“What were you trying to do to those kids just now?”

“Th-that was…”

“Stop stuttering and speak clearly.”

Jung Yu-na’s gaze was filled with murderous intent.

It didn’t look like an act at all.

Even I, standing beside her, was trembling, so I can only imagine how terrified Kwon Arin, who was directly confronted, must have felt.

I knew I had to intervene.

Desperately, I grabbed hold of Jung Yu-na’s hem.

“Um…”

“Yes, Gyeoul?”

Jung Yu-na’s murderous intent vanished as if it had never been there.

Her voice was gentle, a stark contrast to how she had addressed Kwon Arin.

Noticing the tail starting to wag, I quickly grabbed it with both hands.

“We were just playing Cinderella…”

“Cinderella?”

“Yes. We were playing Cinderella, and Levinas asked her to play the role of the evil stepmother…”

“Oh…”

Did she think Kwon Arin was actually tormenting Levinas and me?

The revelation that we were just playing left Jung Yu-na frozen in place.

Only moving her eyes, Jung Yu-na scrutinized Kwon Arin, who looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment.

“It’s just a game, so you shouldn’t get mad…”

“Is that so? It’s just a game?”

“Yes.”

Nodding, Jung Yu-na brought a brief silence to the park.

The silence, which felt quite long, was broken by Jung Yu-na.

“…Are you, by any chance, an adventurer? You seem to have more mana than the average person.”

“Yes. I’m still a novice, but I am an adventurer.”

“Ah… Then, I have some unused items. Would you like to take them…?”

Jung Yu-na coughed awkwardly, glancing at Kwon Arin.

Feeling sorry for having abruptly confronted someone playing with a child, she felt compelled to make up for it.

“No, it’s okay.”

Kwon Arin, frightened, looked down.

Surprised by her reaction, Jung Yu-na grabbed Kwon Arin’s hand as if pleading.

“I was going to throw them away anyway. I’d really appreciate it if you took them as a gesture of apology.”

“Ah… Well, then, I’ll accept your offer without shame…”

“Heh, heh… Shame? The one who was shameless was me.”

Jung Yu-na laughed awkwardly.

Levinas was still nestled in her arms.

“A mage, huh? Was this scene in Cinderella too?”

“Well, I guess…? As we played, the scene just changed.”

“Is that so?”

Levinas, tilting her head, slipped out of Jung Yu-na’s embrace.

She pondered for a moment before looking up at Kwon Arin.

“SupremeMasterKwonArin, do you want to be Cinderella this time?”

“Me, Cinderella?”

“Yes! The role of Cinderella is the best, so let’s take turns!”

A suggestion only the kind-hearted Levinas could make.

“Um… I don’t mind not being Cinderella…”

“Really? It might be good to try other roles too. Levinas wants to try being the pumpkin carriage as well.”

“Ah, okay. Then I’ll be Cinderella.”

Kwon Arin sniffled and chuckled.

It was a relief to see the situation had resolved smoothly.

—

—

The next morning, adhering to the guild’s policy that one must also play hard, I decided to spend the entire day having fun with Levinas.

“Gyeoul, I have to train the new members today. Can you and Levinas play by yourselves?”

“Yes, we can play together.”

I responded, glancing at Kwon Arin standing next to Yeoreum.

The equipment she was wearing was unusually impressive.

“This, this was given to me by Jung Yu-na. She said she wasn’t using it…”

Noticing my gaze, Kwon Arin blushed and replied.

I hadn’t realized that the “unused equipment” Jung Yu-na mentioned would be at this level.

“It looks really good on you.”

“Yeah. It’s all top-notch. I never thought I’d get to use such gear in my life…”

Kwon Arin looked moved, her expression filled with emotion.

Feeling sorry for her previously, it was comforting to see her so happy now.

“What should you do if a stranger asks you to play?”

“Don’t go.”

“Right. Even if they offer you candy, you shouldn’t follow them. You should quickly run away with Levinas.”

“Yes…”

It felt somewhat patronizing.

I was momentarily puzzled, looking up at Yeoreum, before realizing she hadn’t actually meant it to me, but to Levinas, making sure she heard the advice.

“I’ll be going now. Sophia is starting work, so she can’t play with you. You two need to play well together today, okay?”

“Yes, we’ll have fun. Take care.”

Waving goodbye to Yeoreum, I turned to Levinas.

Her eyes were filled with the mischievous sparkle unique to children.

“King, let’s go on an adventure!”

“An adventure?”

“Yes! Let’s go far away and then come back!”

“How far…?”

I was concerned about going too far.

Contrary to my worries, Levinas didn’t suggest a distant location.

“Let’s adventure to the department store we visited last time!”

The department store.

It was about a ten-minute drive.

Walking would take longer, but it wasn’t an overly long distance.

“Alright, let’s go to the department store and back.”

“Wow! Then Levinas will bring weapons and potions!”

Weapons and potions for a short trip seemed a bit much.

However, my worry was unfounded as Levinas’s “weapons” were thankfully not real.

Levinas brought a long stick, and mine was a slingshot.

The potions were two bottles of chocolate milk.

“You’ll be the sniper, and Levinas will be the swordsman!”

“Okay.”

I took the slingshot from Levinas.

It had been a while, but holding a slingshot didn’t feel too bad.

—

—

Swish, swish—

Levinas moved forward, brandishing her stick as if it were a sword.

I followed slightly behind her, walking at a distance.

We had taken up roles, engaging in what you could call adventurer play.

“Oh, look at those kids walking.”

“They must be playing adventurers.”

Passersby watched Levinas with smiles of joy, charmed by her playful imagination.

Levinas definitely had something about her that made people smile.

“Levinas, you should avoid swinging that stick around when there are people nearby.”

“Okay. Got it.”

Perhaps because there were people around, Levinas hugged the stick to herself.

Her clothes got snagged and tore on the sharp stick, but it didn’t seem to matter.

They were already dirty and torn in places anyway.

“King, when we get to the department store, should we look around a bit?”

“Just the two of us? They might not let us in since we don’t have any money.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yeah. But I’ll still ask.”

How much money did I bring with me again?

It felt like I only brought the bare minimum for emergencies.

Rummaging through my pockets to check my money, I suddenly ran into Levinas’s back when she stopped abruptly.

Thud—

There was a light sound as my head snapped back, but it wasn’t really painful.

“King! King!”

“Yeah?”

“I found a scary alley!”

Levinas pointed down a narrow alleyway with her stick.

It was shadowy and gloomy, despite it being morning.

No sunlight penetrated it.

“You want to go down there?”

“Yeah!”

“It looks dangerous…”

“But I want to explore this path!”

It was too dangerous for young Levinas.

I felt I had to scare her a bit to dissuade her.

“What if snakes come out here?”

“Sn-snakes?!”

Eek!

Levinas shuddered.

Someone passing by chuckled.

“Haha snakes?”

“That’s how scary it is.”

I whispered quietly enough so others couldn’t hear, but they caught every word.

Was it embarrassing that I exaggerated to scare young Levinas, and now we looked like we were afraid of actual snakes coming out?

My face flushed with embarrassment, and I found myself only able to stare at the ground.

“Levinas, it’s dangerous, so let’s go another way…”

Before I could finish, Levinas started running towards the alley.

“Yah!”

With her stick raised high, Levinas charged into the alley, mimicking the pose of a hero from an animation she watched the night before.

“Levinas!”

I hurriedly chased after her.

The alley twisted and turned like a maze, but I could follow her by the sound of her footsteps.

‘The footsteps stopped.’

At a bend in the alley, Levinas came to a stop.

Turning the corner after her, I found Levinas and a group of people.

“Uh…”

About ten men were gathered, smoking cigarettes.

Their forearms were tattooed with intimidating koi fish designs.

“…Are you guys koi beast-kin?”

Levinas approached the men and asked.

The men, frowning, rubbed their partially smoked cigarettes against the wall.

“Yeah. We’re koi beast-kin.”

“I’m a horned rabbit beast-kin.”

“That’s impressive.”

“Right?! But the King is even more amazing!”

Levinas’s ears perked up as she turned to look at me.

At the same time, the men with tattoos turned their gaze towards me.

Cigarettes and Irezumi[1] tattoos.

They looked dangerous no matter how I looked at it.

My tail clung to my belly in fear.

All I could do was stand there, trembling, unable to say a word.

“Hey, Jong-seok, you scared the kid.”

“Ah, how can you say that when I’m this handsome, hyung?”

“Cut the crap Gwang-deok.”

Crack—

The man referred to as hyung stomped out his cigarette butt and approached me.

He appeared to be at least fifty centimeters taller than me right now.

I involuntarily introduced myself.

“I, I’m Han Gyeoul…”

“Nice to meet you, Gyeoul.”

The man said, turning his gaze behind me.

Naturally, I looked back and saw a group approaching us.

Knives and bats.

Men were coming towards us with menacing tools.

It looked like they might charge at us any moment.

Could we have inadvertently walked into a turf war between gangs?

No matter what, I had to protect her.

I quickly pulled Levinas into a hug.

“Levinas, close your eyes.”

“Huh?”

“Hurry…”

“O-okay.”

Trembling and unable to do anything, we were trapped between the two groups when a man with a scar on his face approached us with a dagger.

“Hey, Kim Doo-sik…!”

“Hey, kids.”

The man called Kim Doo-sik pointed at us with his finger.

At the same time, the man with the dagger who had been shouting snapped his mouth shut.

“Hm… there are kids here.”

The man with the dagger looked down at me puzzledly and hurriedly tucked the dagger back into his clothes.

The men following him also quickly hid their weapons behind their backs.

“Are, are you going to fight…?”

“No, no? We’re friends.”

Ha ha ha.

With a big laugh, the two men put their arms around each other’s shoulders.

Their grips on each other’s shoulders were visibly tight, veins bulging.

Crack-!

For some reason, it felt like they were gripping each other’s shoulders very tightly.

I couldn’t understand what was going on at all.

—

[1. raei: Japanese tattoos! Not solely for gangsters but they’re always depicted with them over their body.]

3/5 Enjoy the chappy!

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