The White Tiger Clan’s Baby Cotton Ball - Chapter 108

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

Chapter 108

 

On the way back with Gaya, leaving Sanyu behind.

 

“Chirp…”

 

A short sigh escaped from between Soya’s tiny beak.

 

Perhaps she had been quite tense trying to hide her identity, as her body relaxed the moment Sanyu was no longer visible.

 

Seeing the drooping baby bird, Gaya raised one eyebrow crookedly.

 

“Tell me the truth, Somsom. What did that guy do to you?”

 

“Peep. (He didn’t do anything.)”

 

Soya stopped imitating bird sounds and began communicating with Gaya.

 

Then, along with Soya’s bird chirping, her message was conveyed.

 

“Don’t lie. There’s no way he didn’t…”

 

Suddenly, Gaya stopped walking.

 

His gaze turned to the cloth wrapped around Soya’s wing like a bandage.

 

In an instant, his eyes flipped completely.

 

“This bandage… Don’t tell me that bastard injured your wing?”

 

‘Eek?’

 

It was such a menacing look and voice, as if he would immediately run back and kill Jeok Sanyu.

 

“Peep, peep! (N-no!)”

 

Soya unconsciously stuttered.

 

Then his face immediately became gentle again.

 

‘Just now… what was that? Did I see it wrong?’

 

Soya’s bean-sized pupils shook violently like an earthquake at the instantly changed atmosphere.

 

“You promised Elder Brother you wouldn’t get hurt. Yet you come back injured like this.”

 

However, Gaya whispered affectionately as if the expression he had shown moments ago was a lie.

 

“Elder Brother is so upset, Somsom.”

 

“Peep? (When did we make such a promise?)”

 

Soya asked in a bewildered voice, but Gaya didn’t answer and only said what he wanted to say.

 

“Still, I’m glad you seem safe. You look a bit smaller though, hmm… Your feathers have turned white too, and you can’t speak human words.”

 

Gaya stared intently at Soya, then tilted his head to the side.

 

“But Somsom. How long will you stay in this form?”

 

“Peep? (Is this form not good?)”

 

Soya lowered her short head to look at her own body, now without red feathers.

 

Then Gaya smiled and answered.

 

“No. You’re much cuter. Baby Somsom suits white better than red.”

 

“Peep, peep! (That’s right! I’m Baek Soya of the White Tiger Family!)”

 

“Right. You’re Somsom of the White Tiger Family. Smart girl.”

 

“Peep, peep! (The masters at White Tiger Palace always say that too. That I’m very clever, taking after Father!)”

 

As the two were exchanging conversation while walking.

 

Soya, who had been rolling around on Gaya’s palm, perked up her ears and sat up at the urgent footsteps heard from far away.

 

‘Huh? These footsteps are…!’

 

If she wasn’t mistaken, this was definitely…

 

‘…!’

 

In an instant, Soya’s bean-sized eyes widened.

 

She spotted Saeon and Seolyeo running toward them, breathing roughly.

 

Gaya also spotted Saeon and stopped.

 

“Huh? Fath…”

 

But before his words could finish.

 

“Peeeep!”

 

Soya immediately flew toward Saeon.

 

Flapping her wings vigorously, the same wings that had been too painful to move properly just moments before.

 

“Baby Cotton Ball.”

 

Saeon’s expression immediately hardened as he looked at the baby bird that had landed gracefully on his palm.

 

“What’s this bandage?”

 

“Soya! Are you hurt?”

 

Seolyeo, who was beside Saeon, also asked with tears welling up.

 

“Peep? Peeeep!”

 

Soya tried to show she was fine by flapping her wings, but ended up overexerting herself and tumbled over.

 

“Ouch.”

 

“Cotton Ball!”

 

“Soya!”

 

Saeon and Seolyeo cried out in surprise simultaneously, but Soya didn’t get up and just blinked her eyes blankly in place.

 

“Huh? Just now my voice was…”

 

Soya’s face brightened as she muttered unconsciously.

 

The body of a baby bird that had returned to before First Growth couldn’t produce human speech.

 

However, what had just come from her beak was definitely a human voice.

 

Not only that, but her wing feathers were also gradually being dyed red.

 

It was a sign that the temporarily sealed power of her Spirit Core was returning.

 

Pop!

 

When she attempted Human Transformation, Soya’s body returned to that of a human girl.

 

“I’m back!”

 

“Cotton Ball?”

 

“It’s not a serious injury. I’m sorry for making you worry, Father.”

 

Soya laughed cheerfully and threw herself into Saeon’s arms.

 

Saeon’s deliberately hardened expression softened a little.

 

“I’m glad you’re not seriously hurt. You don’t know how worried Papa was about Baby Cotton Ball.”

 

Saeon said as he lifted Soya up.

 

“Ah, I’m really fine, Father. It’s not that serious an injury…!”

 

“Not serious? Your ankle is swollen red.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Soya was startled when she looked down at her ankle at those words.

 

She had been so focused on her painful wing that she didn’t even know she was injured, but her ankle was indeed swollen red.

 

Once she noticed it belatedly, it felt even more painful.

 

“Still, it’s not so bad that I can’t walk…”

 

Soya muttered quietly while glancing at Saeon.

 

“Just for today, you can rely on Papa more. It’s the day Baby Cotton Ball saved the world.”

 

At those words, Soya quietly leaned into her father’s embrace.

 

Even after achieving First Growth, being carried by her father made her feel like she had become a little child again…

 

‘Well, so what. I did something very difficult but amazing today. Plus my ankle does hurt a little. And Papa said before that even when I’m a hundred years old, I’ll always be a baby in Papa’s eyes. But I’m still only twelve…’

 

Soya’s expression became much more peaceful after finding her own reasonable justification.

 

Meanwhile, Gaya, who was watching from a few steps away, looked a bit sulky.

 

“How ruthless, Somsom.”

 

It was just moments ago that she had been triumphant, showing off to Jeok Sanyu.

 

Making his joy seem pointless, seeing Soya fly straight to her father the moment she saw him made him feel like he had become just like that guy.

 

“Maybe I should have said father instead of elder brother.”

 

Gaya grumbled with his arms crossed crookedly.

 

However, contrary to his grumbling mouth, the corners of his eyes looking at his father and sister were slightly curved.

 

“I heard from Seolyeo. About what happened in the Underworld Palace.”

 

Saeon said as he walked steadily while holding Soya.

 

“It must have been very scary and difficult, but thank you for overcoming it so magnificently. Our youngest baby, when did you grow up so wonderfully.”

 

“I’m a daughter of the White Tiger Family too. I just did what was natural.”

 

Soya answered with a proud expression at her father’s praise.

 

“And since Father was waiting outside, blocking the demon beasts…”

 

Soya glanced at Saeon as she added.

 

“I’m glad Father is safe and unharmed too.”

 

“Even in all that, you were only thinking about Papa, my baby?”

 

Soya giggled at Saeon’s words as he chuckled softly.

 

Seolyeo and Gaya followed behind Saeon as he walked.

 

Seolyeo had cleverly retrieved the Hyeonmu Iron Shield in the meantime.

 

She said that right after the underground palace collapsed, she walked steadily while carrying the shield in her mouth and encountered Saeon.

 

“Is it really true that the demon beasts have lost their power?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Saeon explained what had happened in the meantime.

 

After sending Soya and Seolyeo ahead first, he faced Taowu’s demon beast legion alone.

 

The demon beasts kept swarming, and there were so many that no matter how many he defeated, there seemed to be no end.

 

But suddenly, he felt a tremendous vibration.

 

Taowu, who had been commanding the demon beast legion, suddenly collapsed to the ground and coughed up blood.

 

The demon beasts wavered along with him.

 

Taking advantage of their weakened state, Saeon cut down the enemies.

 

As Taowu and the higher-grade demon beasts fled and he was pursuing them.

 

He felt another vibration.

 

In an instant, the sky turned pitch black, and a chilling sensation swept across his skin.

 

Saeon could tell that it was ‘evil.’

 

The ‘evil’ was losing its power and fleeing.

 

After the evil passed, Saeon barely regained his senses and immediately spun around.

 

‘Cotton Ball!’

 

This wasn’t the time to chase demon beasts.

 

If the ‘evil’ had truly fled, he needed to find Soya.

 

He had to find her and confirm that the child was safe, that she wasn’t hurt anywhere.

 

With that thought, he ran toward the direction of the underground palace.

 

However, at the location where the underground palace had originally stood, only traces of the Black Marsh remained.

 

It had been a palace maintained by the power of the Black Tortoise Clan, but it collapsed when Hyeon Rabaek, the clan’s leader, died and his successor disappeared.

 

And there, Saeon encountered Seolyeo.

 

Through Seolyeo, he learned that Hyeon Rabaek had died, the evil had fled, and that she and Soya had been thrown outside when the underground palace collapsed.

 

After that, he had been wandering around following Soya’s scent until they met like this…

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