The ears that perked up on the children’s heads were real.

They couldn’t be imitated by any animal ear headband. These were genuine ears.

As if to prove they were alive, the ears twitched periodically and fluttered when the wind blew.

‘Oh my…’

The tails were adorable too.

The children’s tails moved with complete freedom.

They trembled when lifting heavy objects and swayed gently when the children smiled at each other.

The tails expressed the children’s emotions honestly.

“Mmph…!”

They were lovable from every angle.

Yoon Da-in clamped her mouth shut to stifle the exclamation that was about to escape.

She was worried the animal ears might hear the sound.

It didn’t take long for Yoon Da-in to confirm her suspicions were correct.

The smallest cat girl among the children turned her head towards where Yoon Da-in was.

‘Can she see me?’

They were at least a hundred meters apart.

How good must her hearing be to turn this way?

Yoon Da-in minimized all the sounds coming from her body and hid behind a tree.

Then the children’s footsteps started getting closer.

It seemed they had noticed someone was hiding.

“King, what’s wrong?!”

“I think there’s something over there.”

“Wha! Is it a wild boar?!”

“Hmm… I’m not sure…”

A confident yet cute voice, and a delicate voice that stirred protective instincts.

Even in this situation where she was about to be discovered, Yoon Da-in thought the children’s voices were adorable.

‘What should I do…?’

Should I come out with a friendly laugh?

Or should I keep hiding?

As Yoon Da-in was struggling with this dilemma-

Pitter-patter-!

A large four-legged animal burst out of the bushes.

It was what they call a water deer.

“Oh!”

“Wow.”

The children let out exclamations of wonder.

Fortunately, the water deer had captured the children’s attention.

“It’s a tooth deer!”

“That’s called a water deer.”

“A water deer?!”

“Yeah. I thought it was something else, but it’s just a water deer.”

The two children who had identified the water deer started moving.

They were now a little farther from where Yoon Da-in was hiding.

“Should we set up the tent here?”

“Isn’t there too many trees here?! Levinas thinks that cliff over there would be better!”

“The cliff is too visible. We need to hide where people can’t see us.”

“Ah!”

I see.

Levinas nodded her head.

Yoon Da-in could tell that the white cat girl, though young, was quite smart.

‘She seems to be the youngest, but she’s impressive.’

I wonder how old these kids are.

Judging by their speech and behavior, they seemed to be around that age.

Yoon Da-in thought about various things without moving from her spot.

At that point, the children started building their tent.

“Kids, we need to avoid meeting people, okay?”

Squeak-!

The white cat girl, Gyeoul, said as she tied a knot on the tent.

Saebyeok nodded in response, and Gaeul wagged her tail, indicating she understood.

But Levinas crossed her arms and made a humming sound.

“King! What happens if we meet a person?!”

“Well…? In the worst case, we might get caught…”

“Wha! Is it bad if we get caught?!”

“Yeah. We might get beaten up or dissected.”

Gyeoul spoke as if trying to scare the children.

Although they weren’t the type to ignore warnings, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Dissection!”

“Poop!”

Levinas’s horned rabbit eyes widened, and Gaeul made a deflating sound.

Gaeul didn’t really know what dissection meant.

She just enjoyed imitating the sounds around her.

‘That’s not something kids should be saying…’

Hearing the children’s conversation, Yoon Da-in clutched her heart tightly.

She could imagine what kind of life these children must have lived.

‘They’ve been living in hiding from people.’

Yoon Da-in let out a small breath.

Gyeoul, Levinas, and Saebyeok were too focused on building the tent to hear it, but Gaeul could catch that breath.

“Poop!”

Gaeul approached Yoon Da-in’s side and pointed at her with her finger.

The children all froze at the sound of someone flinching.

The only sound that could be heard was Gaeul’s tail swishing back and forth.

“W-who’s there…?”

“Ah… I’m…”

Yoon Da-in stepped out from behind the tree in response to Gyeoul’s question.

She held out both hands to show she wasn’t dangerous.

“Wha! Dissection?!”

“…!”

Gyeoul and Levinas’s ears shot straight up.

Saebyeok maintained her usual expressionless face.

“U-um, who are you…? Are you human…?”

“W-we are… we are…”

Gyeoul looked around at the children with frightened eyes.

Then her gaze fell on the bag hanging at Levinas’s waist.

The most precious and valuable thing they had right now was in there.

Gyeoul quickly reached into Levinas’s bag.

“H-here, this…”

What Gyeoul pulled out were carrots.

She took out two, one in each hand.

“Carrots…?”

“Y-yes… These are the most delicious carrots in the world…”

Gyeoul cautiously approached Yoon Da-in.

She quickly placed the carrots at Yoon Da-in’s feet, then scurried backwards.

“Are you giving me the carrots?”

“Yes… Delicious carrots…”

Gyeoul’s ears and tail drooped.

Yoon Da-in knew she had scared the child.

‘They said they’ve been hiding from people.’

Their shabby clothes, the half-built plastic tent.

There was even a dented pot nearby.

A home, clothes, and food.

Everything seemed lacking.

For children like this, two carrots must be like a lifeline.

‘I should give these back.’

Having overheard the children’s conversation, Yoon Da-in understood.

These carrots weren’t being given out of welcome.

The carrots were a tribute the girl was offering to survive.

They might just be carrots, but they seemed to be the most valuable thing the children had.

“You don’t have to give me the carrots.”

Yoon Da-in picked up the carrots from the ground and handed them back to Gyeoul.

I wonder if this makes me look like a good person?

Yoon Da-in tried her best to show the kindest smile she could manage.

**

‘Oh no.’

The carrots were rejected.

Levinas’s mouth fell open in surprise.

“King…! She says she doesn’t need Levinas’s carrots…!”

Levinas whispered in my ear.

The shock of having the carrots rejected seemed significant.

I also felt a bit tense at the fact that she had refused the carrots.

“W-we only have carrots right now…”

“I see. It looks that way.”

“Th-then…”

We don’t have anything else to give.

I fidgeted with my fingers, trying my best to appeal to her.

The more her gaze lingered on my ears and tail, the more my fear grew.

‘What should we do…’

We’ve been discovered as beast-kin in a world without beast-kin.

If rumors about us spread, we might really end up being dissected.

The trembling in my body wouldn’t stop.

Our future depended on this girl who looked no older than a middle or high school student.

As I looked up at the girl with frightened eyes, for some reason, she said something strange.

“Hmm… Kids, have you eaten anything?”

“Eaten…?”

“Yeah. Do you only eat carrots?”

“Oh, n-no, we were going to catch some minnows in the stream over there… Dandelions are also tasty if you pick them…”

“I-is that so…?”

The girl’s brow furrowed slightly.

After thinking for a moment, she looked down the mountain slope.

“I’ll bring you some food. Will you wait here?”

“Food…?”

“Yeah. Is there anything you want to eat?”

The girl’s question was met with a moment of silence.

After a few seconds, Saebyeok broke the silence.

“I want fish.”

“Gaeuwi meat!”

“Fish and meat…”

The girl muttered “fish and meat” to herself as she backed down the slope.

She kept her eyes on us the whole time.

“I’m not a bad person. I just want to help. I know you’re scared, but please trust me just this once.”

“W-well…”

“It’s okay. It’s hard to believe me right now, isn’t it? I’ll be back soon, so please stay here!”

With those words, the girl went down the mountain.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her we understood.

‘What should we do?’

Should we trust the girl or not?

I thought about it, but couldn’t come up with an answer.

For now, we should hide somewhere far away.

That was the conclusion I reached.

**

The children and I moved to a nearby stream.

We wanted to catch some minnows before the girl came back.

“Huff huff.”

Gaeul swam in the stream, working hard to catch minnows, while Saebyeok struck the water surface with her fist.

Splash-!

Water splashed everywhere with a loud sound.

A few minnows, startled by the impact, landed on the ground.

“W-wow…”

It’s good that Saebyeok still has her strength.

By the way, where’s Levinas?

I looked around, searching for Levinas.

“Levinas?”

Levinas was standing next to a nearby tree.

She was staring at something with a dazed expression.

“K-King…”

Levinas pointed her finger at something.

In the distance, a mountain hare was busily digging at the ground.

“What’s wrong with the rabbit?”

“Look closely…! It has no horns…”

“Oh…”

“That must be a ghost rabbit…! Levinas saw a ghost…!”

Shiver shiver, Levinas’s body trembled.

Certainly, in the other world, rabbits without horns were only dead rabbits.

I could understand why Levinas was surprised.

“Levinas, the rabbits in this world don’t have horns. That’s why they’re just called rabbits.”

“…!”

Levinas’s eyes widened more than I’d ever seen before.

Her open mouth couldn’t produce a single word.

—

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