I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 409: Agu, Well Done

Kaylee Fielding, director of Facility 172.

Han Yeoreum moved with her toward Gyeoul.

"Rawr."

Gyeoul, bound from head to toe, thrashed around.

The soldiers raised their guard at the sight, cute as it was.

Was it because of the lie about killing three people?

If they only knew our Gyeoul's true nature, they wouldn't need to be so cautious.

Han Yeoreum smiled inwardly, recalling the plan she'd made with Gyeoul.

[MS-172 Light of Tranquility]

Though it supposedly had the effect of making those exposed to its light docile...

That was likely a lie - the real ability was probably memory manipulation.

The plan Gyeoul had devised was simply to let herself be exposed to this light once.

"Grrr."

"...How annoying. Should we calm it down first?"

Kaylee frowned at Gyeoul thrashing about.

'It.'

Though deeply offended, Han Yeoreum maintained her composure.

"Kaylee, where do we need to go to use the light?"

"No need. I carry 172 with me."

"You carry the MS...?"

"Yes. It's been proven harmless. Since it only serves to calm MS and staff, I just carry it around."

Facility 172.

Kaylee explained that Facility 172 was created to provide stability to MS and staff scattered across various locations.

She pulled a small flashlight from her pocket.

The ordinary-looking flashlight was aimed at Gyeoul.

Han Yeoreum unconsciously swallowed.

"I'll shine it now."

Before Han Yeoreum could reply, Director Kaylee shone the light on Gyeoul.

Without any preparation, she just shone it.

"Ugh...!"

Gyeoul froze in place when exposed to the light.

Gyeoul made a blank expression like Gaeul usually did and stuck out her tongue slightly.

Thump-

Gyeoul flopped sideways in the cage and started licking the metal bars.

Lick lick-

The sight of Gyeoul licking the bars with that blank expression was both cute and disturbing.

No matter how cute, it was horrifying to see Gyeoul unable to control their own actions.

"That's amazing. She was so aggressive before... Could you use it on me too?"

"Of course."

"Please do then."

Go ahead, try it.

Han Yeoreum spread her arms wide.

Without hesitation, Kaylee shone the light on Han Yeoreum.

[Mental attack detected.]

[False information blocked.]

Mental attack and false information blocking.

If it only made you tranquil, there'd be no reason for such messages.

The facility director was the culprit, just as Evelyn had deduced.

With some certainty now, Han Yeoreum tried recalling the term Evelyn had taught her.

"Kaylee. As of this moment I declare... um... that thing..."

"What...?"

"That... something about blocking..."

What was it again?

Han Yeoreum approached Kaylee with furrowed brows, making Kaylee grip the flashlight tightly.

"W-what...?"

Kaylee looked bewildered, glancing between the flashlight and Han Yeoreum.

Her expression grew more shocked as Han Yeoreum drew closer.

"What's wrong? Why isn't it working?"

"How is this..."

Kaylee stepped backward, looking around.

There were many soldiers positioned to contain Gyeoul.

"S-subdue them...!"

Kaylee ordered the soldiers.

The soldiers aimed their guns at Han Yeoreum as if entranced.

So she had mind control on top of memory manipulation.

What a dangerous item.

Han Yeoreum decided to quickly retrieve the flashlight.

Bang-! Bang-!

Bullets flew toward Han Yeoreum's shoulder.

Though she hadn't brought her sword for security reasons, deflecting bullets barehanded wasn't too difficult.

After knocking away the bullets with her bare hands, Han Yeoreum rushed at Kaylee.

A top-ranked adventurer's movements were too fast for Kaylee to react to.

"Ah!"

Han Yeoreum snatched the flashlight from Kaylee's hand.

She quickly shone it on the surrounding soldiers first.

'How do I use this thing though?'

She wondered about how to use it, but it proved unnecessary.

The soldiers exposed to the light became dazed instantly.

"Oh."

So rather than becoming tranquil, they became dazed until given commands.

She'd hidden the ability well.

After subduing the soldiers, Han Yeoreum approached Gyeoul.

"W-what are you...!"

Though Kaylee shouted something, Han Yeoreum paid no attention.

Nothing was more important to Han Yeoreum than Gyeoul.

Lick lick-

Gyeoul, who had been licking the cage with a blank expression, smiled brightly at Han Yeoreum.

Cute, but it was time to return to normal.

"Um... return to normal...?"

Han Yeoreum tried giving a rough command, but Gyeoul didn't return to normal.

She just wagged her exposed tail gently.

'How do I undo this?'

As Han Yeoreum examined the flashlight, she found the battery compartment.

After some consideration, she removed the batteries from the flashlight.

Flinch-

Gyeoul, who had been licking the bars, froze in place.

Then her face began turning bright red.

"U-uu..."

Ah.

She's back.

Does she remember what happened while being controlled?

Just as Han Yeoreum moved to free Gyeoul from the cage:

"...Restrain her."

Han Yeoreum quickly turned at the soldiers' voices.

But the soldiers were approaching Kaylee, not Han Yeoreum.

"This...! Ugh...!"

Kaylee was restrained.

So these soldiers had been under control too.

Only then could Han Yeoreum breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. We had no idea we were being controlled."

One of the soldiers approached Han Yeoreum.

Seeing no hostility, Han Yeoreum smiled back.

"Yes. I'm glad you're back."

"Indeed. Are you from headquarters... ah, I shouldn't ask that."

Headquarters?

An unfamiliar term appeared.

One wrong move could reveal her identity.

Han Yeoreum just laughed awkwardly and freed Gyeoul.

"W-wait! That one killed three...!"

The soldier started in surprise as Gyeoul, freed from restraints, immediately dove into Han Yeoreum's arms.

Still shaken, she rubbed her face against Han Yeoreum's cheek.

"Ah... um..."

I see.

That child was part of the plan too.

The soldier's face turned bright red.

**

"We're back."

We returned to Facility 132 quite triumphantly.

However, the facility entrance was unusually noisy for some reason.

"Ah, Gyeoul!"

Ariel, spotting us, came running over energetically.

Her personality seemed very different from the Ariel we'd known.

"Ariel?"

"Aww, you did so well. Our Gyeoul isn't hurt anywhere?"

Ariel hugged me tight and rubbed her cheeks against mine.

Though I was glad she'd brightened up, the sudden personality change was hard to adjust to.

"Ariel...?"

Why are you suddenly acting like this, Ariel?

I glanced at Evelyn behind us.

But Evelyn was just watching Ariel nervously.

"Evelyn, what's wrong?"

"W-well... Ariel is much higher ranking than us..."

"Huh?"

So Ariel was MS staff too.

I examined Ariel with surprised eyes.

"That's how it turned out?"

Hee hee hee.

Ariel laughed playfully.

She looked so pretty, like a flower, that I unconsciously rubbed my cheek against her.

"We're done for..."

"To have experimented on Ariel..."

"This is at least a disciplinary action..."

I stared wide-eyed at the lamenting staff.

I couldn't believe so many had been exposed to the flashlight.

"Everyone was being controlled...?"

"Yeah. This work can be really stressful. Many staff relied on 172, but actually..."

"Ah..."

So the truth was it was an MS that controlled people.

"So what happened to 172?"

"We kept the flashlight and gave them the batteries. They said the two were a set."

"Good job. This thing is really dangerous."

Pat pat-

Ariel stroked my head.

She playfully pinched my cheeks too.

"Is it very dangerous?"

"Yeah. Once exposed to the flashlight's light, you can be controlled remotely."

"Huh...? Didn't Kaylee try to k-kill Ariel? If she could control remotely, wouldn't there be easier ways..."

"All murders and suicides in the facility are investigated. Dying as a test subject would be the cleanest way."

"Ah."

So using it carelessly would get you caught.

Just as I was nodding:

Ariel lifted me high into the air.

"Everyone praise the great Gyeoul!"

"Eh...?"

Clap clap clap-

Awkward applause broke out around us.

The good thing was that it wasn't reluctant applause.

Many people were smiling.

Their smiles seemed a bit awkward, probably because of Ariel.

Likely due to guilt and worry about endangering a superior.

"...Is this Ariel's real personality?"

"Yep!"

Whoosh whoosh-

Ariel swung me up and down like an airplane.

Honestly, it was kind of fun so my tail wagged.

And that's when:

"King! King!"

"Shuiiin!"

The children came running from inside the research building.

They bounced over with very happy faces.

"What is it?"

"The thing to go home opened!"

"The portal?"

"Yeah!"

So someone's feelings of injustice had been resolved?

I looked down at Ariel who was holding me up.

She met my eyes and chuckled mischievously.

"We're really done for..."

"What do we do..."

Clap clap clap-

The applauding researchers just watched Ariel nervously.

Though they did seem somewhat happy underneath it all.