I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 437: I'm Still

We decided to plant the flowers near the tent.

We kept the length simple, about ten meters.

"We need to dance together to make the plants grow!"

"Is it an ability that only activates with dancing?"

"Yeah...! Sometimes...!"

Levinas started doing a shoulder dance, moving one shoulder at a time, left and right.

Bom, who had asked the question, started doing the wave, swaying her body side to side.

She wiggled from head to tail tip like a snake.

Of course, I knew the truth.

Levinas's ability would activate even without dancing.

Still, we didn't ignore her suggestion.

"Yaaah!"

Shake shake-

Gaeul started shaking her head rapidly.

With her fists clenched in front of her chest while spinning her head continuously, it looked like she was doing her own kind of dance.

'Wow.'

That would make her really dizzy when she stopped.

As I watched the dancing children, I just swayed my shoulders left and right like Levinas.

Saebyeok joined our flow while clapping.

Among our group, only Association President Lee Gunwoo wasn't moving.

"Why isn't the Magic Boss dancing?!"

"I don't know how to dance..."

"That doesn't matter! Just having fun is enough!"

"Well..."

After hesitating, Lee Gunwoo carefully started shaking his head.

That small movement seemed enough, as Levinas cast her magic.

Swoosh-

A tiny leaf poked through the soil.

The leaf grew larger as it rose, and a small flower bud formed between the leaves.

The flower kept growing until it was taller than us.

Only after surpassing Lee Gunwoo's adult male height did the flower stop growing.

"Oh..."

Lee Gunwoo walked around the enormously grown underground flower.

His curiosity resembled that of a young child.

His enthusiasm was infectious, but I decided to give him a warning first.

"Don't stand in front of the flower or it'll eat you."

"Eat you?"

"Yes. The flower bud opens and..."

Before I could finish explaining, the flower bud started blooming wide.

Its target was Gaeul, who was still shaking her head wildly.

"Yaaah!"

Gaeul, unaware of the flower approaching her, continued her frenzied head-shaking.

Just as she stopped shaking her head upon noticing the shadow above her, the flower swallowed her.

"Eek...!"

After flailing her legs while her upper body was being eaten, Gaeul was soon completely swallowed.

Knowing the flower's ability, we calmly watched this happen.

Chomp-

Gaeul, who had been swallowed by the flower, soon appeared from another flower a short distance away.

Perhaps from shaking her head so much, Gaeul stumbled around unable to get her bearings.

"Gaeul, are you okay?"

"Eeng..."

Gaeul's tail drooped as she made a small siren sound.

While supporting Gaeul, I approached Lee Gunwoo.

"The flower is quite amazing, isn't it?"

"Yes. This is truly mysterious. I wonder if it can transport objects too?"

"Um... I'm not sure about that."

"Let's experiment."

The association president pulled various items from his magic pouch.

Large and small objects.

Among them was a mannequin that resembled a person.

"A mannequin?"

"Yes. I'd like to see exactly what it can swallow..."

It wouldn't eat large objects or small objects.

It wouldn't even eat the human-like mannequin.

"It won't eat any objects."

"Yes. It seems it only eats people."

Watching the disappointed association president, I suddenly realized.

The flower didn't eat people or objects - it ate 'mana'.

"I heard the flower eats mana in exchange for transporting people."

"Mana?"

"Yes. Maybe it would eat something with mana similar to humans?"

"In that case..."

The association president placed his hand over the objects he'd taken out.

He infused them with mana that felt similar to human mana.

Swoosh-

The flower responded to the mana in the objects and opened its bud.

It swallowed everything from the small and large objects to the mannequin, spitting them out from the other flower.

"Wow."

So it would swallow anything with mana.

That was really amazing.

While I just expressed simple amazement, the association president showed even more interest.

"This could be quite useful in various ways."

"Useful?"

"Yes. The mana consumption is less than expected. If used well, even in logistics..."

Logistics?

I had only thought about using it for fun.

As expected of the Wizards Association president, he thought on a completely different level than me.

"...May I research this for a moment?"

"Yes. We'll give you some space."

"Thank you."

The Wizards Association president started taking various items out of his pouch.

We decided to leave him alone without disturbing his work.

It was truly impressive seeing someone so focused on their work.

**

Today I needed to make a quick dungeon run.

As I gathered the bow and arrows I'd set aside while researching the underground flower, I noticed something odd about the children's behavior.

The four children were huddled together with very serious expressions.

"Then the ghost went woooo..."

"Eek."

"Scary!"

As Levinas made ghost noises with "wooo," Bom covered her ears.

Gaeul trembled too, but Saebyeok remained calm.

"What are you all doing?"

"Taking turns telling scary stories!"

"Scary stories?"

"Yeah! It's Gaeul's turn next!"

A scary story from Gaeul?

That caught my interest.

I squeezed in between the children and looked at Gaeul.

"......"

Meeeeh.

After keeping her mouth shut for a while, Gaeul flopped over sideways.

She squeezed her eyes shut and didn't move at all.

"...Gaeul?"

At my call, Gaeul's tail swayed gently.

Though she could hear me, she wouldn't get up.

"Gaeul?"

Just as I slowly reached toward Gaeul.

She suddenly jumped up.

"Wooooo~"

Gaeul waved her arms wildly like a ghost.

She seemed to have been trying to surprise us.

"Eek."

"It's ghost Gaeul!"

Rather than being scared, the children burst out laughing.

Still, Gaeul seemed satisfied, wagging her tail rapidly.

"Gaeul's good at scary things too?"

"Yeah. Gaeul ghost."

Pat pat-

As I patted Gaeul's head, Levinas turned to look at Bom.

It seemed to be Bom's turn now.

"Can I get some water first before I tell mine?"

"Yeah!"

Bom went into the container house to get water.

Our attention naturally turned to Saebyeok.

"Guess it's my turn..."

Saebyeok set the mood intensely.

When the mature Saebyeok lowered her voice, a heavy and dark atmosphere formed.

"What story will the Dark King tell?"

"......"

"Dark King?"

"......"

Despite Levinas's questions, Saebyeok kept her mouth firmly shut.

She just stared at us with wide eyes.

Was she starting something like Gaeul had?

Why wasn't she saying anything?

Without thinking, I called out her name.

"Saebyeok?"

"...Do I still look like Saebyeok to you?"

Saebyeok spoke in a deep voice.

Though Saebyeok setting the mood was scary, we were in the middle of taking turns telling scary stories.

Everyone knew Saebyeok was just acting like a ghost.

"It's Dark King ghost!"

"Black shuin ghost."

Rather than being frightened, the children just giggled.

I also laughed at Saebyeok's ghost act.

Just as we were all laughing together, we heard a voice from behind that shouldn't have been there.

"What are you doing."

Saebyeok's blunt voice came from behind us.

When we turned around, an expressionless Saebyeok was approaching us.

"Huh?"

Why was Saebyeok coming from behind?

Wasn't she just here telling scary stories with us?

When we turned back around, Saebyeok with long hair hanging forward was glaring at us with fierce eyes.

"Nyaaah!"

Startled, I jumped backward.

My feline instincts had kicked in.

"Eek!"

"Shuiin!"

A moment later, Levinas and Gaeul ran toward me.

Gaeul clung to my stomach trembling, while Levinas covered her eyes by pressing down her ears.

Then Saebyeok, who had just found us, started giggling.

'Saebyeok giggling?'

Along with the laughter, black magic rose up around Saebyeok's body.

After the magic covered her body, it revealed none other than Bom.

"B-Bom...!"

So Bom had been imitating Saebyeok.

Only then did I understand what had happened.

Bom and Saebyeok had used a diversionary tactic.

"Phew..."

Learning the truth, I let out a sigh of relief.

As I collapsed onto the grass from exhaustion, Saebyeok came over to me.

"Sorry, were you really scared?"

"Yeah. But it's okay. I knew you were trying to scare us."

"Yeah."

After calming my heart, I looked around at the children.

Levinas and Gaeul were still frightened.

"Hey..."

Just as I started patting the children's backs and shoulders, Lee Gunwoo, who had been researching nearby, approached us.

I thought he might have come because of our screams, but that wasn't it.

"I've found ways to utilize the underground flower. Used properly, it could be economically beneficial."

"Really?"

"Yes. Could I get your help?"

"Um... sure."

I could help as much as needed.

But first, I needed to comfort the children.