Chapter 17

Kyuuga

"Why is he glaring at me?"

I'm in a staring contest with the angriest rabbit I've ever seen. I wouldn't call him gigantic, but he's definitely bigger than the others I've seen, too. Honestly, if he weren't so angry, he'd be cute, with a thick, gray fur coat that looks incredibly soft, long, floppy ears, and an ivory horn as long as my hand.

No, scratch that, even angry bunnies are adorable, but I've never seen one so directly mad at me.

"Is that a glare?" Yorin inquires doubtingly. "I wasn't aware rabbits were physically capable of such an expression."

"It's definitely a glare!"

The rabbit thumps one foot down sharply, and I admittedly have a moment of panic when it puts a little crack in the cobblestone underneath.

"Well, he's definitely angry," the priestess agrees, "but I don't think he has eyebrow muscles to glare with."

Is she seriously splitting hare-- er, hairs with me right now? "Who knows, maybe it's Essence translation! More importantly, why is it at me?! I only just got here, I haven't done anything to him!"

"Maybe that is also due to the Heavenly Essence," Yorin visibly muses, looking up and away as she cups her chin to imitate deep consideration. "Perhaps Hero Remmi Lee has a hidden Trait that causes conflict with males."

"I seriously doubt that!"

"No? It would explain the conflict with the Interior Secretary, as well, now that I consider it ..."

I finally break gazes with the rabbit to turn and shout at the itinerant priestess. "Oh, come on, Yor--"

"KYUU!!!"

It's in that exact moment that something strikes the side of my head and sends me skidding across the wide cobblestone road until I ram shoulder-first into the curb.

A notification flits across my vision that I just lost ten hit points.

By the time I raise myself up, that big rabbit is disappearing around the back of a building.

"Yeah, you run away, you little turd!" I shout after him before I can really stop myself. "Cheap shot!"

Yorin is looking me over as she helps me back to my feet, but it's a man's voice that chuckles at the scene.

"Ah, you've already met Kyuuga, I see."

I turn to see an older man dressed in a nice robe that isn't as fancy as what the nobles in the capitol wore, but still something that looks like he only pulls it out for special occasions. He has a simple, wide-brimmed cap on his head and is smiling in residual amusement at us.

"Kyuuga?" I ask. "That rabbit? Is he somebody's pet?"

But the man just laughs. "Oh, no. Kyuuga doesn't belong to anyone. He'd never allow it. I suppose that technically makes him a wild rabbit, but I don't think there's a person in this village that doesn't think of him as a part of it."

"And does this upstanding village citizen usually attack people?"

He chuckles again. "Only outsiders that don't look like they're here on business," goes the explanation. "Pretty sure he's trying to keep you from making off with any of his friends!"

The man comes over and gives me a pat on the arm that turns into a squeeze like he's checking the muscles. "You're pretty sturdy, yourself, girl! To take a shot to the face like that and get back up like it's nothing! You are alright, aren't you?"

"Yeah," I confirm. "It was just a cheap shot, or it probably wouldn't have even taken me off my feet. He only hit me for ten."

But at that, Yorin sticks her head into my field of view. "Remmi, have you raised your health since we left the capitol?"

I blink back, confused by the question. "No. Why?"

"Your maximum remains sixty, then?"

"Yes?"

But the man laughs again. "Definitely sturdy, then!"

He continues to laugh and slap my shoulder, but I turn my attention back to Yorin, my expression begging an explanation.

"A single blow of more than ten percent of your total health is enough to stagger most people," she obliges. "If your health points correlated to a physical portion of your body, at one-sixth of your total, the blow that rabbit struck you with would be like getting your entire leg smashed."

I'm starting to notice I blink a lot when I'm hit with information I'm having trouble processing. Like I'm doing right now. I'm trying to square away the reminder of how little health I actually have with the percentage of it that rabbit had stripped.

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When it finally clicks, I wheel on both of them again. "Wait, isn't that an absurd amount of damage from a rabbit?!"

That sets the man to laughing again, but Yorin is just staring at me flatly in the face.

"That is the part that you think is absurd?" she asks.

"Well, it's to be expected!" the man provides as soon as he can catch his breath. "Rabbit or no, we are talking about a level 10 monster, after all!"

Now, he has the attention from both of us, surprise on our faces.

"Kyuuga is level 10?!" I demand. "I haven't seen a lot of rabbits, so correct me if I'm wrong, but that sounds way too high!"

"It is!" the man gleefully confirms. "Heck, that'd be pretty good for a civilian, let alone a rabbit! It's why we named him after the Emperor, in praise to the strength of both of them! Of course, Emperor Kouga's a lot higher than ten, but he's also no rabbit! Why, Kyuuga might be the most powerful horned rabbit in the world!"

"How do you know his level, though?" Yorin asks. "That would require a soul stone to verify."

The man nods in agreement. "A few seasons back, we all pitched in to pay for someone to come out and run one over him. The priest that came to perform the test nearly screamed heresy when he found out we wanted it used on a rabbit. But when the results came back, he ran it three more times in sheer disbelief!"

I resist the urge to cast Identify on some of the more normal rabbits around us. There will be plenty of time to indulge my curiosity later without making a spectacle of it.

Meanwhile, the man gets a look of realization on his face and moves back in front of us again. "Ah, forgive me, ladies! I got so distracted talking about Kyuuga that I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Graf Yomei, the mayor around these parts. Please feel free to call me Graf, or Mayor Graf if I've done something to get myself in trouble."

He steps forward and takes one of our hands in each of his. "And if I'm not mistaken, I'm certain you two are our imperial guests! It's an honor and a pleasure to welcome you both to Dabun! I had expected to receive you at my home, but when I got word you decided to tour our charming village on foot, I knew I had to come and meet you!"

"What a pleasure to meet you, too, Mayor," I say with my bright smile fully on. I'm quite proud of it and the sunny voice that accompanies it. I polished them both over the handful of years I spent working in sales and service to pay for all of the expenses my college grant didn't cover. I take my other hand to grasp the one he's using to hold mine and shake it firmly. "I'm Remmi Lee."

Yorin is far more contained as she gives a proper, priestly bow. "I am Sacred Yorin. Thank you for meeting us, Mayor Graf."

He laughs again. It's something that seems to come easy to him, though, admittedly, I'm a little suspicious of it now that I know he's the mayor. Not that it's so high a position that his mirth couldn't be genuine.

"Oh, it does appear I'm in over my head with you two," he replies. "It makes me all the more regretful that our provincial governor, Lord Ettia, couldn't make it. He sends his sincerest apologies, but his duties simply did not permit him the freedom to attend as planned."

I keep my smile up. I've seen enough middle managers left to make excuses for a boss that I'm pretty sure I grasp what happened. "I suppose we can only be grateful that he holds his duties to be of such great importance. He must exhaust himself seeing to the needs of his people."

I tried to keep it nice and understanding, but enough must have slipped through, or perhaps he knows a fellow peddler when he sees them. "Ah, we were told so little of what to expect. If he were to come to every little village every time someone new moved in, he'd never get any work done! Of course, I'm sure if he knew a fellow noble was the newcomer, he would have made an exception."

The latter, then. I find a couple more watts to crank into my smile. "Oh, I'm not a noble, Mayor."

This time, his laugh chokes a bit, and his expression stumbles. It's not malicious. In fact, I'm growing more and more certain I can trust him. He's genuine enough that he's easy to read. "Ah, you're not? Apologies, Miss Lee. Your whole demeanor--"

"I believe there has been a misunderstanding, Mayor Graf," Yorin puts in with decorum. "When she said she is not a noble, she did not mean that she is a commoner."

Now, he's really looking confused, and I think I've got just enough of a read on Yorin to tell she's enjoying it behind her holy stoicism.

"Ah, ladies, I'm afraid I'm growing terribly disoriented with each passing moment. Have mercy on a poor village mayor and come out with whatever it is I've overlooked?"

"Rest easily, Mayor Graf," the elf tells him with that out of place motherly smile. "There is nothing you have overlooked. It is simply clear that there is something you have not been made aware of. The capitol is far away, after all, so there is no shame in it." She lets her lips purse in thought. "Still, I would have thought it something Lord Ettia would have believed relevant enough to pass to you."

She seems determined to play with her food a little longer, but I swear the poor man is actually starting to sweat, so I take pity on him.

"I am Remmi Lee," I reintroduce myself as I pull out the golden token for him to see. "I was summoned to the capitol as the Gunslinger Hero."

The fingers with which he grasps the emblem are trembling now. "H-Hero?! I ..." He swallows. "I'd heard there had been a summoning ritual, but the details hardly--"

Graf shakes his head and looks us each right in the eyes, first Yorin, then me. "Lord Ettia was very certain that our honored guest was not one of the four Heroes."

Ah, yes, and now motive. It wasn't that he didn't think it worth coming out here for a new arrival from the capitol with land granted directly by the throne. It was that Lord Ettia thought he was too good to come out for a rejected Hero.

I can't help but wonder if he'd been in attendance.

"Lord Ettia's information was premature," Yorin informs him. "There are five Heroes, all recognized by the throne. He should be more patient for official confirmation in the future. It would be my honor to provide you with the names and descriptions of all five Heroes so as to avoid any more such embarrassments on the topic."

"Of course, of course," the mayor agrees quickly. "And again, forgive me. I can only work with what information I am given, you understand."

We both nod in empathy and understanding, and then he focuses on me again.

"Ah, forgive my flippancy, Hero Lee, but while I no longer wonder at how you so easily recovered from Kyuuga's attack, and I understand how rude it is to ask of another's status, my mind cannot shake a single question."

In place of my bright smile, I've relaxed into a much more natural grin. "I'll make you a deal. You don't use Hero as an honorific on me, and I'll answer your question." After all, I'm pretty sure I know what he's going to ask.

He blinks and processes that, then nods sheepishly. "Ah, yeah, Miss, I can agree to that."

I nod back. "Then ask away."

"... I'm pretty sure Sacred Yorin said your full health was sixty points?"

"And that sounds awfully low for a Hero," I lead him along, and he nods in confirmation. I think of Leuke's 540 health points. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right. It's because instead of the ability boost, I got a unique class."

He nods in understanding, seeming delighted at the idea of hearing about a unique class ...

But then his head stops the motion cold. "I ... Forgive me again, Miss Lee, but do you mean you were selected as a Hero without a class?"

"That's right."

"... Which would make you, if, as Sacred Yorin also said, you haven't leveled since ..."

"Level One," I unabashedly confirm.

His sweats immediately spring back, and this time, he wipes his brow. "By the essence, a Level One Hero ..."