I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 383: I'm a Coward

Those returning from the mountain and those who remained in the park.

We all joined forces to eliminate the monsters invading the park.

More noticeable than the octopus monster writhing its eight legs was Park Min-kyu wielding his spear while protecting civilians.

'How strange.'

He was so righteous it was impossible to compare him to the Park Min-kyu I knew.

As I watched his fighting while peeking, Han Yeoreum suddenly appeared before me.

"Ugh."

Han Yeoreum pinched and pulled my cheeks.

She even kneaded my whole cheek.

Weren't joyful reunions supposed to involve hugging?

Why was she suddenly pulling my cheeks?

Confused by this inexplicable situation, I pulled her cheeks too.

It felt strange doing this while the battle wasn't even over.

"...Is it really you, Gyeoul?"

"Ish me, Gyeoul."

My pronunciation was off due to my stretched cheeks.

I reflexively made a blank expression.

"H-how did this happen...?"

"Well..."

Hmm.

I had to think while my cheeks were being pulled.

I remembered the conversation with our Master.

'Having two decision-makers brings confusion, they said.'

Having two Masters was different from having two of me and the children.

Master said we needed to hide our identities since it would confuse people.

No one knew about our Master except the children who were there at the time.

How could I explain the current situation while keeping the secret?

"Hmm..."

Just as I was trying to think of an excuse-

This world's Levinas approached Han Yeoreum's side and puffed out her chest with an "ahem."

"Princess did everything!"

"Gyeoul did?"

"Yeah! Princess caught both the kidnapping monster and saved everyone!"

This world's Saebyeok approached beside Levinas who had her chest puffed out.

She was slightly more expressive than our Saebyeok.

"I saw it too. Gyeoul caught the monster and saved people."

"Wight! Master besht!"

This world's Saebyeok and this world's Gaeul too.

The children were praising me.

Gaeul was the one who saved people, yet they were trying to give me the credit.

That wasn't right.

"N-no, Gaeul was the one who saved everyone..."

"Gaeul did?"

"Yes. Gaeul was rescuing people taken by the pterosaur, wasn't she?"

Well done.

When I patted Gaeul's head, Han Yeoreum released my cheeks.

Then she hugged this world's Gaeul very tightly.

"Masterrr!"

This world's Gaeul squirmed while continuously licking Han Yeoreum's cheek.

Though she could barely breathe, her tail was wagging rapidly.

That seemed to be what happened when suffering and joy coexisted.

"...Gaeul."

"Nyuu...!"

"Sister... no, never mind. Thank you so much for being alive."

Han Yeoreum shared a very long hug with Gaeul.

Though they needed to fight monsters, no adventurer criticized this.

As the number of monsters decreased, evacuated people started appearing one by one.

The eyes of people in the park focused on the hundreds entering the park.

"M-mom...! Mom!"

A boy about my height ran out from the park.

Not even afraid of the fallen monster corpses, he sprinted at full speed and jumped into a woman's arms.

"Yuchan!"

"Mom!"

The child burst into tears in the woman's arms.

This triggered people running to find their families, lovers, and friends.

"You crazy bastard! You're alive!"

"Hahaha!"

Tears and joyful cheers erupted everywhere.

The scene of hundreds reuniting was truly spectacular.

Since most people were in the park, there were many reunions.

"That's wonderful."

"Yeah! All thanks to Princess!"

"He-hehe..."

As I watched this holding hands with the children, someone approached me.

It was a woman who had been sitting blankly in a corner of the cave.

"Um..."

"Yes?"

"Thank you so much. I thought it was all over..."

When she bowed her head, the person beside her who seemed to be her lover bowed too.

The expressions of gratitude continued for a very long time.

"Ahem."

This world's Levinas's shoulders were raised high from receiving people's thanks.

If not for the broken horn, she would have been hard to distinguish from our Levinas.

I was glad Levinas had found her confidence.

As I watched her profile with a smiling eyes, this world's Han Yeoreum hugged me from behind.

"Gyeoul, thank you so much. You're sister's miracle."

"A miracle...?"

"Yeah. Actually, sister had given up on some things. But then you..."

"Hehe."

My gently swaying tail brushed against Han Yeoreum's body.

As I was enjoying that pleasant sensation, Levinas started running toward the building where this world's me lay sleeping.

"Levinas, let's go together."

"Yeah!"

Though we were going to see me lying down, Levinas's steps were confident.

The gloomy look from when we first met was gone.

A hopeful Levinas had a charm that made people smile just watching her.

"Princess! Princess!"

Levinas called out to me as she ran toward the building.

More precisely, she was calling out to 'me' lying there.

"Princess! Levinas saved everyone with everyone! Gaeul puppy too..."

The hospital room we entered with Levinas.

This world's 'me' was sitting on the hospital bed.

**

This world's Levinas and Saebyeok stood with their fur bristled, staring at this world's me.

Both Gaeuls were watching me with blank expressions too.

"...!"

"...!"

At a loss for words seeing me awake, this world's Levinas opened and closed her mouth.

Then our Levinas, lying on the hospital's characteristic long chair, spoke with difficulty but urgency.

"C-can't stay awake long...! Heuk, talk quickly...!"

"Going back to sleep?"

"Yeah...! Levinas isn't skilled at handling it yet...!"

The Long-lived Horned Rabbit's mana stone was in Levinas's hands as she spoke.

It definitely had the ability to erase mana.

Had she used that to erase the curse?

I examined this world's me with my mana.

The curse remained, though weakly.

It seemed she hadn't completely blocked the mana.

"P-Princess!"

"Masterrr!"

This world's Levinas and Gaeul, and Saebyeok and Han Yeoreum too.

Everyone ran toward 'me.'

They sniffed, hugged tightly, and rubbed cheeks together.

Watching this, our Gaeul, not wanting to be outdone, came to hug me.

"Everyone, I'm sorry for making you worry..."

The first time I heard 'my' voice, it was incredibly fragile.

How should I put it - delicate and timid-sounding?

It was a voice that instantly made clear why people said I seemed stronger than this world's me.

"What are you sorry for! Princess has nothing to be sorry about!"

"Because I'm stupid..."

"No! Princess isn't stupid at all!"

I had wondered, but it was as I thought.

Listening to the conversation between this world's us, I could understand.

Why this world had ended up like this.

'Because there was no courage...'

This world's Han Yeoreum had said that.

Here, Lotus researcher Im Se-hee had never surrendered.

Actually, Im Se-hee hadn't surrendered first in our world either.

We had ambushed Im Se-hee who was lurking near the guild.

'Did they lack the courage to ambush Im Se-hee...?'

We caught Im Se-hee, while these children didn't.

We got information about Lotus bases, while these versions of us didn't.

That was where the divergence began.

'The world became like this because I was a coward?'

That couldn't be.

How could this world's state be my fault?

This was 100% Lotus's fault.

Of course, I couldn't help feeling some regret regardless.

If this world's me had shown just a little more courage...

'No...'

Let's not dwell on the past.

Thanks to that, I was able to come this far.

Perhaps I came to this world to change 'me.'

I would teach this world's me about courage.

There was no need to teach great courage.

Just showing the tiniest bit of courage and its potential would be enough.

Grip-

Just as I made this resolution clenching my fist-

Levinas lying on the chair spoke with difficulty.

"E-everyone, there's not much time..."

"You're going back to sleep?"

"Yeah...! So before then, let's play lots...!"

Since time was short, we needed to play.

That was such a Levinas-like statement.

This world's Levinas perked up her ears at those words.

"Heuk! Princess! Will you play with Levinas?!"

"Yes... should we play house...?"

Playing house?

Though it would be really fun with everyone, it wasn't the kind of play that would build courage.

What kind of play would help build courage?

After thinking, I narrowed my eyes fiercely and said to everyone:

"Instead of playing house, let's play predators."

"P-predators?"

"Yes. Fierce predator play."

This world's 'me' met my eyes and startled, lowering her gaze.

Her ears and tail trembled just from meeting my eyes.

'I understand why Levinas calls her Princess.'

This world's me was a fragile girl.

Extremely timid.

I decided to teach her about courage.

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