I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 352: Voice Ghost

The next morning.

I walked around the park with the children.

We were just taking a simple stroll.

"Ahh."

The warm sunlight felt nice.

Saebyeok was so comfortable she lay down for a nap on the bench.

If I wasn't careful, I might end up napping beside her.

Must be my feline instincts.

I didn't particularly mind.

It was part of what made me a beast-kin after all.

Yawn.

I looked around at the children while yawning.

Levinas was eating a carrot, while Gaeul was picking something up and putting it in her bag.

"Gaeul, what did you just put in there?"

"Stuff."

Gaeul pulled out a folded bag from her backpack.

I wondered what it was - turned out to be an empty popcorn bag.

"A popcorn bag? Why did you pick that up?"

At my question, Gaeul spread the popcorn bag wide.

Then she sniffed inside with a happy expression.

"Like."

"You like the smell?"

"Yeah."

Was the popcorn smell that good?

I focused and sniffed inside the bag too.

It must have been butter popcorn - it did have a nice savory smell.

'Seems like Gaeul puts everything she likes in her bag.'

I wondered what else was in Gaeul's bag.

I wanted to check inside.

But since I shouldn't invade her privacy carelessly, I decided to ask permission first.

"Gaeul, can I look at what's in your bag?"

"Yeah...!"

Gaeul nodded vigorously.

Had she wanted to show me what was inside?

Plop-

Gaeul sat down on the grass nearby and waved for me to come over.

Levinas and I sat down on the grass with her.

"Master...!"

Gaeul's eyes turned fierce.

It felt like she was asking if I was ready.

"Yeah."

We huddled around Gaeul like people making a shady deal, and she turned her bag upside down and shook everything out.

"Oh..."

I thought she'd show us things one by one.

But she showed everything at once.

Gaeul could be quite intense sometimes.

I giggled while examining the items that spilled out.

"Huh?"

Gaeul's bag contained quite a variety of things.

There were empty bottles and fish bones from fish we'd eaten.

Further down were dried twisted flowers and Levinas's carrots.

"Wow, Gaeul has so many things?"

"Yeah. Gaeul rich."

They might look like trash to someone who didn't know better.

But I understood why Gaeul carried these things.

Empty bottles were emergency money, fish bones were emergency food.

The flowers and carrots must be crops she harvested following me and Levinas.

Though it looked like she picked up things randomly, there was actually a system to it.

This bag was proof that Gaeul was working hard.

Seeing the contents, I couldn't help but smile.

"Oh no! Levinas's carrot shriveled up!"

"Huh?"

Levinas picked up a carrot that had shrunk to a quarter of its size.

It seemed like it had been kept for quite a while.

"Heh..."

Gaeul glanced nervously at Levinas.

She felt awkward for letting Levinas's precious carrot get like this.

But Levinas wasn't the type to get angry at family members.

"Here! Levinas will replace it with a new carrot!"

"...!"

Levinas pulled out a large carrot from her bag.

Gaeul bounced excitedly at the premium-quality carrot.

"Master!"

Gaeul held out the carrot she received to show me.

The carrot was as thick as her wrist.

"Wow, Gaeul got an amazing carrot?"

"Yeah!"

Her wagging tail looked happy.

We continued looking through Gaeul's bag with lifted spirits.

There were clumps of what looked like my fur, and some batteries too.

As we examined various odds and ends, we spotted Sophia passing by in the distance.

Sophia was carrying two heavy-looking items.

An amplifier like those used in concert halls, and some kind of handbag.

Would Sophia's knees be okay?

Though Sophia was much stronger than me with her mana use, I still worried.

"Kids, let's help Sophia."

"Yeah!"

After quickly packing Gaeul's things back in her bag, we ran toward Sophia.

Sophia stopped when she saw us.

"Were you playing nearby?"

"Yes. Let me carry one for you, Sophia."

"No need. It'll be too heavy for you, Gyeoul."

"No, I'm strong."

I forcefully took the handbag Sophia was carrying.

But the bag was so heavy my arms trembled.

"......"

What made this so heavy?

I set the bag down while trying not to look at Sophia.

My ears, tail, and eye corners drooped in embarrassment.

"Um..."

As I stood there fidgeting with my fingers and head down.

Saebyeok appeared and picked up the bag I'd put down.

"Let's carry it together."

"Y-yeah...!"

We each took one handle of the bag.

With two of us carrying it, it wasn't heavy at all.

Thanks to Saebyeok's strength.

"Shark, Levinas will help too."

"Gaeul too."

"Thank you, children."

We all worked together to move the equipment.

We had to go to an external building a bit away from the guild building.

Our destination was a large auditorium set up like a movie theater.

"Sophia, why are we here?"

"The lectures have grown, so we need to change venues. And update the equipment."

"Lectures..."

"The Wizards Association President, remember?"

"Ah."

Right, they held various lectures at the guild.

That's when I noticed the bag contained microphones, cables, and other equipment.

"Let's just check if everything works and leave."

"Microphone?!"

"Yes, microphone."

"Oh! Can Levinas try it?!"

Levinas clasped her hands like in prayer.

Sophia smiled at her sparkling eyes that were hard to refuse.

"Alright, Levinas can try."

"Yeah! But how do you use it?!"

"Wait a moment."

Sophia skillfully plugged in the cables.

Click!

When she flipped the amp switch, an electrical hum leaked out.

"...!"

Levinas perked up her ears and grabbed the microphone with both hands.

"Ahhhhh."

Levinas's small voice amplified several times louder through the speakers.

Playing with microphones must be fun for children too.

While everyone smiled watching Levinas, only Gaeul's reaction seemed odd.

"Master!"

Gaeul pointed at the amp with round eyes.

She seemed surprised by Levinas's voice coming out loudly from the amp.

Did Gaeul not know about microphones and amps?

Come to think of it, we hadn't seen any while together.

"Gaeul, that's..."

"Wooooo~ I am a ghost that copies voices~"

I was about to explain the amp to Gaeul, but Levinas played a prank first.

I decided to watch quietly for now.

I kept my mouth shut and observed Gaeul and Levinas.

"Eek!"

Startled by the ghost, Gaeul took the finger-cutting magic trick pose.

Toward the amp where Levinas's voice came from.

"That won't work! To beat the voice ghost, your voice needs to be louder than the ghost!"

"Oh...!"

Gaeul was surprised, and I was a bit surprised too.

Being louder than someone using a microphone seemed impossible.

But Gaeul didn't think so.

She took a deep breath to shout.

Hnnng!

"UWAAAAAH!"

Gaeul's battle cry echoed to the back of the auditorium.

Her voice was louder than expected, making Levinas's horned rabbit eyes go wide.

"Wow, Gaeul puppy's voice is super loud! The voice ghost ran away!"

Levinas spoke without the microphone.

Gaeul puffed out her chest with an "ahem."

The "ahem" pose that started with Levinas had become all of ours now.

"Gaeul strong."

After "ahem-ing" for a while, Gaeul began examining the microphone Levinas held.

Speaking into the microphone makes voices louder.

Had she understood the process?

Our Gaeul was definitely a genius.

"Ghost?"

"Yeah! We caught a voice ghost in here! When you talk here, your voice gets bigger!"

"...!"

A voice ghost.

What a Levinas-like explanation.

Wanting to try the voice ghost too, Gaeul held out both hands politely to Levinas.

"Gaeul puppy can try too."

Levinas handed the microphone to Gaeul.

Gaeul just stood there blankly holding it.

"Gaeul, try saying anything into it."

"Master?"

-Master?

Gaeul's voice leaked from the amp.

Her ears and tail shot up at the same time.

"Eek."

-Eek.

"Strong!"

-Strong!

"...Uraleuleulealeulyapyapyap."

-Uraleuleulealeulyapyapyap.

Gaeul suddenly started saying incomprehensible words.

Watching with a tilted head, I realized what she was doing.

Gaeul was trying to say difficult and fast words that the voice ghost couldn't copy.

"Urayapryakakyakyap..."

-Urayapryakakyakyap...

But unfortunately, the voice ghost was just a device that made voices louder.

Not knowing this, Gaeul could only be amazed at the voice ghost that copied all her difficult fast words.