I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild

"HUUUUUK!"

Flap-flap-flap-

Levinas waved her arms as if flapping wings, then ran toward me with an angry face.

With her eyebrows raised high, she looked like a fierce predator.

"Who was it?!"

"U-um...?"

"Who did this to King?!"

She was even stomping the floor while breathing hard.

Did she think someone had hit me?

"Levinas, calm down. This is makeup."

"Makeup?!"

"Yes. See? Gaeul is also wearing ghost makeup."

Gaeul, covered with a cloth, waved her arms around saying "wooooo" like a ghost.

Seeing this, Levinas finally seemed relieved and let out a light sigh.

"Levinas almost became the Horned Rabbit of Fury."

"Horned Rabbit of Fury?"

"Yeah. An absolutely terrifying horned rabbit...!"

"Wow. That sounds really powerful."

With Levinas's abilities, she might really become an incredible horned rabbit.

I wondered what that would look like.

Though I was curious, I hoped I'd never have to see it.

The Horned Rabbit of Fury would probably only appear when family members were in serious trouble.

It felt reassuring knowing Levinas would do that for us.

As I grinned, Levinas handed me some candy.

"Candy?"

"Yeah! Levinas knows about Halloween too! If you play a trick, you give candy!"

"Um...?"

Isn't that slightly different?

Is Halloween different in this world?

As I tilted my head in confusion, Bom appeared through the door.

"Tricks?! Give candy when you play tricks?!"

Bom didn't show any of the fatigue typical of someone who'd just woken up.

Our Bom would jump up even from sleep at the mention of tricks.

Just as I waved my hand to greet Bom good morning:

"AAAAAAH!"

Bom screamed when she saw my face.

It seemed I needed to explain again.

**

"G-Gyeoul, you're pretty good at this..."

Whew.

As Bom clutched her chest, Saebyeok came out, rubbing her eyes.

Half-asleep, Saebyeok looked at my face once, then lay down near us and went back to sleep.

"Saebyeok isn't surprised?"

Han Yeoreum chuckled as she patted Saebyeok's back.

Saebyeok, with her eyes still closed, just wagged her tail as she answered.

"No. It's very different from the real thing."

"Huh? But isn't this pretty similar to real blood?"

It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't different enough to say "very different."

What difference had she noticed to claim it was so different?

Her next words solved my question.

"Not because of the blood, but because of the eyes."

"Eyes? Why the eyes... oh...!"

Looking in the mirror, I realized what she meant.

You could tell real from fake by looking at the eyes.

I see.

As I nodded, Yeoreum looked up at me and asked:

"What about the eyes? How can you tell by looking at them?"

"There's blood flowing from the eyes, but the whites are still white. Usually, they'd be red and bloodshot."

"Ah, that makes sense. Saebyeok and Gyeoul have such good eyes for detail. How did you figure that out..."

Yeoreum stopped mid-sentence and cleared her throat with a "Ahem."

After hesitating for a moment, she suddenly flopped down on the sofa.

"Phew, I'm exhausted after staying up all night. I need to get some sleep."

I slowly approached Yeoreum, who had her eyes closed.

Sensing my presence, her eyelids twitched.

"Um..."

"Y-yes...?"

She answered with her eyes still closed.

I knew she was tired, but for the sake of the children's education, I had to say this.

"You should wash up before sleeping..."

"That's wight! If you sleep without washing, you become a bad child!"

"Y-you're right. I should wash up before bed."

Yeoreum got up from the sofa, gathered her clothes, and went to the bathroom.

While we were playing and joking around, Yeoreum came out after finishing her shower.

"Kids, I'm really going to sleep now."

"Okay."

Yeoreum lay down on the sofa instead of going to her room.

I made a shushing gesture to the children so Yeoreum could sleep well.

"...!"

"..."

The children nodded silently to show they understood.

Since we couldn't just stay quiet, I thought about taking the children outside.

As I slowly stood up, Bom came out of the kitchen with a pot lid and a ladle.

"...!"

Bom, with a pot lid in one hand and a ladle in the other, stretched out her arms as if about to bang them together like cymbals.

That would make a loud noise and disturb Yeoreum's sleep.

As our ears perked up in alarm, Bom moved the ladle.

-! -! -!

Fortunately, Bom didn't actually hit the pot lid.

She just pretended to by moving her arms.

'Ah.'

Bom was playing a trick.

Maybe her pranking skills had improved a bit.

When I showed a silent laugh, Bom returned the pot lid and ladle to the kitchen.

"...!"

Back with us, Bom wordlessly pointed at her face.

As everyone's attention naturally turned to her, Bom started pulling both her cheeks outward.

Making faces-

She stretched her cheeks and moved her tongue from side to side.

Levinas burst into laughter at the comical sight.

"Kup...!"

Unable to laugh through her mouth, the sound escaped as a nasal snort.

Startled, Levinas covered her mouth with both hands and ran toward the front door.

"...!"

We chased after Levinas silently.

Once outside, Levinas finally let out a hearty laugh.

"Kikikik!"

Did she find Bom's face prank that funny?

She held her stomach and laughed gleefully.

"Bom is a prankster!"

"I'm not a prankster, though?"

"Ing? Then what are you?!"

"I am the Prank Demon Lord!"

Bom raised her arms and charged toward Levinas.

With a playful scream of "Gyaaak," Levinas ran down the emergency staircase.

I was about to follow the children but stopped.

I decided to wash off my makeup before going after them.

**

"Gaeul doggy, what do you want to play today?"

"Fight...!"

Gaeul pulled out Woodcalibur, which had now become her beloved toy.

Held high, Woodcalibur gleamed in the newly risen sunlight.

"Adventuring?!"

"Heuk...!"

Gaeul really loves that wooden sword.

I was glad I'd picked it up for her.

So we decided to go on an adventure to a dungeon.

"Let's go to a Level 4 dungeon today."

Though the dungeon difficulty was high, it didn't matter with the divine beasts accompanying us.

Seol and Kkamang joined us for the dungeon too.

Though there were many of us, we could move around together because Levinas and Bom's magic made everyone smaller.

"Um..."

The dungeon management civil servant looked surprised at the divine beasts but didn't stop us from entering.

At times like this, the Yeomyeong Guild title was truly helpful.

We crossed through the portal together and looked around.

A stone-built ruin in the forest.

It was the Golem Temple, a representative Level 4 dungeon.

"This is a golem dungeon."

"Golem?"

"Yes. They're monsters made of rock with immense destructive power, but they're slow-moving."

They could destroy trees with a single punch, but they couldn't catch beast-kin who were naturally fast.

It was practically a dungeon made for us.

With Gubuki's defensive magic protecting us too, nothing dangerous would happen.

After exploring various Level 4 dungeons recommended by the guild, this one had proven optimal.

"They attack slowly so you can easily dodge. But never, ever get hit, okay? Don't let your guard down."

"Yeah!"

"Got it."

We explored the golem dungeon together.

The divine beasts agreed to just support us from behind.

If they got involved, the dungeon would become too easy.

"The golem's weakness is the core in its head..."

The golems were so tall that only arrows could reach them.

Just as I was thinking this:

WHAM-!

Saebyeok punched the rock golem's leg.

The stone leg shattered, and the golem fell backward.

"...?"

Saebyeok seemed to be getting stronger by the day.

While I was surprised, Bom sent black mana toward the golem's core.

The core, embedded like a single eye in the golem's head, began to shrink when Bom's mana touched it.

The now ill-fitting core rolled off, and the golem, having lost its power source, stopped functioning.

"Wow."

There was a rock golem with its feet entangled in Levinas's vines, and Gaeul throwing lemons at it.

Everyone was fighting so well.

I quickly drew my bow.

Sshwack-!

That's how we each hunted golems in our own way.

"Attack! Attack!"

Gaeul darted between the golems, throwing lemons and striking their rocky bodies with Woodcalibur.

The lemons were incredibly effective. Unfortunately, Woodcalibur didn't even leave a scratch.

Still, Gaeul swung Woodcalibur with all her might.

"Attack...!"

We had taken down over a dozen golems.

Gaeul swung Woodcalibur every time we defeated a golem.

The problem was that Woodcalibur was just an ordinary branch.

CRACK-!

The damage must have accumulated, because Woodcalibur finally broke in half.

"..."

Gaeul stood dazed, holding the two pieces of Woodcalibur.