<CHAPTER 5>

Jia skipped ahead, clutching my hand as she bounced along, while Jiwoo quietly walked beside me with both hands wrapped tightly around mine.

“Do you really like going to kindergarten that much?”

“Hehe. I like going to kindergarten, but it’s even, even better because I get to go with Uncle!”

Her cheerful answer drew a smile from me without thinking.

Well, from the kids’ perspective, it had been months since they last got to walk to school with their uncle. Of course they were excited.

Though calling it a school run was a bit of an exaggeration. All we really did was walk them to the village entrance and put them on the kindergarten bus.

“Unca. You’re gonna come with us every day now, right? You’re not sick anymore?”

“Yep. Uncle’s completely fine now. Here, look.”

“Waaah~!”

Still holding Jiwoo’s little hand, I lifted him high into the air.

He let out a delighted squeal as he dangled from my arm before landing safely on the ground again. It lasted only a moment, but that brief ride was enough to make his cheeks flush pink and his eyes sparkle as though he’d just gotten off an amusement park ride.

“Uncle! Me too! Jia too!”

“O-Okay. Here we go!”

“Ahaha~!”

By the time I’d taken turns lifting both little troublemakers as we walked, we had reached the village entrance, where the kindergarten bus was already waiting for us.

The children inside leaned out the windows and shouted excitedly the moment they saw me.

“Ah! It’s Lightning Mister!”

“Super Mister!”

Lightning Mister? Super Mister?

What kind of nicknames were those?

While I stood there wondering, a woman stepped off the bus and approached with a smile as warm as the morning sun.

“Hello. Jia and Jiwoo have been bragging nonstop about how their uncle came home. I’m so glad to see you’re looking healthy.”

“Ah… thank you.”

Leaving the noisy children behind, she came over to greet me.

My eyes naturally drifted to the name tag pinned to her chest.

Han Song-i.

Right. There was a kindergarten teacher by that name.

I’d only ever seen her in passing during drop-offs and pick-ups, so nothing else really came to mind.

“All right, Jia and Jiwoo. Shall we say hello?”

At Teacher Han Song-i’s words, the twins folded their hands neatly over their stomachs and gave an adorable little bow.

“Good morning~!”

“Good morning!”

Mmm. Cute.

Such polite kids.

It was obvious the kindergarten was doing an excellent job teaching them manners.

“Now, shall we say goodbye to Uncle too?”

“Yes! Uncle, we’ll be back after kindergarten!”

“Bye-bye, Unca~!”

The two little ones climbed onto the bus without the slightest hint of reluctance.

Meanwhile, your uncle already misses you this much…

“See you later, then.”

“Yes. Please take good care of them.”

I waved to my nieces and nephew before giving Teacher Han Song-i a polite nod as well.

Looking at her bright, gentle smile, I felt an odd little tickle in my chest.

I have a feeling mornings are going to become a lot more enjoyable from now on.

I watched the kindergarten bus disappear beyond the village entrance with a satisfied smile before finally turning around.

—

“Hmm… How long is it going to take to fix all this?”

After dropping the kids off and making a brief appearance at the village hall, I headed straight for our greenhouse.

The inside was in even worse shape than I’d expected.

The plastic covering had been ripped apart in several places, and the steel support frames were visibly bent.

I pressed one of the supports with my hand.

It wobbled ever so slightly.

At this rate, one more strong wind could bring the whole thing down.

“This definitely needs some repairs…”

The ground wasn’t much better.

The soil washed in by the typhoon had piled up to one side, completely ruining the raised planting beds.

Normally, water would flow evenly along the furrows, but in this condition, it would inevitably collect in one spot.

I pressed the ground lightly with my foot.

It sank beneath me.

The soil was still soaked through and soft.

“I’ll have to rebuild the rows first.”

I released the tiniest thread of divine power into the earth.

Immediately, I felt faint movement beneath the soil.

Though invisible to the eye, the Children of the Earth—the spirits that governed soil and water—had responded.

“So this is still my limit.”

Perhaps because my divine power was still too weak, the planting beds didn’t visibly rise.

Instead, the collapsed boundaries slowly took shape again, while the low spots where water had pooled gradually leveled out.

To anyone else, it would simply look like someone had cleaned things up a little.

But for me…

This was the ideal result.

If my divine power were fully restored, repairing an entire greenhouse would have taken only seconds.

But that would attract far too much attention.

For now, I’d have to keep blending my abilities into farm work little by little, making sure nothing looked unnatural.

Just as I was about to head deeper inside—

Clang.

The dull sound of metal striking the ground echoed nearby.

It was followed by rough, labored breathing.

I poked my head out of the greenhouse.

In the neighboring field, Grandpa Chun-bae was struggling alone to clear away the typhoon damage.

Bent nearly double at the waist, he leaned heavily on his farming tool.

He didn’t look well.

I almost called out to ask if he was all right.

Then I remembered how close I’d come to exposing my abilities the other day.

I’d rather not invite more trouble.

Besides, Grandpa Chun-bae was known throughout the village as a grumpy old man.

Even when people greeted him, he’d usually respond with a curt nod—or ignore them altogether.

That was probably why he hadn’t shown up at the village hall today.

“…Working by yourself?”

Unable to ignore him any longer, I finally spoke.

The old man merely glanced up before returning his attention to the tool in his hands.

“None of your concern.”

The blunt, dismissive tone hadn’t changed one bit.

But something about the hoe caught my eye.

Its blade was badly bent to one side, and the joint where the handle connected rattled loosely.

It looked ready to snap if he put any more force into it.

“That must be difficult to use.”

“It’s all I’ve got.”

With that, Grandpa Chun-bae swung the hoe down again.

The blade bounced off the ground instead of digging in.

“Oof…”

The recoil threw him off balance.

He managed to stay on his feet, but it was obvious the strain had gone straight to his lower back.

…I can’t just leave it like this.

If I offered to help, he’d reject me nine times out of ten.

More likely, he’d scold me for sticking my nose where it didn’t belong.

First, I glanced around.

The old man had walked around to the other side of the greenhouse, apparently looking for his water jug.

Now’s my chance.

I hurried over, picked up the hoe he’d been using, and gripped it tightly.

The instant I touched it, a familiar sensation stirred in my palm.

Divine Manifestation.

A Divine Manifestation was a tool created through divine power.

Normally, one would weave pure divine energy into the shape of a brand-new tool.

In my current condition, that was impossible.

So instead, I chose the next best option—

infusing an existing tool with divine power.

Carefully, I let the energy flow into it.

The divine energy seeped along the edge of the hoe.

There was no flash of light.

No dramatic sound.

Only the strange feeling beneath my fingertips as the metal gradually became firm once more.

The warped blade slowly straightened, as though it had always been that way.

The loose connection between the handle and blade tightened as well.

It didn’t become shiny and brand-new.

The rust remained.

To anyone looking at it, it would simply appear exactly as it always had.

That should do it.

I returned the hoe to its original spot.

Then I wandered back to the greenhouse, pretending to tidy up the outside as though nothing had happened.

A little while later, Grandpa Chun-bae returned.

Without a word, he picked up the hoe and swung it into the earth again.

This time…

It was different.

The blade sliced smoothly into the soil.

He swung again.

Then again.

Suddenly, he stopped.

“……”

He stared down at the hoe.

His brows slowly knitted together.

It wasn’t the expression of someone delighted.

It was the look of a man who couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing.

“…It wasn’t like this before.”

Without looking up, I kept pretending to inspect the greenhouse supports.

“Maybe it’s just old enough that it has good days and bad days.”

“Did you touch it?”

The question came out of nowhere.

I shrugged innocently.

“I only knocked some dirt off while I was cleaning up.”

The old man studied my face for a long moment.

Eventually, he gripped the hoe again.

“You’re a strange one.”

Muttering those words, he went back to work.

This time, his movements were noticeably easier as he cleared away the washed-up weeds and reshaped the collapsed ridges.

Each strike of the hoe landed with a steady, satisfying thud.

“…Hmph.”

A quiet breath escaped him.

Whether from exhaustion or because something weighed on his mind, I couldn’t tell.

I didn’t say another word.

After watching him for a few moments from inside the greenhouse, I turned back to my own work.

—

As I left the greenhouse and headed home, my steps felt strangely light.

Partly because of the physical labor…

But also because I could feel my divine power had grown, if only by the tiniest amount.

“I’d say today’s harvest wasn’t bad at all.”

I muttered to myself.

Just then—

Yip!

A familiar bark rang out.

“…Tofu?”

I looked up.

Sitting proudly in front of our gate was a small brown furball.

It was the very same puppy that had bitten my finger and run away at dawn the day before.