I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 348: Feeling Down

The shark swam near us.

Perhaps sensing a fellow shark like Sophia, it stayed close to our area.

Though the shark was several times our size, none of us were afraid.

We had Sophia, an upgraded version of the shark.

Even Levinas, usually so timid, stood proudly before the shark.

"That shark looks strong too, but it's no match for our shark."

"Yeah."

"Our shark is not just cool but pretty too."

"Yeah yeah."

Sophia's face reddened at being called pretty.

Though she didn't seem to mind, just clearing her throat without saying anything.

"Shark, shark!"

Tap tap-

Gaeul tapped the tank and clicked her teeth like a shark.

Right then, the shark in the tank opened its mouth wide.

"Oh!"

"Whoa...!"

The children's eyes went wide at the shark's characteristic sharp teeth.

They seemed a bit scared now that the shark's hidden weapons were revealed.

"Master...!"

Gaeul pointed at the shark's teeth.

Then she stared at my mouth, as if comparing my teeth to the shark's.

"Hmm... my fangs are sharp too, but not as much as a shark's."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. Among us, Sophia probably has the sharpest teeth."

"...!"

When Gaeul turned her head toward Sophia, her ponytail shot up like an exclamation mark from the momentum.

I couldn't help but smile at how well it matched Gaeul's reaction.

"Shark! Master!"

"What is it?"

"Ah."

Gaeul opened her mouth wide.

Then she tapped Sophia's lips, seemingly asking her to open her mouth too.

"Hmm."

After considering, Sophia opened her mouth just enough to fit a finger.

Gaeul smiled brightly when Sophia's sharp teeth were revealed.

She couldn't help but be happy having a shark stronger than the aquarium's resident shark with us.

"Should we look at other things now?"

"Yeah."

We waved goodbye to the shark before moving on to see other fish.

We arrived at the interactive zone.

There were fish that would eat dead skin off your fingers if you put them in.

When I put my finger in the open tank, only a few fish from the school approached.

"Wow."

In my world, doctor fish were endangered so they often used fake ones.

I wondered if they used real ones in this world?

As I watched the fish nibbling at my finger with fascination, Levinas came up beside me giggling.

"The tiny ones are trying to eat King!"

"Yeah, I'm getting eaten."

Ahhh.

Just as I let out a lifeless scream, Gaeul ran over and pulled my finger from the tank in response.

"Master!"

Gaeul's eyes were wide open.

Her expression seemed to ask if I was okay.

"Wow, did Gaeul save me?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks. These fish are harmless though. Want to try putting your hand in too?"

When I pointed at the tank with the doctor fish, Gaeul appeared to consider it for a moment.

Then, having made up her mind, she raised her eyebrows and put her finger in the tank.

A few fish swam toward Gaeul's finger.

Poke poke-

When the fish started nibbling her finger, Gaeul quickly pulled it out.

Levinas also put her finger in but kept pulling it out whenever fish approached, seemingly too scared to leave it in.

"The fish tried to eat Levinas!"

"Yeah, but they're too small to actually eat you. It just tickles."

"Really?!"

After considering, Levinas put her finger back in the tank.

A few fish came over and nibbled at the surface of her finger.

"It doesn't hurt at all!"

"Right?"

Seemingly encouraged by Levinas, Gaeul put her finger back in too.

When the fish poked her finger, Gaeul's eyes went wide.

"Wow!"

"Fun, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Gaeul and Levinas showed even more excited reactions than when seeing the shark.

They kept switching fingers to put in the water.

Hands-on experiences really were best for children.

But where did Saebyeok go?

Looking around, I spotted Saebyeok far away staring at the ground.

"Saebyeok?"

Did something upsetting happen?

Why was she hanging her head so low?

As I approached Saebyeok with concern, I realized why she was acting that way.

'This is another interactive zone.'

There was a knee-high tank in the floor.

Various large and small fish were swimming in the quite spacious tank.

"Looks delicious."

Saebyeok licked her lips looking at the floor tank.

The open tank did let appetizing smells waft up.

Especially that big one that's also used for food - what was it called again?

Still staring at the tank, I said to Saebyeok:

"Should we have a fish party at home later?"

"Yeah. Let's catch and eat everything in the pond."

After making plans with Saebyeok to catch fish, I put my feet in the floor tank.

The fish didn't swim away when I entered.

"Wow."

Some looked tasty, others interesting.

As I was walking through the tank looking at various fish-

Splash-!

Along with the water sound, I felt something grip my tail tightly.

Turning around, I saw that big edible fish from earlier had my tail in its mouth.

"Nyaaah!"

When I saw the fish biting my tail, some unknown instinct took over.

I let out a cat-like scream and ran out of the tank.

The fish was still holding onto my tail even then.

"T-tail! My tail...!"

Out of the water, I spun around and around trying to shake the fish off.

I tried jumping up and down too, but it kept a tight grip on my tail and wouldn't let go.

"King!"

"Master!"

Was my scream that loud?

Levinas and Gaeul came running over.

"Oh no! The fish bit King's tail!"

"Fish! Bad! Bad!"

Gaeul swung her fists at the air.

The commotion drew stares from people around us.

"Her tail got bitten...?"

"What should we do...?"

Through the murmuring crowd, I saw Sophia approaching.

Usually she walked slowly with her cane, but now she was moving quite fast.

"Let go."

Coming beside me, Sophia lightly pressed the fish with her cane.

Though she didn't press hard, the fish released my tail.

"Ugh..."

I clutched my tail with both hands while watching the fish flop on the ground.

Though I checked my tail all over, there didn't seem to be any injuries.

Thankfully it was a fish without teeth.

**

Sacred Guild Master Chae Juyeon.

She was heading to Yeomyeong Guild.

A new clue about Gyeoul's world had emerged.

'When mana is forcibly injected into those without it, they can become monsters...'

Chae Juyeon didn't know why people without mana turned into monsters.

But figuring that out was her current mission.

Divine magic.

Manipulating human flesh with mana was her specialty after all.

If she didn't know, she'd have to research until she found out.

'I wonder how Gyeoul is doing.'

Now that they'd found the cause of her world's destruction.

Had she found hope? Or rather...

As Chae Juyeon was lost in such thoughts while driving to Yeomyeong Guild,

She spotted Yeomyeong's children on the street.

"Oh my."

She was about to roll down the window and call out to them, but something seemed off.

Gyeoul's ears and tail were drooping lifelessly, and the children were watching her with concern.

"King, are you okay..."

"Yeah..."

There was no energy in Gyeoul's voice.

Seeing this, Chae Juyeon's heart sank.

'Has she fallen into despair...?'

Since she'd learned how her world was destroyed.

Sighing, Chae Juyeon called out to the children.

"Children?"

"Ah...?"

Gyeoul's tail weakly wagged when they saw Chae Juyeon.

It didn't lift up, just slightly swayed while staying low.

"Gyeoul, did something happen?"

"Yes... a fish bit my tail."

"Oh dear... huh?"

Chae Juyeon's eyes went wide at Gyeoul's unexpected words.

So they were depressed about getting their tail bitten by a fish, not about the destruction?

Well, tails are important to beast-kin.

Chae Juyeon understood somewhat.

"Does your tail hurt a lot? Should Master heal it?"

"No, it doesn't hurt but... something just feels gloomy..."

Sigh.

Gyeoul's shoulders slumped.

She truly looked sad.

Why was Gyeoul acting like this?

Chae Juyeon naturally turned to look at Sophia, who finally spoke up.

"A predator beast-kin of the cat family got attacked by a fish - of course her pride is hurt."

"...So it's a species issue?"

"Yes. Young beast-kin have strong instincts."

I see.

It would be shameful for a predator to be attacked by what should be much weaker prey.

Chae Juyeon could understand Gyeoul's state somewhat.

'Gyeoul doesn't seem to know why they're feeling down either.'

Was it like an instinctive sense of loss?

It seemed they needed to help restore Gyeoul's pride.

After all, it was an adult's job to help build up a child's self-esteem.