Early Friday morning.
I had arrived at the counseling room earlier than usual. I had to make a cake.
The blue dawn light before daybreak seeped silently through the windows of the quiet counseling room.
– Clatter.
Only the sound of me carefully moving the bowls filled the still space.
“After baking…”
I checked the preheating state of the oven and looked at the two square cake pans placed side by side. Contrary to my initial plan, I was baking two cakes. Neither was particularly large, but they were enough to fill the oven.
One was a sweet strawberry cake, prepared as a reward for Luna. And the other… was a soft vanilla cake that I had had no intention of making until yesterday.
The image of Alice from the orphanage kept flashing before my eyes. I felt an odd sense of kinship.
Perhaps that’s why. I felt a desire to offer her a small comfort.
Making one more cake wasn’t that difficult.
I carefully pushed the two cake batters into the oven. Soon, a sweet aroma began to fill the counseling room.
And what broke that stillness was the cheerful sound of a small bell hanging on the door.
– Ding.
‘At this hour?’
It was still before 6 AM.
I donned a look of curiosity and stepped out of the kitchen to check the entrance. Seeing the figure standing at the entrance, I couldn’t help but smile with a mix of delight and surprise.
The dark figure in black attire, Cheonma Jihwa, stood silently at my door, her back to the emerging dawn light.
I got up from my seat and greeted her politely.
“It’s been a while, Cheonma. What brings you here at this hour?”
I spoke with a smile.
“…Hmph.”
However, despite my greeting, Jihwa merely scoffed in a way that was hard to tell if it was a response, and offered no words. Unlike usual, she didn’t look directly at me but glanced askew as she entered. Then, she plopped down on the front chair at the massive obsidian table she had sent me, pouting like a sulky child.
Jihwa’s cheeks were slightly… puffed up in displeasure.
I chuckled inwardly, wondering why our supreme deity was sulking. I activated my ability to check her status.
[Jihwa]
[Main Stance]
[The day before yesterday, I visited unannounced to see you, but was very disappointed and upset when you were not here. I am in a sulky state.]
“….”
Oh dear.
She had come the day before yesterday.
Well, I had told her to come anytime. It was unavoidable that I was away due to house calls, but from her perspective, having come just by trusting my words, it was understandable that she felt sulky.
Still, however, I didn’t need to see an appropriate system response to know how to soothe Cheonma Jihwa.
I immediately went to the kitchen and prepared a sweet latte topped with rich milk foam, filling it in the prettiest teacup.
“I apologize, Cheonma. I was away on an important matter the day before yesterday.”
I carefully placed the latte on the massive obsidian table in front of her with a smiling face.
“Here’s some tea.”
And I went to my consulting desk and opened the deepest drawer. It was that massive piece imbued with grandeur and authority. I pulled it out to show her the gift that I usually kept hidden so as not to cause discomfort to the clients.
– Shiny.
The huge nameplate made of obsidian glimmered under the light in the counseling room, with the golden words engraved on it shining brightly. I handled the nameplate as if it were treasure, lifting it with both hands and placing it on the desk.
“This nameplate is far too precious and valuable for me, so I always keep it in this safe-like drawer before heading home, lest it collects dust.”
I then put on the proudest expression in the world.
“And when it’s time for the clients to come, I proudly bring out this honor bestowed upon me by the supreme one.”
It was my way of saying that I was treating Cheonma’s gift with the utmost respect.
The red lips of Jihwa, which had been pouted in displeasure, twitched slightly. It felt like she was desperately trying to hold back the corners of her mouth from turning up.
Her previously frosty gaze had softened a bit by now.
“Hmph.”
She deliberately cleared her throat and turned her head away. Then, in a very soft voice, almost childlike, she said, “…I get it. I will forgive you this once.”
Saying that, she picked up the warm latte I had brought out.
Once she drinks it, it will be over.
I smiled inwardly. As expected.
– Sip.
Jihwa took a small sip of the latte, bringing it between her red lips. And the sulky expression she had desperately maintained completely crumbled.
Jihwa’s eyes widened in surprise. A bit of white milk foam adorably clung to her upper lip.
Seeing that her mood had completely lifted, I decided to get to the point.
“By the way, is there something troubling you? Since you walked all the way here at this hour, there must be something important on your mind.”
At my question, Jihwa’s previously cheerful expression froze into a blank stare. She gazed at me with bewildered eyes, still holding the latte cup to her lips.
“Troubling matter? Troubling matter….”
She seemed to struggle to find an adequate reason for this visit, averting her gaze and stammering. I could only watch her with a gentle smile.
‘Ah, there’s nothing.’
[Jihwa]
[Main Stance]
[Honestly, there’s nothing significant.]
It indeed seemed so.
But that was okay. A counselor’s fundamental position is to see meaning in a client’s visit, even if it appears to have no apparent reason. It’s fine if they don’t clearly state, “I came because of this issue.” Just the act of repeatedly seeking out a counselor could suggest that, somewhere within her, there was still some unresolved emotional void.
Then, as if she had finally come up with something to say,
“!”
Jihwa clapped her palm against her fist.
She took another sip of her latte and excitedly opened her mouth.
“Recently, the attitude of the faction’s guys has been quite unusual.”
Her voice changed to a chilling tone befitting a ruler.
“Until I came to this world, the leader of the martial arts alliance was someone with whom I could at least communicate. I never expected him to revert back into that narrow-minded, inflexible old geezer….”
Old geezer…?
I tilted my head slightly at the word she used. It was a portrayal so different from the image I had of the leader of the martial arts alliance. In this world, he was more famous for his beauty than his power.
A phrase I had encountered while browsing some gallery suddenly came to mind.
[The leader of the Sky Martial Alliance will save the world.]
“……”
I really didn’t know the reason, but looking at Jihwa felt somewhat sacrilegious. However, it seemed like Jihwa interpreted my prolonged silence in another way.
“… What is it? Why aren’t you answering?”
A hint of irritation began to seep into her voice.
“Doctor, could it be that even you think that old geezer is attractive…?”
Oh.
Please.
I really disliked the hunter gallery.
At that moment.
– Woooooo!
A gigantic siren’s sound ripped through the city, shaking the very air.
“…!”
This wasn’t just a simple fire alarm or a drill. Anyone living in this world would know its significance.
A magical disaster warning.
A high-level gate was opening… or a new transmigration had occurred. And for the siren to be heard so closely meant that the disaster was happening nearby.
– Ding ding ding!
At that moment, my smartphone vibrated.
I quickly picked up the call.
The call came from the Hunter Association.
“This is Yoo Seonwoo.”
A hurried voice from an employee came through the receiver.
– Counselor! We have a transference. An outsider has come through from the designated world of the Central Plains.
I looked out the window. The scenery of the city, just beginning to wake up, was in chaos.
– The initial wave measurement results… measuring S grade or higher. You must prepare to deploy to the scene immediately…
“Of course.”
I replied in a calm voice.
Yes.
It was something that had to be done someday.
This was one of the major reasons the profession of Hunter Mental Counselor was established.
– Understood! And currently, the Unioun Guild in charge of house calls has hunters on standby for your protection…
Once the house call guild is established for the week, that guild is responsible for the counselor’s safety in all emergencies during that week.
And the current house call week was Union.
Meaning, the Union Guild would take charge of my protection.
I could trust Union.
The call ended.
I checked the coordinates sent to my phone. They weren’t that far away.
I raised my head to explain the sudden situation.
“Cheonma.”
But then I immediately stopped.
“Uh…?”
Jihwa had already vanished.
***
Early Friday morning. Today was the final house call day for the Union Guild.
Luna had spent a longer time than usual preparing in the rabbit hole. There was no particular reason to meet the teacher…
The reason, even she was unsure of. She simply wanted to do so.
From early in the morning, Luna sat on the innermost sofa of the Hunter-only lounge, waiting for him. She tried to look indifferent while fixating her gaze on the TV.
Yet, she was reacting to every tiny sound from the opening door.
Then it happened.
“Hmm?”
Having just returned to the lounge from a long, tedious local business trip, the fox beastkin, Lily, tilted her head at an oddly intriguing scent brushing her nose.
It was the scent of an emerging instinct after a long absence. It was sweet like a flower just beginning to bloom, yet also immature and intense, with pheromones uncontrollably exuding.
‘Oh my… Who is it? I didn’t know the guild had such a cute girl?’
Lily began to move like a fox, searching for the origin of that scent with a playful smile.
And surprisingly, the scent was wafting from a solitary white rabbit in the most secluded corner of the lounge.
“… Huh…?”
Lily’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“It’s Luna…?”
The kind-hearted, naive, and pure rabbit? Not Alice, but this sweet scent was coming from Luna?
It was hard to believe.
Lily’s eyes began to sparkle.
“Luna~”
She flashed a captivating smile and naturally plopped down next to Luna.
“Lily? Long time no see. How was your business trip?”
“Yeah, that’s true, but… Luna.”
Lily began to interrogate, light-heartedly stroking Luna’s cheek with a finger. Looking closely into Luna’s face, she asked with a narrow, crescent-eyed smile.
“Did you… get a male?”
“Yes?! Ah, no…!”
Luna’s face flushed red, and she desperately shook her head.
In response to her vehement denial, Lily simply smiled with even more certainty.
“Really? Then what’s with the sweet smell coming from our white rabbit?”
“Uh, maybe…! Isn’t it just because I’ve been resting well lately…?”
At Luna’s clumsy excuse, Lily finally couldn’t hold back and burst into a giggle.
“Is that so~? Then you’ll be resting well today too. The counseling has been canceled. But your day off hasn’t been lifted, right?”
However, at those words, Luna’s expression suddenly froze.
Her cheeks, which had just been flushed with pink, turned cold.
“What…? What do you mean? The counseling was canceled…?”
This time, Lily’s eyes widened in surprise.
“What? Didn’t you hear? A transference occurred this morning. So the counselor headed to the scene right away.”
Lily added.
– Wham!
As soon as Luna heard those words, she sprang up like a spring from her seat.
“Then I…!”
In a guild during a house call, they are responsible for the counselor’s safety.
Therefore, as an S-grade Hunter, it was only right that she herself ‘personally’ protect the teacher.
“Uh? No~ Luna, you have a day off today. Don’t worry. Alice already went.”
However, Lily’s assertive remark was lightly interrupted by her yawn.
“… Alice?”
With just that one name, the determination that Luna had before was reduced to ashes.
All expression slowly faded from her face.
Today… there’s no counseling.
She cannot see her teacher.
Then, a day off didn’t really hold any meaning.
The teacher had opened her eyes, which harbored aversion to their breed, and had given her the courage to confront the wounds she would carry for a lifetime.
Tears began to well in Luna’s eyes.
However, the teacher looked infinitely weak compared to her physically.
If a powerful crisis were to befall such a teacher,
The one who needed to protect him and provide strength should be her, who had received the most help from him… Luna.
That was only natural.
That was Luna’s right.
Yet, why?
Why… Alice?
“…….”
Luna was gripped by anxiety.
