Scared of Magic Stones?
Somewhere on the Korean Peninsula, a candidate for king had been born. That was the reason the village elders and residents were holding a meeting. Levi Nas simply watched the villagers from afar. After all, she was a horn rabbit, the weakest among the beastkin tribes. No one ever included the horn rabbit clan in such meetings, under any circumstances.
Harboring resentment over this, Levi Nas used her specialty—her keen hearing—to eavesdrop on the village council. They debated endlessly: track down the king candidate and kill them, or if they proved useful, bring them into the clan. Listening to the adults' heated arguments, Levi Nas decided to seek out the king candidate herself. She was intrigued by this "king" she'd never seen in her life.
I hope the new king doesn't look down on me, she thought with eager anticipation. For several days, she roamed the peninsula in search of the king. And it wasn't hard for Levi Nas to find the candidate. Everyone was talking about the beastkin who had settled in Yeomyeong Guild.
The moment Levi Nas spotted the young beastkin girl in the park, her instincts kicked in. That naive-looking kid is this generation's king candidate.
She's awfully weak for a king candidate, isn't she? Levi Nas even fantasized about making the candidate her subordinate. But she quickly realized it was all a delusion.
"H-Huh...!"
A magic stone from what was called the pinnacle of horn rabbits—a Longevity Horn Rabbit—tumbled out of the girl's pocket. That stone was the reason a weakling like Levi Nas could live in the village. Only she, a fellow horn rabbit, could handle the Longevity Horn Rabbit.
Her ability to control horn rabbits had earned her permission to stay in the village. But for the king candidate to have killed a Longevity Horn Rabbit... It meant she'd lost her right to live there.
"H-H-Horn... rabbit..."
"Horn rabbit?"
Levi Nas trembled in terror. Her very worth had vanished, leaving her in despair.
**
As I headed to the vegetable garden to plant dandelion seeds, Levi Nas nearby fell flat on her butt. She was shaking all over, as if something terrified her.
"D-D-Did you... k-kill a horn rabbit...?"
Her eyes darted to my pocket—the giant horn rabbit magic stone I'd just shown off.
I pulled it out again and held it up for her. "Yeah. This came from a huge horn rabbit I caught..."
"L-Longevity... Longevity Horn Rabbit...!"
"Longevity Horn Rabbit?" So that massive horn rabbit I'd hunted was named the Longevity Horn Rabbit.
As I pictured its enormous form in my mind, Sophia approached.
"What's a Longevity Horn Rabbit? I've never heard of it either."
"Th-The Longevity Horn Rabbit is the guardian deity of horn rabbits..."
"Guardian deity?"
Sophia and I voiced our confusion in unison. Levi Nas looked down and muttered softly.
"Th-They won't tell you...!"
"...I see."
Sophia nodded as if she'd pieced it together, despite hearing only a few words. As expected, she was sharp.
"Do you get what she's saying?"
"Yeah. I was wondering why those militant radicals accepted the horn rabbit clan despite valuing strength so highly. It must be because of this Longevity Horn Rabbit."
A horn rabbit that blocked mana. If you could control it, even a frail horn rabbit clan became untouchable. They'd want to keep them around as useful allies—a true "secret weapon," Sophia explained.
"But there were no Longevity Horn Rabbits in our world."
"They must have believed one would emerge through a gate someday."
"Ah, got it."
Makes sense. Gates spat out all sorts of things from other worlds, after all. They probably figured a Longevity Horn Rabbit would show up eventually.
I felt a pang of sympathy for Levi Nas. We'd killed that amazing creature, stripping away her value.
"Hey, want this at least?" I pulled out the Longevity Horn Rabbit's magic stone and offered it to her.
Sophia quickly grabbed my hand to stop me. "Gyeowol, giving away a magic stone isn't a good idea."
"Why not?"
"It'd be handing mana-blocking power to those radicals."
"Oh, right." I nodded at Sophia.
"But I've been wondering— what's this 'radical faction' anyway?"
"Ah."
She hadn't explained that yet. As Sophia muttered to herself, Levi Nas suddenly jumped to her feet.
"Th-This body is...! The great horn rabbit clan's Levi Nas...!"
"Uh, yeah."
She'd been terrified a second ago, and now she was full of energy again. Maybe she had bipolar disorder or something.
What a weird kid. Or maybe just pitiful. Feeling sorry for her, I slipped the horn rabbit magic stone back into my pocket—only for Levi Nas to charge at me.
"L-Levi Nas isn't scared of stuff like this at all!"
She yanked at my pocket. Startled, I gripped it tightly too.
Riiip— Our tug-of-war tore the worn threads of the old pouch.
Just as I worried it might burst open—
Boom!
The seams gave way all at once, spilling everything inside: tools for the garden, the Longevity Horn Rabbit's magic stone, and fifty unsold horn rabbit magic stones.
In the slow-motion world around me, the contents scattered into the air.
"Eeeek!"
Levi Nas's eyes bulged at the falling stones. She recoiled like she'd seen a bug, tumbling backward.
"Um, hello...?"
She lay frozen, arms stiffly raised upward like she'd been turned to stone by Medusa. Waving a hand in front of her face got no reaction.
What the...?
I blinked in confusion and poked her cheek. Sophia crouched beside me.
"She's a horn rabbit beastkin, so the magic stones must have shocked her."
"Horn rabbit beastkin?"
"Yeah. Horn rabbits are extremely timid."
"Ah, gotcha."
Come to think of it, she'd called herself part of the great horn rabbit clan. Maybe to her, those magic stones looked like human corpses.
Whoa. Dozens of bodies raining from the sky? Yeah, that'd be terrifying.
I scratched the back of my head and grabbed her arm. "We should move her inside the container first."
"...Yeah, let's do that."
**
After planting the dandelions in the garden and taking a break, I sensed movement from inside the container. Had Levi Nas come to?
Stepping inside to check, my eyes met hers—she'd just woken up.
"Th-This body is the great h-horn rabbit clan's Levi Nas...!"
"Uh, yeah..."
She really loved self-introductions. Not sure how to handle her, I just rolled my eyes.
"Th-This time, it's Levi Nas's defeat! So, uh, let Levi Nas go...!"
"We can't do that."
Sophia, who'd come in with me, answered for me. I had no idea why, but I wasn't about to question her.
"Wh-Why...?! Levi Nas admitted defeat...!"
"If we let you go, you'll run to the radicals and blab about everything here."
"Eek...!"
This conversation felt dangerous. Not wanting to get involved, I quietly slipped out of the container.
Are they split into radicals and moderates, fighting each other?
I didn't know the details and had no desire to butt in. For now, I'd just sell all the horn rabbit magic stones in my pouch. The girl seemed scared of them, after all.
...I wonder if I'll be scared of magic stones too?
My ears and tail were cat-like, so maybe I'd freak out like Levi Nas at feline monster stones. I mulled it over—probably not. I was originally human, not beastkin.
"Hmm..."
Still, it nagged at me. Maybe I should test it out for peace of mind.
As I walked, Han Yeoreum called my name from afar, approaching.
"Gyeowol, what're you thinking so hard about?"
"Oh... I just met a horn rabbit beastkin."
"Horn rabbit beastkin?"
"Yeah." I spilled all my worries to her—the horn rabbit fainting at the sight of stones, and whether I'd react the same to cat-type ones.
"Just in case, huh?"
"Yeah. Better to know ahead of time."
"Hmm... I'm curious too. Wanna try it?"
Her eyes sparkled as she placed a hand on my shoulder. Something had piqued her interest.
"Where do we get magic stones?"
"Plenty over there."
She pointed at the guild building—the magic stone warehouse. It was bound to have hundreds or thousands of beast stones, including feline ones.
I nodded and followed her. I doubted I'd panic like Levi Nas over mere stones, but it didn't hurt to prepare just in case.