Chapter 42 – Witchcraft and wizardry

After having fun messing with Hajin and Yeonha late Sunday evening, Lee returned back to Cube with Nayun.

Originally, Lee had gone back to Seoul because he remembered that Evandel needed some documentation and he was going to go file the paperwork for it.

It would have ordinarily been difficult... but after showing the government clerk, a middle-aged woman, a picture of Evandel, his Cube ID card, and explaining a rough summary of what happened, along with the usual solemn pauses, he managed to add Evandel as his biological daughter and get a birth certificate.

...He was fairly sure that the way the clerk did it wasn't completely legal...

But since that woman had gone out of her way to help out, Lee definitely wasn't going to report her for it.

Besides, since it was already in the system, they couldn't really take it away.

The most anyone could do was just fire the person who backdated all the information, but since it was there, it would be even more of a hassle to remove Evandel's records, so...

'One problem solved.'

By happenstance, he learned about Hajin's heroic last stand during that trip and made a detour to catch everyone there.

But now since that was done, it was time to rest up for classes tomorrow.

Which meant bringing his cute daughter around with him.

'...This should be fun.'

===

After a morning workout and quick shower, Lee headed towards the courtyard between Cube's dorms to wait for Rachel and Evandel.

The moment he arrived...

"Daddy!" Evandel giggled and ran over to jump into Lee's arms.

Lee scooped her up in a hug and poked her cheek. "Morning, Eva. Did you have a good rest?"

"Mmhm!" Evandel let out bright smile and said, "Mommy is warm!"

Rachel walked over and smiled. "Good morning, Lee."

Lee raised an eyebrow at Rachel's 100% relaxed expression. More relaxed than he had ever seen her before. "Huh. You look like you had the best sleep of your life."

Rachel nodded, casually walking over to ruffle Evandel's hair. "I did. Eva is such a sweetie."

Evandel giggled and said, "Love you, Mommy!"

Rachel's breath hitched and her smile trembled. "...I love you too, Eva."

From the side, Nayun stifled a yawn, carrying a coffee cup. "You are all way too energetic this morning..."

Evandel squirmed around in Lee's arms and waved at Nayun. "Morning, Auntie!"

Nayun froze. Then she let out a relaxed smile. "...Dammit. That's way too effective. Kids shouldn't be able to just cheer you up like this."

Lee chuckled and said, "Well, Eva's a bit special. She might actually have some cheering magic or something, you know?"

Rachel paused and looked over at Lee. "...Really?" She glanced down thoughtfully at Evandel.

Evandel tilted her head, looking confused. Then she held out her hands. "Uppie?"

Rachel immediately softened and grabbed Evandel from Lee. "Of course, Eva."

Evandel giggled and nuzzled against Rachel. "Love you, Mommy!"

Nayun pointed at Evandel. "See? Witchcraft, I'm telling- Oh. OOOOHHHH."

Lee snapped his fingers and pointed at Nayun. "You got it in one."

Now, it was still unclear.

After all, Lee couldn't read Evandel's status, and Evandel herself was very much a toddler mentally and physically.

But he had a vague sense that Evandel wasn't a 'witch' in the sense of Hajin's original setting, but more like a REAL witch.

Things like charms, enchantments, crafting, making familiars... things like that.

Since she had both Rachel's blood, which had the traits of an elementalist as well as Lee's, which made mana completely chaotic in nature within his body...

Well, the ability to attune your mana towards the environment along with mana that was inherently chaotic...

A mix of that was basically just sorcery or alchemy, wasn't it? In other words... real witchcraft.

Probably.

Evandel was still young, so it would take a while to find out for sure.

But it'd be interesting, at least.

And Lee was also sure that it meant Evandel could keep herself safe in a pinch.

Not that he wouldn't protect her... but it was at least a small weight off his shoulders.

...Who was he kidding? Lee would definitely still worry about every little scratch on his baby girl.

But the point was...

Lee focused back on Nayun and said, "Evandel's Gift is probably [Witchcraft] if I had to guess. It'd definitely explain the rapid rapport."

Evandel was just too cute. And everyone they'd met had immediately fallen in love with her.

Lee was sure it was a defensive measure. After all, Evandel was too young to fight back if anything went wrong. And while she had Aether... that was pretty much it.

Since Evandel had become his daughter, Lee was pretty sure his blood had either suppressed or changed her normal witch powers, so she wouldn't be able to make familiars without Aether.

Which, of course, meant that Lee wasn't letting Evandel out of his sights unless she was with Rachel or Nayun.

Rachel because she would literally murder everyone before letting Evandel get hurt... Repressed emotions and blooming maternal instincts were scary like that.

And Nayun because she had range and the resources to take care of any enemies.

Speaking of Nayun...

She looked at Evandel and said, "Huh. That makes sense..." She reached out to poke Evandel's cheek and said, "You're waaay too cute to be a normal toddler."

Evandel giggled and held out her hands towards Nayun. "Auntie. Uppie?"

"...Argh, screw it." Nayun set her coffee down on a nearby bench and then said, "Come here, you brat." Nayun smiled and held Evandel.

Evandel giggled and then poked Nayun's cheeks.

"H-Hey! Quit it!"

"Smile?"

"Fine!" Nayun smiled. "Happy?"

"Yay! Auntie smiled!"

Nayun's smile softened and she said, "Argh... can't even be mad at you because you're this cute. Not fair." She handed Evandel back to Lee and said, "So what? You going to just take her to class with us?"

Lee shifted Evandel to be more comfy and said, "Yep. We'll probably just take up a seat in the back to not distract anyone."

Rachel nodded. "Understood. We'll migrate to the back."

Nayun looked amused and said, "You two DO realize you're acting like a married couple now, right? I don't think anyone's going to do anything about it just yet... but I'm preeetty sure the grace period for that's running out soon."

Lee shrugged and said, "If it runs out, it runs out. I'm out of fu- fudges to give."

Evandel tilted her head. "Fudge?"

Lee smiled. "I'll get you fudge later, Eva."

"Kay~"

Rachel moved to Lee's right side and glanced at her smartwatch. "Should we go?"

Lee nodded. "Mmhm. Wanna bet how many girls try to ask about Eva before we get there?"

Nayun move to Lee's left side and rolled her eyes. "Sucker bet. You know it's going to be all of them. Evandel's too cute."

Evandel giggled, sticking out her chest a bit, just like Rachel did when she felt proud of an achievement.

Seeing that, Rachel gasped, her blue eyes tearing up a bit.

Nayun noticed and said, "Wooow. You're getting the whole motherhood experience without even going through labor or childbirth. Princesses really do have it good, huh?"

Lee laughed and said, "You could say it's her divine right."

Rachel huffed. "That joke is terrible, Lee."

"That joke is terrible-lee? Sorry, Love, you're not making sense."

"L-Love?! I mean- Wait! Stop making fun of me!"

Nayun sighed. "Oh brother..."

Evandel mimicked Nayun and did a sigh too. "Oh brother..."

Nayun noticed and burst out laughing. "Oh, I like you. Fine, since I've been forcibly made auntie, I'll be the fun auntie who spoils you." She held out her pinky to Evandel. "Deal?"

Evandel tilted her head, confused. But she smiled and wrapped her pinky around Nayun's.

Rachel huffed. "...You had better not feed her sweets when I'm not looking."

Nayun rolled her eyes. "What do you take me for, Yeonha? I only eat healthy things. Now come on, we really WILL be late at this rate..."

===

While Lee was enjoying a happy and wholesome family morning (and dodging questions about Evandel's real mother), other people were still sorting out the aftermath of the Djinn attack at the National Weapons Museum.

One of those people was Yun Seung-Ah, the vice-leader of Creator's Sacred Grace.

In her office, adjusting her glasses and brushing her light brown bangs out of the way, Yun Seung-Ah frowned as she replayed the footage from the museum again.

"...No wonder Cube's algorithm categorized that gun user as utility." Yun Seung-Ah murmured as she watched it again.

Kim Hajin. That was the name of the Cadet. The same one that she saw collapse when she arrived on the scene with reinforcements and who Kim Suho caught before he hit the ground.

Originally, Yun Seung-Ah was interested in Kim Hajin because he was a curiosity. An oddball who seemed to have changed his weapon for no reason.

But now she understood why Yoo Yeonha was so focused on reining him into Essence of Strait.

'That Kim Hajin's Gift isn't limited to guns.'

It was clearly the best usage at the moment because Kim Hajin's physical abilities seemed to have drastically declined since his time at the Agent Military Academy... at least, when comparing footage.

But it seemed like that was the trade-off for the ridiculous utility that his Gift provided.

"...Is it every sort of projectile weapon?" Yun Seung-Ah murmured and replayed the footage again, taking notes on the timeline.

First, Kim Suho ran off to take care of the Djinn, leaving Kim Hajin alone.

During that time, Kim Hajin seemed to use that same ability he had to move impossibly fast and grab the cannon nearby to fire at the rushing horde of monsters.

The, when he ran out of that, he used it as a shield by throwing it before using Napoleon's Rifle and a bayonet to deal with the other monsters in close quarters.

If it was just that, it wouldn't be too extraordinary.

But the problem... No, the miracle came after he moved.

Yun Seung-Ah could tell. Kim Hajin's physical stats were well below Cube's standards. Whether a byproduct of his Enlightenment or because he suffered an accident before the semester started, she didn't know. But it was clear that he wasn't strong enough, fast enough, or durable enough to deal with the monsters in close quarters.

...So he didn't.

Firing the rifle to kill one monster, using the bayonet to snap and cleave bones and other components, moving at that same impossibly fast speed to evade while whipping the monster parts as makeshift daggers, spears, and projectiles. Even tearing his shirt to create a sling to compensate for his lack of physical strength in throwing the projectiles...

"...A one man army. No wonder the Essence of Strait wants him."

Cadets like Kim Suho were aces in the hole. They were incredible, but they were also just trump cards for a Guild. The sort of individual you could drop in to resolve a situation or clear out a dungeon with minimum support.

But a Cadet like Kim Hajin wasn't a trump card... He was the whole deck.

It would probably be hard for him to deal with overwhelmingly powerful enemies due to his lack of physical stats... but in defending a location? Holding a line or seizing territory?

Unmatched.

"If that Gift really extends to all forms of projectile weaponry..."

It was a ridiculous thought... but that should mean that, even with just a strip of fabric and some stones, Kim Hajin could continue to fight. As long as there were things he could grab, the battle could continue.

And his Gift, judging from how the footage showed him glitching between frames to reload... it let him grab things without losing momentum.

"What a monster..." Yun Seung-Ah shook her head.

It didn't change their plans, of course. Kim Suho was still the priority target to recruit when the Guild meetings came up during exams.

But Yun Seung-Ah could be relieved. Since that Kim Hajin was so ridiculous, Essence of Strait... or rather, Yoo Yeonha, wouldn't even think about looking at Kim Suho.

In fact...

Yun Seung-Ah hummed, a thought coming to mind. "...Considering their resources, isn't Kim Hajin a perfect candidate for Vice-Leader?"

A Cadet like that was one who wouldn't have a ceiling as long as you had the resources to develop him.

Since Creator's Sacred Grace was hurting a bit in resources and trying to reclaim the first spot in the Guild rankings, even if they wanted to develop Kim Hajin, they didn't have the ability to.

But Essence of Strait did. With Essential Armory and their various other facilities, Kim Hajin would be able to continuously scale up his abilities. Especially if they used him to gather resources by clearing monsters en masse.

"An investment to raise their bottomline instead of their ceiling... How envious."

Yun Seung-Ah couldn't help but think that.

The hardest part of a Guild was always supporting the other members. While it was great to invest in aces and powerful Heroes, one person didn't make a Guild unless you were on the level of the Immortal, like Chae Joochul.

Still, the usual way for a Guild to grow was to have stronger personnel, fight stronger dungeons, kill stronger monsters, and then sell the parts to fund the other members. A slow bootstrapping.

The reason for that was that it simply wasn't cost effective to hunt low to intermediate rank monsters due to the logistics of expending ammunition, equipment durability, and more. Not to mention the risks of injuries.

But Kim Hajin turned that method on its head.

If his ability truly was that versatile...

He could just be dropped on a field with one weapon and then proceed forward by improvising weapons on the fly from the monsters he killed.

Of course, he might hit a wall...

But he also wasn't the only one on the field.

"...Argh, I'm envious."

Yun Seung-Ah already played a similar role as Kim Hajin due to her ability to teleport and send out incapacitating lightning. Like Kim Hajin, she had the ability to clear out monsters en masse... and especially if Kim Suho joined the Creator's Sacred Grace.

But the efficiency that Kim Hajin provided...

Yun Seung-Ah shook her head. "No. This is fine."

It would be a resource race.

Whether Kim Hajin allowed the Essence of Strait to snowball by raising their bottomline, or whether Kim Suho allowed the Creator's Sacred Grace to reach the heights by clearing a Tower...

Yun Seung-Ah nodded, feeling determined. "...We're still in the running."

...Now, they just had to pull in Kim Suho. Somehow.

Hm...

"...Maybe I should personally meet him again?"

Kim Suho seemed to have a good impression of her at the museum. Maybe she could lay on the charm a bit...?