Sect Master’s Guide to Babysitting

Heuk Cheon made his way onto his sleeping area that was made for him and his disciple Seo Ryung. It was a simple cot in a chamber that was used to store old furniture. Seo Ryung was already sleeping across his own bedroll, snoring loudly. The morning's labor had finally taken its toll.

Sinking onto his own bedroll, Heuk Cheon allowed himself to reflect on the events that had happened in the morning. So this is my life now... I, the former demon lord, is taking care of brats. A quiet snort of something like entertainment came out of him. If somebody had told him about this a year ago that he would be doing this now, he would have probably called them insane, and well... executed them.

And yet, a part of him was... sort of relieved. He was unhappy when he remembered the bloodshed he had once bathed in. This time, he was building something. He was protecting these young souls, nurturing them, it felt different. Less glorious, maybe, but it felt more important. 

In the hallway, a lanterned was blown out. He had heard someone's careful footsteps, it was likely Lee Jin-Ho taking a final round of inspection to make sure that no child has having any midnight troubles. Outside, the moonlight was beaming over the Redwood Estate, and the trees was dancing, as if they were standing guard. 

Tomorrow, he thought, the real work begins. This was just day one. 

A fading smile was barely tugging on his lips, it softened his usual rough features. He laid back while closing his eyes. For the first time in a long while, the Demon Lord turned caretaker had felt a sense of sincere purpose that had nothing to do with any war, conquest, domination, or power. 

He opened his ears and listened to the quiet sounds of the night, the distant chirp of bugs, and the muffled snores of the tired children. Redwood Estate was far from being perfect, and the martial world outside still had its dangers. But inside these walls, there was shelter, warmth, and maybe even hope. 

The next morning, a white dawn of sunlight brightened the rugged stone walls of Redwood Estate. The sun had barely lifted above the horizon painting it with an orange hue. The usually silent estate was already buzzing with fading clattering and quiet whispers. Here and there was small feet walking across the corridors, and muffled yawns was resonating in the halls. Signs that the kids was already getting used to their new home.

Heuk Cheon was standing in the manor's main chamber with his arms folded over his chest as usual. Even at this early hour, he was wide awake, his posture was as strict as an iron fortress. He had always been an early riser, a routine that was forged from countless crack of dawn training sessions back in his days as the Demon Lord. But this morning felt different, there was no silence, not a solitary routine. Instead, he stands there listening to the distant chattering of the brats rousing up the manor. 

The echo of footsteps on the second floor caught his ear. A couple of seconds later, Seo Ryung joined him, his hair was really messy. He rubbed the back of his neck, while stifling a yawn. "Master," he mumbled while his eyes was still barely open, "these kids woke up earlier than me. That is definitely a first."

Heuk Cheon raised a brow. "It seems that I need to discipline you more," he said strictly. "We cannot let a group of brats outdo us first thing in the morning."

Seo Ryung grimaced. "I am well aware, I apologize." he answered back while trying to hide his embarrassment in his voice. With a calming exhale, he straightened his posture, as though he was forcing himself to get out of the state of sleepiness. 

A moment later, Lee Jin-Ho as well joined them. He was carrying a small list in his left hand and wearing the calm expression of a man who had already mentally organized his entire day. "Good morning, Master Heuk, Seo Ryung," he greeted his fellow staff with a slight bow. "I wanted to start with quick roll call and see who's awake, but, well..." He pointed to the second floor, where the sound of children murmuring and giggles was leaking through the floorboards. "It seems almost all of them are running around the place."

"Running around... where exactly?" asked by Heuk Cheon. 

Lee Jin-Ho cleared his throat. "I have a hunch that they maybe exploring the corners that we haven't quite childproofed... yet."

On the second floor, a small gathering of orphans was hanging out in the main chamber. They were still in their sleeping attires with their hair messy from the night's rest. Chul-woo, the energetic little boy with the missing front teeth, was in the middle of his speech. 

"Guys," he said while bouncing on the balls of his feet, "I swear I saw a ghost in that dirty closet near the stairs last night!" 

Han-ju, the oldest of the kids, rolled his eyes. "You must be lying." he said flatly. 

"I am not!" Chul-woo insisted with his face scrunching up with a face of offense. "I swear! It had big glowing eyes! I dropped one of my shoe when I ran away from it!"

Next to them, Ae-rin was trembling, looking a little more scared by the second. "A-A... ghost?" she muttered softly. "Are you sure you didn't just dream about it?

Before Chul-woo could argue any further, another voice cut through their conversation. It was Jin-mu, the frail kid with the bandaged arm. "Even if it was a real ghost, we have a bigger problem... like the fact that I am really really starving." he said with his hand over his noisy stomach.

"You are always starving." Han-ju answered back, although it wasn't in an unkind way.

A door down the corridor opened, and Su-yeon peeked out while her eyes was still blinking from being sleepy. She was hugging her ragged doll close to her. "Is there breakfast?" she asked while her eyes was lighting up with hope. "I thought I heard someone down in the kitchen. 

The kids looked at each other, then, it was as if they all agreed upon something, they all ran towards the stairs. Almost tripping over one another in a wild tumble. Any thoughts about a ghost or any morning glee quickly faded in favor of the allure of delicious food.

Down in the kitchen, Do-won and Jung-soo (the two Murim Alliance guards that was assigned to Redwood) were sadly negotiating with the ancient stove. A pot of rice porridge were bubbling deviously, spitting out occasional droplets onto the countertop. 

"I have never signed up for this," Jung-soo whispered under his breath while mixing the pot with a wooden spoon. "Guard duty, yes sure, but cooking breakfast for a bunch of misbehaving kids?"

Do-won jabbed a finger at the steamed window. "I told you we needed to fix that part. If it breaks again, we will suffer a porridge explosion..." 

"Woah, is that really a thing?" Jung-soo asked confused.

"Well, last time we had soup dripping down from the ceiling," Do-won deadpanned. "So yes, I assume it is definitely a thing."

At that moment, a stampede of small feet was thundering its way into the kitchen. Chul-woo quickly stopped with his eyes shining at the moment he saw the steaming hot pot of food. Ae-rin, Su-yeon, Jin-mu, Dae-hyun, and the other followed quickly, each of them forming a mini gathering at the small kitchen.

Jung-soo almost dropped the spoon. "Sheesh, where did you all come from?"

"Is breakfast ready?" Chul-woo demanded while trying his hardest to see what's inside the pot.

"It is almost ready," Do-won answered back, while trying to sound commanding. "But you will have to line up properly if you want any."

A collective groan resonated through the manor. Han-ju crossed his arms because he was not impressed, "I am not a baby. I can get my own wooden bowl."

"Then get your own bowl," Seo Ryung butted in their conversation. He entered the kitchen with Heuk Cheon and Lee Jin-Ho. "But don't blame us if you spill hot porridge all over your pajamas."

Han-ju wanted to open his mouth to argue, but a scary look from Heuk Cheon froze him before he could. "...Fine" he whispered.

Lee Jin-Ho clasped his hands softly to try and get every kids attention. "Everyone, we have enough porridge to eat okay? But we need some order in this place. "Let us try to keep some of the rules: one, you have to wash your hands before using any of the utensils. two, no fighting over the bowls."

"And three," Heuk Cheon added with a low voice, "any misbehavior, and you can skip breakfast altogether."

The children all swapped weary looks, but there was a united understanding that the Demon Lord caretaker was not joking around. They all formed a slightly disorganized line. Seo Ryung hovered at the kitchen counter with his arms folded and eyes observing for any signs of trouble.

However, despite the new sense of orderliness, a disaster was bound to happen. As Jin-mu was still a bit clumsy because of his bandaged arm, he was pouring some porridge into his wooden bowl. Chul-woo tried to look over his shoulder.

"Hey! You're putting way too much," Chul-woo ranted. "Save some for me!"

Jin-mu scoffed. "Hey don't annoy me!" He tried to push Chul-woo away, but he miscalculated their distance. The ladle fell and the pot got tilted. A wave of brimming hot porridge splashed out, closely missing Ae-rin's feet.

"Woah, watch out!" she screamed while jumping back. Her elbow hit the the table, causing the entire pot to be unstable again.

Jung-soo hurriedly lunged forward to try to make it stable. "Hey hey hey, careful" 

However, it was too late. Another wave of brimming hot porridge was splashed onto the floor. The children scattered, each of them in a panic. One of the wooden bowls dropped and cracked open, sending broken shards of it under the table. The dense, sticky mess formed a small puddle like quicksand at the bottom of the stove.

"Argh!!!" Do-won hissed while avoiding the spill carefully. "See? this is what I have been telling you!"

Chul-woo hopped back, pointing at Jin-mu to accuse him. "This is all your fault!"

Jin-mu argued back. "Well, if you hadn't been breathing down my neck-"

"All. Of. You. Be. Quiet." Heuk Cheon stated in a commanding voice. His voice was cutting through the chaos like a sword. The kids froze, each of their little hearts was pounding heavily. Even Do-won and Jung-soo instinctively straightened while holding their wooden bowls weirdly.

Heuk Cheon glared at the spilled porridge, then shifted his focus on the shaking kids. Slowly, he calmed down. "Seo Ryung," he called out, "go grab some wet rags."

Seo Ryung nodded and hurriedly went to a cabinet to grab some cleaning materials and tools. 

Lee Jin-Ho, ever the gentle caretaker, knelt down on one knee to pick up the bigger pieces of the broken bowls. "Nobody got burned, right?" he asked out of concern while observing the children's faces.

They all shook their heads. Ae-rin wrung her hands, near her eyes cluster of tears started to manifest. Was it from the shock or fear? It wasn't clear. Su-yeon was holding onto her doll tightly, her lips was shaking.

Heuk Cheon's gaze softened quite a bit. "Accidents happen," he said in a calming tone. "But that is why we have to have order, that is also why you have to wait your turn. Is that clear?"

All of them let out a united answer, "Yes, sir..."

Once the porridge was all cleaned up and clean bits of it was salvaged from the pot, the children filed into the main chamber to eat. Their excitement from earlier, vanished. It was replaced by a more careful mood. Even Chul-woo, that was so full of energy, was eating his meal silently.

Ae-rin still looked a bit shaken while she was nibbling at her breakfast with gloomy eyes. Spotting this, Lee Jin-Ho sat down beside her. "Hey," he said warmly, "are you okay?"

She looked at him and nodded ever so slowly. "I'm just... I am sorry. I just dislike loud noises," she admitted. "It makes me remember..."

Her voice trailed off, but Lee Jin-Ho understood. Many of these kids had lost their families in violent ways. Situations like this could easily bring back their old traumas. "Don't worry, it is all right now," he said warmly. "No one is hurt and starting from now we will be more careful."

Heuk Cheon was seating at a small table in the corner while observing everything from a distance. A slight bit of remorse manifested in his face. This is what a war can do to children, he thought to himself. They flinch at mere disorderly chaos in the kitchen.

However, he also acknowledged that despite that event, the brats still continued to eat. They adapted. They were survivors in each of their own unique way, just as he once was.