I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 198: Fish-shaped Bread as a Reward

A sudden hush fell over the food stall.

The kids and I froze, fish-shaped bread in our mouths, eyes darting around.

"Grandma, I'll watch the store. You should go inside and rest," Yoon Chaerin said, glancing at Jo Yuchan.

Jo Yuchan snickered mockingly.

"Oh please, how can an injured kid mind the store? Go inside and rest."

"It's fine. My friends said they'd help out today."

Chaerin and her grandmother kept urging each other to go inside and rest.

Chaerin won this gentle back-and-forth.

"Alright then, since you're with friends."

As her grandmother left the food stall, she looked back at us from beyond the clear vinyl curtain.

Her kind, elderly gaze fell on me and the children.

"Make sure the kids get plenty to eat if they want anything."

With those parting words, she walked away.

The moment she disappeared around the corner, Jo Yuchan spat out the fish-shaped bread he'd been eating.

"Ugh, this tastes awful, Chaerin. Why can't your grandma cook?"

"......"

That guy, Jo Yuchan, must have come here to blow off steam too.

As we stood there awkwardly in the tense atmosphere, unsure what to do, Chaerin ushered us out.

"Come on guys, time to head home."

"But, but..."

Chaerin pushed us out of the food stall.

Jo Yuchan didn't seem to care that we were leaving.

What should I do?

It didn't feel right to just walk away like this.

Unable to leave in this frustrating situation, we lingered nearby.

That's when I felt a familiar, warm gaze from the end of the alley.

As I looked in that direction, I saw my family watching over me.

Yeoreum nodded her head, while Jung Yu-na struck a fighting pose to cheer me on.

The Master and Choi Jinhyuk were also there, arms crossed, keeping an eye on us.

"Ah..."

Were they telling me to be brave and not back down?

I had certainly acted like a coward.

I'd been too intimidated by the bully's oppressive aura to even speak up.

Nothing will change if I just cower in fear.

I needed to learn how to directly handle situations unfolding right in front of me.

I clenched my fists and gently knocked on the vinyl door of the food stall.

"Excuse me..."

"......?"

Jo Yuchan turned to look at me, his brow deeply furrowed.

My heart pounded as memories of past experiences surfaced, but I decided to muster my courage.

"Y-You shouldn't bully people..."

"What? Get lost already."

Whack-!

Jo Yuchan struck the vinyl curtain right in front of my face.

As the rebounding vinyl hit my face, Saebyeok began to bare her teeth.

Grrrr.

Saebyeok made her distinctive beastly growl.

I worried she might suddenly lunge at Jo Yuchan, but Levinas was quicker to act.

"Don't hit the king!"

Tap tap tap-

Levinas pummeled the vinyl door with her tiny fists.

She was too weak to reach Jo Yuchan behind it.

"You little brat."

Displeased that someone was standing up to him, Jo Yuchan emerged from the food stall with a twisted expression.

He looked quite menacing.

"Don't bully my friends..."

"And what if I don't stop?"

Jo Yuchan grabbed Levinas's ear with one hand.

Then he started yanking it upwards.

"Owwww!"

Levinas flapped her hands left and right like wings.

Jo Yuchan cackled as he watched her.

"Stop."

Choi Jinhyuk grabbed Jo Yuchan's wrist.

Crunch-!

He gripped it so tightly that the sound of bones crunching could be heard.

Aaaaagh!

Jo Yuchan screamed, and Levinas's ear was freed.

"Ow, ow! I thought it was going to be ripped off...!"

Levinas, who had been jumping around clutching her ear, ran into Yeoreum's arms.

As Yeoreum held Levinas, Jung Yu-na approached me.

"Gyeoul, you were very brave just now."

"R-Really? But I was shaking so much..."

"It's okay to shake. What matters is that you found the courage despite being scared."

Pat pat-

Yu-na gently stroked my head.

Thanks to that, my pounding heart began to calm.

Even then, Jo Yuchan was still screaming.

"Aaaaagh!"

How tightly was his wrist being gripped?

I looked at Jo Yuchan's wrist with concern.

"Wh-Who the hell are you people?!"

"...Who are you to bully kids?"

Choi Jinhyuk shoved Jo Yuchan towards the alley wall.

Backed against the wall, Jo Yuchan hastily pulled out his smartphone.

"Get lost! Do you know who I am?!"

"...Who are you?"

Who is he?

We exchanged glances with each other.

But no one here knew who he was.

We just assumed he must have some powerful backing.

After all, in this world, you'd need serious connections to bully others like this.

"Th-Think carefully before messing with me! One phone call and you're finished!"

Choi Jinhyuk approached Jo Yuchan as he brandished his smartphone.

His large build made him quite intimidating.

"Go ahead and make the call."

"Wh-What...?!"

"But the moment you do, this becomes an adult issue."

An adult issue, not a kid's problem.

It meant the situation would become much more serious.

I looked up at Yu-na worriedly, but she just gave me a gentle smile.

"You're insane..."

Jo Yuchan began tapping his smartphone without hesitation.

To act so boldly even in front of the Yeomyeong Guild master.

He either had incredible backing or didn't know who the Yeomyeong Guild was.

It had to be one of the two.

'If it's the former, we're in big trouble.'

Worried, I clasped my hands together as if praying.

Jo Yuchan started complaining to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

Some crazy people were messing with him.

He'd been beaten up by ten people.

They'd tarnished his father's honor.

Jo Yuchan made up all sorts of lies.

Listening to the call, Yu-na ushered us into the food stall.

As if telling us to wait inside for a moment.

We waited inside the food stall like criminals until Jo Yuchan's "dad" arrived.

---

---

A black limousine entered the narrow alley.

Five black vehicles followed behind the limo.

"Uh..."

This looks dangerous.

Is he really someone important?

As I gulped nervously, someone in a black suit opened the back door of the limousine.

Out stepped a middle-aged man with tattoos on his face.

He looked like the boss of a gang.

'Seems like he's from another neighborhood...'

The gangsters in our area never bothered ordinary people.

There's no way they'd show up like this.

While I was thinking that, burly men started getting out of the vehicles.

'Gulp.'

So he really did have powerful backing.

Why are there so many scary people in this world?

Reassured by the arrival of his allies, Jo Yuchan ran towards his father.

"Dad!"

Jo Yuchan smiled wickedly, while the middle-aged man who seemed to be his father glared with wide eyes.

His gaze was fixed on our guild master.

"......"

The middle-aged man's hands trembled.

The hand that had been rising to greet Jo Yuchan instead struck his cheek.

Smack-!

"Ugh!"

Jo Yuchan's cheek whipped to the side with a loud sound.

The blow was so hard that blood burst from his mouth.

"Whoa!"

Levinas quickly shut her eyes.

The Master furrowed his brow deeply.

"How could you raise a hand with kids around?"

"I'm so sorry..."

The intimidating middle-aged man bowed deeply.

The Master sighed heavily.

"Your son tried to extort money from our kids. He followed them and even got physical."

"......"

The middle-aged man shot a murderous glare.

Directed at his own son, Jo Yuchan.

Jo Yuchan, belatedly grasping the situation, silently hung his head.

"Can't you see how terrified our kids are?"

At the Master's gesture, the middle-aged man's gaze fell on us.

His oppressive aura, incomparable to Jo Yuchan's, made us flinch and tremble.

Our ears and tails drooped.

"...I'm so sorry. I'll take full responsibility."

"Alright, for now..."

The Master waved his hand, signaling us to leave.

Taking the cue, Yu-na gathered me, the kids, and even Yoon Chaerin as we left the scene.

---

---

"I'm sorry..."

I'd caused the incident to escalate unnecessarily.

As I apologized to Yu-na, she patted my head.

"How is this Gyeoul's fault?"

"I feel like the situation got bigger because of me..."

"Now now, this absolutely isn't Gyeoul's fault, okay? They were the ones who started it."

Yu-na pulled out a fish-shaped bread from her pocket.

It was a freshly made, warm fish-shaped bread.

Before I could even answer, Yu-na put the bread in my mouth.

"Each of you eat one of these... And Chaerin, was it?"

"Y-Yes?!"

Startled to hear her name called, Yoon Chaerin hunched her shoulders.

Chaerin's eyes were fixed on the ground.

"Thank you for looking after the kids despite the difficult situation."

"N-No, I didn't do anything..."

"What do you mean you didn't do anything? You gave the kids fish-shaped bread and tried to send them away first even when things got scary."

"Th-That's... They originally came to bully me..."

Chaerin's face turned red.

She kept fidgeting with the hem of her clothes.

"How should we repay this kindness..."

Hmm.

As Yu-na pondered with her arms crossed, Levinas eagerly raised her hand.

Levinas's eyes were sparkling.

"Levinas has a good idea!"

"You have an idea?"

"Yeah! Let her sell fish-shaped bread at home!"

Levinas's home was the guild.

In other words, she wanted Chaerin to sell fish-shaped bread at the guild.

She clearly just wanted to be able to eat fish-shaped bread whenever she wanted.

This couldn't be considered repayment.

"Levinas, asking her to sell fish-shaped bread as repayment is too much."

"Y-Yes, that would be way too much...!"

Chaerin waved her hands, refusing the offer.

"Huh?"

Too much of a repayment?

I had said it wasn't enough.

Confused by the situation, my tail swayed back and forth.

My tail formed several question marks in quick succession.

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