Snap!

With a bursting sound, the warrior’s neck twisted in an odd direction.

Without even having to check, I knew it was instant death.

“That was one hit…”

“Yeah. I’m strong.”

Saebyeok boasted, showing off her slender forearm.

The squishy forearm seemed like it would stretch like sticky rice cake if pulled.

“…How weak was the boss?”

“Really weak.”

“Uh, okay…”

To think it was weak.

The fangs were as long as my head.

I couldn’t help but open my mouth and press down on my fangs.

Compared to the warrior’s, mine were significantly smaller.

Though my fangs seemed sharper, they were pretty much useless.

“Does Gyeoul wish she had long fangs too?”

Yeoreum shoved her finger into my mouth.

She pressed down on the fangs, checking their sharpness, and I just kept my mouth open, afraid of biting her finger.

“Oh my, these could be knives?”

“Ye-aa.”

My speech was unclear because my mouth was open.

Yeoreum noticed this and withdrew her finger with a smile.

“You’ll have to be careful not to bite anyone.”

“Yes. I’ll be careful.”

I wouldn’t really bite anyone, but it didn’t hurt to be careful.

The moment I nodded in understanding, Levinas ran behind me and hid.

“King! The Dark King has awakened…! She’s been consumed by darkness…!”

Levinas gripped the hem of my clothes.

Her hands were trembling.

“No, she just protected you.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yes. A kind Dark King.”

“……!”

Levinas’ ears perked up and she trotted towards Saebyeok.

Saebyeok’s expressionless tail swayed quickly from side to side.

“Dark King! Thank you for protecting Levinas!”

“Yeah.”

Levinas nestled into Saebyeok’s embrace.

Their content expressions made my tail wag softly.

It was a blissful time I wished would last forever.

—

—

After leaving the dungeon and taking a shower, I went down to the park.

I left the loot with Yeoreum and Kwon Arin, deciding to play with the kids instead.

Playing well with the kids was also an adult’s job, after all.

“King!”

From afar, Levinas ran towards me, waving her hand, a hat of the gnoll warrior on the top of her head.

“A hat?”

“Yeah! Scary, right?”

Grrr.

Levinas took on a threatening look, like me during my wildness training.

Honestly, her not-so-sharp claws weren’t scary at all.

“Um… It was slightly scary.”

“Keke! Now Levinas is just like the King?!”

“Like me?”

“Yeah! The same beast as the King!”

“Ah…”

I wondered why the normally fearful Levinas would wear a hat like that.

Did she want to become a beast?

It was a cute idea only a child could have.

“Yeah. We’re the same beast.”

“Hehe! Today, we’ll act wild like beasts!”

“Wild?”

“Yeah!”

Wearing the hat made Levinas’s actions rougher.

I extended my claws towards her.

“Grrr… like this?”

“That… That’s too scary… Make it a little less wild…”

“Okay. Less wild.”

Wearing it didn’t make her brave after all.

As Levinas suggested, we decided to tone it down a bit.

“Rawr.”

“Kyao.”

I played less ferociously, imitating beasts with Levinas.

I knew it was childish, but I was willing to play anything with her.

While we were playing, Saebyeok, who had finished showering, approached us.

“It’s the boss.”

Saebyeok reached out her hand towards the hat.

Levinas closed her eyes tightly, startled.

“Dark King…! Don’t break Levinas’s neck…!”

“Okay. Won’t break it.”

Saebyeok placed her hand over Levinas’s head.

Specifically, towards the hat.

“Levinas is a puppy[1].”

“A puppy? Isn’t this a cat?”

“No. It’s not a cat, it’s a puppy.”

“What…!”

Levinas opened her eyes wide and shook her head from side to side.

The hat fell to the ground with her shaking.

“Not wearing the hat?”

“Yeah! Levinas thought this was a cat!”

“Ah…”

She wanted to be part of the cat family.

Among the three of us, Levinas was the only horned rabbit beast-kin.

Perhaps her desire to become a beast was also because of the loneliness of being the only herbivore beast-kin.

The beast-kins in the guild were all based on carnivores.

‘I should try imitating a horned rabbit beast-kin later.’

Levinas would surely like it.

I should look for a horned rabbit hat.

“Shall we play something else then?”

“Yeah! Let’s do something else!”

“Umm…”

What else could we play that would be fun?

Just as I was pondering, Saebyeok suddenly raised her hand.

She was wearing the hat on her head.

“Let’s play hide and seek.”

“Hide and seek?”

“Yeah. I’m good at hiding.”

Hide and seek, huh.

I didn’t mind whatever the kids wanted to play.

I was there to play with them.

“How about Levinas?”

“I like hide and seek! Levinas is good at hiding too!”

“Great. Then let’s play hide and seek.”

The game was decided.

I should probably be “it,” right?

Just as we were about to start the game.

I could see Yoo Sang-ah approaching us from a distance.

“Miss Cat, Miss Rabbit.”

At Yoo Sang-ah’s voice, everyone’s ears perked up.

We each turned to look at Yoo Sang-ah, expressing our closeness in our own ways.

“Did you come alone?”

“Alone?”

“Yeah! Because Sang-ah has ‘horns’![2]”

“Ah…”

Yoo Sang-ah chuckled, understanding the meaning behind her nickname.

She didn’t mind the nickname given by a child.

“Are you off work?”

“Yes, I came out for a walk as a bit of exercise before going home.”

“I see.”

Our park is indeed a nice place for a walk.

I felt a bit proud.

“What were you doing, Gyeoul?”

“We were about to play hide and seek.”

“Oh, can I join you?”

Yoo Sang-ah clasped her hands together as if praying. I could feel her strong desire to join in the fun.

“Then, do you want to hide?”

“No, I’ll seek.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

Levinas, happy about Yoo Sang-ah joining, bounced up from her spot.

After running around for a bit, Levinas suddenly gasped.

“Miss Horns! Since it’s just us, we shouldn’t pull hair if we find someone, right?!”

“Hair?”

“Yeah! Like this!”

Levinas grabbed her own hair and yanked it upwards.

She pulled with surprising strength, enough to shock anyone watching.

“Why… would you pull each other’s hair?”

Yoo Sang-ah hastily grabbed Levinas’s wrist.

She tapped the wrist lightly, signaling her to stop.

“Don’t you know, Miss Horns?! Normally, when you find someone hiding, you’re supposed to pull their hair!”

“Really…?”

Yoo Sang-ah’s face gradually turned pale as she blinked in confusion.

I poked Yoo Sang-ah’s waist, but she remained stiff, not reacting at all.

‘Levinas has had similar experiences to me.’

After all.

She had lived as hard a life as I had.

She must have had many experiences of hiding from scary people.

Hiding and then getting hit when she was found.

“H- hide and seek isn’t a game where you pull someone’s hair after you catch them…”

At Yoo Sang-ah’s explanation, Levinas and Saebyeok tilted their heads in confusion.

It was as if they couldn’t understand what she was saying.

“Then, you don’t slap faces either?”

“Slap faces?”

“Yeah. When you find someone hiding, you slap them to tell them not to do anything stupid.”

Saebyeok lightly tapped her own cheek.

Yoo Sang-ah closed her eyes tightly.

—

—

‘What…’

Assuming that they would get hit when they’re caught.

Yoo Sang-ah couldn’t easily speak because she understood why the kids were saying such things.

‘Were they hiding from adults?’

And then getting slapped when caught.

Yoo Sang-ah unwittingly imagined the children being hit.

She knew the children had lived hard lives, but she hadn’t realized it was to this extent.

As an adult, she could only feel sorry.

“It’s okay… Hide and seek isn’t a game where you hit or hurt others if you find them.”

“Is that so…?”

Levinas’s eyes widened, showing disbelief in Yoo Sang-ah’s words.

Then, Gyeoul spoke to Levinas.

“When we play among ourselves, we don’t have to worry about getting hit. It’s like practice.”

Practice for avoiding adults.

To Yoo Sang-ah, that’s all Gyeoul’s words seemed to mean.

“So, are we just pretending?”

“Um… We don’t really need to pretend, but pretending might make it feel more real.”

“Really?! Then let’s just pretend!”

“Should we?”

Gyeoul looked at Yoo Sang-ah.

Through the children’s conversation, Yoo Sang-ah realized that the seeker had to ‘pretend to be the bad person.’

She knew she had to tell the children that hide and seek wasn’t that kind of game.

But even if she explained, would children who spent their lives hiding from adults understand?

Yoo Sang-ah looked around, hoping someone would help.

Being the guild’s receptionist, Yoo Sang-ah knew many people in the park, but as soon as their eyes met hers, they quickly turned away.

‘They were all listening!’

Truly bad adults.

With tears in her eyes, Yoo Sang-ah forced a smile at the children.

“Um, can I just be the one hiding…?”

“Sure. Then I’ll be the seeker.”

“Thank you…”

I’m sorry I couldn’t explain properly.

Instead, I’ll show you by having fun.

How hide and seek is really played.

Yoo Sang-ah thought to herself.

After all, convincing children who’ve spent their lives hiding from adults with just words wasn’t possible.

—

[1. raei: gnolls are kinda like humanoid hyenas in fantasy and can look like a dog]

[2. raei: uh this is korean word-play based on Yoo Sang-ah’s name, as well as two words with same pronunciation but different meanings (alone/horns(horned)). A name pun that does not translate well into english.]

2/5 Enjoy the chappy!

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