The Rabbit's Favor
Merlin stretched her tail like a long strand of cheese.
“You wouldn’t find it difficult,” Raon said, nodding at her.
“That’s…”
Merlin gently stroked her long ears.
“Of course, I should listen.”
The rabbit’s red eyes, looking at this side, were cute yet eerie.
“What is the request? Tell me.”
Merlin wiggled her front paw, saying she’d do anything.
- Hmmm…
Wrath glared at Merlin and clicked his tongue.
- A servant who can do anything? A bit scary, but… ‘I have no intention of using her that way.’ Because there were too many children who needed protection, this was the only reason he was asking Merlin. If it weren’t for the children, he would never have called her.
- Normally an emotionless ghost, but suddenly she’s nice somewhere.
Wrath shook his head in disbelief.
Raon, seeing Wrath click his tongue, chuckled. ‘It’s true that using Merlin is beneficial. But…’ I won’t do anything that dominates human emotions.
If I use Merlin’s goodwill to control her, it would be no different from Derus Robert who brainwashed me in my past life.
I don’t want to be like that guy, at least not in other things.
“I want you to deliver a letter I wrote to someone else.”
“Letter? That would be enough?”
Merlin tilted her head in surprise.
“Yes. That would be sufficient.”
“Those children over there are going to be rescued. I can help with that.”
“It’s fine. I have no intention of getting blood on your hands with my request.”
“Aigoo…”
Merlin let out a sweet cry and planted her front paws on the floor. Her shoulders trembled slightly.
“That was eerie…”
“That’s a misunderstanding.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve felt this way.”
“Huu…”
Raon let out a deep sigh. It seemed Merlin had completely misunderstood, but since explaining wouldn’t help, he kept quiet.
“I’m glad you’re worried about me, but I can do anything you ask. Just tell me what you want.”
“Really, just send the letter.”
Raon waved his hand. He had prepared two folded letters with different contents and handed them to Merlin.
“Deliver the folded letter to the Saint of Rags at the Yonan Family Estate.”
If it’s Pedrick, the Saint of Rags, who is researching brainwashing, he might be able to undo the brainwashing on those children who haven’t been completely brainwashed yet.
“Ah, the Saint of Rags. Right, I saw you there second.”
Merlin recalled the time, her cheeks flushing as she looked up at the sky. Normally it would have given her chills, but since it was the form of a young rabbit, she could tolerate it.
“Deliver the triangular folded letter to Borini Kitten, the knight of the Owen Kingdom.”
“Borini Kitten? That’s the guy who lost to you.”
“Yes.”
Raon nodded calmly. ‘If it’s him, I can trust him.’ I want to take those children to Zieghart, but I can’t because I can’t reveal their identities. Since there’s a close place and Borini Kitten is trustworthy, it’s the best to entrust them to him.
If it’s a knight with good senses, he would confirm everything himself and fulfill my request.
- Indeed, that little guy seemed to have a pretty good personality.
Wrath recalled Borini Kitten and nodded.
- He was the complete opposite of the evil one like you. ‘That’s why I’m entrusting them to you.’ Raon chuckled.
“It’s not that difficult.”
Merlin pouted, disappointed that it was easy.
“I could kill them all…”
“Enough. When can you send them?”
Raon waved his hand, saying he didn’t need it.
“I can do it right now.”
“Then send them now.”
“Understood.”
Merlin smiled and extended her front paw, and the letter in her hand melted like spring snow. It seemed she had moved it to where her main body was.
“Since I fulfilled your request, you must fulfill mine.”
Merlin lowered her front paw and curled her lips.
“As long as it doesn’t harm others and is something I can do, and if it’s something I like.”
She had set various conditions just in case.
“How demanding.”
Merlin giggled. It seemed that the time she spent talking to Raon was enjoyable for her.
“But it will be something you can do.”
She waved her front paw without losing her smile until the end.
“Then see you next time. You know what happens later, right? It said Parsley is good.”
“Don’t tell me to do that, you should have…”
Raon approached Merlin and shouted, but the rabbit’s eyes had already returned to their wild state.
Thump.
The rabbit approached with a frown, as if asking for food.
“Par… Parsley…”
Raon swallowed dryly and bowed.
“I don’t have parsley…”
Just in case, he had received various foods from Dorian. There were grains, nuts, strawberries, dried worms, but of course no parsley.
“…”
“Then choose for yourself.”
With an embarrassed expression, he placed the foods on the floor.
Crunch!
The rabbit stared blankly at the placed foods, then kicked the grains and nuts with her paws, stomped on the worms, ate one strawberry, and put the remaining two in her mouth.
Thump.
Then she kicked her own cheekbone with her hind paw and fled into the bushes.
- Puhahaha!
Wrath laughed heartily at the frozen Raon.
- You got hit by the rabbit! It’s hopeless!
He laughed, saying his stomach felt refreshed.
“Haa…”
Raon let out a deep sigh and sat on the floor. ‘I’m tired.’ My head was fuzzy as if I had fought with full power. Every time I met Merlin, it was hard, so I didn’t want to meet her unless necessary.
- You have a natural enemy too!
Wrath, having found a weakness in him for the first time in a long time, chuckled and teased. ‘Just endure it a bit.’ Raon shook his head and looked down at the orphanage again when a middle-aged man with blue hair walked out from inside the orphanage. His face was gentle, but his eyes were cold, and there was a thin scar on his left cheek. ‘That guy?’ The master’s energy I felt when I came here was Lisbon, one of the past connections and Matio’s subordinate. ‘He became a successor, huh.’ Is this fate?
Raon looked down at Lisbon with a chilling smile. ‘I’ll have nightmares tonight.’
* * *
My life was like hell.
I was kidnapped before I could even enter kindergarten and locked in some underground place I didn’t know.
There were trainers there.
They called the children like me “dogs” and taught us how to survive and how to kill.
We endured whipping that tore our skin and scraped our bones, learned patience, were stabbed with swords ourselves to learn where the human vital points were, and fought in real combat while being chased by monsters and beasts.
I wanted to cry, but I had to laugh, I wanted to die, but I had to live.
I didn’t even think about escaping or running away.
I thought it was natural that I was here, like the sun rising and setting.
But later I learned that it was because of brainwashing. They erased the option of escaping by pressing down on the brain with hypnosis.
I survived by balancing life and death in that hell where I was tortured no matter if I rebelled, failed, or didn’t meet expectations.
It was a place where even human desires were trampled, but there was one light.
A friend.
It was the existence of a friend who was kidnapped to the same underground place and used the same room as me.
He was called No. 9.
A round face with a cute look. I don’t know how old he was, but No. 9 was older than me.
The time we could meet was only about 4 hours of sleep, but talking to him during that time would calm the feeling of wanting to die that had been boiling all day.
He would accept my words and say that if I just endured a little, something good would happen.
Since I didn’t remember the outside world, I didn’t know what was good. I just thought it was like that because he said so.
We laughed while looking at each other in a space where we had nothing to eat or enjoy.
That was my only light in that place.
So, several years passed, and as our education was about to end, all the children were called to the underground common area.
The trainers called the children who shared the same room forward.
And made them fight each other. No, made them kill each other.
Of course, no one wanted to fight.
Because in this hell-like place, the person who shared the same room was the only friend.
I was like that, and No. 9 was too.
We discarded the dagger in our hands and raised our arms. It was the will not to swing the sword at a friend even if we were killed by the trainer.
But the moment the mouth of the blue-haired trainer with the small scar on his left cheek opened, such thoughts disappeared.
“Kill.”
At those words, my mind and body left my will.
I picked up the dagger that had fallen on the floor and rushed at No. 9. No. 9 also raised his dagger with red eyes.
We poured out the assassination techniques we had learned so far, aiming at each other’s throats.
Until this morning, the hands that sewed up each other’s wounds were stabbing the opponent’s vital point with a knife.
My skill and No. 9’s skill were equal.
Flesh was torn, white bones protruded through the skin.
It hurt. It hurt terribly, but it didn’t matter.
I just didn’t want to fight my friend.
Rather, I wanted No. 9 to kill me, but the dagger in my hand had already pierced his heart.
“……”
No. 9 didn’t leave any words. He gently pushed my shoulder and smiled as he died.
My only friend sank into death without revealing his real name.
The last tear of that life flowed from my eyes.
That day, my emotions were buried in darkness…
“…”
Lord.
“…”
Master.
“Lord Pedrick!”
I woke up with a cheerful voice. Dorian’s round face was floating in front of me.
“Dorian?”
The Dorian who had a similar atmosphere to No. 9 that I hadn’t seen in a long time tilted his head.
“At a time like this, sleeping? There are many strange things. It’s time to start.”
Dorian pointed at the sky that had cleared.
- …
Wrath was quietly watching for some reason.
“Yes.”
Raon nodded and stood up. ‘I had a dream.’ Because I saw Lisbon. Not only did I fall asleep before the ambush, but I even had a past life dream. It was truly strange.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes. Even if I die, I will protect the children!”
Dorian nodded with a determined expression.
“If you die, it means nothing.”
“Still.”
“I will accept your heart. Live no matter what.”
The eyes of Raon looking down at the orphanage were filled with darkness.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
“Um…”
No. 45, who was working as a guide under the name Fyne, held No. 86’s hand and narrowed her eyes.
“Is something wrong today?”
“Yeah. No work, no training.”
Even if lightning strikes and earthquakes happen, training doesn’t stop, but today no training or work was given, and even food was provided. It was an unusual thing to recall the trainers’ actions.
“I hope it continues like this.”
No. 86 smiled faintly, as if hoping.
“I’m a bit uneasy.”
No. 45 let out a short sigh. There was no reason for these people who kidnapped us and trained us as assassins to do such things. My hands trembled with fear of what would happen.
“Let’s think positively.”
No. 86 shook her head and held No. 45’s hand tightly.
“We’ve been training us for several years, so there’s no way they’ll just kill us.”
“That’s right.”
No. 45 nodded. They wouldn’t just discard us after educating us for so long. Following No. 86’s words, she decided to think of it as a day’s rest.
“Then let’s sleep.”
When she was about to lie on the bed to sleep, the door opened and the masked person gestured.
“Both of you come out.”
“Yes.”
“Yes…”
There was no refusal. The moment I heard the voice, I had no choice but to follow. No. 45 went out with No. 86 to the common area. The other children were already lined up and seated.
When the two of them took their seats behind the other children, the 4th trainer walked out onto the stage.
“From now on, combat begins. The last ones to come out are No. 45 and No. 86. Come forward.”
“Yes.”
At his gesture, No. 45 and No. 86 swallowed their saliva and came forward. The other children also trembled with unease.
“Grab the daggers.”
At the trainer’s command, No. 45 and No. 86 each grabbed a dagger emitting a sharp light.
No. 45 narrowed her eyes at the dagger spewing sharpness. ‘Something’s wrong.’ She had held a test and fought in practice many times, but this eerie atmosphere was the first time.
“From now on, fight.”
When No. 45 held the dagger and looked at No. 86’s trembling pupils, the trainer’s words continued.
“Until the opponent dies.”
“What?”
No. 45 opened her eyes wide and turned her head. But the 4th trainer didn’t say anything more. He just nodded as if to hurry.
“Die…”
“Literal. It means to fight until the opponent’s breath is cut off in front of you.”
“Ah…”
My heart sank at the cold voice.
“Ugh…”
No. 45 clenched her teeth and looked ahead. No. 86’s face was also pale with the same emotion.
Seeing her like that, memories of the time she had spent with her flashed.
The times when we comforted each other and hugged each other. In this evil-filled underground, the only lantern was that memory, and her hand didn’t move. ‘It’s okay.’
No. 45 closed her eyes tightly and dropped the dagger in her hand. It was okay to die in front of the 86 in front of her.
Kyahng.
But the sound of the dagger falling to the ground rang twice. When she opened her eyes, a dagger had also fallen at No. 86’s feet. She also meant not to fight.
“Ah…”
It was nice that our hearts were connected. It was happy that it wasn’t just me who thought of each other, but too sad to have met in such a place. It felt like tears would burst out for the first time without controlling emotions.
“I… I can’t fight.”
No. 45 raised her hand. She looked at the trainer while expressing that she didn’t want to fight. The gazes of No. 86 and the other children behind her felt like support.
“Indeed, it has come to this.”
The 4th trainer’s voice sank low. The voice was so calm that a creepy chill ran down my spine.
“…”
“Then kill them.”
At the word “kill”, the moment the word “kill” echoed in No. 45’s head, her hand grabbed the dagger that had fallen on the floor without her will. No. 86 also clenched the dagger and stood up.
Thud! No. 45 held the dagger upside down and rushed forward. ‘What is this?!’
Her body left control. She moved faster than ever before and brought the dagger down towards No. 86’s neck.
Kyaang!
The change wasn’t only in her. No. 86 also raised a ferocious killing intent that she had never felt before and aimed at this side’s throat.
The two children who shared the same room and became each other’s only support stabbed their swords at the opponent without regard to their own will, like dolls with strings attached.
Piiik! Blood vessels burst on No. 45’s chest, and No. 86’s shoulder flesh was cut off.
The two children didn’t feel any pain and rushed again to stab the dagger.
Paaang!
In the eerie sound of air being cut, No. 45’s teeth chattered.
Because of the usual skill difference, No. 86’s movements slowed down, and the sharpness of the dagger technique began to drop. If this continued, her sword would be stuck in No. 86’s neck.
“Ugh!”
No. 45 endured the pain as if her bones were crumbling and looked back at the 4th trainer. ‘S-Stop!’ She begged with her eyes to stop this brutal fight.
“This fight will not end until one of the two dies.”
The trainer’s mouth curled thinly.
“Be happy about it. You will be born as true shadows through the death of the person you cherish the most.”
There was a different joy in his voice than the coldness so far.
“Kill.”
At that word, the body that had been slowing down forcefully started to speed up again. ‘Please!’ Anyone would do. Please stop!
I burst out with a silent cry in my heart, but my hand was going faster and faster towards the throat of my only friend.
Kyaang! No. 86’s dagger was bounced back into the air without being able to overcome her power. ‘Ah…’
No. 45’s hand was going towards No. 86’s neck with the dagger, contrary to her heart.
“Yes. That’s enough.”
The trainer’s eyes flashed coldly.
“Now you’re also a member of the shadow… Kheuk!”
I came to my senses at his scream. The dagger stopped just tearing a little of No. 86’s skin.
“W-What…”
“Shut up and disappear.”
With a low voice, blood vessels flowed from the 4th trainer’s heart.
“Ugh…”
Behind the tilting 4th trainer, a tall man appeared. He gave off an atmosphere similar to us but completely different.
“Now it’s okay.”
He smiled while bringing the blood-stained dagger in his hand with a mournful eye.
“I’ll restore your names.”