I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 396: Losing My Mind

Maaang-

Gaeul's signature blank expression.

Levinas was now wearing it.

"Hey! Pass it here!"

"Okay!"

Orphanage children ran around the playground kicking a ball.

With blank eyes, Levinas watched them before looking up at the man who had brought us here.

"I think we might have come to the wrong place...!"

"No, look up there. It says 'orphanage.'"

Yeomyeong Orphanage.

After reading the letters on the building, Levinas threw both arms up in the air.

Then she started hopping up and down in place.

It was her way of expressing joy.

I couldn't help but wonder why she suddenly became so happy after being surprised.

"Levinas, what's wrong?"

"King, we came on a really good day!"

"A good day?"

"Yeah! There must be a festival happening!"

A festival?

I wondered what made Levinas think there was a festival.

Looking around, nothing particularly festive stood out.

"Why do you think it's a festival?"

"Because horned rabbit children can only play during festivals!"

"Um... hmm..."

So that's how it was for Levinas.

Though it sounded somewhat discriminatory, it was based on her actual experience.

I wondered how to explain this to her.

While I was pondering, Levinas ran toward the children playing with the ball.

More accurately, she ran toward the ball itself.

"Yah!"

She ran toward the slowly rolling ball and kicked it hard.

Unfortunately, the ball Levinas kicked head-on flew off to the left.

"Oh!"

Despite Levinas's sudden intrusion, the orphanage children didn't question it.

They naturally included her in their play.

Levinas had no hesitation in situations like this.

As we watched Levinas running around the playground, an adult woman emerged from the orphanage building.

"Children, let's have snacks before playing more."

"Heuk!"

Startled by the mention of snacks, Levinas's ears perked straight up.

Then she ran toward the person who appeared to be an orphanage teacher.

The children and I followed behind Levinas.

The man holding the donation box followed us too.

"Can Levinas have snacks too?"

"You are..."

The orphanage teacher looked us over.

Then her eyes met the man holding the donation box.

The hesitant man held out the donation box to the teacher.

"Ah... it's not much, but... we collected this for the children..."

"Ah! Thank you. Would you like to come inside for a moment?"

Levinas tugged on the teacher's apron and looked up with hopeful eyes.

"Um, can Levinas enjoy the festival too?"

"Festival?"

"Yeah! Festival!"

The orphanage teacher looked around at Levinas's bright smile.

Then she said something that surprised Levinas.

"But today isn't a festival day..."

"Huh?"

Levinas's horned rabbit eyes went wide.

Her expression showed she couldn't understand.

I gently poked Levinas's shoulder.

"Levinas, they're saying today is just a normal day."

"But they're giving out snacks...?"

"Yeah. They give out snacks on normal days too."

"...?"

Levinas showed the same blank expression as when she first came to the orphanage.

She stayed that way for a while, clearly having trouble understanding.

**

Since we came with the man who brought the donation box, the orphanage teacher gave us snacks too.

Today's snacks were chocolate pies and milk.

"......"

Holding the chocolate pie, Levinas looked around the building without eating it.

She stood on tiptoe to peek out windows and explored various parts of the building.

The children and I just watched her.

"King! There are no children working!"

"Yeah, that's right."

"And no children getting scolded!"

"Yeah."

The orphanage only had children with bright expressions - studying, running around, and playing.

It must have seemed strange to Levinas's eyes.

"Teacher, why can't I see any working children?"

"W-working?"

"Don't you need to earn lots of money to live in a place like this?"

"Ah, no, that would be terrible... teachers would get arrested..."

The orphanage teacher and the man with the donation box turned pale.

In contrast, Levinas just maintained her blank expression.

"Then what do the children do here?"

"Um... they play with friends, study, enjoy hobbies..."

"...They're free?"

"Yes... I suppose 'free' is the right word..."

"Um..."

He. Levinas opened her mouth and looked down at the floor.

After fidgeting with her fingers for a while, she whispered to me.

"King, the children here don't work and don't get scolded...!"

"Yeah... I think that's usually how it is."

"R-really...?"

"Yeah..."

Levinas's past wasn't exactly typical.

I worried she might feel hurt seeing all these happy children when her own past had been so difficult.

Just as I was watching Levinas with concerned eyes, she suddenly threw both hands up in the air.

"Woah!"

What Levinas showed wasn't sadness or resentment about her difficult past.

It was pure, almost ecstatic joy.

"Levinas, are you happy?"

"Yeah! There's not a single suffering child! That's so wonderful!"

Everyone present smiled at Levinas's unexpected reaction.

Rather than dwelling on her own past, she was delighted that no children at the orphanage were suffering.

That's right - Levinas was an incredibly strong child.

My still tail started wagging rapidly.

"King, Levinas was going to help suffering children? But there aren't any here!"

"That worked out really well, right?"

"Yeah!"

Levinas didn't dwell on past hardships at all.

I felt so proud of her.

"Levinas."

Just as I opened my arms to give her a tight hug, the man who came with us let out a sigh.

"...Here, I prepared this money separately."

A surprising amount of bills emerged from the man's wallet.

He was clearly a truly kind person.

**

That evening.

We returned home with lighter steps.

Sophia and Encia were there, watching television with serious expressions.

[Tonight, due to the Red Moon rising...]

"Sophia, Encia, what's wrong?"

"They say the Red Moon rises tonight. To think we'd only see this now..."

Sophia's gaze turned toward Gaeul.

Just feeling the family's attention, Gaeul smiled brightly.

"What about the Red Moon?"

"The Red Moon makes dog species beast-kin lose their reason. It becomes hard to control desires. Have you heard of werewolves?"

"Um... yes..."

I looked at Gaeul and Encia beside her.

They were our only dog species beast-kin members.

"Does Encia get very wild too?"

"T-that... I'm sorry..."

Encia's face turned red as she hung her head.

It seemed worse than I'd imagined.

"What should we do when the Red Moon rises?"

"We need someone who can control Encia and Gaeul, but unfortunately the guild members are all in dungeons right now."

"Ah..."

So everyone else was out.

Someone who could physically restrain Encia and Gaeul.

Here, only Saebyeok could do it.

"Saebyeok, can you handle it?"

"It might be difficult alone."

"Hmm... then..."

I took out tape and rope from the toolbox at home.

Seeing this, Encia's expression hardened.

"...I will accept this humbly."

"Sorry. It's all I could think of."

"It's fine. It's my fault for not realizing earlier. If I'd known, I would have prepared countermeasures..."

"Hmm..."

Scratching my cheek, I started wrapping tape around Encia's body.

I went round and round, taping her completely.

Arms and legs.

Encia's whole body was tightly wrapped in tape.

Then I used rope to bind her limbs securely.

"Encia, do you think you can break free?"

"...I might if I use force."

"But I tied it so tight..."

How else could we restrain her?

No other ideas came to mind.

I had no choice but to ask Sophia for help.

"Sophia, would it help to get her wet in the pond?"

"...That might be good."

Sophia stood up and walked outside, leaning on her cane.

Just as we heard the elevator carrying Sophia descend, Encia and Gaeul's bodies started trembling.

"Ugh, nngh..."

"Shuiiiin...!"

Snap- Pop-

The ropes binding Encia's body broke.

Bang-!

The tape wrapped around her body exploded outward in all directions.

"Heuk!"

"...!"

Our ears and tails shot straight up at the loud noise.

Just as Levinas and I hugged each other in surprise, Saebyeok stepped in front of us.

"Encia, calm down."

Saebyeok placed her hand on Encia's stomach.

Encia...

Apart from her fiercely raised eyebrows, showed no other changes.

"Encia?"

They said she would lose reason and be unable to control desires.

Could she still control herself?

Just as I carefully approached Encia-

She lifted Saebyeok up into the air.

"...!"

Encia hugged Saebyeok tightly to her chest like a doll.

Though Saebyeok had the strength to break free, she stayed still, seemingly surprised.

"Encia?"

Still holding Saebyeok, Encia approached us.

Then she hugged me and Levinas too without hesitation.

'Wow.'

The normal Encia would never do this.

Maybe the Red Moon wasn't so bad after all?

Just as I was wagging my tail gently-

"Yah!"

Gaeul charged into our embrace with a loud shout.

She seemed unchanged from usual.

Swish swish-

Wagging her tail rapidly, Encia lay down on the floor.

Looking up at us, she wore a very satisfied expression.

And then.

Click-

The front door opened.

Sophia had returned.

"Gyeoul, is everything-"

Sigh.

Entering the living room, Sophia let out a deep sigh seeing Encia.

"She'll be so embarrassed when she comes to her senses."

It seemed losing reason didn't mean anything scary after all.

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