“Wow… I truly f-ing love you, Hwang Rim. You went through all this trouble to kidnap me just so I could work myself to death, huh.”

How many are we dealing with here? Two, three, four, five? Damn it—if there’s a mix of nocturnal and diurnal types in there, I won’t even get proper sleep. And the sleep skill won’t have much effect until the keyword is applied.

“I wasn’t the one who told them to bring them. I’m a soldier, so I follow orders from above. Right, Woon-ah?”

Cho Hwawoon, who was checking documents near the helicopter, frowned.

“Use proper titles.”

He usually didn’t care when Hwang Rim addressed him that way, but maybe it was because external military personnel were present. If so, that meant all the soldiers here were under Cho Hwawoon’s influence. Among the three S-Rank Hunters, he could be considered the de facto manager of the Chaohu Special District. I rolled my eyes around to take a good look at the soldiers who had arrived from outside.

‘How is the military structured here, anyway?’

Hwang Rim acted casually around Cho Hwawoon, but judging from his reactions, Cho Hwawoon probably held the higher rank. They also seemed to have known each other for quite a while.

“General Cho Hwawoon seemed like he held a really high position. I guess there’s someone even higher?”

“He’s the highest among the awakened. But the ones sitting at the top are usually older, non-awakened folks.”

Well, that’s how it usually goes. Positions with titles like General or Marshal aren’t typically held by young people—unless it’s wartime. Even Brigadier Generals are usually in their forties. And those higher-ups would naturally want to hold on to their positions.

‘It’s highly likely the military—or even the government itself—is divided in half.’

Between the existing system and one centered around awakened individuals.

It was a global issue that most high-tier awakened individuals were young. In modern societies, leadership was typically dominated by older generations. Eventually, things diverged into two main paths.

One was the Korean model, where guilds established themselves as corporate entities. Even before, there were young entrepreneurs who found major success, and cooperation with existing companies made integration into society relatively smooth.

The other was the Japanese model, where awakened individuals governed society. In such cases, depending on the nature of the leading guild and its master, the country either managed to maintain a semblance of its old system or descended into dictatorship.

But China didn’t seem to fall clearly into either category. More accurately, it appeared to be in a transitional phase. Either a military dominated by awakened individuals would consolidate power, or the Murim Alliance would become independent and transform into a corporate-style force. One way or another, it would eventually reach a conclusion.

By then, all the cages had been unloaded. Under the faintly reddening sunlight, I could see the baby monsters locked inside. There was quite a variety. Oh—was that a pegasus? And next to it—

“What the hell is wrong with that one?!”

Even at a glance, the baby fox looked dangerously thin, curled up in a ball. Its fur was scruffy, and the two small horns between its ears were crusted over with keratin. As I rushed closer, it bared its sharp fangs and growled.

“You didn’t feed it? It’s barely more than a handful!”

I shouted at the soldier who’d brought the monsters, glaring.

“That one was… classified as a confiscated item.”

“Confiscated?”

“As in, it was a pet.”

Hwang Rim explained in his place.

“Feeding high-grade baby monsters is expensive, so a lot of people just starve them. They don’t die that easily, after all.”

“…What kind of bastard—”

It wasn’t unusual for the wealthy to keep monsters as pets. Especially high-grade baby monsters, since they couldn’t grow, were rarer and cheaper than tamed mid-to-low grade adult monsters. Their eternal baby form was seen as a bonus, making them popular as exotic pets.

Damn it. If you’re going to raise one, at least feed it properly.

“There, there, little one. It’s okay. Can I get a mana stone, please? Hey, soldier—where’s the meat to feed this kid? You didn’t give it anything on the way here?”

“Even though it carried its owner’s token, it remained highly wary and wouldn’t eat.”

The soldier glanced nervously at Hwang Rim as he replied.

“Hand over the token too. And the cage key?”

Give me all of it. With the Parenting title applied to a baby monster, there was a high chance it would lower its guard toward me. When the soldier hesitated, I shouted that they were going to kill the monster they brought all this way, and finally got the key and the token.

The cage door opened, and the baby fox bristled its rough fur.

– Arrrrr.

“It’s okay, come here. Let’s eat. You’re a good one.”

With its ears pinned flat to its head, the baby fox crept toward me cautiously. It didn’t even glance at the meat I held out, instead curling up tightly between my legs like it wanted to hide. When I picked it up, it buried its head deep into my chest. Its protruding ribs rose and fell heavily, then gradually calmed down. I heard a faint whining noise, almost like it was whimpering.

While petting the baby fox, I looked around at the other monsters. Thankfully, the rest didn’t seem to be in poor condition…

“…What the hell is that.”

A nest contained an egg larger than two fists.

“Now you want me to hatch eggs too? What am I, a chicken?”

I already had a spirit egg to deal with. Even without that, I now had four baby monsters to look after. I couldn’t help but sigh.

What the hell was I supposed to do with all of them?

Grade 3 Winged Beast Type – Prairie Pegasus (Infant)

Grade 3 Ironhide Type – Black-Backed Buffalo (Infant)

Grade 2 Poison-Horn Type – Spotted Horned Fox (Infant)

Grade 2 Soma Type – Līfþrasir (Infant)

And now there was a mysterious egg on top of everything else. The pegasus, buffalo, and horned fox were all Grade A monsters based on adult forms, while Līfþrasir was an S-grade monster.

The winged beast-type pegasus was a well-known monster. Even its young were popular as pets, and there had been countless attempts to tame adults. No one had succeeded, of course—it was a high-grade monster, after all. Among them, the prairie pegasus had the second-fastest flight speed after the desert pegasus. If raised to adulthood, it would make for a stable and highly versatile monster mount.

The black-backed buffalo was famous for its tough hide. Even though it was an A-grade monster, its skin was so dense that even most A-grade offensive Hunters had trouble piercing it. It was also faster than a human, making it a great choice as both a mount and a defensive or healing Hunter companion.

The spotted horned fox was Grade 2, but fox-types were weaker than their rank suggested, making this one effectively Grade A. On top of that, even as an adult, it was too small to be used as a mount. Its poison skill could harm allies too, making it tricky to include in a raid team.

And as for the Soma type—

– Kkirururuk!

“Stay still—don’t! Don’t pull the fox’s tail!”

It was a little white fluff ball with white bat wings, just a bit larger than a fist. The Soma type, or demon (魔) type, was a special class of monster that only appeared in S-grade or higher dungeons. Most monster skills applied to their own bodies—running fast, flying, emitting poison or curses, self-enhancement, and so on. Even skills like breathing fire or launching spikes came from their own bodies.

But demon types had no such bodily abilities. Instead, they used all sorts of skills that affected the area around them. Līfþrasir in particular lived mainly in forests and could freely manipulate plants.

‘If we could communicate properly, that ability would be incredibly useful.’

The problem was that you couldn’t talk to monsters. That’s probably why they had me start with the easier-to-handle water dragon.

– Purrurung!

The little pegasus tripped over its own wing and whined as it fell. At a young age, their wings were too big for their bodies, so they often struggled with them. Nearby, the baby buffalo kept butting its head against the table leg. Maybe its horns were coming in—it looked itchy. Crack! The leg finally snapped. Startled by the sound of the cup falling off the table, it jumped and crashed into the pegasus.

– Muuueeeh!

– Phuhihing!

“Are you hurt? No—don’t run! You’re going to slam into the wall!”

I couldn’t even run to stop them. Flustered, I watched as the blue dragon snatched up the flailing pegasus. That scared it even more, and it neighed frantically again.

“Oh no, little one. Let’s go down for a bit.”

– Kiiing, kyarruk!

As I tried to set the baby fox down to check on the others, it bit my sleeve, not wanting to be put down. Meanwhile, Līfþrasir landed on the buffalo’s face. With its vision suddenly blocked by a white blur, the baby buffalo panicked and jumped again.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! It’s nothing!”

It hadn’t even been that long since I started taking care of them, but I was already breaking into a nervous sweat. Taking them all and escaping at once would be hard. Even though I had mini-mini cookies, they were tough to feed quickly. The monsters were reluctant to eat anything unfamiliar. So that’s why they told me not to show the winged cloak until I’d had at least three kids. Damn deer bastard.

– Grrrrng.

The blue dragon brought the pegasus back to my side. The baby horse neighed softly, nuzzling into my side. Ow, that hurt. Then it used its front foot to brush Līfþrasir off the buffalo’s face. How kind of it.

“Thanks so much for helping.”

The dragon’s ears twitched ever so slightly. Anyway, I had to get the kids out ahead of time. Humming as if to soothe the baby fox clinging to me, I began to sing softly.

“Doonggae doonggae doonggaeya, doodung doonggae doonggaeya. Under the ice an otter hide, in the rotten tree an owl resides.”

There should be at least one or two goblins nearby. I’d asked them for that. …Though they might be goofing off.

“Under the floor a spotted one, on the roof a goblin.”

Almost immediately, a reddish glow appeared on the bed in a spot hidden from the guards’ line of sight. Then it began to dance, swaying side to side.

“Doonggae doonggae doonggaeya, doodung doonggae doonggaeya~ Under the eaves, Mister Kim, on the roof, a goblin!”

Why are you singing along?! Thankfully, it was in a quiet voice, and with the pegasus and buffalo starting to fight, the guards didn’t notice. I shushed the goblin and whispered to the blue dragon.

“Please draw some attention for me.”

The dragon gave a small nod and turned toward the guards.

– Krrrurrrk!

Baring its teeth with a fierce snarl, the wyvern spread its wings halfway. Startled, the guards turned to me.

“It’s fine. The baby monsters have suddenly increased, so it’s just stressed out. It won’t attack, so please don’t provoke it.”

– Kyaaaah!

“Just keep your distance and observe. It’s okay. Don’t be scared.”

The soldiers’ eyes were glued to the dragon. Thud, thud—it stomped powerfully, letting out another ferocious cry. In the meantime, I picked up the goblin, cradling it together with the baby fox.

“Good job, good job. I love you, Marble.”

The red marble goblin giggled.

“Mister Kim, let’s ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) sing. Let’s sing.”

Granting its wish, I applied a keyword to the Marble Goblin. Just saying it twice was enough to register it in the Parenting skill list. Then, I applied a growth buff to its Will-o’-the-Wisp transformation skill.

“If you can turn into a will-o’-the-wisp, maybe you can take other forms too?”

At my whisper, the goblin tilted her head.

“Hmm? Something else?”

“Yeah, something else. The Goblin King can become anything, right?”

Once the Will-o’-the-Wisp transformation skill matured, I figured she’d be able to mimic others’ appearances like Yun Yun. On top of that, Red Marble had both high stats and a high skill grade. I coaxed her with a “Let’s try it,” and the will-o’-the-wisp flickered slightly—

“How’s this?”

– Kyeng!

She had taken the form of a baby fox.

“Amazing!”

With just a bit more practice, she could probably fool the guards too. Līfþrasir was small, so I could hold her along with the baby fox. The egg could be tied and carried on my back, and either the pegasus or the buffalo could be handled by the dragon. So if I could just sneak out even one in advance, it would ease the burden significantly. Ideally, two. I wanted to send out Līfþrasir as well, since she didn’t need a cookie and constantly flitted around in a frenzy.

I had signed a contract stating I wouldn’t put the owner tokens into my inventory. With so many baby monsters, it wasn’t feasible to manage them as thoroughly as I did with the water dragon. Besides, they were of lesser value as mounts compared to her. That meant the goblin just needed to handle the transformation.

“See that winged horse over there? Think you can turn into it?”

“I’ll try!”

“Not now—practice and come around midnight. I’m counting on you, Marble.”

Sending the pegasus—who couldn’t even handle her own body—would be better than the sturdier buffalo. The goblin nodded enthusiastically, then vanished, humming a tune.

After she left, I approached the dragon, who was still growling with great effort.

“Good girl, come here. Let’s go to Dad.”

The dragon flinched and looked back at me. Oops—saying that had become a habit. I patted her gently and whispered a soft thank-you. As her blue wings folded in, the guards let out a collective sigh of relief.

With more baby monsters now, I couldn’t afford to drag this out any longer. Yuhyun and Yerim wouldn’t wait forever either. So first, I needed to get out.

Just thinking about not only sneaking out the baby monsters but also planning my own escape route gave me a headache. I knew I wasn’t supposed to run—just thinking about it, that’s all. Imagining things is still free, right?

After a long bout of bickering, the buffalo and the pegasus both let out wide yawns. The baby fox had eaten a little and curled up into a ball on the bed. Only Līfþrasir was still flying around chaotically. Just as I was about to catch a breath, the door opened and a soldier walked in. Judging by his uniform, he outranked the guards here.

“Get up.”

Let me rest, you damned kidnapper overlords.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep