chapter_0499

499 – Disturbance Period or Something

499 – Disturbance Period or Something

Argo screamed as he looked inside his pants.

We could hardly peek into someone else’s pants, so we merely hovered near Argo.

“Argo, what’s wrong?”

“It’s human’s!”

Thwack!

Argo adjusted his pants back to their original state.

I decided not to ask what he had seen inside.

“Argo, from now on, such behavior is… no, it would be better if you do it.”

Ensia, who looked like a child, tried to stop Argo but then gave up.

To be kidnapped by the strange men, he needed to look like a real child.

There was no need to restrain Argo’s innocence.

‘Argo just looked completely like a child.’

It was worth bringing Argo along.

Feeling somewhat satisfied, I turned to Levinas, who seemed tense and stiff.

“Levinas… I was just at Adventure Land…! I was about to find the Dream Carrot…!”

Levinas suddenly knelt down.

His acting was a bit clumsy and stiff, but that made him seem more childlike, which wasn’t bad.

“King… no, friend…! Where on earth is this…?!”

“Well…?”

Levinas referred to himself as “this body,” and I was called a friend, not a king or Gyeoul.

The effort to hide our identities was considerable.

I decided to follow Levinas’s lead.

“Does anyone know where we are?”

I spoke informally to Ensia and Argo, but neither seemed to care.

In fact, they acted as if it was natural for me to speak informally.

“Looking at the architecture, it doesn’t seem like the world we lived in.”

“Ugh, my precious friend, I am very scared…!”

While Ensia and Levinas were putting on a desperate act, I heightened all my senses.

Perking up my ears, I heard voices from the rooftop of what I thought was a ruin.

“Hey! Crazy over there…!”

“Isn’t that a Beastman? Why is a Beastman here?”

“I was looking that way, and I just came out of a portal.”

Though the voices were small and came from a distance, I heard them all.

As we had discussed beforehand, I signaled everyone.

“Um… our families might come looking for us, so let’s wait here.”

“Yeah! When you get lost, it’s best to stay put!”

Standing together and waiting, a group of people approached us after a while.

“Huh? What is it?”

“Are they Beastman kids?”

“What are you doing here?”

The people who had been talking about us on the rooftop now acted as if they had just discovered us.

Perhaps trying to ease our wariness, there were several women among them.

‘There are various races.’

It was surprising that different races could communicate.

Perhaps a massive translation magic was cast over this entire space.

“Who are you?!”

Levinas showed his wariness towards them.

It was a good judgment to act friendly from the start rather than risk being captured.

“That’s what we want to ask! How did you get here?”

“Well… something strange and wriggly appeared, and I was curious, but when I came to my senses, I was here…”

If it was something wriggly…

The ones who had been exchanging glances among themselves nodded.

Then, the kindest-looking woman among them approached us.

Of course, I wasn’t deceived by her appearance alone.

“It seems like you got caught up in a portal, huh?”

“A portal…? What’s a portal…?”

“A portal is like magic that can transcend space, but don’t worry too much. We can help you.”

“Really…?”

I perked up my ears and tail, forcing them to stand up.

Of course, I knew that the portal issue wouldn’t be easily resolved.

“Yeah. It’s a problem we can solve easily. But it’s dangerous here, so do you want to follow us?”

“Um… okay…”

I followed them but showed a bit of caution.

Thanks to that, we could easily shake off their suspicions.

**

“Come down here.”

As I followed them, their attitude changed as expected.

They pushed us into the basement of what looked like a ruin.

If I went down to the basement obediently, it would raise suspicions.

What I needed to do was to resist a little.

“I don’t want to… I won’t go down there…”

“You have to go down to get home, right?”

“R-really…?”

“Yeah. Do I look like someone who would lie?”

He looked like a liar from any angle.

But at this point, I decided to trust him.

“Then…”

“I am the brave Horned Rabbit!”

Levinas jumped down into the building’s basement.

I followed Levinas along with Argo and Ensia.

Thud thud thud—

The moment we reached the basement after going down the stairs.

Clank—

A hidden iron gate came down, blocking the entrance to the basement.

“Huh?! What is this?!”

Levinas clung to the iron gate with wide Horned Rabbit eyes.

I grabbed the gate too, but they ignored us and continued talking among themselves.

“Haha, what a windfall.”

“With four young Beastmen, damn, we could live off that for life.”

Hee hee.

They spoke without holding back any curses.

Amidst them, a rather serious voice was heard.

“Have they searched their bodies? If they have some strange abilities like those Koreans, it could be a big problem.”

“I checked them all on the way here; they’re just kids. You know not all Beastmen are strong.”

“True…”

They had let go of their suspicions about us.

Thanks to the thorough preparations we had made to shed their doubts.

We had left our weapons behind and showed a weak appearance while coming with them.

By running slowly or struggling to lift a stone, we had managed to gain some freedom of movement.

“Ugh…! I’ve been captured…!”

Levinas, holding onto the iron gate, slid down.

I focused my attention while watching Levinas.

There were two guards watching us.

I could also sense the aura of items containing Mana.

And I felt the presence of those hiding in the corners of the prison.

“Save me!”

“Save you?! What do you want me to save you from?!”

Levinas and Argo’s loud voices echoed in the underground prison.

Perhaps their voices were a bit too loud, as someone who had been holding their breath in the darkness spoke up.

“Can you be quiet…?”

“Huh…?”

“If you make noise, they’ll come down and start swinging their fists.”

I infused Mana into my eyes to see the voice coming from the corner of the prison.

Thanks to that, I could see the opponent even in the pitch-black darkness.

**

A Beastman woman who looked to be around Hanyeoreum’s age, and a Beastman girl who seemed to be of a similar age to Gaeul.

Both of them looked to be in quite poor condition.

They were missing one leg and one arm each.

“…What are you doing here?”

“What do you think? I got captured like you.”

“Ah…”

“…Could you not look at me with those eyes? I feel worse for you.”

“For us?”

“Yeah. You clearly look like high-quality goods.”

The woman tapped her thigh.

The leg that should have been there was nowhere to be seen.

“Me and this young friend here have defects, so we aren’t being sold.”

“Sold?”

“Yeah. They say a crazy magician buys them all at a high price. I don’t know what kind of experiments they do on Beastmen.”

The woman was blunt yet somehow kind.

She seemed to worry about us who had been captured.

“…That’s terrible.”

I sat down to talk more with the woman.

Levinas, who had been sobbing, also came and sat beside me.

“Levinas… I’m very, very expensive, so it should be hard to sell me… I’m worth a million won…”

“Huh?”

A million won?

Isn’t that incredibly cheap for Levinas?

As I tilted my head, Ensia, who had been silent until now, approached me.

“I’ve checked everything.”

“Already?”

“Yes. There’s a Coordinate Disruptor on the upper floor of the building. It seems to be an item that hides locations. And it seems there are multiple prisons like this one.”

Ensia informed me of the information she had sensed with her wolf tribe’s unique perception.

She said she couldn’t grasp everything as quickly and delicately as I could, but if she closed her eyes and took her time, she could figure out quite a wide range.

“Then is it time to start?!”

Argo shouted and jumped up from his seat.

His voice echoed throughout the prison, startling the guards and the Beastman girl, who curled up in fear.

“Sh-shut up…! You’ll get in trouble…!”

“What?! Why?!”

Was Argo’s voice too loud?

The two guards banged on the iron gate with their clubs.

“Shut up over there!”

“Why is that kid’s voice so loud?”

The two guards made fierce faces.

However, threats from humans had no effect on our Argo.

As Argo tried to approach the two guards, I reached out and grabbed him.

“Argo, shh for a moment.”

“Shh!”

Argo tightly closed his mouth.

He was aggressive but listened well.

“…Seems like a bit of a dimwit.”

“He looks fine on the outside.”

Tsk.

The guards clicked their tongues but didn’t get angrier.

Phew.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I quickly started thinking.

‘Before starting a fight, I need to come up with a plan…’

“Ahhh!”

While I was planning, the Beastman woman screamed.

Next to that Beastman woman stood—

Mew—

Gaeul, with a blank expression.