But the sharp, icy wind that stung my eyelids forced me to close them again.
Whoosh! My hair, caught in the wind, tangled messily across my face.
"Ugh!"
For a moment, I huddled and fumbled around.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through, but it quickly subsided.
The surroundings grew eerily calm, as if no wind had ever blown. I cautiously lifted my lowered head.
"What the...?"
"Kyo?"
At that moment, a strange cry echoed. I blankly followed the sound with my eyes.
And there, on the floor, beneath the hem of my skirt, was a ball of white fluff...
"Kyo!"
No, it was a rabbit.
"What the...?"
I couldn't find the words to describe this absurd turn of events. A sudden gust of wind had brought a rabbit into the room.
I rubbed my eyes, thinking I might still be half-asleep, but the white baby rabbit was still there.
"Kyo kyo!"
The rabbit, staring blankly at me, tilted its head.
Then, it hopped over to me.
In an instant, the white fluff climbed onto my lap.
"Huh. Where did you come from? This is the second floor..."
"Kyo?"
"Surely you didn't get blown in by the wind."
The rabbit, seemingly not understanding a word I said, rolled its red eyes and tilted its head again.
"Well, if you understood me, that would be even more terrifying."
At that moment, the rabbit, which had been staring intently at me, suddenly opened its small mouth.
I saw its cute front teeth. And then,
"I have completed the request."
A deep, adult male voice came from the cute rabbit's mouth.
"Aah!"
I froze for a second, then screamed and scrambled backward.
The rabbit, which had been on my lap, was almost thrown to the floor.
I was relieved that the rabbit, with its good reflexes, landed softly on the plush carpet and looked up at me with an innocent face.
"Kyo?"
"What, what was that? Just now..."
I was sure I had heard a deep male voice coming from the rabbit.
Despite its small size, no bigger than my fist, I was thoroughly frightened and on guard.
For a long time, the rabbit didn't speak again.
I stared blankly, muttering to myself.
"What? Did I hear things...?"
"I have completed the request. If you want a response, please come to the guild directly."
"Mommy!"
Before I could dismiss it as an auditory hallucination, the deep voice came from the rabbit's small mouth again.
I was startled again and took a step back.
In my panic, I had backed up so far that I hit the bedpost.
The rabbit didn't seem to want to scare me further and didn't come any closer.
"This is the White Rabbit Guild. That's all."
The rabbit, having revealed its origin, was suddenly swept away by a strong gust of wind.
Whoosh!
The wind died down. When I lifted my head to straighten my hair, the white rabbit, which had been emitting a strong presence, was gone.
"What the...?"
I stared blankly at the carpet where the rabbit had been.
Then, I remembered that this was how Bunter used to contact the female protagonist in Normal Mode.
He rarely moved himself, preferring to remain anonymous.
He usually sent messages through small animals like birds, mice, or dogs, and I now recalled that he most often used a white rabbit to represent his guild.
I had found it quite romantic at the time.
But the reason I was so startled was because...
"He never said he would deliver messages by voice..."
In the actual game, there was no voice acting.
Bunter's messages appeared as text, which I read with my eyes. I never imagined he would deliver messages through an animal's voice.
"Ha."
The deep male voice coming from the small, cute rabbit.
Thinking about it again, I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
Why use such a bizarre method to contact a client when there were perfectly good letters and messengers?
'Could this guy be a bit crazy too...?'
The sudden chill of that thought made me shudder.
I had already been blindsided by Eclis, whom I had believed would be the easiest to handle.
I was preparing to take a new route as a backup in case my favorability with him plummeted, but if I couldn't trust this either...
"No. There's no way all five of them are crazy."
I firmly denied the thought, recalling Bunter from the Normal Mode story and our brief encounter at the palace.
He was a gentleman, willing to give his handkerchief to a villain.
Perhaps it would be easier to raise his favorability.
"I should go meet him."
As my shock subsided, I slowly got up from the floor.
When I stood up, I realized I was far from where I had been dozing.
It was a bit embarrassing to have run so far from a small animal.
'He couldn't have seen all of that, right?'
Still, it was good news that he had contacted me first. I wouldn't have to attend all sorts of banquets to meet him.
Just as I made this decision, a white square window appeared before my eyes.
〈SYSTEM〉 The episode [The Suspicious Mage, Bunter Verdandi] is about to begin. Would you like to teleport to the guild?
[Yes. / No.]
"Wait a moment."
Even though the system window couldn't understand me, I gave a command and turned around.
I hurriedly prepared to leave. I needed to make some preparations to sneak out and back in without anyone noticing.
First, I found and put on the robe I had worn when I went to save Eclis.
I was glad I had secretly taken it from the wardrobe when Emily had tried to throw it away.
Then, I took a sapphire necklace from the jewelry box. It was the payment for the request.
I also took Bunter's white handkerchief and a gift for him, just in case.
"Do I really need to take this too?"
I held the white mask, similar to a Korean mask, that Leonard had bought me and hesitated for a moment.
Since the rabbit had been sent directly to my room, hiding my identity was pointless.
But I was supposed to be a high-ranking noblewoman secretly looking for a man.
'I'll stick to the concept for now.'
I put on the mask, checked myself in the mirror, and ran to the system window.
"I'm ready. Go!"
* * *
When I opened my eyes to a white light, I found myself in a deserted alley.
"Is this it?"
In front of me was a dilapidated building. A faint rabbit drawing was etched on the old wooden door.
Of course, I already knew this was Bunter's guild from the game.
Without hesitation, I climbed the stairs and reached for the door.
But as I raised my hand, the door creaked open.
"What...?"
The thought that someone might be watching me made the back of my neck tingle.
I peered through the dark crack and then stepped inside.
The interior was exactly as I remembered from the game.
A desk, bookshelves, and a guest sofa. It looked like a regular office.
But there was no sign of the person I was looking for.
"Where is he?"
I had come almost immediately after receiving the message from the white rabbit, so the empty office was a bit disappointing.
I considered going back to the mansion but decided to wait a bit since I was already here.
I planned to take a carriage back, as it was the equivalent of a taxi here.
But even a high-end information broker like this seemed to have no staff.
'What kind of guild doesn't have employees?'
I muttered in frustration but then understood.
'Of course, that's why they send a creepy rabbit that can speak with a deep voice...'
I closed the door and walked to the sofa, intending to sit and wait as a guest.
As I looked around the room again, a loud rumble suddenly echoed.
"What, what is this!"
I jumped up in surprise. The building seemed to shake, but the vibration quickly subsided.
"Did I imagine it?"
I tilted my head, about to sit back down, when another strong vibration shook me.
"Ah!"
I stumbled and grabbed the sofa, letting out a short scream.
'I came here just to see Bunter's face, but what kind of trouble is this?'
The sofa shook violently, and the vibration stopped abruptly.
"Is it an earthquake?"
I gripped the armrest, bracing for the next shake.
After waiting for a while, fortunately, there were no more vibrations.
I hurriedly got off the sofa and checked outside the window.
I didn't know about natural disasters in the game world, so I wanted to see how others were reacting.
"..."
But outside, everything was eerily calm.
Despite the two strong vibrations, there was no one running out of buildings or even walking on the streets.
"Even in a deserted alley, there are other buildings around..."
Moreover, if a natural disaster occurred during the festival, it would cause chaos in the capital.
Frowning, I pressed my ear to the window.
I thought I might not hear outside sounds clearly from inside. But then,
Rumble! The noise came from inside the building, right behind me.