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Episode 2
Chapter 2: The Appearance of a K-Child in the Northern Region of Villains
This occurred roughly a week before the so-called 'Airi’s Sudden Return to the North Incident.'
In the most lavish room of the Marquess Melissa's estate located in the southern region, the air was filled with the weeping cries of an elderly lady with snow-white hair, Marquess Melissa.
"Oh, my child. Oh, my dear child."
"Gra...mma..."
“My dear baby, you’re so thin, nothing but skin and bones. This grandma is so worried about you.”
“Grandma… I’m fine…”
On the bed lay a five-year-old child with cheeks puffed out to the brink. Her name was Airi Ortezo.
Marquess Melissa, Airi's maternal grandmother, spoke in a voice brimming with worry.
"Oh, my dear, you’ve lost so much weight and even have a fever. Doctor, could my child possibly be suffering from a terrible illness?"
The family doctor, who had been standing awkwardly like a spare tool, finally spoke up.
"Well, Madam Marquess. The young miss here appears to have simply overeaten."
"What? What nonsense are you spouting? My child could barely eat 10 turkey legs for lunch. She’s on the verge of starvation. Look at her thin cheeks!"
The doctor murmured under his breath, looking at Airi’s excessively chubby cheeks that trembled with every breath.
"Madam Marquess, ordinary children cannot even eat one turkey leg..."
The enraged Marquess Melissa jabbed a finger at the doctor.
"That's not the point right now! Moreover, my baby has been hearing nonsensical voices since yesterday."
"What kind of voices, exactly?"
At that moment, a voice that only Airi could hear echoed in her ears like a divine revelation.
[Airi, the purifier destined to save the world.]
Still feverish, Airi’s eyes darted around in confusion.
‘What does that even mean?’
[To you who live in the present, I shall reveal the past and the future. Discover everything and save the world.]
‘Save what?’
Suddenly, something flickering appeared before her eyes. Airi reached out her chubby little hand to grab the vision floating before her.
"Wh-what is this?"
"Oh, look at her arms—they’re as thin as dried-up twigs. Someone save my darling puppy!"
With the grandmother’s loud cry echoing through the room, Airi fainted on the spot.
Inside Airi’s darkened mind, the [Past] began to play.
***
Airi had once been a nine-year-old child named 'Lee Arin,' living in a country called 'Korea.'
Interestingly, even there, she was raised not by her parents but by her beloved grandmother.
However, after her grandmother passed away early, Arin grew up in an orphanage.
And Arin’s favorite hobby?
'Punishing bad people!'
As a child of justice, Arin was the youngest leader of the demonstration team at her Taekwondo academy.
Her pastime was teaching lessons to groups of troublemakers lurking in shady alleys.
“Hey, give me a bite of that tanghulu skewer.”
“But it’s mine... big bro...”
Even when wearing the uniform personally presented by the headmaster, she never spared those who did bad deeds.
They were yellow belts.
And Arin? A poom belt.
In Taekwondo, this was a world of difference, like heaven and earth—a five-tier advantage!
The moment she identified their belts, Arin was quicker than anyone else to dash into the alley.
“Show respect as a martial artist!”
“Ahhhh!”
Thus, Ahrin courageously defeated bad kids while living her life.
And then...
'She discovered an intriguing novel!'
The orphanage’s teacher, Lee Areum, had a hobby of fangirling over certain novels.
Curious, Arin secretly read one of these novels, 'The Monster Family of the Northern Snowfields.'
'Since I admired Teacher Areum so much, I wanted to imitate everything she did.'
Though the novel was placed atop a tall desk and deemed unsuitable for a nine-year-old due to its harsh content, Arin quickly devoured it.
The child protagonist reminded her so much of herself.
The child in the story was Airi, the youngest daughter of a wicked villainous family.
Because of the evil 'Devil's Fog' engulfing the northern region, she lost her mother and was sent to live with her maternal relatives in the south.
Though destined to live in the south her entire life...
[Airi, in fact, was the only purifier capable of cleansing the sinister aura infesting the northern region.
Any entity that came into contact with this little girl could be freed from the influence of the Devil’s power.]
However, much time passed without anyone discovering that Airi was a purifier.
[The Devil’s aura from the north eventually invaded the south.
Unaware of her abilities, Airi perished, along with her beloved grandmother, Marquess Melissa.]
After closing the book, Arin tilted her head in confusion.
At that moment, new letters began to appear on the back cover of the book.
[This is not an ordinary book.]
“It’s not? But you’re definitely a book!”
[...The future is not far away. The story in this book will remain as part of your 'present' and guide you.]
What does that mean?
As Arin stared at the words for a long time, her consciousness faded.
And then...
Nine-year-old Arin opened her eyes again as five-year-old Airi.
Awakening from a long nightmare, Airi was greeted by the worried gazes of the doctor and her grandmother.
“Oh my dear, you had your eyes closed for a full 10 minutes.”
“She appeared to be peacefully asleep. Her breathing was steady as well.”
“Enough noise! My baby, get up and drink 10 liters of milk.”
Despite the back-and-forth between the two, Airi felt bewildered.
‘I’ve been Arin for such a long time.’
Was it because the dream just too vivid?
She couldn't tell whether she was the nine-year-old Taekwondo girl from Korea, Arin, or the chubby-cheeked five-year-old Airi.
***
Airi spent the next week in a daze.
She even delved into philosophical questions, pondering 'Who am I?'—questions a five-year-old should never have to consider.
Eventually, Airi came to a realization.
‘The world will end, and both Grandma and I will die?’
Fear filled Airi's eyes as she clung tightly to her beloved grandmother’s embrace.
‘Calm down! I’m no longer just a little five-year-old clinging to Grandma.’
After all, she was a former nine-year-old martial artist!
With her resolve firmed over the week, Airi grasped her grandmother’s wrinkled hands tightly.
Her grandmother had given her so much throughout her life.
Grandma’s lovingly prepared meals filled with mugwort and beans.
The clothes Grandma personally knit, adorned with floral patterns.
Airi knew well that all of this was love.
‘So, I’ll make sure Grandma and I live happily ever after for a long time! To do that, I just need to save the world!’
Buried in her grandmother’s floral-patterned sweater and matching shorts, the determined five-year-old Airi spoke solemnly.
“Um, Grandma, I think... I might be...”
“Yes?”
“I think I’m a hero who’s meant to save the world!”
At that moment, Marquess Melissa’s eyes darted around.
“Oh, is that so? Hmm, yes, yes, of course. My little puppy is destined to be a hero. Now, let’s eat more meat.”
“........?”
“To become a hero, you need to fatten up that bony body and grow at least two more meters, my darling puppy.”
And so...
Airi’s first 'heroic confession' fell flat.
***
However, at age five, Airi Ortezo was a child who never gave up.
“I will become a hero and go to the North.”
But...
“Oh, my dear, the North is far too dangerous for my little one. If you promise not to go, I’ll give you your favorite soybean powder cookies~.”
At her current age of 55, even Marquess Melissa was not one to give up easily.
Soybean powder cookies.
The favorite snack of Airi, who had been lovingly raised, round and plump, by her grandmother’s doting hands.
The temptation was immense.
But as a special hero, Airi wiped away the drool dripping from her mouth with great effort.
“This is…! Not the time to be concerned with soybean powder cookies. I must go to the North. I have to go to the North and save the world!”
Upon hearing those words, Marquess Melissa’s expression faltered.
“If you go to the North, you won’t be able to see Grandma anymore.”
“That’s…”
The warm South. Delicious food. A happy life with her grandmother.
Giving all of that up was a sad thought for a five-year-old Airi.
“It’s okay. It’s what a hero must do.”
But nine-year-old Lee Arin would do it!
Airi’s resolute words made her grandmother’s expression grow even more complex.
“Why…?”
Why were those words exactly like her late daughter’s final wishes?
Marquess Melissa recalled Olivia’s last words before her sudden descent to the South, holding a small child sleeping soundly in her arms.
“Mother, please take care of my daughter, Airi. And listen to my words carefully.”
“Olivia?”
“After her fifth birthday, if Airi insists on going to the North, you must let her go alone.”
“What… Why so suddenly?”
“Promise me. Never forget what I said… and I love you.”
Melissa muttered incoherently, confused.
“The child has to go alone. Can she bear to leave by herself?”
Arin, having read the story in her past life, knew well.
‘Grandmother’s powers are the exact opposite of the Devil’s energy, so she wouldn’t last long.’
Airi understood that to live a long and happy life with her grandmother, she couldn’t take her with her now.
“Grandma, true heroes never travel with their grandmothers. Instead, they protect them!”
This was just like in the anime she had seen in her past life, [Regent, the Hero of Justice].
“Yes, yes, my darling puppy. How long will it take? A day, maybe?”
“Well… I’m a very great hero, but a day is just a bit…”
“Sweetheart.”
“Yes?”
“A week should suffice, right? Any longer than that is impossible. Do you even know how dangerous that place is?”
“Oh, I know it very well! But I won’t die.”
Her bright purple eyes sparkled with intelligence.
Marquess Melissa quickly calculated the amount of time Airi could spend in the North without succumbing to harm from the Devil’s energy.
“One week.”
“Yes.”
“Exactly 168 hours.”
“….....”
“That’s too short…”
“Any longer is absolutely unacceptable, my sweet puppy.”
For once, Marquess Melissa did not back down.
And so, Airi earned her permission to visit the North.
It was a brief allowance of one week.
***
And now…
Whiiing—
In front of the massive snow-covered mountains of the North.
There stood the grand ducal estate of Ortezo.
Bundled tightly in a sweater adorned with floral patterns and looking like a round yarn doll, Airi clutched all sorts of food lovingly packed by her grandmother.
The great baby hero, destined to save the North, had arrived.
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