Empire Awaits – The Yellow Rabbit Horde
“...The Empire?”
My mind, which had been blank for so long, suddenly lit up at those words.
My voice rose an octave without me realizing it, full of life. It was hard to believe this was the same person who'd been half-dead from motion sickness just moments ago.
“That's right. It's the human kingdom. We're heading to the edge of their lands, where it borders ours.”
Kingdom. It matched what I knew of the word “Empire.”
“...What's it like there? Do they live well?”
“Embarrassingly enough, they live incomparably better than us so-called barbarians. They even call the Empire the center of the world—you'll be shocked when you see it for yourself.”
Incomparably better. Center of the world. That smelled like it. The thick scent of civilization.
Can I make it?
An old resolve, buried deep in my heart, reignited.
A person's standards are shaped by what they've seen and heard their whole life. Born and raised in a sewer? The whole world seems like a sewer. Born in a city? The whole world seems like a city. I'd grown up in this world seeing only primitive tech and civilization, so my world had been nothing but barbarism.
But the world isn't just sewers, nor is it all cities. Once you know paradise, sewers become just a part of the world. Once you know nature, even cities feel small.
I was the same. Empire. That one word expanded my world beyond barbarism.
If it'd been a kingdom, I wouldn't have gotten my hopes up. Best case, it'd be medieval. Pave roads all you want—you'd still just ride carriages everywhere, and hygiene? Probably just spritzing more perfume. To me, that's still barbarism. By my standards from a thousand years in the future, fifty paces or a hundred made no difference.
But the Empire was different. In my past life's history, empires were modern states. The gap between medieval and modern is huge. Medieval blends into ancient as pre-modern, modern blends into contemporary as modern era. Even just the time gap: a thousand years ago versus two hundred.
“Do the elders know the Empire well?”
“When I was young, I wandered the world. That's when I learned of the Empire and realized how vast the world truly is.”
“I've never been. By the time I was born, they already saw everyone but themselves as barbarians. That soured my mood, so I never bothered.”
How long ago was the Bear Elder's youth? In my mind, my tiny image of the Empire gained history and tradition, coming alive.
“By any chance, does the Empire have things like cities?”
“Of course. They even call their capital a city.”
Okay. Calculations complete. Civilization confirmed.
Civilization isn't just a society of people. Otherwise, beastkin tribes wouldn't be barbaric—they'd be civilized. Having the concept of a city meant modern civilization was highly likely.
“But Ursa, how do you know the word 'city'?”
“Huh?”
Did I get too excited? I'd blurted it out without my usual caution.
This one wouldn't be easy to brush off. What should I say?
“Never mind. Hasn't Ursa been like this plenty of times? Just let it be.”
“Hmm...”
The Deer Elder poked the Bear Elder's side, smoothing it over.
*Wink.*
The Deer Elder winked at me, lips-only. I mouthed my thanks.
Thanks, Deer Elder.
Call me sis if you're grateful.
No, that was a bit... age gap and all.
Or not? Beastkin lifespans are long—thirty years might be nothing.
......
A few more days passed after that.
Maybe because of the excitement about heading to the Empire, the days flew by unusually fast.
We were very close to the mountains now; the scenery had shifted to hilly terrain blending mountains and plains.
“This place is super bumpy. How can there be this many hills?”
“This kind of landscape is called hilly terrain. It means we're nearing the mountains.”
“Gotcha.”
First time hearing that term.
“Ursa, you didn't know that either?”
“Even our tribe's smartest still has stuff to learn, huh? Hahaha!”
The tribesfolk behind us burst into raucous laughter.
It's okay to not know everything!
“They say past that hill is the Empire. Anyone been?”
Shrugs all around. One even asked, “What's the Empire?”
Looks like only the Bear Elder really knew among us.
“You were asking about it the other day too—you seem really interested in the Empire.”
“Huh? Nah, just curious. No big deal.”
Lie. The Empire was the most intriguing thing in this world.
They say people live on anticipation. The possibility of advanced civilization made the world dazzling.
Aren't we going too slow? By the time we get there, the Empire might've fallen!
Even this walking pace felt frustrating. I wanted to see the Empire with my own eyes, ASAP.
Thinking of it re-energized me. I hopped along—and stepped on something.
Squelch.
“Eek! I stepped in shit!”
My shoe!!!
“Heh heh heh. You should've watched your step. Still, they say it's good luck, so think positive.”
People laughed as I rubbed my shoe on the ground.
“Ugh—it's rabbit poop. Gross.”
What I'd stepped in was round rabbit pellets.
“What?”
“Rabbit, you say?”
The elders' faces hardened. Everyone started inspecting the poop.
“Rippling Earth, what do you think?”
“Rabbit for sure. Looks like this area's their habitat.”
“Autumn... this season...”
“We need to check. Hawk! Scout the area now! Rabbit habitat!”
At the Deer Elder's command, hawk beastkin climbed trees and wagons, scanning around.
“Elder! West—west side!”
I climbed a nearby tree and looked west. Something definitely looked off.
The hills were dozens of large mounds. Beyond seven or so hills, a massive brown mass loomed.
The grass where it passed was gone, bare earth exposed.
“Yellow earth!”
Yellow earth? Dirt? Yeah, the color was loamy yellow.
“Coming this way!”
The “yellow earth” mass plowed through hills, heading straight for us.
It looked slow from afar, but considering the hill sizes nearby, its speed was no joke.
Screeeeech!
The emergency stop signal blared.
“Form up! Yellow rabbits incoming!”
“Grab clubs! Wide ones! Nets and baskets—bring everything!”
Elders barked orders busily. I jumped down from the tree.
“Ursa, round up the kids. We need every hand.”
At the Deer Elder's words, I fetched the children from the wagons. Motion sickness had eased off-road; most looked fine.
“You lot, come grab one each.”
Frost Fang had bundled clubs and handed them to the kids.
“Frost Fang, what's with the yellow earth fuss? Can't we just run?”
“Run?”
Frost Fang chuckled.
“You've got it all wrong. We're gearing up to hunt.”
Hunt? I wanted to ask more, but she just said “You'll see” and left.
Soon, everyone was ready. We waited atop the hill for the yellow earth.
I gripped my axe—the same one from the goblin fight. The elder had made it mine.
Now, just one hill separated us from the yellow earth. The ground rumbled.
The Deer Elder stepped forward.
“Right before impact, I'll bind their feet. Rush in and hunt during the gap. Got it?”
“Yeah!”
The mood was tense, but not like facing demons. More like hyped for a big event.
“Hey, Ursa. Excited? First time seeing yellow rabbits for me too.”
Short Mane Sets sidled up.
“What's 'yellow earth' that we're hunting dirt?”
“You don't even know yellow earth? It's rabbits. Starved hordes that turn yellow and devour everything.”
“...What?”
Rabbits? What the—
“It's here! Positions, everyone!”
Someone shouted. I looked ahead.
The brown mass crested the opposite hill. It munched grass as it advanced.
Up close, its true nature showed.
Squeak!
Shh shh!
Munch munch munch.
“R-Rabbits?”
Sharp Wind Lark ahead of me nodded.
“Yes. When rabbits overbreed beyond control, they change fur color, eat everything in sight, and march endlessly. That's yellow rabbit ().”
...That's a plague of locusts.
Isekai rabbits had the same traits as past-life locusts, apparently.
Whether I panicked or not, the horde kept grazing and charging.
They'd stripped the opposite hill bald in seconds and were devouring ours from the bottom up.
Green qi gathered on the Deer Elder's staff—the same as on the plains.
Grass bind? But they'll eat through it anyway—pointless?
But she didn't bind yet, just waited.
When the yellow rabbits reached the base—
“Now!”
The qi burst out. Grass wrapped in green swirled, sealing the mouths of lunging rabbits.
Mouths clamped shut, they tumbled into the grass. Trailing rabbits crashed into them—chain collision.
“Charge!!!”
People surged down into the chaos.
“Waaaaah!!”
“W-Waaaah...!”
I got swept up too, yelling awkwardly as I ran.
Thwack.Thwack.Squelch.
Half water, half meat? Nah—half grass, half rabbit.
The hillside swarmed with rabbits. Just smashing the ground caught them.
Squeak!
Shh! Shh!
Hundreds hunted the horde. Whacking like whack-a-mole, netting them up, swinging wildly since everything hit—even the little ones joined in.
“Hah! One down!”
“I got two already!”
“Yah! Uwahn. Too fath!”
Siblings like Basha and Tamur, a year younger than me, hunted fine. But the tinier ones struggled against rabbits their size.
“Here, Naja! Rabbits incoming!”
I herded some toward the seven-year-old snake beastkin girl called Naja. She swung her club wildly at the charging ones.
Eek!
Normally, her weak flailing wouldn't hit, but with the numbers—one did.
Crack!
Squeeee!
“Whoa...! G-Good one!”
“Nice shot, Naja. You've got talent?”
“Heh, hehe...!”
Fist-bumped Naja, then the surviving horde fled elsewhere. Too fast to chase.
“Still that many left?”
Hundreds littered here, yet the fleeing mass was still huge.
No joke.
“Good work, everyone! Pick up every last one—no leftovers! Rabbit meat for days!”
Clap clap clap.
Cheers for the successful hunt.
“Bye-bye bunnies!”
“See ya, rabbits! Come again~”
The kids waved at the retreating horde. Eerily cute against the dead ones on the ground.
The innocence of young barbarians, I guess.
“Rabbit meat!”
Yeah, Tamur. Meat's meat to you, huh? I like it too!