The Rogue, Genius, Chaebol's Daughter is a Baby Master Detective! - Chapter 16
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A delinquent, a genius, and a tycoon’s daughter walk into kindergarten—as baby detectives!
Chapter 16
It was Haru’s outfit that first caught the eye.
Pink Heart Sunglasses and a Triangular Scarf wound around her head. A Toy Water Gun jutting from her pocket. Haru planted one hand against her brow with theatrical flair.
“Boss, I swear on my life—I will protect you.”
Haru had just resolved to take down evildoers in earnest.
She’d eaten broccoli and carrots, picked up a tissue another child had dropped and thrown it away, patted a crying friend’s back, played bodyguard for Siu—done it all!
But not a single Good Detective Stamp.
So she’d decided: she had to try harder.
“What’s with that ridiculous getup?”
Haru slid her sunglasses down her nose, protesting.
“Ridiculous? I’m a genius, remember?”
“Whatever. Stop following me.”
Haru’s head tilted, confused.
“But I’m protecting you.”
“I don’t need it.”
“I’m repaying a debt.”
“We’re even now. I said stop.”
“Let me be your bodyguard. Your guardian angel.”
“Quit it. You just annoy me. Go away.”
Siu shoved her hard. Haru stumbled backward, landed on her bottom, and her lower lip jutted out.
Hmph. Siu really was a bad kid. Using mean words, pushing people around.
If she collected enough Good Detective Stamps, Mom would come home. But was protecting a bad kid a good deed?
This was complicated.
Haru rubbed her sore bottom and thought hard.
Still, catching villains was definitely good. And Siu was only five years old, just a little kid. Maybe if he read the Pig Picture Book more, he’d turn kind too?
Just then, a yellow head popped up from inside Haru’s bag.
“Villain: ‘Go away’ registered.”
“Eek!”
Startled, Haru quickly shoved Dodo back into the bag and whispered urgently.
“Shhh! We’re on a stakeout.”
Zip—
She was zipping it shut when Siu’s voice cut through.
“Stakeout?”
Haru popped up off the ground, dusting herself off. She couldn’t tell Siu her plan—he wasn’t even her friend, and he wouldn’t help anyway. Detective Haru adjusts tactics.
“That’s not your concern.”
“What?”
“We’re not even friends, remember?”
Haru spun around and bolted away. Siu, suddenly alone, stood there stunned, mouth hanging open.
She’d clung to him like gum on a shoe, and now she’d vanished just like that. He should have been relieved.
Yet Siu lingered there for a long moment.
“…What’s wrong with that kid?”
“Hmm.”
Haru had realized something while talking to Siu: the key wasn’t protection—it was stopping the villain!
Evidence. That’s what mattered. Every villain got caught by the police with evidence in hand.
Right—she didn’t need to be a bodyguard to protect him. Even bad kids deserved protection. This time, she’d execute a perfect plan and catch that villain for good!
Haru was grinning to herself when her eyes met the teacher’s. She froze.
The teacher kept watching her lately.
Haru glanced around, searching for Kim Ho-Juni.
Kim Ho-Juni was lingering near Siu.
“Kim Ho-Juni!”
At Haru’s thunderous cry, Kim Ho-Juni came scurrying over.
“What is it?”
“We have a crisis.”
Haru ducked behind Kim Ho-Juni’s back.
“The teacher is watching me.”
Kim Ho-Juni glanced at the teacher. His shoulders flinched. Haru grabbed his sleeve tight. His body, ready to flee, froze mid-step.
“You’re an accomplice now.”
“B-but I didn’t do anything!”
“You helped the teacher with her blanket, didn’t you?”
“It’s okay. We’ll figure something out.”
“Figure out what?”
Haru picked up the doll that had fallen to the floor.
“We have to pretend we’re playing with dolls.”
Kim Ho-Juni awkwardly grabbed a doll as well and plopped down where Haru was tapping.
The two sat with their heads close together and began their doll game—or rather, their operation.
Whoosh—
Kim Ho-Juni made a wind sound and cried out.
“Squirrel Brothers Ultra Mega Fusion!”
“Haru doesn’t want to fuse.”
“Then Ultra Songsung Punch!”
Bam-bam-bam—
Kim Ho-Juni grabbed both hands of his squirrel doll and delivered a flurry of punches to Haru’s squirrel.
“Kim Ho-Juni! You can’t just hit someone without evidence. Haru’s squirrel isn’t an evildoer!”
“Any squirrel that won’t fuse is an evildoer.”
“There’s no logic to that!”
“That’s just how it is.”
Haru threw her doll across the floor.
“I’m not playing with dolls with Kim Ho-Juni anymore.”
Oops—her voice had gotten too loud. She’d gotten too absorbed in the operation.
Haru snapped to attention and glanced at the teacher. She was busy talking with other children and didn’t seem to notice.
Haru let out a relieved sigh and leaned close to the now-dejected Kim Ho-Juni, whispering softly.
“Haru has found an assistant.”
“An assistant? So I wasn’t enough…?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
Kim Ho-Juni’s fists clenched tightly.
It happens in Ultra Songsung Man too.
When Songsung Man becomes useless, he gets replaced by another Songsung Man.
“Is this new kid taller? Stronger? From the older class?”
Kim Ho-Juni’s eyes swept across the classroom, growing combative.
He wanted to defeat the kindergarten evildoer too. Though he didn’t quite understand why the evildoer turned out to be the teacher.
“But they don’t even go to kindergarten….”
Thump-thump.
Kim Ho-Juni’s imagination began to spiral.
Tall, strong, and a genius assistant who didn’t even need to attend kindergarten.
Kim Ho-Juni’s brow sank.
“So what about me?”
Kim Ho-Juni set his squirrel doll down lifelessly on the floor.
“Does Haru not need me anymore?”
Haru pressed her palm to her forehead with a soft tap.
“That’s not true. The day Kim Ho-Juni stops being needed will never come.”
Kim Ho-Juni, who had been staring emptily at the floor, suddenly looked up.
Haru reached out with her squirrel doll and gently poked his doll.
“Kim Ho-Juni is Haru’s friend.”
Tears of emotion welled up in Kim Ho-Juni’s eyes.
“If you want to be more than just a friend, I could make you my assistant instead.”
Kim Ho-Juni shook his head vigorously.
“I want to be Detective Haru’s friend.”
Haru placed her hands on her hips with conviction.
“Good. Operation is a go.”
Kim Ho-Juni nodded earnestly.
“I’ll send my assistant to find out the villain’s secrets.”
“And then what will we do?”
“If it turns out to be something shameful, they’ll have to be punished. Until then, Kim Ho-Juni, you can’t say a word.”
At Haru’s stern gaze, Kim Ho-Juni sealed his lips and nodded sharply.
From behind Kim Ho-Juni, Haru quietly pulled out Dodo.
Pop-pop.
As the baby Dodo waddled forward, disappointment clouded Kim Ho-Juni’s eyes.
“This is your assistant? Isn’t this just a chick?”
“Shh, be quiet. It’s not a chick. It’s a baby Dodo bird. Dodo, from now on you need to watch what the teacher’s been doing and report back to me. Got it?”
Dodo nodded.
It had been smart to activate Silent Mode before parting with Siu earlier. Haru smiled with satisfaction and tucked Dodo between the flowerpots on the windowsill.
Villains always have a motive. You have to understand it to stop them from doing wrong.
Haru glanced back at the flowerpots with a worried expression. Could she really trust this assistant—the same one who hadn’t even solved the strawberry milk case—with such an important mission?
But Haru was already under the teacher’s watch. Moving carelessly now would give the villain an opening to strike.
“I’m counting on you, Dodo.”
Haru turned away from the flowerpots with grim determination.
After that, Haru pretended to read the picture book while stealing glances at the flowerpots. A tuft of yellow fluff rose and fell between the pots. When she saw the blunt beak tilt toward the teacher, Haru nodded with satisfaction.
A perfect stakeout.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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