The Strongest Guild Kidnapped Me

Chapter 106

A small, round head approached the table that stood at an adult man's waist height. The child, with her perky white cat ears, grabbed the table with her tiny, adorable hands.

"Excuse me, is this cat food?"

The little cat-girl was asking if it was cat food. Lee Chan-hwi, who was participating in the competition to make cat treats, hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Uh... It is cat food, but..."

"Oh..."

Gyeoul's eyes sparkled as she gazed at the treat made by the man. She sniffed the air, her nose twitching before she swallowed nervously.

‘I don’t understand why I like fish so much.’

Did cats in this world have a natural obsession with fish? Gyeoul rested her chin on the table, her tail swaying gently behind her. She looked just like a cat contemplating whether or not to eat the fish right in front of her.

"Do you want to try it?"

The ingredients were safe for human consumption too. The concept was to make food that both people and cats could enjoy together.

Lee Chan-hwi wanted to just let her eat to her heart's content, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it, feeling a twinge of guilt. It was difficult to treat her as just a cat.

What should he do about this? Just as Lee Chan-hwi was wrestling with this thought, Sophia approached Gyeoul, leaning on her staff.

"Gyeoul, don’t be a bother."

"No, I was just smelling it."

Although the finished treats were nice, just plain fish was also appealing to her. Gyeoul’s gaze shifted to the uncooked fish nearby.

"Do you really like the smell of fish that much?"

"Yes. It smells like Sophia."

At Gyeoul’s words, both Sophia and Lee Chan-hwi flinched simultaneously. Sophia was surprised at the notion that her body smelled like fish, while Lee Chan-hwi glanced at Sophia's shark tail in astonishment.

‘Fish...?’

Did he really just cook fish in front of a fish beast-person? Wasn't that potentially an ethical issue? Lee Chan-hwi cast a worried look at Sophia, but she seemed focused only on Gyeoul.

"Does my body really smell like fish?"

"Um... Something like that."

"R-really...?"

Sophia, uncharacteristically, opened her mouth in shock. She had never heard that her shark tail had a fishy smell.

She washed it daily with body wash and even applied a special polish, so how could this be? Sophia hastily sniffed her tail but couldn’t detect any fishy odor.

"What kind of smell do you mean?"

"A nice fish smell."

"…Your nose must be much sharper than that of an average beast-person."

"Huh…?"

Was this delightful smell really undetectable to others? Gyeoul, wide-eyed, searched for Levinas and Saebyeok, wanting to confirm if they also didn’t smell the fish.

"Levinas only smells like roses!"

Sniff, sniff.

Levinas leaned in and sniffed Sophia’s tail, then, suddenly, bit down on it.

Gnaw, gnaw—

The sound of something being chewed came from Levinas’ mouth as she bit the tail.

“Hey, don’t use my tail to relieve your teething.”

Levinas' head shook so vigorously that an afterimage appeared, but she still wouldn’t release the tail.

"Nom, nom."

Using Sophia’s tail to ease her teething? That must hurt a lot for a horned rabbit beast-person.

Gyeoul was concerned, but Sophia maintained a calm expression. Upon closer inspection, Sophia's previously soft tail had hardened to the strength of steel.

"Sophia, is your tail okay?"

"I used magic, so it's fine."

"Oh..."

Magic could do that? Gyeoul tried flexing her arm, but it remained as soft as ever. It didn’t harden like Sophia’s.

‘My power isn’t about strength, after all.’

Feeling a little embarrassed, Gyeoul scratched the back of her head and turned to look for Saebyeok for no particular reason.

Do you smell fish, Saebyeok?

Gyeoul wanted to ask but stopped when she saw Saebyeok staring intently at the fish.

“Why is she acting like that?” 

“Who knows…?”

Just like Gyeoul earlier, Saebyeok was holding onto the table with both hands, tail swaying as if she was about to bite into the fish at any moment.

Chomp—

“Oh.”

“Oh no.”

At that very moment, Saebyeok bit into a fish bigger than her forearm. Yoo Sang-ah quickly picked her up.

“No, spit it out.”

Yoo Sang-ah tried shaking Saebyeok, but she just clung to the fish more tightly. Gyeoul grabbed her head, realizing they had just ruined someone's competition entry.

“I'm so sorry...”

With her hands over her belly button, she bowed and apologized to the man. She feared a scolding, but he simply laughed warmly.

“It’s alright. That was fun.”

“Huh?”

What part of this was fun? Gyeoul tilted her head in confusion. Meanwhile, Saebyeok was still holding the fish in her mouth.

“Do you really like fish that much?”

“Yes. The person I really like is also a fish.”

“Oh…”

The man glanced at Sophia’s shark tail, where Levinas was still attached, gnawing away.

“You like fish, huh…? Then, how about tasting this? I’ll give you some fish as a reward.”

“Huh…? Can I?”

“Of course. If an expert tastes it, that’s even better for me.”

An expert, he said. That was a funny yet somewhat embarrassing term. Gyeoul scratched her cheek and called Saebyeok, who was in Yoo Sang-ah’s arms.

“Saebyeok.”

“...”

“Saebyeok?”

“Ah. What did I just do?” 

Saebyeok dropped the fish she had been holding in her mouth. Just as it was about to hit the ground, her tail curled around it and caught it.

“Wow.”

So, she really had gotten stronger after transforming. The fact that she could catch the fish with her tail left Gyeoul clapping in admiration.

“Sorry, the fish just looked too delicious.”

“Yeah. I know what you mean.”

“...You too, Gyeoul?”

“Yes. It’s just something we can’t help.”

Considering that it hadn’t even been a day since their transformation, it was probably hard to control themselves around fish. As a fellow feline beast-person, Gyeoul understood perfectly.

“It’s embarrassing.”

Saebyeok spoke with a blank expression. She didn’t really seem embarrassed, but her ears and tail were drooping.

“It’s okay, let’s try these snacks. If we give feedback, he’ll reward us with fish.”

“Fish…”

Saebyeok swallowed her saliva as Gyeoul fed her a piece of the treat. It was a well-mixed fish paste, though she couldn’t tell exactly what it was made of.

“Yum.”

Saebyeok’s ears and tail perked up as she chewed, her eyes widening as her pupils dilated.

“It’s good.”

It’s good? That much? Curious, Gyeoul popped a piece into her mouth.

“Wow…”

This was amazing. With her heightened sense of taste, she could tell this was better than any fish dish she’d had at a high-end buffet.

“Is this really cat food…?”

“It’s for the competition. I made it as gourmet as possible.”

“Oh…”

That made sense. Gyeoul nodded, feeding another bite to Saebyeok, when suddenly someone lifted her up.

“Wah.”

Her legs flailed in the air as she instinctively kicked. Turning, she saw Midsummer smiling at her.

“Gyeoul, what were you doing?”

“I was tasting food.”

“Tasting?”

Gyeoul fed Midsummer a piece of the treat with the same spoon they’d been using, which didn’t seem to bother anyone.

“Oh, it’s delicious.”

“Yes, they said it’s cat food, but it’s unbelievably good.”

“Ca-cat…”

Just then, the chef approached and showed Midsummer the ingredients.

“It’s fine. The concept was a dish that both people and cats could enjoy.”

“Oh… I see. I was confused for a moment because the cat food was so good.”

“Haha, thank you.”

The chef bowed and returned to his station, starting to tidy up while humming a cheerful tune, buoyed by the compliment.

Midsummer watched the chef, then set Gyeoul back down.

“It was so good I thought I had turned into a cat for a moment.”

“That would have been fun.”

“Yeah, it would have.”

Hehe.

Midsummer pulled a small bead from her pocket and tapped it on Gyeoul’s nose. The flour and egg coating on her body vanished, leaving her spotless.

“Wow.”

No matter how many times she saw it, magic was fascinating. Gyeoul’s eyes sparkled as she looked at her clean body.

“Do you know what this is, Gyeoul?”

“Um… a magic bead?”

“Right. It’s a cleaning item. It’s the same type of magic used on the pond. Yuna said to use it to clean you up.”

“Ah…”

Using such an impressive item to clean her made Gyeoul feel almost luxurious.

“Oh, Gyeoul, do you have some time tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“You should ask why.”

Midsummer tapped her nose playfully, making her blink with each touch.

“Why tomorrow?”

“It’s time for you to fight the first-stage dungeon boss.”

“Huh?”

Was she really ready for that already? It felt way too soon. Her ears and tail perked up in surprise.

“You won’t be going alone. I’m going to show you how to do a proper party play.”

“A party…”

With Midsummer by her side, there was nothing to fear. Her presence was unmatched in the first-stage dungeon.

“Mmph!”

Levinas raised her hand, still biting Sophia’s tail. Gyeoul somehow knew exactly what she meant.

“Yes, you can come too, Levinas.”

“Mmmph!”

Challenging a boss as a party… It was both nerve-wracking and exciting.

For the first time, Gyeoul felt like a true resident of this world.