I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 134: Growing Tree

Shivering, the body of Gyeoul huddled up.

White ears drooped, signaling fear, and the tail, clung to the lower abdomen, was tightly held with both hands.

A child, thought to be the most adorable in the world, expressed fear throughout the entire body.

In this heart-wrenching situation, Yoo Sang-ah and the adventurer opposite her drew breath sharply.

'We need to deal with the mana stone first.'

Yoo Sang-ah pocketed the Blue Liger's mana stone.

Every time Yoo Sang-ah's hand touched the mana stone, Gyeoul's body twitched.

It felt like watching someone nonchalantly touch a corpse.

Gyeoul had that feeling.

"Ah, no. I'm sorrier..."

It was unclear why a guiltless child was apologizing.

Yoo Sang-ah gently patted Gyeoul's belly to soothe her.

"It just had to be a feline mana stone."

"Yes. I know it shouldn't bother me, but the mana it emits is too similar to mine..."

Gyeoul was aware.

Only inexperienced young beast-kin make such a mistake.

Being a beast-kin for less than a year might be the reason.

Gyeoul placed a hand over her pounding heart.

"We should send the feline mana stones to a different desk when Gyeoul is here."

"I'm, I'm sorry. It's all because of me..."

"It's okay. This is how we live, caring for each other. You'll have to help me out if I face a difficult situation later, right?"

"Yes..."

Yoo Sang-ah was really a good person.

Gyeoul's previously frightened tail began to sway gently.

"Gyeoul, come here."

Tap-tap-

Having finished her calculations, Sophia tapped her chair.

As if she had been waiting, Gyeoul climbed down from Yoo Sang-ah's lap.

"Ah..."

Yoo Sang-ah felt regret.

She wanted her to keep sitting.

But family trumps all.

Yoo Sang-ah decided not to be jealous and was content with just having had Gyeoul on her lap.

"Sit next to Sophia?"

"Yes, come and sit."

"Yes."

Gyeoul sat next to Sophia.

Both being small, they could sit close to each other.

"Were you very startled?"

"Just a little."

"Don't be too embarrassed. It's something all beast-kin experience."

It was warm.

Both the body heat and the caring heart.

Gyeoul wrapped Sophia's waist with her tail.

It was a tail that always moved on its own, but this time it was Gyeoul's will.

Noticing this, Sophia just smiled with her eyes.

---

---

After the tour, Sophia went home to rest.

I couldn't rest yet and was wandering around the park.

I naturally looked around to see if I recognized anyone.

I perked up my ears to listen.

"Hehe."

From afar, I heard Yeoreum's laughter.

I naturally moved towards the sound.

"Oo-woo."

I arrived at a scene where Yeoreum was crouched in front of a dog, petting its head.

The one holding the dog's leash was none other than Choi Jin-hyuk.

'It seems he's keeping it.'

A lovely dog with golden fur.

It seemed like it would be much taller than me if it stood on two legs.

I watched Yeoreum playing with the dog from behind.

"What a beauty."

Does he know he's loved?

The dog's tail wagged energetically.

My tail wagged along just from watching.

Noticing the wagging tail, Choi Jin-hyuk turned his head.

With a brief grunt, he rolled his eyes and looked down at Yeoreum.

"Yeoreum."

"Why?"

Yeoreum stood up and turned towards me.

Her smiling face began to harden.

"Were you playing with the puppy?"

"Uh, yeah... When did Gyeoul get here...?"

"I just arrived."

The large dog looked gentle.

I wondered if I could pet it too.

As I fidgeted with my fingers, Yeoreum waved me off.

"Gyeoul, I'm not like that at all, okay?! Dogs come second, cats are first!"

"Uh... Okay..."

I blinked, puzzled by Yeoreum's sudden outburst.

"I'm not cheating with the puppy, right?! Don't jump to weird conclusions!"

"Yes, yes... I won't do that."

Cheating with a puppy?

I had no idea what she meant.

All I could do was nod in agreement.

"Hehe..."

Yeoreum approached me and placed her hand on my cheek.

She began to stroke and knead my face just as she had petted the puppy.

"Um..."

"Ah, sorry. I got a bit flustered."

"I see."

Everyone has their reasons, I thought, deciding not to pry further.

"What were you doing here?"

"Just walking the dog."

The dog on the leash stuck out its tongue and looked at me affectionately.

It made me want to join them.

"Can I join you?"

"Yeah. But, are you okay with it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, with the whole dog and cat thing..."

Yeoreum's gaze shifted to my perked-up ears.

Was she worried because my beastly traits were feline?

I wanted to reassure her that I wasn't a real cat, but it was hard to articulate.

I wasn't sure about the dynamics between cats, beast-kin, and dogs.

"Is it dangerous?"

"I'm not sure? I don't really know anything about this."

"Uh..."

After a moment's hesitation, I reached out to the puppy.

It wagged its tail and licked my hand.

"It seems okay."

"Yes."

It looked like it would be fine to walk together.

I appreciated Yeoreum's concern.

---

---

Holding the leash, we walked through the park.

The well-trained large dog did not pull ahead but stayed right by my side.

"Oh my."

Click-

"Wow."

Click-

Yeoreum let out strange exclamations as she took my photo.

It was so overwhelming that I couldn't even face forward.

I just glanced sideways at Yeoreum who was following me.

"Um..."

"Ah, sorry. I got too excited. I just wanted to create some memories with Gyeoul."

"Memories?"

"Yeah. A scene of Gyeoul and the puppy walking is pretty rare."

"I see."

If she wanted to preserve memories, I supposed that was okay.

I grabbed Yeoreum's wrist, which was holding the smartphone.

"Let's take a picture together."

"Uh, okay!"

After taking a photo with Yeoreum, we included Choi Jinhyuk as well.

Yeoreum tightly hugged the smartphone with our photos on it.

"Gyeoul, can I post the photo we just took on my personal SNS?"

"Yes. That's fine."

"Hehe, thanks a lot."

Yeoreum tapped on her smartphone.

Although I couldn't see the screen due to her height, I knew she was uploading our photos.

Was she that delighted to take photos with me?

My tail swished with joy.

I decided to take more photos in the future.

Just as I resolved to do so, a cat's meow sounded nearby.

"Meow."

This park had quite a lot of wildlife.

I naturally turned my head towards the sound of the cat.

"Meow."

There was a cat lying on the ground, resting.

From its meow, I could tell it was at peace, though it was slightly wary of the dog I was holding.

"Gyeoul, what is the cat saying?"

"I don't know..."

"Oh, you can't understand it?"

"No, I'm not actually a cat..."

Although I possess some feline traits, I'm unable to communicate with them.

Perhaps Yeoreum overestimates my feline side.

"I thought maybe your beast-kin side would."

Yeoreum appeared disappointed when she spoke.

It must be disappointing to think I can talk with animals and then find out I can't.

I decided to explain a bit about what I did understand to help her.

"I can't really talk to them, but I think I can understand their states."

"Really?"

"Yes. Just now, the cat seemed scared and wanted us to keep away. It's tired and wants us to keep our distance."

"Isn't that essentially a conversation?"

"Huh?"

Is it?

Talking isn't the only form of communication, after all.

Perhaps Yeoreum was right; maybe I really can communicate with cats in some way.

"Wow."

The idea that I could talk to cats was both amusing and incredibly useful.

Should I practice this ability more?

Just as I was contemplating this, Levinas and Saebyeok came running towards us from afar.

"King, there's a big problem!"

The children approached rapidly, their run reminiscent of a cat's.

Naturally, our attention shifted towards them.

"What happened?"

"The seed has sprouted! But something strange has emerged!"

"Already...?"

Although Levinas possesses the ability to accelerate plant growth, it shouldn't happen this rapidly.

We all hurried in the direction Levinas pointed to.

Arriving near the container, we discovered an unusual gray tree.

I touched the tree, and its surface was as hard as steel.

"What is this...?"

A steel tree? What on earth is that?

The tree bore fruit that resembled steel, which was quite extraordinary.

"My goodness."

Yeoreum and Choi Jinhyuk looked up at the tree in astonishment, their wrists trembling as they touched it.

"Is this Gyeoul's tree...?"

"Yes! This is King's tree!"

Levinas responded for me.

It was somewhat disconcerting to hear Levinas refer to the tree she nurtured as mine.

"This is a fortifier..."

"A fortifier?"

"Yeah, it's something you apply to weapons. Like dandelion tea, Gyeoul's buff power is no joke, huh?"

What exactly is a fortifier?

Ignorant of its details, I simply stared up at the tree.

"This is really valuable."

"We should call the Master."

"Okay."

I wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed to be beneficial.

Fortunately, it also made a nice decorative plant.

---

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