“I’m off to the market.”
Bunny reached the exit and tossed the greeting over her shoulder as she strolled past. Only then did the guards snap out of their daze, eyes widening in surprise as they tracked her small form.
“Market…? W-wait a second. What market…?”
“Gonna go buy ingredients.”
“Ingredients? Uh… whose errand are you running? Besides, who would send such a tiny kid…”
The two guards whispered to each other, but seeing Bunny grin, offer a polite nod, and continue on her way, they couldn’t bring themselves to stop her.
Of course, Bunny had no idea how to get there.
“Hello, pretty mister. Where’s the market?”
“Cool miss, how do I get to the market?”
“Excuse me, is the market this way?”
But what did that matter?
Bunny was adorable, and every adult was, in their own way, kind to her. Some even went as far as to give her directions because they heard she was out running errands all by herself.
*‘Bunny is a genius, after all.’*
The brilliant genius Bunny arrived safely at the market all on her own.
***
*Heave-ho!*
The rabbit backpack Bunny wore looked quite different from when she’d arrived.
It was stuffed so full of who-knows-what that the legs of the bag stood ramrod straight, threatening to scrape against the ground at any moment. Her business concluded, Bunny headed to the last shop—the one with a sign painted with a picture of a book.
*Jingle—*
“Welcome.”
The owner, who had turned his head at the sound of the door, froze. At first glance, he saw nothing.
“Huh?”
He leaned over the counter, peering around with a puzzled expression, then jumped back in shock.
It was no wonder—a jet-black, bulging rabbit was walking backward, neck stretched high, staring straight at him.
*‘A-a monster…?’*
The shop owner gripped a piece of lumber he kept nearby and swallowed hard. To report this to the guard patrol, he first had to get past the counter and out the door.
Just as the owner, tense as a spring, was about to move:
“This isn’t it…”
The lisping, young voice made him pause.
“Bunny… can’t read the letters…”
*Can’t buy the book…*
The sorrowful, choked-up voice made the shop owner falter. Only then did he realize that the terrifying-looking rabbit wasn’t moving on its own; it was just bobbing up and down. Furthermore, he noticed a pair of tiny legs beneath the rabbit’s own, and a small head peeking out between the rabbit ears.
The shop owner awkwardly set down the piece of lumber.
“Little one, did your mom send you on an errand?”
As he asked in a gentle voice, the jet-black rabbit spun around. A child with fair skin and flushed cheeks was looking up at him with a tearful expression.
“…….”
Overcome with sudden embarrassment, the man instinctively tossed the piece of lumber behind the counter and smiled as kindly as he could.
“What are you looking for?”
“Who are you?”
“Oh… I’m the owner of this shop?”
“Ah! Do you have books for babies? Bunny… doesn’t know a single human letter…”
“Letters? Ah, so you’re trying to learn? We have plenty, of course. But do you have any money?”
“Yup! Bunny is a super-duper rich girl.”
Bunny chuckled, gave the man a thumbs-up, and rummaged through her bulky rabbit bag to pull out a jingling cloth pouch. The man chuckled back and retrieved a primer for learning letters and a fairy tale book.
Bunny grabbed a handful of coins from her pouch and set them down proudly.
The man counted the coins at a glance and gave an awkward, troubled smile.
“Little one, what should I do? With 1,500 Lostro, you can’t buy these books…”
*Rumble—*
*Flash!*
*Thud!*
Thunder crashed, lightning struck, and a massive boulder fell on top of Bunny’s head—in her imagination, at least. Bunny slumped onto the bookstore floor.
“Bunny… totally failed…”
No money, no learning…
That day, Bunny learned the hard truth about life.
***
*Tap-tap-tap-tap.*
The kitchen knife moved rapidly. Luca, the apprentice cook of the Judia Dukedom, was weeping as he chopped through a mountain of ingredients.
“*Sniff.*”
Even through the sting of his streaming tears, Luca sighed deeply at the sight of the onions still left to cut. He had studied hard to become a cook for the dukedom, but the life of an apprentice—the youngest in the kitchen—was grueling. He hadn’t even dared to dream of working in the main mansion; his days were a constant cycle of preparing mass quantities of food in the kitchen of the Mansion Of Trials and processing ingredients to send to the main mansion.
He was up at dawn to prep, and because he had to finish everything after the others clocked out, he hadn’t slept more than six hours a day lately. Between the stinging onions and the sorrow of his own situation, he couldn’t tell if the tears falling from his eyes were from the fumes or his own misery.
*Sniff.*
“*Sniff.*”
*Sniff.*
“*Sniff.*”
As he wiped away his runny nose and continued chopping through blurry eyes, Luca stopped his knife work.
A sniffling sound echoed, seemingly resonating from somewhere nearby.
“*Sniff.*”
*Sniff. Sniff.*
“……?”
Luca looked left and right.
*‘What is this? What’s that sound?’*
This was the kitchen in the Mansion Of Trials; there shouldn’t be anyone here besides him. Hearing a sound was eerie. Looking around with a bewildered expression, Luca spotted a fair-skinned little creature sitting there, hugging a pile of things and sniffling.
It was a delicate-looking, doll-like child. He met eyes with pink pupils filled with tears.
*Plop.*
*Plop.*
As the tears began to stream down, Luca’s jaw dropped.
“Waaaa… Bunny can’t see ahead…”
“Aaaack!”
Startled by Bunny’s unstoppable crying, Luca shrieked, then hurriedly tucked Bunny under his arm along with a damp towel and rushed out of the kitchen.
*Sniff, sniff.*
With a runny nose and a face covered in tears, Bunny finally peeked her head out after crying against her will for a long time.
“A-are you okay…? Young lady.”
“Yeees…”
Bunny, her nose stained bright red, answered bravely.
Luca unconsciously opened his mouth at the incredibly cute sight, then quickly clamped it shut.
“Chef mister. Ruri told me. When you do the chop-chop-chop on onions, you gotta light a candle and wet the kitchen knife… Otherwise, it’s super-duper sad…”
Bunny said, sniffling with her swollen, reddened eyes.
“Oh… is that so?”
Luca, crouching next to Bunny, replied with a sniffle of his own.
“Yeees.”
Bunny nodded as well, sniffing along with him.
After howling in a duet of sniffles for a long time, the two of them looked at each other’s puffy eyes and burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
“Hehehe.”
Luca glanced at Bunny and rubbed the back of his neck.
“What brings you to the kitchen? Did you get lost?”
“Nope, Bunny has a favor.”
“A favor?”
“Yup.”
Bunny stood in front of Luca with her swollen eyes and gave a little smirk. Luca found it incredibly cute how the young child was acting all smug and triumphant, so he turned his head slightly to hide a smile.
Then, letting out an “Ahem!”, Bunny planted both hands on her waist and spoke up.
“How long are you gonna just chop-chop-chop onions, soldier?”
“Excuse… me?”
“Don’t you want to be rich? Don’t you want to be a super-duper big chef?!”
Bunny wagged her finger back and forth and shook her head side to side. Facing such an arrogant attitude that somehow felt genuinely imposing, Luca found himself nodding.
“How about becoming a super-strong, super-duper big chef with Bunny?!”
“A super-strong… super-duper big chef…?”
As expected! He’d want to be a big chef. With Bunny, it’s super simple!
*‘As expected, Bunny is a genius…’*
*Hmph.*
Bunny’s nose grew haughty. Her shoulders puffed up, and she thrust her chest forward proudly.
“What is that exactly…?”
“Huh?”
At Luca’s puzzled question, Bunny’s puffed-up shoulders deflated like a leaking balloon. Her haughty nose returned to normal, and the chest she’d puffed out melted downward along with her body, becoming limp.
“Um… I’m assuming there’s something I need to help you with?”
“Yeees…”
In an instant, the wind… Bunny held out what she had been clutching in her arms to Luca.
“Luca, please fry this for me.”
That was right. Bunny could chop ingredients with her child-sized kitchen knife and cutting board, but she couldn’t fry them. Because, as Luriel had said, if a child used fire, a Red Dragon hiding within the flames would come out and eat the child, so an adult must always be present when using fire.