The World’s Strongest Daughter.

“… You caused all that fuss just to get a measly number?”

Smiling slightly at Min So-yeon, who was looking at me in disbelief, I said:

“If I had just asked for your number, would you have given it?”

“No.”

See.

I handed the cool water I had prepared in advance to Min So-yeon and continued:

“Anyway, good work today. I might lose tomorrow though…”

Taking the water, she widened her eyes and spoke.

“… Tomorrow? You’re going to do this again tomorrow?”

“You don’t like it? If you didn’t want to, you should have won.”

When I teased her, shrugging my shoulders, she glared at me, biting her lip hard.

She seemed dissatisfied, but since it was true that she lost, she had nothing to say and appeared frustrated.

That look on Min So-yeon’s face made me smile as if I were seeing her childhood self.

“… Is it funny?”

As Min So-yeon’s expression grew more menacing, I slightly pulled down the corners of my mouth.

If I keep teasing her like this, she might get seriously upset, so it would be good to placate her a bit.

I casually brought up a compliment to naturally praise her.

“… Still, I really almost lost earlier. You really never learned swordsmanship? Didn’t you learn from your mother?”

The moment I mentioned my wife, Min So-yeon’s eyes trembled.

… Huh?

Puzzled by her inexplicable reaction, she lowered her head slightly and replied in a barely audible voice:

“… I never learned anything like that.”

Her answer felt somewhat desolate.

*

After class, I got Min So-yeon’s contact information.

She seemed extremely reluctant to give it, but since she had no intention of withdrawing from the bet, she readily gave me her phone number.

I called her after receiving the number and used the number left in the call history to add her as a contact.

“… Done.”

[Min So-yeon]

A gratified smile naturally formed at the sight of Min So-yeon’s name on my phone screen.

It was the first contact saved, excluding my landlord and social worker.

If I had my way, I would have liked to save it under a name like “Beloved Daughter♥” as I used to, but I had no choice but to save it simply.

Min So-yeon also added my contact information, but unfortunately, I couldn’t see what name she saved me under.

Right after exchanging numbers, she warned me:

“Don’t contact me about useless things. It’s annoying.”

I gave her a vague response.

On the way home.

I typed out the points I noticed while playing “tag” with Min So-yeon on my phone.

First, I had little to say about her swordsmanship.

I was evaluating Min So-yeon’s swordsmanship based on what I had seen and heard from my wife, and the swordsmanship she showed today had no shortcomings.

But the next part is the problem.

Her physical strength seemed to be severely lacking.

Even though she was unilaterally attacking for just 5 minutes, she already began to tire quickly from around the 3-minute mark.

As a result, her speed slowed, and the power behind each strike noticeably diminished.

Swords are weapons that require a lot of stamina.

For Min So-yeon, who must fight at the very front as a vanguard, lack of stamina is a huge disadvantage.

Of course, it’s greedy to expect that much stamina from her when she hasn’t done any special exercise until now.

Rather, it’s amazing that she can swing a sword that much.

I typed “1. Stamina training” on my phone.

The next issue is mana.

First, it’s very encouraging that Min So-yeon can draw up mana while wielding a sword.

Using a weapon and mana simultaneously is like drawing a square with one hand and a star with the other.

It’s that difficult, so doing it simultaneously makes her a true genius.

However… Not knowing how to handle mana properly, she wildly swung it around as she grasped it, and as a result, her mana was completely depleted before long.

She probably won’t lack mana capacity innately, taking after me and my wife. Once she learns how to use it efficiently, it will synergize explosively with her swordsmanship from then on.

I added “2. Mana training” to my phone.

Actually, the problems don’t lie solely with Min So-yeon.

“Yoo Ji-hwan’s” body has a very small mana capacity by nature.

If Min So-yeon’s mana capacity is like a water tank, mine is a mere pail.

For me, who needs to fire off magic from the rear, it’s a very big problem.

The fortunate thing is that mana capacity can be increased.

Mana is similar to muscles in that it gradually increases the more you use it.

It would be good to use equipment embedded with “mana stones” that boost efficiency, but… it’s impossible with my finances.

…Now that I think about it, my stamina was also lacking, not much better than Min So-yeon’s.

I thought I was building it up somewhat, but it was my misconception.

The five minutes weren’t short, but if it had been a bit longer, I might have lost to Min So-yeon.

Fortunately, I know a good way to increase my mana and stamina.

This is also a product of my wife.

When my wife dragged me along, insisting we train together, I hated it more than death, but I had no idea it would be this helpful.

Ju Yeon-hee, who was called the “Sword Empress” and shook up the hunter world, had great innate talent, but she was actual proof that tremendous effort was needed to make it bloom.

She wasn’t like that when we attended the academy together, but after officially entering the hunter world, she began to ambitiously pursue growth for strange reasons.

Something about needing to become strong to protect her husband…

If she wanted to become strong that much, she could have just gotten strong on her own, but she dragged me around everywhere, and as a result, I was able to become an A-grade hunter.

Thanks to that, we also got to work together much more often, so isn’t it a good thing?

Well, “he” is dead now.

“…”

Lost in thought, reminiscing about various things, I found myself near my house before I knew it.

I quickly went to my place, neatly removed my school uniform, and began cleaning the house.

Since it’s such a small house, there wasn’t much to tidy up.

After washing the dishes from last night’s meal, I vacuumed the house using the vacuum cleaner that the landlord gave me.

I wanted to mop, too, but after using my body a little today, I felt a bit lazy, so I gave up.

I need to cook rice soon for dinner, but I really didn’t feel like moving.

… Let’s give up.

I had a hearty lunch, so skipping one meal should be fine.

As I was lounging around on the floor, taking a break…

“…”

My phone on the desk caught my eye.

I picked up my phone without thought and opened the messenger app.

An empty message window, as expected.

The last message was from the social worker a month ago.

I quietly moved my fingers to check my friend list.

[New friend! Min So-yeon]

Min So-yeon’s messenger profile popped up.

Checking her profile, I was greeted by a default picture with no settings and an empty status message.

No, can a girl in her youth really not decorate anything like this?

I started to worry a bit.

Looking at other academy students, many of them, regardless of gender, modify their uniforms to accentuate their figures or appeal to their charms.

It’s natural since it’s an age when they’re interested in looking good.

But Min So-yeon didn’t show such behavior.

Forget about altering her uniform. She didn’t even wear basic makeup.

Of course, taking after my wife, she’s basically a looker, so she won’t be overshadowed by others in terms of appearance even without making an effort.

It’s not that she must dress up like other kids, but I hope she enjoys her last school life.

… However, I’d prefer it if she doesn’t enjoy it as much as my wife and I did.

The experience of attending classes with a baby in my arms is enough with just me.

Thinking about the past, I suddenly recalled the day I first met my father-in-law.

The day I showed up in my school uniform with a baby and bowed my head without a word.

“…”

How would I react if Min So-yeon suddenly appeared with a baby in her arms?

… There would probably be a knife fight.

I quietly closed my eyes, put my hands together, and prayed inwardly.

I’m sorry, father-in-law.

As I was rolling around on the floor, thinking about this and that, I gradually started to feel hungry.

People really need to eat properly to live.

“Ugh…”

I slowly got up, stretching my sluggish body, and pondered what to eat.

Bean sprout and pork stir-fry? Boiled pork? Seasoned bean sprouts?

I’m a bit lazy today, so let’s just throw something together.

With that, I leisurely began preparing dinner.

After putting a pot on the stove to cook rice, I sat blankly browsing the web at my desk…

[Thaw frozen relationships… with “Kakao Talk”]

A certain article caught my eye.

“Huh?”

I read through the article.

– For difficult relationships like parents and children, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, mentor and disciple, boss and subordinate, etc., you need to have a lot of conversations to communicate, and the means to do that is through Kakao.

– When talking face-to-face with the other person, you have to be mindful of your tone and each word, but on this messenger, you have a relatively low risk of making mistakes.

Wow…

It was quite a plausible article.

As I scanned the article again, finding the content interesting, the timer I had set on my phone rang.

It was the signal that the rice was done.

With that, I turned my back on the computer and set the dinner table, unfolding the table in the corner.

Tonight’s dinner was plain rice, seasoned bean sprouts, and side dishes the landlord had prepared.

Meat is good for restoring energy, but I postponed it until tomorrow because I didn’t feel like washing dishes.

“Thank you for the food.”

I slowly began to eat, playing a random video on my phone.

[Now, everyone! Surviving in a gate for a week, it’s the final night! The three attacks so far and…]

As I blankly stared at my phone, eating rice, the content of the article I had read earlier suddenly came to mind.

“For difficult relationships, have a lot of conversations and use messenger as much as possible.”

A distant father-daughter relationship, doesn’t it perfectly fit my current situation?

I have Min So-yeon’s contact information, so it’s worth trying at least once.

“…”

I quietly put down my spoon and immediately picked up my phone, turning off the video.

Then, I opened messenger, tapped on Min So-yeon’s profile, and pondered what to say when the meal in front of me caught my eye.

[Did you eat?]

Wouldn’t this be an affectionate enough message?

I sent it as is.

But as soon as I sent the message, what she had said during the day suddenly came to mind.

… It can’t be helped.

What can I do when I’ve already sent it?

Strictly speaking, eating is also an important matter.

You need to eat to have strength, and you need strength to train.

As a partner, I think this level of contact is fine.

If she wants to reply, she will, and if she doesn’t want to, she’ll ignore it, won’t she?

With that, I gently put down my phone and focused on eating again.

I even turned up the volume and placed it in a visible spot in case I might miss her reply.

A few hours passed like that,

Until I received a message.

I love bean sprouts, now I want some :c
– Seraloves