chapter_0498

498 – I Act

498 – I Act

I thought ten minutes would be enough.

The people around me said ten minutes was too short.

In a situation where everyone said yes, I was the only one saying no.

For someone like me, who truly believed ten minutes would be fine, it was nothing short of bewildering.

“Is ten minutes really too little…?”

I asked Ensia, who stood beside me like a guard.

Ensia, who seemed to hesitate for a moment, soon showed a determined expression.

“…No, I also think ten minutes is enough.”

“…Excuse me?”

In an instant, Josephine’s relaxed demeanor vanished.

But that was only for a moment; once she regained her composure, Josephine swept her dirt-covered hair back.

“I thought our Gyeoul was just nice… Turns out she’s not a candidate for the throne for nothing?”

“Please refrain from using ‘our.'”

Ensia growled a warning at Josephine.

Despite Ensia’s threat, Josephine merely shrugged her shoulders.

“You all suggested ten minutes, but I want to rest for two more hours.”

“Two, two hours?!”

“Yes. I want to sleep more.”

Whoosh—

Josephine fanned herself with her hand.

Dust swirled around as she brushed her face, revealing just how much dirt was on her.

I decided to give Josephine some advice.

“Um… resting for two hours during such an important time could be fatal…”

Resting for two more hours in a state like Josephine’s was a path to self-destruction.

While working, we needed to scavenge scrap metal and forage for food like greens to survive.

How could she think of doing nothing and resting for two hours?

I offered my advice out of concern, but for some reason, Josephine’s reaction was strange.

“Do you kill people…?”

“Yes…?”

Did I say something odd?

Josephine suddenly froze.

Her posture was strange, as she had been fanning herself.

“Okay, how about one hour then?”

Fear glimmered in Josephine’s eyes as we faced each other.

With a stiff expression, she held up one finger.

“Um… one hour should be fine; I won’t die.”

“…So you won’t kill me?”

“Yes… I won’t kill you…?”

Not killing me?

What on earth was Josephine talking about?

As I tilted my head in confusion, Josephine shuddered.

“Then let’s go with one hour!”

“Okay. But we need to get permission from the villagers too. It’s not something we can decide on our own.”

“Of course. Of course.”

After finishing the negotiation with Josephine, I reflected on why she had suddenly become so frightened.

‘What was that about?’

What did she mean by killing?

It was a moment of puzzlement.

“Yah-yah-yah-yah!”

Levinas shouted as he charged at Josephine with a fist raised.

Thud—!

Levinas struck Josephine’s forearm with his fist and then returned to us.

Watching this, Bomi seemed to have made some kind of resolution and charged at Josephine with a brave expression.

Thud—!

Thud—!

Bomi struck Josephine’s forearm twice and giggled.

I was relieved that Bomi seemed to have overcome her trauma.

**

The conversation with the Beastmen village ended quite simply.

It proceeded in a direction where they would entrust everything to us.

‘It seems the Beastmen trust us a lot.’

We had to repay the trust they placed in us.

After finishing our conversation with Josephine, we hurried back to the guild.

It was to talk with the Master.

Even though we had become the Ggaemmi Guild, our roots were in the Dawn Guild.

Before undertaking something significant, we decided to speak with the Master first.

Knock knock—

“Sir.”

I knocked on the door of the meeting room, where I presumed the Master would be.

There was a guard in front, but he didn’t particularly stop me.

“Come in.”

“Yes.”

I opened the door and stepped into the meeting room.

Many of those who could be considered executives of the Dawn Guild were seated inside.

“…Let’s wrap this up.”

“Yes.”

The people in the meeting room stood up from their seats.

I had thought about coming back later, but it seemed the meeting had just ended, which was a relief.

“Hello, Gyeoul.”

“Did you come to see the Master?”

“Yes. I wanted to talk for a moment.”

After exchanging brief words with those leaving the meeting room, I approached the Master.

I briefly explained what had happened with Josephine.

“There’s a group that sells and buys Beastmen.”

“Yes. Josephine can create a portal leading there, but she can’t make one inside. We have to figure out how to get in ourselves.”

If we barged in, they would likely notice and run away with the Beastmen slaves.

Or they might take the Beastmen hostage and threaten us.

If we weren’t in a situation where we could definitely rescue the Beastmen, it would be foolish to charge in boldly.

“First, we need to sneak in and prioritize the safety of the Beastmen…”

“Hmm…”

The Master crossed his arms and took some time to think.

I also crossed my arms beside the Master and pondered.

“A group that kidnaps Beastmen… kidnaps them… Ah!”

“…Did you come up with a good idea?”

“Yes. Since they’re a group that kidnaps Beastmen, if I linger around there, won’t they catch me?”

“No.”

As expected, the Master rejected my suggestion.

I wasn’t particularly surprised since I had anticipated it.

“Why not go with everyone instead of just me?”

“With everyone?”

“Yes. We can all become Beastmen with Bomi’s Transformation Magic.”

If we all got captured, we would be able to meet the Beastmen who had been enslaved.

From there, if Levinas used his magic or Ensia and Argo caused a ruckus to nullify the internal defense magic, we could create a portal inside.

“…That’s not bad, but if there are too many captured Beastmen, it might raise suspicion.”

“Ah… then how about just me, Levinas, and maybe even Ensia, making a total of three?”

“…No, let’s make it four.”

“Four? Isn’t that too many?”

“That’s true, but one person is crucial in this situation.”

That was a valid point.

I nodded in agreement and worked with the Master to devise a detailed plan.

We decided to hurry and rescue the enslaved Beastmen before they were sold.

**

The people who would be captured by the slave trader were me, Levinas, Ensia, and Argo.

The reasoning was that the Beastmen would be the best at acting like Beastmen.

“Master, do Gyeoul and Levinas really have to go? I’d rather…”

Hanyeoreum pouted in anger after hearing the plan, but the Master only pointed at me and Levinas.

“Can you make that face?”

Face?

I turned to Levinas, who was beside me.

He was smiling brightly with an innocent face.

If a slave trader saw him, he would take him without any suspicion due to his purity.

“Well, that’s true…”

“Since we have Ensia and Argo with us, let’s trust them.”

“…Okay.”

Hanyeoreum, still reluctant, approached Levinas with a worried expression.

“If it really gets dangerous, you’ll use magic, right?”

“Yep! Just trust Levinas the Spy!”

Levinas pounded his chest, insisting that we should only trust him.

I had expected him to be scared of the infiltration mission, but surprisingly, he seemed to be enjoying it.

Hehe.

As Levinas laughed innocently, Josephine approached him.

“Josephine will open the external portal, and Flora will open the internal portal.”

“Are they both going to do it? Wouldn’t it be safer for Flora to do it alone?”

“I heard opening a portal is really hard. Flora can’t do it alone.”

“Ah…”

“Don’t worry too much. If Josephine doesn’t open the portal according to the coordinates or does something strange, we can subdue her immediately.”

“Okay. I’ll trust you.”

We went over the plan one last time.

At that moment, Ensia and Argo, who had undergone Bomi’s Transformation Magic, appeared.

“Captain! Captain, something feels off with my body!”

“Argo…?”

The largest member of the guild, Argo, had shrunk to about my size.

He had transformed from a lizard-like figure into an appearance that was either a human boy or girl.

Of course, his distinctive lizard scales and long reptilian tail remained.

“Is Argo a girl or a boy…?”

“Me?! What am I?!”

Argo’s eyes widened in shock.

His behavior was just like the usual Argo, but his appearance felt very different from the Argo we knew.

“I made you look innocent. It’s easier to deceive that way.”

Bomi approached Argo, who was lifting his pants.

Black Mana was swirling above Bomi’s hand.

“Gyeoul and Levinas need to change their appearances too. Your faces are too well-known.”

“Okay.”

Bomi’s Mana seeped into Levinas and me.

As our appearances changed, Jeong Yuna, who had gone to check on the portal, returned to us.

“The portal is complete.”

“Yes. We’re ready too.”

Having finished all our preparations, we exchanged glances with one another.

Then, without hesitation, we stepped into the portal.

Argo kept looking at his pants but still walked toward the portal.

**

The place we arrived at was an abandoned city.

Not a single person was in sight, but thanks to the prior explanation from Josephine, I wasn’t surprised.

“This place is…”

We decided to act as we had practiced beforehand.

We would pretend to be Beastmen children who had just arrived on Earth.

To do this, we had adjusted our clothes and bags to fit the Beastmen attire.

“What kind of place is this?”

Levinas acted stiffly but tried his best.

Before being captured by the underground traders here…

“This is it!”

“Uh, what?”

At the sudden scream, I turned to the side.

Argo was screaming while looking at his pants.

A word from the author (Author’s Note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations as well! They always give me strength…!

I had a lot of trouble with Argo… for almost an hour!

I was debating whether to temporarily turn Argo into a girl for the event while maintaining his masculinity, but I couldn’t come to a conclusion…!

It’s a sensitive area…!

I guess I’ll have to think about it until the next chapter…!

What do you think, PIA1747014585384?!