I planted my feet firmly on the ground, clenched my fist, and put all my weight into the punch.
This was the first time I'd hit someone with genuine intent.
The rabbit calling itself Haiyaan went flying, slammed into a wall, and crumpled to the ground.
"Whew… that felt good."
Honestly, it felt great.
I think it's the best I've felt in my entire life.
"Wh-what the—! What are you doing all of a sudden!?"
Haiyaan, still clutching his cheek, looked utterly bewildered.
Can't really blame him. If you woke up and immediately got punched, you'd be confused too.
It's about as unreasonable as things get.
But I felt great.
Oh, I felt so, so good.
"Yeah, I get that. But if Wof hadn't punched you, I would've."
"Mm… Riv would've… punched you too."
She said that while looking at Blade. Was she actually going to hit him with that?
"I'm fine with it since Wof took care of it."
"Wh-what is wrong with you people… the lowest of insults to a man, huh? What's going on with this body?"
Haiyaan felt himself all over, tilting his head in confusion.
I asked him.
"Haiyaan… what are you?"
"Indeed — I am Haiyaan, the alchemist who challenged the gods. But what in the world is this?"
"You're a rabbit."
"A rabbit, yes."
"Yes… rabbit."
"That much I know. I know that well enough. Ah — you, the pretty one over there, and you, the cute one. Why am I a rabbit?"
"Mm… no idea."
"No idea here either."
Well, what was I supposed to say to that.
We all looked at each other.
"What do we do about this situation?"
"Wof. You. Don't you think you might be cursed?"
"Huh? No, even I can't be blamed for this…"
"Mm… the boy… gets dragged into things? And also… onee-shota…"
"Onee-shota!?"
What is this person even talking about.
"Oh, and another thing. Why did you punch me?"
He shot me a resentful, accusatory glare.
Setting aside the fact that those eyes were purple…
"If there's someone standing in front of you who set up three tricks corresponding to white, blue, and red, inscribed it all on a monument, but in reality all the mechanisms trigger off white alone, and if you fell for that and tried to advance — calling you a cheating fool, saying accept the heavens' punishment, and unleashing a powerful monster upon you — what would you do?"
"Punch them with everything I had."
Haiyaan was dead serious.
"So I did."
"A-ah, I see… so that's what happened."
"Are you satisfied?"
"I am, but… hmm."
He made a face like something still didn't quite sit right.
Axe looked skeptical.
"Wait — are you really Haiyaan?"
"I am. I am Haiyaan. The alchemist Haiyaan."
"The one with the three eggs?"
"Yes. Pardon… three eggs?"
"It's from a nursery rhyme. The one about Haiyaan having three eggs."
"I did have them… a nursery rhyme?"
"Oh, so you really existed."
Mineha went "huh" and lost interest.
She hadn't looked interested to begin with.
"Hold on — is that it? He's Haiyaan! THE legendary Relic, the alchemist Haiyaan!?"
"What do you want me to say? The only thing we know is the nursery rhyme about the three eggs."
"Was there nothing else?"
"…Riv didn't know… in the first place."
"Just a nursery rhyme!? What!? He's Haiyaan…?"
The rabbit — rather, Haiyaan — was stunned.
Well, we'd searched around and there was basically nothing out there on him.
Axe glanced at "him" and sighed.
"So what do we want to do?"
"What can we do. Wof."
"Why me?"
"Mm… you're the leader…"
Can't argue with that, I guess.
"Um, Mr. Haiyaan."
"What is it, the boy who punched me with everything he had."
Does he hold grudges or what? It's his own fault, though.
"Putting the rabbit thing aside — how are you… alive?"
When people die, they don't come back.
That's common sense in this world.
And yet people have always dreamed of resurrection. Of course they have.
Eternal life and revival are humanity's greatest dream.
It's a stretch to say this rabbit is a success story, but in theory it should be.
"It's simple. I used eggs — Phoenix Resurrection Eggs."
We all murmured in surprise. Phoenix… Resurrection… They exist?
They're real? Haiyaan continued.
"I never intended to revive in this manner. The world had rotted. The world rejected me and became my enemy. So I entrusted my hope to the future — I was supposed to be revived in a future time… or so I planned."
"And that turned into a rabbit?"
"I don't know. Even I have no idea why I'm a rabbit. And why isn't this a lab?"
"A lab?"
"Isn't this supposed to be the storage vault for the spare key?"
"Spare…"
"Is this what you mean?"
Axe showed the key to Haiyaan.
Haiyaan crossed his arms, looked self-important, and nodded.
"Indeed. That's the lab's spare key."
"Could it be that lab is in the Ark Ruins on the twelfth floor?"
"Ark… Ruins? I don't follow. Twelfth floor?"
"It's a dungeon."
"Hmm? Isn't this Ludvekia?"
Ludvekia? Must be a place name.
Axe and Mineha tilted their heads.
Riv went "oh."
"Mm… that place… was destroyed long ago… about… 4,500 years ago."
"4,500 years!? You mean it's been 4,500 years since then…?"
Haiyaan was dumbfounded.
"You know that well."
"…Pakira… had a book… that mentioned it."
"Th-then, where is this!?"
"Hydrangea."
"…That backwater at the edge of a foreign land?"
Foreign land? I explained the circumstances. Haiyaan nodded repeatedly, groaning.
His long ears kept twitching — what was that about.
"I understand now — someone took advantage of a dungeon's preservation function to recreate this space. Someone sealed my soul inside this rabbit's body and stuffed me into the spare-key vault."
"And that's been 4,500 years."
"Wasn't I supposed to wake up after a hundred years?"
"Who knows. Maybe it's a tragedy. Maybe it's what he deserved."
"Latter, probably."
I thought so too.
Haiyaan seemed to agree. He was muttering something under his breath.
A few names that sounded feminine kept coming up. Definitely the latter, then.
Come to think of it, he'd casually called Riv and Mineha "the pretty one" and "the cute one" earlier. I was a little surprised those words came so smoothly.
Riv murmured.
"Mm… the boy should… be careful too… or he'll end up… like that…"
"No, I won't!?"
What is this person talking about.
"I don't know — he does seem likely. The boy who punched me with everything he had."
"I'll punch you again. And my name is Wof."
"Oh, I'm Axe."
"I'm Mineha."
"…Riv."
"Mineha. Riv. Your names sound as beautiful as you look."
We were completely ignored. Setting that aside — maybe I really should slug him one more time.
Riv and Mineha looked openly disgusted. Axe was exasperated.
"So, what now?"
"We have to go back."
"Mm… nothing to show for it… bummer."
"I want to go to the lab."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Gentlemen, why the silence?"
All of us were thinking the same thing: what do we do about this guy.
Well, we have no choice but to bring him along.
"Oh. So this is Wof's home?"
"…Yes, it is."
Riv had turned me down flat, and Axe outright refused to have Haiyaan.
So my place was the only option. Mineha said with a cold stare:
"Rabbit. If you set foot in the tower, I'll kill you."
"Y-yes."
She really looked like she'd do it.
I sighed.
"Well, it's this way."
"Hmm. Why am I being treated like this? I'm so cute, you know… I'm an alchemist, for heaven's sake."
He grumbled in protest. I gave him a flat look.
This guy — he'd tried to use the rabbit thing as an opportunity to hit on girls on the way back.
"If you don't mind those purple eyes being exposed to everyone, go right ahead."
I said it with a touch of real severity.
Haiyaan winced guiltily. For a rabbit, that was quite the expression.
"Ugh, I didn't know about that."
A rabbit with purple eyes was nothing but trouble.
As it turned out, this rabbit — or rather, Haiyaan — belonged to the Edda race. That's why his eyes were purple. So that was the deal.
"By the way, Wof — what is that envy-inducing creature?"
"You mean Daga? That's my pet knife."
Daga, sprawled out and looking limp, had been taken by Mineha.
I'd secretly hoped Daga might be connected to Haiyaan somehow.
But he just clicked his tongue.
"Envy-inducing!"
"…Is there nothing else you can say about it? Isn't it related to you?"
"I've never seen anything like it. Have no memory of it. All I know is that it's envy-inducing."
Was this guy even really an alchemist? My expectations were plummeting by the second.
I had no choice but to show him to my room. He looked around and commented:
"Looks like a boy's room."
"Well, yes."
"I don't mind it."
"Thanks."
"A lab should be something like this."
"It's just a room."
Haiyaan sat on the bed without a care.
"Whew. When I came here, I saw a city. Wasn't Hydrangea supposed to be a lake?"
"It's to the south. It's a water dungeon now."
"…4,500 years…"
Haiyaan looked wearied.
Can't blame him for being shocked.
Waking up after 4,500 years to find yourself turned into a rabbit.
"…………"
Even without thinking hard, the shock was immeasurable.
Some people might even take their own lives over that.
Haiyaan narrowed his eyes and gazed upward at the sky, murmuring.
"Heh… every beautiful girl and gorgeous woman 4,500 years in the future, huh."
"…"
"Hm? What's with that look — like you're staring at garbage?"
"Well then, I'm hungry."
"Hey. You. Don't ignore me."
I ignored him and headed to the kitchen.
And so I cooked a meal, and we all ate together.
By that point Mineha had returned to her fairial form, which amazed Haiyaan.
He was further shocked to learn she was ten years old. Noisy one.
As usual, everyone ate heartily, but Mineha seemed off somehow.
She looked deep in thought, troubled. I watched her with concern.
She was probably upset about the spear.
It was an important OOPArt her mother had given her.
I'd heard it had a spiral-enhancing effect.
Her partner of many years was gone.
I'd been devastated when my first knife broke.
I know that feeling all too well.
That doesn't mean I'm used to it, though.
Even now, if one broke I'd be devastated, and I'm dead set on making sure they never do.
Anyway, dinner was done, so I started cleaning up.
"Na!"
"Hey — what do you think you're doing!? What is this creature!?"
"Na!"
"Stop it, you envy-inducing thing! Even if you're female, I have no interest in that!"
I was in the middle of tidying up. Daga, fully recovered, was playing with Haiyaan.
Well, I'd step in if things got dangerous. Oh wait — Daga was female?
I didn't know that. How did that rabbit figure it out, anyway?
Whatever. Daga. So she had a gender. Not that it changes anything.
Just then, Mineha, who'd been sipping tea, landed on my shoulder.
"Hey. Wof."
"What is it?"
"I need to talk to you about something."
"Talk?"
"…On top of the tower."
My eyes widened.
I nodded at Mineha's taut expression.