The Strongest Guild Kidnapped Me

Chapter 78

The woman standing in front of Levinas was fuming, looking as though she might throw a punch at any moment.

No matter what, I had to prevent her from using violence on Levinas. I hurried over and tugged at the edge of her clothes.

"Um, excuse me..."

She turned to look at me. I had managed to stop her, but I had no idea what to say. Though it wasn’t intentional, Levinas had started the trouble, so I decided to apologize first.

“We’re sorry… Please forgive us just this once…”

"…"

She simply glared at me in silence. For a moment, it seemed like her anger had subsided, but there was a good chance it hadn’t. After all, this was a person who had brought something from a game into reality.

“W-Wangya…?”

Levinas looked at me with wide, rabbit-like eyes, apparently shocked that I’d apologized first. But the woman continued to stare at us silently.

“Levinas, you should apologize too.”

“S-sorry. Will you forgive Levinas…?”

Under my prompting, Levinas apologized without any argument, showing genuine remorse. Yet, the woman remained silent, her gaze fixed on us.

How angry was she to stay this quiet? I slowly stepped back to where Levinas was standing.

“Wangya, are we in big trouble…? Is the Great Supreme Kwon Arin going to hit us…?”

“Well, I’m not sure?”

If her anger was truly that intense, she might. The woman before us certainly looked that angry, towering over us without saying a word.

I knew there were people who got too angry to speak, and she might be one of them.

“Wangya, Levinas knows. We’re definitely getting hit…”

“Y-you think so?”

“Yeah! She called Levinas a kaesaekki! When bad adults say kaesaekki, they start hitting…”

Levinas’s hand, clutching my clothes, was trembling, showing just how scared she was.

“What’s that? Did I just hear she’s going to hit these kids?”

“Yeah, I heard it too.”

“The poor kids look terrified.”

People in the park turned their attention to us, thanks to Levinas’s rather loud exclamation.

Would she really strike us with so many people watching? If so, she was truly dangerous. I fidgeted with my fingers, looking up at her.

“Wangya, Levinas is sorry that we’re about to get hit… It’s all Levinas’s fault…”

“It’s okay. I’m used to getting hit.”

“No, I… I didn’t mean…”

Before the woman could finish her sentence, the people in the park began approaching us. Were they kind souls who couldn’t tolerate violence?

I started to feel a bit more at ease.

“Um, could I take the hit instead of Levinas? She’s still just a child…”

My frightened tail instinctively curled up to my belly, and my ears drooped. I wanted to appear strong, but my stubbornly reactive ears and tail weren’t helping.

“No, no, you’re a kid too…”

She waved her hands, sounding a bit flustered. Her strange response confused me.

Was she the kind of person who couldn’t communicate well? Just as I tightened my grip on my tail, a middle-aged man with a stern expression placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, mind coming with me for a moment?”

“Oh, n-no! I didn’t mean to…”

“Whether you meant to or not, come along.”

He gripped her hand firmly, pulling her along with enough strength to make her stumble.

“I-I was just, with the kids…”

Yikes! Just as she made an odd sound, someone pushed through the bushes, coming toward us. It was Yeoreum, who had been watching from afar.

“Excuse me.”

At Yeoreum’s voice, the man stopped. He sighed and let go of the woman’s hand.

“She was about to hit the kids.”

“Yes, I saw it too.”

“Alright then, take care of things.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Yeoreum bowed to him, and the man turned and left. I took Levinas by the hand and ran to Yeoreum’s side.

“Hmm…”

Yeoreum rubbed her chin, examining the woman, who looked down and trembled, seemingly overwhelmed by Yeoreum’s presence.

“I-I… I…”

“Great Supreme Kwon Arin?”

“…!”

Was she embarrassed that Yeoreum recognized her? Her eyes began to redden.

“Ms. Great Supreme Kwon Arin?”

“U-uh…”

Sniff—

Finally unable to withstand the pressure, tears began to stream down Kwon Arin’s face. I didn’t feel pity toward her, only surprise that someone who had seemed so terrifying moments ago was now crying.

---

In the guild’s reception room, Kwon Arin sat alone, still sniffling and wiping her nose.

‘I’m done for.’

She’d managed to terrify beast-kin kids—children under the protection of the nation and the Dawn Guild.

Surely they wouldn’t eliminate her quietly, right? Her despair deepened as she hung her head.

“Ms. Great Supreme Kwon Arin?”

Yeoreum approached, holding two cups of coffee. Even the Dawn Guild just used instant coffee; the simple sight gave Kwon Arin a glimmer of hope.

“J-just call me Kwon Arin…”

Great Supreme Kwon Arin. Why had she picked such a ridiculous nickname? She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“Alright. Then I’ll call you Ms. Kwon Arin.”

“O-okay…”

As Kwon Arin nodded, Yeoreum took a sip of her coffee. Kwon Arin held her own cup, not daring to drink it.

“So, you yelled at the kids in the park? And were about to hit them, too?”

“N-no, it wasn’t like that…”

“Levinas just didn’t understand how the game worked. I apologize for that.”

“Ugh…”

Though Yeoreum had offered an apology, Kwon Arin knew she held no power in this situation. The realization that she’d gotten angry at a kid who didn’t know the game rules left her feeling ashamed.

“Still, bringing this into the real world and intimidating the kids was wrong on your part.”

“Y-yes. But I wasn’t actually planning to hit them…”

Yeoreum knew that, having witnessed Kwon Arin freeze when confronted with the children. She had likely come expecting someone different and was caught off guard.

Even though it was an honest mistake, it was still a wrong. She couldn’t be let off too easily.

“So, how do you intend to make up for this?”

“W-what do you mean…?”

“You can’t expect us to just let this go.”

“Yes, I understand…”

It would’ve been bad enough with any child, but she’d frightened beast-kin children on the brink of extinction. Even a harsh punishment wouldn’t seem unfair.

“Do you know how scared the kids were? They were too terrified of humans to even leave the house…”

Click!

Before Yeoreum could finish, the door to the reception room opened, and Levinas entered, full of excitement, with Gyeoul following hesitantly.

“Wangya is amazing! She defeated the villain just by apologizing! She knew there was no need to fight!”

“That’s not quite what happened…”

Gyeoul’s face was flushed, but her tail was swishing gently. She didn’t seem to dislike Levinas’s praise.

“They don’t look too scared…”

Watching Levinas bounce with excitement, Kwon Arin cautiously glanced at Yeoreum, who scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

“Kids bounce back quickly.”

“R-right…”

Kwon Arin nodded in agreement. Levinas ran over and sat on Yeoreum’s knee, while Gyeoul nestled close to her side.

It was a unique trait of young beast-kin to instinctively seek security near a trusted adult when feeling threatened. Yeoreum, knowledgeable about beast-kin, understood this well.

“Yeoreum, Wangya told me earlier!”

“Told you what?”

“That it was Levinas’s fault to begin with!”

“Really?”

Yeoreum smiled as she patted Levinas’s head, relieved by the lightened atmosphere. Kwon Arin visibly relaxed as well.

“Levinas tried to say she was a horned rabbit, but it sounded like a bad word.”

“Yeah, I guess it could sound that way.”

“Yes! So, Levinas wants to make up with Great Supreme Kwon Arin! Wangya told me to make peace!”

“Oh, what a kind-hearted child.”

Yeoreum smiled warmly at the children’s pure intentions. But, forgiveness wouldn’t come that easily—Kwon Arin still needed to make amends. However, Yeoreum’s conditions weren’t as harsh as they could be.

“Ms. Kwon Arin, do you want to make peace with the kids?”

“Yes, yes! I really want to!”

“Alright… then how about this?”

“H-how about what…?”

Gulp. Kwon Arin swallowed nervously, causing Gyeoul’s ears to perk up. Bored, Levinas reached over and gently grabbed one of Gyeoul’s ears, which wiggled as Gyeoul allowed it, her tail flicking playfully.

“Ms. Kwon Arin, you mostly play games at home, right?”

“Y-yes…”

Of course, the Dawn Guild would know. When they set their mind to it, they could find out just about anything. Blushing, Kwon Arin looked down, dreading Yeoreum’s next words.

“Then how about working as a porter for the guild? We’re

 actually short on porters right now.”

“What…?”

A porter in the Dawn Guild. It was a position hard to secure, even with good connections. The Dawn Guild’s porters weren’t mere baggage handlers—they were apprentices training to become adventurers.

Kwon Arin’s eyes widened in shock, nearly popping out of her head.

“Oh dear…”

Only Gyeoul, oblivious to the situation, felt any sympathy. She felt guilty for dragging this woman into a job with the guild just because of her own mistake.