I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 252: Cutting Magic

Levinas waved her hand cheerfully while Gyeoul whimpered.

Kang Jinho stroked his chin, observing the contrasting attitudes of the two children.

"Hmm..."

They were definitely wearing uniforms from the nearby private elementary school.

Had the children enrolled in school without him knowing?

To do such a thing without even mentioning it...

Kang Jinho gazed in the direction the truck had gone.

'She looked scared.'

Well, she was always a timid child.

The new environment of school must be unfamiliar and frightening.

He hoped Gyeoul would be brave.

After thinking that far, Kang Jinho suddenly stopped in his tracks.

'But why were all the kids on the same bus?'

Gyeoul was the youngest, and Saebyeok was the oldest.

That meant they should be in different grades.

Different grades usually meant riding different buses.

Yet Gyeoul, Saebyeok, and Levinas were sitting together on one bus.

'That's strange.'

Puzzled, Kang Jinho went to find Yeoreum.

"Hehe."

Yeoreum was standing in the shade of a tree, grinning mischievously.

"What are you looking at?"

"Eek!"

Startled, Yeoreum quickly hid her smartphone behind her back.

Despite how fast she hid it, Kang Jinho managed to glimpse the screen in that brief moment.

"Pictures of the kids?"

"It's... it's the only joy in my life."

"Hmm..."

That seemed a bit dangerous.

But Yeoreum knew where to draw the line, right?

Kang Jinho narrowed his eyes as he looked Yeoreum up and down.

"W-Why are you looking at me like that...?"

"It seems dangerous."

"There's no way I'd ever be a danger to the kids."

"...Just saying."

Well, true.

Despite her behavior, Yeoreum cared for the children more than anyone.

Kang Jinho decided to think of her as just an overzealous doting parent.

"By the way, did you send the kids to school?"

"No? I've never sent the kids to school."

"I just saw them get on a field trip bus."

"A bus...?"

She remembered that a nearby private elementary school was supposed to have a field trip today.

Did he mean the kids got on that bus?

Yeoreum's brow furrowed slightly.

Her expression turned pale by the end.

"You let them go?"

"They were even wearing uniforms, so I let them."

"What...?"

Where on earth did the kids get uniforms?

Yeoreum rubbed her face dry.

She was worried about the children, but it was 'school' after all.

They wouldn't abandon lost children, would they?

Yeoreum belatedly decided to go look for the children.

---

---

Hwayeong Elementary School, Class 3-2.

Lee Mi-young, the homeroom teacher of that class, was managing the children.

"Alright, line up in pairs."

Having arrived at the outdoor performance venue, Lee Mi-young immediately tried to do a headcount.

Young children had a tendency to disappear at the slightest opportunity.

'One, two...'

As Lee Mi-young was counting the children, Jung Young-sook, the homeroom teacher of the neighboring class, approached with an angry look.

"Ms. Lee, how could you leave your students behind?"

"Pardon?"

"Ha-on and I-jun were on our bus. Please be more careful."

Jung Young-sook brought over the two stragglers.

Lee Mi-young was surprised at this sight.

"But our headcount was..."

Lee Mi-young hurriedly counted the children's heads again.

There was one extra.

It meant there might be a child from another class.

"Is there anyone here who's not from our class?"

"Um, me..."

Someone raised their hand from among the children.

It was a child so short that she had only counted their head earlier.

"You are..."

A child wearing a white cat headband.

Looking closer, it wasn't a headband but real ears.

The child fidgeted nervously, looking around with drooping ears as if about to burst into tears at any moment.

Lee Mi-young knew who this child was.

It was Gyeoul from the Yeomyeong Guild.

"Were you on the bus...?"

"Yes..."

Gyeoul nodded carefully in response to Lee Mi-young's question.

Her teary expression made Lee Mi-young want to hug her tightly.

"You're wearing a uniform. Are you a student at our school?"

"No, I'm not a student..."

"Huh? Then why...?"

As Lee Mi-young was asking, Levinas jumped up.

She waved her hands frantically, as if to say 'look at me'.

"You said children gather! So we gathered!"

"T-That was for school children... Wait, where did you get the uniforms?"

"We got them!"

Got them?

From who?

Just as Lee Mi-young was expressing her confusion, the class children started raising their hands one by one.

"Teacher, I gave it to her as a gift."

"I-I see..."

Our school uniforms are quite expensive though.

The children of this wealthy neighborhood's private elementary school seemed to have generous spending habits.

"Your name was Gyeoul, right? Do you have your parents' phone number?"

"No... I don't have parents..."

"O-Oh, I see...?"

So she doesn't have parents.

Should I call the Yeomyeong Guild then?

Lee Mi-young looked around at the children while holding her smartphone.

Now that she looked closely, there was also a black cat child right behind.

"Do you want to watch the children's performance with us for now?"

"Can we really?!"

Levinas jumped for joy.

What an innocent child.

Lee Mi-young placed her hand on Levinas's head as she spoke.

"But you have to stay close to the older kids, okay? If you want to go somewhere, make sure to tell the teacher first."

Lee Mi-young said this while focusing on Gyeoul.

She looked the youngest.

Maybe a kindergartener or first-grader?

She was a bit tall for a kindergartener, but she had that aura about her.

Gyeoul exuded an atmosphere that only children of that age could.

It was what you might call a protective instinct.

"Make sure to hold hands with your older sisters."

Gyeoul thought Lee Mi-young was talking to Levinas, not her.

It was because Lee Mi-young was patting Levinas's head.

"Okay."

Gyeoul answered instead of the excited Levinas.

She also firmly held Levinas and Saebyeok's hands.

She showed her determination not to let the children become lost.

Lee Mi-young smiled lightly at that lovable sight.

Gyeoul really likes her older sisters.

That's all she thought.

Children who got along well always warmed people's hearts.

---

---

The performance began.

I had expected a play, but surprisingly, it was a magic show.

We sat on the grass in the outdoor park to watch the performance.

A magic show in a world where magic exists?

I thought people's reactions would be lukewarm, but they were surprisingly good.

It was because the existence of mages was quite rare.

"Wow!"

The children clapped as fireworks soared into the sky.

The performance, which appropriately mixed magic and illusions, was quite entertaining.

They did simple card tricks and illusions that used people's psychology.

In between, they livened up the atmosphere with flashy magic.

"Wow."

This is fun for me too.

I let go of the children's hands to clap.

My tail was wagging rapidly.

"King! Bubbles!"

Levinas pointed above the performance area.

There had been a man doing a bubble performance in the park recently.

"Levinas can do bubbles too!"

"Yeah, but we can't do that here, okay?"

"Okay! I know!"

We saw the bubble performance and a small fireworks show.

What would come next?

As expectations were building, the background music in the performance area started to darken.

"Who's the bravest child here?!"

A masked man looked around at the children as he spoke.

It seemed like a participatory performance.

I wondered which child would go up.

I looked around.

Right next to me, Levinas was raising her hand high.

"King is the bravest! King is invincible!"

"M-Me...?"

I don't need to do this.

I glanced around nervously and lowered Levinas's hand.

The masked man pretended not to see us too.

"Ahem, we need a big and brave child..."

A big and brave child.

I guess that means I can't do it since I'm small and not a child.

I was relieved, but something felt off.

"Hmm..."

As I was absently scratching my cheek, the surrounding children started murmuring.

"The cat is the bravest."

"Yeah! Cats are fierce and strong!"

"N-No, that's not..."

I'm not that fierce.

I tried to stop the children, but there were too many of them.

The masked man seemed to realize he had no choice and called me up to the stage.

"Is the cat really that brave?!"

"N-No..."

As everyone's eyes turned to me, my ears and tail drooped.

My body trembled and shrank from the pressure.

"W-Well then, we should give you some courage?!"

"Courage...?"

"Yes! Lie down here!"

The masked man patted a bed.

I hesitated before lying down on the bed.

"Now!"

The man covered me with a lid.

My body was hidden, with only my neck up and ankles down visible.

"What are you doing?"

"Cutting magic!"

"Cutting magic?"

"Yes, brave children don't feel any pain from this magic, so there's no need to cry!"

"Wow."

To think I'd be separated by cutting magic.

Somehow, I started feeling excited.

"I thought you'd cry, but you're surprisingly brave, huh?"

"Y-Yes..."

It's not real cutting anyway, just a performance.

As I was thinking that, the performance began.

Boom boom boom-!

Grand music played as the man raised a saw.

Swish swish-

I was a bit surprised when he started cutting my body.

But thankfully, there was no pain.

"Ah!"

"Aah!"

As the masked man started sawing me, the children began to panic.

The most surprised was Levinas.

"Kiiiing!"

Screaming, Levinas ran towards me.

There were guards around, but they didn't really stop Levinas.

"Tummy! Tummy! Kiiiing!"

By the time Levinas climbed onto the stage, my body was already cut in half.

Levinas fell to her knees, wailing.

She even pounded the floor with her fists.

"It's all Levinas's fault! Levinas said King was brave...!"

"L-Levinas..."

"Kiiiing..."

Barging in during a performance.

Isn't this a big problem?

I glanced nervously at the masked man.

The corners of his mouth were slightly turned up.

The guards not stopping her, the man smiling...

It seemed he was trying to use this situation as part of the performance.

"Phew."

I was relieved it wasn't a big deal.

For Levinas's sake, I hoped the performance would end quickly.

6/6 Enjoy the chappy!

Please give the book a rating and a review on NovelUpdates.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.