Clink.

Jung Yu-na placed a coin on my nose.

I naturally raised my head so the coin wouldn’t fall.

My body instinctively took on the characteristic posture of a cat to keep its balance.

My lips also slightly puckered forward.

I always felt this way, but the physical abilities of the beast-kin were truly amazing.

“Since I gave you a coin, will Gyeoul grant my wish?”

Jung Yu-na pressed my lips with the tip of her finger.

As if it were a button, the coin fell into the bathtub below.

“Actually, I can’t grant wishes… I can only listen to them…”

“Oh, just listen? But my wish is something Gyeoul can fulfill.”

A wish that I could grant.

Was it some kind of request?

I asked as I picked up the coin sinking below the bathtub.

“What is your wish?”

“For Gyeoul to hug me tightly.”

“A hug?”

“Yes. I’m going to a dungeon tomorrow, and I want to get energy from Gyeoul.”

A hug between family members gives a sense of psychological stability.

Seeking stability before going to a dangerous place was natural.

“But I’m wet, what should we do?”

My loose clothes were clinging to me because of the water.

If I hugged her like this, Jung Yu-na would definitely get wet too.

“It’s okay. As long as I can hug Gyeoul, it doesn’t matter.”

“Um… okay…”

I handed the coin back to Jung Yu-na, who didn’t take it, only raising an eyebrow.

“Why this?”

“I can give you a hug anytime, even without a wish.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. We can’t buy and sell hugs for money between us.”

We weren’t strangers.

We couldn’t buy and sell affection with money.

“Oh… sorry, I didn’t think it through. We’re family, after all.”

Family.

I smiled at the word coming from Jung Yu-na’s mouth for the first time.

I was glad that she considered me as family.

“Yes. Because we’re family. We can hug anytime we want.”

As I reached out to put the coin back into Jung Yu-na’s pocket, she suddenly hugged me tightly.

“Really, why are you so cute?”

My face was pressed into the softness.

The hand on my back was warm.

Shake-shake-shake-

My tail, soaked with water, wagged.

It was certain that Levinas and Saebyeok nearby got splashed with water.

Sorry.

But I can’t stop this.

Being fellow beast-kin, they would understand, right?

While I was silently apologizing, the strength of the hug began to increase.

I felt like a doll that Levinas always carried around.

Though strong, it wasn’t suffocating because it was soft.

“Mm…! Charging complete!”

Jung Yu-na loosened her embrace slightly and then rubbed her cheek against mine.

It felt so soft, and then I realized it was my own cheek.

“Haha, did I hug you too hard?”

Jung Yu-na took a step back and placed her hand on my head.

Only then did I notice her wet clothes.

“What should we do about your clothes?”

“Something like this can be easily fixed with magic.”

Oh.

Right.

She could use magic.

I felt a little envious.

“I wish I could use magic too.”

“You can if you want to.”

“Beast-kin find it hard to learn magic unless it’s a special case. We’re specialized in physical abilities…”

It wasn’t that there were no beast-kin who could use magic.

There were cases like Levinas.

I glanced at Levinas for no reason.

“Do you need to learn? I’m here.”

What did she mean by that?

I blinked in confusion at the situation.

“If you need magic, just tell me. I’ll use any magic for Gyeoul.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. We’re family. Family should do at least this much.”

“Oh…”

If that’s the case, then I should do anything for her too.

The only thing I could do was offer a hug.

It didn’t seem fair on Jung Yu-na’s side.

Feeling a bit sorry, I scratched the back of my head, and Levinas suddenly jumped into the bathtub.

“Levinas too!”

“Levinas too?”

“Yes! Hug Levinas too!”

Levinas poked her face out of the bathtub beside me.

She had a posture similar to mine, and my wagging tail brushed against her back.

“Of course, I’ll use magic for Levinas too.”

“No! Not magic, a hug!”

“Oh, a hug?”

Jung Yu-na laughed and spread her arms wide.

It looked like she was about to hug Levinas, but she hugged both of us at the same time.

“Hehehe.”

Levinas giggled in her embrace, and Saebyeok ran over, asking to be hugged too.

Jung Yu-na’s arms were wide enough to hug all three of us at once.

“Hah, with this, the dungeon doesn’t seem so scary.”

“Still, be careful.”

“Yes. Thank you. I have to go prepare now.”

Jung Yu-na waved and left.

I watched her walk away for a while, then looked at the kids.

“Now…”

Before I could finish my sentence, Yeoreum came running from afar, calling my name.

“Gyeoul!”

The skilled adventurer came running, out of breath.

There wasn’t a hint of mana in her body.

She might have been training to fight without using mana.

“What’s going on?”

“I heard that if I come here… I can get a hug.”

Panting, Yeoreum seemed quite tired from running without mana.

“Um… yes.”

I hugged her along with the kids.

Yeoreum looked satisfied.

“I came in the middle of training, so I have to go back. See you later.”

“Okay.”

After that, many people passed by the fountain.

It seemed like most of the people I knew stopped by at least once.

They asked for hugs, for me to pat their heads.

Even the Master who came late asked for a wish to eat chocolate.

Of course, I didn’t take a single coin.

Their wishes were too small to take money for.

Thanks to that, Levinas didn’t earn a single penny, but she chuckled.

“The next fountain is for the Dark King!”

“…Okay.”

Saebyeok, who was in the bathtub, flicked water with her tail.

The tail was strong enough to splash water far away.

“That’s an amazing fountain!”

Levinas put her hand in the bathtub and splashed water far away.

The kids laughed joyfully.

Their laughter included mine.

—

—

After tidying up the fountain, I sat on a nearby bench.

Saebyeok trotted over and lay down on my lap.

Her belly was on my lap, while her legs and upper body were on the bench.

Pat-pat-

I patted Saebyeok’s back.

Saebyeok, who was purring, looked at the place where the fountain was and spoke.

“…It’s hard to make money with a fountain.”

“Yes. But we learned a lot.”

“Yes. It was educational.”

“Then that’s enough.”

I knew it too.

It was hard to earn coins with a fountain of that level.

Even so, I continued for the sake of the kids.

Planning a business and trying it out firsthand.

Even if they failed, it was a valuable experience for them.

“Let’s try something else next time.”

“…Okay.”

Saebyeok’s black tail came up to my face.

For no reason, I grabbed her tail, and from afar, Levinas came running.

“King! There’s trouble!”

Levinas was holding a shiny card.

It was a symbol of the highest grade card.

“Wow, a ten-star card?”

“Yes! It’s the Demon King Eagle card!”

Ta-da-

Levinas proudly showed the card.

For some reason, she didn’t seem very happy.

It might have something to do with the big trouble she mentioned.

“You pulled a good card, so why is it a big deal?”

“The person before Levinas pulled an even better card!”

“A better card?”

“Yes…! They pulled the Warrior Horned Rabbit card…!”

The Warrior Horned Rabbit card.

I had heard of it from Levinas.

It was a two-star card, far below Levinas’s Demon King Eagle.

But Levinas didn’t value cards based on their stars.

She prioritized affection over performance.

“You must have been jealous.”

“Yes! So Levinas asked to trade this card for that one!”

“…But they didn’t agree?”

“No…! They said they would trade it for two ten-star cards…!”

What kind of awful person was that?

Saebyeok, who usually remained expressionless, frowned deeply, likely thinking the same as me.

“What should we do?! Levinas can’t give up her All Friends card…!”

The All Friends card.

A card depicting all the animals, Levinas’s most cherished and favorite card.

I had heard rumors that it was extremely rare and traded for high prices.

Did they propose the trade knowing Levinas had the All Friends card?

To trick an innocent child like that.

Even I, who rarely got angry, felt upset.

“Um… should we go together and ask?”

“Be careful, King! The opponent is no pushover!”

“That bad…?”

“Yes…! A very scary person…! They pick fights for no reason…!”

Someone bullied Levinas in the park?

There shouldn’t be anyone like that, so who could it be?

They bullied our kid.

I clenched my fists tightly.

I might not scold them when I meet them, but I planned to say, ‘Please don’t bully.’

“Where are they?”

“Over there!”

Following Levinas’s guidance, I headed to where the person with the Warrior Horned Rabbit card was.

When we arrived, there was a boy I had met before.

Though it was my first time seeing his face, I remembered his voice and presence.

He was the mischievous kid who had attacked me all over when I wore a doll costume.

—

3/5 Enjoy the chappy!

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