The Chick Class Hunter is Being Filial - Chapter 109

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chick Class Hunter is Being Filial! Episode 109

“If the wolf uncle is a bad person, shake the acorns.”

“No!”

Shake shake.

“Guild Leader buys me candy and comes when I’m scared.”

The Train Conductor showed a grin.

“Then he’s doing a good job being a dad. What’s so special about being a dad anyway? If you love them enough to buy them tasty things and hold their hand and take them to nice places, you’re a dad.”

He turned his eyes to On Jurim and spoke nonchalantly.

“I have five kids, but I’ve never done anything special other than that. But I’m still their dad.”

“Because you’re blood-related?”

At Han Gru’s question, the Train Conductor turned his gaze again.

“No, elephant beastmen raise children communally within the herd. None of those five children share my blood. But I’m still their dad. Do you know why?”

“Um… because you adopted them!”

“We’re a family with a bond more special than blood.”

Han Gru opened his mouth in wonder.

“There’s such a thing?”

“There is! That builds up while doing those simple dad things. Like Baby Squirrel and the wolf uncle.”

Hoooooo-

The train’s whistle sounded.

The Train Conductor straightened his back and nodded to the Assistant Conductor who was gesturing from outside the window.

“Well then, it’s departure time.”

The Train Conductor tipped his hat in greeting.

“Have a pleasant journey.”

* * *

Clank, clank.

The train heading to the Gate began to move.

The injured had been moved to the sleeping compartment, and Gidan and Shin Nayeon had joined Cheon Gyuri to help Brom Guild.

Inevitably, only On Jurim and Han Gru ended up taking seats in the regular passenger car.

‘A special bond…’

After seating the child and resting his chin by the window, On Jurim realized why he had become obsessed with something so trivial.

Society uses different titles to express relationships between people.

From simple names to titles, honorifics, pet names, nicknames…

Titles define relationships, show their depth, and prove the relationship exists.

The desire to constantly make connections visible and audible, to establish them in tangible form, was human instinct.

On Jurim was no different.

He hadn’t just brought the child home like a flower pot and only provided quality soil and clean water.

There had been various emotional exchanges between us, and because of that, I wanted to prove through our form of address that we had a special relationship created from those interactions.

“Guild Leader.”

“Yeah?”

Han Gru, who had been glancing around nervously the whole time, raised her eyebrows high and clenched her fists tightly.

“Gru came here because… well, you see… something terrible happened to Gru…”

On Jurim burst into laughter at the part about something terrible.

“Really? What kind of scam did you fall for?”

On Jurim showed clear mockery as he picked at Han Gru’s painful memories.

‘Hmph…!’

Han Gru’s shoulders trembled.

“I put in a request at Yangpa to find Mom and Dad, but they were bad scammers.”

“…”

“I’m sorry for not telling you.”

On Jurim’s face suddenly darkened. He spoke as if muttering quietly.

“This is my fault.”

“…?”

Why is it his fault?

On Jurim placed his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together like a tower.

He looked directly into the eyes of Han Gru sitting across from him.

“Let’s look for them together. Your mom and dad.”

Thud.

Han Gru’s face went pale as she quickly shook her head back and forth.

“N-no, it’s okay now.”

“Why? You think I’ll get scammed too?”

Han Gru opened her mouth in surprise.

“Not that you’ll get scammed, but you might be the one scamming.”

“What?”

When On Jurim responded as if dumbfounded, Han Gru quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, that’s not it!”

“Then why.”

“Just because…”

Han Gru hesitated, but when On Jurim quietly waited for an answer, she slowly opened her mouth.

“I like it when Guild Leader keeps reading to me. Even if you’re being mean and saying other things, it’s fine.”

If they could just stay like this, she didn’t need to find her mom and dad.

On Jurim smiled gently.

“I’ll keep reading to you.”

“Keep reading?”

“Even after we find your parents, even when you grow up big and become an adult and become a grandmother, I’ll read to you. Also?”

“Also?”

With a flushed face, Han Gru’s ears perked up.

“Also… even when you’re angry, you hug me, and even without the watch, you come when I’m scared…”

“If you ask for a hug, I’ll hug you no matter how angry I am, and I’ll protect you even without the watch. Just like today.”

On Jurim unwrapped the candy and put it in her small mouth.

“When we go home, I’ll buy you those strawberry candies with the long name.”

The sweet strawberry flavor swirled around in her mouth.

“You can call me dad whenever you feel like it.”

In that moment, Han Gru’s mouth fell open as she rolled the candy around.

“I can’t become your biological father connected by blood, but in any moment, I’ll be your dad and you’ll be my daughter.”

The answer came a beat late.

“D… daddy?”

Han Gru blinked slowly.

Both input and output were slow, as if some part of her mind had broken down.

On Jurim spoke quietly but firmly.

“Your mom and dad will be good people. And regardless of your biological parents, we’ll always have a special relationship.”

“Always?”

“Yes, always.”

Always…? Han Gru unconsciously recalled past events.

Always.

“Now we’re Han Gru’s mom and dad. Always!”

Always.

“Han Gru is kind and pretty, so she’ll be able to meet parents better than us.”

The former mother who had spoken of always.

Returning to the orphanage.

The Orphanage Director’s tense hand.

The door she had paced in front of for a long time, wondering if it might open again.

Her mind instantly turned pure white.

“Always can change too. Before…”

Han Gru suddenly covered her mouth.

I shouldn’t say this. He might think I’m a child who’s easy to return.

‘Then I might have to go back again.’

It felt like a black hole had opened beneath her feet.

She was scared as if she would fall endlessly soon, and her heart sank with a thud.

Right, this was why.

A sudden realization flashed through her mind.

The reason she had wanted to find her mom and dad was because of the anxiety that had never disappeared and remained deeply hidden.

Because she needed a place that wouldn’t change. And for that, she needed blood ties that wouldn’t break for any reason.

When she realized that she ultimately couldn’t become the great hunter that Hyeonak needed, and that On Jurim had always been her only support, she became uncontrollably afraid.

A chilling sensation washed over him like the onset of body aches.

‘Why did I forget?’

After taking bitter medicine, you eat sweet strawberry candy to get rid of the bitter taste.

Rolling the red candy around in your mouth, you eventually forget that you even took the bitter medicine.

That’s why he had forgotten. Because it was sweet and enjoyable.

Always, daddy, tender affection.

The anxiety that had been hiding behind a thin membrane burst all too easily, overflowing from his chest.

“…Han Gru.”

“…?”

Han Gru looked up at him blankly like a broken doll.

On Jurim bit his lip and held his breath for a moment.

Faced with the child’s terror-stricken expression, he lost his words for a while and quietly met her eyes.

“You don’t have to say anything. It’s okay.”

The child who hadn’t even been breathing finally nodded her head slightly.

On Jurim grasped Han Gru’s hands and held them together on his knees.

“I heard from the Orphanage Director. So you don’t have to say anything, it’s okay.”

“…!”

The child froze completely.

Han Gru’s mouth fell open, her eyes wide with shock.

But this was something that absolutely had to be said.

“It’s not your fault. I know that too.”

With a face pale as a sheet, Han Gru shook her head back and forth.

“But still. You might think I’m a child who should go back.”

Right now, she didn’t want to go back more than ever before.

“That’s… that’s something I don’t want.”

Han Gru murmured quietly while reading the mood.

She wanted to stay with her sister, hyung, and the Guild Master.

Now, just imagining saying goodbye to everyone made her heart feel like it was hardening and breaking into pieces.

To this, On Jurim spoke more firmly than ever before.

“I won’t tell you to go back. Never.”

Han Gru’s ears perked up, then drooped down again shortly after.

A little hope, and then pessimism came to kill that hope.

“…Han Gru isn’t your real daughter.”

The foundation of her pessimism was blood relations.

For Han Gru, blood relations symbolized the failure of her previous family and the establishment of an eternal relationship.

“Like the elephant uncle, we’re a family more special than real ones.”

“…Then you won’t tell me to go back?”

“Yeah. I’ll promise you every day.”

“…Really?”

“As many times as it takes until you believe it.”

Her tightly pressed lips trembled. Han Gru lowered her head. Her small shoulders shook.

Her small hands fidgeted restlessly, showing tension and fear that wouldn’t disappear.

“I, I’m not lying. Really, really.”

If that were the case, Han Gru might become so sad that her heart would crumble like sand.

On Jurim rested his forehead against her deeply bowed head.

He struggled to hold back his trembling breath.

Taking a deep breath and gathering his emotions, On Jurim spoke tenderly.

“Change isn’t ‘always.’ I’ll teach you. You can learn now.”

Change isn’t always.

Han Gru quietly pondered those words.

The tears that had welled up dropped onto their clasped hands.

Han Gru nodded her head slightly.

Nod.

Han Gru took a deep breath.

On Jurim kissed Han Gru’s small head and whispered.

“Now lift your head and give daddy a hug.”

Nod.

Han Gru wrapped both arms around On Jurim’s neck and rubbed her face against it.

As he wiped away the falling tears, On Jurim patted her back with his large hand.

“I’ll hug you every day. This is our promise that means ‘always.'”

Now the embrace was proof of their unchanging relationship, shared only between the two of them.

Nod.

Carnivore Dinosaurs and herbivore dinosaurs, wolves and squirrels can also become family.

If so, then they were already a special family doing ordinary things together.

A family more special than blood relations would teach Han Gru an ‘always’ that would never change.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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