บท 99: Bunny Meets A Rabbit(?) And A Princess(?)
(Third Person's POV)
"*sniff* *sniff*… Squeak~! Carrots~!"
Whilst she was occupied with the smell of carrots, a speeding carriage came crashing down at her! Well, that's at least what's supposed to happen if Tsuka was an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, bunny.
Before the carriage could hit her, Tsuka disappeared out of thin air and reappeared at the side of the road. With a delayed reaction, the carriage came to a screeching halt a few seconds later.
When the carriage came to a full stop, a girl who seems to be around 14 or 15 years of age alighted the carriage in a hurry. She's wearing a simple light blue dress that prioritize freedom of movement, paired with a high cut boots and a small tiara on top of her head.
Her light blue hair which was as clear as water was braided behind her head, while her bright red eyes reminded Tsuka so much of that scary big sister that visits her playmate often, Haku. Is she a relative of that scary big sister? Tsuka wondered.
Trailing behind this girl is also a girl around the same age, wearing a traditional maid uniform.
"Princess Emmymephy, please watch your step!" the maid shouted with worry written all over her face. However, instead of slowing down, the girl with a really long name, Emmymephy, did the opposite and ran at an even faster pace.
"Don't be such a worrywart, I say! We must hurry since we might have injured or, god forbid, killed that cute little bunny." Then, as if remembering something, she added, "Also, I'm the body double of the princess! You better remember that, I say!"
"E-Eh? But aren't you the real princess, Princess Emmymephy?" The maid tried to say something in return but her words just came to one ear and out the other. Princess Emmymephy, or rather, the body double of Princess Emmymephy, was no longer listening to her.
Looking at their, in Tsuka's point of view, funny expressions, she couldn't help but tilt her head.
"Squeak, squeak? Humans, weird?"
Well, she can't be blamed for thinking like that. First, it was that weird gatekeeper who can't seem to understand her even though she was trying her best to explain things. Now, there's these two humans.
The two people stopped in their tracks when they heard such a cute squeak. Looking at the source of the sound, they saw the cute little bunny in question, with its head tilted to the side.
"Eh? The bunny… seems to be fine Princess Emmymephy…"
"It appears so… Is our eyes perhaps deceiving us?"
"Squeak~? Squeak, squeak~! You have, business with Tsuka? Tsuka, needs to find carrot~!"
The maid and princess duo was taken aback by the sudden change to the bunny's 'expression'. Why does it seem so furious now? Did they do something wrong?
"Is there something wrong, bunny-chan? You can tell it to me, I say!" Emmymephy is still worried that the bunny might have suffered some minor injury so she asked.
"Umm… Princess Emmymephy. I don't think a bunny can understand human speech."
Tsuka was thinking of entertaining these two a bit more, but upon hearing the maid's remark, Tsuka just rolled her eyes at them before running off towards the dense forest that was at the side of the road.
"Ah! Wait, I say!"
"Don't go there, princess! We don't know what dangers are lurking inside the forest! If I'm not wrong, that unique rabbit should be from a nearby dungeon, the [Rabbit Paradise], which is somewhere beyond this forest, at a vast grassy plain…"
The 'body double' of Princess Emmymephy, the princess and empress-to-be of the Laverio Empire, watched as the bunny with a different coloration vanished after entering inside the thickets. She had this curious look on her face, presumably trying to commit the bunny's appearance to mind.
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A certain Dungeon Core known by the name, Dungeon Core Number 629, is currently resting on a grassy plain as he manages his dungeon. He's a rabbit-type Dungeon Core with orange fur, and the first floor of his dungeon is in fact the grassy plain in question.
What could a rabbit-type Dungeon Core have as his monsters of choice? Of course, it's rabbits.
"Gosh. Where're all the adventurers? This is super boooring," Dungeon Core Number 629 said while bouncing around with three other rabbits. These three other rabbits were technically dungeon monsters.
Unlike normal rabbits, they had a single horn on their foreheads which marked them as Horned Rabbits, though that was about the only thing that separated them from normal rabbits. Like normal rabbits, they're on the lower end of the food chain as well.
"I got a grasshopper! Look, loook!" a rabbit said while excitedly bouncing around in glee.
"Nom nom nom… Grass is tasty!" another said. It is currently munching on the grass that it bit off while bouncing around.
"Gaah! Who bit my eaaar?!" the third said. They were all having fun, playing together. It was a very heartwarming sight.
Language-wise, Dungeon Core Number 629 could understand them more than well enough thanks to being a rabbit-type Core himself. The only problem was that they weren't too intelligent and didn't always listen to his orders.
"Come on, you guys. Do your job and patrol the dungeon! Don'tcha want to eat carrots?"
"But I meaaan. You're not motivated either, Number 629." said the first rabbit who's now eating the prey it found.
"The weather's niiice, the grass is niiice, why bother?" said the second rabbit who's now lazing around the grassy fields. Heck, it looks like it's even about to fall asleep.
"I wanna keep fluffing up my tail!" said the third rabbit.
Dungeon Core Number 629 shook his head and sighed at the lackadaisical rabbits. His dungeon was peaceful, and while he had to admit that lazing under the gentle rays of the sun was fine, that wouldn't earn him any DP.
Killing grasshoppers only earned 1 DP. Locusts were 5 DP. In these grassy plains where humans rarely appeared, hunting grasshoppers was an important means of earning pocket change.
"Ah!"
A hawk suddenly flew across the sky. Carnivorous hawks were the mortal enemy of rabbits, regardless of whether they could talk or if they had horns. Hawks only saw them as food.
Way back when Dungeon Core Number 629 had just started the dungeon and there was no underground floor, he had lost many good rabbit brothers to hawk attacks. It was one of his sad memories.
"Brothers, to arms! We must fight off the intruder!"
"""Roger!""" the three rabbits yelled.
They would be dead if the hawk got them, and thus quickly went into their anti-hawk formation. Two of the Horned Rabbits formed a stand, onto which the third climbed.
Then, Dungeon Core Number 629 lifted up a paw.
"Okay! I'm peacing out! Good luck!" With that being said, Number 629 immediately ran as fast as the wind. Well, it's not like he really is as fast as the wind, but you get the point.
"""Whaaat?!""" The three rabbits was shocked by this sudden turn of events, making theory formation break. Seeing their shock, Number 629 tried to explain himself.
"It only makes sense. This dungeon's over if I die."
"That's true, but…"
"Isn't this kinda cruel?"
"Oh, wait, the hawk's coming. Fight, fiiight!" The hawk ducked its head and shot down at high speed.
The third rabbit waited for the perfect opportunity, then jumped, using the other two as a springboard for his attack. By jumping after the other two jumped, he could launch toward the hawk like a rocket in what could fairly be described as the ultimate horn tackle. This was their ultimate anti-hawk technique, the Bouncy Bouncy Attack!
"Oh, he missed."
"Oof."
"Welp, he's already dead."
It was flawed, however, in that they only had one shot, and a miss meant a rabbit flying helplessly through the air. A rabbit flying in the air only meant that death will be their next destination.
But still, despite the attack missing, the hawk halted its descent and flew back up for a second attempt.
"Don't give up, brothers! We still have another chance!" Number 629 said as he cheered from a distance.
"But you're about to run away, Number 629."
"It's fine! I'll be the platform this time!"
They quickly got back in their formation, with Number 629 serving as part of the platform this time. A Horned Rabbit placed a foot on Number 629's head and prepared for a second attack.
The hawk lowered its head again and shot straight for the rabbits. This time, it won't miss.
"Now! Bouncy Bouncy Attack round two!"
"Er, wait!"
"Ngh, what?!" Number 629's legs buckled and he fell forward. The hawk shot down to seize the opportunity, but the rabbit they had launched earlier coincidentally fell and slammed into its head from above.
"Screee…?! Ngk!" The hawk fell to the ground, the poor landing killing it on impact.
"That was embarrassing, but I'm back." the rabbit from earlier said as he 'heroically' landed on top of the dead hawk, using it as a cushion.
"Good job. I'll groom your fur later as a reward."
"We're proud to be your older brothers."
The three Horned Rabbits had a family hug. Number 629 took the opportunity to rub off the dirt stuck to his head and absorb the hawk's corpse.
This gave him a net gain of 150 DP. Not bad. Not bad at all.
"Hah. That hawk wasn't even a match for us, after all. Easy win!" Number 629 said, his head tilted upwards in a 45 degree.
"You tried to run away, Number 629."
"Riiight? He totally did."
"…What, you're going to hold that over my head forever? Okay then! Take this! Reward strawberries!" Number 629 took this opportunity to divert their attention by giving them some delicious rewards.
"""Strawberries!""" To rabbits, strawberries were a fantastic treat that they rarely got to eat. They would get stomach aches if they ate too many, but a small amount was the sweetest delicacy imaginable.
Buying a few with the DP he just got should be fine. Number 629 looked at the three Horned Rabbits and shook his head.
"Usually he only lets us eat grass at the Grass Spawner, yeah."
"That grass tastes great, but strawberries are something else!"
"Eheheh, strawberries, gimme strawberries! This is why I bother patrolling at all…!"
"…Sheesh, here. Now get back to work. Unless you don't want strawberries, I mean."
"""Strawberries!"""
Incidentally, this dungeon — the [Rabbit Paradise] — had a pretty well-developed basement floor beneath the plains area. There were Wizard Rabbits that had mastered the arcane arts, Armored Rabbits that wore tough armor like an armadillo's shell, and even Soldier Rabbits that could walk on two legs and use weaponry.
They were deadly enough that newbie adventurers chasing rabbits underground were never seen again. Only one percent of adventurers survived the dungeon, being exclusively those who wisely turned back at the plains.
Thanks to its thorough efficiency in murdering intruders, the [Rabbit Paradise] remained a wild dungeon not identified by the guild, and although there were a few adventurers who knew there was a dungeon in the general vicinity, it was impossible to distinguish one unmarked plain from another. Many considered its existence just a rumor, or perhaps something they had seen in a dream.
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※~To be continued~※
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Author's Remarks:
※ Dungeon Core Number 629 is a rabbit dungeon core and his appearance us just like a normal sized rabbit but with orange fur.
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