Chapter 53 - Does Hope Come with a Guarantee?

'Why on earth am I doing this...?'

Leviathan was a first-rate hotel. True to its reputation, it had a gym and training grounds as a matter of course, along with a sauna, interrogation room, tailor shop, conference rooms, gun shop, gallery, salon, and all manner of other facilities. Among them was a childcare center.

'It's not as if our facility is some cheap orphanage.'

Granted, the childcare center didn't see much use. Leviathan's usual clientele had little need for childcare. But it was still a proper part of the hotel, and Cheon Su-ran had always taken pride in running it. Until a few days ago, when twenty-three children had suddenly been dumped in her care.

*'Why do I have to look after the kids that crazy swordsman brought here?'

Cheon Su-ran was in charge of a facility, after all. With her extensive knowledge and experience in childcare and education, looking after a few dozen children was nothing she couldn't handle. Still, two things troubled her. First, the children had been brought here by the Sword Lord. Second, there was one girl who was unusually quiet.

'And I don't even know how to care for this one.'

Seong Sia. Of the twenty-three children newly arrived at the center, she was practically the eldest sister. She told Su-ran about the children's habits and likes and dislikes, and helped with the little chores of caring for them. Even children older than Sia treated her like an older sister. In many ways, she was a child who required no attention at all.

'I don't like it.'

Su-ran had known the moment she saw her. Sia looked like an ordinary girl, but there was something profoundly wrong with her. All anyone had to do was watch what she did when she had free time away from caring for the younger children.

What did she do? That was just it. She did nothing. She didn't play. She didn't rest. She didn't sleep. She simply sat there, motionless. It was more than strange; it was uncanny. Paired with her lifeless eyes, it gave Su-ran the chilling impression of a machine with a dead battery, or a corpse.

*'If it were up to me, I'd leave her alone...'

After watching Sia with a disapproving gaze for some time, Su-ran finally concealed her discomfort, put on a smile, and spoke to her.

"Um, Miss Sia?"

"Can I help you?"

"I didn't speak to you because I need help. I thought I might be able to help you."

"I don't need your help."

"Please, just hear me out. There's someone at our hotel who's very good at listening to people's worries. I think it would help to talk to them."

"I don't need mental health counseling."

"No, it isn't mental health counseling..."

"Then I need it even less."

"..."

Three flat refusals in a row. Su-ran couldn't help cursing inwardly.

'That's exactly why you need counseling, you little bitch!'

If Sia had merely been putting up walls like a rebellious teenager, Su-ran would have tried to approach her patiently and get her to open up. But Sia was different. She wasn't pretending not to be interested; she truly wasn't interested. She hadn't built a wall around her heart; it was as though she had no heart at all. The distinction might seem small, but it gave even Su-ran, who knew child psychology well, a headache.

Fortunately, there was someone who could handle Sia. Unfortunately, that one exception wasn't Su-ran, anyone else at the childcare center, or even a Leviathan employee.

"What's this, Rotten Fish Eyes? Giving your teacher a hard time again?"

At that moment, Sia turned her head of her own accord, though she hadn't so much as twitched at anything Su-ran had said.

"... I haven't given her a hard time."

"Haven't you? One look at her tells me she's miserable because of you."

"You're making that up."

"Then smile once in a while if you don't want me making things up. Those rotten-fish eyes of yours are scaring your teacher half to death."

"I don't want to smile."

"Tsk. You're going to be terrible at getting along with people."

When had he come in? The white-haired man was carrying a child on his shoulders and chuckling as he spoke to Sia. At the sight of Limon, Su-ran hurriedly bowed her head.

"Welcome, Sword Lord."

"Hey, Ms. Cheon. Our kids keeping you busy again today?"

"N-not at all. If anything, I can only apologize to the children for my shortcomings."

"What shortcomings? You're doing a great job looking after this whole pack of little troublemakers."

"Ah, yes..."

Limon's praise sounded perfectly casual. Su-ran, however, could only smile awkwardly. This was Limon, of all people.

'Why did Her Highness have to choose a man like him as a prospective husband?'

Limon Aspelder. The Seven Dragons Society's greatest and most hated enemy. Even she, a mere low-ranking member of the Black Dragon Clan, knew his infamy well. Times might have changed, but the sight of him still filled her with fear and revulsion. Having to treat him courteously as a prospective husband for the princess was agony.

"Wow, it's Grandpa Limon!"

"Grandpa, carry me too! On your shoulders!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me big brother, not grandpa!"

"Liar! Na-gyeong said white hair and old age make you a grandpa!"

"That Yu Na-gyeong... All right, then. I'll show you what a grandpa can do!"

"Whoa! Grandpa's mad!"

The children swarmed around Limon, and Su-ran watched with a conflicted expression as he played along without a care. Whether she felt as though she were looking at a machine gun draped with laundry or a demon attending a psychology lecture made no difference to him.

Limon picked up a crying child to change their diaper and held a hand out to Sia. "Rotten Fish Eyes, get me a clean diaper."

"Here."

"Kid seems hungry. A bottle, too."

"Here."

"And the rattle this one likes..."

"Here."

They worked like a well-trained team. Before Limon could finish asking, Sia handed him exactly what he needed, while he changed the diaper, gave the child a bottle, and shook the rattle. Together they soothed a child who normally cried for at least an hour once they started. Then Limon looked at Sia and gave a little grin.

"Not bad."

"I've always done this."

"Then why were you fumbling around a few days ago?"

"I didn't know where anything was then."

Sia's answer was blunt, so dry it was as though every last trace of emotion had shriveled away. Limon paid it no mind. He kept playing with the children as he asked her questions.

"Anything you need?"

"No."

"Don't tell me that when you don't mean it. I can see you're worried about what the kids will do for school."

"..."

For once, Sia had no immediate reply. The children from the orphanage included elementary, middle, and high school students. After being kidnapped and rescued, they'd lost their home and been forced out of school through no choice of their own. Of course she was worried about their education.

Limon smiled faintly at her silence and turned to Su-ran.

"Ms. Cheon, what about the thing I asked for?"

"The textbooks are ready. But it will take a few more days to arrange a dedicated teacher for each child."

"Huh? Did I ask you to hire teachers for them, too?"

Limon tilted his head slightly. Su-ran answered with the conviction of a childcare specialist.

"The children seem to be at very different stages of learning for their ages, so I made that decision myself. Differences in education show most clearly when children are young."

"Is that so?"

"... Yes."

Su-ran's shoulders immediately hunched again. She'd acted on her professional judgment, but what if Limon demanded to know why she'd done something he hadn't asked for?

"Hmm... Then please go ahead. I don't really know how kids are taught these days."

Thankfully, Limon didn't blame her. He simply nodded and left the matter entirely in her hands. As Su-ran silently thanked the founder, the Awe-Inspiring Black Dragon Lord, for sparing her life, Limon turned back to Sia.

"Well? That should keep their studies on track for a while, right?"

"..."

Sia fell silent again. It would do far more than keep them on track. A dedicated teacher for every child? For orphanage children who had never even attended a decent cram school, let alone had private tutors, it was luxury beyond imagining. Sia gazed at Limon for a moment before speaking.

"Big Brother Limon."

"... What's with that?"

"You told the boys to call you big brother. I thought it was only right that I call you that too."

"Could you call me something else?"

"Would you prefer 'dear elder brother'?"

"Just call me Uncle..."

"Yes, Uncle Limon."

Call it a victory for sheer cheek. Having won permission to call him uncle while he pressed his fingers against his temples, Sia calmly asked him a question.

"Uncle Limon, why are you doing so much for us?"

Uncle or not, Limon and the children were strangers. He could simply turn his head and pretend they didn't exist. Most adults did exactly that. Even Su-ran, the person in charge of the childcare center, looked after them because it was her job. Sia could plainly see that she wasn't pleased to have them there.

So why was Limon helping them? Sia's question sounded more suspicious than curious, and his answer was simple.

"Because Na-gyeong would have done the same."

At the sound of that name, life flickered for an instant in Sia's eyes, normally dull as spoiled oysters. But it didn't last. Her eyes sank back into their usual heaviness, and she looked at Limon and spoke quietly enough that the other children couldn't hear.

"... You're not Na-gyeong."

"No, I'm not."

"And Na-gyeong is already dead."

"I know."

Limon's quiet agreement made Yu Na-gyeong's death feel all the crueler. Yet even as Sia dwelled on it, she didn't grieve. She simply continued in a low voice.

"If you know, please don't say pointless things like that."

"What's pointless about it?"

"Giving us hope for nothing."

To the children of Hanbit Orphanage, Yu Na-gyeong hadn't been just some kind volunteer who came to visit. She had been the family member they trusted most. A future they could imagine for themselves. A dream they didn't have to give up. Hope, simply by existing. That was what Yu Na-gyeong had meant to them.

That was why Sia understood what it meant for Limon to take Yu Na-gyeong's place, and how much hope it would give the other children. She understood all too well, and that was precisely why she rejected it. Limon narrowed his eyes at her.

"Would that be so bad?"

"Yes."

Sia answered without hesitation. Meeting Limon's golden eyes, she said in a subdued voice, "Giving someone something only to take it away is worse than never giving it at all."

Delicious meals and spacious beds. A good education and plenty of time to play. On top of all that, a dependable protector in Limon. Life at Leviathan was undeniably comfortable. So comfortable that Sia couldn't imagine how devastating it would be to lose it.

If it were only her, it wouldn't matter. She no longer expected anything, so there was nothing left to disappoint her. But the other children were different. They would be hurt badly if the hope Limon had given them disappeared too. If it was bound to vanish someday, she would rather he hadn't given them hope at all.

Limon gave a faint smile at her cold words.

"There are plenty of things I'd like to argue with... but I'll ask just one question."

"What is it?"

"Why are you so sure the hope I give you will disappear someday?"

Limon was confident. Whether she said that cheap pity never lasted, or that he'd die someday like Yu Na-gyeong, he could tell her that pity wasn't why he cared for the children and that he would never die. He was Limon Aspelder, the strongest Sword Master, who had lived for ages.

Then Sia spoke, and his smile froze on his face.

"Because you're unemployed and don't have a job, Uncle Limon."

"..."

"And you're a traitor and a criminal, too."

How could they put their faith in a penniless man with no income who might be arrested at any moment? Sia delivered her judgment as coolly as if she were assessing a prospective marriage partner's looks and fortune. After a long silence, Limon asked uneasily, "... Where did you hear all that?"

"On the news."

"Did the news announce I'd lost my job, too?"

"No. I figured that out when I saw a grown man playing with kids in the middle of the day."

"You're way too damn perceptive."

"Na-gyeong told me an orphan needs to be quick on the uptake to survive."

*'Didn't she tell you to put a filter on your mouth?'

Limon swallowed the question on the tip of his tongue. As if he could expect that. Yu Na-gyeong had always said exactly what she pleased; even if she'd fallen into a lake, her mouth would have kept bobbing above the surface. There was no way she'd taught Sia a lesson like that.

*'Ugh. And I called a brat like that my subordinate...'

For a moment, he even questioned all the trouble he'd caused to settle Yu Na-gyeong's blood debt. Then he sighed and scratched his cheek.

"Look, I may be unemployed and wanted for treason right now, but I'll be cleared soon, and I've got a job lined up."

"That's what every criminal and unemployed person says."

"... You really don't believe me?"

"I have no reason to."

"Hmm. A reason to believe me, huh?"

So this was what it meant for his words to fall on deaf ears. Watching Sia declare her distrust without the slightest wavering, Limon folded his arms. Then, as though something had occurred to him, a curious smile spread across his face.

"If my treason charge goes away, will you let yourself hope then?"

Sia faltered. She couldn't tell what Limon was getting at. Even she was old enough to know there was no way his crime of taking the president hostage could simply disappear.

"Then I suppose I could consider letting you take Na-gyeong's place."

Her voice was utterly devoid of feeling. She plainly didn't believe for a second that his words would come true.

"Don't forget you said that."

Apparently satisfied with her answer, Limon smiled meaningfully. Then he turned to Su-ran, who had been listening to them with a troubled expression, and asked casually, "Ms. Cheon, could I watch TV for a moment?"

"The TV, sir?"

"Yeah."

Su-ran looked puzzled by the abrupt request, while Sia made no attempt to hide her suspicion. Limon spoke to them both with a playful smile.

"There's going to be some pretty interesting news today."