TVCWB Chapter 43

Chapter 043

The three of them left the hotel while being overly courteously escorted by the staff, and the first place they headed to was a souvenir shop.

It was to buy the Rabbit Hero sword that Theo wanted.

“Welcome!”

The souvenir shop, already noisy with children of many different races, greeted the new customers with practiced smiles and mechanical voices.

There was still no mention of Eclit in the original Rabbit Hero story, yet Rabbit Hero-related goods had somehow become Eclit’s specialty. It remained a mystery.

Thanks to that, Eclit’s tourism industry had grown, and the employees were glad to have jobs… but dealing with children was exhausting.

Worse still, parents were often overly aggressive. Even when children ran around and broke things, they blamed the staff. If an employee’s expression stiffened even slightly, parents would curse at them, asking what problem they had with their child.

So the staff of Eclit’s largest souvenir shop were inwardly indifferent toward the newly arrived family as well.

Even if the fluffy-furred child wearing a beret was unbearably cute.

“H-hello! Thank you for working hard today! If it’s not too rude to ask, could you please give me a Rabbit Hero sword too?”

Theo imitated the polite child behavior that Perea had taught him before leaving the hotel.

It was the first time in his five-year life as a beastman that he used honorific speech and bowed his head.

The staff melted instantly at the contrast between his lovely appearance and his polite, sweet tone.

Nearby customers also chuckled softly when they heard his loud, earnest voice.

Perea, who had taught Theo his lines, lifted the corner of her mouth proudly.

No one in the shop would ever guess that this adorable customer was a top-tier species of the Amur Empire and a member of the imperial family.

Proof of that was how the staff gently patted Theo’s shoulder while explaining each Rabbit Hero sword one by one. Nearby children also approached him openly, chatting and showing their fondness.

Even though they flinched at the faint pheromones of a fierce beast surrounding Theo, they still came closer, convincing themselves that the danger they sensed was just their imagination.

“Which one do you like best?”

Perea deliberately avoided calling Theo by name as she asked. Theo tilted his head, then pushed the final decision onto Ray.

“Which one looks the bravest?”

“You want me to choose?”

“Mm! Please choose for me!”

Completely immersed in his role as a good child, Theo even used polite speech with Ray.

Ray chuckled softly and chose a sword modeled after a longsword. It was made small like a miniature for children, but it looked the most convincing.

After deciding on Ray’s choice, Theo held the sword and trotted toward the counter on his short legs.

The pumpkin-colored pants hiding his long tail wiggled, showing just how excited he was.

“Goodbye!”

From paying for the sword to leaving the shop, the family’s manners were impeccable. The employees thought that if all customers were like this, their job satisfaction would skyrocket.

***

“Waaaah!”

As soon as they exited the shop, Theo let out the shout he had been holding back. He was overjoyed to finally own a Rabbit Hero sword.

Other children near the toy shops were jumping around too, and passing tourists laughed at the sight.

“Now Theo is a real hero!”

Theo looked ready to swing the sword immediately, but Ray stopped him, explaining that a true hero wouldn’t swing a sword where people were walking.

Theo obediently hugged the sword to his chest, and Perea shivered at his cuteness.

With the most urgent task finished, the next plan was dinner.

Berry had taken responsibility for their dinner. Saying that it was fate they had all met, and that they needed to build strong bonds before doing anything fun, he had forcefully arranged the dinner appointment.

Because of that, the three of them were waiting for Berry in front of the plaza fountain.

“Yo!”

Soon, a large man ambled toward them. He truly looked like a brown bear.

After greeting them casually, Berry pointed at the largest restaurant in the plaza.

“That’s tonight’s dinner spot!”

Even if he was the youngest son of a baronial family with no visible power, the Tail family was still the Tail family.

He had the privilege of making a same-day reservation at the busiest and most famous restaurant in Eclit.

The restaurant manager even came out personally to greet them with utmost respect.

“Lord Tail, it is truly an honor to have you visit our establishment.”

“Uh, yeah. Please take good care of us.”

“Yes! We will serve you with our utmost sincerity!”

The manager bowed so deeply his forehead nearly touched the floor before leading the way. Berry followed naturally, looking exactly like a rich, idle noble.

Perea couldn’t adjust to how different this Berry was from the senior she knew at the academy.

That senior, who was famous for being easygoing to the point of rarely bathing…!

Completely unaware of Perea’s shocked gaze, Berry expressed his excitement by shrugging his shoulders eagerly once he sat down.

“The salmon steak here is insane, you know? Damn, my mouth’s already watering!”

“Do you come here often?”

At Perea’s question, Berry shook his head.

“This place is expensive.”

Even as a baron’s son, he was practically cast aside by his family.

Instead of helping the household, he ran off to study medicine and hadn’t shown his face at home for years, earning long-standing resentment.

Because of that, while making reservations was easy, paying for the food wasn’t.

The baronial family only gave him enough money to maintain appearances, and Berry spent all of it on beekeeping.

“Ray has a lot of money, so buying his friend a single meal shouldn’t be hard, right?”

“Oh, come on.”

Berry had finally returned to the shameless senior Perea knew. Feeling more at ease, she focused on Theo.

Theo was hugging his newly bought Rabbit Hero sword like a treasure. It looked like he might even insist on feeding it during dinner.

Seeing this, Berry burst into laughter. It reminded him exactly of another Rabbit Hero fanatic, Elo, down to the smallest detail.

“Oh, right! This is what Elo tapped.”

“Already?”

“Listening to conversations isn’t hard. Elo sent this to me and said he’s packing immediately.”

“Already?”

To Perea’s question, Berry replied, ‘I told you, he really likes rabbit beastmen,’ before continuing.

“Just like you said. The youngest prince traveled to Eclit and then contact was lost. A tracking unit was dispatched, but besides the official group sent by the emperor, someone else sent an unofficial unit.”

Reading through the document Elo had prepared, Berry paused briefly before continuing.

“That unofficial unit is the Twilight Division, First Knight Order.”

When Berry mentioned the Twilight Division, his eyes sharpened. He clearly knew whose forces they belonged to.

Ray nodded. It matched his expectations perfectly.

Soon, the Twilight Division would arrive at Riom Forest. Hoping they would fall for the traces he had left behind, Ray took a sip of water.

Even wrapped in a black cloak, his movements were elegant and refined, making it hard to believe he had spent his life hunting monsters and fighting on battlefields.

After entering the restaurant, Perea felt the same sense of unfamiliarity from Ray that she had felt from Berry earlier.

‘Could Ray also be the son of an extremely wealthy noble family, even before being a knight…?’

The suspicion quietly bloomed.

After all, fierce beastmen were mostly found among the upper class, so it wasn’t an unreasonable guess.

Today, Perea found many unfamiliar sides to people she thought she knew.

Feeling awkward for no reason, she fidgeted with her fingers when a knock sounded and the door opened.

“We will prepare your meal. Since you requested everything at once, we will bring all dishes except dessert. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes.”

At Berry’s reply, the staff moved quickly, and before long, the large table was filled with all kinds of food.