Chapter 358

The chief turns out to be an elderly Dark Dwarven woman with one missing eye. She clearly isn’t in great health, and Cain is a little worried that the news might be too much for her. 

“Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help?” He asks, before noticing a notification from the system interface, asking if he wants to set the villagers as friendly targets by default. 

That would let them benefit from the healing aura of the Legendary Forest Dragon, which can take care of almost any form of malady, though Cain isn’t sure the aura alone is enough to regrow an eye or a limb.

“I’ll be fine dear. You don’t get to be my age in the border without seeing a fair few battles.” The old woman answers, giving Cain a toothless grin.

That settles it. 

[Villagers of the Iron Empire set to friendly by default. Status will be canceled by any hostile action.]

“How about a hug. Bunny hugs are magical.” Cain laughs, embracing the stout woman so the farmer can’t see the healing aura repairing her health and injuries. 

Cain lets get to a few seconds later, and the woman looks decades younger. Not only that, but her missing eye has reformed and is beginning to clear up as the aura heals her.

“We came here because I saw a human army recruiting near the border not long ago. The wolves can likely track my scent back most of the way to them if they need to.” Cain explains. 

The chief hasn’t noticed the changes yet, as her healing eye is still blind for now, but the farmer is simply staring at her in amazement.

“Well, Ralph, are you going to send a runner for the army or just gape at me like a fish on land?”

The farmer, now known to be Ralph, takes off running, not noticing the lingering health issues that he too faced from a hard life have cleared up. The door has just banged shut when the chief’s eye regains sight and the old woman grabs Cain by the arms. 

“Bunny girl, what did you do? I can see again. It doesn’t even hurt to breathe.”

“Bunny hugs are magical, just like I told you. Everyone who is a friend to the Bunnies gets a small share of the blessing when a Blessed Bunny passes by.” Cain makes up a somewhat plausible excuse on the spot. 

“Blessed you say? With healing hugs that can grow back an eye? Now that’s an ability worthy only of a Bunny.” The elderly chief laughs hugging Cain around his waist, despite him being in the smaller form of Daisy. 

“Let’s go get a drink, I think I need one. Don’t worry, I will keep those horny pups from bothering you.”

As they walk across the small village, Cain explains his mission, and the chief agrees to draw him a map of the area. Since the roads are designed not to lead anywhere into the mountains that isn’t heavily fortified, she will lay out a safer and more efficient path for Cain to follow. 

Once you leave the foothills even the strongest of non flying species will find the route slow and difficult, but the chief is certain that he can make it there within a month, two at the most. 

Cain has no intention of burning that much excess time here, so he will likely fly, but without a map, he would just get himself even more lost. 

“What sorts of things do you like to eat? I know most Bunnies can’t stomach meat.” The chief asks as they reach what Cain guesses is the town hall and dining room. 

All dwarves love of a good party, so every meeting turns into a banquet, and their town halls always resemble a tavern more than anything else. 

“If you’ve got deep fried vegetables and Ale soaked potatoes, that would be great.” Cain agrees, unsure how this body would take to large amounts of meat. 

“Deep fried vegetables?” A Dwarf in a leather apron asks from the other room. 

“Mix Ale, flour and spices into a batter, coat sliced vegetables or mushrooms in them and fry in hot fat or cooking oil until they’re golden and crispy on the outside. You’ll see, they go great with whiskey.” Cain explains, and the Dwarf dissapears into the back, returning ten minutes later with a huge platter of assorted fried objects, as well as a bowl of potatoes. 

“Here we have it. No leafy greens for you today?” The cook asks. 

“I can get those myself later. Come try these with us. I swear they’re really good, and not just to Bunnies and Elves.”

The platter doesn’t last long as more and more dwarves file in, getting ready for the chief’s announcement about the human army sighting. Ralph called the army, and the village sent out wolf Kin scouts following Cain’s Bunny form scent, but they won’t be back for a few hours at least. 

When they do arrive, it’s with the worst possible news. They found the army, and it is moving fast in this direction. But it isn’t alone.

At least three other nearby border villages have called for army assistance to deal with human attacks, all at the same time. This is no normal skirmish, it’s an all out invasion. 

The scouts report over two thousand human forces coming this way, many more than the fifty Dwarf security patrol will be able to deal with. With that many incoming, Cain would feel really bad about leaving these strangers to their fate. Especially against people who attacked him and chased him out of town. 

After a long consideration Cain decides to announce his decision to the chief. 

“If you’re going to be that outnumbered, I will stay and help. The power of a blessed Bunny is not to be underestimated.”

At first the chief thinks Cain is joking, but with the healing the Bunny showed earlier, they might have gained a truly powerful ally for the day. As long as nobody does anything stupid and chases Cain away, that is.