I took the last sip of my corn water, savoring the taste of it in my mouth.

Feeling reluctant to swallow this delicious morsel all at once, I took my time to relish its flavor.

“Delicious.” I mumbled out quietly.

The taste of the corn was overwhelming.

Each spoonful of corn that I put inside my mouth tastes better than the last.

Perhaps as I aged, my taste buds had become more sensitive, or maybe the girl in front of me had also changed my sense of taste, just so that I can be a better pet for some nasty VIP who only wants me to feed on their waste.

Whatever the reason, at this moment, I was happy.

I decided to enjoy this as much as I could.

‘Should I add just one more spoonful when making corn water in the future?’

I pondered seriously before shaking my head.

Such luxury was not something I could afford now.

“Uh… is that enough for you?”

The girl approached me as I was enjoying my corn water.

I wanted to keep it in my mouth as long as possible, but I needed to answer, so I swallowed it.

I had no intention of indulging in pleasure in front of this young girl.

“Yes. After drinking this, I don’t need to eat anything else for the whole day.”

Well, that’s a lie, I still need to eat at lunch and dinner, but rather than this delicacy, what I eat is vegetables.

I’m not rich, so rather than buying it in the market, the one that I eat is vegetables that I grew myself.

Nevertheless, I didn’t tell this girl any of this, simply saying such a lie, implying that I was full and didn’t want to be forced to eat.

Unless she was a mad witch who enjoyed torturing with food, she wouldn’t force me to eat here.

“You can have more, like bread or soup. Shall I order a steak?”

“Ah.”

She really was a mad witch.

Feeling frightened, I cast my eyes down.

She was more dangerous than I imagined.

“Don’t be scared. You look like you need more than just what you drank.”

“No, it’s not that. Corn is nutritious and rich in flavor…”

“Really? Can I try it?”

The girl reached out her hand, asking for my corn water.

I was sad to see my meal disappear, but I decided to give it to her here.

“How much flour do you put in it?”

“Just as much as you saw.”

Cough

I added an extra spoonful so she wouldn’t take me for a fool.

The thought of wasting precious corn flour almost brought me to tears.

✱✱✱

Han Yeoreum looked at the corn water in her hand, and began to think sadly.

How could someone live on such a nutritionless drink?

With such thought in her head, Yeoreum took a sip.

Gulp—

“Ah.”

The taste of ground corn mixed in water.

After one sip, she couldn’t bring herself to drink more and set the bottle down.

It was bland, lacking in taste and nutrition compared to real corn.

‘It tastes horrible.’

A child, who should have been loved, had only received adults’ curses and criticisms.

After fighting for her life against horned rabbits, her meal was water mixed with corn flour.

It was a life no eight-year-old should have to endure.

Yeoreum couldn’t even begin to imagine how horrific and hellish the child’s life had been.

‘What have I done?’

What had she said to the child, bleeding and begging for help?

Yeoreum felt nauseous, almost fainting.

She had become the kind of person she detest the most.

‘How did it come to this?’

The child’s body lacked mana, something essential for life.

This might have led to early puberty as a side effect.

It was reason enough to be abandoned by her parents.

A body that couldn’t be healed by potions or recovery magic due to the lack of mana.

In an uncommon situation, Yeoreum had no choice but to use a last resort to save the child.

— Beast King Benediction —

A unique high level consumable item that bestowed the power of the Beast King upon its user.

It was a powerful item, but nobody in the guild had used it due to its drawback of making those who use it to ‘start everything from scratch’.

It was the perfect item for the physically impaired girl.

The item would reconstruct the eater body from scratch, regardless of whether they have mana or not.

It was an item that couldn’t be bought for any amount of money, yet no one in the guild opposed its use.

They were well aware that they were the ones who had tormented the eight-year-old child to the brink of death.

‘I’m glad it worked out.’

At first, I was worried about turning an adult into a child, but looking at how she knew neither her name, age, nor school, I was certain.

She was indeed a young child.

‘If she had died that day…’

She doesn’t even dare to think about it.