Munch munch—the round, white snout moved ceaselessly. A weed stem slipped between the lips and soon the sound of swallowing followed. The farmer usually took a good 10 minutes when he went to rest, so Beni resolved that in the meantime, he’d finish eating all the grass around here.
Chomp—Beni opened his small, round mouth wide and bit down hard on a weed stem, pulling it. Thanks to the fluffy soil, one clump of grass was pulled out completely with its roots. Chewing and swallowing them one by one until both cheeks were puffed up, his belly seemed to be getting gradually full.
Taking a breather, the rabbit sat with his short front paws neatly together and looked around. Around his white mouth, grass stains had colored it a pale green. Compared to earlier, the grass had decreased quite a bit. As if pleased by this sight, his fluffy cheeks twitched slightly.
Just as Beni was contemplating whether to pull a bit more, the sound of footsteps was heard. The rabbit perked up both ears and hid his body in the bushes as if bouncing. Without leaving that spot, Beni watched the farmer through a small gap.
“What’s this! The weeds have all been pulled!”
The farmer’s face brightened. Seeing that, the rabbit ground his teeth softly. He didn’t know why, but when he felt good, he unconsciously ground his teeth.
From that day when Marcel had come to his bedroom, Beni had been hiding at the Demon King’s Castle while continuously maintaining his rabbit form. Though Beni himself didn’t feel good about quietly freeloading without the master’s permission, currently the safest place for him was only the Demon King’s Castle.
So Beni thought.
Since he was residing at the Demon King’s Castle without permission, he should be helpful even a little. And since Beni also felt good whenever he saw the demons who were happy when he secretly helped them, he quite liked his current life.
“We were short-handed, but now it’s worth doing!”
At the farmer’s brightly smiling voice, Beni felt proud as he carefully moved locations. Moving his steps to make as little sound as possible, he left the field and headed toward the back of the Demon King’s Castle.
He’d just done a good deed, but now he had to go do something a little… no, perhaps very bad. Namely, stealing the food of Cerberus, the Demon King’s Castle’s guard dog. Though Beni was a rabbit, as a demon half-blood, he couldn’t survive on just vegetation. Beni was a carnivorous rabbit.
For the first month, he’d really lived eating only grass, but it was so physically exhausting he ended up fainting. Even when living at the mansion he’d always eaten poorly, but back then it was possible because his activity level was almost nonexistent. Hiding here and there throughout the Demon King’s Castle in a rabbit’s small body required tremendous stamina beyond expectation.
Though he felt sorry to Cerberus, today too he’d have to impose a little.
When Beni had gone far away, the farmer who had been pulling weeds stood up abruptly. He frowned deeply and roughly threw off his straw hat.
“Thought I’d die from the heat.”
Muttering irritably, he pulled something out of the front pocket of his overalls. It was a magic tool that could communicate with someone far away. When he infused his magic power into this egg-shaped thing, it made a crackling sound along with faint light.
“His Majesty the Demon King’s rabbit-nim has left Acre Farm. Seems to be heading toward the Cerberus pen.”
Then the demon recited the names of the grasses the rabbit had come and eaten today. He especially didn’t leave out what it had eaten the most of.
— We’ll prepare a meal at the Cerberus pen.
An answer came back with noise, and the farmer, James, let out a deep sigh as he looked down at the pulled weeds. He had planted all these weeds himself.
The reason he’d deliberately planted weeds and pretended not to notice the rabbit went back two months ago.
Suddenly, a directive had come down to all servants living in the castle.
- If you discover a white rabbit within the castle, do not take any action and pretend not to see it so the rabbit won’t be startled, then pass by. Additionally, touching the rabbit first, talking to it, approaching it, or acknowledging it is absolutely forbidden. That rabbit is my rabbit.
- However, if the rabbit is in danger, you must protect it safely as naturally as possible without the rabbit noticing. And report to me immediately. I will give a reward.
- So the rabbit doesn’t go hungry, you must discreetly provide meals. The rabbit likes to steal food.
- Lastly, if you bring any information or traces about the rabbit, I will give an appropriate reward.
The directive written in the Demon King’s own handwriting was somewhat bizarre in content to accept. No one could understand why a beast rabbit would suddenly be allowed to roam freely in the Demon King’s Castle. However, in the Demon King’s Castle, the Demon King’s words were absolute.
Even if they couldn’t understand it, even if they couldn’t accept it, they had to follow. If they couldn’t follow, they had no choice but to leave the castle, but that was also difficult.
When news spread that he had personally killed his father who didn’t have much life left and ascended to the Demon King’s position, many tried to leave the castle. The previous Demon King had been quite a scoundrel too, but he’d never killed his own parent.
The new Demon King replaced all the previous generation’s close associates immediately upon coronation. If even a hint of rebellion showed, he cut it off at the root. A bloody wind blew, and those who were trying to leave hesitated and stayed put.
Then such a proclamation came down. What kind of strange business was this? They wondered if the Demon King was testing them, yet they absolutely couldn’t accept that it was specifically a rabbit.
So the appropriate reason that eventually emerged was:
That rabbit is my rabbit.
My rabbit—in other words, that white rabbit was His Majesty the Demon King’s pet rabbit. If Ruan had heard directly, it was a story he would have corrected to say not a pet rabbit but a companion rabbit.
However, among demons, raising something that wasn’t one’s own child was solely for some benefit.
Usually, rather than such a plump, adorable, cute rabbit, it was common to tame rough, violent monsters for showing off, or even when bringing in beasts, to raise them for food.
Therefore, at the sudden news of a companion animal, everyone inwardly thought this Demon King killed his own father so cruelly yet raises a rabbit—must be someone with half his brain missing…
James was picking up the grass the rabbit had eaten when a chuckle escaped.
“Being the Demon King’s rabbit, it is clever.”
At first he’d thought it was coincidence, but it really was helping him by plucking grass. And picking out only the weeds at that. At the small tooth marks left on the grass blades, the demon felt an unfamiliar feeling lately.
How it rustled in the bushes, thinking it wouldn’t be caught.
How it was small in size and had abundant fur, yet came out to the field and waited even in the sweltering heat to just pluck grass.
How its white fur was stained from running around the dirt field.
Quietly watching that behavior, he somehow felt like he understood why the Demon King kept a rabbit. The demon, whose irritation from the heat until just now had completely evaporated, finished picking up the grass the rabbit had eaten.
Originally he’d planned to leave the castle once the situation calmed down, but he wondered if he really needed to.
* * *
Arriving near the target point, Beni hid and secretly looked at the iron-barred pen when, just in time, the sound of the giant clock tower’s bell rang out loudly throughout the castle.
At every hour on the hour, the clock tower near Orte Palace rang its bell three times.
Perhaps Cerberus’s food hadn’t all come out yet—servants were opening the iron gate and setting down various bowls inside. The rabbit’s pink nose busily twitched as it explored the food.
The faintly wafting scent of butter and herbs, and the rich smell of meat. There was steak today too! The Demon King’s Castle’s cuisine was by far the best of any food Beni had ever eaten. Until then, the most luxurious dish in Beni’s life had been an apple pie Trellou had given him after eating some.
Already saliva pooled in his mouth, making the rabbit’s snout twitch. When he flared his nose fully, he smelled the rich broth made from stewing meat and potatoes thoroughly. If he stuck his mouth in the bowl and gulped it down, his belly would warm up toastily. His white whiskers kept twitching as Beni waited for the servants to disappear quickly.
Though he’d eaten plenty of grass earlier, now that he was before the food, he seemed to feel hungry. Waiting breathlessly in the corner like that, all the servants left. The rabbit stood up on two legs and looked around like a meerkat, perfectly confirming there were no other demons around before carefully approaching the iron bars.
All the food was inside the pen and the door was closed, but it wasn’t much of a problem for Beni. Beni’s bulk was all fluffed up with fur.
When his white head slipped smoothly through the narrow iron bars, the fur soon compressed, revealing a thin, small build. The rabbit who had easily entered inside glanced at the giant doghouse in the pen’s interior and tapped the floor with his hind legs.
Then a “Grrrowl” sound came from inside the doghouse. At first he’d thought it was threatening, but Beni, who had already been stealing dog food for two months now, knew that was permission.
Having received the food owner’s permission too, Beni opened his mouth wide toward the steak that was in the very front. Chomp—the moment he took a bite, fireworks exploded before the rabbit’s eyes and his white bottom twitched.
While Beni was deliciously stealing food—
A servant with binoculars spoke into the communicator.
“Rabbit-nim’s bottom is wiggling again today.”
Must be delicious.
