at too high a level, unsavory types might latch on.

Better for her to receive her rank first and form the Bond afterward.

"Yes, understood!"

The next day,

Ji-young went and registered as Awakened.

As expected, she received an A-Rank.

After forming the Sovereign's Bond and receiving its buff, Ji-young's stats alone put her at S-Rank level.

'I went through so much to reach S-Rank.'

And Ji-young achieved it so simply.

"Whoa, my stats shot way up!"

"Congratulations on becoming a Hunter with S-Rank-level stats."

"S-Rank...? Hahaha...!"

Ji-young laughed giddily, pinching her own cheek as if unable to believe it.

"High stats alone aren't everything. To wield them well, you have to train. Ria and the Knight Quartet will help with the training."

"Even my lady...?"

Ria nodded.

"Don't be too scared. I'll only guide you verbally—the actual hands-on instruction will come from the Knight Order officers."

Ria had begun speaking casually to Ji-young at Ji-young's request.

Hearing that I thought of Ji-young like a little sister, Ria had taken to her too.

Then she'd said,

'I could tell at the reception, too—Ji-young is really adorable.'

'Right? There's something about her that makes you want to take her under your wing.'

'She's got a personality similar to Ruina's, in a way.'

They were similar.

That evening, we held a welcoming party for the newest member of our household, Ji-young.

Everyone ate, drank, and welcomed her.

***

A month passed.

Ria had reached ten weeks of pregnancy.

Her waist was still slim.

It was said a baby bump usually started showing around twelve weeks, so a noticeable bump was still a ways off.

And today was the building completion ceremony.

There had been that incident with a Rift opening near the building, but once it was resolved, construction had been completed without issue.

I had planned to hold the completion ceremony modestly, just among ourselves.

But things got bigger.

In front of the building, where the ceremony would be held, a vast crowd had gathered.

Police had been brought in to manage the crowd.

'Most of the crowd is from the neighborhood—small business owners nearby.'

The reason was the online news articles Reporter An Jae-hyeok had written.

The article about my party setting out to clear the dungeon.

The article about succeeding in the clear and, as a world first, successfully closing a Rift.

The article about me protecting the property values of Mapo District and the Sinsu-dong area.

All of which had made me a hero in the eyes of the local residents.

'Well, in their shoes, I'd be incredibly grateful too.'

Even if the direct cause of the Rift's appearance was, in fact, me...

In any case, the area around the building was packed with people.

Residents had flocked in upon hearing the news of the building completion ceremony.

Various congratulatory gifts had piled up at the building's entrance.

Not only residents, but the Director of the Rift Management Bureau and his staff were in attendance too.

"You've become a local hero before you've even moved in."

At the Director's words, I scratched the back of my head.

"You can say that again. I never even publicly announced the completion ceremony—how they all knew to come is beyond me."

"These days, word spreads very quickly through SNS."

Soon the ceremony began.

The ceremony was simple.

First, the construction company president gave a brief statement.

He said he was grateful that I had purchased the building and resolved the construction lien at the same time, and that thanks to me, construction had been able to be completed.

Next came Director Jeong Jae-yong's congratulatory address.

Finally, I thanked everyone who had come to attend the ceremony.

Then Ria, myself, the elder Sword Saint, Director Jeong Jae-yong, and the construction company president lined up for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The residents erupted in applause.

"A hearty welcome to our neighborhood!"

"Welcome!"

"Congratulations on your opening!"

Ria and I bowed to them and expressed our thanks.

Finally, we all took a group photograph together.

When the completion ceremony ended, we entered the building.

The S-Rank Quartet and Ji-young followed behind us.

Then the Bamboo Fragrance Guild members and the Hunters who had left the Frost Flower Guild to follow Han Se-a followed as well.

All of them were provisional guild members.

Every one of them had gifts in both hands.

'Gifts given by the residents.'

We stored them away to one side.

Then I gave them a proper tour of the completed guild headquarters.

The first floor held two commercial spaces.

From the second floor up was the guild office.

"Oh, the offices are already set up from the second floor."

Instructor Park, the Vice Guild Master of Bamboo Fragrance, was impressed.

"I had the guild headquarters construction finished ahead of the completion ceremony."

The building itself had been completed a fortnight earlier.

The ceremony had been delayed because of administrative procedures for the guild headquarters construction and completion inspections.

"I'd heard you were very busy, but you've done all of this so quickly. You're a very meticulous person, Master Seon-u."

"Not especially, no."

Then the elder Sword Saint said to Instructor Park,

"Indeed, Master Seon-u is both meticulous and attentive. Wouldn't it be that very meticulousness and attentiveness that let him lead Korea's finest restaurant?"

"That's certainly true."

The elder Sword Saint looked pleased whenever he praised me.

The embarrassment was all mine, however.

The second floor was offices, and the third floor held offices and a conference room.

The fourth floor had been set up with a pantry, a lounge, a PT room, a shower room, and hobby rooms (with billiards, screen golf, and games).

The fifth floor had lodging where guild members could stay, and the sixth and seventh were our home.

I gave the guild members a tour up to the fifth floor.

"Wow, the guild benefits are amazing."

"Instructor, could we start reporting here for work instead?"

At a Bamboo Fragrance member's joking question,

WHACK!

Instructor Park brought the flat of his hand down on the member's forehead.

"And where would you train the sword then, you brat?"

There was truth to what Instructor Park said.

I told Instructor Park,

"Actually, I'd been thinking about that problem. So I'm planning to link the existing Bamboo Fragrance Guild branch on Cheonmasan with this place via Gate Portal."

That was why I hadn't built a separate training ground inside the building.

Awakened beings, whose strength exceeded that of ordinary humans, had limits to how they could train in a training ground inside a building in the middle of a city.

So we'd use the existing branch of the Bamboo Fragrance Guild, which had an outdoor training ground.

At that, the elder Sword Saint and Instructor Park were overjoyed.

"That's truly a wonderful idea."

"If you'd do that for us, we'd be deeply grateful."

Not just the two of them—the other Bamboo Fragrance Guild members were pleased too.

They'd get to share in the guild benefits as well.

"But Master Seon-u, will your mana be able to handle it?"

At the elder Sword Saint's question, I nodded.

"So long as we're not sending twenty or more people through at once, I'll manage. And Ashley said she'd inscribe a formula on a stationary Gate Portal so that Magic Stones could serve as its energy source."

"Lady Ashley being a dragon, she really is versatile in so many ways."

"Right? Then please take your time looking around. I'll go bring the others from the Rift house."

"Understood."

I went back to the Rift house via Gate Portal and brought the Knight Quartet, Rin, and Bell.

Rin and Bell had been outside the Rift before, but this was the Knight Quartet's first time setting foot in a world beyond the Continent of Bellinta and the Rift.

The four of them marveled at the building's interior and the view out the windows.

Leaving them with the elder Sword Saint, I took Rin's hand and rode the elevator up to the sixth floor with Ria and Bell.

"Rin, this is our other home outside the Rift."

"Our udder home...?"

"That's right. From now on, we'll be going back and forth between the Rift house and this one."

"I undewstand! Rin wants to see da house!"

"All right, I'll show you around."

Ria and I had been here several times—during interior design, while placing furniture, and so on.

But Rin was here for the first time.

I punched in the door lock code on the sixth floor and opened the door, stepping into our new home outside the Rift.

"Whoaaa...!"

Rin marveled at the interior.

A spacious living room, a soaring ceiling thanks to the sixth and seventh floors being opened up, and a glass staircase connecting to the seventh floor.

A premium sofa that looked big enough to seat twenty.

A large, latest-model smart TV on the wall.

And plant decor everywhere, which Rin loved.

All of it decorated with living plants.

Among the plant decor was even a tree.

Not an artificial tree, but a live olive tree.

Possible only because of the high ceiling.

At the sight, Rin's eyes sparkled.

"Do you like it, Rin?"

"Yes, wuv it! Da best!"

When Rin was satisfied with the house's design, Ria and I looked at each other and smiled.

I showed her the various rooms on the sixth floor.

Then I showed her Rin's room on the seventh floor.

"This is your room, Rin."

"Rin's woom...!"

When I opened the door, the room was decorated lush and green with plants.

As expected, Rin was thrilled.

We toured all the rooms on the seventh floor.

Between the sixth and seventh floors, the house had twelve rooms and five bathrooms.

Plus a separate bathing room and sauna, a laundry room, a dressing room, a study, a movie room, a game room, and more.

On top of that, a spacious terrace.

Every appliance was the latest model.

When the tour ended, we sat down together on the sofa.

Leaning against my shoulder, Ria said,

"I think this house is even better than the Grand Duke's castle where I grew up. I married well, and now I'm living in such a lovely home."

"That's my line. It was meeting you that let me afford a house like this."

"Let's call it both."

"All right."

"I'm happy."

"Mm. I'm happy too."

I kissed Ria once.

"I love you, Ria."

"I love you more, dear."

Dear—what a nice thing to be called.

Watching us, Rin climbed up between Ria's and my laps and planted kisses on both of our cheeks in turn.

"I wuv you too, Papa, Mama."

Ria and I couldn't help but burst into laughter at Rin's little gesture.

Today was such a happy day.