CH 11

“You already know that there are two ways to get in, right?”

I nodded at Arje.

“Yes, either to become a criminal or a slave.”

Still, I did not want to become either of those options.

“Those are the most general methods. There are other ways, however.”

“What’s that?”

“That is, rich folks who send in people who represent themselves.”

I frowned at her reply.

“It’s the same thing as being their slave.”

Then Arje shook her head.

“It’s different. That is the case for dual specimens. But since you look very human, you can be one as long as you hide those ears. And I will send you as my representative. Humans can participate as long as they pay a fee.”

Long story short, it meant to look human and become a mercenary.  

“And the money?”

Then Arje replied, covering her mouth.

“I can probably make it if I grab everything I have.”

“Are you willing to do that?”

“Think of it as an investment. I was going to go alone, but I could meet them easier with you as my company.”

“Meet who?”

Then Arje placed her tea cup down hard.

“Rhotsva.”

I had heard of the name before, the manager of the illegal colosseum.

“She is usually in her room which is guarded by many security guards and soldiers. However, we get a chance when she invites the winner to her room.” 

Which meant that in order to get rid of Rhotsva, I had to win.

“So you’re saying that I have to win?”

“Are you not confident? Don’t be worried. If it gets dangerous, I will step in.”

I laughed at those words.

“Why are you laughing?”

Arje had no idea why I was laughing, but she just laughed along awkwardly.

“Of course I am confident. There will be no one who can win against me.”

Arje nodded at my confident statement.

“I trust you, Aris.”

I was a bit curious about her words.

“But what do you have to trust me so blindly? What if I were some bad dual specimen or criminal?”

Why was she so nice?

“Aris, you trusted me, too and told me everything, right?”

Still, I trusted her and told her everything because I knew who she was already, but in her case there was no reason to trust me.

“As well, if you were a really bad bunny, then you would have attacked me when I was defenseless.”

“What if I am still waiting for my chance?”

“You know, trying to look bad is something that you are not good at.”

I did not understand her.

“How do you know I’m pretending?”

Then, Arje pointed out my ears.

“You know how they say that Rabbitmen express their feelings through their ears, right? Your ears don’t move the way they do when Rabbitmen lie.”

I touched my ears without knowing. This is why my bluffing…hold on. Does that mean that every time I bluffed until now, my ears were flapping on their own telling people that I was lying?

It’s fortunate that others didn’t notice, but still….this is really embarrassing.

“Aris, are you all right? You are blushing.”

I snapped back into my senses when she spoke.

“Okay! So you are saying that you trust me for those reasons. Got it. Let’s hurry and get to the colosseum or whatever!”

I stood up from my seat because I wanted to get out of there quickly.

“You are so willing today, Aris.”

“Of course!”

Arje rose slowly then brought a white robe hanging from the wall.

“Now, wear this. If you wear the hood, it will cover your ears.”

I accepted the soft white robe.

“Is white the only color you have?”

I asked, wondering if she only owned robes in white.

“Why? Isn’t white pretty?”

It was true.

“So pretty!”

When I wore the robe, Arje complimented.

“Really?”

I didn’t hate it, either. Should I keep wearing this?

“Now, you must remember one thing. The moment you step outside, you are human. You have to act as one, too. If you don’t know how it is to be human, should I give you some tips?”

I shook my head at her offer.

“No, being human is just being human.”

I was originally a human.

So Arje took me to the colosseum.

“Damn that bunny! Wait till I catch her! I’m gonna pull her ears out!”

“How dare she embarrass us so much!”

The guards were cursing at the wanted posters with not my face, but that of a bunny drawn on it.

“Phoot.”

I could hear Arje’s laughter through her mask.

“Arje, did you just laugh?”

I glared, but Arje didn’t stop.

“Aris, you can’t get angry. Stay calm. Stay calm.”

And so she tried to calm me down. But since she was still chuckling, it didn’t help at all.

“Wait, that girl in the robe. Isn’t her hood shaking a bit?”

“I can’t tell.”

As if they were reflecting my anger, my ears were twitching, which made the hood move up and down. This attracted the eyes of the security guards.

“Aris!”

This made Arje stop laughing and look at me with a worried face.

“I know. I can tell at least that.”

I was able to barely calm down.

“I don’t think so?”

“You probably saw it wrong.”

“Would a criminal just go around so openly?”

“That’s weird…I thought I saw her..”

Fortunately, the guards concluded that they saw it wrong and moved to a different location to place the posters.

“One moment.”

I looked at my wanted poster after the guards left the scene.

The name written was just ‘female bunny’, and the drawing was just a rough sketch of a rabbit.

Rip! Zzzzeet!

I tore the poster apart. They should have at least tried to copy the resemblance.

“You didn’t like it?”

Arje started to laugh again, as if the situation was amusing.

“If you are gonna post a wanted face, then you should draw the face properly.”

I complained while throwing the poster on the ground.

“Is that why you are mad? More than anything?”

Arje now was on the floor laughing, as if her stomach was hurting too much from laughing.

“Next time, I will be their model and tell them to draw my face properly.”

They should put in some effort while they are at it.

And again the place we reached was a saloon even bigger than the one I visited, with signs that the bar continues all the way to the third floor.

“They must be raking in a lot of money.”

“Well, it’s all what they earn from taking the lives of people.”

So we headed to the counter. People’s gaze became fixated on us, maybe because of Arje’s attire?

“Ready to order?”

I guess it was because the place was fancy, the bartender was a good-looking man compared to the one from the other bar.

“Give us two bloody marys, please.”

I looked at the menu to see what that was, but there wasn’t anything named as such on the menu.

“Sorry, miss. We do not sell those drinks at our store. Would you like to try blue iris instead?”

The man smiled and recommended a different drink.

“Still, more than the blue of iris, I like the passion of bloody mary.”

Arje said something weird. Oh, was this one of those passwords? How did Arje know about this?

“Got it. And how would you like the drink prepared?”

The man changed his response as well. He had just said that they didn’t sell anything as such!

“Give me Mary, and give her the bloody.”

Arje placed a sack of gold along with her reply.

“Got it. What is the other lady’s name?”

“It’s Aris.”

Arje replied, and the man nodded.

“The drink which you requested is made under a special process. You can only taste it underground, so we will get you there. Andreas!”

Thud! Thud!

What is that?

At first, I thought that the sound was an earthquake.

“Yes, sir.”

The giant man who appeared was truly gigantic. He would have touched the ceiling if he was an inch taller. He was wearing a waiter’s outfit, but he definitely wasn’t just a regular server.

“This lady will have the Mary, and that lady the bloody.”

Andreas looked at me.

“This kid is the bloody? Did you mix them up?”

I guess bloody was the one to fight in the colosseum. What he was saying was that I didn’t look like a fighter. He must have thought so due to my petite frame.

“No, the order is correct.”

From the stern reply of the bartender, Andreas rubbed his giant square chin and looked over at me.

“You will either die quickly, or be some fun material to watch.”

I didn’t understand what he meant by fun watching material, but I looked up towards him.

“I can make this place some watching material if you want?”

From my reply, Andreas stopped rubbing his chin, and Arje looked over quietly.

“Nevermind. Please follow me this way.”

After a short period of silence, Andreas shrugged and led us to the basement, as if it wasn’t his problem to deal with.

“That was close, Aris.”

Arje whispered from the back.

“Sorry.”

I apologized for acting brashly.

“No, it’s fine. I would have gotten mad, too.”

Arje nodded as if she understood how I felt.

“Anyway, how did you know about the passcode conversation?”

I asked Arje what was on my mind, but

“There’s a way to do it.”

Arje only said an open-ended reply and then closed her mouth.

“The left is bloody, and the right is Mary.”

When we reached a crossroad, Andreas led us to different paths.

“Aris, let me know anytime you are in danger, okay?”

Arje patted my shoulder and then walked over to the path for Marys.

“Hey, kiddo.”

After Arje had left and I was about to walk towards bloody, Andreas stopped me.

“What?”

I thought that he had caught that I was a bunny, but when I looked at his expression it was something else.

“From the looks of it, it seems that the bitch brought you here mad for money, but this is your last chance. If you don’t want to do it, stop now. If you go in there, you will either die or make a fool of yourself.”

Is he actually worrying about me?

“You don’t need to be worried.”

“It’s not my concern. I’m just letting you know how frail you look.”

He was saying the same thing, but I let out a laugh.

“Then, you shouldn’t have to be worried.”

So I passed Andreas and headed towards bloody.