I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 268: Cat Reaper

Yeoreum instantly realized.

That this place was a sweatshop.

Normally, she'd have no right to interfere in another company's affairs, but now it was different since they'd given out subcontracts.

It was a matter of the guild's honor.

Employees of a company subcontracted by the Yeomyeong Guild being treated like disposables?

This could instantly ruin the image and honor they'd built up so far.

Problems needed to be nipped in the bud.

Thinking this, Yeoreum looked at Gyeoul.

She decided to solve the precious Gyeoul's problem first.

"Yes?"

"How would you feel if you worked really hard, and got only two cans of tuna as a reward?"

"I'd like it."

Gyeoul smiled, her eyes crinkling.

Her tail behind her swayed gently.

Yeoreum couldn't help but be flustered by this pure response.

"N-no, you shouldn't like that..."

"Why not...?"

"Because you'd be getting just two cans of tuna after working really, really hard."

"Um... But didn't they get their salary and the tuna was just a bonus?"

"Well, yes, but..."

Yeoreum put on a gloomy expression for no reason.

Seeing this, Gyeoul pondered internally.

'Isn't tuna a good thing?'

It wasn't like they gave useless items or troublesome trash.

They didn't withhold wages, but gave the tuna as a bonus after paying the full salary.

There was no reason to be dissatisfied.

That was Gyeoul's conclusion.

"I don't really get it."

"Hmm... Then should your sister give an example?"

"An example?"

"Yeah."

Yeoreum nodded and approached Levinas.

She picked up Levinas's outdoor bag and checked inside.

"There are eleven carrots here? Did Levinas harvest these diligently?"

"Yeah! Levinas harvested them diligently!"

Ahem.

Levinas puffed out her chest.

Yeoreum chuckled at the cute sight.

"Your sister will take ten carrots. Levinas, you take one. From now on, no matter how many carrots Levinas harvests, you only get to keep one, okay?"

Yeoreum hid the bag behind her back and held out just one carrot to Levinas.

Levinas, who had all her carrots taken away, opened her horned rabbit eyes wide.

"Will Levinas only eat one from now on?!"

"Yeah. Your sister actually really likes carrots. I want to eat lots and lots."

"Ah! I get it! Then Yeoreum should take all the carrots!"

Levinas smiled, saying she understood.

This response rather flustered Yeoreum.

"Your sister takes all of these?"

"Yeah! If you need more carrots, just say so! I'll harvest lots!"

"W-well... Thanks, but..."

She had tried to explain the injustice.

But our Levinas is too kind, so it didn't quite work out.

Ugh, Yeoreum groaned and scratched the back of her head.

At that moment, Gyeoul tugged on Yeoreum's clothes.

"I think I understand what you're trying to say."

"Really? You think you get it?"

"Yes. If you always get just one carrot no matter how many you harvest, you lose motivation, right?"

"That's right! That's why rewards based on performance are necessary."

Performance bonuses were essential, even for the sake of employees' motivation and efficiency.

To think our Gyeoul understood this at once.

Yeoreum was so happy to have such a smart little sister.

"Hehe, so the harder you work, the bigger the reward should be, right?"

"Yes. They should give more canned tuna."

"More! Four!"

Gaeul held up four fingers.

It was Gaeul's favorite number, which she considered quite large.

"Y-yeah. But wouldn't it be better to give more than four?"

"How many?"

"Hmm... Gyeoul, why don't you decide?"

"Me...?"

"Yeah. Let's have Gyeoul decide things like bonuses and welfare."

After finishing her words, Yeoreum turned to look at the middle-aged man.

Guilty of something, he looked down at the floor and mumbled.

"W-we do give bonuses..."

"Really?"

"Of course..."

The middle-aged man nodded silently.

Yeoreum decided to give him one more chance.

---

---

The main office on the first floor of the factory.

I was sitting there with my arms crossed.

"Hmm..."

I wondered why I had to decide the bonuses for a company I didn't know.

As it turned out, they were a partner company handling most of our guild's work.

Therefore, the guild needed to ensure some level of welfare, and Yeoreum had entrusted this task to me.

'Can I really do something this important?'

Isn't this usually done by higher-ups in the company?

I carefully looked around.

The employees in the office were glancing at me while working.

"Excuse me..."

Tap tap, I poked the shoulder of the woman sitting next to me.

She turned to me, startled.

"Huh? I mean, yes?"

"Um, is there anything you want?"

"Anything I want?"

She gave me a questioning look.

The people in the first-floor office didn't know why I was here.

I felt I should explain at least a little.

"The guild decided to take care of things like bonuses and welfare, you know? But they told me to do it."

"W-welfare? I mean, welfare?"

"Yes. Is there anything you want?"

"Hmm... Could we maybe get a coffee machine? One that grinds beans."

Coffee machine.

I wrote it down on an A4 paper.

I wasn't sure how much a coffee machine cost, but our guild could surely afford it.

"Okay. I've written down coffee machine."

"...Is that it?"

"Probably...?"

"Oh my goodness."

The woman covered her gaping mouth with both hands.

She looked moved.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"A coffee machine is enough for me. Why don't you ask the others too?"

"Okay."

Who else should I ask?

I spun around once in the wheeled chair.

In the rapidly spinning world, I saw the shining eyes of people.

They looked like predators who'd spotted prey.

"Is it possible to request equipment too?"

"Could we have zero-calorie drinks in the break room...?"

"Can we turn the air conditioning up a bit more in the Summer?"

People flocked over en masse.

It was a bit scary, but I remembered the mission the guild had given me.

I decided to do my best without getting scared.

"Zero cola, and laptops..."

I wrote down everything people requested.

Seeing the happy people made me feel good too.

---

---

Mana stone processing department.

The job of this department was to cut or grind mana stones for processing.

'Maybe I'll take a break.'

Hwang Chang-sik, a processor in the processing department, took off his dust mask.

He roughly shook off the mana stone powder on his body and took out a cigarette from the cabinet.

One of the advantages of the mana stone department was that you didn't have to wear protective suits.

They mainly handled mana stones that were resistant to contamination and harmless to humans.

The downside was that the smoking area was quite far from the processing department.

'I should smoke quickly and come back.'

Hwang Chang-sik moved towards the smoking area.

But the corridor was unusually busy, unlike usual.

'What's going on?'

With an unlit cigarette in his mouth, he joined the bustle of people.

He didn't know what it was, but something was clearly happening to draw everyone's attention.

"Section Chief Hwang!"

Hwang Chang-sik turned around at the voice calling him.

It was Assistant Manager Lee from the neighboring department, who he'd become friendly with while smoking.

"Assistant Manager Lee, what's all this about?"

"Someone from the Yeomyeong Guild is here."

"From Yeomyeong?"

"Yes. They're giving out bonuses and granting any welfare requests right now. It's total chaos!"

Oh ho.

So that's why people were gathering.

They say if you're going to be a slave, be a slave in a nobleman's house. Taking on subcontracts from Yeomyeong leads to things like this.

Hwang Chang-sik put the cigarette in his mouth back into its case.

Though he usually didn't care about his image, he didn't have the confidence to have a cigarette in his mouth in front of a high-ranking person from the Yeomyeong Guild.

'I wonder if they'd grant my request too.'

He wanted to ask for a smoking area to be built nearby.

Hwang Chang-sik moved towards where the Yeomyeong Guild manager was said to be, holding a small hope in his heart.

"Ah."

Maybe he should clean himself up a bit first.

Shake shake, as he was shaking off the mana stone powder on his body, he made eye contact with a child sitting in a chair.

'A beast-kin...?'

A beast-kin child with cat ears.

It was Gyeoul, the famous child of the Yeomyeong Guild.

Gyeoul's gaze turned to the floating mana stone powder.

"Ah."

Gyeoul's body froze.

It was due to the floating mana stone powder and the mana emanating from Hwang Chang-sik's body.

At least thousands of mana stones had been crushed and turned to powder by his hands.

To Gyeoul's eyes, he looked like a grim reaper who only killed cats.

A monster grim reaper who had killed thousands upon thousands of cats.

"Um..."

"......!"

Startled by Hwang Chang-sik's approach, Gyeoul backed away.

She fled to the far end, pulling the wheeled chair.

The people in the office could see Gyeoul's ears and tail standing on end.

Though they didn't know why, they could tell Gyeoul was terrified.

"Ugh..."

Gyeoul, in a state of panic, stood up from the chair.

Forcing her trembling legs to move, she quickly ran off somewhere.

"King!"

"Master!"

Levinas and Gaeul chased after Gyeoul.

Saebyeok growled at Hwang Chang-sik before belatedly running away.

'What's going on...?'

Is it because of me?

Should I apologize?

Hwang Chang-sik followed after Gyeoul.

Gyeoul looked back, made eye contact with Hwang Chang-sik, and ran away even faster.

"Ah, aah..."

Yeoreum was where Gyeoul ran to.

Gyeoul hurriedly burrowed into Yeoreum's arms.

"Gyeoul?"

"Uh..."

Gyeoul, shaking violently, lifted Yeoreum's top.

She stuck her face inside and pulled the top down.

Gyeoul, in a state of panic, had instinctively sought out a safe place to hide.

"Gyeoul, what's wrong?"

Gyeoul's face touched Yeoreum's bare skin.

The small head was trembling, and the cat ears occasionally brushing against her skin tickled a bit.

"What on earth happened..."

Yeoreum stroked the bulging part of her clothes.

After a while, a man with sparse facial hair came running from afar, out of breath.

It was Hwang Chang-sik, who had scared Gyeoul.

As he approached, Gyeoul's trembling grew more intense.

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