“Be good children! Come have your snacks?”
“Look at this! It’s an insect doll!”
Despite the nurses’ combined offensive, the twins didn’t budge an inch.
They just stayed snugly nestled in Egru’s arms. Each twin’s face was buried deep into Egru’s sides.
The nurses looked at Egru with flustered expressions. Their faces seemed to be asking for help.
“Kam, Kum. You should answer when the nurses call you.”
Egru said while gently stroking the back of their heads.
“Come on, okay?”
“…”
The twins finally slowly raised their heads. Their mucus stretched in long strands where it had stuck to Egru’s shirt.
Egru smiled fondly as he took out his handkerchief. After gently wiping the twins’ noses, he tidied his shirt.
“Bad person.”
“Bad person is here. Need to cut them up.”
As Kam and Kum alternately mumbled, Egru tilted his head quizzically.
“What bad person?”
At Egru’s question, the twins sharply pointed their index fingers. At the end of their short fingers was Mayfield.
“No, children. The Queen is a good person.”
Egru was startled, saying that was absurd. Kam and Kum frowned as if something was strange.
“No she’s not.”
“She is bad. She looks exactly like the photo.”
Photo? The sudden question was overshadowed by the twins’ red-rimmed eyes. Perhaps anxious about being separated again, their hands gripped Egru’s pants tightly.
“I don’t know what photo you saw, but that’s absolutely not true.”
Egru spoke while stroking the twins’ gray hair.
“She’s practically my benefactor. She’s done tremendous good work all this time.”
“…”
“You can trust what I say, right?”
At the gentle explanation, the twins finally withdrew their suspicious gazes.
“Let’s apologize now. Pointing fingers and slandering is very rude.”
“It’s alright, Egru. They’re children, they don’t know any better.”
Mayfield waved her hand as if genuinely unbothered. She bent down to the twins’ eye level.
“Children, do you like being with Egru?”
Kam and Kum, who had been quietly looking at each other, gave small nods.
“Better than teacher.”
“Yeah, we don’t really want to see teacher anymore.”
Kam and Kum answered alternately.
“Teacher?”
Though Egru was curious, the children kept their mouths shut.
“In that case.”
Mayfield spoke as she stepped one step closer. Kam and Kum hid behind Egru warily, only peeking out their faces.
“Can you wait for Egru here?”
“?”
When the children made expressions of not understanding, Mayfield looked up at Egru. Now it was time for Egru to make a decision as their guardian.
“…”
Egru’s lips moved momentarily. But soon he nodded as if steeling his resolve.
Miss was right. The path to becoming a hero was far too dangerous a journey to take with children.
“Kam, Kum.”
Egru carefully knelt on one knee before the twins.
“Thank you so much for everything, children.”
What growing children needed was a safe and abundant environment.
Unpredictable dangers requiring life-and-death decisions were for adults.
“Where are you going? Alone?”
“What are you going to do?”
Kam and Kum held onto Egru more tightly with anxious faces.
Children’s intuition was sometimes more accurate than scales. They seemed to have already sensed the farewell from his subtly different behavior.
Egru pondered for a moment.
‘How should I explain it so they’ll understand well?’
To become a hero? Or to prevent the world’s end?
Both reasons were too vague and difficult for children to accept.
Egru finally chose words matching the twins’ level and spoke.
“To punish bad people!”
“…”
Kam and Kum looked Egru up and down with completely untrusting eyes.
“We’ll come too. Seems dangerous.”
“Me too. We need to protect you.”
Though touched by their words, Egru gently reasoned with them.
“I appreciate the thought, but you can’t.”
“We can!”
“We definitely can!”
But the twins stamped their feet, panting excitedly.
“What are you saying. You absolutely must not be put in danger.”
Egru gripped Kam and Kum’s shoulders firmly as he emphasized.
“…Why?”
“It’s obvious. Because you’re still young and need to be looked after.”
The twins mumbled their lips as if they couldn’t understand.
Egru smiled and pulled the twins into his arms.
“If you listen well to the nurses, I’ll be back soon. Will you wait without worrying?”
“…”
The twins, sniffling their noses, clung tightly to Egru.
Egru could tell. Though they didn’t express it in exact words, it meant they would accept his decision. It was the moment when future separation became certain.
“You thought well, Egru.”
Mayfield, who had approached quietly, squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. Egru responded with a warm smile.
Through Mayfield’s consideration, Egru was able to stay in the same room with the twins until the day of farewell.
***
That night, it was when Egru had returned to the room after dinner and was arranging the bedding.
“Someone’s there.”
Kam’s eyes suddenly flashed like a guard dog’s as he ran to the window. As he stood on tiptoe looking outside, the hair Egru had prettily braided swayed back and forth. Kum quickly followed and likewise searched the window.
“Strange. They were definitely there.”
“I felt it too.”
As the twins muttered and tilted their heads, Egru straightened up and called them.
“Don’t lean out the window. It would be terrible if you fell.”
The twins obediently pulled back.
“It’s gotten quite late. Let’s sleep now. Kam, Kum.”
At the affectionate call, Kam and Kum thoroughly checked the windows before jumping into bed. They claimed Egru’s left and right sides respectively and pulled their lips up in satisfaction. However, they couldn’t fall asleep for a long while…
“Hungry.”
“I’m hungry.”
When the twins muttered while staring at the ceiling, Egru immediately sat up. Kam and Kum’s wide-awake eyes followed Egru’s movement.
“Was dinner not enough? Well, I do have cookies Miss gave us…”
Egru opened the bedside drawer and took out a round cookie box.
For a while, an “umm” of contemplation echoed through the room. Meanwhile, Kam and Kum sat up abruptly and shot desperate looks.
“Will you brush your teeth again?”
Egru finally smiled as if giving in.
“Yay!”
“Want to eat quickly!”
Crunch crunch, various cookies began disappearing into the twins’ mouths in the blink of an eye. Egru smiled contentedly, feeling full just watching them.
“Why are you smiling?”
Just then Kum asked with cookie crumbs all over his mouth. Egru answered while wiping Kum’s mouth with a handkerchief.
“Ah, I have a younger sibling. He ate well just like you two. It makes me happy remembering after so long.”
‘Since they said D’Élysée is doing well, it should be fine…’
Egru tried to shake off the melancholy feeling that was threatening to set in.
“…You have a sibling?”
This time Kam asked.
“Hm? Yes.”
“Did you give food to your sibling too?”
“Of course I did.”
“…”
The twins glanced at each other before simultaneously putting down their cookies. Jealousy arose at the existence of another competitor.
“Are you full now?”
Egru, not noticing this, asked with a puzzled expression.
“…Don’t know. Not eating.”
Kam turned his head sharply.
“What’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt?”
“Don’t touch me. Go away.”
Kum swatted away Egru’s approaching hand. Though confused, Egru still prioritized what needed to be done.
“You need to brush your teeth before sleeping. Come on, get up. Let’s go to the sink.”
“Uuu…”
It was later, while finally taking a breather after putting the children to sleep.
<system>
Sudden Quest:
Eliminate twins [Kam] and [Kum].
‘Starting again?’
Good thing he hadn’t fallen asleep. Egru’s face automatically creased at the status window that appeared after so long.
<system>
If system proposals are refused beyond a certain number of times, a corresponding [Price] must be paid.
He deliberately ignored the warning message that arose like a threat. He steeled his heart while watching the peacefully sleeping children.
<system>
Would you like to enter temporary dormant state and begin remote control? (Y/N)
(Y) will be automatically selected after 10 seconds. 10, 9…
Egru took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut.
‘No matter how many times you ask, the answer’s the same. I’ll never do what you want.’
At the firm refusal, the system’s timer stopped abruptly.
‘L-last time it was coughing blood.’
I can endure anything. No matter what price I have to pay, I will never harm the children.
Just as he was preparing himself for the ‘price’ that would pour down like punishment.
“Huh?”
For some reason, he felt nothing. Even after a long while, only the ticking of the clock hands echoed in the room.
‘Wh-what is it?’
The golden status window appeared again after some time had passed.
<system>
For you who embodies stubborn persistence, a new route unlocked.
New text appeared as if tired of the situation.
<system>
Hidden Quest:
Break the [automatic transfer] connection of the [Heart of Gluttony].
Clear Rewards:
- Heart of Gluttony. (Twins [Kam] and [Kum]’s hearts will be replaced with safe [Magical Engineering Hearts].)
- Large-scale Self-Destruct Magic Scroll.
- Survival of twins [Kam] and [Kum].
The twins’ survival had been added to the clear rewards.