Three sets of ears peeked over the desk.
Their small stature made their eyes invisible below the desk’s edge.
Despite the busy environment, Choi Geon-woo didn’t miss the innocent glint in those eyes.

As he approached the desk, Choi Geon-woo examined the three children.
Even though they were lost, the oldest child didn’t show any signs of fear.
The second, a horned rabbit beastfolk, simply kept grinning.
Naturally, Choi Geon-woo’s attention was drawn to the smallest, Gyeoul.

She was the smallest, with the softest voice.
She was the kind of child who instinctively triggered a desire to protect.
Choi Geon-woo got the sense that the older beastfolk girls were there to protect Gyeoul.

Ah, she must be the youngest!
Choi Geon-woo instinctively spoke to Gyeoul, focusing on the smallest and most timid-looking child to comfort her.

He didn’t notice the actual lost child hidden below the desk.

“The children belong to Yeomyeong Guild, don’t they?”

While Choi Geon-woo typed on his keyboard to gather information, Gyeoul yawned quietly beside him.

Did she not sleep well last night?
I’ll take a short nap when I get home.
Gyeoul let her thoughts wander.

“Hmm?”

Her eyes had turned slightly red.
Unaware of her yawn, Choi Geon-woo assumed something else.
She must be scared, he thought.

“You must’ve been so frightened, right?”

“Uh…”

Gyeoul looked down in response to his question.
The lost girl was quietly fiddling with her tail.

She looked calm.
There was no sign of fear.
Levinas, thinking along the same lines as Gyeoul, answered on her behalf.

“Don’t worry! She’s a brave kid!”

“Is that so?”

“Yup! When she’s with her sisters, she’s invincible!”

The older girls must’ve taken good care of her to keep her from crying.
What wonderful sisters, Choi Geon-woo thought warmly as he dialed the guild’s number.

“Hello?”

The familiar voice made Gyeoul’s ears perk up.
It was a voice she’d heard before from one of the guild’s office staff.

Given her keen hearing, Gyeoul could analyze sounds with precision.
However, she couldn’t have imagined that a police officer would be calling Yeomyeong Guild.

Listening in on the conversation feels wrong…
Resolving not to eavesdrop, Gyeoul covered her ears and moved to a nearby chair.
The other children followed her.

Just then, the police station door opened, and a woman who seemed to be in a hurry entered.
She walked straight to the desk but glanced toward Gyeoul’s group as she passed.

Her face lit up with relief.
The lost girl let go of Gyeoul’s tail for the first time.

“Yeonseo!”

“Mom!”

The heartwarming reunion made both Gyeoul and Saebyeok’s tails wag.
Levinas, with her short tail, simply grinned.

“Yeonseo, didn’t I tell you not to wander off?”

“I’m sorry… I was chasing a puppy…”

“Haah… You didn’t cry, did you? You’re not hurt anywhere?”

“No. My sisters brought me to the police station.”

The woman turned her gaze to the children, her face brimming with gratitude.

“Thank you for looking after Yeonseo. How can I repay you?”

“It’s okay. We didn’t do it for a reward.”

“Still…”

“Really, it’s fine.”

Gyeoul waved her hand to decline the woman’s offer.
After refusing twice more, the woman reluctantly stepped back.

“Yeonseo, you should thank your sisters.”

“Thank you, sisters.”

After offering their thanks to both the children and nearby officers, the mother and daughter left the police station.
Choi Geon-woo, still on the phone with the guild, didn’t notice their departure.

“Hmm…”

Now that it’s over, what should we do?
Gyeoul waited for Choi Geon-woo to finish his call.
A few moments later, he hung up the phone and approached the children.

“Would you mind waiting here for a bit?”

“Um… okay…”

They’d already helped the lost child reunite with her mother, so why was he asking them to wait?
Gyeoul didn’t know but chose not to resist the authority of the police.
Her lingering fear from her undocumented past still made her wary of challenging authority.

About five minutes later, the door opened again, and someone entered.
Gyeoul recognized the footsteps immediately—it was Jeong Yuna.

“A mage!”

Levinas leapt into Jeong Yuna’s arms.
Even Saebyeok trotted over to her.

“Oh my, for lost children, you all seem just fine.”

“Lost?”

What is she talking about?
Gyeoul tilted her head, confused, as she approached Jeong Yuna.
Whatever it was, meeting her at the police station was certainly a surprise.

After a brief conversation with the officer, they were finally able to leave the police station.
Through their discussion, Gyeoul realized there had been a misunderstanding.

“So, it wasn’t you who got lost?”

“Yup! Levinas, me, and the others helped the little girl find her mom!”

“Oh…”

Realizing the truth late, Jeong Yuna patted the children’s heads.
Mine was among them.

“You did something good, so you deserve a reward.”

“A reward?”

“Yup. But we’ll need to find a quiet place first.”

“My tent is quiet.”

“Ah, that works.”

Together, they returned to the park.
After waiting briefly at the tent, Jeong Yuna came back carrying a large box.

“Do you know what’s inside?”

“A box! Boxes sell for a hundred won per kilogram!”

Levinas bounded over excitedly, apparently thinking the reward was scrap cardboard.

“No, no, it’s not the box. It’s what’s inside.”

“…Inside?”

Levinas tilted her head in confusion.
Sniffing the box, she tried to discern its contents, prompting me to do the same.
It smelled like mana stones and plastic. Likely something made from a combination of the two.

“It smells like a magical device.”

“You can tell that just by smelling it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s incredible…”

Sniff-sniff.
Jeong Yuna, amused, opened the box and pulled out its contents—a large disc.

“Do you know what this is?”

“I know what it is!”

Saebyeok’s eyes sparkled with recognition.
Levinas and I, however, stood there clueless.

“Leader, what is it?!”

“I… have no idea.”

To me, it just looked like a disc—a toy meant for throwing and catching.

“Wait, you don’t know about the Hover Disc?”

“Hover Disc?”

“Yeah, it’s something that flies around.”

“Oh…”

So, it really was just a disc.
But with mana stones attached, it seemed like a more advanced version.

Now I understood why she’d wanted a quiet place.
If the disc accidentally hit someone, it could cause trouble.

“I get it. This is for playing, right?”

“Exactly. Why don’t you try it out, Gyeoul?”

“Sure.”

I picked up the disc from the box.
It was heavier than I expected but not too hard to carry.
Yeomyeong Park was spacious enough that I didn’t have to worry about hitting anyone.

“Go ahead!”

Saebyeok wagged her tail as she looked at me expectantly.
For someone usually so expressionless, she was clearly excited.
It must’ve been her feline instincts longing to chase the disc.

“Okay.”

I aimed away from the trees and threw the disc.
Though I tried, it didn’t go very far.
My combat strength came from mana, not muscle.

Still, it flew far enough to disappear into the bushes.

“It flew far.”

For my small size, I thought I did well.
Pleased, I turned to look back.

“…?”

Jeong Yuna blinked at the bushes where the disc had landed.
Even Saebyeok’s tail stopped wagging.
The only one still celebrating was Levinas.

“Wow! It flew so far! Leader, you’re amazing!”

Levinas hopped around me excitedly.
Her innocent joy was contagious, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile.
That’s when I realized I’d misunderstood the disc’s purpose.

“Gyeoul, that’s not something you throw…”

“I-I’m sorry…”

I’d thrown something I wasn’t supposed to.
What if it broke?
Panicking, I ran toward where the disc had landed.

The disc was stuck in a tree, slightly taller than me.
The tree was dense with branches, often used for fencing.

As I reached up to grab it, the branches scratched my arms.
I stood on tiptoe, trying to reach, but Jeong Yuna pulled me back.

“G

yeoul…!”

“…”

Jeong Yuna rarely raised her voice.
Was she angry about the disc?
Feeling guilty, I shrank back, fidgeting nervously.

“Sorry, I wasn’t scolding you. I was just worried you might get hurt.”

“Okay… but the disc…”

“I’ll use magic to get it down.”

With a wave of her staff, Jeong Yuna retrieved the disc from the tree.
It floated gently into her hands.

“I’m sorry… I thought it was just a toy…”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize.”

Jeong Yuna looked at me with soft eyes, then pulled me into a warm hug, patting my back.
I didn’t understand why she was acting so affectionately.

The disc I’d thrown wasn’t just a toy.
It was a hoverboard—an enchanting device that could fly through the air.

“Ah…”

Gyeoul doesn’t even know what a hoverboard is.
But then again, until recently, she didn’t even know how to play.

Jeong Yuna’s heart ached.
How could anyone blame a child for not knowing how to play?

She held Gyeoul tightly.
At eight years old, this little girl didn’t even know what a toy was.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep