Makeshift Wolf Brigade ⑤ – From Now On.
Planting my feet firmly on the ground, I clenched my fist, put my strength into it, and punched.
It was the first time I’d ever hit someone with the clear intention of punching them.
The rabbit, who was about to introduce himself as Hayyarn, was sent flying, hitting the wall before falling down.
“Phew, that felt good.”
Seriously, that was refreshing.
I think it might be the most refreshed I’ve felt in my entire life.
“Nghh… W-What was that for, all of a sudden!?”
The rabbit calling himself Hayyarn held his cheek, bewildered.
Well, yeah. Anyone would react like that if they got punched right after waking up.
It must seem completely unreasonable.
But I felt refreshed.
Ah, so very refreshed.
“Well, yeah. But if Wof hadn’t punched him, I would have.”
“Mm… Liv… would have punched him too.”
She said, looking at her Blade. Were you planning to hit him with that?
“I’m fine since Wof took care of it,” Mineha-san added.
“W-What is wrong with you people…? Those utterly vile insults are, hmm? What is this body?”
The rabbit calling himself Hayyarn tilted his head, touching his own body.
I asked him.
“Hayyarn… san?”
“I-Indeed, I am Hayyarn. The Alchemist who defies the gods. But, what is this?”
“It’s a rabbit.”
“It’s a rabbit, right?”
“Yes… rabbit.”
“I know that. Of course, I know that. Ah, you there, the beautiful girl and the cute girl. Why am I a rabbit?”
“Mm… Don’t know.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Even if he asks us that…
We looked at each other.
“What do we do with this situation?”
“Wof. You. Aren’t you cursed or something?”
“Eh? No, surely you can’t blame me for this.”
“Mm… Boy… gets dragged into things… type? Also… onee-shota…”
“Onee-shota!?”
What is she suddenly saying?
“Also. Why was I punched?”
The rabbit glared at me reproachfully, his eyes filled with resentment.
Setting aside the fact that they were purple eyes.
“Well—what would you do if someone set up three mechanisms corresponding to white, blue, and red, wrote as much on an inscription, but in reality, only the white one activated everything, and when you proceeded, they called you a cheat and a fool, sicced a strong monster on you saying ‘Receive divine punishment!’, and that person was right in front of you?”
“I’d punch them with all my might.”
Hayyarn was dead serious.
“So I did.”
“Ah, ahh, I see… So that’s what happened.”
“Are you satisfied now?”
“I understand, but… hmm.”
He made a face like something was still bothering him.
Ax-san looked suspicious.
“Seriously, are you really Hayyarn?”
“Mm. I am Hayyarn. Alchemist Hayyarn.”
“Of the Three Eggs?”
“Mm. Indeed… Three Eggs?”
“It’s a nursery rhyme. About Hayyarn having three eggs.”
“I did have them, but… a nursery rhyme?”
“Yes, so you really existed.”
With that, Mineha-san went ‘hmm’ and lost interest.
She didn’t seem very interested to begin with.
“Wait. That’s it? I’m Hayyarn, you know? The legendary Alchemist Hayyarn of the Relic [Alchemist]!?”
“Even if you say so. I only know the Three Eggs from the song.”
“Was there anything else?”
“…Liv didn’t know… to begin with.”
“Just the nursery rhyme!? Eh? I’m Hayyarn, though…?”
The rabbit, Hayyarn, looked dumbfounded.
Well, even after researching various things, there really wasn’t much information on him.
Ax-san glanced at him? and sighed.
“Hey, what do we do?”
“What are we going to do, Wof?”
“Why me?”
“Mm… Because… you’re the leader…”
Well, I guess it can’t be helped.
“Um, Hayyarn-san.”
“What is it, boy who punched me with all his might?”
The type to hold a grudge, huh? Though he brought it on himself.
“Setting aside why you’re a rabbit, why… are you alive again?”
When people die, they don’t come back.
That’s common sense in this world.
And yet, people have dreamed of resurrection countless times. Naturally.
Eternal life and revival are humanity’s dreams.
It’s a bit hard to say this rabbit is a successful example, but technically, he should be.
“That’s simple. I used an Egg. A Phoenix Resurrection Egg.”
We all murmured amongst ourselves. A Phoenix… Resurrection… Egg? Does such a thing exist?
Really? Hayyarn continued.
“But I had no intention of reviving just like that. The world was rotten. The world denied me and became my enemy. So I entrusted my hope to the future, and I was supposed to be resurrected in the future… or so I thought.”
“And that resulted in a rabbit?”
“I don’t know. Even I have no idea why I’m a rabbit. And why isn’t this the Lab?”
“Lab?”
“Isn’t this the Spare Key storage?”
“…Spare…”
“You mean this?”
Ax-san showed the key to Hayyarn.
Hayyarn crossed his arms, looking important, then nodded.
“Precisely. The Spare Key for the Lab.”
“Could that Lab possibly be in the Ark Ruins on the 12th floor?”
“Ark… Ruins? I don’t know what that is. The 12th floor?”
“It’s a Dungeon.”
“Hmm? Is this not Rudbeckia?”
Rudbeckia? A place name, maybe.
Ax-san and Mineha-san tilted their heads.
Liv-san said, “Ah.”
“Mm… That place… long since… destroyed… about… 4500 years ago…”
“4500 years!? You mean it’s 4500 years later now…?”
Hayyarn was stunned.
“You know a lot.”
“…It was in… a book Pachira… was reading.”
“Th-Then, this place is!?”
“Hydrangea.”
“…That remote region in a foreign land?”
Oh, foreign land? I explained the circumstances. Hayyarn nodded repeatedly and groaned.
Why do his long ears twitch with every little thing?
“I understand that the Dungeon’s replication and preservation functions are being cleverly used… Someone trapped my soul in this rabbit’s body and shoved it into the Spare Key storage.”
“And it’s been 4500 years.”
“I was supposed to awaken 100 years later, though?”
“We wouldn’t know. Is it pitiful, or just the result of your own actions?”
“Seems like the latter.”
I thought so too.
Hayyarn seemed to have an inkling as well. He was muttering something under his breath.
A few names that sounded female came up. Definitely the latter.
Besides, he casually called Liv-san and Mineha-san a beautiful girl and a cute girl.
I was a little surprised such frivolous words came out so smoothly.
Liv-san murmured.
“Mm… Boy also… needs to be careful… or he’ll become… like that…”
“No, I won’t!?”
What is she saying?
“No, it seems likely. Boy who punched me with all his might.”
“I’ll punch you again, you know. Also, I’m Wof.”
“Ah, I’m Ax.”
“Mineha.”
“…Liv.”
“Mineha. Liv. Your names are as beautiful as your appearances.”
He ignored us men. Anyway, maybe I really should punch this guy again.
Liv-san and Mineha-san looked openly displeased. Ax-san looked exasperated.
“So, what do we do now?”
“We have no choice but to go back.”
“Mm… No harvest… sniffle.”
“I want to go to the Lab.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Gentlemen. Why the silence?”
All of us were thinking, ‘What do we do about this?’
Well, we have no choice but to take him with us.
“Hoh. So this is Wof’s house?”
“…Yeah, it is.”
Liv-san refused immediately, and Hayyarn rejected Ax-san in the first place.
My house was the only option left. Mineha-san spoke with cold eyes.
“Rabbit. If you enter the Tower, I’ll kill you.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am.”
She really looked like she might kill him.
I sighed.
“Alright, this way then.”
“Muu. Why am I being treated like this? Even though I’m so cute… and an Alchemist.”
He complained, dissatisfied. I gave him a deadpan look.
This guy. He tried to cause a commotion on the way back.
Despite being disappointed about being a rabbit, he tried to use it to hit on girls.
“Feel free if you don’t mind your purple eyes being exposed and whatever happens after.”
I said, pushing him away, somewhat seriously.
Hayyarn looked awkward. Even though he’s a rabbit.
“Ugh, I didn’t know about this.”
A rabbit with purple eyes is nothing but trouble.
Apparently, this rabbit, Hayyarn,
is actually an Edda by race. Is that why he has purple eyes as a rabbit? Is it?
“By the way, Wof. What is that enviably outrageous life form?”
“You mean Dagaa? That’s my pet and Knife.”
Mineha-san carried the limp Dagaa away.
I had hoped, just maybe. That Dagaa might be related to Hayyarn.
But he just clicked his tongue.
“Enviably outrageous!”
“…Is that all you have to say? Isn’t it related to you?”
“Never seen it before. No recollection. Just, enviably outrageous.”
Is this guy really an Alchemist? My expectations are plummeting.
Reluctantly, I showed him into my room. He looked around and said one thing.
“Feels like a young boy’s room.”
“Well, yeah, it is.”
“I don’t dislike it.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“This is what a Lab is like.”
“No, it’s just a room.”
Ignoring me, Hayyarn sat on the bed.
“Phew. What I saw on the way here was a town. Wasn’t Hydrangea a lake?”
“It’s to the south. It’s become the Water Dungeon.”
“…4500 years, huh.”
Hayyarn wore a melancholy expression.
Well, of course, he’d be shocked.
Waking up after 4500 years to find yourself turned into a rabbit.
“………”
Thinking about it, it’s way beyond just shocking.
Depending on the person, it wouldn’t be strange if they took their own life.
Hayyarn narrowed his eyes and murmured as if looking up at the sky.
“Hmph, all the beautiful girls and lovely women of 4500 years in the future, huh?”
“…”
“Mu. What’s with that look? Like you’re looking at trash.”
“Right, I’m hungry.”
“Hey. You there. Don’t ignore me.”
Ignoring them, I head to the kitchen.
And so, I cook a meal, and we all eat together.
By then, Mineha-san had changed back into Fairial, much to Hayyarn’s surprise.
She was even more astonished to hear Mineha-san was only ten years old. So noisy.
She was eating as heartily as ever, but something seemed off about Mineha-san.
She looked like she was deep in thought, or perhaps troubled about something. I watched her with concern.
She must be feeling down about her Spear.
It was a precious OOPArt she received from her mother.
I heard it has the effect of enhancing [ Spiral ].
Her partner of many years was gone.
I was pretty down myself when my first Knife broke.
I understand that feeling all too well.
No, that’s not to say I’ve gotten used to them breaking.
Even now, I’d be sad if one broke, and I’m determined to never let that happen again.
Alright, now that we’ve finished eating, it’s time to clean up.
“Na!”
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?! What is this life form!?”
“Na!”
“Stop it, you enviably shameless creature! Even if you are female, I have no such inclinations!”
While I was cleaning up, Dagaa, now fully recovered, was playing with Hayyarn.
Well, I guess I’ll step in if things get dangerous. Wait, Dagaa’s a female?
I had no idea. How did that rabbit figure it out, anyway?
Oh well. Dagaa. So she had a gender after all. Not that it really changes anything.
Suddenly, Mineha-san, who had been drinking tea, landed on my shoulder.
“Hey. Woff.”
“What is it?”
“There’s something I want to talk about.”
“Talk?”
“…At the top of the Tower.”
My eyes widened.
And seeing Mineha-san’s tense expression, I nodded.