As the sun began to set, we all went into the guild building together.
From the mont we entered, Bom couldn't shake her nervousness.
"Hey, are you all actually important people...?"
"Yes! Our King is the most important person in the world - the King!"
"I-I see... but I'm just a lowly person..."
As Bom's shoulders slumped, the doors opened to the guild's pride - its high-speed elevator.
The interior was much wider than a normal elevator, and Bom suddenly perked up like nothing had happened.
"I know what this is! It goes up to the sky!"
"The technical term is elevator!"
Ahem.
Levinas puffed out her chest while Bom hopped from foot to foot in front of the elevator.
She seed to be living on the streets in the neighborhood.
Was this her first ti riding an elevator?
I gently pushed her back, encouraging her to get on.
"Would you like to go first, Bom?"
"? Shouldn't important people go first?"
"No, there's no such thing as important people between us."
"Huh?!"
Was there sothing strange about what I'd said?
Bom tilted her head briefly, then slowly stretched her foot toward the elevator.
"Wow."
As the elevator rose quickly, Bom just stared down through the glass windows.
Unlike us who had an instinctive fear of heights, Bom seed to enjoy being up high, wagging her tail.
"Aren't you scared of heights, Bom?"
"Nope. I like going up high in the sky like this."
"Huh? Do you often fly through the sky?"
"Um... no...? This is my first ti being this high up, but why...?"
"...?"
Bom seed puzzled by her own words.
Just as her tail ford a question mark, the elevator doors opened.
"We're ho!"
Levinas ran out first and entered the door code.
Beep beep beep beep-
"Beep beep beep beep."
Gaeul mimicked the sound of entering the code.
Thinking this must be so kind of ritual, Bom also copied the sound, going "beep beep beep beep."
"Snake, are you ready to co in?!"
"Y-yes...!"
"Then co on in!"
At Levinas's warm welco, Bom carefully stepped into the house.
Seeing her walk in so cautiously, Han Yeoreum let out a cry.
"B-Bom!"
"Y-yes...?"
"You need to take your shoes off before entering the house."
"Oh, right."
With a flash of black mana, Bom's shoes disappeared.
This revealed that her clothes were created by magic.
'Amazing.'
With magic like that, did she not need to spend money on clothes?
While I was envying Bom's magic, she was envying our ho.
"A-amazing... I've never seen such a nice house... Do important people live in places like this?"
"Bom, we're not important people."
"Then how can you live in a place like this if you're not important?"
"Well..."
I wasn't sure how to explain.
While I hesitated, Levinas puffed out her chest with an "ahem."
"If you collect lots of empty bottles, you can live in a place like this!"
"Empty bottles?"
"Yeah! Snake should collect lots of empty bottles too!"
"Empty bottles...!"
Bom's eyes sparkled.
Gaeul grabbed Bom's hand, seeming to want to show her sothing.
"Microwave! Microwave!"
"Huh?!"
Gaeul led her to the microwave.
Pointing at it, Gaeul puffed out her chest with an "ahem."
"What's this?"
"Wave!"
"Wave?"
"Heuk...!"
Gaeul poured milk from the refrigerator into a cup and put it in the microwave.
Beep beep, she expertly started the microwave and began spinning in circles.
"What are you doing?!"
"You have to spin in circles while it's running."
"Really?!"
Bom spun in circles following Gaeul.
, Levinas, and Saebyeok also spun in circles.
Beep beep-
When the microwave finally finished, we stopped spinning.
Stumbling slightly, Gaeul took out the milk and handed it to Bom.
"This is for ?!"
"Heuk...!"
Gaeul smiled brightly as Bom joyfully accepted the warm milk.
The milk seed precious to Bom - she kept holding it without drinking.
"Your ceiling is so high. Even if I jump, I won't hit my head."
"Yeah! But King hits her head when she jumps!"
"Wow..."
We walked around the spacious house with Bom.
With so many rooms and so much space, we had to run around everywhere.
Pitter patter-
As we ran through the rooms with the children, we found the adults sitting at the table with serious expressions.
Young Encia, who had co ho with Sophia, looked especially serious.
"Don't you think it's about ti?"
"Hmm... I think it's still too early..."
"But we can't leave things like this forever, can we?"
"...That's true."
Unlike the children laughing and playing, the adults looked quite serious.
Worried, I sat down between them.
"What were you talking about?"
"We were thinking it might be ti to visit the beast-kin village."
"Are we leaving...?"
"No, just visiting briefly. This is our ho, isn't it?"
Ah.
So we'd be coming back.
I sighed in relief.
"Why are we going to the beast-kin village?"
"To show them Gyeoul."
"?"
"Yes. Do you rember how our beast-kin are divided into two factions?"
"Um... yes."
The radical faction with the bad snakes, and the moderate faction with Sophia.
I'd learned they were divided into these two factions.
"Currently, the radicals' actions are getting out of hand. Ever since Levinas left their village, surveillance has beco extre."
"...They really are radical."
"Yes. Without transformation magic like Bom's, escape would be impossible."
Despite the serious topic, Encia showed no anger.
She just looked on with clear eyes.
"Currently, beast-kin are divided into two factions because there is no king."
"King?"
"Yes, but there are many candidates."
"Wow."
So a king would be chosen from among the candidates.
A beast-kin king.
Since I was beast-kin too, would I have to follow the beast-kin king's orders?
If so, I hoped they would be a good king.
As I was lost in these thoughts, for so reason everyone was looking at .
"Gyeoul is currently one of the king candidates."
"M-...?"
Surprised, I could only point at my chest.
Sophia patted my back reassuringly.
"Don't be too shocked, there are plenty of candidates. Every beast-kin has their own candidate."
"I-I see?"
So I was just one of many candidates.
I felt relieved, but was shocked by Sophia's next words.
"...However, you might need to aim for the throne, Gyeoul."
"What?!"
Beast-kin king.
I'd never even thought about such an important position.
Startled, I frantically waved my hands.
"I-I can't..."
"Hmm... you seem to have a misunderstanding, Gyeoul."
"Misunderstanding?"
"Yes, the king we're talking about isn't one who rules over everyone."
If not a ruling king, then what?
I could only stare silently at Sophia.
"Living in modern society has taught sothing. The concept of kings is outdated."
"That's true. With a king, the country revolves around them."
"Yes, with a king, beast-kin won't be free. The king is always the center."
"Then maybe I..."
I think I understood what Sophia wanted.
But I didn't speak first, wanting to hear it directly from her.
"If you beco king, could you give freedom to the beast-kin?"
"Yes. I like everyone being free. But being king..."
"It won't be as difficult as you think. Earth's beast-kin haven't established their system yet."
"I see..."
Beast-kin king.
Such a heavy topic had co up unexpectedly.
Could I really do it?
As I stared down at the table lost in worry, Han Yeoreum patted my shoulder.
"Gyeoul, rember that world we went to through the portal? The one with MS?"
"Yes. It was a world with many amazing things."
"Right. Rember how you pretended to be the scary MS there? It's similar. You're not becoming king, just pretending."
"Ah...!"
Not becoming a real king, but pretending to be one.
To give everyone freedom.
I could definitely do that much.
"But how do I get recognized as king?"
"Don't worry too much about that part. We have a plan prepared."
"Okay."
If Sophia said so, it must be true.
I decided not to worry about it.
"By the way Sophia, can we even enter the beast-kin village?"
"Normally it would be impossible... but with Bom's help, it might work."
"Bom?"
"Yes, Yeoreum, you'll need to beco beast-kin using Bom's magic."
So she'd beco beast-kin to co to the village with us.
Having family like Han Yeoreum there would be reassuring.
"M- becoming beast-kin..."
"Is there a type of beast-kin you'd like to be?"
A smile spread across Sophia's face.
The heavy conversation seed to be over.
"Hmm... then I'd like to be a pretty..."
"Dragon!"
"...Huh?"
"Want to be a dragon?!"
Bom, who had appeared without us noticing, shouted at Han Yeoreum.
Han Yeoreum's eyes went wide.
"Why should sister be a dragon?"
"Because she's so evil! Yeoreum is the most evil person I've ever t!"
"B-Bom..."
Han Yeoreum was flustered while Sophia chuckled.
Finding it funny, I couldn't help giggling too.
Thanks to this, I was able to completely forget my worries about the beast-kin village.
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