DPGR 47

“Liam?”

Dojin called out to him. Liam glanced over and pointed at the monster as he asked,

“Has that monster ever been seen by any Taming Esper other than me?”

“No. You’re the first one since it came to the Center. I’m not sure about its time in the holding facility, but I doubt it encountered any other Taming Espers back then either.”

“Right? I couldn’t detect any traces of a taming skill either. So why…”

Liam began walking—straight toward Jiho, who was still seated on the floor.

“What did you do to this monster?”

His voice was tinged with excitement. Jiho looked up at him, startled, eyes wide.

“Oh dear. Do you not speak English? But the artifact is in use, so communication shouldn’t be a problem…”

“……”

Jiho shrank back slightly. Noticing this, Dojin quickly stepped between the two of them.

He helped Jiho to his feet and answered in his place.

“Guide Jiho hasn’t done anything to the monster.”

“……”

Liam’s eyes shifted to Dojin. He looked a bit displeased, as if he thought Jiho had deliberately ignored him.

Realizing the misunderstanding, Dojin shot a quick glance at Jiho and then spoke in English.

“<Can we talk without the artifact for a moment?>”

“Sure.”

Liam removed his sunglasses, revealing bright blue eyes.

“<What is it?>”

“<Thanks for your cooperation. I think there’s been a misunderstanding about ‘him’.>”

“<You think I’m the one misunderstanding?>”

“<Yes. The truth is…>”

Dojin referred to Jiho only as “he” while briefly explaining Jiho’s background in English—so Jiho wouldn’t understand.

Liam’s eyebrows raised as he listened, then he gave a small nod.

“<I’m glad we cleared that up.>”

With that, Liam put his sunglasses back on and offered his hand to Jiho.

“Nice to meet you. Your name’s Jiho, right?”

Jiho glanced at Liam with wary eyes, then looked to Dojin for reassurance.

Dojin gave him a small nod.

“……”

Jiho hesitated, then lightly shook Liam’s hand. The monster, however, bared its teeth and growled at Liam like a guard dog protecting its owner.

Liam looked at the scene with genuine amazement.

“Incredible! I’ve never seen a monster follow a human without taming. This deserves to be reported to the academy!”

Grrrr, grrrruuurrr…

“Haha! At this rate, I might not even need to use my ability. Well—of course, I still have to use it, now that I’m here.”

He shrugged and spoke rapidly, his voice so loud Jiho, who stood right in front of him, felt his ears ring.

“Well then, let’s begin the taming process. Could you give me the item to serve as the master’s token? Just a reminder—it must belong to the person who’ll be controlling the monster.”

This monster was set to join Alpha Team.

Since high-ranking monsters don’t fully lose their sense of self even after taming, someone of equal or higher rank had to manage them.

That’s why they’d already decided to use something belonging to Alpha Team’s Captain, Dojin, as the token.

After a moment of thought, Dojin pulled out a broken necklace.

The artifact had been used long ago, and the gemstone was cracked, but since it was a gift from his teacher, he hadn’t been able to throw it away.

“Here. Will this work?”

“Absolutely. Please hand it over.”

Taking the necklace, Liam reached toward Jiho. He grabbed the now-whimpering monster by the scruff and held the necklace in front of its face.

“There, little one. Look closely. Focus on this. Shhh, that’s it.”

A blue glow gathered at Liam’s fingertips and flowed into both the necklace and the monster.

But the monster kept squirming, repelling the magic.

Liam tried several more times, sweat beading on his brow—but nothing worked.

“Damn…”

He scratched his head in frustration as the monster snorted and huffed at him.

Unable to watch any longer, Jiho stepped forward and lightly scolded it.

“Euuuuh!”

His stern babyish sound was completely unimpressive—but the monster flinched and folded its ears back with a whimper.

“Euuuuuh!”

Whine—

The monster’s defiance vanished. Liam let out a stunned, breathless laugh.

Did I just get outdone by that kid?

His pride was more than a little bruised—and at the same time, he found Jiho strangely intriguing.

“Liam?”

“Ah. Ahem. Let’s try again.”

Liam made another attempt—he’d lost count of how many it was by now.

The once-defiant monster was now completely subdued by Jiho’s babble, drooping in place.

The taming succeeded instantly.

Visibly pleased, Liam placed the monster and the necklace on the ground, then pulled a small, finger-length knife from his pocket.

“This necklace belongs to Mr. Baek, yes?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then, may I have Mr. Baek’s finger?”

Taming required specific materials:

An item belonging to the person who would become the monster’s master—and their blood.

Dojin already knew this, so he held out his hand without hesitation.

The other team members, also aware, showed no reaction.

Only Jiho had no idea what was going on.

He watched with wide eyes, and when Liam pricked Dojin’s finger with the knife, Jiho’s mouth dropped open.

“……!”

Startled, Jiho grabbed Dojin’s hand. A bead of red blood had welled up from the small cut at his fingertip.

Blood! Blood!

Just as Jiho was about to hurriedly bring Dojin’s finger to his mouth—

“W-Wait!”

Dojin, his face flushing bright red, quickly pushed Jiho’s forehead away.

Jiho had only been trying to stop the bleeding by putting the injured finger in his mouth—but all Dojin could think of was how similar it looked to the scene from the night before, when Jiho had been sucking his finger in a nearly identical position. The déjà vu made him panic.

“It’s—it’s fine! Really, it’s fine. This is for the taming.”

Flustered, Dojin looked around, silently pleading for help.

Quick to catch on, Jihye stepped in to assist.

“Taming requires the blood of the person who’ll become the monster’s master. I think Jiho was just surprised by the sudden sight of blood.”

“Yeah! It’s just part of the ritual, just a prep step! Alright, let’s finish it up before the blood clots, shall we?”

While Jihye and Kijoon calmed Jiho down, Dojin turned back to Liam and offered a quick apology.

Liam simply chuckled, calling them a tight-knit team, and then squeezed Dojin’s finger to smear the blood across the necklace and the monster’s forehead.

At that moment, Liam’s mana surged, and a brilliant light flooded the space.

As the light faded, he picked up the necklace and handed it to Dojin.

“Give it a try.”

As soon as the invisible pressure lifted, the monster sprang up and ran straight to Jiho, bumping its head gently against his belly and whimpering.

Jiho patted the monster’s head, praising it as if it had done well.

After a moment’s hesitation, Dojin took the necklace Liam had handed him and tried giving a command.

“Come here.”

The monster gave him a sidelong glance. Its golden eyes squinted just slightly—like a person frowning in displeasure.

It was clearly not thrilled to be called by Dojin.

Dojin was dumbfounded, but kept his composure and tried again.

“Come. Here.”

Snort!

The monster snorted—but perhaps the taming had worked after all. With a pouty, begrudging look, it strutted over to Dojin.

“It seems the taming was a little weak… but that’s probably due to the monster’s temperament.”

Not wanting Dojin to think he was skimping on the job, Liam added a quick explanation—just in case.

Of course, Dojin had no intention of short-changing someone who had done their part, so he nodded and moved to wrap things up.

“Yes. This is more than enough. Thank you for your work.”

“So, about the payment…”

“I’ll deposit the agreed amount to the account listed in the contract. That’s still the correct one, yes?”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

Liam nodded, visibly pleased.

Dojin glanced back at Jiho, who was now petting the clingy monster, and gestured subtly toward the door.

“I’ll walk you to the front of the Center. Let’s go.”

“Of course, let’s head out. Bye, little one. Take care, alright? I hope we get to meet again sometime.”

Liam offered a warm farewell to the monster, but it only snorted and turned its head away.

Even that haughty, indifferent reaction made Liam laugh heartily, calling the creature adorable and cute.

Jiho silently thought: This guy’s sense of “cute” must be very different from everyone else’s.