CH 41

Chapter 41 – To the Capital of the Empire (4) 

From my confident announcement, the grandpa just chuckled as if he were having a good time.

“Well, it is of no doubt that a dual specimen would have resentment to Pucci. To see you out like this, are you a runaway or here to save your kind?”

I shook my head from his comment.

“I’m just trying to kill him. He’s a bad guy.”

The grandpa laughed senselessly at my reply. 

“To say it nicely, you are brave and to say it badly, you are too reckless.”

The grandpa poured a drink in the empty glass.

“Let’s each grab a glass.”

Arje refused profusely from his suggestion.

“I’m good. I don’t drink.”

It was natural for Arje to refuse since she didn’t drink, but

“Why don’t you have one? I can tell you some things about Pucci.”

Then Arje looked at the grandpa with wide eyes.

“You know about Pucci? How?”

Then the grandpa laughed again.

“If you get as old as I do, you come to hear and know all kinds of things. You will see when you become a grandma.”

Arje got pensive into her thoughts.

“You are not lying, right?”

“Of course not. I saw many who tried to kill Pucci, but you are the first person, I mean rabbit, who said it out so bravely. It’s my pay in return for entertaining this old man.”

Arje lifted her glass, as if it was now too awkward to refuse the drink.

“All right. All I have to do is drink this, right?”

Now that I think about it, I never saw Arje drink anything with a mask on. How will she drink?

“It’s more like a fruit juice than a drink…”

Arje, who lifted her mask slightly to drink, reviewed the taste of the drink with a surprised voice.

Arje pushed her glass, as if she really liked the taste of the drink.

“I take payments from the second drink. Will you be alright with that?”

“Of course! I got lots of money. If a drink tastes as good as this, I will have plenty!”

Arje took the second drink with a more cheerful voice than earlier. Well, this might be better than being depressed and angry like earlier. Only if she could hold off getting wasted.

“I guess you don’t really like it? You haven’t even touched the drink.”

The grandpa spoke to me, as I hadn’t started drinking while looking at Arje.

“I was going to.”

So I was about to drink the green liquid in the glass.

“Hmm?”

But I felt weird before I started to drink. One could say that I was being too sensitive to say that I felt stares when I entered the city, but I heard a tiny noise. A tiny, but annoying sound that kept poking my ears.

“What’s wrong, Aris? This drink is delicious.”

Arje suggested the drink in a drunk voice. I could have let it go, but what if it was one of Pucci’s guys outside?

“One moment. Let me check outside.”

I jumped from my seat and ran outside.

“Hey, you! Stop right there!”

As I looked to the left and right as I ran outside, I could see someone rush to an alleyway.

“I said, STOP!”

I started chasing them, hoping that I could get some information on Pucci. Even if they were fast, they were still human. I was a bunny.

“Where did it go?”

But no matter how long I ran towards the alleyway, I could not see the person who was spying on me. To be faster than a bunny. What was going on? Had I seen a false image?

“As soon as I catch you, you’re dead meat.”

“Be careful when you move her.”

Arje was getting dragged out of the car and was getting placed into a carriage with metal frame windows.

“What the..?”

I tried to rescue Arje immediately. But there were too many soldiers near her. Not only soldiers, but sorcerers, too.

“How?”

Had the old man reported us? Or because what we had done so far was exposed? But there were too many soldiers for it to be a crime scene.

“It was surprising to see Princess Arje appear out of nowhere and drink.”

The soldiers had already discovered her identity. When I looked closer, the mask that was one Arje’s face was already gone.

“Yes. Because of a troublesome daughter, Emperor Kharon went through a lot of trouble.”

In front of the bar was the old man standing. Still, he talked rudely about the princess in front of the knights and soldiers. I thought that at least the lead knight would say something, but nothing happened.

“But where is that dual specimen who kidnapped Princess Arberaj?”

Kidnap? Dual specimen? I kidnapped Arje? There was even a frame around me.

“It disappeared somewhere, as if it had already found out.”

The bar owner seemed to be disappointed. Why? Because he wouldn’t get rewarded for finding me?

“We will get him. Since if it’s a dual specimen that has the ability to kidnap the princess and even come to the city to threaten the emperor, it must be an extremely dangerous being.”

The soldiers seemed to have mistaken me as a princess kidnapper.

“Take care of that, please. I hope that you will be able to catch it alive. That bunny. If you sell it, it should give you enough to build your own country.”

“Of course. Since death is too light of a punishment for having kidnapped the princess..”

The dialect and the way that the knights and soldiers treated him was unordinary. 

No way….

“No way.”

Was the old man Pucci? This was a reasonable guess from the conversation thus far.

“All right. Please return to the palace as well, Pucci. The emperor will want to talk to you about many things.”

Although she sounded as polite as Arje, my back straightened automatically from how mature she sounded unlike Arje.

“Ahhh!”

I tried to pull out the rapier right away, but the lady grabbed both of my arms.

“Let go of me!”

I tried my best to get out, the the lady seemed more surprised than I was.

“What’s going on with your tone? Please adjust yourself as the nun of the Church of the Empire.”

Church of the Empire? I looked back. There was a lady with pink hair wearing the same white robe as Arje.

“Come on, let’s go now, if you are done calming down. Mass will begin soon.”

Then she tried to drag me somewhere.

“Where?”

From my question, the pink haired lady blinked her eyes.

“You are still not awake. Of course the temple, where we give the mass.”

Who was this person? Why was she pretending to know me and trying to take me to the temple? Still, even though I wanted to run, I couldn’t help but be dragged since she was stronger than she appeared.

“Wait! I am actually….”

Was she mistaking me as a nun, since we were wearing the same white robes? Then it was best to just tell the truth now.

“Find her! That bunny was wearing a white robe!”

I heard the voices of the guards who were searching for me. It would be worse to say that I was not a nun in this situation. It worked out, then. At least I had an identity of the Church of the Empire before being caught.

I thought for a bit, after her question. I shouldn’t talk informally as now. I had to act and speak in accordance with the nuns.

“I am sorry, I forgot about the mass time for a moment.”

I should talk as arje does. I should at least be average.

“Yes. It is important for the Imperial nun to have an attitude of self-reflection.”

The pink hair smiled.

“It’s a white robe!”

Then the guards tried to come my way after seeing our robes, but they flinched after seeing the lady in pink hair.

“Aren’t you…”

Then the pink hair smiled.

“May the blessing of the emperor be with you. Do you have any business with us nuns?”

“Uh..well…yes! Apparently there is a dual specimen walking around in a white robe. Please be leery of her, since she can pretend to be an Imperial nun!”

Then the pink haired nun smiled again.

“Thank you, soldier.”

“Hahaha.”

Then the soldier had a wide smile then headed towards a different direction.

“Were they Imperial nuns?”

“They both are pretty. They should be at a bar, why would they volunteer to be nuns?”

…Big ears had a downfall picking up all unpleasant conversations.

“Isn’t it funny…. A nun pretending to be one?”

The pink haired nun scanned me top down. Was she suspecting me?

“Yes. What kind of a stupid dual specimen would put on such a show?”

But since I was very confident in lying, I spoke as if I really was speechless.

“Right? Let’s go.”

So the pink hair and I headed to give mass. Arje..should be okay, since she is the princess. Maybe.