Tia sat with her back against the wall, tightly hugging her knees with both arms.
And she stubbornly stared back at the stone that had been looking at her for a while now without backing down.
At first, she had been scared.
But the longer she looked, the more certain she became.
‘…It’s a Tanipang.’
It transformed and used magic too.
It looked a little different, but it was definitely a Tanipang.
Gathering courage, Tia scooted herself a little closer.
Then, with sparkling eyes, she carefully observed the stone creature.
‘It’s completely black from head to toe.’
Her heart pounded.
Maybe what Daddy said about coming from another world was actually true.
What if Daddy really had been a holy knight and had a fairy companion?
What if that fairy was the stone in front of her, and it had come to save Daddy?
“Kkamangpang…”
At the dreamy little voice slipping from her mouth, the stone tilted its head.
That was when Tia suddenly begged it.
“Please save him!”
The child crawled forward on her knees and clasped her hands desperately.
“Mr. Kkamangpang! Please save my daddy!”
[You want me to save him?]
At first, she hadn’t believed it.
Even Tia knew that ordinary people couldn’t bring the dead back to life.
But that was for normal humans.
If it was a fairy…?
‘It can save Daddy.’
Doubt became certainty, and certainty became hope.
It felt as though wings had sprouted from her sorrowful heart and lifted it high into the sky.
But just as she waited anxiously for the answer—
[If I save your father…]
The fairy rose lightly into the air and stared directly at Tia.
[You’ll have to leave this place behind. Will you be okay with that?]
Tia’s expression went blank.
She wasn’t sure exactly what “this place” meant.
Did it mean the room where she and Daddy lived together?
Or this alleyway?
Ah, did it mean she wouldn’t be able to go back to kindergarten?
[Everything. You’ll have to abandon all the time you lived here.]
As if reading her thoughts, the fairy answered.
Tia’s face darkened.
If it meant everything, then it included both the good things and the bad things.
Grandma from Room 107, the lady from Room 203, and all the happy memories she had shared here with Daddy—
it meant leaving all of them behind.
As she struggled to answer, the fairy stepped closer.
[Still, if that’s what you want, I’ll return it all.]
“……”
[The place where you were born. The place where you were originally meant to be. The place where that man is still alive.]
Tia quietly inhaled.
It was difficult, but there was one thing she knew for certain.
The most precious thing in the world to Tia had always been Daddy.
That had never changed even once.
“…I’ll go.”
The moment she nodded—
every streetlight illuminating the alley suddenly went dark, as though they had been waiting for her answer.
A gust of wind rattled the window of Room 106.
The neatly folded blankets, the crayon drawings taped to the wall—
even the two toothbrushes of different sizes sitting in the cup trembled softly.
And when the streetlights flickered back on, Room 106 was empty.
As though no one had ever lived there to begin with.
“Mmm…”
Tia opened her eyes atop something soft and fluffy like cotton candy.
Then she immediately startled awake.
‘It’s not cotton candy!’
The place she was lying on was a smooth, fluffy blanket.
Only then did she fully come to her senses.
“…Daddy.”
Her heart pounded as she remembered what had happened before she fell asleep.
Just then, an unfamiliar voice spoke from nearby.
“You’re awake.”
Startled, Tia jumped up from the bed.
A boy she had never seen before was standing beside it.
But as she pulled the blanket toward herself to hide, she noticed something familiar about him and tilted her head.
“…Kkamangpang?”
Pitch-black hair like the night sky.
Eyes sparkling like jewels.
And ears slightly sticking out from his hair.
When the boy shook his head, the ears disappeared, but Tia was already certain.
“Kkamangpang! You can twansform into a human too!”
The boy’s expression instantly turned awkward.
Then he replied in a dry voice.
“Me?”
“Huh?”
“You mean I’m the Kkamangpang you’ve been calling this whole time?”
Tia tilted her head.
She thought he was smart since he used magic and promised to save Daddy—
but apparently Kkamangpang was the same type as the kindergarten kids who forgot people’s names every day.
“Mhm! Because you’re a fairy…”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not Kkamangpang.”
Tia gasped and quickly shut her mouth.
No wonder he had kept making uncomfortable expressions—she must have misunderstood something.
Then again—
she had never seen a Tanipang that could transform into a human and resurrect dead people.
‘Kkamangi—not Kkamangpang—must be an even more amazing fairy. Like one of those legendary ones…’
Wait.
Then maybe he wasn’t a Tanipang at all, but a Puppetmon?
Among Puppetmons, the legendary-grade ones could even time travel.
‘That must be it.’
Tia cautiously looked around.
She had definitely been at home before falling asleep, but when she woke up, the environment had completely changed.
Which meant she had been teleported.
At first glance, this place looked like an ordinary room with a large bed and fluffy bedding, but—
‘It’s inside a tent.’
Seeing the fabric fluttering overhead, she realized she was inside a tent.
“Kkamangi. What kind of tent is this?”
“Kkam… forget it.”
For some reason, Kkamangi let out a deep sigh.
Then he crossed his arms and answered.
“Your father’s hometown. You said you wanted to come here.”
“…Daddy’s hometown?”
“Yeah.”
Tia’s eyes slowly widened.
‘My hometown, Talochium, is a beautiful country. Before mana stones appeared, it was even prettier… Anyway, it’s way bigger than here, and the air is cleaner…’
Whenever Daddy talked about his hometown, his eyes sparkled like stars.
Tia had heard those stories so many times that she knew a lot about Talochium.
“The problem is, even I couldn’t bring your father back to life.”
But Kkamangi’s next words scattered her memories like smoke.
Tia stared at him with a tense expression.
‘He couldn’t bring Daddy back to life?’
Then did that mean Daddy wasn’t saved?
Did she come all the way to Daddy’s hometown without Daddy?
The unexpected thought made her tense up—
but then—
“So I came to the past.”
His next sentence made all the strength leave her body again.
Tia blankly repeated the words.
“…Came to the past?”
“Yeah. If you turn back time, everything gets solved.”
Tia furrowed her brow as hard as she could.
Then she began thinking with all her might.
Time had gone backward.
Tia, who originally lived in the future, had moved into the past!
Which meant—
“Then there’s two Tias?”
Kkamangi burst out laughing.
Then he walked over and opened the entrance flap of the tent.
“Good guess, but wrong. This is long before you were born.”
Tia stared with her mouth hanging open at the sight outside.
A forest.
Outside the tent was a forest unlike anything she had ever seen before.
As though entranced, she stepped outside and saw the dawn-lit scenery more clearly.
Towering pine trees stretching toward the sky.
Small trees, vines, and moss covered in morning dew growing between them.
“In this world, you won’t be born for another seven years.”
Birds began chirping.
“Even if you meet your father, he won’t know who you are.”
Tears slowly welled up in Tia’s eyes.
“And there’s no guarantee you’ll even find him. This world is much bigger than you think.”
“I can find him!”
Tia spun around.
Despite the tears in her eyes, a bright smile spread across her face.
“If Daddy’s alive, then I can find him!”
It didn’t matter if he failed to recognize her.
It didn’t matter if he treated her coldly like a stranger.
As long as she could see him again—
as long as she could see him alive and healthy once more!
Taking a brave breath, Tia rolled her eyes thoughtfully.
‘Daddy definitely said he was the strongest holy knight ever.’
And because she was a devoted daughter who always listened carefully to Daddy’s bedtime stories, Tia knew exactly where to start.
“Let’s go, Kkamangi!”
The headquarters of the Imperial Holy Knights was located in the Imperial Capital.
But before long, Tia was forced to realize something.
Life wasn’t nearly as easy as she thought.
“Huff, huff… whaaat…”
She felt like they had walked for ages.
Yet when she turned around, the tent they had left behind was still visible in the distance.
“Why did we only come this far…?”
Beside her, Kkamangi let out a very deep sigh.