Father, I Won’t Do Anything

‘What is it?’

Mikael wasn’t one to conceal his true feelings well. Just observing his usual blunt manner of speech demonstrated that.

Yes, so seeing that strange facial expression alone…

‘Something is different from usual…’

His slightly strained, trembling voice. The twitching facial muscles.

His feigned joking demeanor seemed like an attempt to hide something.

‘Am I being oversensitive?’

“If you think you were flustered, that’s your wish.”

“What?”

As she had that thought and looked at Hilvenzia beside him, even the usually composed woman appeared unlike herself.

Not unnaturally like Mikael, but more like an intuition. Until now, Jaina’s intuition had never been wrong.

After quietly listening to their conversation for a while, Jaina finally spoke up.

“Do you happen to know about the magician Moben?”

“…”

“…”

She had hit the mark.

The moment she mentioned Moben’s name, Mikael and Hilvenzia froze.

Only a thin silence filled the room where the conversation had abruptly halted.

Jaina continued in a slightly exaggerated tone.

“It seems I need to meet magician Moben since we have a connection.”

“No, it doesn’t seem like you’ll be able to meet that bastard ever again.”

Following Mikael, Hilvenzia added:

“Yes, you don’t need to worry about that magician anymore.”

Jaina stared at them intently.

“Since I’m not a Magic Tower member, you may have had difficulty punishing that magician… Was this something the Tower Lord permitted?”

As she spoke, Jaina watched Mikael carefully, for he had directly told her:

-You’re not an official member of the Magic Tower. For now, even if you suddenly disappear one day, officially they can’t look for you.

Indeed, Mikael readily nodded, as if recalling it.

Jaina narrowed her eyes.

However, Mikael’s words differed from her expectation.

“Of course. I directly received the Tower Lord’s permission and handled it.”

“Under what pretext?”

“It would take too long to explain. You don’t need to doubt it.”

“It’s fine. I have plenty of time.”

“You’re too foolish to understand.”

“Am I really so foolish that I cannot understand?”

Jaina’s eyes shone a brilliant blue.

“If you can’t speak, sir Mikael, I will ask the Tower Lord directly.”

“Hey, you’ll get hurt if you bother the Tower Lord over personal matters!”

Hilvenzia interjected.

“Yes, Jaina. In your current unacknowledged state, if you deliberately cross the Tower Lord’s path…”

“Even if I’m not acknowledged as his daughter, he permitted your punishment of Moben by recognizing me as a Magic Tower member, didn’t he? Then what danger could there be for me?”

Only then did Mikael and Hilvenzia understand Jaina’s meaning.

“It seems I no longer need to avoid the Tower Lord from now on.”

But that wasn’t the case.

Jaina’s misunderstanding could put her in jeopardy.

Sighing, Mikael spoke through gritted teeth.

“Fine, we punished Moben without permission. If you have a problem with it, speak up!”

Seeming embarrassed, Mikael abruptly raised his voice. But Jaina simply gave a faint smile, unfazed.

At that delicate smile, Mikael and Hilvenzia found themselves unable to tear their eyes away from Jaina’s face.

“Sir Mikael, lady Hilvenzia. I’m truly grateful to you both. But please don’t do it again.”

An expression as calm as ever.

Could she have anticipated all this?

Had her previous prodding been leading up to this?

Mikael felt a surge of emotion and abruptly turned his head away.

‘This insolent kid with nowhere to go…’

Her desperate reassurance that she was fine, not to worry about her, stirred a sense of resentment within him.

Was it so wrong for her to be a little selfish?

Mikael could wager his entire fortune that ‘I’m fine’ was likely Jaina’s most frequently uttered phrase.

‘Why does Jaina resign herself to accepting everything in this world?’

And Mikael wasn’t the only one shaken by Jaina’s words. Uncharacteristically, Hilvenzia too wore a conflicted expression.

The present Jaina appeared to be comforting those around her like one facing imminent death.

In her seventy-odd years of life, had she ever encountered a child giving such a precarious impression?

“I’m really fine, so please don’t worry.”

And at her seeming dismissal of them both, they had an inkling that their connection with Jaina wouldn’t end so briefly.

* * *

After Jaina had recovered to an extent, the first thing Mikael said to her was this:

-Once you’ve fully recovered, we’re going outside.

A random statement, out of the blue.

Although Mikael had blurted it out almost in passing, without context, he seemed quite sincere about it.

“Didn’t you agree to it last time?”

“Huh? Were we really going outside?”

“Or did you think it was a lie?”

Suddenly transported outside via teleportation magic, Jaina looked at Mikael in bewilderment.

Mikael then grumbled as he spoke.

“For a person to grow strong, you know. You need to breathe fresh air. Exercise and such. Got it?”

“Why do I need to become strong?”

“You fool. Or do you want to become weak?”

Jaina let out a chuckle. Mikael’s ears reddened, as if aware he was spouting nonsense.

‘Do I want to comfort this kid so badly?’

Of course, contrary to Jaina’s conjecture, it was because he realized he was paying her too much attention.

‘…Since something unpleasant happened, I might as well make sure she has fun now that we’re out.’

But he was uncertain.

He had never taken anyone out before and knew he was far removed from ‘fun.’

‘Have I ever cared about someone else like this in my life?’

-Hey, come over here.

-Yes?

-What do you guys usually do for fun?

He had stopped and asked several passing Magic Tower magicians, carefully selecting ones who seemed more ordinary.

‘Should I have just brought a hundred kids and told them to be honest?’

He slightly regretted not taking a different approach.

Mikael shook his head vigorously and clenched his fists.

If Jaina didn’t find it interesting, those Magic Tower magicians would pay a steep price.

Woooong!

Soon, Mikael and Jaina reached their destination using a gate and teleportation magic.

“This is…”

Opening her tightly shut eyes, she found herself in a bustling marketplace.

Jaina eagerly looked around, her eyes naturally widening at the unfamiliar sights.

“Here, we have food that melts right in your mouth!”

“Today is our last day in business! Final chance!”

“This is part of your training. You must learn about the world. Hmm, I suppose this human marketplace is new to you?”

Of course, with Min Pobae’s memories, it wasn’t her first time at a marketplace.

However, for her, markets were simply places to buy side dishes – casually browsing like this was a new experience.

Moreover, this world’s marketplace was filled with exotic sights unlike those in Korea.

As Jaina stood dazed, a voice came from ahead.

“What are you doing?”

Snapping out of it, she saw Mikael standing a few steps ahead, looking back at her.

Having only seen him under the Magic Tower’s mana lamps, his appearance in the open sky felt refreshingly different.

Long eyelashes, a slightly exposed smooth forehead, a face brighter than usual.

Jaina shook her head and ran toward Mikael.

“Let’s go now!”

Tap tap, tap.

The gentle spring breeze, the pretty slippers Mikael had bought along with a dress.

Mikael raised his chin slightly at Jaina’s lively steps.

“…Could you slow down a little, sir Mikael?”

Though Mikael had adjusted his pace, Jaina’s short legs forced her to practically run to keep up with his strides.

Without realizing it, Jaina puffed out her lips sulkily.

Mikael clapped amusedly.

“How can you walk so well with those short legs? Impressive. Wow. Bravo.”

Even after adjusting his stride, he had to turn back several times, the difference in their statures larger than expected.

Each time, Mikael’s lips curled upward, as if finding Jaina’s antics comical.

‘He seems to be doing it deliberately…’

“There’s a saying, ‘A frog cannot fathom its tadpole days.'”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s used to reproach someone for failing to recall the past. Like you are doing now, sir Mikael.”

For a moment, Mikael looked stung before letting out a mocking laugh.

“So what? No matter how much you blather, you’re just a tadpole and I’m a frog.”

“Ribbit ribbit.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Mikael’s body trembled slightly. With a flushed face, he retaliated against Jaina.

“You really, ah, wriggle like a puppy. With such short legs…”

“Ribbit ribbit.”

“A tadpole isn’t better than a frog, is it? Frogs are…”

“Ribbit ribbit.”

“Hey!”

“Ribbit?”

Tilting her head, Jaina looked innocent and pure, like a newborn puppy.

Mikael gazed down at her, at a loss for words.

‘This brat?’

There wasn’t much he could do in this battle of wits.

Mikael abruptly raised both hands and pinched Jaina’s cheeks.

Jaina flailed desperately to escape, but to no avail.

“Sthop ith.”

“I’ll stop when you call me big brother.”

“Nnngghh.”

Perhaps due to her young age, her chubby cheeks untouched by baby fat were quite fun to squish.

‘Speaking of which, what do I do with this tadpole?’

In truth, Mikael’s aimless wandering stemmed from not knowing what to do.

The Magic Tower magicians had said there would be plenty of interesting things, but nothing seemed suitable for a child nearby.

“You can eat money for money here, young master!”

He could hardly take a tadpole, not a frog, to a gambling den.

He wanted to appear relaxed and composed before Jaina, not betray his inexperience. But then…

Mikael let out an inward sigh.

Fortunately, one possible activity caught his eye.

Mikael’s lips curled into a sly smile.