I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 474: Mansion Escape

"Th-that startled me..."

I placed my hands on the ground and got back up.

To think I couldn't maintain my center of rotation just because my tail was gone.

My tail was more precious than I'd imagined.

"Bom, please give me back my tail."

"Okay."

My tail, which had disappeared with Bom's black mana, returned.

My tail wagged happily at its return.

"Now do you understand the feeling?"

"Yes. Without my tail, it's difficult to control my movements."

So a tail was like an autopilot system for beast-kin.

I'd have to treasure it more from now on.

As I carefully grasped my tail, Sophia chuckled and approached Marin.

"Let me teach you how to walk. Take my hand."

"Oh, yes..."

Marin took Sophia's outstretched hand.

Then she slowly began walking forward.

I could see their awkward relationship, but also their efforts to eliminate the discomfort between them.

Though not perfect, it seemed like a decent improvement in their relationship.

Just as a smile crept onto my face, Levinas ran behind Marin.

Pit-pat-pat-

Levinas put her hands on Marin's waist as she walked like a baby.

When Levinas made choo-choo train sounds, Gaeul's eyes lit up.

"Chichi! Chichi!"

Gaeul jumped up and down, pointing at Levinas, then grabbed my hand and joined the train line.

I naturally ended up standing behind Gaeul, which gave me a view of Woodcalibur tucked into the collar of her clothes.

'Hmm...'

Looking at Gaeul's Woodcalibur, I started to feel a desire for a good weapon too.

Of course, the bow I was using was already quite good.

'Maybe I should make more arrows rather than a new weapon.'

They say you can make good arrows with good mana stones.

I decided to make arrows with the mana stones we'd get from tomorrow's dungeon.

**

The next day.

I woke up early and prepared for the dungeon.

I gathered my bow and arrows, and also packed a bag with emergency supplies.

Today we were going to a Level 4 dungeon, and the children and divine beast Gubuki would be coming along.

Gubuki's defensive abilities were helpful in any situation.

"If everyone's ready, shall we go?"

"Yes."

I moved with the children to find a dungeon that had appeared nearby.

It was a Level 4 dungeon, and the dungeon management civil servant was standing with arms crossed in front of the portal instead of at the desk.

"Hello. May we enter the dungeon?"

"Ah... yes. But there are a few things you should be careful about."

"Things to be careful about?"

"Yes. This is a bit different from regular dungeons. I'd call it a gimmick dungeon."

"I see."

We had experienced many special dungeons before.

There wasn't much that could surprise us at this point.

Still, I felt a little tense.

"Portals to this dungeon have probably opened all over the world."

"Is that bad?"

"Yes. Unidentified individuals might enter the dungeon. Not all countries manage their dungeons as strictly as we do. Of course, I'm talking about worst-case scenarios..."

"I understand..."

So we might encounter dangerous people.

That was a significant variable.

But variables like that were common in dungeons.

We also had many trump cards we could use in case of emergency.

Gaeul's portal was one of them.

"I don't think it'll be a problem for me. Does anyone else not want to go?"

I turned to look at the children as I asked.

Saebyeok was the first to answer my question.

"I'm fine with it too."

"Levinas doesn't mind either!"

Levinas pounded her chest, showing confidence.

Gaeul and Bom also nodded their heads.

"Shall we go in then?"

"Yeah!"

We completed some simple paperwork at the desk.

After finishing the paperwork, the civil servant handed us bracelet-shaped items.

"What are these?"

"They're translators. They'll allow you to communicate with people of different nationalities when they're nearby."

"Wow."

Maybe this was how I'd been able to talk with Jeffrey and people from the beast-kin village.

I examined the bracelet with its embedded mana stone from all angles before putting it on my wrist.

The bracelet was a bit loose, probably because it was made for adults.

"The translators are on loan from the city, so you'll need to return them when you're done."

"Of course. I'll definitely return it."

I nodded and thanked him before entering the portal with the children.

It was a black portal that gave off quite a gloomy feeling.

"This is..."

We arrived inside a massive mansion after crossing the portal.

We were in what appeared to be the main hall of the mansion, and as we'd been told, people of various ethnicities were gathered there.

"Hmm..."

Caucasians, Black people, and Asians.

There were also Latinos and people who looked Muslim.

Some of them stood quietly with troubled expressions.

'What's going on?'

The atmosphere felt awkward.

I carefully approached where the people were gathered.

"Um... what is everyone doing here...?"

"Huh?"

"A child... beast-kin...?"

The faces of those who saw us darkened.

Some even sighed, but one Asian-looking woman's face brightened.

"Could you be Gyeoul? Do you speak Japanese?"

She approached me quickly as she asked.

I showed her my bracelet and answered:

"I received a translator before coming in. They said I'd need it."

"Wow... Yeomyeong really is amazing..."

The Japanese-looking woman let out an exclamation of admiration.

I was about to say that it wasn't actually given by Yeomyeong, but a Black man spoke before I could.

"Yeomyeong? This child is from Yeomyeong?"

"Yes. She's quite a famous child."

"Wow..."

The Black man let out a distinctly Western exclamation.

Then he looked around and said:

"So our communication problem is solved?"

"Yes. Fortunately."

I'd been wondering why some people had troubled expressions.

So it was because they couldn't communicate with each other.

Silently thanking the extremely competent civil servant we'd met, I exchanged introductions with everyone in the dungeon.

**

It was around the time two more people had entered through the portal.

Clank-!

The iron bars blocking the grand central staircase in the main hall lowered.

"..."

Everyone's attention turned toward the central staircase at the loud sound.

At the same time, a Latino man standing at the very back pointed outside the building and said:

"A portal has appeared outside."

Click-click-

The Latino man turned the doorknob of the exit door.

Naturally, the door didn't open.

"Should we try breaking down the door?"

"Breaking a window might work too..."

Just as someone was approaching a window:

Levinas stretched out her arm to block his path.

"Don't break window...!"

"Uh, okay...?"

"Levinas has seen this before...! Easy paths have traps...!"

She spoke as if she knew something.

Curious, I approached Levinas and asked:

"Levinas, do you know what kind of dungeon this is?"

"Yeah...! It's a dungeon where you escape the mansion while avoiding hidden traps...!"

So it's a dungeon about exploring the mansion and escaping.

That certainly seemed highly likely.

"I agree with that little one. Showing us a portal outside the window seems too obvious, which makes me suspicious."

Trebon, the Black man, agreed with Levinas's words.

It did seem strange that a Level 4 dungeon would so easily show a portal to the outside.

It was practically screaming that it was a trap.

"...It must be a trap."

"Yes. We should explore the mansion first."

People's opinions shifted toward exploring the mansion.

Fortunately, no one opposed this idea.

At a Level 4 dungeon, everyone seemed to have good judgment and skills.

"With those iron bars opening and all, we should probably go up the stairs to explore."

"I agree."

A dilapidated mansion in a medieval European style.

As everyone's attention turned back to the central staircase, Saebyeok was the first to start climbing.

Levinas, startled by this, followed behind Saebyeok.

"Dark King! Be careful...!"

"Careful?"

"Yeah...! In places like this, the first person to move usually triggers a trap..."

It happened when Saebyeok had climbed halfway up the stairs.

Crack-!

The sound of something breaking came from the ceiling.

Looking up toward the sound, we saw the hook holding a massive chandelier tear loose, causing it to fall toward Saebyeok's head.

"Hey! Watch out...!"

"Kyaah!"

Trebon reached out his hand, and a female adventurer screamed.

Since the chandelier looked like it weighed at least a hundred kilograms, everyone seemed to be expecting a terrible outcome.

'At that rate...'

I thought about rushing to save Saebyeok, but decided to stay put.

That was because Saebyeok raised both hands without any change in expression.

Crash-!

Saebyeok caught the chandelier that was larger than herself.

The chandelier didn't seem heavy to her at all, as she didn't even show the slightest change in expression.

"The mansion must be quite old."

"Yeah...! We need to be careful of old things too...!"

Saebyeok put the chandelier down beside her.

As the chandelier fell with a thud, someone muttered:

"That was definitely a trap..."

It was a voice that sounded both bewildered and deflated.