/
“Ahhhhhhhhhh! I don’t want to go!”
Yerin exclaimed, lying on the floor of my house.
I looked at her sympathetically, and my mother tried to comfort her with an awkward smile.
“Don’t be so upset,” my mother said.
“Why now…… It’s a vacation I’ve been planning for weeks to play with the kids…….” Yerin replied.
“I heard that the highest-ranking person in the guild contacted you directly. Even if it’s sad, shouldn’t you help with urgent things first?” she asked.
“That’s true, but…….” Yerin said, feeling torn.
The reason why Yerin has been crying since the morning was that the Guardians Guild, or the guild leader, has asked her to return from vacation personally.
Suddenly, there was a shortage of people to put into the Rifts, so Yerin, who was on vacation, was desperately needed.
“Stop whining and get ready for work. The vacation that canceled this time will be fully compensated later,” I said, trying to put things in perspective.
“It’s meaningless to take a vacation later. Speranza won’t be there at that time…….”
Yerin said, as she crept towards Speranza while lying face down on the floor.
She hugged Speranza and muttered.
“Speranza. You don’t want me to go to work, right? You want me to keep playing with you, don’t you?”
Yerin asked.
Speranza looked at Yerin with mournful eyes and replied,
“Un. I wish I could keep playing with Sister Yerin.”
“As expected, Speranza is the only one who thinks of me…….”
Yerin said, feeling comforted by Speranza’s words.
“But Papa said a good adult should know how to work hard even when they don’t want to work. Papa also wants to play with Speranza every day, but he said he works hard on the farm to become a good adult.”
Speranza said, trying to help Yerin understand.
“…….”
Yerin looked dumbfounded by Speranza’s story.
My mother patted Speranza’s head as if she was proud of her, and I smiled brightly and nodded.
“Did you hear what Speranza said? Stop whining and get up. I heard you already told the guild master that you would return,”
I reminded Yerin, trying to encourage her to take responsibility and fulfill her commitment despite her disappointment.
“Hmph…”
In the end, Yerin stood up with a still tearful expression.
She put on her jacket and prepared to go to work.
I understand the sadness of having to cancel a planned vacation, but she was a vital member of the guild and it must not have been easy for the guild master to ask her to return from vacation if it was urgent enough.
Yerin did not refuse the guild master’s request because she knew that if she insisted on taking the vacation, someone else would have to take on the job.
I, Speranza, and my mother came out to see Yerin off to work.
“Then I’ll be back.” Yerin said,
“It’s cold today, so dress properly and take care of yourself.” My mother said,
“Bye-bye, Sister Yerin,” Speranza added.
It was cold outside, so my mother and Speranza only came out to the front door, and instead, I came down to the first floor of the building with Yerin.
I consoled her sincerely, despite her still dark complexion and disappointment.
“Don’t be so upset. Let’s have fun next time when we get another vacation.”
“……what are you going to do today?”
“Me? Um… I have a lunch appointment with some people from the Guardians Guild. I’m going to go out with my mom and Speranza in the evening. A friend of mine booked me a good restaurant.”
Yerin’s face became darker when she heard my schedule today, and she slowly got into the car with a look of resentment and jealousy.
And just before leaving, she lowered the window in the driver’s seat and said in a bumpy voice.
“Something emergency work will happen to you too. Oh, God, please let this guy get busy.”
“Hey! Yerin! You have to be considerate. And I’ve planned perfectly for my vacation, so something like that will never happen.”
“Behh!”
Yerin stuck out her tongue with a grumpy look on her face and started the car.
I waved her off, trying to not let her attitude affect me.
“Uncle Si!”
I heard a familiar voice calling out to me from a distance.
I turned to see Sehe waving at me shyly.
“Here, here! Uncle”
“Long time no see, bro.”
Taeho and Jin also greeted me one by one.
The corners of my mouth naturally went up at the gladness of seeing them after a long time.
“Hi! How have you been?” I asked.
“Uncle! Why can’t we get in touch with you? You don’t even come to the guild often!” Taeho complained.
“Sorry, sorry! I was too busy. You know I work on a farm. I had so much to prepare ahead of the winter.”
I raised my hands in defense and explained my reasons.
Sehe, who was next to Taeho, also added her thoughts,
“I thought something happened to you because you don’t contact often. We just hear sometimes about you from Yerin.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll try to contact you guys more often from now on.”
I apologized and promised to keep in touch better in the future.
Now that I could communicate comfortably on the farm, I decided in my heart that I should pay more attention to the people around me in the future.
After the three people’s denunciation of me, we slowly began to ask each other how they were doing.
“Are Sehe and Taeho doing well in their guild activities? I heard that the guild has become very busy these days.” I asked.
“Ugh……what a terrible thing,”
Taeho said, frowning and trembling.
Sehe also shook her head instead of answering.
Jin, who had been working in the guild for the longest time, opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
“There’s definitely a lot of work these days. It’s not to the point where the guild can’t hold out yet. The situation seems to be getting worse, so the guild leaders must be worried about it.” Jin said.
“That much? What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned.
“The frequency of unstable Rifts has increased recently. I don’t know why. Rumor has it that the Angels are coming forward to grasp the situation. Nothing has been officially confirmed yet.”
Jin replied, indicating that the situation was dire and that the guild leaders were trying to find a solution.
Jin’s explanation with a sigh made me feel startled inside.
This was because I remembered the “risk of dimensional balance” that I had heard from the Angels who came to the farm in the past.
“This is why only minimal rest is being given. We should also prepare to go back to work as early as tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”
Jin said, further emphasizing the severity of the situation.
Listening to the explanation in person, it was easy to understand why Yerin’s vacation was canceled today.
I’m rarely active now, so I felt a little uncomfortable as a person in the guild.
“Uh, you’re going through a lot,” I said, feeling sympathetic.
“We can at least take a break. Guild Master and Captain Yoon Daeho are working almost nonstop. We hope things get done quickly before anything big happens…….”
Taeho added, expressing the sentiment of the guild members.
The atmosphere became solemn for a moment at the serious talk.
Jin made an expression of “Oops!” and hurriedly brought up another topic to lighten the atmosphere.
“But thanks to the two here, we’re holding out well. Even though they still lack a lot of experience, they are doing as well as the seniors. Captain Yoon Daeho, who is blunt, also praised them several times.” Jin said, trying to shift the mood.
“Oh? Really?” I looked at the two with surprise and pride.
“No, it’s not that great. I still lack a lot.” Sehe said, blushing and lowering her head.
“It’s only now that I don’t cause any inconvenience…” Taeho said, scratching his back head shyly.
It was new to see the two grown up like this.
When I first met the two, even though they were adults, they were immature and anxious.
Now, those feelings have faded a lot, and I already felt the dignity of adults in society.
It feels like seeing the kids grow up.
Jin, who was next to me, tapped my arm.
“Stop it. Don’t make that face. We’re almost at the same age, but sometimes you make a face similar to my father.”
Jin said, teasing me.
At his scolding, I answered with a grin.
“Try raising a child. The way you look at the world changes a lot. Maybe there is a reason why they say you have to have a child to become an adult.” I said, explaining my perspective.
“Come to think of it, Uncle Si. How’s Speranza?” Sehe asked.
“That’s right. Why didn’t you bring Speranza with you.” Taeho added.
“She’s spending time with her grandma at home today. Do you want me to show you her picture instead?” I replied, letting them know that Speranza was doing well.
I took out my smartphone and showed them the saved pictures.
Among the countless photos taken, only the ones that captured Speranza’s beauty were carefully selected.
Sehe and Taeho continued to look at the pictures with admiration, and Jin said, [If I had a daughter like that…] as if he couldn’t hide his envy.
Feeling better, I also showed a lot of pictures of Akum and Cheese.
The three people, who were so into it, begged me to let them see the children themselves, so I had a hard time stopping them for a while.
While we were having fun talking about each other’s updates and other things, my phone suddenly started ringing.
“Oh! Sorry, wait a minute.”
I asked for everyone’s understanding and checked my phone.
‘What?’
The screen displayed a number that was unfamiliar to me.
It was so unexpected that I was momentarily blank.
As I did not answer the phone despite its continuous ringing, the attention of the party around me was focused on me.
Then I came to my senses and answered the call.
“Hello, who is this?”
– Are you Lim Sihyeon?
A hard voice was heard from the other side. I answered slowly, feeling a little uneasy.
“Yes, that’s right. Ms. Ashmir.”
Out of the blue, I received a call from Ashmir, an Angel.
Although we exchanged contact information, it was the first time she had made such a direct phone call.
“I thought you said in the past that you should avoid personal contact…….”
– That’s the rule. But I have a more important thing at hand right now. That’s why I used this method to get in touch quickly.
I felt a chill creeping up to me.
Still, I kept my composure and asked.
“So what’s the matter?”
– I have something to tell you urgently. Where are you now?
“What? Here? This is……”
I roughly explained the location of the place where I was.
– All right. I’ll come right away.
“Now, hold on a second. I have an appointment with my acquaintances…….”
Ddu… Ddu… Ddu… Ddu…
Before I could answer anything, Ashmir hung up the phone first.
I looked down at the disconnected smartphone with a blank look on my face.
“Brother Si?”
“What’s wrong, Uncle?”
“Is it an emergency, uncle Si?”
The three people looked at me with curious expressions.
“No…… It’s not that…”
When I hesitated because I didn’t know how to explain.
“Hey, what’s that?”
“Hurry up and take a picture! Take a picture!”
“Wow!”
The outside of the store where we were, quickly became noisy.