The Chick Class Hunter is Being Filial

“Hee!”
Now there was hope for victory!

Guru was proudly sending a message when Veilach glanced somewhere and then turned his head back.
***
[Blue 159 : 148 Red]

“It’s lunch time for kindy kids! I gonna show you da Gwwootping wunchbox dat Auntie packed!”
Feeling light at heart, Guru tapped the sturdy lunch bag with pride.
Gwwootping was a character Guru had imagined herself—a new addition to the Tinyping series—and Youngran had used her clumsy doodle as inspiration to create a special lunchbox.

“Piiipipii!”
While Mephisto chirped excitedly, Veilach turned his eyes away, pretending not to hear.
A gaze.
Plenty of people had been taking photos of Guru now that she was semi-famous, and even the two S-Rank Hyeonak guys had followed her around earlier...

But this wasn’t a gaze directed at a child.
They’re watching me.
It had been trailing Veilach since the ball rolling match.

Whoever it was had been completely suppressing their presence all this time.
What’s their objective?
If they were targeting her master, he would have eliminated them already. But since they were focused on him, it was harder to act.

Because outside visitors were allowed today, there were plenty of Hunters nearby.
He couldn’t risk killing someone over nothing and drawing unwanted attention.
Then suddenly, the presence vanished.

…?!
They could hide their presence that well?
They were more skilled than he expected.

Veilach stayed on high alert as Guru dragged him toward the garden plots.
At that moment—
The presence came rushing in.

They’re coming!
Like a cat with its fur standing on end, Veilach scanned the area with sharp alertness.
Should I dodge? Or—

But then—
Snap!
A thick, calloused hand grabbed Veilach’s wrist.
At the same time, the other party pulled on his mana and analyzed it.

Too late.
It all happened in an instant. As Veilach looked up at the person holding him—
A middle-aged man locked eyes with him and smiled, rounding his gaze.

["A monster, here, in this kind of form?"]
At the completely incomprehensible Japanese, Guru, Veilach, and Mephisto all froze.
But there was one word they understood:

Monster.
He’d clearly grabbed Veilach’s wrist and called him a monster.
This is bad.

He’d figured it out.
What now?
In a flash, something her dad once told her passed through Guru’s head.

“Don’t go around calling things monsters in front of just anyone.”
Interpol had taken over the Jeju Island case. If they realized Veilach was missing, they might come chasing.

International police = foreigner = Japanese!

Veilach’s gonna get taken away!
Grab!
Guru yanked the man’s wrist with all her strength.
He turned, surprised, and looked down at her.

“He iz mai fwend! Best fwend! No monstuh!”
She tried to emphasize they were friends, but he looked completely confused.
When words didn’t work, there was always one method.

Guru pulled out a neatly wrapped steamed potato from her lunch bag and said slyly,
“Dis potato iz dewicious! Pwesent fow yu.”
That’s right. A bribe.

***
An unexpected lunch guest had appeared.
But Gwuu got a wot of food.

She’d asked for a big lunch just in case Woojoo and his dad showed up.
Sitting on the picnic mat, Guru glanced over at the maybe-Interpol-detective.
Amakusa Reiji was chewing the potato while looking out at the green potato field.

["Nice view of the potato patch. I figured I’d be eating with the smell of blood again today."]
“Goodgood.”
Having no idea what he’d just said, Guru answered anyway with a knowing nod. Reiji chuckled.

He himself wasn’t sure why he’d followed this far.
Was it the courage of the kid who’d grabbed his hand?
Any ordinary child would’ve instinctively felt fear toward him.

Then again, if she could call a top-tier monster her friend, it made sense she wouldn’t be afraid of him.
He smiled loosely and spoke kindly.
["Sorry, little one. I never had reason to learn Korean, since I never needed to kill Koreans."]

Guru’s big eyes rolled around.
“Yesh. Good.”
Same answer as before, but Reiji found this ridiculous exchange oddly delightful.

Even though she didn’t understand a word, it felt like they were still communicating.
“Is that boy SSS?”
Reiji switched to simple English.

Veilach gave Guru a questioning look, asking if he could answer.
“Yeay.”
Still chewing her steamed potato, Guru nodded confidently.

“SSS. but gwud boy.”
She kept repeating that he was a good boy, making Reiji laugh ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) heartily.
If he was really SSS, there was only one place that came to mind.

After that Jeju Island deal fell apart, rumors had spread about a missing SSS-class monster.
Considering his humanoid form, this had to be the one that escaped.
The restraints that should’ve been wrapped around him were nowhere to be seen, and somehow he’d ended up next to this baby.

Reiji had a lot of questions, but he just kept eating with his chopsticks.
“Mmm, really tastes great.”
He praised the character-themed lunch after savoring it, and Guru gave a giggly smile.

They couldn’t communicate beyond yes and good.
When Guru offered him imitation crab sticks, Reiji gave her some of his own side dishes, and the two shared their lunch in harmony.
Next to them, the SSS-class monster sat munching, fully alert and watching Reiji like a hawk.

Reiji caught Veilach’s eyes and softened his own gaze.
Hmm.

Didn’t seem like he was trying to hurt the child. Maybe this scary monster was just being a friend because the kid was cute.

No sign of any parents.
Were they gone?
Suddenly, Reiji felt a pang of sympathy and thought of his own child.

When was the last time I saw him…?
As his son’s now-faded face floated to mind, Guru suddenly shot up.
“Ah! Gwuu gotta go tuu da spowts day……!”

“…?”
“Uhhm… spowts day!”
Guru mimed running.

Reiji tilted his head, watching the little act.
Guru mimed running hard, then stopped and threw both arms wide.
“Gow! Gooooal!”

It meant she’d reached the finish line.
She wiped her brow like she was exhausted and pointed up at the sky.
In the sky, a hologram showed the Blue Team and Red Team’s scores.

“Bwue win!”
Reiji nodded.
“Aha! Ok, ok. 行かなきゃいけないんだね.” (You have to go.)

He smiled and patted Guru’s head.
["If only my son had been this cute."]
Guru nodded, thinking he was complimenting her brilliant acting.

“Tankyu. Yu gud tuu!”
“Hahaha!”
Reiji burst out laughing again.

Guru beamed right back.
He a nice mistuh.
He ate her lunch so happily, and even though he knew Veilach was a monster, he didn’t seem scared at all.

He even figuwed out Bayi is SSS… hmm?
Not afraid of an SSS-class monster?
Mistuh… awe yu actuwawy stwong?

The system hadn’t shown a [Caregiver Registration] alert, so maybe he was A-rank?
Was that enough to not be scared of an SSS-class?
Guru tilted her head in thought.

Then Veilach gently tugged on her sleeve.
Oh, wight!
This wasn’t the time to be making friends!

Guru gave Veilach a quick glance, then looked up at the man.
“He iz mai fwend……”
Reiji raised a finger to his lips and gestured shh.

["Let’s keep today our little secret."]
He added the word “secret” so Guru could understand.
Guru lit up and began dancing around him.

“Tankyu, tankyu! Yu awe mai fwend tuu!”
["You’ll be my friend?"]
“Yesh, yesh. Good.”

Reiji looked at the child with warm eyes.
He didn’t know how this happened, but there was something unavoidably lovable about this kid.
["You shared your yummy lunch with me and even became my friend, so I ought to return the favor."]

“Goodgood.”
["If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll help you. Anything at all. I could bring you the most expensive toy in the world—or kill the person you hate most. How about it?"]
Guru blinked.

Not understanding a word of it, she gave the only reply she could.
“Yesh, good!”