006
A huge pile of fried chicken was served, but I just stared at the words on the screen with my mouth agape.
[The Water Spirit King ‘■■■■’ has proposed to appear on the parenting reality show <My Child Who Is Adorable Enough Not to Hurt Even in My Eye>.]
[Appearance Reward: Blessings from the spirit kings who have entered.]
[Do you accept? Yes/No]
Strangely, only the ‘Yes’ option was decorated with flowers, sparkles, and ribbons.
Even though I didn’t quite understand what it meant, I liked the pretty decorations.
So, I poked the ‘Yes’ with my fork.
“Don’t play with your food at the table, Crab.”
A solemn voice immediately scolded me.
“It wasn’t me…!”
I opened my mouth to explain this strange event, but then I realized I was actually chirping like a baby bird.
“Chirp? Chirp?!”
I was clearly trying to explain, so why was this happening?
“Hey.”
Then Dad, who is also like an uncle, quietly gave a warning.
Grandfather, on the other hand, was watching with amusement.
I was about to cry.
‘No, seriously, it’s because of this!’
Just then…
[The Water Spirit King ‘■■■■’ has proposed exploring otherworldly cultures.]
[For the young participants, the dialogue screen will be made a bit cuter.]
[Emoticons unlocked! (❁´▽`❁)]
Next to the text, a strange drawing appeared…
Was it a smiling face?
I tilted my head in confusion, and another set of sparkly text appeared.
[Hello. I’m Yupyrhos, the manager of Eden and the butler who serves all the Spirit Kings.]
[From now on, I’ll be sending you various notifications. Please take care of me! `+◟( ˘ ³˘)◞ ♡]
I knew what a butler was.
There were friends at the daycare whose dream was to become a butler when they grew up.
‘So… are Spirit Kings important people?’
Before I could even adapt to this sudden development, another sparkly text appeared.
[The Spirit King of Emotions ‘■■■’ has entered!]
[The Spirit King of Emotions ‘■■■’ is smiling brightly at you.]
[Whose child is this? Can I raise them?]
“……….”
Confused, I stabbed my fork into the now-cold fried chicken.
Food first.
No matter the situation, a foodie never forgets to eat!
[The Water Spirit King ‘■■■■’ boasts to all the entered Spirit Kings about how well their child is eating.]
[The Water Spirit King ‘■■■■’ suggests a joint parenting effort to all the Spirit Kings who have entered.]
[Currently, six Spirit Kings have entered <My Child Who Is Adorable Enough Not to Hurt Even in My Eye>.]
Hmm, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t ignore it.
‘Water, Fire, Earth, Emotions… that’s only four.’
Who are the other two?
Tilting my head in confusion, I cleaned my plate.
The next course was crispy roasted peas and mashed potatoes.
‘I don’t like peas.’
At daycare, I ate them maturely because there were only a few.
But now, my plate was overflowing with peas.
“You need to eat healthy food too. Don’t leave any behind.”
As I kept poking at the peas with my fork, Dad, who is also like an uncle, quietly watching me again, said something
Grandfather, meanwhile, was shaking with laughter.
Even though I forced myself to eat the mashed potatoes together with the peas, I couldn’t open my mouth wide like a carp.
I ate just a little, opening and closing my mouth like a fish, and then Dad, who is also like an uncle, raised his eyebrows.
“More.”
“……….”
You know, if it’s good for you, shouldn’t adults eat more of it?
‘Chuu is strong enough!’
As I was seriously pondering this, more text appeared in front of me.
[The Spirit King of Emotions ‘■■■’ has blessed you with ‘Great Adaptability!’]
[Your ability to adapt to situations slightly increases.]
[Your bravery slightly increases. You might become a bit reckless?! ✧☆٩(`･ω･´)و]
[This blessing lasts for 5 minutes.]
A butterfly that sparkled in various colors—red, blue, yellow, green, white—landed on the bridge of my nose.
It seemed like I was the only one who could see it.
‘Ah!’
But as soon as I reached out to catch it, the butterfly popped and disappeared like a bubble.
‘Hmm.’
Did I become a bit braver?
Honestly, I couldn’t really tell if there was any change.
[The Spirit King of Emotions ‘■■■’ has proposed a joint mission reward.]
A joint mission?
A Spirit King’s united quest!
You grow strong by eating well!
All the Spirit Kings who had entered the room gave you an assignment.
✔ Feed the peas to Admiral Diegon Pashayen!
Reward for success: 60g of magical energy-boosting sugar.
Punishment for failure: Only chirping for one day (24 hours).
I stared calmly at the words.
I had figured out two things about these strange messages that kept appearing.
One. No matter how much I try to talk about them, no words come out.
Two. Somehow… it feels like they’re teasing me!
‘But the magical sugar… I think it would be nice to give it to the teacher.’
I nodded, thinking of the teacher in charge of the educational officer who always looked so tired with dark circles under her eyes.
‘I’ll give it a try.’
[The Spirit King of Fire ‘■■■■■’ is pleased with the baby’s spirit of challenge.]
[The Spirit King of Earth ‘■’ is secretly hoping you’ll fail and end up chirping.]
‘No way!’
I’m already four years old; I don’t want to chirp like a baby.
I puffed out my cheeks and stared intently at Dad, who is also like an uncle.
He, too, stopped eating and looked at me.
After a brief staring contest, I climbed down from my chair with a grunt and grabbed my plate.
“What are you doing?”
“Deliciwous things, we shouwa eat togetha.”
“Hmm.”
“Nana wants to eat.”
I toddled over to stand in front of him, and he rested his chin on his hand.
Straining on my tiptoes, I pushed my crab-shaped plate next to his big one.
“You rascal, you’re trying to make Diegon eat because you don’t want to, huh?”
“No, it’s not. Mister, you like peas.”
“Mister? Haha! You little rascal, have you still never called him Dad even once?”
Grandfather laughed heartily.
His large mustache shook like a marshmallow, making me smile too.
The only one not laughing was that Mister.
“…It’s okay if you call me Dad.”
“D-Dad…?”
“Today, I’ll officially process the adoption papers. Then you will officially become Lady Pashayen.”
“That’s because Chuu was chosen by the ancestor of whale, right?”
In response to my question, Mister.
No, Dad.
‘No. Actually, I still don’t really want to call him that yet.’
As I hesitated, more text appeared with a sly suggestion.
[The Spirit King of Earth ‘■’ recommends the title ‘Admiral.’]
[The Water Spirit King ‘■■■■’ shows a sad expression.]
‘Okay, Admiral.’
The Admiral lifted me up and awkwardly sat me on his thigh.
“The Pashayen family has long accepted those who are not of bloodline into the family. The choice of the ancestor od whale is always for the benefit of the family and is considered absolutely right, so no one thinks it strange.”
“Mmm.”
“Even Ricardo, whom you got back at, is adopted. He may come from a lower noble family, though.”
This position seems perfect for feeding peas!
Even as I listened to the Admiral’s story, I kept a firm grip on the child-sized fork.
“The family head can only be of the Pashayen bloodline, but both a Resonator and an admiral can be adopted. Among them, you are a Resonator…!”
Poke.
“Ouch.”
I, who had been watching for the right moment, didn’t miss the Admiral’s mouth opening wide.
With lightning speed, the fork went into his mouth.
The Admiral looked down at me with an expression that was utterly dumbfounded, as if to say, ‘What in the world?’
An awkward silence followed.
“Pahahahaha!”
It was Grandfather who broke the chilly atmosphere with his laughter.
“Ahahaha, oh, look at that cheeky little rascal!”
Bang! Bang!
The entire space shook every time Grandfather slapped the table with his hand.
I quickly averted my eyes from the Admiral’s gaze and stuffed some peas into my mouth too.
Chew.
“Peas are healthy.”
“Hmm.”
“Admiral, let’s eat together.”
It’s no secret that the Admiral had four peas in his mouth, while I only had one.
[The Spirit King of Emotions ‘■■■’ is rolling on the floor, laughing at the expression you just made.]
[The Water Spirit King ‘■■■■’ is mumbling, ‘Is this really okay…?’]
[The Spirit King of Fire ‘■■■■■’ is defending you.]
[I don’t want to see a child who is obedient and trying to be loved. It’s cuter when they’re like this.]
Several lines of text scrolled up and then disappeared.
And then… as I blinked, I suddenly covered my mouth with my hands.
What have I done?!
