I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 210: Gyeoul?

Break time had arrived.

I wandered the booths with the children. Most were selling items, but some offered snacks as well. We were mainly drawn to the food stalls.

"King, let's go over there!" Levinas called out.

"Okay," I replied.

The festival atmosphere meant plenty of attractions to enjoy. I'd brought more money than usual, but by the second day, it was nearly gone.

'One more snack and that's it,' I thought to myself.

I should have brought more cash. What kind of festival was this where I couldn't even buy proper snacks for the kids?

Levinas seemed aware we were short on funds. She mumbled about the food she saw but didn't approach.

"Hotteok, fish cakes, tornado potatoes... Huh? King! What are tornado potatoes?! Do they eat tornadoes?!" she exclaimed.

"Uh... I think it's potatoes that spiral like a tornado," I explained.

"Spiral?"

Levinas spread her arms and spun in place, apparently trying to imagine tornado potatoes.

"If you're curious, want to try one?" I offered.

"Yeah! Levinas has money! I'll buy a tornado with this!" She pulled out 1000 won and dashed to the tornado potato stand.

That won't be enough, I thought, following after her with Saebyeok.

"Levinas, how much are the tornado potatoes?" I asked.

"3000 won..." she replied, glancing between her 1000 won and the menu board. She was 2000 won short.

"I'll cover the other 2000 won," I offered.

"Okay...! Then let's share it...!"

We pooled Levinas's 1000 won and my 2000 won. Saebyeok, wanting to chip in, rummaged through her pockets. She produced two bottle caps.

"These are my prized possessions, but I'll give them to you specially," she declared, putting on a solemn expression.

Levinas's eyes sparkled. "Wow! That's amazing!"

"Is it amazing?" Saebyeok asked.

"Yeah! They're incredible bottle caps!"

Incredible bottle caps? I wondered if there was something special about them. Just in case, I examined them closely and found the phrase "One more!" written inside.

"Wow," I murmured.

These really were incredible. I carefully held onto the bottle caps as if they were precious gems.

"I don't have any money. That's why I'm giving you the bottle caps," Saebyeok explained.

"Okay. Thank you," I replied.

One tornado potato wasn't enough for the three of us to share, but luckily we now had drinks. I tucked Saebyeok's bottle caps into my coin purse.

Just then, someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Here, take these and eat, kids," a middle-aged woman, seemingly the shop owner, said as she handed us tornado potatoes. Three in total, one for each of us.

"Tornado!"

Levinas's eyes lit up, but she didn't take the potato. She stared at me intently, unsure if it was okay to accept.

"Um, we don't have enough money..." I began.

"I'm just giving them to you. Take them and eat," the woman insisted.

"Ah, no. We can't accept them for free..." I waved my hands in refusal and stepped back.

The woman followed and crouched down in front of me. "I'm not giving them for free, I'm giving them as thanks."

"Why would you thank us...?" I asked, confused.

"Well, you kids brought a lot of customers. We benefited a lot from that."

The woman's gaze turned towards our booth, which wasn't visible due to the crowd. But I could clearly see the smile on her face.

"Did you sell a lot?" I asked.

"We sure did. Even if we only made half of today's sales, it would've been great. But we've already made double our goal in less than half a day. My husband had to rush off to get more ingredients."

She held out the tornado potatoes, urging us to take them. At this point, it didn't feel like we were getting them for free. It was more like a promotional fee.

"Th-Then, we'll gratefully accept..." I stammered.

"Good. Come back if you want more."

"Yes..."

Somehow we'd ended up saving money. I decided to use it to buy other snacks later. We walked around various booths, each holding a tornado potato. Most were snack-selling stalls.

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"King! We're snack rich!" Levinas exclaimed.

"Y-Yeah... We are..." I agreed as we returned to our booth carrying bags. We had a considerable amount of snacks but hadn't spent a single won.

'What's going on?' I wondered. All of these were given to us out of gratitude. Some booths even gave us simple magic items. I didn't know what those were for.

'Is this the trickle-down effect?' I mused. If everyone benefited, that was a good thing.

I set down the bags of snacks in front of everyone. Our booth was on break time.

"Let's eat these together," I suggested.

"My, where did all these snacks come from?"

Yoo Sang-ah approached us with a smile. Despite her busy work, she hadn't broken a sweat.

"The nearby merchants said their business boomed thanks to us. They gave these as thanks."

"Oh, is that so?"

As Yoo Sang-ah expressed her joy, Yoon Chaerin sat down beside us. Despite being the busiest of us all, she wore a smile.

"Maybe they just gave them because the kids are cute," Yoon Chaerin suggested.

"That could be it too," Yoo Sang-ah agreed.

Yoo Sang-ah, Yoon Chaerin, and even the cafe employee gathered to enjoy the snacks. I liked the warm atmosphere.

As my tail wagged quickly, I realized someone was missing. Momoa was watching us from afar, her face looking somewhat empty.

"Momoa, come eat snacks with us," I called out.

"...I'm fine," she refused. My wagging tail came to an abrupt stop. I knew Momoa was angry.

"I-I'm sorry. You must have been very busy... I should have explained better..." I apologized.

The sauce from the chicken skewer I was holding dripped onto my hand. The sticky sauce bothered me less than my guilt towards Momoa.

"It's not that, I just..." Momoa's clenched fist trembled. She was clearly angry because of me.

"D-Do you want to try this chicken skewer...? It's delicious..." I offered weakly.

"No, I'm just going to get some fresh air outside."

Momoa walked out of the booth. Her lifeless steps made it seem like she might not return.

I could only stare blankly at Momoa's retreating figure, knowing I must have made her really angry.

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In a secluded alley where people rarely passed, Momoa sat crouched, letting out a long sigh.

The reason for her cold behavior towards Gyeoul wasn't because she was busy. She was simply envious of a child so clearly loved by everyone.

"This world is really too much," she muttered.

While some are bullied just for being mixed-race, others receive snacks from people just for being pretty.

"Really..." she sighed again. I should have just stayed home, she thought. Why did I suddenly do something I never do?

Momoa felt pathetic for feeling inferior to a child who knew nothing. Feeling inferior to a child and grumbling about it. Could there be a more disgusting human in this world?

She buried her face in her knees. After a while, someone called out her name.

"Moa."

"Sister...?" It was Chae Juyeon, who Momoa respected the most. Momoa's heart began to calm at the appearance of the gentle Chae Juyeon.

"Moa, what are you doing here? I heard you were helping at the store."

"Ah... I was just taking a break..."

"By yourself?"

"Yes. I hate crowded places. I'm thinking of just going home."

I really shouldn't have left the house after all, Momoa thought, giving a bitter smile.

Seeing Momoa like this, Chae Juyeon could tell something was wrong. "Something happened, didn't it?"

"...Are you psychic?"

"When it comes to Moa, I can sense everything."

"Hmph..." Momoa's face reddened as she grumbled quietly. She didn't dislike Chae Juyeon's attentiveness.

"What happened? You can tell just me, can't you?"

"I just felt inferior."

"Inferior?"

"Yes. I felt inferior seeing a child loved by everyone."

I see, Chae Juyeon thought, silently putting her arm around Momoa's shoulders. She knew about Momoa's past - a child sent abroad to study by overbearing parents.

There, she was bullied simply for being mixed-race. When she couldn't bear the bullying and returned home, she was met with her parents' cold gaze.

For Momoa, who craved love, it was natural to envy a beloved child.

"Moa, envy is never inferiority. It's a natural emotion," Chae Juyeon assured her.

"But she was at least ten years younger than me. Her name was Gyeoul, she's staying at your house..."

"Gyeoul...?"

Chae Juyeon echoed, surprised.

"Yes. She was such a pure child, one who doesn't know what unhappiness is. Her life must be nothing but joy."

Momoa buried her face between her knees. Chae Juyeon's hand, about to comfort Momoa, hesitated.

'Gyeoul...?'

Gyeoul had a more horrific past than anyone. Though she knew it wasn't right to rank misfortunes, if she had to pick the worst past, it would undoubtedly be Gyeoul's. Momoa must have misunderstood after seeing the child's happy present.

'What should I do?'

It wasn't right to compete over whose misfortune was greater. Nor could she carelessly speak of Gyeoul's past. But Chae Juyeon wanted to tell Momoa that Gyeoul was a child who had risen above an unimaginably terrible past. If only Momoa could learn something from this...

'I should get permission first,' she decided, picking up her phone. She needed to contact Gyeoul's guardian.

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