I-I'm Sorry!

"I-I'm sorry! I was wrong!"

"Actually, I was joking. You can talk however you like. Honestly, that's easier for me too."

The rabbit eased at the gentle, easy cadence of Yujun's voice.

"My name's Sirius!"

"Sirius?"

"Yeah. Sirius."

"Sounds like a prince's name."

"Huh? How'd you know?"

"Huh?"

A prince? That tiny white rabbit?

The face Sirius wore while declaring himself a prince was perfectly serious.

"For real?"

"Yeah!"

So the rabbit prince was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠named Sirius. It didn't suit him in the slightest. He looked far more like a rabbit who ought to be called Thumper.

Right. The name wasn't the point. Yujun got down to business.

"Sirius. What were you doing here?"

"Well, I lost something, and I was looking for it..."

It was the classic line an NPC would spit out in a game. Listening to him, Yujun half expected a quest to drop into his hands. There wouldn't actually be one, of course, but his ears pricked all the same.

"What kind of something?"

"A marble my uncle gave me for my birthday."

"A marble? You mean a toy?"

"Yeah, a toy!"

"What does it look like?"

"Kind of blue? I don't know what you'd call that color!"

"Big?"

"Yeah. A little on the big side, I think."

"Did you lose it around here?"

"Yeah!"

"And where do you live, anyway?"

"The Underground Kingdom, obviously!"

The Underground Kingdom? Had a place like that ever existed? It wasn't in his memory, and if he didn't remember it, then it hadn't existed back during War of the Gods. A new map. An Underground Kingdom no one had ever found. Sirius might not be telling the truth, of course. Until Yujun saw the place with his own eyes, he couldn't be sure.

"Do you happen to know the way out of Sourtul Forest?"

"Nope!"

"You don't?"

"Nope!"

Sirius answered with a bright, innocent smile.

"Sirius. Where is the Underground Kingdom?"

"From here it's only about ten thousand hops! Or... do I have to go farther? Hehe. I don't really know either."

"...By hops, you mean steps the size of yours, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Can you guide us there?"

"...Th-that's not hard, but I have to find my marble first."

"I'll help you look."

"Really?"

"Yeah. On the end of the world— no. Really."

Just then Manuela came over.

"Weren't you trying to get out of the forest?"

"It's not like we can walk out of Sourtul Forest this second. We don't even know how."

"So you're going to follow that rabbit?"

"Yeah. You're coming too, right?"

He couldn't let this chance slip. The Underground Kingdom might be tied to escaping Sourtul Forest, and even if it wasn't, the place itself had caught his interest.

"If that's what you want... whatever."

"Tapagol. Think you can find what that rabbit's talking about?"

"I have no confidence in the retrieval of objects... I shall, however, make the attempt."

"Master!"

Paranet bellowed. He was enormous, and shouting from so close, Yujun thought his eardrums might split.

"What?"

"A curious itch has begun to creep along my spine. I believe the hour of my glory has arrived."

"Glory at what."

"The marble, Master. I believe I can find it."

"How?"

"By instinct!"

Paranet often looked as if he weren't thinking at all, but whenever he stepped forward this confident, he usually proved genuinely useful. The man was trustworthy enough. Yujun nodded.

"Fine. Where do you think it is?"

"Nearby!"

"Nearby where."

"I do not know. I know only that it is nearby."

"...Then why were you acting like you knew?"

"Have faith in me! It truly lies somewhere near—"

That was the moment.

"Krrrk."

A monster appeared before them, both arms hanging limp. It had burrowed up from below. This one feels a lot like the Predators of Sourtul Forest. The aura rolling off it was much the same. An experimental subject, then. No question. If so, most of the monsters roaming these tunnels were probably experimental subjects as well.

"Th-that one, Master."

Paranet pointed at the Predator.

"What about it?"

"The marble is on that one."

At those words Yujun narrowed his eyes and looked the Predator over piece by piece. Nothing unusual about it... A massive mole of a monster. No marble in sight.

"Don't tell me it ate the thing."

"I-it would seem so."

If the mole monster had swallowed Sirius's marble, how exactly was he supposed to get it back out?

"Graaah!"

The Predator lunged, yellow drool stringing from its mouth. Ugh. He wanted to touch it even less now.

"Paranet. You handle it."

"Yes! I shall repay my master's faith without fail!"

Convinced he had been entrusted with something important, Paranet charged the mole monster with a spring in his step.

The mole monster never even got a chance to move. Paranet blasted it backward, and it slammed hard into the tunnel wall and died on the spot.

"Master, how was that?"

Paranet wore a thoroughly self-satisfied smile. Yujun offered a calm bit of praise.

"Well done."

"It was a trifle."

Nothing good came of using only the whip. Mix in a carrot now and then, and Paranet would only work harder. Levels don't come easy anymore. Unlike before, when the gap between him and the Predators had been enormous, his own level had climbed considerably. The experience from killing a single Predator had shrunk to almost nothing. This is how it's supposed to be, really. Even if he stayed in Sourtul Forest and kept hunting them, he wouldn't be much higher than he was now.

"Paranet."

"Yes!"

"Find the marble."

"...Pardon?"

"You said it was in that monster. Go get it."

"B-by digging through that?"

The mole monster's body had been crushed flat. Bright red blood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠poured out together with yellow ichor, and brain matter and all manner of organs had spilled free. It was grotesquely unpleasant.

"Yes. I hereby entrust you with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠your first mission of grave importance."

"Wh-why must a mission of grave importance be that?"

"That?"

Yujun put on a deliberately stern face.

"Are you dismissing a mission I deliberated over at length as that? Truly?"

"N-no, that is not what I meant..."

"Your commanding officer— no. I am deeply disappointed in you. Since you seem to dislike the work, I won't be giving you any more missions. Honestly, I'd find it tiresome too. Your master is a human you hold in such low regard, and all he ever does is order you about. Right?"

"...I was wrong, Master. I shall return at once!"

As if a spark had landed on his foot, Paranet sprinted to where the mole monster lay. He rummaged through the carcass for a long while, then shot one arm into the air.

"I have found it!"

"Wipe it off and bring it here!"

"I have nothing to wipe it with!"

"Just wipe it on your head."

"...That is rather..."

"You never know. Those fluids might work as a hair tonic."

"What is a hair tonic?"

"Medicine that makes hair grow!"

"Hhk!"

Paranet's hands trembled.

"Is that true?"

"Which is to say, one cannot entirely fail to not rule out the possibility that it might not be impossible!"

Yujun had deliberately tangled the sentence into nonsense.

"...Hmm."

The summon hesitated a moment, then began rubbing the marble against his skull. He's actually doing it.

Paranet handed the marble over, and Yujun checked its item information first.

"Huh?"

Yujun's eyes went wide. Why was a Synchronization Marble turning up here? He had searched the laboratory until he was sick of it, and not one more had appeared. To think he would find one in a place like this.

"Oh? That marble's mine!"

Sirius's eyes went round as he came closer. Yujun held out a hand.

"Stop."

"Whyyy?"

"This big brother is going to check whether there's poison on the marble. So, Sirius, wait just a little, all right?"

Yujun smiled as brightly as he could. Sirius nodded, looking a little dazed.

"O-okay."

"You listen so well. Good boy."

Having stopped Sirius from coming any closer, Yujun drew a deep breath and forced his pounding heart to settle.

A Synchronization Marble. He had to give it back if he wanted Sirius to guide him to the Underground Kingdom. Or he could ask Manuela to seize the rabbit's mind and force the way out of him. But that would be too cruel, wouldn't it? Even Yujun had no intention of doing such a thing to Sirius, not with those innocent eyes. Sirius wasn't his enemy to begin with.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

As always, the solution was in his inventory. He drew out a heavy, smooth slate.

The Item Appearance Replication Slate. In War of the Gods, it was the sort of thing veteran players pulled out when they wanted to scam newcomers in a trade. Back then he hadn't been able to fathom why anyone would create an item like it. Ner, whom he had taken for the operator, had said she hadn't made the items herself, which left him with even less of an answer.

In all his years playing War of the Gods, he had at least never scammed anyone. He had items and money to spare, so there was no need—and if he had, the already scarce player base would only have dwindled further. That much was obvious. Yujun had cherished War of the Gods far too much to do a thing like that.

And yet here I am, about to use it.

His reason for taking the slate out was simple. Handing a Synchronization Marble over to Sirius was far too much of a waste. The kid thought it was just an ordinary toy. Giving it to him now would outdo even a pearl necklace on a pig, and he couldn't allow that. The thing was far too precious. A Synchronization Marble was tied to his inventory—the very thing that might as well be called his true body.

"When do I get my marble...?"

Sirius asked, stamping his feet.

"Just a moment. Just a moment."

Yujun set the Synchronization Marble on the Item Appearance Replication Slate.

Vmmm.

The slate began to vibrate violently. A flash of light burst once, and a second Synchronization Marble appeared.

Ooh...

Yujun let out a breath of admiration. The two marbles sat side by side, copied so perfectly that from the outside they were impossible to tell apart. He checked each one's information in turn, then handed Sirius the marble that displayed no item data at all.

"Here. There was poison on it. Getting that off was a bit of work."

"Really...? Thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it. You lived a good life, so good fortune came your way."

He had deliberately turned his back while he worked, so Sirius never saw the duplication. Yujun slipped the real Synchronization Marble into his inventory at once, then looked at Sirius and smiled.

"Shall we head to the Underground Kingdom now? You can guide us, right?"

"Yeah! Just trust me!"

Sirius answered with a burst of energy and set off in the lead. The way he toddled along on those short arms and legs was cute.

The message he had been waiting for appeared before his eyes. I don't know how many I need to collect, but for now I'll do as I'm told.

They had been following Sirius through the tunnel for about ten minutes when another window rose.

Yujun's eyes widened as he read the holographic window floating before him.

An item transfer?