“(I guess it'll be a while before she stops this kinda stuff. Maybe I should introduce her to Merrill, it couldn't hurt for her to make more friends.) I was wondering if there was anything or anyone… that seemed different to everyone else living there.”
With Tina's eyes on both women, Aine decided to let Agnes have this one but make no mistake, as soon as that woman with the mind of a man left, he was hers.
“Well, honestly that village is pretty similar in structure to this one, though I'd say it doesn't really have a central figure like Barclay.”
“No one with any weird ears?” He asked in a soft tone. He was beginning to melt into Agnes’s hands and seemed far too at ease for someone with small cuts across him.
Tina's attention was drawn to what he meant by that question.
Aine gritted her teeth as she watched him and continued. “I think a Rexman or two live there, a bovine and wolf type. But I couldn't tell you if there's more or what type. Was it one of them?”
“What type of ears do they have?”
“Well, they have their regular ones and their animal ones. Sometimes only regular ones. But I get how you can be a bit sceptical if they only have the regular ones.”
“So it's one of those from the other village?” Tina asked.
“Not exactly. He had long ears like an elf. (Well, that's assuming elves have those types of ears in this world.) Do any of those live there?”
“An elf? No, I don't think any of those would be living out here, much less in a random farming village.” Aine answered, taken aback by his words. What would an elf be doing in the middle of a parish as mind-numbingly boring as this one?
“How'd his ears look?” Tina asked.
He created a distance of about 10 cm with his thumb and index finger.
“He had ears about this big. (I don't mind her rubs but is she doting on me?)” He said as Agnes gently started rubbing his cheeks using her magic to deliver a pleasant chill. It was probably for the best that he didn't see her face and how… ‘happy’ she was as she did this.
No matter how mean of a mug Tina wore, Agnes seemed completely whisked away to her own world.
“(Whatever, if he's not complaining, I won't stop you now.) Yup, that looks about right. I guess it was an elf but what's one of those guys doing so far from the capital?”
“Is it strange?” Tibaut asked. It seemed Aine was getting in on the action and began giving him a shoulder rub. (“Does she want to do this or is she competing with Agnes? I suppose this is better than the alternative.”)
“It is. They're not ones to enjoy travelling, so whenever they go somewhere they make sure it's long-term and has everything they need. You'd never catch an elf in a parish this far away from the capital or some other major city. (Bastard couldn't even be bothered to come here when I wanted to improve my magic. But Ez- that prick on the other hand…)”
Tibaut didn't know why but there was clear irritation on her face as she spoke.
“But that's strange. What the hell's he doing out here?” Tibaut asked.
“The hell if I know, this would be the second I've known one and they're two for two when it comes to being strange and annoying. Maybe they're all just weirdos.”
“But… he also did something to the rabbit, so this might just be something more than weird.”
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“What did he- Could you two cut that shit out!?”
The two women were now massaging the respective arms of Tibaut.
She got up to her feet and the two women shirked back. She sat back and ensured both knew she wasn't having their antics any longer.
“Come on, at least this is harmless.”
“You haven't done anywhere enough work to deserve something like this.”
----------------------------------------
Tibaut then explained what happened to the rabbit the elf placed at his feet.
“Gross. So he turned it into a shitty rope? Lords above, I hope his magic just affects small animals, that sounds nasty.”
Agnes looked to the door and walked over, the action drawing Aine’s attention.
“Well, he definitely did something weird to the rabbit.”
“Wait, now that you mention it, one of the things I pulled out of you wasn't a glass shard.”
She looked at the wooden bowl they placed the glass shards in and pulled it out. It was a small off-white object that was rectangular in shape and had a slight curve to it.
And now that Tibaut was looking at it, it was very familiar. The image of it was seared in mind from the amount of them he processed when he was making smoked meat.
“Is that a rabbit tooth?”
Tina looked at it, then looked up at Agnes.
“Hey pervert, hand that rabbit over.”
“What rabbit?” Tibaut asked.
“Not you, the other one. Agnes get over here with that rabbit.”
Tibaut looked behind and was shocked to find Agnes with a rabbit in her hand.
“Uh, Agnes, why do you have a rabbit in your hand?”
She was patting it on its head and slowly walked over. It was a snow-white rabbit, with red eyes. It seemed to be staring at Tibaut as Agnes showered it with affection.
“I-it was at the door.” She answered in a soft tone. “The little guy must have come inside to avoid the cold.” She poked its cheek and it began licking at her finger. She wore a small smirk on her face as she felt its little tongue.
“Hurry and hand it over, I wanna see if what Tibaut said is true.”
Agnes seemed a bit hesitant and stopped a few feet short before opening the rabbit's mouth.
“Give me the ra-”
“No.” She bluntly replied.
“Don't me make have to-”
“Tina, you can see it from over there. And after what you said to her on our walk here can you really blame her?” Tibaut chimed.
She clicked her tongue and did her best to compare the two.
“You're right, it does look like his tooth. Ugh, is he one of those crazies that collects those?”
“Well whatever he is, it seems like he has a pretty close relationship with rabbits or at least his magic does. Now, I'm no expert, but I don't think regular rabbit teeth can break glass.”
He looked down at the glass shards in the bowl. (“At least the poison he tried on me wasn't anything serious.”)
As Tina looked down to the bowl her eyes widened slightly.
“(Shit, the poison!) Now, T-tibaut I know you're pretty good at curing yourself but that stuff didn't have any nasty effects on you, did it? (I'm so screwed when we get back to the mansion…)”
Tina had her hands on her face thinking about what Elizabeth was going to do to her when she returned to the mansion.
“It didn't do anything. Maybe it was a slow-acting poison? That guy did say something sorta ominous when he threw it at us.”
Agnes soon placed the rabbit in Tibaut’s lap and turned towards her.
“Uh, he seemed like he really wanted to get closer to you. Y-you don't mind, do you?”
“Don't worry Agnes, I'm not as cru-”
He looked down and noticed a fresh wound on his finger. The little bastard bit him. And another. Agnes quickly grabbed the rabbit and began apologising.
“P-p-please don't kill it!”
Neither Tina nor Aine seemed too concerned by this.
He raised his hand and tried to calm her down. “It's fine Agnes, I just think the little guy prefers you. Besides I've been through far worse so something like that doesn't even register for me anymore.” His voice was filled with reluctant acceptance rather than any sort of pride.