“Hic!”

Tie froze in place.

Only then did she belatedly look at Pupu.

“Kyuu, kyuu......?”

Pupu had already gone stiff, like a robber caught in the middle of a bank heist.

“That ‘something’ I mentioned earlier is that one over there.”

At that very moment, Nordix closed the door and said it.

A thin stream of cold sweat ran down Tie’s back.

‘Grandpa Nordix knew about Pupu’s existence?’

She had warned him so many times.

To sit still and not crawl out of the bag!

When the child’s eyes trembled helplessly, Bale stepped forward and stood in front of Pupu.

He crouched down and, staring carefully at Pupu, spoke.

“Astie.”

Just her ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) name — yet the dry lump in her throat barely went down.

It was no wonder. Bale almost never called Tie by her name.

He always called her kiddo......

‘Caught. We’re caught after all.’

It seemed the squad members had realized Pupu’s true nature.

Understanding that something terrible had happened, Tie squeezed her eyes shut.

Then she inhaled and, as if confessing, shouted:

“Bale oppa. Tie really really loves Pupu!”

“......What?”

“No matter what anyone says, Tie won’t separate from Pupu. Even if they give a hundred thousand — no, even four hundred thousand — I still won’t hand him over!”

When she lifted her head with a pitiful look, she saw Bale staring at her with his mouth slightly open.

Aware that Basto and Nordix were standing behind him, Tie asked:

“Let Tie live with Pupu, okay?”

She knew she might be scolded.

Even if it had happened by accident, the matter of Pupu was something Tie had started on her own, without consulting the squad.

And there was another reason Tie feared a situation like this.

Suddenly, she remembered what had happened in Korea.

‘Little one, you must never just pick things like that up. Understood?’

She had only brought home a kitten that had been playing alone against a wall in an alley.

But the grandmother from apartment 107 had scolded Tie sternly, her face serious.

‘They say mother cats abandon their babies if a human touches them. Because the human scent remains on them. Understood?’

‘Mm...... But if the mother cat throws him away, then Tie can raise him, right?’

She had simply offered a simple and logical solution, but the grandmother’s expression grew even darker.

‘Raise him? You?’

‘Yeees, Tie will give him milk, clean the poop, and raise him!’

‘And what if he gets sick? Do you have money to take him to the hospital? While you’re at kindergarten, who will look after him?’

At first, she had felt hurt.

The tiny animal in her palms was so cute that she did not want to let go.

But when the aunt from apartment 203 came down because of the noise, Tie became completely flustered.

‘Tie. You may not know about other things, but when it comes to life, you must take responsibility, all right?’

‘Responsibility......?’

‘Are you sure you can stay beside this kitten until the very end, until he lives a happy life and goes to the sky?’

At first, she had wanted to stubbornly say that she could.

But after thinking carefully, Tie realized that, just as the aunt had said, she would not be able to stay by the kitten’s side forever.

‘......I can’t.’

‘See? That’s why you can’t just take a life lightly. Even animals understand everything. Loneliness, sadness, and how they long for their owner when they are left alone.’

Now, remembering that, Tie understood that the aunt from apartment 203 had been right.

When she left Korea, Tie had to leave everything behind.

That meant if she had started living with the kitten back then, she would have had to abandon him when she departed.

Fortunately, the kitten found his mother and went with her.

Later, he was sometimes seen basking in the sunlight by the wall together with his mother.

‘So Tie knows you can’t just pick someone up like that.’

She knew that to raise someone, you needed responsibility and serious thought!

But right now, Pupu had nowhere to go.

From the very beginning, he had thought Tie was his mother and had followed her.

While she nervously fidgeted with her fingers, trying to think of how to explain everything, Bale let out a heavy sigh.

“Haa.”

Her shoulders shrank on their own.

‘Everyone is angry.......’

Now she saw that Basto, Nordix, and even Raul and Enzo were there.

All of their expressions were dark.

‘Because Tie didn’t consult anyone!’

What if the squad members told her to return Pupu to where he had been?

At the moment when she agonized over whether they might consider Pupu a magical beast—

“His name is Pupu?”

Bale asked cautiously.

Startled, Tie nodded hesitantly.

“Y-yeah, Pupu.”

“Kiddo, do you want to keep walking together with Pupu?”

Her mouth went dry at the unexpectedly positive reaction.

“Yeah, um...... Tie already promised to be Pupu’s mom.”

“Then do as you wish, Tie.”

Basto stepped forward from behind.

He smoothed Tie’s messy hair and said,

“It’s hard to keep playing a role in front of people all the time, isn’t it?”

Tie tilted her head.

Why such a question all of a sudden?

Of course, sometimes she was afraid of being exposed......

She shook her head to show she was fine, but Basto’s expression did not soften.

“You don’t have to say you’re fine every time.”

“Yeah, kiddo. If it’s hard, you can say it’s hard.”

When even Bale supported her, Tie’s eyes widened.

Strange. Bale usually only teased her or joked around.

“If you think about it, since we founded the squad, there hasn’t been a single time we did something just because you wanted it.”

“Uh?”

“Yes, we’ve been moving to find your father, that’s true. But we’ve never done something you truly wanted.”

Tie’s mouth parted slightly.

It was true. In Pearlcity and in the Weapon District.

They had followed plans made by the other squad members.

But wasn’t that natural?

Even if she was the squad leader, Tie hardly knew anything about this world.

“You kept saying you wanted to go to a learning center or an orphanage, and we couldn’t even give you that.”

“Th-that......”

Sometimes, when she missed kindergarten, she had said that.

That she wanted to go back to kindergarten.

When they found out what it was, the squad members had looked awkward.

Apparently because a mercenary squad had to keep moving constantly.

After thinking for a moment, Bale carefully asked,

“Is Pupu definitely safe?”

Tie nodded quickly.

“Yes! Very very safe! But Bale oppa, aren’t you going to ask where Pupu came from?”

“I already know. You don’t have to say.”

Tie’s eyes widened.

Bale glanced at Nordix and smiled faintly.

“If it were something dangerous, you wouldn’t be this stubborn.”

“Hic. Bale oppa......”

“But if anything ever feels strange, tell us right away, all right? You must not be in danger.”

......He was so kind.

Today he was strangely kind!

Tie nodded in confusion.

“When we reach the capital, we plan to exchange all the accumulated magical beast cores for reward money, Tie.”

Nordix, who had been observing, cut in.

“After that, I’m thinking of buying a mansion with the money. What do you think? I believe it wouldn’t be bad for us to have a base.”

Her eyes turned round.

“A baase?”