"That idiot! What was she thinking, doing something like this right before graduation? Did she decide to bring shame upon her unni?"
Dolores, who arrived at the principal's office, was irritated.
She didn't have a single drop of blood mixed with Yuria, but her speech was so similar that it almost made her burst into laughter.
"Technically, aren’t you her stepmother?"
"She calls me unni all the time, so I call her sister. And if I say stepmother, it sounds like I'm a wicked mother."
"It does look like that right now."
Dolores glared at Reed.
She threw the note she was holding at Reed.
"Do you think I'm doing this for nothing? Read this. I can't believe it!"
"Let's see... 'Something came up, so I'll go first. I'll visit home occasionally since it's close. From the lovely Rosaria.' ..."
"How do you feel?"
Reed pursed his lips.
"Her handwriting isn't lovely. She still has terrible handwriting."
"Are you laughing now?"
"Am I not allowed to laugh?"
"How dare you laugh in front of Escolleia's dean? Fine. Whatever."
Dolores crossed her arms and turned her head sharply.
Even as a principal, her behavior was still childish.
'Thirty-year-old acting like a sulky kid.'
But who is she?
She is my wife who is like Sky to me.
Reed knew what he had to do.
"Why is my wife so cute? Come here."
He sneaked up beside her and kissed her.
After the short kiss, Dolores looked up at Reed with a smile as if she had never been angry.
"Ah, it's good to have a husband. My oppa nutrients have been running low these days, so it's time to recharge..."
"Rosen and Anna are watching."
"Oh, my."
Dolores, who had been approaching stickily, turned her head with an "oops" expression.
Fortunately, Rosen and Anna were preoccupied with drawing pictures on the entrance exam papers.
"Then I'll have to postpone it. My little princesses, how was today?"
"It was boring!"
"We just sat there! We didn't even see any magic!"
"You can see magic when you grow up a bit more. You know you can't do it without a home tutor, right?"
"Tsk."
"Mom, you're petty."
Dolores hugged Rosen and Anna with a smile.
"Can we go home today?"
"Yes. I'm done with all the busy work."
"Then let's go home together. I'll prepare a feast for tonight."
"Shall we try our homemade meal for the first time in a while? My princesses, mom is also going home!"
"Wow!"
"Mom is coming home!"
Rosen and Anna were excited, running around like young children.
Although it was a family gathering for dinner after a long time, Reed felt empty.
It was inevitable since Rosaria, who could be considered the central axis of the family, was absent.
'At least she should have said goodbye before leaving...'
His gaze couldn't leave the note with her terrible handwriting.
He thought she might have made the decision too hastily, but it wasn't too late.
However, they all must have had their own reasons.
Rosaria was that kind of girl.
'If she has something to do... she must be going to see that man, right?'
Although the idea of a man bothered him, Reed wasn't too worried.
That man was someone Reed had seen dozens of times already.
Knowing how much “Disaster 7” pursued wholesomeness with a rating of 12 years and older, he wasn't worried.
***
-We always solve the tasks we take on.
That phrase was the motto of Felnis Mercenary Corps.
However, today, because of that motto, the mercenary corps was on the verge of annihilation.
"Damn it! Where the hell did those things come from?!"
The leader, who took cover behind a stone wall, shouted.
What they were facing was a monster they had never seen before.
It had hard scales and fired spikes from its tail for ranged attacks.
It was different from any monster they had encountered before.
"Are you crazy, seriously? Hey, have you ever seen those things before?!"
"If I had seen them, would I have been so stupid to get hit by the spikes?"
"Don't speak, you bastard. The poison is spreading."
"There's poison in the spikes, too? They're really full of surprises."
Pew pew thud!
The spikes fiercely struck the stone wall.
It was fortunate that they were keeping their distance, and the opponent was cautious; otherwise, they would have been in big trouble.
'And now it seems to be thinking of charging.'
The monster seemed to realize it had the upper hand.
The leader gritted his teeth.
Where did things go wrong?
Ignoring the rumors that unobserved monsters have been multiplying recently?
Did they not suspect anything even though the compensation was abnormally high?
We shouldn't blame anyone.
Because if we die before that, everything will be over.
The monster cautiously and gradually ran towards them.
The captain held his sword tightly and looked somewhere.
He wore a helmet tightly, but it looked awkward somewhere.
Although he was physically unharmed from not fighting the monsters, he was in a state of guilt more than anyone else.
"I'm sorry, rookie. You're on your first day, and I dragged you into this mess."
"...."
"As your captain, I order you. It's a very simple thing. Go to the kingdom right now while we're stopping these damn monsters and let them know about this situation."
The rookie didn't say anything back.
The captain shouted at the rookie, who was fidgeting.
"You, hurry up and run...!"
-Never lose hope!
The captain was speechless.
A girl's voice that they didn't expect to hear echoed through the forest.
"What is this... Did the captain hear it too?"
"Yeah, I heard it too. What is it?"
Shortly after, they felt vibrations coming from the ground.
Powerful footsteps shook the ground and headed towards them.
The monster that was running towards the injured mercenary corps collided with it.
Crash!
The one that was thrown away was the monster.
Although it was similar in size, it was different from the monsters made of hair and flesh.
It had wings that were as big as its body and scales as hard as steel.
"A, a dragon?"
It had similar features to a salamander, but with a big head and short legs, it looked like a stupid version of a dragon.
-Meow!
A scream that didn't match any of the decisive elements!
But what was important?
They were like sacred beasts, pushing away monsters that they couldn't approach.
And on top of the sacred beast was a girl.
"If you think it's the end, everything will really end!"
It was the voice of the girl who had echoed through the forest.
The owner of the voice was wearing the costume of a wandering wizard.
"The one who holds hope has courage! The one who has courage will seize freedom! Everyone, have hope and courage!"
The girl struck her staff on the ground.
A large magic circle appeared on the ground, surrounding the fallen mercenary corps.
The fallen mercenaries were wrapped in a warm light.
Those touched by the light began to regain their vitality.
"What's going on? Suddenly, I have strength in my body?"
"Ugh... what? I thought I passed out for sure..."
"Havel! You're awake!"
Those who were exhausted or poisoned got up as if nothing had happened.
Even those who had fainted picked up their weapons and took their positions.
As the girl said, they grasped hope once again.
"The magician is helping us! We can win!"
"Everyone, return to your positions!"
The mercenaries returned to their positions and confronted the monster.
The overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation was completely reversed by the sudden appearance of the magician.
Those who didn't give up hope showed courage, and that courage led to victory by cutting off the monster's head.
"It's dead!"
"Wow! We survived!"
No one likes to die.
This was true even for the experienced mercenaries who had survived on the battlefield where death was rampant.
As they embraced each other and celebrated their victory, the leader thanked the magician who had intervened.
"I don't know which organization you belong to, but I am truly grateful."
"No, I just pushed you forward. You all survived because you believed in yourselves!"
"Such humble words."
The girl accepted the leader's gratitude, glancing around at each person.
The leader asked the girl.
"Are you looking for someone?"
"Ah, yes! Is there anyone here named Kyle Dijestra?"
"Kyle? Are you talking about the rookie Kyle? Kyle!"
At that moment, a man who had been cleaning up the monster's corpses in the distance came running.
"Yes, leader."
"The magician is looking for you."
"Me?"
The man named Kyle blinked his eyes and bowed his head.
The girl's red eyes sparkled as they scanned Kyle's face.
"Black hair with a faint impression that wouldn't be out of place even if it were mixed here and there... and the name is Kyle Dijestra... I'm sure!"
He heard something like a curse in the middle of her words, but Kyle didn't get angry.
He admitted to himself that he had a faint presence, just as she said.
"Mr. Kyle Dijestra!"
The excited girl grabbed Kyle's hand.
Bewildered, Kyle's eyes grew even wider.
"I heard from my father. You're going to be the one to save this world."
"Excuse me? What are you talking about?"
Kyle tilted his head with a baffled expression.
The leader, who was listening, also looked back and forth between Kyle and the girl.
Not bothering to explain to anyone, the girl continued with what she wanted to say.
"I'll get straight to the point! Are you not interested in adventuring with me?!"
"With... with you, the magician?"
"Yes. We'll travel this vast continent on foot and fight disasters together! You and me! Just the two of us! What do you say?"
Listening, the leader was at a loss for words.
He could tolerate her recruiting their rookie, but he thought she might be mistaken about the person.
Kyle Dijestra.
A probationary recruit, a rookie.
And the young man who was more afraid than anyone else during the monster extermination.
"Excuse me, magician. I'm sorry, but this guy is our rookie..."
"I understand."
The leader wore a dumbfounded expression, and the girl's face flushed.
"You, what do you mean by that? Are you planning to give up on joining?"
"Since I'm still on probation, it should be okay to find my own path, right?"
"Fine."
There was nothing more to say in this unbelievable situation.
The magician who saved their lives wanted to take him, and he agreed, so the leader had nothing more to say.
Kyle then gathered his belongings.
"Shall we go, magician?"
The girl who had been watching Kyle's actions tilted her head.
"Wow, you're really obedient, aren't you?"
"Am I?"
"I was prepared to persuade you for about three days."
The girl showed four fingers as she spoke.
"Three days is 3, you know"
"Ah, was it 3? My mistake..."
-Meow, Meow.
The dragon made a cute sound and comforted the dispirited girl.
'Is she really just a child?'
He thought that an old great mage who had cast wide-area healing and detoxification magic was pretending to be a child.
Kyle looked at the dragon standing next to the girl and asked.
"Are you going to travel around riding this dragon?"
"No! I only ride this little one when I'm in a hurry. Otherwise, like this!"
Pong!
"It shrinks."
The dragon, which was the size of two bulls, shrank in an instant to the size of one that could sit on the girl's shoulder.
-Meow. Meow.
The only thing that didn't change was its cry.
"And this little one's name is Meowmeow."
"Meowmeow?"
"Yes."
"That... the ‘Meowmeow’ we use to call a cat?"
"Yes!"
"......"
What kind of naming sense was that?
Kyle thought seriously.
However, the dragon called Meowmeow seemed quite satisfied with its name.
After introducing Woof's name, the girl remembered something she had forgotten.
"Oh, I just realized! I haven't introduced myself yet."
"That's right."
"Really, why did you agree to come with me?"
The girl's face showed genuine curiosity.
"Well..."
Kyle couldn't tell either.
Although he was known for going with the flow, it was the first time he had agreed to such a sudden proposal without even thinking.
Kyle felt strength in her words that seemed so overbearing.
Kyle honestly answered his feelings.
"I just thought that if I went with you, something would change."
"Change?"
"Yes. Something... like an intuition. I'm not sure, but at least being with you seemed to make the purpose of my life clearer than when I was with the mercenary corps."
"Then your intuition is right."
The girl smiled brightly.
"I am a mage who wanders this continent to plant hope."
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and her robe was swept away.
Her white hair and red eyes.
A smile imbued with purity.
She confidently revealed her name.
"I am Rosaria Adeleheights, the Mage of Hope!"
《Adopting a Disaster》 is now complete.
