By Zephyria 
“If the female and male flowers were from different magical beasts, it wouldn’t matter, but if the liquor was brewed from female and male flowers that bloomed on a single plant…”
“And if they were?”
“Well, um… the reason female and male flowers are separated is fundamentally for pollination, right? Pollination is essentially the reproduction of a living organism, and this magical beast is no different, so…”
Tae-un nodded gravely, somehow understanding the rambling explanation that had grown long because it was difficult to describe.
“So you’re saying the person who drank it must also perform a reproductive act. Come to think of it, I’ve been feeling a strange heat in my body for a while now.”
“…It’s not an aphrodisiac. If it had that effect, I would have warned you sooner.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s just that if the people who shared the liquor move away from each other, any mental disorders they usually suffer from will worsen. I don’t have anything that could be called a mental illness, so it doesn’t matter for me.”
Tae-un suddenly asked with a fluttery expression.
“For a lifetime?”
“Usually it’s a month, but since you’re an Awakened and your magical power is dense, maybe two weeks at most?”
His eyes sparkled as he let out a slender sigh.
“Hyung. I’m confessing this now, but I’m basically a walking psychiatric ward. I have obsessive-compulsive disorder, sleep disorders, and I can’t control my impulses, among countless others, so it can’t be helped. To overcome my symptoms, I’ll have no choice but to sleep in the same bed as you every night from now on.”
“No, I said it’s not that dangerous. Just being aware that you’re under the same roof is enough.”
“Anyway, at least for the next two weeks, you won’t even think about moving out to the dormitory. Right?”
“…Uh, well.”
Kim Si-baek subtly avoided Tae-un’s sparkling eyes. Since it wasn’t a significant side effect like the infiltration of poison or magical energy, he couldn’t purify it with his divine power—though a priest of another god might have been able to.
“But it’s not like anything has specially changed from before. We already live in the same house, go to the same workplace, and hang out together.”
That was true, but hadn’t something else been added to their relationship since the Id Portal? As Kim Si-baek looked troubled—having even intended to find a separate house—Tae-un gave a beaming smile.
“It was my fault for bringing the liquor without knowing properly, so I’ll be a well-behaved Un-i for two weeks.”
He doubted whether he could actually trust him, but what else was there to do? He had no choice but to pretend to believe.
“If I’m well-behaved, does that mean I can keep going on quests or dates with you in the future?”
“I’ll adjust to your schedule for the time being, so don’t intentionally skip work.”
“When have I ever done something you told me not to? Of course, I’ll only follow you on holidays or after work.”
Even in this situation, Tae-un’s tilt of the head was so pretty that Kim Si-baek unconsciously patted his cheek. He startled and tried to pull his hand away belatedly, but Tae-un tilted his head and rubbed his cheek against the palm. Feeling his tension melt away at the soft, familiar touch, Kim Si-baek made a vow.
‘I just need to keep my center and not get swept up by the kid…’
It was a vow he himself found difficult to be certain of.
Tae-un’s brazen and confident remarks produced a result that no one expected. The 7777 Guild switched to a four-day workweek. Naturally, the Guild Master Tae-un’s holidays also increased to three days a week.
“A four-day workweek all of a sudden? What kind of crazy talk is this?!”
“I have to go on dates with Si-baek hyung on my days off.”
Yang Eun-ho clutched the back of his neck. Because Tae-un pushed the change through without any preparation, Yang Eun-ho almost threw away the resignation letter he had been cherishing, but the situation was barely managed when Tae-un handed over five S-class magical beast magic stones.
Thus, Tae-un solved all the noise with money, and the ‘Unnamed One’ who achieved the four-day workweek came to be revered as a sanctuary on the company bulletin board.
✽ ✽ ✽
Since Kim Si-baek’s abilities were too special to be tied to a single specific attack squad, it was decided that he would provide support as a Special Task Force whenever needed. Kim Si-baek’s first assignment as a guild member was backing up the 2nd Attack Squad, led by Seo Gae-un.
“4 o’clock! Block it!”
“Throw the sound-bomb items!”
The magical beasts were a herd called Long-Rhinos, a mix of elephants and rhinoceroses, but named such because their size was closer to a rhino. The tankers blocked the beasts’ advance, and sound-bomb magical tools exploded. The dealers poured out attacks, not missing the moment the Long-Rhinos fell into brief confusion. It didn’t take long for the field, mostly populated by B-class magical beasts, to be filled with the sounds of battle.
“Grrr-rrgh!”
A particularly large Long-Rhino among the herd charged and slammed its blood-stained ivory down. The tanker, unable to deflect the weight-heavy attack and taking it all head-on, groaned as his waist buckled.
The Long-Rhino used the gap created in that moment to lift its front leg as if stepping on the tanker and swung its long nose sideways like a whip. Whoosh! The air split with a heavy sound.
The beast wasn’t only targeting the tanker who kept annoyingly blocking its path. A hunter attacking from the Long-Rhino’s blind spot leaped back and successfully avoided the attack, but lost his balance upon landing.
Another Long-Rhino from the herd, already enraged, didn’t miss the opportunity and charged.
“Aaagh!”
Far from a counterattack, there wasn’t even a split second to regain balance. The hunter reflexively screamed and covered his face to protect his vitals. At that moment, the hunter felt his body being snatched from behind and lifted into the air.
‘…Eh?’
Before he could grasp the situation, the owner of the arm wrapped around his waist lightly leaped. Kim Si-baek, landing softly on the Long-Rhino’s nose, leaped one step further to reach the beast’s head in an instant and plunged a blade shimmering with a faint light into its crown.
Thwack! It was a penetration sound so light it was hard to believe he had pierced through thick muscle and a hard skull. The blade, imbued with the grace of the God of Death, turned into a fatal wound and snatched away the magical beast’s life.
Setting the hunter he had tucked under his arm back on the ground, Kim Si-baek gave a light smile and turned back to walk into the chaos of battle. Only then did the hunter, regaining his senses, realize he hadn’t even said thank you.
After a long while, the last Long-Rhino crashed to the ground. The members of the 2nd Attack Squad let out a cheer that was both exhausted and relieved.
“Alright, alright! Hurry up and butcher them before the sun sets and prepare the camp.”
Seo Gae-un clapped her hands to shift the mood. The porters butchered the magical beasts and loaded them into refrigerated trucks, while the hunters tidied up the area. Kim Si-baek also tended to the wounded.
Tae-un, who had followed along and watched from a distance, trotted over to help him. Kim Si-baek instinctively tensed as Tae-un approached, but he was faithfully fulfilling his promise to be well-behaved for two weeks.
Since he was enduring it now, as for how it would explode after two weeks… he decided not to think about it. Surely his future self would handle it somehow.
“Th-thank you…”
The wounded blinked, looking at their wounds healing before their eyes with expressions of disbelief. Some checked the injured areas several times, finding it fascinating.
“Should we trust that crow from now on?”
There was a hunter who clasped their hands and cast a dreamy gaze toward Biyendwe.
“If you have a separate religion you believe in, please continue your faith. As for the crow, um… please love it a lot.”
In mak slecht, it was the god who fashioned humans, but it was the humans who spread the god’s name and elevated their divine status. Although the direction was different, an increase in those who praised him would not have a negative effect, so the baby crow, in need of attention, fluttered around them.
“Wow, it’s a baby, but it’s quite charismatic, isn’t it?”
“Does this one like shiny things too?”
The gaze directed toward Biyendwe shifted from ‘an ugly, hideous crow’ to ‘an ugly crow that grows on you the more you look at it.’ It was largely a result of the ‘rose-colored glasses’ caused by the healing abilities.
Seo Gae-un approached Kim Si-baek after he finished treating the wounded.
“Thank you for your hard work, Mentor. And the Guild Master… I don’t know what he did, but thank you for your hard work as well.”
“Hmm.”
“You too, Hunter Seo Gae-un.”
Receiving the water bottle she handed over, Kim Si-baek felt a surge of emotion. Just as it had been during the giant vine incident, the contrast between her current self, leading and commanding people, and the memory of the clumsy, small child was strange yet admirable.
Pi Min-hyeong had been a healthy baby, but Seo Gae-un, who had come to the orphanage holding her grandmother’s hand, had been of average size for her age. That child had grown rapidly around puberty, and now that she was an adult, she had truly grown a lot.
Seo Gae-un, who was taller than Kim Si-baek, looked around and lowered her voice.
“Mentor. Isn’t it a lie that you were an NIS agent?”