“My canned food…”

I couldn’t muster any strength in my body.

Unable to move, I just stared at the sky for a while.

Those cans were so hard to get.

If I’d eaten them the day I found them, wouldn’t they have tasted better?

The thought of wasting them wouldn’t leave my mind.

“Gyeoul, why do you look so down?”

“I’m sad… If I’d known, I would’ve eaten them sooner…”

“Is the canned food going bad really that big a deal? You can get plenty of canned food now.”

Yeoreum was right.

Canned food wasn’t that precious to me anymore.

I could buy some if I tried a little.

My sadness was because it reminded me of my foolish past when I’d gone hungry.

I couldn’t stand how stupid my past self had been.

“I held out even when I felt like I was starving to death. I was saving them for the absolute last moment…”

“R-Really? Isn’t feeling like you’re starving to death the last moment…?”

“No… There are even harder times than that…”

“Oh, I see.”

Yeoreum reached out to me as I lay there.

She lifted me up effortlessly and hugged me tight, rubbing my back.

It was comforting.

Without realizing it, I started complaining.

“If I’d known, I should’ve eaten them right when I found them…”

Beast-kin’s sense of taste was sensitive, making delicious things taste even better and bad things taste worse.

When I was human, my taste wasn’t this sensitive.

The taste wouldn’t have changed as much then.

Regretful sighs kept escaping me.

“Gyeoul, let’s not dwell on the past. I’ll buy lots of canned food for you at home.”

“Okay…”

Well, I guess that’s that.

It’s not like they’re inedible, just not tasty.

I’ll just have to eat them one by one.

I got down from Yeoreum’s arms and picked up the pot.

The kids were sniffing the food in the pot, unable to eat it.

“Kids, I’ll eat all of this.”

“You’re gonna eat it?!”

“Yeah. It’d be a waste to throw it away.”

Just as I was about to scoop up some food with a spoon, Yeoreum came over and grabbed my wrist.

“Gyeoul, let’s throw this and the canned food away.”

“All of it…? But it’s still edible…”

“Yeah. But I want to eat tasty food with you, Gyeoul. Even the most delicious food tastes bad when you eat alone.”

“Ah…”

The joy of eating together.

I hadn’t thought of that.

I hesitated, then put the pot back on the campfire.

“It’s a shame, but shall we say goodbye to the canned food?”

“Yes. Let’s say goodbye.”

“Hehe, bye-bye canned food~”

Yeoreum held my hand and waved it at the canned food.

It felt like we were saying farewell to the cans.

“Goodbye, canned food…”

Caught up in the moment, I found myself echoing Yeoreum’s words.

Although I felt a bit of regret, I also felt somewhat relieved.

We decided to go home and eat with the family.

—

—

The next morning.

I went outside to harvest vegetables.

Saebyeok, who had come out to help me, was nodding off beside me.

“Saebyeok, I’m fine, so go back to sleep if you’re tired.”

“Mmm…”

“Really, I’m okay.”

She was trying her best to stay awake despite nodding off.

Just as I was thinking I should put Saebyeok to bed first, Levinas came running with something in her hand.

“King, look at this!”

In Levinas’s hand was a cucumber.

It was a vegetable we hadn’t grown until now because it was considered a rival to carrots.

“…!”

Saebyeok, who had been nodding off, suddenly jumped high in the air when she saw the cucumber.

She leaped as high as a startled cat.

And I was so surprised by Saebyeok’s reaction that I jumped too.

Because of my quick reflexes, it felt like we jumped at almost the same time.

“…?”

Levinas looked puzzled, holding the cucumber.

She seemed confused about why we suddenly jumped.

Blinking her eyes as she observed us, Levinas belatedly jumped high too.

She leaped as high as we just had.

“Are we playing a jumping game?! Levinas is good at jumping!”

Hop hop.

Levinas hopped around us.

She seemed to have misunderstood it as a fun game.

“It’s not a game, we were just surprised.”

“Levinas scared you…?!”

Levinas gave us an apologetic look.

Saebyeok waved her hand, indicating it wasn’t Levinas’s fault.

“I was scared by the cucumber.”

“Cucumber?!”

“Yeah. Cucumbers are really scary.”

Saebyeok rubbed her chest with an expressionless face.

But her ears and tail were still standing straight up.

I’d heard that cats are afraid of cucumbers, and it seemed Saebyeok was the same.

“Is cucumber King’s weakness?!”

“Not mine…”

Before I could finish speaking, Levinas raised the cucumber high.

Then she started munching on it quickly.

It took her less than a minute to eat the whole cucumber.

“Levinas got rid of the scary cucumber!”

Levinas used to hate cucumbers terribly.

Did she eat it all for our sake?

Saebyeok’s and my tails started wagging gently at the same time.

Just for today, I decided to be someone who’s afraid of cucumbers.

“Thank you. The cucumber was really scary.”

“Hehe, next time when something scary comes for Levinas, will King help?!”

“Yeah. But why suddenly a cucumber?”

“Levinas was thinking of growing them, but decided not to!”

So she was going to grow the cucumbers she hates for us, but since we’re scared of them, she decided not to?

As always, Levinas was such a kind child.

I couldn’t help but smile.

Grinning, I reached for some nearby lettuce.

But then I jumped back at the sight of a small object.

“A spider…?”

“Spider?!”

“Spider.”

The three of us stepped back as if on cue.

Levinas and Saebyeok’s ears trembled.

And so did mine.

“K-King, Levinas is scared of spiders.”

“Y-Yeah… But I’m scared too…?”

“King is scared of spiders too?!”

“Well, I wasn’t before…”

Why am I suddenly so afraid of spiders?

Remembering that I almost touched the spider, my body started shaking.

“King, the spider is on the lettuce. What should we do…?”

“M-Maybe we can knock it off with this…?”

I plucked a nearby foxtail grass.

Levinas and Saebyeok followed suit and plucked some too.

“Go away.”

“Shoo shoo.”

We stretched out our arms and waved the foxtail grass at the spider.

Tap tap, the spider raised its front legs, seemingly annoyed at being poked by the grass.

“Eek!”

“…!”

The three of us jumped simultaneously.

We stepped back, trying to calm our racing hearts.

Since all three of us were afraid of spiders, there was no way to resolve this.

“King, what should we do…?”

“I don’t know…?”

It’s a spider, so it won’t chase us this far, right?

Should we call someone else for help?

As we were thinking, the spider started running towards us quickly.

“Wha!”

The spider ran right up to us and raised its front legs threateningly.

It seemed to know we were the ones who had waved the grass at it.

“Sorry…”

The spider, about the size of my fist, was terrifying like this.

I think I was okay with spiders smaller than this before.

I just stood there trembling with the kids.

And then, Sophia approached us, leaning on her cane.

“What are you all doing?”

“S-Sophia… over there…”

“That’s…”

Sophia followed our gaze to look at the spider.

Surely Sophia could easily get rid of a spider, right?

It was a moment of hope.

Sophia’s body froze.

“Sophia…?”

“Ahem…”

“Shark, the spider is trying to eat Levinas!”

“…Indeed, a most threatening spider.”

Sophia pressed close to us.

I could tell Sophia was scared too from her quivering shark tail.

“What should we do?”

“Wait a moment. I have a plan.”

Sophia raised her cane and twisted the bottom part.

Inside the cane, which opened like a lid, was something that looked like a flute.

“A flute?”

Pheee-!

Sophia blew the flute.

It was quite a high-pitched sound, but beast-kin ears could hear it very well.

It was enough to make our ears tingle.

“Ugh…!”

Levinas covered her ears tightly.

My ears drooped too, as if trying to block out the sound.

Wait, is this really worth calling for help?

It seems like it might be, but then again, maybe not.

As I was thinking this, someone came running towards us at an incredible speed.

I could tell it was Encia from her presence.

“Gyeoul!”

So that ear-splitting sound was to call Encia.

My tail wagged happily to see her.

“What’s the matter?”

“There’s a spider over there…”

“A spider…?”

Encia froze in place when she saw the spider.

She looked no different from us.

“Encia, are you afraid of spiders too…?”

“…I’m ashamed.”

“I-I see.”

We all took a step back in unison.

Noticing our fear, the spider started approaching us one step at a time.

It seemed to be a highly intelligent spider.

“Encia, are beast-kin usually afraid of spiders?”

“It depends on the species. We could really use Argo at a time like this…”

I see.

Argo is a lizard beast-kin.

He probably wouldn’t be afraid of insects, which are a staple food for lizards.

It would be great if Argo were here at a time like this.

Is he not at the guild today?

We had no choice.

It was time to unleash my wild energy to protect everyone.

“G-Grrr…”

I showed my claws to threaten the spider.

A growling sound escaped my throat.

Of course, my ears and tail were drooping.

To be honest, I was really scared.

It was because the spider was so big.

3/6 Enjoy the chappy!

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