Chapter 113
After the promotion ceremony, we immediately returned to the park.
Levinas was proud of the carrot badge she received at the ceremony, deliberately walking around where people were gathered.
"Ahem."
Levinas puffed out her chest towards the people.
The carrot badge sparkled on her chest as it caught the sunlight.
She wanted to show off the badge she got from the guild.
I found myself chuckling at her adorable behavior, but the people's reactions were lukewarm.
"...?"
Levinas looked puzzled, not understanding why.
I praised her in their stead.
"Levinas, your badge is really cool."
"Yeah! It's the coolest badge in the world!"
I looked at Levinas's badge with envy.
Finally, some people started to act, though their attempts were clumsy.
"Wow, look, a carrot badge."
"Wow! The legendary carrot badge that only the nicest kids can get...!"
The legendary carrot badge.
At that grand title, Levinas's white ears perked up.
"Wow, King, did you hear?! It's the legendary carrot badge...!"
"Yeah. Amazing. Only the nicest kids can get it."
"Yeah!"
Levinas, who was giggling, suddenly covered her mouth.
She felt sorry as she glanced at me and Saebyeok.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just... I feel bad because only my badge seems nice..."
She was guilty for having a nicer badge than others.
Just as I was about to reassure her, the onlookers pointed at Saebyeok's and my badges, pretending to be surprised.
"Wow! That's the legendary single-line sun badge!"
"Wow! The single-line sun badge that's given only to kids as nice as the owners of the legendary carrot badge?!"
Despite their poor acting, I felt grateful.
They were acting to comfort Levinas.
"King! Did you hear?! Your badge is as amazing as the carrot badge!"
"Seems like it's something similar."
"Hehe!"
Levinas smiled and clutched the badge on her chest tightly.
Seeing her happy made everyone smile warmly.
"Look how relieved the kids are."
"The wagging tail is really cute."
Though spoken in a whisper, I heard every word.
For some reason, the warm glances were directed at me.
"Hmm."
It felt as though they were trying to comfort me, not Levinas.
Could they think I was envious of Levinas's badge?
That was incorrect.
Just as I was about to clarify that it wasn't the case, Levinas grabbed Saebyeok's and my hands and led us away.
"Let's go over there too!"
"Uh, okay..."
Levinas confidently explored various parts of the park.
After wandering around the park for a while, she sat down in the bushes with a satisfied look on her face.
"Hehe, with the carrot badge, Levinas is invincible!"
"Yes, Levinas seems even more amazing now."
"Yeah!"
Levinas's legs stretched out and swung from side to side.
After enjoying the good mood for a while, she took out a book from her bag.
"What's that?"
"Shark bought it for me to study hard!"
"...A Korean language book?"
It was the kind of book that would be used by preschool or early elementary school children.
I became curious about the cute book cover.
As Levinas flipped through the book, cute pictures appeared.
With the subtitle 'Our Transportation', various modes of transport were drawn.
Next to the airplane picture were the consonants ㅂㅎㄱ.
Next to the bus picture were the consonants ㅂㅅ.
It was a chapter about matching words with pictures and consonants, and Levinas was struggling quite a bit.
"Um..."
Tap tap tap-
Levinas tapped her lips with a pencil.
The modern world seemed to be quite a challenge for her.
"Is it hard for you, Levinas?"
"Yeah. It's a bit difficult for me."
"Shall I help then?"
"Yes! Let's study together with Levinas!"
Levinas laid the book down on the ground.
Naturally, we lay down on the bushes.
"King, what's this?"
"This is..."
Levinas pointed to a picture that looked like an oval egg.
Next to the picture were the consonants ㅁㅂ ㅇㅂ.
'What is it.'
It was supposed to be about transportation, but why an egg?
I was puzzled by the mysterious picture.
"King, do you know what this is?"
"I, I'm not sure either..."
What could it be?
Feeling frustrated, I looked around, and Saebyeok, who had been quiet, spoke up.
"It's a magic disc."
"Magic disc...?"
Both Levinas and I expressed our confusion.
It was a reminder of how limited my knowledge was about vehicles I had never heard of before.
"It's like a skateboard, but you float in the air with magic and ride it."
"Aha..."
Being in a world with magic, there were unique forms of transportation.
I just scratched my cheek in awkwardness.
"King, isn't the world quite complicated?"
"Uh, yeah..."
"How are kids supposed to live!?"
Haah.
Levinas exhaled and moved her pencil to the next picture.
It was clearly a subway drawing.
Scribble scribble-
As Levinas awkwardly wrote down 'subway', she looked back and forth between Saebyeok and me.
She wanted to say something.
"Why?"
"Have the King and the Dark King ever ridden the subway? It looks like a worm."
"I haven't ridden it..."
"Me neither."
Since coming to this world, the only thing we had ridden was the guild car.
We had to save on transportation costs.
"Levinas has always wished to ride the subway someday."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Doesn't traveling underground like a worm sound like a dream?"
"Uh, yeah... like a dream..."
I never knew Levinas had such a wish.
It would have been nice to know in advance.
Now that it had come to this, it seemed like a good idea to let Levinas experience the subway.
"Levinas, how about we take the subway today?"
"Huh?!"
Levinas's eyes widened.
She even rolled her eyes left and right, as if to make sure she hadn't misheard.
"Riding the subway was my wish too."
"Really?! You too?!"
"Yeah."
I didn't expect Levinas to be so thrilled.
We decided to skip hunting today and all go to experience the subway together.
<+>
Lunchtime.
Returning home, Sophia sat in a massage chair to relax.
Her small body relaxed, but her mind was racing non-stop.
'It's too twisted.'
Thump thump thump-
As Sophia felt the massage chair beating her back, she remembered what Jung Yu-na had said.
Gyeoul considered a broken arm as just a minor injury.
Even the beast-kin, known for their strong spirits and bodies, groan when they break an arm.
Yet, an eight-year-old child thinks nothing of it.
It was sad to realize Gyeoul's statement wasn't just bravado.
'The more I know, the more horrific it becomes.'
She thought she knew about Gyeoul's past.
But the more she dug, the more miserable it became.
The depth of that abyss was now beyond measure.
"Haah..."
Well, whatever.
Now she's living happily.
Sophia rationalized it in a roundabout way.
Of course, she wasn't unaware that it was a rationalization to make herself feel better.
She decided to rest a bit and then think about it properly later.
'I wonder what the kids are doing.'
Gyeoul and Saebyeok must have gone hunting.
And Levinas... had she gone with them?
Just as Sophia was worrying about the kids.
The front door opened, and the cute sound of three children's footsteps entered.
"Get ready!"
At Levinas's shout, the three children ran into the room.
Sophia's eyes widened at the noisy scene.
"Aren't you going to the dungeon today?"
"No. We're going to try riding the subway today."
"The subway?"
"Yes."
Gyeoul's tail wagged softly.
Are they planning to go somewhere nice on the subway?
Sophia's curiosity grew.
"Where are you planning to go on the subway?"
"Nowhere in particular. We just want to experience riding it since we've never done it before."
"...I see."
The subway is a mode of transportation everyone uses.
Was it that special to these kids?
Sophia couldn't help but feel a sense of pity for the children.
"Dark King, do we need to bring anything to ride the subway?"
"...Sword?"
"Oi, you little..."
Thump
Sophia tapped Saebyeok's head with her staff.
Although adventurers were legally allowed to carry weapons, it was concerning that she thought of weapons first.
Her way of thinking was off by a long shot.
"Do we not need weapons?"
"There's no need to bring anything special. Just ourselves is enough."
How twisted must one's common sense be to think of bringing weapons first?
Knowing the children's past, Sophia could only feel frustrated.
"Shark, have you ever ridden the subway?"
"...I understand how it works."
"What does that mean?"
"...It means I've never ridden it."
"Then Shark should come with us! Let's all become worms together!"
Levinas pulled on Sophia's hand.
Unable to send the children alone, Sophia reluctantly agreed to join.
"But you must not make noise and listen well."
"We can't say even one word?!"
"One word is allowed."
"Got it!"
Zip
Levinas covered her own mouth.
She really intended to say only one word for the subway ride.
<+>
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