I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 364: The Shadow Won't Disappear

"Ahem, well then..."

A middle-aged man who had been with Master approached with a smile.

I could instinctively tell he held the highest position among everyone except Master.

Master had said he was meeting the mayor.

Could this be the mayor of this district?

Judging by how respectfully everyone treated him, it seemed likely.

'Hmm.'

As I looked around trying to figure out his identity, Master quietly watched the person I suspected was the mayor.

It seemed like the two were having some kind of conversation through eye contact alone.

"...Then as discussed in the meeting, we'll request just one more district."

"Alright."

When Master nodded in agreement, the civil servants around the mayor visibly brightened.

They must be really happy about the expanded protection zone.

Seeing everyone so pleased with the guild's decision made my tail wag too.

"Uncle, are you done with your business?"

"For now."

"Ah, are we going home then?"

I looked back at the children who had followed us.

Levinas and Gaeul's faces showed clear disappointment.

"Is there something else you want to do?"

"Well, they're still doing the children's performances over there."

"Then let's watch the performance before going."

"Um... is that really okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

Master reached out his hand to me.

Since his hand was big and mine was small, I only gripped two of his fingers.

"Take care on your way."

As we started to leave, the mayor and others formally bid Master farewell.

I gave them a polite bow.

Master also briefly said he'd be going.

"Master Uncle, do you know the story of the Horned Rabbit and the Slime?!"

On our way to the performance area, Levinas stuck close to Master's side.

She must have really liked the Horned Rabbit and Slime story, as she was beaming.

"That's... where the horned rabbit in the race..."

"Yeah! The story where the horned rabbit wins against the slime!"

"...That's right."

Though Levinas had slightly twisted the story, Master nodded in agreement.

Master might sound gruff, but he was really gentle.

Walking while holding his hand was so enjoyable.

**

After watching performances for a bit over an hour, we returned home.

We had come with Han Yeoreum, and even after getting home the children were still talking about the performances.

"Rawr."

The story of a tiger who wouldn't eat someone if given a mana stone.

Gaeul was imitating the tiger from that story.

Long sentences seemed difficult for her, so she just kept saying "rawr."

'But the tiger was the villain.'

The tiger tried to eat the siblings before getting eaten by them after they turned into dragons.

Should I play a little prank like in the story?

I went to the kitchen and hid under the island table.

Han Yeoreum, who was preparing snacks in the kitchen, chuckled when she saw me.

"Master?"

Finding it strange that I hadn't come out of the kitchen, Gaeul ran over.

Thump thump thump-

I waited until her footsteps got close, then suddenly jumped out.

"Rawr."

"Eek!"

Startled Gaeul's upper body tilted backward.

Her head tilted far back, but her wide-open eyes stayed fixed on me even as she fell.

"Gaeul?"

Thud.

Gaeul landed on her bottom.

Had my prank been too mean?

As I hurriedly approached her, Gaeul rolled backward into the living room.

She rolled like a ball all the way to the sofa.

"Gaeul?"

"Master!"

Bonk!

After bumping her head on the sofa, Gaeul burst into giggles.

So she had been playing along too.

Her bright expression made me feel relieved.

"I was going to scold the tiger, but since Gaeul's a good tiger I won't."

"Yeah. Gaeul good tiger."

I moved next to the smiling Gaeul.

We sat leaning against the sofa and watched TV together.

A rerun of Levinas's favorite animation was playing.

Though we already knew the story, Levinas was watching intently.

'...I'm thirsty.'

I should get some water from the kitchen.

As I got up and slowly moved toward the kitchen, I noticed something strange.

'That's...'

Someone was hiding behind the island table.

I hadn't sensed their presence, but I could see the shadow of someone crouching on the floor.

Who was hiding there?

Looking back at the living room, I saw Gaeul was missing.

Was that Gaeul hiding under the table?

When did she go hide there?

As I carefully approached Gaeul, her shadow tail started wagging rapidly.

The closer I got, the faster it wagged.

"Hmm..."

I pretended not to notice and moved toward the table where Gaeul was hiding.

Just before she could jump out, I pounced toward her first.

"Rawr."

"Eek!"

Gaeul's eyes went wide from her about-to-surprise-me pose.

Her tail shot straight up, clearly not expecting me to surprise her first.

"Hehe, caught you Gaeul."

"Master?"

Her eyes seemed to ask how I knew.

I showed her the shadow on the floor.

"I could see your shadow here."

"...!"

Gaeul perked up her ears and looked down at the floor.

She poked at her dark shadow with her finger.

Mrrp-

Looking blankly at her shadow, Gaeul tried rubbing it away with her hand.

She seemed to be trying to erase her shadow.

Unfortunately, the shadow wouldn't disappear as long as there was light.

Only Gaeul, who didn't understand the connection between light and shadows, looked puzzled.

"Master...?!"

Gaeul pointed at her shadow while looking at me.

She seemed to be asking how to get rid of it.

"How do we make the shadow go away?"

"Oh...!"

Gaeul ran to the bathroom area and brought back a mop.

Then she started trying to mop away her shadow.

Not quite knowing how to use the mop, she just kept poking at the shadow with both hands instead of properly mopping.

"Master..."

Though Gaeul worked hard mopping, the shadow wouldn't disappear.

Still, she didn't give up and kept trying to erase it.

Whirrr-

She tried vacuuming up the shadow and even jumping up and down.

Thinking maybe not seeing it would work, she covered her eyes with both hands.

"Gaeul, want me to show you how to make shadows disappear?"

"Yeah...!"

Gaeul looked at me with eyes full of expectation.

The only thing I could do to meet those expectations was turn off the lights.

Click-

When I turned off the kitchen lights, Gaeul's shadow instantly vanished.

Gaeul looked down at the floor blankly, then up at the fluorescent light switch.

"Oh?"

She came over to me and reached for the switch.

Click- Click- Click- Click- Click-

She rapidly turned the switch on and off, making her shadow appear and disappear.

Click- Click- Click- Click- Click- Click-

Though the kitchen lights kept turning completely off, it never got fully dark.

That was because Han Yeoreum was looking at her smartphone in front of the oven.

She was giggling at something during her break while the bread baked.

What was she looking at that made her laugh like that?

Leaving Gaeul still flicking the lights, I approached Han Yeoreum.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, just posting something."

Han Yeoreum showed me her smartphone.

An internet community page was open on the screen.

[Whose shadow is this?]

Shadow?

Had she taken a picture of Gaeul's shadow while hiding?

I scrolled through to check the post's contents.

It was a short video.

The shadow of a child standing straight.

The ears and tail on the child's body were incredibly clear.

Swish swish-

The rapidly wagging tail in the shadow was long, showing it was mine, not Gaeul's.

'No way.'

I'd thought Gaeul's shadow was very clear - had Han Yeoreum deliberately adjusted it to be visible?

Wait, when did she even take this shadow picture?

It didn't seem to be from when I was hiding behind the table.

I scratched my cheek while looking at the comments.

[BeastkinLover: LOL;; who could it be LOL really can't tell LOL]

[StockRecovery: How can you tell just from a shadow? LOL]

[ItsACat: Looking at the tail, seems like a dog LOL;;]

[Tir: This is too hard;;]

[Echoes: Answer! It's Levinas!]

There were lots of comments pretending not to know - or actually not knowing.

It was the playful unity characteristic of internet communities.

"Should I post the answer now?"

"Okay."

Well, pictures and videos of me...

There were already thousands online anyway.

One more wouldn't change anything.

I watched as Han Yeoreum uploaded a photo.

But the photo she selected from her gallery wasn't of me - it was of Saebyeok.

"Huh?"

[BeastkinLover: ?]

[StockRecovery: What?]

[ItsACat: Oh?]

The community members and I posted question marks with the same feeling.

It wasn't me but Saebyeok?

As I tilted my head in confusion, someone tapped my shoulder.

When I turned around, there was Saebyeok making a V-sign with an expressionless face.

A very satisfied double V-sign.

Click- Click- Click- Click-

Under the still-flicking fluorescent lights, Saebyeok's face flickered in and out.