I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 20: A Cat Fallen into Water

As my body fell backwards, my reflexes, sensing danger, seemed to slow down time itself.

The woman, who had been eating a sandwich, threw it aside and rushed towards me.

The sandwich, like a transforming robot unfolding, separated mid-air, revealing a round olive sandwiched between lettuce and tomato.

A sandwich with such dreadful ingredients.

Just as I was about to frown at her bizarre taste, I noticed her hand was almost upon my collar.

'Ah.'

Was she trying to save me from falling into the water, or just trying to grab me?

Though the girl had apologized to me, I still harbored many doubts.

And the same went for this woman, who appeared to be a fellow guild member.

Regardless of her intentions towards me, I wasn't inclined to accept her help.

Using my heightened reflexes, I twisted my body to avoid her grasp.

Whoosh-

Her hand grasped at thin air.

Realizing her failure, her eyes widened in surprise.

Wow.

I had managed to dodge at such an incredible speed.

As I opened my mouth to express my amazement, I plunged into the pond.

Splash-!

The cool water of the pond slowly soaked my back.

"Uh-uh...!"

I had no intention of panicking just because I fell into the water.

The water was still and clean, possibly purified by an item.

However, I became frantic when water got into my animal ears.

"Pfah!"

I quickly stood up in the pond.

Fortunately, the water only came up to my waist.

"Uh, uh-uh..."

Water had filled my ears.

The soft fur absorbed the moisture, making it feel like I had earplugs in, heavy and muffled.

The woman was saying something and reaching out her hand, but I couldn't make out her words.

Was she gesturing for me to take her hand and come out?

What if she pushes me again after I grab her hand?

Not wanting to take the woman's hand, I climbed out using the well-maintained brick wall of the pond.

Her actions seemed more likely to be malevolent than friendly.

"......"

Was she offended by my ignoring her?

The woman, still reaching out, turned her head to look at me.

Her gaze was piercing, but I wasn't in a state to care about her.

I was clueless about how to remove the water from my ears.

For a normal person, jumping up and down would suffice, but what about animal ears that stick up into the air?

I tried shaking my ears haphazardly, but it didn't seem to help much in getting the water out.

It seemed I needed to tilt my ears downwards to allow the water to flow out.

"Eh..."

I crouched down and bent my head towards the ground, carefully massaging my ears like a massage.

'Ah.'

Slowly, but surely, the water began to drain.

It seemed I would have to stay like this for a while.

---

---

Jung Yu-na, being a mage, had excellent memory and comprehension.

Therefore, she fully understood what had just happened with the child.

'She dodged my hand.'

The frightened child had stepped back and fallen into the pond.

Sensing the crisis, Jung Yu-na quickly tried to catch her, but the child chose to fall into the pond rather than accept help.

The child managed to twist her body in that short time to avoid the hand.

It was clear she preferred falling into the pond over receiving assistance.

'This is serious...'

The child's trust was completely gone.

No, it was worse than that - it had sunk below rock bottom.

Despite her gentle nature, she showed nothing but hostility, her trust already plummeting to the negative.

It was to be expected, given everything that had happened.

Though her heart ached, Jung Yu-na knew there was no easy way to mend this.

Rather than wallow in her own sadness, her priority was to help the child.

"Are, are you okay? Do you want to take my hand and come up?"

Jung Yu-na extended her hand towards the child.

Glancing at the hand, the child ignored Jung Yu-na completely and climbed out of the pond on her own.

While being ignored was shocking, Jung Yu-na knew this was a common occurrence for the child.

She must have spent her life feeling this way.

"Ah..."

How could she regain the child's trust?

Failing to find an answer, Jung Yu-na remained frozen as the child started shaking water off her head.

Shake, shake, shake-

The child rapidly shook her head from side to side, then used her hands to frantically shake her ears and hair.

"There, there...!"

Jung Yu-na could dry her off in an instant with her fire magic.

As she was about to approach the child,

"Eh...!"

The child, startled by the sudden approach, quickly crouched down.

She raised her hands above her head in a defensive posture, a pitiful sight.

The child looked terrified from every angle.

Jung Yu-na was horrified that all this was happening because of her.

It would be best to disappear for the child's sake, but in this situation, it felt wrong to just leave.

As Jung Yu-na stood there, not knowing what to do, stroking her own hand, people walking in the park started to murmur.

"What's that?"

"Did she push the kid into the water?"

"Come on, Jung Yu-na wouldn't do that."

Yes, she would.

Jung Yu-na answered inwardly, biting her lip hard.

A drop of blood trickled from her lip.

'I'm really trash.'

I'm a despicable human.

Jung Yu-na felt like burying herself somewhere and dying.

Of course, she couldn't do that because of the child.

In this situation, death would be nothing more than a convenient self-consolation.

Jung Yu-na had no intention of seeking comfort in front of the child.

Given her past mistakes.

---

---

'Ugh.'

I sat crouched, pressing down on my ears for a long time.

It was to wring the moisture out of the fur.

Drop by drop.

Watching the water drip down, I started feeling frustrated.

This slow method clearly wouldn't dry my ears completely even after several minutes.

'What should I do?'

Maybe I should try standing on my head?

As I seriously considered this, I remembered the wolf woman who had come to see me.

Since she had animal ears like mine, she might know how to solve this.

'Is she still in the tent?'

I decided to go check the tent.

I got up and ran towards the tent, carrying the bucket that had contained the minnows.

"Ah...!"

I heard the woman's voice behind me, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.

The water filled in my ears was acting like earplugs.

Well, it wouldn't be anything good anyway.

I deliberately ignored her and ran to the tent.

"Gye... ul?"

As I ran up to the wolf woman, she looked around warily, perhaps because I had approached so hastily.

"Hey, how do you get water out of your ears?"

"Ah... water..."

Muttering something indecipherable, the wolf woman fiddled with my ears.

Feeling someone else's touch, my body involuntarily trembled.

"Are you feeling a bit better now?"

"Uh... yes. I can hear properly now."

"That's good."

What exactly had the wolf woman done to my ears?

Curious, I touched my ears, but they were still quite wet.

"What happened to my ears?"

"I used mana to remove the water that got inside."

"Ah, mana."

Is mana used even in such situations?

Beast-kin must use mana differently, as they said. Humans wouldn't use mana to remove water from their ears.

'There's a lot to learn.'

Though I wasn't sure of the wolf woman's intentions, it seemed like it wouldn't be bad to stay with her.

She had been quite helpful in various ways.

Maybe she wasn't such a bad person after all.

"Thank you."

Just as I thanked the wolf woman, Yeoreum emerged from inside the tent.

She looked me up and down, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Gyeoul-ah, why have you turned into a wet, wet... cat?"

"I fell into the pond."

"Ah, did you trip?"

"No, someone was behind me..."

I stopped mid-sentence and clamped my mouth shut.

It would be ridiculous to say I fell because I got startled by someone behind me.

It seemed better to say I just lost my balance and fell.

"...Did someone push you from behind?"

"No, no. I just fell on my own."

Her eyes held a look of suspicion.

At times like this, it was best to just pretend not to know.

"I think I brought too many minnows."

"Ah, yes..."

The girl nodded, her gaze shifting towards the pond.

She seemed to be looking for someone, frowning and scanning the area.

"I'll go check on the minnows for a bit. Gyeoul, do you want to dry off?"

"Yes..."

Thud!

The girl threw a goblin's mana stone into the fire.

To use such a precious stone for kindling a fire.

I felt a sense of admiration and looked back where she was, but the girl had already disappeared into the distance.

'She's fast.'

Scratching my head, I sat down in front of the fire.

For now, I decided to just dry off.

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4/5 Enjoy the chappy!