“It eats magic stones? That kitty?”

“Specifically, it eats grounded magic stones mixed with meat. It wouldn’t eat just raw meat.”

That little cat sure has expensive tastes. Even if it eats just one magic stone a day, that would be 300 million won a month and 3.66 billion won a year.

Since the calculations only considered one meal, eating three meals a day would cost over 100 billion won a year.

“…Could you lend me some money for its food?”

Even if I were to raise it as fast as possible, it would still need at least half a year to reach adulthood, and I certainly don't have tens of billions of won lying around. When it becomes an adult, it’d be a familiar that would be worth at least several hundreds of billions instead of several billions. Please, make an investment for me.

At my words, Yoohyun laughed.

“Sure thing. Don’t worry, it’s not really an amount of money that will burden me.”

He said ten million won for a meal weren't a burden. I envy you, you S-ranks.

Even after getting five L-grade skills, all were support ones, so it was impossible for me to conquer any diamond-mine-like S-grade Dungeons. Shouldn’t a title like ‘Dragon Slayer’ give attack-type and defense-type skills paired together? Something like ‘Dragon Breath’, or ‘Dragon Scale’.

Am I just incredibly unlucky?

“For tamed monsters, as long as one has the owner’s token, anyone can handle them. However, be careful because they can become confused and rebellious after the owner changes suddenly. Especially if the new owner's rank is lower than the monster’s, there's a higher chance of that happening.”

Yoohyun said, as he pulled out a pendant with a blue flat stone embedded on it out of his inventory.

Come to think of it, what's my real rank? My stats are F-grade, but I have numerous L-grade skills.

But even if I were to be considered S-rank by the system, if I couldn’t enter S-grade dungeons, my real-world rank would still drop to A or below. The Saintess Emily Spencer was a perfect example of that.

Then, my real rank would probably be around A-Rank, too.

After taking the pendant, the owner’s token, I went back to the greenhouse. The Horned Flame Lion was still stuck to the glass wall, growling as if it was angry.

“Hey, kiddo. You have a new owner now.”

I approached the glass wall, shaking the pendant to show it. The Horned Flame Lion tilted its head and glanced back and forth between me and Yoohyun.

*Hmph*

Oh, it became calm. While it didn't show affection, it completely stopped growling and pouncing.

“Even if it’s small, a monster is a monster, so don’t go in by yourself for now. It’ll take about two days for it to completely recognize its new owner.”

Yoohyun said as he unlocked the greenhouse door. To contain a C-Rank monster, those walls probably weren’t made of normal glass.

“Are there any other monsters in the greenhouse besides the Horned Lion?”

“I put in some flora and fauna from the dungeon’s ecosystem, but there aren’t any monster-class creatures. Wait, there is one.”

“What is it?”

“It's a Tier 5 fruit-bearing tree called Guillotine. Although it is rare for a Tier 5 species, its fruit is useful, so I've planted some.”

…Wasn’t that the man-eating tree that catches people with its tentacles and melts them down? Plant species were relatively weak, but if it's Tier 5, it should be at the upper level of rank D. For an F-rank Level 1 like me, it would be difficult to handle even with A-rank equipment.

“Don’t worry, they’re already pruned. As long as you periodically cut them, it’s safe.”

Yoohyun opened the greenhouse door as he told me not to worry. Hot air rushed out from the inside. Perhaps in consideration of the Horned Flame Lion the temperature was set high.

“Come to think of it, isn’t taking flora and fauna out of dungeons illegal?”

“There are no related laws yet. Domestic dungeons are treated as domestic territory, so it's not smuggling. They just told me to be careful about not spreading them into the wild since there’s a danger of disturbing the ecosystem.”

So it was before the law was established. When was it prohibited… Was it after the Shinho Group’s Snowflake Butterfly incident?

Wearing slippers for greenhouse use, I went inside. Among the mostly unfamiliar plants, there were some trees and grasses that looked familiar. That one over there was the vine that could often be found in E-rank dungeons.

*Rustle*

Along with the sounds of pushing through the leaves, the baby Horned Lion appeared. Now that it stopped leaping around and became docile, it looked really cute. Although Its size was about that of a grown cat, the shape of its face retained the roundness characteristic of baby animals. Its big golden eyes were pretty like gems.

“Does it have a name?”

“No.”

You didn't even give it a name. Heartless kid.

The lion cub, half-hidden under broad leaves, was peeking at the two of us cautiously. The sudden change of ownership must have confused it.

“You’re a good kitty, aren’t you?”

I crouched down and lowered my eye level as I called the lion cub.

“Come here, little one.”

I'll raise you well. The lion cub hesitated but approached me. And then, it happened.

[Title ‘Perfect Caregiver’ has increased the effect of the item ‘Owner’s Token’

The tamed target shows goodwill towards the Caregiver.]

A sudden Message Window popped up. What, there’s an effect like this too?

*Mew~*

The Horned Flame Lion slightly opened its mouth and cried adorably. Ack, it’s so cute. After rubbing its cheek on my hand, it flopped over.

Wow, what was this cutie pie! Waving its chubby feet that looked like they were wearing golden socks, it purred. Its thick tail swayed back and forth gently. Its fur was soft too.

It's warm, cute, insanely cute!

“How could you think of killing such a cute guy.”

I said, petting the baby Horned Lion attached to my arm. A tiny thing like this already knows how to hide its claws. Alright, I’ll hold you. My little baby.

“It didn’t act particularly cute to me.”

“Even though you have been feeding it for two months?”

“Well, it did follow me quietly since it was tamed, but it didn’t wag its tail or stick to me.”

It seemed like the Perfect Caregiver’s effect was stronger than I’d thought. Was it because it was a baby? If I was to succeed in growing the Horned Lion, I could collaborate with a tamer and raise high-rank beast mounts.

Even rising just one or two a year, just how much would that bring me? People would come running from all over the world.

“I'm counting on you from now on, little one.”

As I imagined a bright future, the Horned Flame Lion cub nestled in my arms seemed to grow even cuter.

‘If the skill application is successful, in about two months I can claim to have obtained something like a monster-rearing skill.’

If I said that I obtained the skill while taking care of the baby monster, it wouldn’t seem strange, and by then I’d have about three to four A~S-ranks protecting me. I could as well raise several capable baby monsters and keep them by my side.

Would my nickname become something like Beast Master? Sounds pretty cool, hmm.

“Can I take it outside?”

“Not outside the guild building. Traveling with tamed monsters is still illegal except for dungeon raids. And even inside the building, don’t bring it to floors 1 to 3 where non-Awakened individuals roam.

In five years, people would make appearances on broadcasts with cool-looking magic beasts that you could barely call a pet. When did the law change, again?

Holding the Horned Flame Lion, I left the greenhouse. Yoohyun insisted on me leaving it for one more day just in case, but I ignored him.

My system rank should be around S-grade, and I even had the effect of an L-rank skill, so what problems would there be. The cub would continue to follow me obediently.

Now, what should I name it?

“By the way, Hyung, don't casually accept and drink anything like orange juice.”

“…What?”

Orange juice? Why suddenly orange… Oh, the Hunter Shopping Mall!

I looked at my brother with suspicious eyes. Leaving aside Black Poison Beads, he even knew what I drank down to the details.

“Did you plant spies in the Hunter Shopping Mall or what?”

“Yeah.”

A nonchalant answer came back.

“What? Really?”

“On the 6th floor, even other guilds must have put in one or two. It's mainly frequented by B-rank or higher hunters. I bet there are a few from other guilds on the 6th floor too. Knowing what they buy helps in grasping what their goals and schedules are.”

…Guilds' power struggles were much more intense than I had thought. But wasn’t it too much to be cautious even within a public institution like the Hunter Association?

“That’s why you shouldn’t be relaxed just because it’s the Hunter Association. Eating what others give you is even more dangerous, as well as wandering off alone, so don’t do things like that again. It’s also better not to go to any restaurants near the Association. Oh, vending machine drinks are fine.”

“But why would they go as far as doing that within the Association? If caught, the consequences would be severe."

Moreover, if awakened individuals started losing trust in the association, it would ultimately harm the guilds too.

“Of course, incidents probably wouldn’t happen within the Association itself. But sending a target away in an ambulance or police car is possible.”

“…Do those ambulances and police cars go missing?”

“So you get it.”

Yoohyun smiled. Was it something to smile about?

Somehow, as time went by, I felt like I should stop being involved with Yoohyun and go off to live on my own. But unless I gave up on the Perfect Caregiver title, I would still have to get involved with A and S-ranks, making our encounters inevitable.

Looking at it like that, I might as well rely on my trustworthy brother to have my back.

“The world of Hunters is tough.”

“It’s relatively peaceful below C-rank.”

Well, it's not exactly like that, you know? The rock bottom is still a battlefield. It's just that there's a difference between covert maneuvers like sending out spies and openly throwing punches. I've rolled around quite a bit myself.

“If there's anything else I need to be cautious about, now's the time to mention it.”

“You just have to look out for basic things. Don't accept things from strangers, avoid dark and deserted places, and even if an elderly person asks you for help, don't follow them.”

“Ah, yes. I will come home before nine, send you the number when I ride taxis, and if it seems as if I will be late, I will diligently call you. Should I get a lost child prevention necklace too?”

“I think a GPS tracker would be better.”

…I can’t even joke. People of the world, please get along nicely. That way, I might be able to live comfortably.

I looked down at the Horned Flame Lion cub that was purring in my arms.

“Your name from now on is Peace.”

Indeed, the world was all about love and peace.