Kirikiri stomped on the floor and walked.
A hum came out of nowhere.
Her new shoes, which she bought in the village she had recently stopped by, were fluffy.
Even when she walked on an uneven dirt road, the floor felt as comfortable as in the rabbit village.
It was also nice to see a pretty butterfly fluttering and flying while she was walking down the street.
The rabbit village was a good place, but it was too high up.
The creatures that could live there were limited.
Everything she had seen when she left the village was new.
The sadness of being kicked out of the village on the eve of the festival was soon forgotten, and she was fully enjoying this trip.
It was not that there was no anxiety in her journey.
The old man with the eccentric name of High Seeker with her was a good man.
But her father was also a good person.
Enough for the rabbits to welcome him into their family and provide a house on the other side of the village.
Her father betrayed everyone and left without any warning one day.
She cleared the ground for the camp and pitched a tent.
Kirikiri’s large backpack was full of all kinds of camping gear.
Rabbits thought they should always have no shortage of sleeping and eating.
Kirikiri was the same.
She had that thought as she lay down in the tent and fell asleep.
She felt like she was getting closer to her father who abandoned her when she was young.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he left the rabbit village and came into the human world.
Perhaps it was because of that feeling, Kirikiri was often disturbed in her sleep.
It was a hazy dream that she couldn’t even remember properly when she woke up, but it strangely felt bad for her.
Every time she had such a bad dream, Kirikiri thought that it’s not good for her to be so relaxed.
She also didn’t want to be betrayed, as she knew nothing.
She gave strength to her eyes and opened them.
Like a seasoned hunter, she cleverly searches for clues and traces of her prey.
The high seeker smiled awkwardly.
What is that face?
Yes, he must have been flustered by her own cleverness.
Kirikiri continued her observation.
“Do you like meat too?”
The high seeker asked.
She thinks she will eat meat for breakfast.
Kirikiri was excited and she answered ‘yes!’.
She can’t eat if she doesn’t have meat.
The high seeker smiled and walked away saying that he was going to go hunting.
Kirikiri even waved her hand and said to go and come back quickly.
After the high seeker’s figure disappeared through the trees, Kirikiri belatedly noticed her own mistake.
‘This isn’t it!’
Kirikiri’s picture of herself as she imagined was a bright, intelligent, and shrewd rabbit.
So she shouldn’t have easily relaxed!
The high seeker returned quickly.
Kirikiri, contrary to what she had promised, was delighted to be able to eat meat.
She was sad to see the dead deer.
The piece of meat that has been slaughtered and roasted made her rejoice again.
“It’s good to see you eating well.”
The high seeker said.
After she took a bite full of meat and was happy, Kirikiri was shocked again.
‘Oh! This isn’t it! It’s really not it!’
Why can’t she be serious?
It was deplorable.
The same scenery continued the next morning.
“Kirikiri.”
“Hng!”
The high seeker wasn’t even surprised by Kirikiri, who was now on the verge of limitless vigilance.
“We ran out of honey.”
…… !?
Kirikiri widened his eyes as if how in the world could that be.
It was the most shocking news.
“Fortunately, there is a beehive I saw yesterday.”
The high seeker asked if she would like to go and pick a beehive.
Kirikiri was excited today as well and followed the high seeker.
‘Oh, not this again!’
* * *
The two finally reached their destination, the city.
Kirikiri raised her head and looked up at the wall.
She’s been to human villages and small towns a few times, but it’s the first time she’s seen a city with such high walls.
The high seeker said she could get enough pearls here.
Kirikiri also looked at the wall and agreed.
The high seeker took out the large robe he had prepared in advance.
It was to cover Kirikiri’s ears.
The legend about the mysterious rabbits living on the plateau of the Blue Mountains is not widely known here.
Even if they know someone, they wouldn’t think of the rabbits in the fairy tale when they see Kirikiri.
She will probably only look like an ordinary and pretty rabbit magical beast.
They had to be careful.
Kirikiri is a naive beast who is easy to deceive, and she also possesses a magical crystal large enough to shake the continent.
Even in the village at the beginning of the Blue Mountains, where rabbits were sacred, thieves chased after seeing Kirikiri’s magical crystals.
In big cities, they have to be extra careful.
It was better not to be seen by people as much as possible.
Fortunately, Kirikiri did not show any characteristics of a beast except for the ears.
The problem was this.
Pop!
“Wow!”
Kirikiri looked at the city’s market street and shouted.
She was so surprised, her ears popped, and it stood up.
The hood of the robe was removed as the long, droopy ears pointed towards the sky.
The high seeker hurriedly put the hood back on, but it was still in a state where the ears were standing still.
Only after the high seeker warned did Kirikiri’s ears falter again.
“Whoa!”
Kirikiri shouted again.
A man was walking with a bag of bread in his arms.
The bread had a sweet aroma.
Kirikiri’s ears soared with a force to pierce the sky again.
This was repeated over and over again before entering the inn.
Afterwards, the high seeker felt like a bit of an idiot continuing to put the hood on Kirikiri.
Kirikiri liked the inn.
It looked very different from the inn at the beginning of the Blue Mountains.
The hall used as a restaurant was also really big.
The rooms were on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
Kirikiri was led by the high seeker to the third floor while still glancing at the hall and dragging her feet.
He always thought she was fed enough, but the rabbit’s appetite was more than he thought.
The high seeker was relieved only after bringing Kirikiri to the room.
The High Seeker once again reminded Kirikiri to be cautious in the city.
There are many people in the city.
There were good people, and there were bad people.
There were many people who were very clever in speech and words.
Slaughtering one of the seemingly inexperienced beasts was not even a matter.
Kirikiri widened her eyes as if she wasn’t a seemingly inexperienced beast.
The high seeker was still anxious.
He gave the warning again and stood up.
The high seeker thought it would be better for him to decide where to buy the pearls alone, rather than go out to search for pearls with Kirikiri.
Just before leaving the room, the high seeker looked back at Kirikiri one last time.
Kirikiri opened her eyes as if not to worry.
‘…… Let’s go as soon as possible.’
With that promise, he left the inn.
The high seeker soon regretted it.
After only two hours, the inn’s room was empty.
It wasn’t very empty.
There was also Kirikiri’s large backpack, and an unidentified letter on the bed.
But, most importantly, Kirikiri herself was not seen.
The high seeker hastily read her letter.
The letter was written in a crooked font.
[Hello, Mister High Seeker.]
From here on, the high seeker became anxious.
Why am I called ‘Mister High Seeker’?
She calls him uncle comfortably these days.
Is it because it was in writing?
He then continued to read the letter.
[I went down to the dining hall.]
‘… Don’t go down.’
Apparently he had made such a request several times, but Kirikiri seemed to have gone down alone as if it was natural.
[It smelled very delicious.]
Do you think that’s a good enough reason?
That must have smelled delicious.
It’s late in the evening.
It’s fine if she went down to the hall.
If only she hadn’t left the inn.
However, the high seeker did not see Kirikiri even in the inn hall.
[I went down to the restaurant and met good people.]
The high seeker at this point had to feel a strong urge to stop reading the letter.
[Good people introduced delicious food.]
Yes it would be.
He doesn’t know who they are, but they chose the best way.
If they had tried to scare her in moderation or entice her with something else, Kirikiri would have been wary of those people.
At least they’re trying to trick her with something to eat.
[It was said that there is more delicious food in the houses of humans. I’ll go to the human’s houses.]
At the end of the letter were these words:
[I’ll bring you something to eat!]
The letter ended like that.
Unfortunately.
The high seeker understood the situation.
Kirikiri, who smelled the food, went down alone, met humans there, and got fished on the pretext of delicious food.
[… I think she will get caught.]
said the sword.
The high seeker couldn’t deny it.
“I’ll try to track her down first.”
If she was really lucky, the people who took Kirikiri might serve food with really good intentions.
Rather, they were more likely to have approached her with ill intent.
Of course, considering Kirikiri’s physical abilities and her many mystical powers, which he discovered during the travels, she won’t be easily overpowered.
But when she was obsessed with food, he couldn’t be sure of anything.
“Please take care of me.”
[Ha, is it this body’s turn to go out again?]
The sword exclaimed so and performed tracking magic.
It’s been a while since he’s been doing magic, so he struggled a bit, but the sword was able to catch the traces of Kirikiri soon.
The traces of Kirikiri continued uninterrupted.
Even the high seeker who did not use tracking magic could see the traces with the naked eye.
He was so excited that the footprints of running around were very clearly visible.
[It’s getting a little serious.]
said the sword.
The road was blocked, by soldiers with spears.
The traces of Kirikiri continued.
It was leading into the lord’s castle where the lord who ruled this city resided.
It was already evening and the sun had gone down, so the gates of the castle were tightly shut.
Soldiers were stationed in front of the closed door.
[What should I do?]
There were two ways.
The high seeker reveals his identity and enters the residence legally and proudly.
Or, he enters the castle illegally and proudly without revealing his identity.
[Isn’t it enough to sneak in and find just the rabbit?]
That wasn’t the High Seeker’s style.
He could have been caught and pursued for nothing.
He had enough reasons and justifications to break through the lord’s castle.
He just boldly went in and secured Kirikiri.
It was neater for him to negotiate with the lord.
Of course, if caught, he will be arrested immediately and rot in the cell for the rest of his life or receive harsh punishment.
If he had transcendental powers, it would have been better if this side wasn’t complicated.
and
[Hmmhmm.]
His god also favors this side.
The God of Light was already happy because he expected to see the sword of light after a long time.
Unfortunately, the high seeker had no intention of using the Sword of Light.
He did not intend to hide his power, but he did not intend to expose his identity as the king of a country.
The high seeker drew his sword and stepped forward.
The soldiers who were guarding the gates approached due to the suspicious behavior.
[Hey, why is this body so good?]
The sword trembled.
Unlike usual, the high seeker simply listened to the sword’s self-compliment.
“Stop! This is the lord’s castle! Those who are not permitted to enter…!”
There was no intention of convincing the soldiers from the beginning.
It was of no use stating that he had come to visit his abducted colleague here.
It was questionable whether he would even be taken to the upper level after talking to the soldiers.
“If you come any closer…!”
The soldiers repeated their warnings, but when the high seeker got too close, they stopped him and raised their spears.
The composition of the soldiers’ weapons was simple.
A small shield and a spear in light armor.
It was the most basic and most powerful configuration.
The high seeker was also a former soldier who used to run around the battlefield wearing that kind of outfit.
The spear was smashed.
The spear blade did not reach the high seeker.
The moment the soldier wielded the spear, the blade part was cut into pieces and fell to the floor.
Thud.
The soldier swung his shield, blaming the old spear and the lord who always budgeted only a small budget for the guards.
The high seeker lightly blocked the shield with his hand.
There was a noise of scraping steel in the air, and the shield the soldier was holding shattered into pieces in a checkered pattern.
Looking at the remnants of the sharply cut and falling shield, the soldier could tell that the spear had been cut off by something rather than a worn-out tip.
The soldier was startled and stepped back.
The high seeker approached the gates of the lord’s castle instead of dealing with the soldiers pointlessly.
It was a strong gate.
A thick gate that seems difficult for an adult male to open alone.
The high seeker beckoned.
Accordingly, the sword unfolded his skills.
[Space Rift Mind Slash.]
The gates and the walls began to crumble into small pieces.
The wall that collapses at the touch of a single person.
At the transcendent sight, the soldiers felt fear and froze.
Now, the wall that stood in front of the high seeker has collapsed.
The high seeker entered the lord’s castle over the remains of the castle wall.
