Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Reeducation and Strawberry Cake
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A fairly spacious private cell.
Though they called it a prison, the accommodations for caution-level Otherworlders were actually quite nice.
Honestly, it wasn't much different from a hotel suite.
There were several rooms, and my special requests had clearly been fulfilled.
The bed looked incredibly plush.
They said it was to increase the Otherworlder's chances of rehabilitation and to expose them to this world's culture in a more positive light, even if just a little.
I fully agreed with that humane approach.
Opening the door to the counseling room revealed the wide interior at a glance.
And that room was now separated from me by thick, transparent reinforced glass.
I'd expected Seol Yu-wol to come rushing at me the moment I opened the door, but there was no reaction.
I approached the glass and slowly scanned the room's interior.
I didn't let my guard down. She could lunge forward like before and bang on the glass to startle me.
Then I spotted her.
Crouched in one corner of the room, her face buried in her knees.
"…?"
The atmosphere was completely different from before…
With her senses, she must have noticed someone arriving.
The room allowed sound to pass through for communication purposes.
I activated my ability.
[Seol Yu-wol]
[Main Stance]
Knocked out by the Heavenly Demon's strike and dragged here by Demonic Cultists. She considers herself utterly pathetic. Suffering from extreme lethargy and self-loathing.
[Suitable Response] [Satisfaction Fit: 60%]
"Calm yourself, young lady. This is not the Central Plains you know."
The base fit rate was extremely low.
Proof of how unstable her mental state was.
Still, I had to do it.
"Calm yourself, young lady. This is not the Central Plains you know."
At my low voice, Seol Yu-wol slowly raised her head.
Through her disheveled black-and-white hair, cold blue eyes emerged.
Her blue eyes scanned me up and down.
"…."
She stared at me for a long while before parting her dry lips.
"Is this the Western Regions?"
"………."
"Or perhaps the Southern Barbarians?"
Yeah.
This reaction followed a perfectly natural progression.
Since it wasn't the Central Plains, she assumed she'd lost to the Demonic Cult and been dragged to some prison in a distant land.
There were protocols for explaining this world to Otherworlders first thing.
Time to get to that quickly.
"Young lady. Could you look over here for a moment?"
I turned on the wall-mounted monitor screen in her room.
"…!"
When dazzling light and sound burst from the black, massive glass panel, Seol Yu-wol flinched back in surprise.
She glared hostilely at the suspicious object she'd never seen before.
I spoke in a low voice, ignoring her wariness.
"Commencing reeducation."
This had to come first.
[Good!]
Only then could we have a real conversation.
"Hm hm hmm~"
She hummed cheerfully as she headed to the counselor's office.
Elise's short tail swayed happily.
The counselor's protection detail had gone off without a hitch, despite her worries.
Today, she could head home just like that.
And on top of that, she'd received an unexpected gift, putting her in an incredibly good mood.
'The vanilla cake next to it is for Elise.'
Not just the strawberry cake for Luna unnie, but the fact that the counselor had made one for her too was pure joy.
It seemed the closeness she'd felt at the orphanage hadn't been her imagination after all.
On the surface, she acted like she had an open mind due to her beastkin image—wild and free.
But in truth, she'd never had any experience with men.
All of Elise's provocative behavior was just a clumsy beastkin's defense mechanism against being ignored.
- Click.
"Oh."
The counselor had given her a keychain, and luckily, she found the one for the office on the first try.
Good moods really made everything go right.
Elise smiled happily and stepped inside.
The counseling room was quiet. No one was there.
The sweet scent of freshly baked morning bread and the faint bitterness of his coffee lingered ever so slightly… filling the space.
A non-beastkin wouldn't have noticed.
Recalling his gesture… the kitchen was that way.
She headed to the small room at the back of the counseling area.
There was a compact kitchen, and in it, a white refrigerator.
Elise grabbed the fridge handle.
"Wow…."
She gasped at the two prettily packaged cake boxes inside.
Handling them like treasures, she carried them out.
Just as she carefully headed for the door—
"Gasp…."
Elise had to stop in her tracks.
She hadn't noticed it so strongly in the lobby outside.
And once inside, she'd been too focused on the cakes to properly catch it.
But her sensitive nose picked up the counselor's scent—intensely.
"Why… is it like this?"
She'd never felt anything like it before.
She knew men's scents inside out, from experience.
But this was… a bit different…
Sweeter, softer, like vanilla…
Elise stood frozen, searching for the source of the scent—no, the aroma.
And she found it.
[Counselor Yoo Seon-woo]
It was his white doctor's coat, left draped over the chair back.
Once identified, the scent seemed to deepen.
Then.
Without any warning, a strange impulse overtook Elise's mind.
She drifted toward it like she was mesmerized… then snapped out of it.
"?!"
'What am I doing….'
Her face burning red, Elise grabbed the cakes and bolted out.
Thank goodness the counseling room was empty.
Luna was watching the live broadcast of the Otherworlder situation on TV.
When the counselor vanished due to the Dimensional Transfer erosion, she'd jumped to her feet without thinking.
'It's okay, it's okay, Luna.'
If Lily next to her hadn't calmed her down, she might have dashed out right then to Seoul Forest.
After an agonizing wait that tested her patience, the counselor emerged safe.
It seemed resolved without issue.
The broadcast ended there.
She figured he realistically wouldn't visit today.
So she returned to the hunters' private lounge and pulled out a dusty book.
A rare moment of leisure.
Lately, she'd felt constantly chased, unable to even imagine reading.
But now, her mind was at peace.
"…."
She turned the pages one by one.
Her noisy thoughts grew silent.
Luna could only thank the counselor for making such ordinary moments possible again.
How long had she read?
- Wow, that looks delicious!
- Hold on!
The lounge outside the shelter suddenly grew noisy.
"Elise is back."
Her beloved little sister had returned from her mission. Perfect timing—she'd just finished the book.
To praise Elise for protecting the counselor well and express her thanks, Luna opened the door.
"No way! It's mine!"
But seeing the lounge, Luna froze on the spot.
Elise was surrounded by other hunters, clutching a white cake box tightly to her chest.
- Sniff sniff.
Vanilla aroma tickled her nose.
The cake visible through the box was flawless in shape and detail.
Luna instantly knew who made it.
That level of craftsmanship matched his cookies and sandwiches.
'Counselor….'
A cake?
Why?
Because Elise did a good job protecting him, as thanks?
No, that didn't make sense…
He wouldn't have had time to bake.
As Luna's mind spun—
"Unnie!"
Elise spotted her from afar and waved brightly.
Luna barely had the strength to wave back, but managed.
Elise approached with a smile.
Envy surged.
I wish I could smile like that.
Oblivious to Luna's feelings, Elise thrust forward the cake box with a strawberry drawing.
"…Huh?"
When Luna came to, she held an identical vanilla cake box.
"Ta-da! Counselor made it for you this morning!"
Elise added,
"And while he was at it, he made one for me too. Hehe."
So… that was it.
Luna realized.
The counselor was thoughtful—he'd prepared not just hers, but Elise's too.
It was for her from the start…
Luna carefully opened the box.
Inside was the prettiest cake she'd ever seen.
Fluffy white cream piled like winter snow, topped with glistening red strawberries blooming like flowers.
Unthinkingly, Luna reached out and dabbed the cream with her index finger.
And.
- Lick.
She licked the cream off her finger.
Her red tongue slowly, softly swept over the white cream.
As it brushed her lips, she savored the taste.
'Sweet…'
The melting sweetness made her whole body tingle.
She smiled deeply, languidly, without realizing.
The world's sweetest—and most dangerous—flavor.
"…."
Luna suddenly noticed the quiet.
The lounge noise, boisterous moments ago, had vanished like a lie.
Turning, she saw most guild members staring at her, dumbfounded, as if by agreement.
"W-Why are you all like that?"
When innocent-eyed Luna asked, nearby Lily barely spoke.
"Well… just now…."
But Lily couldn't continue.
Luna's half-lidded eyes, her rapturous sigh, the way her tongue moved over the cream.
It was far more sensual than her own fox beastkin seduction.
She couldn't say it.