I already knew the little one’s beauty was excellent.
‘Because she resembles her.’
But seeing her adult version made it clear that she was indeed beautiful.
Aphrodite might covet her if she saw her later.
That guest coveted anything beautiful, after all.
“Mister? Huh?”
“Do not be surprised. Go look in the mirror once.”
The little one tilted her head and approached the mirror placed in the room.
It took quite some time before her eyes widened as if they might fall out while she stared into the mirror.
“M-m-mister! I’m an adult!”
“It is magic cast on those participating in the event. Once time passes, you will return to normal.”
“Wow, I’m about as tall as you, mister! Are these heels? They’re uncomfortable.”
“You are listening to me, right?”
They said children wanted to become adults quickly.
Seeing her now, that saying seemed exactly right.
Her eyes were completely spinning. Completely.
Before she became even more distracted, I lightly flicked the little one’s forehead.
“Ow, that hurts.”
“Are you not going to do the treasure hunt? It cost three days’ worth of lodging fees.”
“Ah, right. Mister.”
“What?”
“Where did you hide them?”
Look at her.
She was asking me so boldly.
But what could be done?
“I don’t know either.”
“What?”
“I ordered my clones to do it. They must have hidden them thoroughly.”
I only knew the location of the most important first prize.
As for the other treasures, including the third and second prizes, I did not know where they were.
“Eeeh~ Can’t you tell me?”
“Acting cute will not work. If I tell you, people will say it was a trick, so go around and look for them yourself. Use this chance to look around the hotel too. You remember what I said about broadening your experience, right?”
The little one stuck out her lips, but soon accepted it.
Even if her appearance had changed, the little one’s essence had not.
“But what about lessons?”
“This is the lesson. A lesson in developing observation.”
Observation was one of the abilities needed for survival.
Since it was something learned by instinct, experiencing it directly would help more than a hundred words.
“Hehe, okay.”
The little one stretched out her long arms and legs and left the room.
The child’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the long corridor.
Ah, right.
“Do not follow strange people if they call you.”
“Okaaay.”
“Do not go even if they tempt you with something delicious.”
“I know!”
“And do not follow them if they enchant you with magic. If anything happens......”
“Mister, I’ll be back!”
What a careless answer.
Well, still, seeing her excited made the event feel worthwhile.
Then should I go watch?
***
The first place Yun Hye-rin went was the 199th floor.
It was the lecture hall floor where she always received lessons.
“Wow, it’s really small.”
She approached the desk where she usually sat and sat down.
Normally, the chair was one where her legs just reached, but now it was practically no different from squatting.
That difference was strangely fun.
“The book is small too.”
In truth, rather than searching for treasure, simply walking around in her changed appearance was enjoyable.
Being left out all the time because she was young had been a resentment in her heart.
She had dreamed of becoming an adult quickly.
Even if her current appearance was nothing more than a brief illusion, she was satisfied that she had become the adult she had wanted to be.
That was why she was merely looking around a familiar place from an unfamiliar perspective.
“There was already someone here.”
A young man entered the lecture hall.
The handsome young man in a martial arts uniform stared at Yun Hye-rin, then smiled lightly.
“Oh. It is Hye-rin.”
“Uh...... Grandpa?”
“That is right. From the look of it, you are also participating in the treasure hunt.”
“Hehe, yes! But Grandpa, you’re really handsome.”
“Hoho, in the past, I made quite a few women cry.”
“Huh? I was told you’re a bad person if you make women cry.”
The young Martial Alliance Leader laughed at Yun Hye-rin’s words and sat across from her.
“It seems you changed into your grown-up appearance.”
“That’s right! How do I look?”
“You are lovely. Truly lovely.”
Looking at the grown Yun Hye-rin, the Alliance Leader thought of his own daughter.
‘She could have become this beautiful.’
She had become a flower that never bloomed, so his heart could only ache.
That was why he wanted all the more to protect this child.
To keep useless things from approaching her, and to make sure she was not hurt anywhere.
“Mm? Alliance Leader, you were here...... Tsk, have you failed to forget your habits from youth and started flirting with a woman again?”
While the Alliance Leader was lost in old thoughts, the Heavenly Demon entered the classroom.
The Heavenly Demon’s appearance was also not that of an old man, but his youthful appearance.
At his sharp words, the Alliance Leader cleared his throat.
“Heavenly Demon, how about you refrain from such words?”
“Are you Grandpa Heavenly Demon?”
“Mm? I wondered who this was. Is that you, Hye-rin?”
“Yes!”
“Alliance Leader, surely you would not, with a child like your daughter......”
“If you are going to speak nonsense, go somewhere else.”
“It was a joke. But do you have time to idle here?”
The Heavenly Demon stood crookedly and pulled the stopper from the gourd at his waist.
Judging by the strong scent of alcohol, even if his appearance had become younger, the Heavenly Demon was still the Heavenly Demon.
“Keh, I hear some have already found treasures.”
“Oh? What did the treasures contain?”
“Lodging tickets. Basically, they were one-day lodging tickets, but there are surely more hidden.”
“So if we want to recover our costs, we must find at least three.”
“Given the Proprietor’s temperament, he would not have hidden that many treasures.”
Even in this moment, the rewards were gradually decreasing.
If they wanted to recover the lodging fees they had paid as participation fees, they needed to move a little quickly.
The Alliance Leader habitually stroked his chin and rose from his seat.
“Then we must hurry. Hye-rin, will you search this place more?”
“What about you, Grandpa?”
“From the look of it, I do not think there is anything here. I should search elsewhere.”
“Mm......”
At that moment, Yun Hye-rin rolled her eyes, then looked at the bookshelf placed along one wall.
“Huh?”
Then she strode over to it and pulled out one book.
“Grandpa, here!”
She found the ticket hidden inside the book and handed it over.
“......A lodging ticket?”
“How did you know?”
“Mm, I just knew!”
The two martial artists stared blankly at each other.
For a moment, they wondered if she had used magic or qi sense, but they quickly realized that was not the case.
From the moment one participated in this event, no power could be used.
Then was this merely coincidence?
“Hye-rin, are there any more things like this here?”
“Ah, Grandpa Heavenly Demon, you need one too?”
“It would be good if there were.”
“Theen, umm.”
Yun Hye-rin placed a finger on her chin and thought quietly once again. Before long, she sharply turned her head.
“Ah......!”
The child, moving instinctively, took large steps out of the classroom and entered another lecture hall.
She stopped in front of one desk.
“Yap!”
The moment she flipped the desk over, the desk’s form twisted and changed into a ticket.
“Hehe, here!”
“Hah.”
“How on earth did you do that?”
“I just knew!”
Instinct.
It was an area that could only be explained that way.
Their surprise lasted only for a moment.
The two martial artists looked at each other and quickly exchanged thoughts.
‘If Hye-rin can find the hidden things?’
‘Would it not be enough for us to monopolize them?’
‘We can share the lodging tickets we obtain with Hye-rin.’
‘Then what will we do for her in the process?’
‘What about escorting her? In any case, this fact will soon become known.’
‘That is insufficient. Is the Proprietor not watching all of this anyway?’
‘You are right. Then......’
Because they had known each other for so long, it was fully possible for them to read each other’s thoughts even without sound transmission.
After reaching mutual agreement,“Hye-rin, could you grant this old man a request?”
the two began coaxing Yun Hye-rin.
The sight resembled immature, unemployed uncles trying to steal a candy a child was sucking on.
***
I had clearly told her not to follow strange people who said nonsense.
“Miss Yun Hye-rin has found another lodging ticket.”
“With this, the number of lodging tickets in her possession has reached thirty.”
Watching the entire situation from the lobby, I could only let out a hollow laugh at the reports my clones raised in succession.
“Does this make sense?”
Yun Hye-rin.
By some means, this little one had begun finding every lodging ticket hidden throughout the hotel.
She was not merely finding the ones that had simply been hidden.
Even the ones concealed with transformation magic and perception-reduction magic were being found with ease.
This was a result I had not expected at all.
“No. 100, No. 104. The magic placed on the invitations. It was properly done, yes?”
“That is correct.”
“We have confirmed several times that it is functioning properly. Even if one used a god’s authority, one could not defy that rule.”
It had been made by mobilizing my various powers, so everyone participating in the event was no different from an ordinary person.
Then how did that little one know the locations of the treasures one after another?
“Did someone tell her?”
“Absolutely not.”
“An absolute gag order has already been placed on the clones. They cannot violate it.”
“Then how do you explain that?”
“......”
“......”
No. 100 and No. 104 pressed their lips shut like mutes who had swallowed honey.
It must mean that this was an area even they could not understand.
Well.
If even I did not know, how would they know?
“The only thing we can infer is that it seems to be instinct.”
“Instinct, is it?”
“Were there not occasionally guests of that sort among those who visited before?”
That was true.
There had been guests who, from the outside, seemed to have no power or ability, but instinctively knew the solution.
“Perhaps she is that type.”
“I thought talents like that had all been reduced to nothing. How fascinating.”
This time, I had blocked that as well.
Yet she had broken through it.
“Master, what will you do?”
“There may be backlash later.”
“Tsk, yes. A rumor will spread later that I told her.”
I swore I had not said a single word, but what could I do?
It looked that way.
If so, the event was a failure.
Something that all guests staying here should enjoy would be a great loss if it became covered in dissatisfaction.
Therefore, measures had to be prepared.
“What about invalidating the event and providing all participants with four days’ worth of lodging compensation?”
No. 100 presented a reasonable compromise.
“Their appearances have been changed anyway. We will not reveal who monopolized the prizes, so I think it will be fine.”
No. 104 presented a bold decision.
Both decisions had pros and cons.
“Let us leave it alone for now. They will not know unless she obtains something better than third prize anyway.”
Starting from third prize, the prize would be announced the moment it was found.
That way, it would be fair.
In any case, she would never be able to obtain third, second, or first prize.
They had been hidden extremely thoroughly.
Surely, there was no way she could find—
“Master, Miss Yun Hye-rin has just discovered the third prize.”
“......”
She found that?
Huh?
It was on the 50th floor, prepared as the library, deep within it, transformed into a book and hidden there.
On top of that, to reach that place, she had to pass through a transformation maze.
“Shall we...... announce the third prize?”
“......We should. Yes.”
It seemed this event had been properly ruined.
***
“Hehe, I found it.”
How had she found this?
Even she could not explain it.
She had simply thought about a method to reach it, and her body had moved naturally.
She had experienced this a few times before, but this was the first time she had felt it so clearly.
“Grandpa, here.”
“Oh, is this the third prize?”
“You are remarkable. No matter how many times I see it, I am astonished.”
“Hehe, there’s more! I can find more.”
Yun Hye-rin could feel it.
There were still many hidden tickets.
If she wished, she could grasp as many of them as she liked.
Naturally, the corners of the two martial artists’ mouths rose after they had already gathered an armful of tickets.
Of course, they could not simply be happy.
“But you have to keep your promise.”
In exchange for receiving a portion of the tickets from Yun Hye-rin,“Ahem, of course.”
“We do not lie, yes, of course we do not.”
“Once this is over, we will tell you one of the Proprietor’s secrets.”
they had staked their consciences.