章節 70: Chapter - 69

Yuki dashed forward while the boy still glared down the street where Bee had fled. He looked back, perhaps having seen the white blur of her movement. She bit his shin before he could react. Coppery liquid filled Yuki's mouth and shouts reverberated in her ears. It wasn't her proudest of moments, applying violence to prevent more and greater violence. There was a morbid philosophical debate there, but she'd leave that for later.

[Wrack] cast at touch was a strange experience. It almost scared her to death when the ghostly-looking appendages left her body to attack the boy.

He waved his arms frantically, his pained vocalizations taking on a higher pitch and hysterical note. He didn't manage to get up but twisted on himself, one hand lashing toward the magical effects and the other toward Yuki. In her rabbit form, Yuki had far faster reactions. She saw the hand coming as if in slow motion. She released the bite, dodged the hand, and returned to bite again. The boy tried two more times, his screams hysterical and unhinged. After the third attempt, he pissed and soiled his pants, curling into a fetal position, crying, and yelling.

In hindsight, she didn't need to bite the boy's shin; she just needed to touch him. A lesson learned for next time. Right now, she fought the smell of soiled pants and the tinnitus ringing in her ears from all the yelling. The vanilla smell of her magic mixed with odor of urine and shit created a nausea inducing effect that made her want to puke.

Bee poked her head around the corner, wide-eyed, looking into the alley.

The thug wasn't trying to fight Yuki anymore. Most of the injuries from the magic were patches of ripped skin where the eldritch appendages had taken their toll on the thug. Bloody and ugly to look at, painful, and not that serious, Yuki hoped. It'd leave nasty marks and sting for weeks; it might get infected if the boy didn't wash it properly, but it was not immediately dangerous. She pushed the guilty thoughts out of her mind; it needed to be done; otherwise, he'd keep chasing after Whisker.

Yuki hopped away from the boy and toward Bee.

The freckled girl "Eeep'ed", turned around, and ran still clutching Whisker.

Yuki gave chase. Bee avoided the main road, darting toward quieter alleys. Houses thinned, and the pavement turned to dirt. A speeding carriage forced Bee to leap into an overgrown lot, and city noises receded. The new terrain didn't help Bee's escape; she fell more than once but always got up, still clutching Whisker. The girl's pace slowed from running to jogging to hobbling. When she fell for the fourth time, she didn't get up. Bee just sat and broke down crying.

Yuki hopped around the girl, giving her a wild berth until she could see Bee's face. A pang of guilt gnawing her bones.

Bee noticed her as well. "Don't eat me, please. I don't taste good."

Yuki wished Jenny was here. If nothing else, the older woman would at least be able to talk with Bee.

The girl trembled, stuttering and babbling amidst her crying. She looked resigned. She placed Whisker on the ground. "Here, you can have it."

Strangely, Whisker didn't run away after being released. The gray-furred rabbit stood in the same spot, head close to the ground and trembling. Yuki hopped closer with slow, deliberate hops. Bee gasped and hugged herself, but Yuki had only eyes for Whisker. The gray-rabbit's nose twitched in what Yuki hoped was recognition. Yuki stopped by Whisker's side and pressed her nose against Whisker's face, breathing the smell of family. Whisker nuzzled her back. For a moment, all was good in the world.

Whisker's horn had been cut off. Given how cleanly it had been snapped at the base of her head, it wasn't an accident. In some spots, her fur was matted and dirty, and one of Whisker's ears flopped forward. Yuki started grooming Whisker's fur like they had always done in the burrow. It seemed to calm down Whisker. By their side, Bee watched with a snot-covered face and wide eyes.

Yuki didn't think she had anything to fear from the girl right now; she let her mind wander over the past events, leaving Jenny to run after Whisker, the dog, the chase, the thug. She was aware of Bee observing them, the not subtle movements like she also wanted to pet Whisker, the glinting of curiosity in her eyes. Yuki understood the girl. Even matted and abused, Whisker was cute, and her fur, while not S-Tier like Bunbun's, was at least A-tier.

But right now, Yuki had a few problems to work through. As a precaution, she kept one eye on Bee while thinking about how to find Jenny, what to do about Whisker, and what to do about Bee.

Yuki's heart pounded, considering the mess they were in. If Jenny made it back to the inn, everything might be okay. But her stomach twisted–the [Shapechange] magic never lasted long. Soon, Jenny, a hunted girl among enemies, would be trapped in their room. And what could she do about Whisker? Yuki didn't want to leave her sister now that she found her. Whisker might be just an ordinary rabbit, but Yuki's everything rebelled at the thought of leaving her sister behind. But Yuki didn't have any way to take care of the bigger rabbit herself. Living in the wild was too dangerous; the burrow was a death trap, and the city was a worse death trap. Then there was Bee. Yuki was sure the girl saw her using magic, and given that she tried to talk, she might think she was something other than a rabbit but more than that, Bee seemed to be in trouble. Somehow, Yuki knew it was her fault, even if that was a dumb thing to consider.

Bee sniffled, cleaning the snot on her face with the back of her hands. The girl's eyes were still glued to the two rabbits.

Of her problems, Bee was the least worrisome. She knew well enough how adults treated children talking about strange things. Chances were that if Bee told anyone anything, it would just be ignored.

Could she use Bee? Yuki needed to meet back with Jenny, and the first place to check was the inn, but unless Yuki wasted even more mana with another [Shapechange], it wouldn't help that much. She couldn't speak the language well enough to talk to the matron and convince her she was there to meet with Larissa, not to mention clothes. Walking naked inside the town was bound to attract all sorts of attention.

Bee could help with that. She could enter the inn and talk with Jenny. Things would be much easier after that. Once reunited, Yuki could also talk with Jenny about Whisker and enlist her help.

That was a good enough plan, but how could she convince Bee to go along with it?