I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 269: Woo-ang

Gyeoul, trembling, had crawled inside Yeoreum's clothes.

The man who had chased after her.

Yeoreum immediately realized he was the one who had terrified Gyeoul.

"...What's going on?"

"I don't know. The child suddenly ran away."

Was he saying she ran away even though he didn't do anything?

Yeoreum doubted his words at first, but then belatedly realized this was a factory handling feline mana stones.

And that mana stone powder was stuck to his work clothes.

'That's...'

The mana stone powder embedded in his work clothes gave off a faint mana.

Just by looking at his attire, one could tell he was an experienced worker.

He deserved respect, but Yeoreum couldn't smile at him in front of the frightened Gyeoul.

'Oh dear.'

Gyeoul still couldn't distinguish between the mana of feline monsters and feline beast-kin.

It was due to her lack of worldly experience.

A man covered in feline mana stone powder had appeared before such a Gyeoul.

A man who had ground at least thousands of mana stones.

How did this man appear in Gyeoul's eyes?

Did he look like a monster wearing human skin turned inside out and covered in blood?

Yeoreum recalled the day she felt the most fear in her life.

The day Gyeoul's stomach was pierced by a horned rabbit's horn.

"Ugh."

Just imagining that day made her breath catch.

And Gyeoul was feeling even more fear than that right now...

Yeoreum slightly lifted her top to pull out Gyeoul's head.

Then she immediately picked Gyeoul up, and Gyeoul buried her face in Yeoreum's chest, shaking violently.

Her pitifully drooping tail was heartbreaking.

The bewildered Hwang Chang-sik cautiously stretched out his foot.

"Um..."

"W-wait! Don't come any closer!"

Yeoreum turned her body, taking a protective stance over Gyeoul.

She also held out her palm to Hwang Chang-sik, telling him not to come closer.

"This is a bit unfair..."

"I'm sorry. I know you didn't do anything wrong."

"You know?"

If you know, then why?

Hwang Chang-sik's brow furrowed slightly.

"Gyeoul is still inexperienced, that's why."

"Inexperienced?"

"Well..."

Yeoreum explained everything to Hwang Chang-sik.

The inexperience of young beast-kin children.

That Gyeoul, being feline, couldn't distinguish well between the mana of feline monsters and feline beast-kin.

'So the monster mana stones feel like the corpses of feline beast-kin?'

Hwang Chang-sik looked down at his body.

If Yeoreum was right, he was covered in countless corpse remnants.

And Gyeoul was catching all of this with her beast-kin's keen senses.

"Oh..."

How would it feel if there was a being in front of you that had killed thousands of humans?

And that being looked extremely brutal.

Hwang Chang-sik quickly stepped back.

He stopped at a distance where his voice could barely be heard.

"I just came because they said they'd give us welfare benefits..."

"Ah... Is there anything you wanted?"

"I was hoping for a smoking area near the work site."

"Yes! We'll build you an excellent smoking area! I'm so sorry for showing you this..."

Bow.

Yeoreum bowed her head.

Realizing her family was apologizing because of her, Gyeoul regained some of her senses.

"I-I'm sorry... I'm very lacking..."

Gyeoul apologized to Hwang Chang-sik.

She couldn't look at him properly, just glancing while fidgeting with her fingers.

Yeoreum and Hwang Chang-sik could tell Gyeoul was making an enormous effort.

"Hey, Gyeoul isn't lacking at all. Gyeoul, you're not lacking in anything. It's okay."

"That's right. You're not lacking at all."

Ahem.

Hwang Chang-sik cleared his throat and stepped back.

Yeoreum thought as she watched Hwang Chang-sik.

Let's give him a hefty performance bonus.

Of course, it wasn't because he treated Gyeoul well.

A man who had processed over a thousand mana stones despite being entrusted with feline mana stones only recently.

He was an indispensable talent for the company.

"I'll be going now. Sorry for startling you."

"Gyeoul, the mister is leaving. Say goodbye to the mister."

Yeoreum held Gyeoul's hand and waved it.

She even said "bye-bye."

It was her way of trying to comfort Gyeoul.

"Bye-bye..."

Gyeoul waved her hand while glancing up at Yeoreum.

See you later...?

Gyeoul's face crumpled.

"Gyeoul must have been really surprised, huh?"

"Yes... My legs feel weak, can we go home like this...?"

"Of course we can, sweetie."

Yeoreum hugged Gyeoul tightly.

Then the children who had been watching nervously from nearby each patted Gyeoul's back once.

That day, Gyeoul fell asleep in Yeoreum's arms.

---

---

The next morning.

I was walking in the park with the children.

Perhaps because of the scary experience yesterday, my legs still felt weak.

'I should only work a little today.'

While I was harvesting vegetables and playing card games with the children, a young girl approached us.

"Hello."

"Oh... hello."

She was a girl I'd seen before.

A kind girl who had given us uniforms and let us see a magic show.

"Can I play with you too?"

"Sure. But what's your name?"

"Dahui, Im Dahui."

Im Dahui.

I muttered the girl's name, memorizing it.

Dahui giggled, seemingly pleased that I called her by name.

"There's a playground in the apartment complex over there, want to go play?"

"An apartment playground? There's a playground near here too."

"Yeah. But that playground is more fun. It even has a swimming pool playground."

"Swimming pool!"

Levinas's eyes sparkled at the mention of a swimming pool.

Saebyeok also looked like she wanted to go.

"There's a swimming pool in the playground?"

"Yeah. There's a swimming pool under the play equipment."

"...! Play equipment swimming pool...!"

Levinas gave me a pleading look.

I could tell how badly she wanted to go to the swimming pool.

"Okay. Let's go play."

"Great! Then let's wear these!"

The girl pulled out several pieces of clothing from her backpack.

They were thin, baggy hoodies.

"Why the clothes?"

"They don't let non-residents play in the playground. There's this weird lady who's always watching, you know?"

"Um... Wouldn't it be better not to go then...?"

"It's okay. I live there."

Ah.

She wanted to play with her friends, but was covering our faces just in case?

These big clothes would hide our ears and tails completely.

We shouldn't get in trouble if someone who lives there is with us.

"Okay. Let's go play together then."

"Wow!"

Levinas threw both hands up in the air.

Gaeul copied her action.

Saebyeok wagged her tail, secretly happy too, and Dahui smiled brightly, her eyes crinkling at the children's joy.

By the way, a swimming pool playground?

Rich neighborhoods really are beyond imagination.

I followed Dahui with anticipation.

---

---

An apartment complex that rose high like skyscrapers.

In the center was a huge playground.

A slide, jungle gym, and even equipment that spins when you get inside.

There was a swimming pool under all of these.

"Whoa!"

Levinas let out an exclamation of shock.

The hood part was slightly protruding, showing that her ears had perked up.

"King! King!"

Levinas looked at me, stomping her feet.

She was asking if she could go play.

"Yeah. Let's play."

"Yay!"

As soon as I gave permission, Levinas ran towards the slide.

About three children were lined up at the slide, but Levinas waited her turn diligently.

"Yah!"

When her turn came, Levinas slid down without hesitation.

Swoosh-!

Water sprayed like a flume ride.

Though it was the same slide, it felt more fun with water.

Splash splash-

Saebyeok swam with a cat paddle, moving around the playground obstacles.

Gaeul chased after Saebyeok with a dog paddle.

"Wow."

It felt good to see the children playing so happily.

With my body still weak, I just pretended to play moderately.

We rode the slide, got on boats, and climbed things similar to jungle gyms.

As we were playing like that for a while, someone tapped my back.

"Kid, just a moment."

It was a fierce-looking woman who seemed to be in her late thirties or early forties.

She pointed at my hood and said,

"Do you live in this apartment? Can you take off your hood?"

"W-well..."

"You don't live here, do you?"

"But my friend..."

The children came to my side when they saw me getting scolded.

Dahui was among them.

"Ma'am, I live here. These are my friends."

"What?! Ma'am?!"

"......?"

Despite Dahui saying she lived here, the woman's face turned red with anger.

She looked like an enraged bull.

"How can you bring friends? This playground is only for apartment residents! Are there separate people who play and separate people who pay maintenance fees?"

We stepped back at her rapid-fire words.

The unexpected mention of maintenance fees made our legs feel heavy.

"D-Dahui..."

I cautiously called Dahui's name.

Then Dahui turned to us and shouted.

"Let's run away!"

Dahui giggled as she ran.

Her familiar behavior suggested this happened often.

For children this age, running away from adults was also a kind of play.

"Ah!"

"W-we're sorry...!"

We instinctively chased after Dahui.

Without Dahui, we'd just be trespassers.

"Kids, come here!"

I looked back as we ran at the angry woman's voice.

Gaeul was standing in place, looking at us with a blank face.

"G-Gaeul."

I went back, grabbed Gaeul's hand, and ran.

Perhaps because I pulled her forcefully, our steps were slightly out of sync.

Splash-!

"Ah!"

"Meow!"

Gaeul didn't run far before falling down.

I fell too, as I was holding her hand.

It was because my legs were still weak from yesterday's incident.

"Ouch..."

My knee hurt.

It might be a bit scraped.

Ignoring the small injury, I checked on Gaeul first.

"Gaeul, are you okay?"

Gaeul had fallen face-first onto the ground.

Gaeul, who carefully lifted her head, still had a blank expression.

'The wound...'

Gaeul's face was injured.

Just as I was reaching out to examine Gaeul's wound.

The corners of Gaeul's mouth turned down sharply.

Tears also started to form in her eyes.

"Gaeul?"

"Waaah."

Gaeul burst into tears.

She cried really pitifully.

Gaeul's gaze was directed at my knee.

At my scraped knee.

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