CH 10

The bar owner made a weird face after hearing what I said. 

“You are going to participate? As a dual specimen?”

“Yes.”

When I nodded, the bar owner changed to a face of absurdism.

“On purpose? To get in, you have to be a criminal. You want to do all that?”

I was taken back at his words.

“Really? Since when?”

“From the beginning.”

When I thought about it, I remembered that Jarrod had become a criminal from an unfortunate mishap from a fight he had with someone then entered the colosseum.

“Are there any other ways?”

When I asked for alternative methods, the bar owner shrugged.

“Or, you become a slave and then get forced into fighitng, I guess?”

“Are those the only ways?”

When I asked annoyingly, the bar owner scoffed.

“If you don’t like it, then why don’t you become a human?”

I remembered him saying earlier to follow human rules in the human world.

“I should find a different way.”

But I did not want to use the method of becoming a criminal or a slave.

“Really? Then why don’t you try cutting off your ears?”

From this surprising remark, my ears flapped.

“You know that’s not funny?”

It was at this moment.

BANG!

“There it is!”

The people entering as if they were going to break the door were human soldiers, wearing helmets and steel armor.

“Dual specimen! You are arrested for assault and disturbance! Drop your weapons and surrender!”

I stood as soon as they finished announcing. And then…

“Thanks for the info!” 

I jumped out of the windows right away, and escaped.

How could they call the officers when they were the ones to start the fight?

I couldn’t use my flimsy rapier to attack the armored men, and if the ax throwers were to swing the weapons, I would not be able to approach them in the first place. So, the optimal solution was to run away.

“Get her!”

The soldiers followed after me making clunk and clank noises, but could not catch up to me speed.

“Stop right there!”

“Hey you over there! Stop that dual specimen!”

The soldiers started to order the watchers to aid, but as if no one bothered to miss out on fun entertainment, they just laughed and stared.

“I told you to grab her!”

When I looked back, the soldiers looked at the bystanders with a blaming face then caught their breath after giving up.

“Phew, I think that I went too fast even for my standards.”

I checked that nobody followed me then caught my breath. I guess it was due to being a bunny? My running speed was really something else. I was beginning to feel glad that I turned into a bunny then started to walk, pondering future career prospects as a phantom thief.

Neighhhhhh!

I heard the sound of horses coming from somewhere.

Wait a minute. A horse?

“There it is! Get that bunny!”

Dear God, there were three soldiers on horses coming my way.

“Uh? OH?”

I started to run at full speed again, but since horses are really fast, the distance between us was getting shorter and shorter.

“You can’t run now!”

The soldier on the horse started to spin a net to catch me. As I wondered what could distract them, 

Shooooo!

There was an explosion of bright light behind them.

Neighhhhhh!

“Ahhhh!”

Boom! Clash!

Afterwards, there was a series of surprised horses, screaming men, and a loud noise. When I turned back from the impact, all the horses and people were tangled up and moaning.

“What are you doing? Over here! Over here!”

When I was looking at them with a puzzled face, I heard a voice calling me from the corner.

“Hurry up!”

When I reached, there was a woman sending me hand signals in a white robe, with the hood all the way down and weaning a white mask. If you ask how I knew that she was a woman, it was because of her thin voice.

“Hurry!”

As if she was frustrated that I wasn’t rushing, she started to even fidget her feet. I ran over, since I thought that she genuinely was trying to help me.

“This way!”

I followed her through a maze-like tunnel.

“Phewww…whoo…”

But the mask was panting out of breath even though she was the one leading me.

“If it’s hard to breathe, why don’t you just take the mask off?”

When I looked at the mask with pity, she still couldn’t talk and just waved her hand, refusing.

“Well then. Should we take a break?”

From my suggestion, she looked at me.

“How…are you….not… tired after all this running?”

Although she was panting, she seemed to have gained enough energy to talk again and asked.

“Because I’m a rabbit?”

“As expected… dual species are….awesome….”

When I came to think about it. Her odd outfit. The light from earlier. And compliments to a dual specimen. I could tell who she was.

“Arje?”

The hero who goes on an adventure with Jarrod. Her real name is Arberaje, but she was definitely the character Arje from the book.

“How do you…no, I mean..who?”

It was expected for Arje to be surprised, since she met me for the first time. Still, she had a lot of security flaws for a royal princess who hides her identity to save dual specimens. Maybe she was still a newbie?

“Why shouldn’t I know? You are quite famous.”

There was a running joke that the only reason that Jarrod’s adventure was worth reading was due to Arje. She was a popular character, and there were many requests to make a side story for her. I was probably the only one who wanted a side story about the female rabbit swordsman to whom I became.

Is that why I got here?

“Am I already famous? I haven’t even done anything significant yet!”

Arje seemed to be confused, but she still could not hide the excited undertone in her voice.

“They went down this way! Find them!”

While we were on our short break, the voices of the soldiers filled the alleyway.

“Ah, here they come! Let’s hurry! I have a hideout nearby.”

And so I followed Arje to a shabby storage room in an alley.

“We are good now. You can relax here.”

When Arje waved her hand, the dark room became lit. The sorceress of light was useful in such cases,

“It’s a little messy, right? I haven’t finished cleaning it up. You can take a seat on the bed for now.”

Arje smiled awkwardly, as if she were embarrassed of the mess, and pointed to the double bed that was the only clean thing inside the room. Was such a big bed necessary? The bed seemed to occupy the entire room. 

“All right.”

When I nodded since I didn’t have a reason to refuse, Arje headed over to the table with a plate and cup.

“Would you like some red tea?”

“Sure.”

While Arje was preparing tea, I went over to the white bed that had blankets and plopped down.

Plop!

“Kyaahh!”

As soon as I sat, the bed sank to the floor then fell over.

“Are you okay?!”

Arje came over in a rush from my scream.

“What kind of a bed is this?”

I was more embarrassed about my scream than I was about getting surprised. It was a very high-pitched girly scream that I could not even recall how it was made. I wouldn’t be able to reproduce it on my own.

“You like it, right? I like to call it ‘the bed that you cannot get out of.’” 

“What do you mean I like it?”

And I tried to get up, but because it was so fluffy, I failed to get up using my upper body then fell backwards again.

“How adorable.”

Arje covered her mouth with her hand and then smiled with her eyes.

Wait. Her face?

“Where’s your mask?”

She was similar to the appearance I had imagined. Her dark green-black hair dazzled near her waistline, and she appeared to be one or two years older than me. She was a beauty in her early 20s.

Her golden eyes were especially well-suited with her green hair.

“There’s no need to wear it inside the house, right?”

Arje again let out a crystal-like laughter then brought over two cups from the table.

“I hope this suits your taste.”

I tried to get out of bed from what she said, but couldn’t no matter how hard I tried.

“It’s impossible to get out, right? Here.”

Arje let her hand out. At first I refused due to my pride, but I had no choice in the end. 

“I am never lying down in that bed again.”

I grabbed the nearby wooden chair while complaining and sat down.

“Why? Your little scream was so cute from earlier.”

At an instant, my face burned up and my ears fell down. I wanted to hide my face behind my ears, but then I didn’t want to show such a girly reaction.

“I heard that Rabbitmen have a cute aura, and it’s so true!”

Behind Arje were various research materials or books related to dual specimens, and of them was a book on ‘Rabbitmen.’ 

“Stop with the teasing. I’m embarrassed.”

I tried to stop her, but Arje replied with a laugh. I felt that complaining more would make the situation worse, so I started sipping on the drink.

“Do you like it?”

Arje looked with a concerned face. It was pretty nice.

“It’s all right.”

Arje finally returned to a more relaxed glance.

“That’s good to hear. In that book it says that Rabbitmen cannot eat bitter or zesty tastes no matter what.”

“No, that should be accurate. I’m just an oddball.”

Since I ate steak while other rabbits ate cake made of carrots. The rabbits must think that my sense of taste is bonkers.

“I see. By the way, you knew my name all along. Am I really that famous?”

Arje’s eyes seemed to dazzle like the stars, probably due to the golden glaze.

“Well, since you are the princess of the royal kingdom of humans?”

Then Arje’s eyes lost their twinkle for the first time and became dull.

“No, not like that.”

I wanted to pay back for my bed incident seeing her reaction, but I suppressed it. Since not only was she a royal, but a sorceress.

“Just kidding. You are famous among us rabbitmen.”

Then the twinkle returned to her eyes again.

“Really? Why is that? What is it that I have done?”

If Arje had bunny ears, they would have flapped wildly from joy.

“Then you should know the project that I am working on.”

Arje stopped her smile then returned to a more serious look.

“Yes, I am aware. Emancipation of dual specimen slaves, right?”

Arje nodded.

“Although there hasn’t been much noteworthy progress, my goal is to free all dual specimen slaves. That’s why I came to this bustling city, where people would be too busy to notice me.”

This part was the same as the original novel. It was written that Arje ran from her because everyone disagreed with her.

“Oh, by the way…It was rude of me to not even ask your name. What is your name?”

“Aris Wafer. Just call me Aris.”

Since I had to have a good relationship with Arje, I just told her to call me by my first name. Arje took a hint and then opened her eyes wide, but she immediately smiled and nodded.

“Great. So, Aris, why did you end up here out of all the places and why were you being chased by those officers?”

This must be the most important question for her to ask. So, I told her the reason.

“I came here to get rid of the illegal colosseum in this place. But I was discovered too early before I could take action, so I was getting chased.”

I did exaggerate a bit.

“Oh my, what a noble work you are doing at such a place!”

Arje seemed to be touched.

“So, can you help me? I need to find out how to get there.”