chapter_0221

Chapter 219: No Need for a Crime Buzzer

Yeoreum returned home to shower, finally realizing what she’d done.

No matter how adorable the child was, losing control and pouncing on her was unacceptable.

It wasn’t something an adult should do.

“Ugh…”

Why did I do that?

Gyeoul even cried out in fear.

Guilt and embarrassment mingled in her chest.

Yeoreum tugged at her hair in frustration.

“…What are you doing?” Sophia approached, narrowing her eyes.

Her odd state seemed familiar – it was likely about Gyeoul again.

“I think Gyeoul developed an extremely dangerous ability.”

“You mean the pheromones?”

“Yes. It seems she can seduce people with them…! Just now, I was so captivated by Gyeoul…!”

To make people lose their reason – truly a frightening ability.

Our Gyeoul wouldn’t misuse it, right?

Yeoreum paced anxiously around the living room.

Watching her, Sophia wore an expression of disbelief.

“She doesn’t have such an ability…”

“She doesn’t? But I lost all reason!”

“Don’t you always act that way?”

“…Huh?”

That’s true.

She lowered her hands from her hair. Four strands had been pulled out.

“What Gyeoul gained is an ability unique to the Beast King.”

“An ability of the king…?”

“It’s used to command subordinates or locate their position. Of course, it’s not forceful enough to make one lose reason, so don’t worry.”

Not enough to make one lose reason, that is.

Sophia repeated the same words again.

Ahem, Yeoreum cleared her throat awkwardly.

“So it’s like giving orders to attack or retreat, that sort of thing?”

“Yes, it depends on how the user wields it.”

“Gyeoul will surely use it well, right?”

“Of course she will.”

Gyeoul was an intelligent child who knew how to care for others.

She would use the ability wisely.

There was no real reason to worry.

“Hehe, I should go take that shower now.”

“…This is the first time I’ve seen you shower at this hour. Isn’t it an odd time?”

“Gyeoul said her power is still weak, so showering will wash away the pheromones.”

If she showers, Gyeoul will rub her ears again.

That was a fact she didn’t need to say aloud.

“…Hurry up and finish. I was feeling sweaty too.”

“Okay~”

I thought she was unaffected.

I guess even Sophia can’t resist this.

Yeoreum laughed inwardly.

Not many people could resist that, after all.

Yeoreum decided to hurry and take her shower.

—
Raei  Translations
—

The next morning, I visited the underground training area with the children.

We planned to train the newly gained ability and do some simple exercises.

“Encia.”

Encia was in the training area.

I immediately ran to her and rubbed my ears against various parts of her body.

As if she’d been briefed about my ability beforehand, she didn’t ask why I was doing this.

“You’ve arrived.”

Encia’s tail wagged rapidly as she embraced me.

Happy that Encia always welcomed me, my tail wagged along with hers.

“Encia, what were you doing?”

“Just warming up a bit.”

Encia picked up a water bottle nearby.

A drink that looked like cocoa filled the bottle.

Levinas’s eyes lit up, as she loved cocoa.

“Coco!”

“It’s not cocoa, it’s protein supplement.”

“…What’s protein supplement?”

“It’s a substance that helps build muscle, I hear. Today’s my first time trying it too. Arin gave it to me to try.”

After finishing her words, Encia drank the protein supplement.

After one sip, her expression darkened.

“Does it taste like cocoa?!” Levinas asked excitedly.

“…It tastes like bland chocolate.”

“Chocolate! Can Levinas have just one sip?!”

“Hmm…”

After contemplating, Encia handed the supplement to Levinas.

Levinas gulped down the supplement without hesitation.

Just one sip.

Levinas’s expression darkened, mirroring Encia’s from moments ago.

“Blech.”

Protein supplement dribbled down Levinas’s chin.

Her expression alone told me what it must taste like.

“Levinas, how does it taste?”

“Yucky chocolate…”

“How can chocolate taste bad?”

“Mm… Levinas learned today for the first time. King, never drink this…”

“O-Okay…”

Levinas handed the supplement back to Encia.

Seeing how much was still left, Encia’s shoulders slumped.

I could indirectly sense just how bad the supplement tasted.

“Why do humans drink this? You can build muscle by eating meat too…”

Encia closed her eyes and gulped down the protein supplement.

With each swallow, her drooping ears and tail trembled slightly.

Levinas looked up at Encia with eyes full of admiration.

“Muscle!”

Levinas flexed her arm, as if showing off her muscles.

There weren’t any visible muscles to speak of.

Just a soft-looking forearm.

“Levinas, do you think you’ve gained muscle?”

“Yeah! Levinas drank supplement and got muscles!”

Levinas’s eyes narrowed fiercely as she showed off her forearm.

She glanced around, seemingly looking for something to demonstrate her overflowing strength on.

Encia, noticing this, pointed to some roof tiles placed in one corner of the training area.

They weren’t real roof tiles, but something that looked similar.

“How about those?”

“What are those?!”

“It’s called tile breaking… apparently the stronger you are, the more you can break.”

“Breaking!”

Levinas ran towards the roof tiles.

Saebyeok chased after her.

It seemed Saebyeok had also become interested in breaking the tiles.

“Encia, isn’t ten tiles too much for an adventurer?”

“They get harder towards the bottom. They’re magically reinforced.”

“Ah… How many can you break, Encia?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve never tried it myself…”

“I see.”

I followed the children along with Encia.

Levinas stood in front of the tiles, raising her fist with a rather serious expression.

“Yah!”

She brought down her clenched fist onto the tiles.

The base of her pinky finger hit the tiles.

Kong-

A light sound rang out.

Unfortunately, not even a single tile broke.

“Huh?”

Levinas’s fierce expression returned to normal.

She rubbed her hand, as if the punch had hurt.

‘Oh dear.’

Levinas must be disappointed.

I approached to comfort her, but Levinas was just giggling.

“King! Did you see?! These are really hard, but Levinas hit them with her fist?!”

“Yeah. It was amazing.”

“Levinas has horn-fists!”

Kong kong.

Levinas struck the tiles a couple more times.

Sadly, no tiles broke.

“Doesn’t your hand hurt?”

“It does! King, you try too?!”

Levinas made way for me.

It wouldn’t be bad to try it for fun.

I put as much strength as I could into my fist and forearm.

I thought I had a good stance, but when I swung, it ended up looking similar to Levinas’s form.

Kong-

My clenched fist hit the tiles.

The topmost tile broke cleanly in half.

“Woah!”

Clap clap clap-

Levinas applauded.

Feeling a bit proud, my tail wagged rapidly.

“King! How did you break it?!”

“I just put a lot of strength into it.”

“Amazing! King is the king of superhuman strength!”

Levinas rushed towards me.

I almost fell backwards, but Encia caught us.

While supporting us, Encia was looking at Saebyeok.

“Would you like to try too, Saebyeok?”

“Yes. I want to try.”

Saebyeok was the strongest among us.

Saebyeok stood in front of the tiles with an expressionless face.

The tile I had broken in half had been magically restored.

Swish-

Saebyeok raised her fist and struck the tiles without hesitation.

It was a visibly light attack, but the result was far from light.

Kwang-!

The tiles exploded in all directions.

Some fragments flew towards us, but the mana barrier prevented any injuries.

“A-Amazing…”

Saebyeok’s fist had not only shattered all ten tiles, but also destroyed the floor beneath.

If that was just a light punch, how strong was she really?

Levinas and I could only gape, unable to speak.

I had felt proud breaking just one tile.

Saebyeok broke all ten and remained expressionless.

“What was that sound?!”

People exercising nearby looked in our direction.

Kwon Arin was among them.

“…Are you guys okay?”

“Yes. We just broke the tiles too forcefully.”

Kwon Arin’s gaze shifted to the shattered breaking station.

She flinched at the sight of the broken tiles.

“Did Encia do that?”

“No, Saebyeok did.”

“…I can only break eight of those.”

“Is eight a lot?”

“Not really. Encia could probably break twenty.”

Ah.

So ten wasn’t the limit.

I looked down at the tiles that had started to reassemble themselves.

“How strong is breaking one tile?”

“They get tougher with each level. One tile is about what a child could barely manage? Two tiles would be like a strong elementary school student.”

“I-I see…”

So my strength without mana was at a child’s level.

I already knew that, so I didn’t feel particularly discouraged.

“Oh right, Gyeoul.”

“Yes?”

“We’re going to a dungeon with people from other guilds today. Want to come?”

“With other guilds?”

“Yeah. You need to learn how to party with strangers too.”

Partying with unfamiliar people.

It wouldn’t hurt to learn.

“Sounds good. When are we going to the dungeon?”

“We need to arrive at least two hours early. We were supposed to go tomorrow, but some issue came up so we’re going today.”

“Okay. I’ll get ready.”

In three hours it would be eleven o’clock.

As I checked the time, Encia handed me something.

“Gyeoul, use this if anything happens in the dungeon.”

“This is…”

“It’s apparently for dangerous situations. They said to pull the string, but I’m not sure what it does.”

…Isn’t this a personal alarm?

The kind kids use.

She bought this without knowing what it was, just hearing it was for self-defense?

Encia must not know much about Earth, like me.

I was taken aback, but I didn’t want to disregard Encia’s thoughtfulness.

Hehe, I awkwardly laughed as I accepted Encia’s gift.

“Th-Thank you. I’ll make sure to bring it.”

“Yes. Pull the string if you encounter any danger.”

“O-Okay…”

I probably won’t need to pull it, but I’ll bring it for Encia’s sake.

I tucked the personal alarm into my pocket.

I decided to train until it was time to go to the dungeon.