I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 232: I'm a Tiger, I'm a Lion

Levinas screamed and ran to me.

She buried her face in my chest, trembling violently.

"Waa, waa, waaaa."

"Le-Levinas..."

I felt torn between concern for Levinas and knowing we shouldn't cause a scene in the library.

Unsure what to do, I simply patted her back.

'What should I do...?'

I understood exactly how Levinas felt.

After all, I'd had my own experience seeing a bunch of cat-type mana stones.

Just as I began gently stroking her back, the librarian approached with a sigh.

"Please don't make loud noises in the library."

It was understandable - a child had broken the rules by making a commotion.

Yet from Levinas's perspective, she had good reason to be upset.

"I'm sorry. Levinas got scared by a book..."

"A scary book?"

"Yes..."

Saebyeok was holding the 'Horned Rabbit Food' book.

She looked a bit angry at the librarian who had introduced the frightening book to Levinas.

"You shouldn't recommend things like this."

"Ah, no. This is, well..."

The librarian waved her hands and stepped back.

Her expression was filled with bewilderment.

"You recommended a horned rabbit cookbook to a horned rabbit child?"

"It seems that way."

"Oh my..."

I could hear the conversations of people around us.

Though their voices were low, the library was so quiet that everything was audible.

The librarian must have heard too, as she began to defend herself.

"I-I'm sorry. This was just pulled from a list of books with the horned rabbit keyword..."

"Ah..."

So the horned rabbit cookbook had been included with the horned rabbit keyword search.

It's not like the librarian knows every book in the library.

There was no way this could have been intentional.

The other library patrons seemed to realize this too, as the murmuring died down.

The situation appeared to have settled somewhat.

I looked down at Levinas, still clinging to me.

I spoke in a voice just quiet enough to avoid upsetting the other library patrons.

"Levinas, are you okay...?"

"Mm..."

Levinas lifted her head from my chest.

Though her expression was tearful, she wasn't crying.

Her trembling had also subsided somewhat.

"Why did you take out such a scary book?"

"Levinas thought it was a cookbook for horned rabbits..."

"I-I see..."

With a title like 'Horned Rabbit Food', it was easy to misunderstand.

She thought it meant food for horned rabbits to eat.

For a beast-kin, that was a natural assumption.

"I feel sad every time I see cat monster mana stones too."

"...Because King is a cat."

"Yeah. But I can't just not hunt them because it makes me sad. Cat monsters are dangerous if left alone. It's the same for horned rabbits, right?"

Horned rabbits are fierce and frightening monsters.

As I emphasized this point, Levinas's ears perked up.

"That's right! Horned rabbits are very fierce and terrifying!"

Levinas shouted loudly.

Her voice echoed through the library, but no one complained.

Instead, people smiled, seeming relieved to see Levinas in better spirits.

"Levinas, shh...!"

"...!"

Levinas clamped both hands over her mouth.

She was back to her usual self.

"Let's cut Levinas some slack since she's the horned rabbit boss. Horned rabbits are too strong to handle."

"Horned rabbit boss...! I get it...!"

Hehe.

Levinas laughed silently.

Somehow, the situation had been resolved.

Relieved, I picked up the cat species guide and approached the librarian.

"Excuse me, I'd like to check out this book."

"Levinas too...!"

Thump-!

Levinas placed four books on the desk.

Unfortunately, this library only allowed borrowing two books at a time.

"Levinas, we can only borrow two books."

"Is that so...!"

Which books should we borrow?

Levinas lined up the four books and pondered.

The one who solved Levinas's dilemma was none other than the librarian.

"Just take all four books."

"Is that really okay?"

"Yes, well..."

Ahem.

The librarian cleared her throat and scanned the barcodes.

We used Jung Yu-na's ID to borrow them, since we didn't have our own library cards.

"The return period is one week."

"Thank you very much."

Levinas and I borrowed a total of five books.

Saebyeok carried them all for us.

I was eager to read them when we got home.

I wanted to figure out what kind of cat beast-kin I was.

---

---

We read the books in the park.

Levinas read the horned rabbit comic she borrowed, while Saebyeok lay down for a nap.

"Horned rabbit!"

Levinas struck a heroic pose as she read.

Glancing at her book, I saw a horned rabbit wearing a cape.

It seemed to be a horned rabbit hero.

"That horned rabbit looks really cool."

"Yeah! But cats are cool too!"

Levinas giggled and snuggled up next to me.

She was showing curiosity about the book I was reading.

"King! But why are you looking at a cat guide?!"

"I got curious about what kind of cat I am."

"I see...!"

Levinas's gaze turned to the guide.

After flipping through a few pages, she pointed at a tiger.

"Tiger?"

"Yeah! This one's the scariest and coolest! Can't you be this?"

"Hmm... I don't think I'm a tiger. The fur color is different too."

"You don't know that!"

Thump thump-

Levinas pounded the table and turned to face me.

Hmm, she crossed her arms and seemed to be thinking about something, then suddenly made a proposal.

"King, try acting like a tiger!"

"Why?"

"We'll know if you're similar or not if you act it out!"

"O-Okay..."

Well, she wasn't wrong.

To figure out what species I was, I needed to make a direct comparison.

But how do tigers roar again?

Not really knowing, I just went with what felt right for my first attempt.

"Gr-grawrr...?"

I extended my claws and bared my fangs.

It wasn't much different from my usual intimidation.

Levinas flinched but didn't seem too frightened.

She must be used to it by now.

"That's not it! Tigers don't go 'grawrr', they go 'roar'!"

"Roar?"

"Yeah! Ro-oar!"

I see.

So tigers go "roar."

I tried imitating a tiger again.

"R-Roar...!"

I stretched my arms out wide to give the impression of a large tiger.

But for some reason, silence fell with my tiger imitation.

Levinas was startled, but the people relaxing in the park... why were they so quiet?

I looked around.

People who met my gaze quickly looked away.

'What's going on?'

It felt like I was being watched.

As I stood there, unable to lower my raised claws, I heard a click sound from somewhere.

"Gy-Gyeoul...!"

The photographer turned out to be Yeoreum.

She was running towards me, holding up her smartphone.

"Wh-What is it?"

"Gyeoul! What was that just now?! Why did you roar?!"

"Oh... I was trying to figure out what species I am."

"So that was a tiger just now?!"

Yeoreum looked back and forth between the tiger in the book and me.

For some reason, her face was flushed red.

"Yes. But I don't think I'm a tiger."

"No way! From what I just saw, you really could be a tiger."

"...Really?"

"Yeah! But I think we need to see more to be sure. Want to try again? This time, even scarier and fiercer."

"O-Okay..."

Scarier and fiercer.

I'm not sure if I can do that.

I summoned all the ferocity I'd been practicing.

"Levinas, do you want to cover your eyes?"

"Okay!"

Levinas closed her eyes.

She also pressed her hands tightly over her ears.

This should prevent Levinas from being startled.

I roared at Yeoreum threateningly.

"Roar."

"Eek...!"

Yeoreum clutched her chest.

Her eyes were squeezed shut.

"Um..."

What's this?

Did my ferocity work?

I didn't think I was that good yet?

As I pondered this, Yeoreum reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Tiger confirmed. Now let's try something else."

"Something else?"

"Yeah. We should check out various options, right?"

"Hmm... That's true."

Something seemed off about Yeoreum's state, but she wasn't wrong.

I did need to figure out what kind of cat beast-kin I was.

"Let's try this one next."

"A lion...?"

"Yeah! You'll need to roar super fiercely for this one."

"Super..."

I wasn't sure if I could pull it off with my limited ferocity.

I closed my eyes and tried to summon as much ferocity as possible.

I am a vicious lion.

I am a fierce lion.

I repeated these words in my mind over and over.

I felt a slowly rising ferocity numbing my reason.

---

---

"Gyeoul?"

Gyeoul stood motionless with her eyes closed.

Alarmed, Yeoreum checked on Gyeoul's condition.

'What's going on?'

Gyeoul's mana was churning.

It felt similar to Encia's ferocity that Yeoreum had witnessed before.

'No way.'

Just as Yeoreum reached out to touch Gyeoul's cheek, Gyeoul's eyes snapped open.

Unlike usual, her gaze had turned fierce.

"I'm a lion."

"...Gyeoul is a lion?"

"Yes. A very, very scary lion."

Wow.

Gyeoul had summoned her ferocity.

She was the most adorable lion Yeoreum had ever seen.

Adorable enough to be called the cutest in the world.

"How scary of a lion are you?"

"Like... a lion that even uses informal speech. Scary, right?"

"W-Wow..."

Gyeoul using informal speech?

This was headline material.

Yeoreum raised her smartphone and started recording video.

"How about it, scary right?"

"Y-Yeah. Gyeoul, you're so scary."

"...Should I stop using informal speech then?"

Gyeoul glanced at Yeoreum while maintaining her fierce expression.

She didn't want to keep doing it if it was too scary.

That's what Gyeoul was thinking.

"No! Gyeoul is a lion now!"

"Sh-Should I keep going?"

"Yeah!"

Yeoreum had promised not to forcibly bring out Gyeoul's ferocity.

But this time it was to find out Gyeoul's species.

Yeoreum decided to enjoy it just a little longer.

---

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