Chapter 71: Mistflower 17: Prepare for Trouble

We were back at the burrow. Benji was getting his feet checked and mishelly hadn’t left his side. I was in my room with Muqu and fighting against [Acedia] by chugging potions.

It was acting up due to stress as we had so many more spires. Going through all that to repeat it at every spire...it’s just too much.

Benji had warned the rabbits to stay away from any until he recovered. He would hten give a full report and lead any expedition to a spire.

Is this why he’s so respected? We both had the same experience. He even had it worse but he was ready to go back in while I feel like staying away from them.

Is it our age? Our race? Or is this just who he is? Either wy this is admirable. I would love to help out but I’m reluctant to go through all this.

“So this [Acedia] you keep combating, where did you get it and what is it?” Muqu asked as she sniffed a barrel and recoiled from it’s smell.

“That one stinks yeah, ehh, I got it from a stupid bitch that impersonated me after killing many of my kin and other races. It was her last ‘fuck you’ before she ‘died’.” I said while making air quotes at ‘died’.

Muqu cocked her head. “What does that gesture mean? I don’t recognize it.”

“Ah, my bad. Well, she isn’t really dead. She will probably revive at some point...such a pain in the ass.”

I sed [Search: Imposter] and didn’t like what I saw. Another trail suggested that a revival process had started.

“Ugh, there’s the fairies, these spires, and that bitch still isn’t dead...this is too much...”

I buried my head in a pillow and screamed.

On top of all that [Acedia] was limiting my performance and this outburst of emotion required me to ingest more potions as drowsiness set in.

“Isnt there somone else who can help you? Why do you need to do that alone?”

I pulled out my hairpin and turned it into my hat. “Well, nobody under the Misha is either willing or strong enough to wipe out that blemish of a Misha and it had been my task in the past. About the fairies...I’m getting help from the rabbits, or more accurately I’m helping them. Not helping them isn’t an option as they’re everywhere. The spires are the same. Our livelihood will get affected by them once they convert all the mana to their element and start sucking it out of their surroundings to compensate.”

I altered the patterns on my hat to m liking, turned it into a fan and unfolded it to find the patterns reflected on my fan.

I nodded in satisfaction and turned it into a hairpin and put it back into my hair.

“The jungle, no the continent will end up drained of mana and turn into a lifeless husk once that happens. I simply can’t ignore it.”

“Why is that? Life doesn’t need mana to survive does it?”

I tried to answer but I didn’t know the answer. Its extremely rare but there are humans who don’t posses mana and can’t draw mana in. They’re magicless humans.

Only 1 Misha in history had that condition and her life was sad but she didn’t die.

Magic was so mundane and ever present that nobody considered what life would be without it. it’s like air, or so we think but we don’t know if we could live without it.

“So what do you think would happen when all mana gets sucked up? I don’t necessarily agree with your statement but I don’t have a counterpoint.”

“Well I don’t know how things work here but other dimensions have many places without mana, it’s actually the norm. But maybe you’re magic lifeforms.”

“We’re not...I’m learning so much. I...I need a new notebook.”

I rummaged through my dimensional pocket but I had no spare notebooks. My memory isn’t terrible but writing things down helps with organizing ideas. I should have bought a magic notebook and not one made out of paper...

I had to do with 3 pages which wasn’t enough. I also wanted to ask Muqu what a fairy was exactly but I would need another notebook first.

There was one problem though...

The rabbits don’t trust Muq, which is why she stays in my room.

I don’t blame them as she is the 1 in a billion fairies that isn’t a murderous psycho and because of that it’s not believed by mana.

Benji tried to help convince the rabbits but the majority were suspicious and told me to keep her close or else she will get kicked out.

Many rabbits had lost lives to fairies and some had permanently died, including Juvia’s husband and Sym.

Both have been helpful and it was difficult to choose a side.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Muqu caught on to this and sat next to me.

“I can leave if it’s too much of a hassle.”

“No, it’s fine. I know how it feels to be isolated because you’re different.”

I didn’t come this far to do to others what had been done to me. Muqu shows good will and I will believe her. But if she ends up deceiving me, I will kill her with no reservations. I won’t let anybody take advantage of my softness.

Softness eh?

She reminds me of myself. Her kin despises her and is in strange lands. Or dimension in her case. She's also looking for someone. I'm looking for someone to kill, she’s looking for her sister.

I hope we can stay friends.

We holed up in our room for a week. It was a quiet week until I got asked if I would want to help out with the night shift.

Muqu was allowed to come as long as I kept an eye on her.

Muqu was...strong. her appearance and fighting style was similar to stories I had heard about phoenixes. Except she was made out of water when she took flight and got serious.

As she said, the fairies wer attracted to her.

The night shift rabbits warmed up to her as she noticed she wasn’t the enemy. Unfortunately, the night shift rabbits were still a minority.

Everything went well for 4 months until an incident happened.

A dead rabbit had been found in the burrow on the 57th underground floor. Her head had been chewed off.

The suspicions fell on Muqu...

“Lets kill her! We gave her a home and she killed one of us!” An angry rabbit said as she accused Muqu and pointed at her.

Benji stepped in. “Now calm down. Vinnea had been found on the 57th floor. Azu and Muqu live on the first floor. Moreover, they had the night shift last night. There is no way Muqu could have made it that far down in the 3 hours in between. And that’s assuming she did it, which I think is ridiculous. We need to focus on the real threat which is still at large.”

I agreed with Benji but I was in the minority.

The nightshift rabbits and some others backed Benji up but paranoia is a strong opponent. We couldn’t convince the others.

Benji’s words unnerved me though. ‘the real threat’ What did he mean with that? Is this going to be a repeat of the previous burrow? Do we have a traitor? Does Benji know who or what it is?

Benji stomped which shook the whole area.

“Listen here! I know you’re afraid for the unknown but you have no evidence. The truth will reveal itself eventually. We need to put up an investigation. I will personally look through all the evidence that gets brought forth to eliminate any bias.”

“Aren’t you biased yourself?!” The same rabbit sid and others agreed with her.

“You are basing your stance on no evidence. That is being biased. The limited evidence we have points toward her not being the culprit so no I’m not biased. I’m willing to change my stance but it has to be supported by real evidence and not baseless accusations.”

The angry rabbit stormed off while yelling something like ‘I will prove that she’s a murderer’.

“I...I think I should leave... I’m not wanted here...”

Benji stopped Muqu who tried to walk away.

“That is a bad idea. They will assume you fled out of guilt. This is not your problem, it’s ours.” Benji directed his gaze to me.

“Please make sure she feels comfortable. I will have some of the night shift rabbits guard you. They will guard you against any rabbit stunts but also keep an eye on her and act as a witness. I have the feeling that this incident might repeat and she will get blamed for it. Please hang on.”

Benji patted our shoulders and walked off. “Where is my daughter?!”

“Benji is right, come Muqu. You’re not to blame.”

Muqu nodded and we went back to our room.

I didn’t know what to say and Muqu was quiet.

Not knowing what to do I started to improvise. I placed barriers in my room to ward against intruders. I also set traps that would exclude me and Muqu.

My intuition told me that that angry rabbit of earlier must have been close to the deceased rabbit. The only person close enough to me to get that angry is Remi, Paula, and Bea. Also, the 4 men who saved me from Boshi town.

Huh? I always thought that I had no friends but I have quite a few.

Why am I this stupid...I’m not alone but Muqu is.

Weeks went by and we were alone at all times or had 4 night-shift rabbits with us when going on strolls outside.

They didn’t feel like guards as they were more like friends. We were technically prisoners but we didn’t feel like it.

We returned to the burrow and the angry rabbit had gathered a small crowd and was awaiting us.

“You did it again! You won’t fool us this time!”

2 night shift rabbits stepped forward. “They have been with us the whole day, there was no way Muqu could have done it.”

“That’s why she got the help of that witch! She can use clones right?!”

I wasn’t sure to be happy or sad but the rabbits who were at first against Muqu reacted and started berating her.

“Hey, now you’re going too far. We might not trust Muqu but we trust Azu, she would never do that!”

“Yeah!”

The angry rabbit got backlash and a fight broke out.

They’re supposed t o fight the fairies, not each other.

Wren appeared and knocked out every rabbit that was raising his or her voice.

“The Carrot room as punishment for these rabbits, anyone else want to open their mouths?” She looked around angrily and both parties shut up as the knocked-out rabbits got dragged to the Carrot room.

“Everyone is hereby banned from bringing up this issue until we find a solution. Or do you want me to send my father to discipline you?”

The message was clear.

I knew Benji as a strong, intelligent and compassionate man but it seems that he is also feared, just as his daughter Wren is. I hope to never see that side of him.

“I’m sorry Muqu and Azu, everyone is just on edge. Benji’s investigation has lead him to the 73rd floor which is currently the lowest floor of our burrow. The reports don’t seem...coherent. it’s unlike my father...Benji, which means something new and strange is at play here. We will keep you informed. Please don’t resent them.”

Wren handed us some carrots and walked off. “Hey you! Stop slacking! The Carrot room for you!”

Wren grabbed the slacking rabbit by his ears and dragged him to the Carrot room. He was wailing and crying.

These rabbits all are tough but they only seem to cry when they have to go to the Carrot room. What a strange race.

We got escorted to our room and sat down.

“What do you think is the cause? You think it’s one of my kin?”

“I wish I knew the answer but...there are many creatures that get discovered every year. And that is just land creatures. Discovering new aquatic and subterranean species is...extremely difficult. It’s very possible that we’re dealing with an undiscovered race and if that’s the case...we might be in trouble.”

“What about interstitial species?”

I knew what the words meant but not in this context.

“What do you mean?”

“The creatures that live between subdimensions.”

“I...”

Honestly, I was stumped. I’m starting to realize that the Misha Academy hadn’t taught me a thing. Why is this concept so foreign?

“Muqu, can you wait a bit? Hey Zooltan! Can you get me a notebook please?”

A night shift rabbit appeared gave me a thumbs up and disappeared to return 10 minutes later with a notebook made out of thinly pressed and finely cut leaves.

“I’m sorry Muqu, so about those interstitial species, can you tell me more?”

I had my pen and notebook ready. I was ready to learn.