Chapter 371

Pastel Rabbits this time?

(Oniichan, do you want us to collect the Snowbelows around here?)

“No, let’s leave Snowbelows to Vector’s group. We should look for the Pastel Rabbits. That’s our original objective anyways.”

(That’s true. I’m sure they will bring back a lot.)

So, we decided to look for the Pastel Rabbits as originally planned, but—

“”Ah! There!””

“There? A Pastel Rabbit?”

“”Yea!””

Soon, Allen and Elena seemed to have found a Pastel Rabbit, and dove into the bushes.

(Now then, what color would the Pastel Rabbit be~?)

(Since it’s Allen-chan and Elena-chan, wouldn’t it be red or blue?)

“Yeah. And I have a feeling they wouldn’t bring just one or two, but a whole bunch of them~”

I was with Joule and Feat, predicting the colors and number of Pastel Rabbits that the children would bring back.

“”Oniichan, there were many~””

Sure enough, Allen and Elena returned with multiple Pastel Rabbits in their arms.

“Six of them?”

(Erm, the ones Allen is holding are red, blue, and pink.)

(Elena-chan’s are purple, yellow, and green.)

I don’t know whether silver-colored Pastel Rabbits exist, so I can say that we almost achieved our objective.

“I wish I could say this was enough, but…”

“”Is not~!””

“Will look for.”

“Silver child, too~”

“I thought so.”

I didn’t think Allen and Elena would be satisfied with this, so the search for the Pastel Rabbits resumed.

“We will be stopping only for one night, whether we find the silver Pastel Rabbit or not. We are returning to the city tomorrow. Alright?”

“”Alright~””

For now, I’ll just set a firm deadline.

“Then, let’s put those kids into a basket.”

“”Okay!””

I took out a large basket from the Infinite Storage and Allen and Elena put the Pastel Rabbits into it with familiar actions.

“It just bugs my mind every time I see them not trying to escape~”

(Yeah, I also find it strange.)

(I would love to hear from them what they judge as dangerous~)

Joule and Feat put their faces close to the basket, but the Pastel Rabbits were taking it easy.

Both of them are fierce beasts in terms of their species, though~ It is a mystery.

“Well, we won’t understand the cause even if we think about it, so let’s not worry about it and move on to the next thing.”

(That’s true, let’s do that~)

(Allen-chan, Elena-chan, which way do you think we should go next?)

“”That way~””

We stopped thinking deeply about it, and moved again in the direction indicated by the children.

“”Ah!””

After walking for a while, the kids found something again and dove into the bushes.

(Oh? Are they in?)

(I hope it’s a silver Pastel Rabbit, but I wonder~)

“I hope they will compromise on white or gray~”

(Isn’t that impossible?)

(I don’t think that’s possible?)

“……”

Joule and Feat wouldn’t give me a bit of hope.

“”Oniichan, look, look~””

“What is it? Is it a silver Pastel Rabbit?”

“”There was no~ne. But, look!””

Allen and Elena came back with a happy look on their faces, and I thought they had found the Pastel Rabbit they were looking for, but it seems that I was wrong.

“We found a.”

“Birdy, too~”

“Eh? Birdy?”

“”Birdy~””

“Nn?”

The reason they were so happy was because they apparently found a birdy… a bird?

It was about the size of a baseball. Allen was holding a fluffy, white, round thing that he could hold in one of his palms, but it didn’t look like a bird to me at all.

(Pii.)

“Ah, it chirps.”

It must have been the back side that I was looking at earlier. The white fluffy thing moved, and I saw round and cute black eyes and a small beak.

“It really is a bird. But, it’s not a monster, right?”

It must be just a normal bird, because I didn’t feel any magic power.

I held out my hand, palm up, and the bird climbed into my palm without caution.

Still, what a tiny bird~ Way smaller than the Battle Eagle chicks I had met before.

“Err… eh!? Aurora Bird!? Really!?”

I didn’t know what kind of bird it was, so I immediately looked it up with Appraisal, and found out that it was a type of bird called the Aurora Bird.

Aurora Bird was a very rare bird whose white fur was said to glow like an aurora borealis when exposed to moonlight. Moreover, although small, it appeared to be an adult bird, not a baby bird.

“Where was it!?”

“Together with the~”

“Pastel Rabbits~”

“Wwahat!? Er, you didn’t bring the Pastel Rabbit with you this time?”

The children who came back were not carrying Pastel Rabbit, though? Huh? But… I think the kids said earlier that they “found” a bird “too”!

(Oniichan, Oniichan.)

“What is it, Joule?”

(There are many at your feet~)

“… Eh?”

Joule pointed out to me, and when I looked at my feet, I saw Pastel Rabbits relaxing there!

“Uwah! Since when!? Just how many are there?”

(Niisama, If I’m not mistaken, there are seven of them.)

Seven… then, that makes a total of thirteen.

“”Nniyu?””

“What is it, Allen, Elena?”

“”Aren’t two missing?””

“Eh, there’s more?”

“”There were nine~ Wait a moment!””

Allen and Elena rushed back behind the bushes.

There were apparently nine Pastel Rabbits in the bushes, bringing the total to fifteen.

“”There they are~””

Soon the children returned with one Pastel Rabbit each.

“Erm… do these kids don’t want to go with us?”

“That’s not true~”

“They are just napping~”

“……”

They were sleeping carefreely. I don’t know where the Pastel Rabbit’s peculiar alertness went…

“It’s fine to bring them with us, then?”

“”Yeah.””

“We will look.”

“For kindhearted.”

“”Owners~””

Whether or not we find kindhearted owners depends on luck, to say the least.

“So, what about this Aurora Bird?”

“A silver child wasn’t there.”

“Will replace for Birdy.”

“… Is that so?”

It appears that they were going to give up the silver Pastel Rabbit and take the Aurora Bird as a present for Wald-san and Rosalie-san instead.

Seeing that the Aurora Bird was not running away, they must have thought it would be nice to bring back to be kept as a pet.

“”Will they be happy~?”

“I wonder? I think Rosalie-san will be delighted.”

I have a feeling Wald-san will be very angry with us, though!