/
By the time she left the office, Doah had regained her composure once more.
After she had decided what she must do from here on out, a plan was gradually starting to take shape in her mind.
She could take her time, and she was sure it would work.
‘The question is, how can I leave…’
She tried to think of a way to escape the clutches of Credel and leave the territory safely.
However, no matter how many ideas she could think of, she could only imagine failing and being dragged back to the grand duchy.
She wondered if a successful method existed out there.
‘At the very least, I should be able to use magic though.’
Ah!
While contemplating, a sudden thought popped up.
‘Now that I think about it, there’s that!’
Doah turned and went on a different path.
There was a shortcut that Bunny used before, she was able to reach her destination safely without encountering any passing servants.
As she left the building, the sky was already turning red.
‘It’s around here, right?’
Doah crouched on the ground and dug through the weeds that had already grown thickly for the past two years.
‘Why did it grow so much.’
Should she have brought a shovel with her?
Grumbling, she dug through the weeds and grass with her bare hands, pulling out the roots of some unknown plants as she worked her way through the soil.
She did that for who knows how long.
After a long while, finally, glittering jewels could be seen deep into the ground.
‘Found it!’
She shook off the dirt and pulled it close.
This thing was called an artifact.
A gem infused with magic.
‘It was something Bunny stole while she was still at the dump.’
To be exact, she had stolen it from a group of bandits.
That group considered Bunny to be a talent that they wanted for themselves.
She was quick on her feet, knew her way around the place after being there for only a short time, was great at finding escape routes, and could hide herself well.
Above all, her hands were faster than the speed of light.
For this reason, the leader of the most notorious bandit group in the Garbage Dump, called Dark Brigade, worked Bunny like a dog without paying her anything.
‘And this artifact was something Bunny stole from the brigade right when she was taken away from the dump.’
In fact, this artifact was by itself an extremely expensive item, but it wasn’t enough to be called a treasure.
Because if you have money, you could save anyone.
Even so, Bunny knew that the leader of the Dark Brigade wouldn’t have been pleased to know that she stole it.
This artifact was something he had displayed for everyone to see whenever he told stories of his glory days, and he would brag about how he stole this thing from a royal palace in the past.
So, she had to steal it from him.
Whether it was one thief stealing from another, Bunny had been really determined to exact revenge on them.
‘Can I use this?’
Doah looked at the artifact closely, which was in the form of an elaborately crafted earring.
‘What is it? What kind of magic does it have?’
She was perplexedly tilting her head to the side because she couldn’t figure out how to use it. But then, at that moment,
—Who is it?
Suddenly, a voice rang in her head.
Doah was so startled that she dropped the earring to the ground.
‘Communication magic?’
This was something that was usually exchanged between aristocratic lovers while they were far away from each other.
No wonder it was only one earring.
‘But he said he stole this from the palace.’
Doah felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Should she just bury it again?
‘If he stole it during the war, then that kingdom might be extinct by now… If this is unlikely to be tracked down, then I think it’ll be alright.’
After a moment of hesitation, she picked up the earring again.
“Um, hello?”
—I asked you who you are.
The speaker spoke in the lowest tone he could, but no matter who listened to it, it’s clearly a child’s voice.
‘It’s a nice voice though.’
Doah had such a thought out of the blue.
She was taught that one’s voice was what completed a person’s physiognomy—that even if you mask your expression, you can’t hide your voice.
‘While clear and resounding, it’s a husky voice that gives off the feeling that it’s clean and absolutely flawless.’
Even though the person on the other end of the line was still a child, his pronunciation was clear and neat, and his tone from beginning until the end was leveled.
He spoke only a few words, but it had the power to command the attention of everyone listening.
This voice caught Bunny’s attention.
“It’s Bunny.”
—…A rabbit?
“No, it’s my name.”
—……
Soon, silence ensued. The way he couldn’t say anything in return seemed to express the unsaid question of how anyone’s name could possibly be Bunny.
He could understand why he’s aghast. And it’s not even her name.
—Eight years.
After a long silence, the other child said this.
—I’ve been waiting for all eight years of my life for a reply, but all I get is a response from a rabbit…
She’s a human though.
“Are you eight years old?”
She couldn’t believe he said ‘all’ eight years of his life.
He was two years younger than Bunny—basically just a kid.
—Why do you have that?
The child seemed quite angry.
However, unlike a kid of his age, he didn’t express his anger by huffing and puffing or throwing a tantrum.
He asked for an explanation first, calmly and slowly, and in a voice that suppressed his emotions.
Doah was deeply impressed.
“Um, I just happened to get it.”
—Just happened to, you say.
He repeated what Doah said.
—When?
“Two years ago, but it was stolen long before that and has been going around for an even longer time before.”
She just answered honestly.
After all, this kid was someone she’d never meet.
Even if he’d come here to retrieve the earring, he wouldn’t be able to break through Credel’s strong defenses.
—How can I trust your words?
“It’s up to you whether you want to believe me or not.”
What could she get in return for lying to an eight-year-old kid whose name she didn’t even know?
“You said you’ve been waiting for eight years—for a lifetime.”
At that moment, Doah almost burst out in laughter.
‘All eight years of his life, he said…’
That’s just so cute.