Leashing the Pink Rabbit
The first thing I did the moment my eyes snapped open was catch a rabbit.
“Hiiik! Y-you’re alive—!?”
Before she could bolt, I snatched her rabbit ears in a firm grip. Warmth and the soft, fuzzy texture filled my hand. To me it felt comforting, but to the one being grabbed it was apparently violence. The weight at my fingertips and the frantic kicking told me as much. Either way, the grip was perfect.
“Haha, what a catch! Look at this feisty little thing fighting for her life!”
“L-let go! Let go of me, you bastard!”
The furious rabbit reached for the short sword at her waist. Hmm. From a rabbit’s perspective, maybe it counted as a longsword? Either way, I had no interest in starting this relationship with bloodshed. Especially since I didn’t have any blood packs or anima potions on hand.
Thud!
“Eek!?”
I slammed her face-down onto the stone coffin I’d been lying in. The short sword she’d been trying to draw stopped halfway out of its sheath, halted along with the arm I’d twisted. This wasn’t even a full mount anymore. Once your back is taken and you’re pinned down like this, you’re as good as dead.
“Hiiik!? S-spare me! Please! I’ll do anything!”
Quick on the uptake and even quicker to compromise. Excellent. She looked like she’d have plenty of uses.
“Oh? Really now? What exactly can you do for me?”
“I-I’ll give you money! I’ll return everything I stole from you!”
“Tsk, this rabbit’s useless. That’s all you’ve got? I’ve already been robbed by you more than five times. That kind of offer doesn’t even begin to balance the scales.”
The rabbit’s face, smashed against the bottom of the coffin, shifted through expressions at lightning speed—turning pale, twisting, then finally chattering her teeth in pure terror. A surge of dominance, or perhaps sadism, rose in my chest. Ah, it had been a while since I felt this.
Well, it made sense. Until now I’d been too much of a small fry for anyone to bother taking this kind of stance with. Still, even this was something I needed to overcome. I leaned down toward the rabbit ears I still held and whispered.
Why was it that famous hunting masters never did things like this? Caught you. You’re mine for today, little monster.
That was when the rabbit squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.
“I-I’ll give you my body! I’m good at it! Really, really good!”
“What?”
A string of sentences suddenly stabbed into my rotten brain. While my mind was still bleeding from the shock, the rabbit began gently wiggling her hips.
“E-eek! I-I’m seriously good at it~. P-please…”
Swish.
There was a beast on all fours, swaying her rear in a pinned position. That backside kept brushing against my thigh before pulling away, over and over. Tears and clenched teeth from fear and humiliation, yet the rabbit still shook her hips desperately to survive. Only now did I notice she even had a tiny rabbit tail.
…Wow. That woke me right up.
Who the hell did she take me for? Sure, looking closer she was kind of cute, extremely fluffy, and had everything in all the right places so I felt a slight stir of interest, but no. Absolutely not.
I couldn’t hold back and brought my hand down on the swaying backside.
Slap!
“Eeyak?!”
I flipped the trembling pink rabbit over. Now lying on her back in the coffin, she looked up at me with eyes drenched in terror, body curled up tight.
“You really will give it to me?”
“Y-yes!”
Her glistening eyes begged. I’ll do anything, just spare me. That look moved my heart.
“Hmm. I see.”
I pulled a rope from the rabbit’s bag lying nearby and gave it a sharp tug with both hands. Snap! The satisfying sound of the rope striking itself. Nice tension! The way the rabbit grew even paler at the sight was a nice bonus. Hey, don’t look at me like that. You’re making me want to bully you more.
I grinned.
“Then offer your body.”
…A short while later, I had the rabbit walking in front of me.
“T-this way will take us out, sir.”
The rabbit, now bound to my hand by the rope, spoke. Just as she said, a shortcut appeared as if by magic. It was a completely different route from the cave I’d escaped through earlier. Hah, locals really were different. Not to mention she was a professional thief and grave robber. I looked at the rabbit.
Hmm. Even if I said so myself, I’d tied her up nicely. Rope around her shoulders and waist, plus a binding that crossed her chest and knotted behind her back. Impossible to loosen easily, yet her arms and legs had enough freedom. Basically, it was the same as a common dog harness. Like a puppy out for a walk. Giving the other party the simultaneous feeling of freedom and restraint—this was the true terror of humanity.
Tug, tug.
I gave the leash a couple light pulls.
“Good girl! Well done, Tosuni! Lead the way!”
“Tch—”
Tosuni’s passive resistance didn’t bother me. Neither did the way her eyes kept darting toward the bag and sword I’d taken from her, clearly looking for any chance to bolt. With Tosuni in the lead, I asked,
“Tosuni. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about a perverted maniac who extracts people’s brains and even pulls out their genitals, would you?”
“E-eek. W-who?”
“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not talking about myself. I’m asking if there’s really no one like that in the city.”
She rolled her eyes as if she couldn’t understand my intentions. Unfortunately, this pink rabbit wasn’t a Corridor Walker. Just a petty thief scraping by in the slums of the Gallery City. That explained why she’d been looting an unmarked graveyard like this. What was there even to steal in such a bleak cemetery? She really was the bottom of the food chain. The fate of a prey animal pushed out of the competition for food.
“P-perhaps you’re referring to the Brain Hunters?”
“Brain Hunters? Hmm.”
This rabbit was more useful than I’d expected. She knew more than I did and seemed well-informed about city matters.
“I thought you said you weren’t a Corridor Walker? You know quite a lot.”
“Y-yes. I’m not. I’m just an insignificant little thief who—”
“Yeah, yeah. I get your circumstances. The thing is, I need to crush these Brain Hunters and save some people. Problem is, I’m terrible at finding my way around.”
One of an immortal’s traits: throw your body at the problem first, and once your head gets smashed you’ll figure out what you need to look for. Still, I had no desire to take the long way when a shortcut existed. Even I would prefer a warm, comfortable flower path if one was available. And to me, Tosuni was the rug laid beneath that flower path.
“Since you’re so well-informed about the city, you can lead me to the Brain Hunters, right?”
“Me?”
“Who else? You said you’d do anything. Or would you rather leave your hide with me?”
“N-no! I’ll do it!”
Her loud reply was quite satisfying. The more I looked at her, the cuter she became. Even if her behavior was a bit sneaky. This was why internal intimacy mattered. We’d only met six times, but maybe that was enough?
With Tosuni leading, we reached the exit in no time. I could have sworn I already felt refreshing wind on my face. Outside at last!
Rustle, rustle, clatter.
And then trash rained down. A literal mountain of garbage mixed with every conceivable kind of waste. Splat. I tilted my head as filth splashed onto my feet. The stench and the mountain of trash made me ask,
“Tosuni.”
“Yes?”
“Did you trick me?”
“N-no! This is the fastest shortcut to the city!”
While Tosuni made excuses, I surveyed the trash mountains. I see. So this was where the city dumped all its waste? The terrain was similar to the slum landfill where Ellen had died. Did they really throw everything gathered from inside the city down here?
As I looked around, I suddenly saw one of the trash mountains collapsing. Rumble. But it wasn’t overflowing past its limit—it looked like it was being sucked downward.
“The trash is overflowing. Where does it all go when it fills up?”
“……”
Tosuni stayed silent. It seemed she hadn’t caught my tone.
Tug!
“Eep?!”
When I yanked the leash, the rabbit walking ahead turned around. I asked her directly.
“Where does all this trash go?”
“Ah, ahaha. Well, you see… when the time comes, it gets sucked into the Void.”
“The Void?”
Tosuni’s expression turned strange. It was the look of someone wondering how I could not know that. It irritated me a little. Wasn’t it possible for someone to be a slow learner? I was still an immortal who had only just taken his first steps.
“Explain.”
“Y-yes. The Void is like the gap between Dioramas. You can just think of it as outside the Gallery City. All the trash flows there.”
“Hmm. What’s in the Void?”
“Um, well… trash, I suppose?”
“Want to try explaining properly instead of using circular logic?”
Tighten.
As I gradually pulled the leash toward me, the dragged rabbit grew paler and paler. Struggling not to be pulled in, Tosuni stammered,
“C-contaminated things! And discarded Dioramas! Probably that kind of stuff!”
“Hmm. So you don’t really know.”
“Y-yes.”
Well, how much could a petty thief possibly know? I loosened the leash and said,
“Fine, fine. Then keep walking. I’ll just browse the gallery until you lead me to the Brain Hunters.”
“Gallery? …Um, are you a Corridor Walker?”
Tosuni asked me a question surprisingly. Heh, had she finally relaxed a bit?
“No, I’m an immortal. I tried to become a Corridor Walker but got rejected.”
“A-ahaha. I see. I’ll guide you properly.”
The look in her eyes was as if she were staring at something bizarre and disturbing. The same look people gave to villains on Line 1. It stung my pride a little, but fighting with Tosuni here wouldn’t get me anywhere. I left her to lead while holding the leash and opened the gallery.
It was my old gallery, not the Corridor Walker one. The broken text was still annoying, but I skimmed through the Textbook of Violence I’d written. Hmm. Magic. Sorcery. Ah, where was the part about making weapons? It was too long to find anything. It looked like I’d have to dig through posts left by old immortals.
That was when, while I was fiddling around and browsing the gallery by myself—
“This is the lower district. S-should we look around a bit?”
“Huh? Why?”
“Well, to find the Brain Hunters we need to gather information first.”
“Ah, I see.”
I readily gave permission. By that point I had nearly finished making a magic wand in my hands.
“Better than free rations! Nymph meat dripping with blood, only 20,000 zeny!”
“Hey mister, come eat some chashu bao. I’ll give you a discount~ What, no money? Then get lost.”
“Come to the Gigaten Problem Solver Office! Corridor Walkers always on standby! Affairs! Debt collection! Assassinations! Subcontracting! We handle all your dirty work!”
I lifted my head at the lively voices suddenly hitting my ears. When I looked around, I found myself on a shopping street in the lower district. Despite the extreme wealth gap, money still flowed everywhere. It was daytime now, but it would be even more active at night. Red lanterns would probably hang along this street too. The only vaguely livable area between the landfill and the slums. Still, by Gallery City standards, it was decent.
In broad daylight, with a human taking a walk, everyone’s expressions showed less interest and more reluctance to get involved. It hadn’t been this bad even when I was strolling around naked.
“U-uuu…”
Tosuni’s steps as she walked ahead gradually slowed. Despair and sorrow seemed to drip from each footfall. She kept her head bowed so low it looked like she was being dragged off somewhere. Well, she was being dragged off by me. But why was she so slow? She said she was gathering information, so why was she walking at such a snail’s pace? Almost like she was waiting for something—
“That’s far enough.”
The noise of the street died down. Order descended upon the chaotic, flea-market-like area. No, the people and scenery hadn’t actually changed. My perception had simply narrowed. A corpse was walking while still alive.
That corpse was the remnant of someone who had tried to bring worthless goodwill and noble light to this Gallery City.
The knight Ellen.
“Ah.”
So that was what this lewd rabbit had been waiting for. She’d been waiting for a meddler. Of course I’d already been noticed by Ellen. Her furrowed face and eyes made that clear. I knew that look. It was the look Ellen gave to filth.