After cleaning up the party with my family, I returned ho.
I needed to let my food digest for a bit.
As I stood there rubbing my belly, Levinas approached .
"King! Look at this!"
"What is it?"
"Cookies!"
Levinas held out a large box of cookies to .
To think she wanted to eat more after we'd just had a big al.
My eyes widened in surprise.
"Levinas, aren't you full?"
"I am! But these are amazing cookies, so I want to eat them!"
"Amazing cookies...?"
Why was she making such a big deal about them?
I examined the cookies Levinas was offering.
The brand na on the package was in English, but not the kind of English I knew.
There were unfamiliar symbols attached to the alphabet.
"Magic Yu-na gave these to us as a gift!"
"I see."
She must have bought them as souvenirs from Norway.
The thought of it being a gift made feel good.
"King! Dark King! Want to eat these with Levinas?!"
"Sure. But let's just have a little since we're full."
"I'll have a little too."
"Yeah! Got it!"
Levinas nodded and opened the cookie box.
There was a dotted line to cut along, but Levinas ignored it and just ripped the box open.
"Wow."
Levinas had a bit of a wild side.
As I thought this, I looked at the cookies inside the box.
Inside the large box was a clear plastic container filled with animal-shaped cookies.
"!"
Levinas opened the plastic lid.
The aroma of the cookies was so appealing that I felt I could eat a few even though I was full.
"We can't eat this one!"
Levinas picked up a cat-shaped cookie and placed it on the table.
I thought she was going to sort out all the cat-shaped cookies, but then she picked up a rabbit-shaped one.
"We can't eat this one either! Oh! Or this!"
There were dog-shaped cookies and shark-shaped ones too.
I could guess why Jung Yu-na had bought these cookies as a gift.
"It's a crocodile! We can eat the crocodile cookies!"
Crunch crunch!
Levinas chewed and swallowed the crocodile cookie.
Saebyeok and I each took a cookie and ate it too.
They were deliciously savory.
Just as I was about to comnt on how tasty they were, the front door opened and Gaeul ca in.
"Master!"
Pitter-patter.
Gaeul ca running with energetic footsteps.
When she saw , Gaeul opened her mouth wide.
What's this about?
Does she want to feed her a cookie?
I put a cookie in Gaeul's open mouth.
Munch munch, Gaeul wagged her tail as she ate the cookie, but then she suddenly shook her head.
"No!"
"No?"
"Huh!"
Gaeul pointed at my mouth.
Then she made an "ah" sound again.
Does she want to open my mouth?
I opened my mouth as Gaeul seed to be asking.
Suddenly, sothing flew into my mouth.
'Huh?'
What's this?
It doesn't seem like sothing to eat.
I bit down on the object Gaeul had put in my mouth with my front teeth.
The feeling of it gripping my entire lips was oddly comfortable.
'It's like thick vinyl, but soft.'
I wanted to guess what this object in my mouth was.
I chewed on it while looking straight ahead.
"Oh!"
Yeoreum's eyes widened when she saw .
She took out her smartphone and started taking photos and videos from various angles.
What's going on here?
Unable to contain my curiosity any longer, I spat out the object in my mouth.
What landed in my palm was none other than a pacifier for babies.
"Huh."
Why did Gaeul put this in my mouth?
I looked at Gaeul with confused eyes.
"Master, yum yum?"
"No, we can't eat this."
"No yum yum?"
"Yeah. Only babies can enjoy this."
"Huh...?"
Gaeul looked up and down with blank eyes.
Then she tilted her head and pointed at .
"Baby."
"Yes, only babies use this."
"Baby! Baby!"
Stomp stomp stomp-
Gaeul stomped her feet, pointing at .
Usually, I could understand everything Gaeul said, but this ti I had trouble understanding.
"U-um..."
I decided to just go along with it for now.
When I nodded, Gaeul looked satisfied.
I never figured out why she acted that way.
I might as well eat so more cookies.
When I turned to the side, I saw that Levinas had sohow gotten the pacifier in her mouth.
Suck suck-
The pacifier made that sound as it moved back and forth.
"Oh my."
This ti, Yeoreum took photos of Levinas.
Levinas did look cute doing that.
What I did earlier...
Was it a bit strange?
My cheeks flushed with embarrassnt.
**
After digesting our food, we went to the park with the children.
We wandered around the park, wondering what to play.
"King! Want to play hide-and-seek?!"
"Hmm... I've left my scent all over the place today, so I'd find you quickly."
"Then you can be the one hiding!"
"Okay. That could work. Saebyeok and Gaeul..."
Just as I was about to ask if they wanted to join in hide-and-seek, a huge cylinder next to the tent caught my eye.
'What's that?'
It looked like a hamster wheel, but it was too big for that.
It was about as tall as an adult man, large enough for and the children to fit inside.
"King, what's this?"
"I'm not sure..."
Is it a giant squirrel wheel?
Are there squirrels this big in our park?
We gathered around to discuss what this wheel could be.
As we were talking, Encia approached us.
"How do you like it?"
"Encia?"
Ahem.
Encia puffed out her chest.
Her wolf tail was wagging rapidly behind her back.
"Doesn't it look fun?"
"What is this?"
"It's called a cat wheel. We got it from the Monster Research Institute."
"Monster Research Institute?"
"Yes. It's installed to keep the monsters in the institute from getting bored."
I see.
So it's a giant wheel for monsters.
But why did they bring it here?
Saebyeok answered my unspoken question.
"...!"
Saebyeok perked up her tail and climbed onto the cat wheel.
From her dilated pupils and gently swaying tail, I could tell how excited Saebyeok was.
Pitter-patter-
Saebyeok ran quickly on the cat wheel.
Even though it was just running on a round cylinder, it seed more fun than hide-and-seek.
'Ah, I get it.'
It's a ga that stimulates beast-kin instincts.
It lets us indulge our instincts and exercise at the sa ti - killing two birds with one stone.
I understood why Encia had brought the giant cat wheel.
"Levinas too! Levinas too!"
"Master...!"
The children looked at the cat wheel with sparkling eyes.
Wanting to ride the cat wheel, they lined up next to Saebyeok.
'It does look fun.'
I should try it too.
I got in line behind the children.
Realizing we were waiting, Saebyeok soon got off the cat wheel.
"Saebyeok, is this fun?"
"Yeah. It's really fun. You should try it too, Gyeoul."
Saebyeok's tail wagged quickly.
Seeing this, Encia's shoulders rose with excitent.
Then Levinas rode the cat wheel, followed by Gaeul.
As my turn approached, my tail started wagging faster too.
'Instincts are really amazing.'
It's just running inside a cylinder, but I felt so excited even before trying it.
How much more fun would it be when I actually ran?
Unable to wait any longer, I took my first step.
Tap tap-
I started running inside the cylinder, gradually increasing my speed.
I ran at my top speed without using mana.
"Wow."
This feeling of freedom is no joke.
Should I use mana to go even faster?
I used mana to strengthen my legs.
Pitter-patter-patter!
I took more than ten steps per second.
It was an incredible speed I'd never reached before.
"W-wow."
"That's so fast."
The children watching from the side exclaid in amazent.
I felt a bit proud.
I think I can go even faster.
Should I try running at my absolute top speed?
That's when my overconfidence led to an accident.
"Nyah!"
I suddenly misstepped.
If it had been flat ground, it wouldn't have mattered, but I was running on a rapidly spinning cat wheel.
Splat-!
I fell forward.
There was no pain, but the rotational force remained.
"Aaaah."
The remaining rotational force of the cat wheel pushed my body backward.
Centrifugal force carried up to the ceiling, then halfway around and back down.
I kept spinning inside the cat wheel like that.
"Master...!"
"Wha!"
In the rapidly spinning world, I could see the children's shocked faces.
And Encia's frozen expression.
"Nyaaaah."
How fast had I been running?
I spun around inside the cat wheel many tis due to its rotational and centrifugal forces.
Until Encia finally grabbed the cat wheel to stop it.
**
Jeffrey Wilson.
He was an adventurer who had been competing for rankings with Kang Jinho.
His recent concern was the suddenly strengthened Yeomyeong Guild.
'What did they eat to get so strong?'
Jeffrey watched the news with a grim expression.
Newspapers, TV news, internet articles - every dia outlet was talking about Yeomyeong Guild.
'They can't have gotten that strong so suddenly.'
Unable to contain himself any longer, Jeffrey Wilson contacted Kang Jinho.
He demanded to know what was going on.
Kang Jinho left Jeffrey with one sentence before hanging up.
'Co and have a cup of tea.'
It was sothing Kang Jinho would never normally say.
'Have tea?'
They had never leisurely had tea together before.
Does he have sothing to tell ?
Kang Jinho wasn't the type to mock soone for being surpassed.
He must have sothing important to say.
'I guess I'll go.'
The number one ranked adventurer in Arica.
Jeffrey Wilson was on the move.
To drink the 'dandelion honey tea' Kang Jinho had ntioned.
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