Chapter 138: Fastest and Last

Roy’s expression softened noticeably after hearing Ber’s complaints.

After Ber blurted out his thoughts without reservation, he glanced at Roy for a reaction, his feathers swaying in curiosity.

Roy’s response was different from what he had expected.

“Yeah. I was the one in the wrong.”

Roy admitted it readily.

The Spirit Kings had done nothing wrong.

They simply met Roy, formed a contract, and were swept away with him to this place.

Now, they couldn’t even return to the Earth Realm, their home, nor could they meet the countless spirits they commanded.

Roy himself hadn’t been reunited with his younger sister yet, so he could easily guess how Ber felt.

“Ber, I’m not scolding you. How could I possibly do that?”

Scolding someone was only possible when there was a hierarchy between them.

To Roy, Ber was like another half of his own soul.

“I’m just worried. ……I almost lost you here once already.”

Back when he still hadn’t properly adapted, he had miraculously found Ber.

But Ber, trying to save Roy who hadn’t regained his strength, had nearly been extinguished.

There were no records, not even in legends, of a Spirit King being extinguished, but Roy had already ended up in another world.

Anything could happen here and it wouldn’t be surprising.

The feeling he had while watching Ber fade away still sent a chill through a corner of Roy’s heart from time to time.

“Did you feel really disappointed because I didn’t let you have a snack?”

“Beep…….” (It’s more that……. )

With Roy responding this way, Ber couldn’t throw another fit.

Ber wriggled both wings.

Now that his impulsive feelings had settled, even he thought his behavior was childish.

Blinded by the jelly Aqua was holding, he’d made a scene.

Ber’s feathers took on an oddly deeper red.

“Beeee.”(……I’m sorry too, Contractor. I’ll be more careful from now on.)

They never knew when or where danger might appear, yet he’d acted too carelessly.

Ber flew gloomily onto Roy’s shoulder, rubbing his crown under Roy’s chin.

“I’m sorry too. I’ll ask the PD to get you some snacks.”

Thinking about it, being stingy with food wasn’t right either.

Just as Roy started walking toward PD Shimjun,

“Por.” (Ber and I can share this together.)

Aqua, who had been watching Roy and Ber talk, shook the jelly bag.

“Are you sure? Aqua, you got that from your interview.”

Spirits rarely showed possessiveness.

But since coming here, they all seemed to develop a healthy appetite—and even a hint of greed—for the foods they tasted.

Roy understood how they felt, since he’d experienced the same emotions.

“Pororor.” (There’s plenty to share with everyone.)

Aqua was right.

No matter where she had found it, the bag was stuffed with well over a hundred jellies.

Even though Aqua liked jelly, it would take her days to eat it all by herself.

“Beep?” (You’ll really share it with me?)

Aqua nodded and tore open the top of the bag.

Before they knew it, Solum and Ris had come over and joined the two Spirit Kings in having a jelly party.

“Wow……. Is all that for you guys?”

“Looks delicious.”

“I like jelly too.”

The uniquely sweet-and-sour scent of the jelly even lured in the children who had come as Guests.

“Beep.”(Here, take one each, little friends.)

Ber took out jellies with his beak and handed them to the approaching kids as if they were his own possessions.

It could have been seen as rude, but Aqua had no intention of being stingy with food, so she allowed his actions.

“Go ahead and play here. I’ll finish up my work and be back.”

Things had been resolved with Ber, and the other Spirit Kings and children were having a happy time.

With a lighter heart, Roy headed back to the jungle gym.

“Feels a bit like raising kids, doesn’t it?”

“……A little, yes.”

Yoo Jaeri grinned and playfully tapped Roy’s arm.

Roy hadn’t even managed to get married or, well, even really date yet, but he felt that if he ever had bunny-like children in the future, his time with the spirits would be useful.

The most childlike of all was Ber, but the other Spirit Kings were just as pure, being the very essence of nature.

“You’ve almost finished, right?”

“Yeah. Working together with Doha, we got it done in no time. Doha’s swordsmanship is really something.”

Roy hadn’t been gone long, but the jungle gym only needed some finishing touches now.

Scritch, scritch—

Lee Doha’s sword-tip was smoothing the surface of the jungle gym.

Yoo Jaeri took out an arrow and, like carving, scraped the surface with its tip.

“If we just finish up this surface here, we’ll be done.”

The structure was already taking shape.

As long as the rough areas were smoothed out so the children wouldn’t get hurt, it would be finished.

“The time…….”

Roy glanced up at the floating clock in the air.

The clock that had started at 06:00:00 now read 01:01:23.

“Our team is the fastest. Blue Team still looks like they’ve got a long way to go.”

Following the direction Yoo Jaeri pointed, Roy saw a massive sandcastle.

“Ah, ah! This part’s collapsing!”

Song Doyoon, cheeks covered in sand, called out urgently.

Even if they’d wet the sand with seawater, sand was still sand.

If you put too much pressure on it, the shape would collapse at the slightest mistake.

“Hold on a second!”

At Song Doyoon’s urgent cry, Kei hurried over to support the collapsing heap of dirt.

“Phew……. Are we even going to finish this……?”

They’d started with enthusiasm, wanting to do well no matter what, but as time dwindled, anxiety grew.

It was only natural—Red Team had already finished an impressive play structure, and while Yellow Team’s wasn’t as grand, their structure was quite good, too.

“Maybe we should’ve gone and cut some wood, too……. Sand alone isn’t enough.”

Still, Blue Team’s relentless efforts had resulted in a huge sandcastle big enough for the children to explore.

They’d even decorated it with seashells they’d found on the beach, making it look pretty convincing.

The only issue was that it wasn’t sturdy; a single strong bump could make it collapse.

“We still have time. Please wait a moment.”

Kim Chan spoke in a determined voice, instilling hope.

He hurried toward the cliff and soon returned, carrying a massive boulder.

“What is all that?”

The boulder was so huge that Kim Chan’s appearance reminded them of Sisyphus, who was said to have carried a rock up a mountain every day.

“The sand keeps collapsing. I thought we could make bricks out of the rocks and use them to reinforce the floor and pillars.”

Kim Chan’s idea was solid.

The problem was whether they could get it done with the time they had left.

As Song Doyoon worriedly looked from the boulder to the nearly finished sandcastle,

“Let’s do it. If we leave it like this, it’ll collapse before the kids even get to play on it.”

Kei firmed his resolve, tapping the boulder’s surface.

Of course, they’d remove the stones before the children could get hurt, but since it was a mission, he wanted to give the kids happy memories.

Even now, he could hear the children’s laughter on the breeze.

Just hearing it was enough to fill his chest with refreshing joy.

“Yeah. An hour is enough. Plus, since we’ve made this once before, we’ll be faster this time.”

Irian also backed up Kei’s suggestion.

Kei drew his twin swords and gripped them.

“Everyone stand back. I’ll be done soon.”

Kei was the only one in Blue Team with a swordsman class.

Kim Chan set the boulder on the ground and stepped back.

“……That’s really cool.”

Kim Chan’s eyes sparkled in admiration.

Even though Kei was only swinging his sword lightly, the huge boulder was being neatly cut into uniform brick shapes.

“Let’s hurry and take care of the other tasks, too.”

There was no need to demolish the whole sandcastle, but they did have to rebuild the parts where the pillars would go.

Up to that point, Blue Team was burning with motivation at the thought of building an amazing sandcastle.

Crash—

“Hahaha…….”

“This can’t be happening…….”

“Am I dreaming right now?”

“……I feel like I’m going to cry.”

“It collapsed so miserably?”

Up until the moment Kei used the bricks to reinforce the floor and set up the pillars, everything was fine.

The shrinking timer made their hearts pound, but the five of them believed that working together, they could finish it.

But piling sand onto the rocks was much harder than they’d expected.

“Should we try rebuilding, even with the time we have left?”

“You know it’s not as simple as just stacking it.”

“Still…….”

It was easy to stack it up like a tower, but what Blue Team wanted to build was a sturdy, massive sandcastle that would hold up even as dozens of children ran around inside.

When they built the floor and pillars, and then tried to make the roof, disaster struck.

Song Doyoon, half-mad, laughed as he checked the timer.

“……One minute.”

Even if the heavens and earth flipped upside down, there was no way they could rebuild a collapsed sandcastle in a single minute.

“Oh dear. Blue Team……. How did it end up like this?”

PD Shimjun did his best to keep his lips from twitching, sounding as sympathetic as possible.

It was certainly unfortunate, but seeing five strapping young men look like beavers whose home had been destroyed by a zookeeper was almost enough to make anyone laugh.

“We’re almost out of time. I’ll begin the countdown!”

Unlike Blue Team, Red and Yellow Teams were already finished and waiting.

“……3, 2, 1! The first mission is over!”

No sooner had Shimjun’s voice faded than Kim Chan began racking his brain furiously.

‘Think of a solution!’

Their sandcastle playground was a bust.

But they couldn’t just stand around letting time slip by.

“Then, shall we hear from Blue Team first about what kind of play equipment you built?”

Shimjun was merciless.

He shoved the camera in their faces without giving the devastated Blue Team any time to recover.

Kei’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as the camera zoomed in.

“Well, we…… um…….”

Kei had easily stood before cameras hundreds of times, but right now, his mind was a total blank.

No thoughts came to him at all.

Seeing the children clustered behind Shimjun, any semblance of composure he might have had simply evaporated.

“Can we play now?”

“Looks fun.”

“I’m bored. I want to play already.”

Faced with such expectant gazes, he wished he could turn back time—even knowing he couldn’t.

“Um, Team Leader.”

Just as Kei was cornered with nowhere to go, Kim Chan grabbed his arm and whispered in a small voice.