Chapter 8 - Looks Like He's Taken a Liking to It

Translator: Roshi

"Sir, I'm telling you, I really think this thing is broken."

Kim Young-min let out a sigh.

"Once or twice is a coincidence, but three times in a row? This has to be a defect, doesn't it?"

The previous night.

Kim Young-min had been on the night shift patrol rotation, so he'd had to work overtime until dawn.

Of course, since this was the Management Bureau, overtime pay was always punctual, so he had no complaints there.

But the strange incidents that had been occurring recently were beyond his comprehension.

On top of that, since these incidents kept happening exclusively to Kim Young-min, the situation room staff weren't looking at him too kindly.

Maybe you're not maintaining the detector properly.

Maybe you pressed something wrong.

After defending himself and insisting otherwise, he'd gone back out on patrol carrying that sense of injustice with him.

That was when a B-rank Gate signal came in.

But after he reported it to the situation room, the signal vanished again before long.

At this point, the injustice had gone beyond all reason.

"But Young-min. After the A-rank Gate reading disappeared, the Bureau came and swapped it out for a new device, remember? Just in case."

"R-right, they did. But couldn't the newest model detector itself have a defect? Honestly, I feel wronged too, sir."

"I know. Like you said, coincidence only covers once or twice. So I did some digging. Look at this."

Kim Jun-o pulled up a map on his tablet.

"They said pinpointing the coordinates was impossible because the reading vanished too quickly, right?"

"Yes."

"But the detected direction itself is still on record. If you follow the direction the detector initially pointed and draw a straight line like this, look where it passes through."

"Huh?"

The spot where Kim Jun-o's finger stopped.

That was where Jeong Shin-hu's Animal Hospital was located.

"It passes right through here, doesn't it?"

"It does."

"And the B-rank Gate you mentioned, if you extend a straight line from that one too, it passes near Hunter Jeong Shin-hu's house. Do you really think all of this is just coincidence?"

Gulp.

Kim Young-min's expression turned serious.

"...Could he really have gained an S-rank skill? Or, don't tell me, another EX-rank skill?"

It was extremely rare for an Awakener to acquire a skill of a higher Rank than their first.

But there were occasional cases of acquiring additional skills of a similar or lower Rank.

That was one of the reasons Kim Jun-o had been keeping an eye on Jeong Shin-hu.

Although his first EX-rank skill hadn't been useful in combat,

his weight class was still EX-rank, which meant there was always the possibility of his value skyrocketing down the line.

"What if at first, he accidentally got caught up in the S-rank Gate, quickly took care of it before anyone noticed, and then the A-rank Gate happened to open inside his hospital, so he dealt with that one fast too?"

"That makes sense. But why would he bother taking out a B-rank one near his house too...?"

"Maybe after doing it a couple times, he thought, 'I can handle this much, right?'"

"Ah ha! If he took down an S-rank in one go, a B-rank would've been nothing for him."

Jeong Shin-hu had not signed an official contract with the Management Bureau, claiming he had no reason to enter Gates.

But what if this series of events sparked Jeong Shin-hu's interest in clearing Gates?

What if he started working as an active Hunter?

"We absolutely have to get to him first."

"Agreed."

Kim Jun-o spoke to Kim Young-min.

"I'm going to visit Hunter Jeong Shin-hu first thing tomorrow, so prepare the contract with every preferential clause we can include: the Mana Stone settlement ratio bonus, the materials sales commission discount, everything."

"Yes, sir!"

*

When I woke up, Cer was still fast asleep.

Kking, grrr.

'Must've been tired after all.'

Especially since he'd just fled from another Dimension, the mental exhaustion must have been immense.

I was trying to get up carefully so as not to wake him.

Kking?

"Oh, you're up?"

Kking!

Cer immediately wagged his tail and nuzzled his face into my hand.

Truly, the warmth of a living being.

Just having him nearby like this was enough to feel recharged.

Especially the warmth of a creature that trusted and loved me this much, all the more so.

"Hup!"

It was a refreshing Sunday morning, so I stretched wide.

"Today's a real day off!"

Kking?

I explained to Cer that there was one day every seven days that was completely free.

Kking...!

At the news that days off existed, Cer's jaw dropped in surprise.

What kind of environment had this kid been living in...?

Feeling sorry for him, I gave him a few extra pets before heading out to the living room.

Now, time for breakfast...

"Hm?"

I stopped in front of the living room table, blinking.

Something that definitely hadn't been there when I went to bed last night was sitting on the table.

"...A Mana Stone?"

I'd never participated in clearing a Gate myself.

But I knew what a Mana Stone looked like.

Whenever there were no patients, I'd kill time lurking on Hunter community forums.

Kking!

Just then, Cer let out a whine and trotted over to the table, looking up at me.

As if to say, I did good, right, master?

"Wait, did you bring this?"

Kking!

"How?"

Yesterday, Cer had clearly gone to sleep with me and woken up with me this morning.

Granted, I was the type who could sleep through being carried on someone's back.

But when had Cer gone out and come back?

Kking, Kking!

Cer explained enthusiastically through gestures.

"So, uh, a Gate opened near the house... and you went and took care of it?"

Kking! That's exactly it, master!

Good grief.

And wait, this stone. The reddish tint to it, it looked like it came from a boss?

I didn't know the exact value, but it would definitely fetch a hefty sum if sold.

But why would he...

'Ah, no way.'

Had Cer been worried about what I said yesterday about the cost of food?

'This is way beyond food money, though...?'

Heh, heh.

Cer panted with his mouth curled up, begging to be praised.

I crouched down in front of Cer, stroked his head, and spoke.

"Cer, I really am grateful, but you don't need to push yourself like that. No, what if something happened to you going somewhere dangerous without me? Hm?"

Kking...?

"It doesn't matter that I have healing. If you came back hurt, how much do you think that would break my heart? And what if you went somewhere without me and couldn't come back? What then?"

After all the trouble of finding each other.

If I kept letting him go to dangerous places and something actually happened...

What good would a long lifespan be?

Kking...

Cer's ears drooped. I'm sorry, master.

"No. This one's on me. I shouldn't have brought up the food costs."

How could he be so kindhearted?

"But from now on, you absolutely can't do that again. Gates like that will be handled by the Management Bureau or a guild anyway."

I gave Cer a rough explanation of the system.

"Of course, there might be new types of Gates that need immediate response, but for the most part, there's no reason for us to step in. Got it?"

I'd heard that there were Emission Gates, the kind that spat out Monsters at regular intervals the moment they appeared.

But what were the chances of one opening right near us, of all places on this wide earth?

Kking!

"That's right, good boy."

As I petted Cer, I suddenly noticed something odd.

'Wait, he fought a boss and came back without a single scratch...?'

Cer looked perfectly pristine.

Wondering if there might be any internal injuries, I placed my hand on him and tried using Restoration.

"Restoration."

Flash.

But no light appeared.

[Target is undamaged.] [A depleted organ exists, but it cannot be restored at the current stage.]

Huh?

Another message I hadn't expected.

'A depleted organ?'

Ah, could it be talking about the organ used for breathing fire?

The one above the heart that I'd noticed when treating Cer yesterday.

In other words, rather than a fierce melee, Cer had killed the boss by breathing fire.

'Oh, so that means he took it out safely from a distance.'

If he just breathed fire from far away and retreated safely when things looked bad, maybe that style of hunting would be okay?

'No. He still needs to be careful! What am I even thinking!'

What if he happened to enter a Gate where he couldn't leave until it was cleared?

He'd have no choice but to resort to close combat.

And something could go wrong.

Safety, more safety, always safety first.

Wasn't Cer supposed to be my lifelong companion, living a long and peaceful life together?

I couldn't send him to dangerous places.

'Still, there have definitely been changes since the skill became a growth type.'

Until now, my skill could heal injuries, but it wouldn't activate unless there was clear damage.

The prime examples were aging and hunger.

Using Restoration on a hungry animal didn't make it any less hungry.

'Even if it could, that's no way to treat a living creature.'

Half the joy in life was the joy of eating.

Not feeding them and just using Restoration to make them not hungry anymore?

Now that would be mental abuse.

Anyway, there was no precise criteria, but roughly speaking, only things caused by external factors had counted as damage.

Yet the Status Window had said the depleted organ couldn't be restored "at the current stage."

'So does that mean it'll be possible if I level up the skill?'

Perhaps one of the bonus traits said to be acquired at certain milestones would cover this.

But leveling up required earning EXP.

And the patients who came to my Animal Hospital gave a measly 1 EXP each.

Was I supposed to work Cer to the bone in Gates, heal him, and farm EXP that way?

Hell no. How would that be any different from the bastards who'd abused Cer?

'Besides, I already told Cer not to go into Gates on his own.'

Then there'd be no occasion to deplete the fire-breathing organ anyway.

If it never got depleted in the first place, there'd be nothing to heal.

"Anyway, I appreciate the thought. I'll put the Mana Stone to good use."

Kking!

I said that, but it was also true that I had nowhere to sell it right now.

The Management Bureau knew full well I didn't do Gates.

If I suddenly showed up trying to sell a Mana Stone?

That'd be suspicious.

I'd already gotten a bit nervous when Kim Jun-o called me not long ago.

Mana Stones were the second safest asset after gold in the current era anyway.

Just holding onto it, it'd come in handy someday.

It wasn't like I was desperate for money right now.

"How about some breakfast?"

Kking!!

I poured nutritional kibble into the big food bowl.

Chomp chomp chomp chomp!!

Cer ate happily, a blissful look on his face.

I took out the various side dishes my parents had sent over.

Then the pre-portioned rice I'd stored, and topped it off with the essential chicken breast.

Just in case, I took out an extra chicken breast and offered it to Cer.

Chomp chomp chomp!

Kking!!

As if to say, this is so good!

I'd have to pick up some meat when we went for a walk later.

Anyway, I leisurely ate my breakfast and turned on the TV.

Cer stared at the TV too, looking fascinated.

Kking?

"Ah, that's something called a TV. It's a device that lets you watch all sorts of entertaining things."

While I was saying that, an enormous monster appeared in the movie and let out a roar.

Kking!!

Cer reacted instantly, dropping his food and springing to his feet.

I quickly stopped him.

"No, it's okay. Whatever comes out of that screen can't affect reality, so don't worry."

Kking.

Surprisingly, Cer seemed interested in the movie, and even after finishing his meal alongside me, he watched the whole thing through to the end.

When the movie ended,

Kking.

Cer wandered around the house as if patrolling for threats in the area.

The sight of him poking his face into every corner under the desk was so cute that I couldn't help but smile.

Then.

Kking?!

"What is it, Cer?"

Following the sound, I found Cer standing a slight distance away from the dopey lion plushie that had been left out to dry in the sun yesterday, staring at it.

"Ah. That's called a stuffed animal. It's cute and soft."

I picked up the lion plushie and showed it to Cer.

"Look, look. Soft, right? It feels nice to hold. Want to play with it?"

Kking!

"All right. But it's fragile, so you have to be gentle with it. It could break."

When I handed over the dopey lion plushie, Cer carefully took it in his mouth with sparkling eyes and carried it to the front of the sofa.

Then he flopped down and hugged the plushie close.

He rested his chin on it, using it as a pillow.

'Looks like he's really taken a liking to it.'

My gaze drifted to the mane around the lion plushie's neck.

It looked just like the way Cer had looked when fire erupted from around his own neck.

'Ah, is that why he likes it?'

Pfft.

When I burst out laughing, Cer tilted his head.

Kking?

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just glad you like it."

Kking!

Cer hugged the plushie tight.

Day two since bringing him home.

Cer had found his Comfort Toy.