Chapter 1: The Carnivore and the Herbivore’s Encounter
「Eh……… Huh?」
I had woken up, as usual, and nonchalantly left the rabbit hole to look out at the neighborhood while still half asleep; but was so confused that I let out a surprised voice.
That is to say, anyone would be.
The forest had disappeared overnight.
There are only traces of vegetation left. The abundant nature which I had spent time in until yesterday was nowhere to be seen, and any traces of the calm space had cruelly disappeared.
Is this real...? Perhaps I'm still dreaming...
Yes, I was confused and had a difficult time accepting this as reality.
Where was the light brown child? The smallest monochrome-patterned child? The family?
I thought that I must had been so terribly sleepy that I had, perhaps, slept at a different place that I was too scared to move from that spot. My ears naturally rose up, strained, and twitched, but only the sound of the wind could be heard.
No one was there. It felt as if I had become alone in the world. Though the sun was looking down from above; it felt as if it were mocking me.
Scary Scary Scary
What's with this? What kind of joke is this? It's become, one way or another, too scary or too suspenseful, you know!
I closed my eyes with a slight scream and was unexpectedly able to endure the isolation and fear; when I felt a strange wind behind me. Turning around with vigorーーー…
HiiIiiI! A carnivore?!
It was big, and had a tough body with sunburnt skin that further emphasized its strength. It had sharp body movements and golden eyes that wouldn't lose in terms of sharpness. It also had lengthy white hair that was tied behind its back — like a mane — that glistened and shone as it swayed in the wind.
That carnivoreーー, or rather, that man suddenly narrowly opened his eyes in surprise at the black rabbit in front of him and glared.
「…… Why is there a rabbit in such a place?」
Because I do not have the power to talk, I bowed instead… I butted my head towards the ground and dashed away from there. I had quite the speed, if I do say so myself. I thought that if I hurriedly left the displeased carnivore, he wouldn't be able to eat me.
However...
「Wait.」
「?!」
I was caught right away. He lifted me up by the waist, with one hand, as if scooping a goldfish in a game. Then, he lifted me by the back of my neck towards his eye level; and I could see the carnivore's face.
「It's tiny. I could probably crush it with one hand.」
HiIiiI! Please forgive me somehow!!
There are bigger, tastier beasts than me! I'm not tasty! I'm mofu-mofu! There's no meat in a mofu-mofu!
I screamed… But of course, as the otherside was not really a carnivore but a human being; my screams were not conveyed properly to the other party. I could only struggle and make squeaking sounds as no voice could come out.
Rabbits are quiet creatures. Because their vocal chords weren't developed, my crying voice wouldn't come out well.
「Your Highness, is there anything wrongー?」
Suddenly, there was a man calling out from behind this person. This person turned around towards the owner of that voice, recognized who it was, and calmly responded.
「Ah. As soon as I got here, this black thing dropped in front of me. 」
「I think that things don't just go dropping like that, ne? Look. A black rabbit, is it? How rare.」
「Right? It dropped near this small hole.」
「As I've said, things don't just go dropping like that; which means that this is probably this child's home, right? … Did you get involved?」
Somehow, this man… the one who was calling out — had short hair that was like the colour violet mixed in with black — it was a dark colour… He was slender, wore steward-like clothes, and had a similarly tall stature.
Although his clothes and bowing movements were taut, his attitude was somewhat light.
I think that these two people complemented each other, had known each other for a long time, and were aware of the other's dispositions.
「So, don't tell me that you are thinking of doing, what I think you're thinking of doing to that child? Your Highness.」
「I'll take it home.」
「Rejected.」
「Ah? Why not?」
「Your Highness, do you know how many pets you have at the estate at the moment?」
「… Seven dogs and…… five horses and…」
「Seven dogs, ten horses, two tigers, two eagles, as well as two falcons; one deer that you received as a souvenir, two deers that you've picked up in the wild; one parrot and ten crocodiles for a total of thirty seven pets.」
「Hmm, it has become a little lively, huh.」
「It is sufficiently lively. Any more than this is impossible. Primarily for me.」
Eh, the steward seems to be looking at me as if asking for help? When I heard what he had said, I thought it was already like a petite zoo. Y-you've had it hard, huh. There's even tigers and crocodiles… Won't they eat you? Well, I guess that they are doing it safely, but...
I-it is someone else's problem, I thought while looking out into the distance. But before I knew it, the arms that held me… or more precisely; his whole body started trembling and quivering.
What's happening, what's happening, I thought, quickly glancing up… I felt somewhat gentle eyes on me… and met golden eyes like stars.
He's going to start crying any time now… He's overcome with emotion… His eyes were showing various emotions.
However, I did not understand why he was looking at me and tilted my head to the side. What's wrong? I thought while looking back at him.
And then.
「Gu~!*」
The man groaned, hid his face behind his large palm, and fell to his knees.
Eh, really now, what's wrong !?
Was this man okay－? I thought as I watched him with a nervous gaze while patting his chest with my small arms.
「Hey, Al…」
He appealed once more; but steward-san ー Al-san just looked down at him with a cold gaze.
「As expected, I just can't leave it alone! I'll also take it with me!」
「Rejected.」
「AlーーYou bastard…」
「Even if you make a tragic expression with upturned eyes ー with your large frame, it just looks disgusting, so please stop it. Then, just because the response you hear afterwards isn't convenient for you; please don't threaten me with a villainous face. It's annoying.」
…… Somehow, this steward-san, Al, is amazing. Look, he's so terrifying that this guy has become silent. Amazing. Meanwhile, this rabbit is once again escaping reality and looking off into the distance.
The man sighed, and then sighed again… Then while stroking me with his hand roughened by the sword, he said.
「… It's the first time a small animal has quietly settled in my arms like this. Up until now, they've all either madly dashed away upon seeing me; or go rampaging with strange cries. This one struggled too, at the beginning. It tried to run away; but once I held it, it stopped trying to run and even stared at me directly with its round and cute eyes. I mean, I don't even think I'll be able to come across a small animal like this ever again.」
That's why; the man earnestly pleaded with the steward again with his eyes. And so, the steward-san sighed, saying that it couldn't be helped then. However, he announced that they would only take the child back if the man agreed on a condition.
「The condition is, within the animals you have currently, please select three types that we will release and drive back into the forest. I mean, it is already impossible for me.」
If not, I will quit, he said with a smile.
… That was Al-san's give-up cry.
That was completely understandable, ne? Having thirty seven animals was definitely difficult. In that kind of situation, you couldn't even tell if he was supposed to be looking after his lord or the animals, right?
So then the man's parrot, the falcons, and the deer — a total of six animals, would be returned to the forest. With that, it was thirty one + one, so thirty two animals.
Even if it was just a little bit, I prayed that Al-san's burden had decreased and returned home with the man.
TN: Poor Al-san. They should have gotten rid of the crocodiles instead. ^^;; It was pretty ruthless to have chosen the more docile types, along with those with lower headcounts.
This is the current list now: 7 Dogs, 10 Horses , 2 Tigers, 2 Eagles, 10 Crocodiles, and 1 Black Rabbit
- Mofu-mofu ⇒ Fluffy
- HiiIiiI! ⇒ Scream SFX. PS. I was literally just copying how the author wrote it.
- Gu~! ⇒ Ouch-like SFX. Because he received some mofu-mofu damage.
- According to this wikiHow, rabbits ears will turn up and twitch when they are alert and listening for something. I should probably bookmark this link for future references...
Thanks for the Chapter ❤️
ReplyDeleteAhhh so cute !
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