I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 363: Children's Play

"Little ones, what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?"

Han Yeoreum and I spoke almost simultaneously.

It felt like we were on the same wavelength, asking the same question at the same time.

I decided to stay quiet until Han Yeoreum spoke first.

As I maintained my silence, for some reason Han Yeoreum was also keeping quiet.

Were we in sync again?

Though it was nothing special, I couldn't help giggling with joy.

Han Yeoreum seemed amused too, smiling at me.

"Okay. We came with Unc- Master."

"Oh? Did you come to watch Master work?"

"Yes. But we're playing outside since we didn't want to disturb his work."

"Wow, that's very thoughtful of you."

Pat pat-

Han Yeoreum gently stroked our heads.

The children's eyes curved into happy crescents just from her touch.

"So what were you playing?"

"I submitted a civil service request at the counter over there. It was my first time doing that."

"A-a civil service request...? You submitted one...?"

Han Yeoreum's hand stopped mid-pat.

Though that wasn't its usual purpose, the term "civil service request" did have somewhat negative connotations.

No wonder she was surprised to hear I'd submitted one.

"The flowers in the garden were so pretty. I submitted a request saying how pretty they were."

"Oh? You did it because they were pretty?"

"Yes. The building was really pretty too."

Though I hadn't actually planned to submit a request, I didn't want to say the children had made a mistake with the tickets.

So I just said I'd submitted it myself...

"Gaeul."

"Gaeul?"

"Yeah. Gaeul potto."

Potto?

Han Yeoreum's eyes rolled thoughtfully.

She seemed to be wondering what "potto" meant.

Perhaps trying to help Gaeul who still struggled with speech?

Levinas ran up to Han Yeoreum.

"Levinas and Gaeul puppy got the request tickets!"

"Oh, you did?"

"Yeah! Levinas thought it was an entrance ticket! But it wasn't, so King submitted the request instead!"

"I see."

The children honestly explained their mistake.

They weren't the type to be embarrassed about a single mistake.

"Hehe, I'm here as security."

"Security?"

"Yeah. For the mayor, but it's just ceremonial so nothing special to do."

"Ah."

Master had mentioned meeting the mayor - was there some kind of event?

As I looked toward City Hall where Master was, Han Yeoreum tapped my shoulder.

"Little ones, want to watch a children's performance?"

"A children's performance?!"

Levinas looked up at Han Yeoreum with eager eyes.

She seemed interested in the children's performance.

"Yeah. They were handing out pamphlets about free performances at City Hall, and I grabbed some thinking of our little ones."

Han Yeoreum pulled out a pamphlet from inside her clothes.

It was about a week-long series of educational story performances.

-Little Red Riding Hood

-The Dragon Siblings

-The Golden and Silver Axes

-The Golden Egg Crow

Some stories were familiar, while others seemed both familiar yet new.

Were these the stories I knew?

As I tilted my head looking down the list, Levinas pointed to the bottom of the pamphlet.

"King!"

-The Horned Rabbit and the Slime

A play featuring a horned rabbit.

No wonder Levinas was interested.

Though she wasn't begging, her desire to see it was obvious.

"Should we go watch the play then?"

"Yeah!"

**

Children's performances were being held in the plaza in front of City Hall.

Shows ran continuously for several hours, with people welcome to come watch at any time.

We sat on the grass where others had gathered.

It was nice seeing children and adults enjoying the performances together.

"Little Red Riding Hood, where are you going?"

When the wolf appeared in Little Red Riding Hood, Gaeul hid behind my back.

When the huge fish appeared in The Old Man and the Sea, my ears and tail shot up reflexively.

The fish was realistic enough to make Saebyeok stand up.

"Is this golden ax yours?"

The performances were surprisingly engaging.

The magic effects helped create wonderful scenes.

After watching several plays, it was time for the story Levinas had been most excited about.

The Horned Rabbit and the Slime.

It was about a horned rabbit racing against a slime.

'Oh?'

Could this be The Tortoise and the Hare?

The story of a rabbit who falls asleep eating lettuce during a race.

Glancing sideways, I saw Levinas puffing out her chest.

"King! You know what?! Horned rabbits are waaay faster than slimes!"

"Y-yeah..."

The slime was going to win in the end though.

What should I tell Levinas?

As I worried, the play steadily continued.

The scene showed the horned rabbit dominating the race.

Though Levinas disliked competing with family, the slime was just a monster.

"Hahaha! No competition at all!"

Levinas stood up and laughed heartily.

For a moment, silence fell over the audience.

Adults glanced at Levinas, and the actor playing the horned rabbit hesitated.

Many seemed to know how this story would end.

"Horned wabbit awesome."

"Yeah! Horned rabbits are as fast as police cars!"

Levinas bounced excitedly at the horned rabbit's dominance.

Just then, the horned rabbit stopped running, ate lots of lettuce, and started taking a nap.

Snore snore-

Hands behind head, legs crossed.

Levinas froze at this arrogant display.

"I-if you sleep during a race..."

A second silence fell over the audience.

The actor playing the sleeping horned rabbit trembled slightly.

Still, the performance continued.

Creep creep-

As the slime approached from far away, Levinas's horned rabbit eyes went wide.

"H-horned rabbit! The race isn't over! You can't sleep!"

Immersed in the story, Levinas shouted at the horned rabbit.

She kept yelling for it to wake up, but the horned rabbit remained unresponsive.

Levinas's breathing grew ragged.

"C-come on horned rabbit..."

Despite Levinas's cheering, the slime passed the horned rabbit.

Levinas's waving fists dropped to her sides.

"......"

Her expression showed complete resignation.

I quickly joined in cheering for the horned rabbit beside her.

"H-horned rabbit, wake up...!"

Though I knew the ending, I didn't want to see Levinas disappointed.

As I kept cheering beside her, Levinas clenched her fists again.

"Horned rabbit!"

Levinas's loud cry.

At her shout, a small boy nearby jumped to his feet.

"Horned rabbit, wake up quick!"

"Stop sleeping!"

"Wake uuuup!"

Other children joined in with Levinas.

Adults watching warmly also started calling for the rabbit to wake up.

The actor wearing the horned rabbit costume visibly stirred.

"Nngh! Ah, slept well... Wait?! When did the slime get so far ahead?!"

The awakened horned rabbit started chasing after the slime.

In the end, the horned rabbit won by a hair.

"Haah! Haah!"

Levinas grabbed her hair with both hands before throwing them up in victory.

She seemed overcome with joy at the horned rabbit's comeback win.

"Now children, remember to never let your guard down and always do your best, okay?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah! Got it!"

The play ended with the narrator's moral.

Everyone had worked together to change the story's ending.

Though I felt a bit guilty about that, I realized there was no need.

The adults, children, and even the theater staff.

Everyone was smiling.

"We won!"

As I watched Levinas hopping up and down.

**

While watching the play, we spotted Master coming out of City Hall and ran over to him.

The children who'd been watching the play followed behind me.

Master was with some unfamiliar people, but for some reason their expressions weren't happy.

"Uncle."

As I ran straight to Master, he lifted me up high.

Thanks to that, I rose even higher than his eye level.

"What did you do today?"

"We watched a play. What did you do, Uncle?"

"Just had some talks."

"Talks?"

"About whether they could expand the protected area."

I'd heard the guild's territory was already huge.

Were they expanding it even more?

Our guild really was amazing.

"That's incredible. The guild will be able to protect even more people."

"......"

Master stayed silent at my words.

Why was he suddenly acting like this?

As I glanced around at the people near Master, I met the eyes of those with dark expressions.

They gave me awkward smiles.

'Ah.'

They must have refused.

My wagging tail stopped abruptly in embarrassment.

Seeing my tail, Master carefully set me down.

"...Would you like the guild to protect more people?"

"Hmm... that would be nice, but you shouldn't push too hard."

"...I already accepted on my way out."

"Huh?"

But why were everyone's expressions...

I looked around at the nearby people again.

Oh.

Along with their surprised expressions, they were now wearing bright smiles.