The Strongest Guild Kidnapped Me

Chapter 124

Playing with Levinas’ ears to launch the hat into the air turned into quite the amusing game. Her adorable grumbling kept me going for a while.@@@@

"H-hat, Levinas is sorry...!"

Just as Levinas sank to her knees, lamenting the hat’s supposed hatred for her, Kwon Arin approached with her hands in her pockets.

"What are you two up to?"

"I was just trying to help Levinas wear a hat."

"Doesn’t seem like it’s working, though."

"Yeah, it’s tricky."

I gave it one last shot, placing the hat gently on Levinas' head. Her drooping rabbit ears held it down momentarily, but as soon as they perked up, the hat went flying again.

"Why can’t I wear a hat? Levinas is cursed by hats!"

Levinas lightly tapped the ground with her fists, as if performing a mini tantrum. It was probably time to tell her the truth, so I knelt down beside her, hat in hand.

"Levinas, it’s because of your ears."

"My... ears?"

"Yeah. Your ears keep bouncing the hat off."

To demonstrate, I tucked my own ears down and then let them spring back up, showing her how it worked.

"So... Levinas' ears bounce the hat off because they’re too bouncy?"

"Yep. The hat doesn’t hate you."

Realization dawned on Levinas’ face, and she pressed down on her own ears with determination.

*Boing!*

As soon as she let go, her ears sprang right back up.

"This is... it was my own ears all along!"

Just then, Kwon Arin knelt down beside Levinas.

"What if we put holes in the hat?"

"Holes?"

"Yeah, we can cut holes for your ears, like a tail hole in clothes."

She pointed at the spot on my back where my tail poked through my shirt, and I wagged it in response.

"So, if Levinas’ ears go through the holes, then she can wear a hat...?"

"Probably. Wanna try?"

As Kwon Arin reached for the hat, I quickly stopped her. Since the hat already had an owner, we couldn’t just cut it up without permission.

"This fell from the sky, so we should return it to its owner."

"Oh, it’s my teammate’s hat. It blew away in the wind."

"Teammate?"

I glanced around and noticed a woman standing a little ways off, looking shy and red-faced.

‘That must be the hat’s owner.’

Using my sense of smell, I caught a faint whiff of her shampoo on the hat.

"Can you tell who owns it just by the scent...?"

"Yes, I have a good nose."

Kwon Arin sniffed the hat, then glanced at her teammate. Blushing under everyone’s gaze, the woman looked away, her eyes darting nervously.

"Hey, is it okay if I cut holes in your hat? I’ll buy you a new one later."

"O-of course, it’d be an honor..."

An honor? I wasn’t sure what she meant, but her shy smile suggested it wasn’t a bad thing.

"Alright, I got permission."

"Okay."

With that settled, Kwon Arin used her sword to carefully poke two holes in the hat, right where Levinas’ ears would go. The fabric frayed a bit around the edges, but it looked decent enough.

Still, it didn’t feel dangerous. I could navigate perfectly fine just by sound and smell.

"Gyeoul! You look so cool in that cat suit!"

"R-really?"

To Levinas, it wasn’t cute but cool. I instinctively tried to scratch my cheek, only to realize the costume prevented it.

‘Hm.’

Guess I’d have to scratch it later. For now, it was time to promote. Holding the poster the kids had made, I waddled outside in the costume.

The outfit was so bulky that I could only waddle, but I didn’t mind.

---

Back home, Midsummer took a moment to relax. She stretched in her chair, picking up a cup of coffee she’d set out beforehand.

‘I wonder what the kids are up to.’

As she sipped her coffee, she glanced out the window toward the park and noticed something unusual.

A figure in a cat costume was surrounded by a few kids near the pond. One of the kids was mischievously kicking the costumed figure.

‘What...?’

Midsummer focused mana into her eyes, enhancing her vision to see the poster clutched in the costume’s paws.

---

♥ Yummy☆ Vegetables◆ For Sale☆

★ Carrots▽ Available ♡□

□ Fresh Cabbages!!!!

\(^ᅳ^)/

---

It seemed to be an advertisement for a vegetable stand. Since promoting and peddling were strictly forbidden in the park to maintain a peaceful atmosphere, this was quite the offense.

A rule-breaking nuisance, she thought, scowling at the disturbance during her break.

"Sigh..."

Since everyone else was busy, it seemed she’d have to handle this herself. Midsummer took the elevator down to the park.

‘Where are they?’

*Whack! Whack!*

Hearing the sound of light blows, Midsummer looked over to see a boy gleefully kicking the cat costume.

"Haha!"

The boy was at that rowdy age, and the cat figure just silently waved its hands, unable to retaliate.

"That’s enough."

Midsummer placed her hand on the boy’s head. Startled, he backed away, stuck out his tongue, and ran off.

"Ugh, kids can be such trouble sometimes."

Sighing, Midsummer approached the costumed figure.

"Excuse me. Are you okay?"

The person in the costume didn’t respond, perhaps too shocked by the children’s antics. Giving them a moment to recover, she decided to get straight to the point.

"You can’t advertise here. It’s a place for people to relax, so this is disruptive."

Midsummer glanced into the costume’s eye holes, expecting to see a person, but found the inside empty.

"...?"

Why was there nobody inside? Maybe it was a short person?

Leaning in to peer through the eye holes, she caught sight of something familiar.

A pair of droopy, white ears.

The owner of those ears slowly looked up, revealing pure, trembling eyes.

"S-sorry

... I won’t do it again..."

"G-Gyeoul...?"

Why was Gyeoul in a costume? More importantly, what had she just said to Gyeoul?

In a sudden shock, Midsummer froze, realizing her words might have scared the young girl. She stood there like a statue, utterly mortified.