Life of a Nonhuman

While laying in a soft comfy bed, Nibbit had little in the way of dreams, the first two were not even really dreams, the first was oddly familiar, he was floating in a featureless void, disembodied and alone and almost seemed to be drifting apart... Before a strong force dragged him back together and Nibbit would find himself feeling an odd chill down his spine, well at least dream him HAD a body to feel chills in now.
"Found you~"
Were the words he heard before the third and final dream began.
He was in a field, munching a carrot (though dangerous to Rabbits, a Wabbit could eat their own weight in carrots with nothing but a small stomach ache as a result) when all of a sudden Mimir and Hasuki were running towards him, their clothes falling away...

Fortunately before the lewd dream could continue Nibbit would awaken, finding himself back in the real world, it looked light outside, so maybe he hadn't been out long, then again he was sure there were no houses like this that were fully built yet...
Eirsha's answer was a bit surprising.
"You have been like this for just over a week now... Eight Days, everyone was incredibly worried".
Eight days... That was not a normal sleep!
The gem finally spoke up, sounding anxious and stressed and more than a little apologetic.
"I am so sorry Lord Nibbit! The spell... It didn't work as I had thought it would... Something within you broke down and it was all I could do to keep the gods from claiming your soul! It was as if your soul simply was not able to withstand the spell, as if it was barely held together... I had to repair parts of it... I swear you will not fall like that again".
Huh, there was definitely more emotion and far less of the odd rigidity to the Stone's speech now, it had apparently been doing some changing while he slept.

Moments after the gem finished talking Nibbit was hugged, or rather tackled almost by Mimir and Hasuki.
"Nibbit! You woke up! Thought you died... No dying!"
Mimir declared, rubbing her face against his as her breasts pressed against his chest.
Hasuki's hug was less overly affectionate though she clearly wanted to join in to the extent Mimir had taken it.
"I thought for sure you had died... Your soul was in pieces! I'd never seen anything like it before... That Gem of yours did wonders though, it's like you were dragged straight from the embrace of the Void!"

Finally Lawine cleared her throat, a little embarrassed at the overt affection the girls were showing Nibbit.
"Ehem... Chief Nibbit... I am glad you have awakened, some of my kinsmen were starting to believe you had already joined your ancestors... It took me many hours to convince them not to start building a funeral monument in the center of the village".
Lawin seemed a little exasperated now, at the actions of her kin.
"You gained many friends among my people with that spell of yours, warriors we thought sure to pass stood up as if touched by an angel, old scars and wounds simply vanished, and a healer who's sight was all but gone returned in moments, combined with your defeat of my father the tribe now bows to your will, and will do so as long as your prove honorable and strong".

Outside the building was an impressive sight, with the Half Giants helping the town had grown quickly, they had been able to construct roads with little instruction from the elves and numerous houses were sprouting up, the Half Giants under Lawine's guidance had used some of their own treasures to pay for the extra work, the elves seemed nothing but pleased to have the extra coin, it was hard living in independent villages.
The wall had been improved as well, with the beginnings of watch towers forming at the corners, and the goblins were even trying to dig a well with aid from one industrious Half Giant.
 
“E-eight days?!” Nibbit replied, his eyes jolted wide open with surprise. He nearly fell off the bed from the revelation. “I was asleep for that long?!”

For a short moment, Nibbit recalled a series of dreams he had. There was something about him floating around in space. He couldn’t really recall what happened, only that it was really weird and probably something he wouldn’t want to experience again. The second, he couldn’t remember at all. And the third, well, it was something lewd that, thankfully, was cut short or else he might have ended up doing that right in front of his subordinates. That would be awfully embarrassing to be sure!

I see… Nibbit replied to the gem inside his mind. Well, I guess once again, I have dodged death.

...Hold on, Lord Nibbit? That’s a new one.


Before he could converse with it further however, he was immediately assaulted by Mimir, who was clearly overjoyed that he had woken up at last.

"Uwaah, M-Mimir, calm down!” He panicked by the sudden expression of affection he was receiving, blushing as he could feel her bountiful chest pressing onto him. Hasuki hugged him as well though she was certainly less enthusiastic about it compared to Mimir. Eirsha on the other hand looked like she wanted to hug him as well, only to keep herself composed, not wanting to join in with the two girls that were already doing so.

“Yeah, the gem saved me for sure,” he replied to Hasuki’s statement, patting his stomach. “I really shouldn’t have used that spell.”

After the two calmed down, Lawine explained what happened to the half-giants after he knocked out himself.

“Yeah, that would be awkward…” Nibbit replied with a smile at her first news. Imagine going out and seeing your own death monument, even though you’re not dead yet. What would he tell them then? Tear it down? Change it to a celebratory one instead?

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that!” Nibbit responded to the good news afterwards. “Risking my life to cast that spell was a good decision after all! With this, there shouldn’t be any animosity between our two people, right?”

Afterwards, Nibbit slowly left the bed and stood up. After sleeping for so long, his muscles had athropied a little, making him a little wobbly and weak.

"Ah!"

Munyu~♥

He tripped forward all of a sudden, and before he knew, his hands already cupped Lawine's breasts.

Munyu~♥ Munyu~♥

Two times more he did it, just out of pure instinct.

"S-sorry, I-I didn't mean to!" He quickly withdrew them. B-big! Even bigger than Mimir's!

Eirsha gave him a glare. That wagging, happy tail… he definitely enjoyed that!

She looked down at her own breasts, cupping them with her own hands. Still miserably small, even after she intentionally wore the smallest shirt that she could find, just so they could be more pronounced.

I suppose for a monster like him, he would obviously chase the most fertile looking mate. And a big sign of fertility is the size of the female's breasts…

After that little incident, Nibbit finally got to get outside, followed by the girls. And what he saw immediately amazed him.

"Oh wow this is—"

"This is amazing!"

Nibbit's jaw nearly fell to the floor. In his absence, the village had grown so much that he barely recognized it!

To think that they could do all this on their own without my help! I’m so proud of them!

A sense of pride swelled inside his chest. And relief as well, knowing that even if he were to be gone one day, they could still thrive on their own.

“Lawine, who’s coordinating all these construction projects while I was gone?” He asked the half-giant. It turned out to be Eirsha, who had taken somewhat of a prime minister role in their village if Nibbit was the king.

“Eirsha, you did all of this?” Nibbit asked her with awe.

“That would be incorrect, Master Nibbit,” she replied. “Everybody did. I simply directed them on what to do, that’s all.” She tried to be humble but she certainly couldn’t hide the smile that suddenly appeared on her face.

“Good work, Eirsha! I knew I could count on you!” He took her hands and shook it up and down, making the elf blush.
 
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While Nibbit was distracted the gem went silent, off to do... Whatever it was that it did when not talking to him, it was hard to imagine what a gem sitting in a Wabbit's stomach might actually have to do, but it didn't feel as if the gem was sleeping so clearly it was doing SOMETHING in there, maybe he could ask it later when he wasn't busy.
As always Mimir seemed confused at Nibbit's awkward response to her affection, sure he'd asked her to tone it down... But this WAS toned down! She hadn't even licked him! And there was no way she could be satisfied with just a normal hug like the one Hasuki gave... Then again maybe giving less affection could force Nibbit to be more affectionate to her... Wait that was a very Un-Wabbitlike thought!
She calmed down outwardly while stopping to consider this odd new thought, eventually filing it away as something to deal with on a later date where she didn't have to focus on other things.

"I really want to get a closer look at that gem... It saving you like that destroyed what few theories I had so far... But it's not like I can examine it in person and for some reason diagnostic spells just don't work right on you... Otherwise I might have picked up on whatever was wrong with your soul before".
Hasuki declared with visible concern.
So he had apparently had something wrong with his soul... Was it related to the gem? Or perhaps the way he had arrived in that world? Answers didn't seem forthcoming so it seemed that would just be yet another question for another day, at least it was fixed now, so he should be able to cast that spell again without trouble, well unless you counted fainting and waking up surrounded by cute, concerned girls as trouble.

"Indeed, as much as honor would make me want to believe otherwise, if there had been deaths on either side I doubt our peoples could ever truly forgive and live together, at least not in this generation".
Lawine stated, still speaking as Nibbit grabbed hold of her... Assets... As if not quite processing what had just happened... She was a virgin after all, hard to get laid when your father is an insane divine blooded chief.
The breasts in question were amazingly soft and squishy, a stark contrast to her muscled and toned body, and of course, she was decently large even among her peers, so as a Storm Blooded Half Giant they were gigantic!
Finally the information of what had happened reached her brain, and Lawine rapidly went through the phases of planning and moving to hit Nibbit, holding back as confusion came over her face, then a blush, and finally she looked towards her feet for a moment, face red as a giant tomato, she looked almost submissive like that, an odd look indeed.
"I... Umm... Please do not do that again..."
She managed to mumble out, trying to regain composure.

Mimir found herself feeling oddly jealous as she watched the elf being praised, she wasn't used to the feeling but had figured out what it meant all by herself, sure she couldn't do as much as a lot of the other people in Nibbit's inner circle... But she had really taken charge while Nibbit was out! Reassuring the Wabbits and even some of the goblins, directing them to dig when the elves needed holes for things, and leading many of the foraging parties... She wanted praise too!

However before Mimir could even begin to work up the courage she would need to go up and demand Nibbit heap praise and head pats upon her, Saggia strode over, faster than she had in years! Her bad back and leg pains had vanished when a feather fell on her while she worked to seal a wound on a fallen Wabbit, she now knew that was thanks to Nibbit and had been on her way to check on him.
"Chief Nibbit! How good to see you up and among the world of the waking once more! Did you have any good dreams? Omens and signs like to sneak in during comas you know".
She asked before seemingly thinking of something important.
"We must talk about the food situation in the village".
Assuming that grabbed Nibbit's attention she continued on.
"Looking at our stores, the ability of our hunters and the increased mouths to feed... The Village will likely not last the winter... We have too limited food production, and merely hunting and gathering more would accomplish little more than starving out our elven friends... I met with one of their elders while you slept and it seems they will not be able to offer much aid in the way of food... If we wish to last as a society we need to find farmers and perhaps an entity to purchase food from, and as much as I dislike the idea of asking you, our great chief to do more to help as soon as you have awoken, no one else here is really suitable to solve this problem".
 
“D-don’t worry, I won’t! That was an accident, I swear! I tripped and before I knew it, my hands were already there!” Nibbit denied, still blushing terribly. His ears twitched all over, showing just how panicky he was getting. To Lawine and the other girls, it really looked like it was an accident. After all, their cute Lord Nibbit couldn’t actually be a pervert who would touch girls’ boobs without their consent, could he?

Suddenly, Saggia came running, bringing bad news with her. After Nibbit was done being surprised with her sudden agileness, he listened with a grim and serious look.

“Dreams? Well, I do have some of that…” He closed his eyes for a bit while folding his hands, trying to remember. “There’s a dream where I was floating in this emptiness. The oddest part about it though was how I felt as if I was in multiple places at once, as if I was… broken, for a lack of a better them. It wasn’t painful or anything. It just felt weird… Oh, and then there was a voice saying ‘Found you!’ or something like that at the end.” He himself wasn’t sure if he remembered said dream correctly.

“The second one… I can’t remember anything about it, unfortunately. Only that I had it,” he admitted.

“The third one...well…” With a blush, he leaned in to whisper its embarrassing content. “T-that can’t certainly be an omen for anything, can it?”

After the talk about dreams were over, they shifted into the actual, pressing manner that she had come to inform him. Like she had warned, now that there were so many people in the village, there was a clear lack of food production, and that they wouldn’t survive in the winter at their current rate. She suggested finding farmers and someone they can buy food from.

“You are right, Saggia,” he replied with a sigh. “We have to do those two for sure, even if it meant going to a human village and purchasing food there. We will buy food to fulfill our short-term need for the upcoming winter. But after that, we will start our own farms with the help of those farmers.”

“Eirsha, do you have any advice on where we should get them from?” He turned to the half-elf.

“I suggest the Capital of the Beast King, Lord Nibbit,” she replied. “It's a city for and by nonhumans. We would be quite welcome there, at least compared to if we go to a human city instead. It's not that far from here. Just a few days of travel."

"Alright, we can try that," Nibbit replied with a smile.

"Then you have to take me along. I shall help you negotiate the price and the terms with the farmer's guild there."

"Eh? But you’re an architect, right? Since when you’re also—”

“Ever since I’ve taken the role as the manager of all our construction efforts, I’ve been doing the necessary paperworks and documentation as well. I’ve also been managing our funds as well. I say I'm also qualified as your secretary. So I'm coming. And that's that." She huffed, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Alright, alright, you can come," Nibbit surrendered with a sigh. "And speaking of that, who else wants to come?" He asked, looking towards the other girls.

-----

Afterwards, the group readied themselves to depart. Eirsha instructed her subordinates to fill a chest full of gold coins and treasures, to be used to pay for a warehouse full of food that they would need. She did all the calculations on her own—a knowledge she learned while working with the dwarves a long time ago. Even there she sorta worked as their secretary and treasurer as well.

Nibbit on the other hand decided to go to the nearby river and wash himself there. He had been out of commission for a long time after all, so he hadn't taken a bath in a while.

Or he could have people washing him while he slept, stripping him naked in the process. Now that would be embarrassing. Especially since the most likely candidate to do that was one of the girls. Maybe Mimir. She probably can do it without being all embarrassed about it, he thought.

He looked around, making sure that there was nobody else nearby. Not just because he wouldn’t want to accidentally peek into an elf girl taking a bath (though if he were to be honest, it might actually be a welcome surprise), but to make sure that no one was peeking at him as well. He was still his shy self after all.

Aah, the Beast Capital, huh? So lots of girls like Hasuki then? Then we will be able to fit right in just fine.

I just hope we have enough money to pay for the things we need. Eirsha is currently counting that while consulting Hasuki for advice.


Finished, he walked out the river water, shaking himself like a dog to rinse out the water on his wabbit ears and tail. He did it instinctively, without thinking beforehand. He was already that used to having the two after all.

After rinsing himself with the towel that he had brought, he put back on his clothes and returned to the village.
 
"As... As long as it does not happen again, I will forget this happened, you are not entirely recovered after all".
Lawine stated, finally managing to look him in the eye again, blush mostly gone from her face.
The others had slightly different reactions, while Hasuki certainly seemed to believe him but there was an almost jealous look on her face that disappeared after a moment, of course with her it was hard to tell if she was jealous of Lawine, or indeed of Nibbit himself!
Mimir didn't seem fussed at all, in fact she saw absolutely nothing wrong with what Nibbit had done, it just looked like normal affection to her, and Nibbit had called it an accident so there was even less reason to fuss.

Saggia seemed to stop and think about his dreams, as if trying to visualize something.
"Hmm... It sounds almost as if you had entered the void... The realm where souls wait to be judged by the gods, and you say you felt broken? With what I could sense of your state it did feel as if your soul was crying out, I fear you may have been dealt a deep wound within yourself, though I lack the knowledge to tell you more than the little I can sense within you... The voice however is much more immediately worrying, I would be willing to suggest that something is searching for you, something powerful and touched by the void, please be careful Chief Nibbit, for it very well may be Malevolent".
Her face changed from the serious expression she had when it came to his final dream though, looking almost wistful.
"Ahh~ Youth~ There is nothing wrong with that dream in the slightest, judging from what I know of your kind you simply feel safe and perhaps a tad bit frisky, I have had to talk to more than a few youth about such things, but I doubt you need instructions in those matters hmm?"
She seemed to be talking in a mixture of a teasing and motherly tone.

"The home of the Beast King is an excellent idea Miss Eirsha, there is no friendlier place to nonhumans outside of this village I dare say, and it would be ultimately a smart idea to establish trade ties with the city and by extension, the rest of the Union of Kings, as I doubt we will remain completely unnoticed if this town continues to grow at it's current rate".
Saggia declared in response to the suggestion.
She liked Erisha, elves often tended to be so much more sensible than other races or even her own species for that matter.

Hasuki and Mimir both volunteered to accompany him, Hasuki stated a need for more magical supplies and a history of several trips to the city which may be helpful for showing Nibbit around.
Mimir declared that she needed to protect Nibbit from being influenced further by 'dumb humans' it seemed she considered Animal Kin only a step above regular humans, but at least got along with Hasuki so it may have just been her acting tough an wanting to follow Nibbit around.
Lawine however chose to stay and help Saggia keep the town running smoothly, as well as ensuring the continued peaceful integration of her people.

Nibbit HAD in fact been washed in his sleep... By Saggia and one of her apprentices, she was wise enough to know that his female companions would likely all want to do it, and so took the chance to state that as the most experienced healer and having no interest in Nibbit whatsoever, she would be cleaning him, her apprentice was male and had no interest beyond curiosity about treating a Beast Kin and how it differed from goblins.
The only ones bathing nearby were a bunch of untransformed Wabbits playing around in part of the river, mostly sticking to a shallow part while one of the wolves lazily watched over them.
Hasuki did briefly consider peeping... But thought better of it, doubting her ability to peek on Nibbit without getting caught, so instead distracted herself with preparations.
There was however something watching, something incorporeal gazing unabashedly onto his body, and though he could in no way physically perceive it, some inner part of Nibbit told him he was being watched, though nothing he did would reveal the culprit.

Back in the village a cart had been filled with the chest of coin and enough supplies to last them both ways, someone had also taken the time to construct a covering for it, so the cart was roofed in case of rain and to provide shelter for sleeping.
And soon they would be on their way, a large crowd of the Town's people waving them off.
The first day would be pretty uneventful, with Hasuki mostly filling Nibbit in on what had happened while he was out, mostly that the village's original construction plans had been further enlarged, and that the Half Giants proved incredibly useful for digging holes, cutting wood and flattening earth, decreasing time and costs of construction immensely.
It was on the second day that they were attacked.

It seemed to come almost from nowhere, one moment they were on the road, riding along, and the next, a band of a dozen armed men and women had appeared brandishing weapons if various states of disrepair and wearing crude masks.
Interestingly the bandits seemed to be a mix of races, it seemed there was no time for racism among outlaws.
"Surrender your goods or taste our blades!"
The apparent leader of the group demanded.
"If you give up quietly we may even let some of you go!"
 
“Well, that sounds… worrying…” Nibbit replied to Saggia’s explanation. The Void? My soul shattered apart? A deep wound? That doesn't sound good at all!

About the Voice… didn’t that come from the gem though?


His serious look immediately vanished when the old woman moved on to the last dream however. I-I knew it! I-it’s just a horny dream that I had, nothing more! I shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place!

-----

As Nibbit dressed himself from his bath, he couldn’t help but feel that someone, or something, was indeed watching him. But even using his sharp Wabbit senses, he couldn’t perceive anyone else being nearby other than him and a handful of non-human Wabbits, which he knew wouldn’t be watching him in the first place.

Hmm, this really feels weird… I better finish up quick.

-----

They were soon off in a horse-drawn carriage, heading straight to the Beast Capital. Hasuki and Eirsha took turns sitting in the driver’s seat so the group could go on even at night.

Nibbit soon realized the awkwardness of sitting in close proximity with two attractive females in a closed quarter like the carriage. Mimir would sit beside him while Eirsha or Hasuki would sit facing him. And when Mimir fell asleep, she would lean towards him, threatening to press his elbow with her breasts. And when Eirsha fell asleep, she would open her legs just the tiniest bit more than it was safe, revealing her black panties to him. Her thighs were already distracting enough when she sat normally, but when she was like that, hoo boy, Nibbit couldn’t keep his eyes away.

Little did he know however that when it was his turn to fall asleep, his head would eventually rest on Mimir’s bosom. And that upsetted Eirsha enough for her to intentionally lift her mini skirt up a little just so Nibbit could get a view.

Master Nibbit… you’ve been taking a peek at my panties for half an hour now. Aren’t you getting bored of them?

I see it now. So you have that kind of hobby…


Eirsha wouldn’t admit it, even to herself, but she was now glad that she wore her short skirt as her usual outfit. She originally wore it just because she could move easily in it, but now, when a cute Wabbit boy like him showed clear attraction to her because of it…

...This is my only weapon to get more of his attention. Mimir and Lawine—they both have something I lack after all… she thought as she stared at Nibbit, who now was using Mimir's soft chest as his pillow.

Unfortunately, their idyllic trip was soon disturbed on the second day, as they were under what seemed to be a bandit attack. Hasuki, who was the driver at the time, quickly alerted the group. Mimir shook Nibbit off his slumber, while Eirsha quickly readied her bow.

“W-what? A bandit attack?” Nibbit responded with confusion after he woke up. “Then we must get out at once!” He declared.

To his surprise, the bandits weren’t just made of humans. There were also beastkin amongst them.

Of course they’re going to demand our goods. They’re bandits after all. And even if we give all those gold to them, there’s no guarantee that they wouldn’t just kill us afterwards.

Aah, how troublesome. I don't want to pick fights with any Beastkin if I can help it, even if they're bandits. We're going to their capital after all.


Nibbit walked forward confidently, drawing their attention towards him.

"Hey, can you guys just… let us go? I really would not rather hurt you people if I could."

Naturally, his bold statement only earned roaring laughs from the bandits, who were not intimidated in the slightest by him. Him looking like a cute bunny boy certainly didn't help matters either.

"Ha, what can the three of you do against all of us?" One of them boasted, a large beastman wielding an impressive-looking waraxe.

“That’s right! And neither of you look particularly strong as well!” Another one spoke, this time it was a catgirl dual-wielding daggers in both her hands.

Nibbit sighed. Just words wouldn’t make it then. Should he really be going around kicking each and every one of them until they knew who they were dealing with?

Hmm, I wonder if I can’t just scare them. I can gather that holy energy thing now, right? If I just show off how much I have in me, without actually using it, they probably would realize they aren’t dealing with just any ordinary rabbit beastkin.

He still remembered the feeling of power he had when he conjured the spear of light. He would just gather the same energy above his head but without actually firing it at them.

“Hey, what’s he doing? Why is he raising his arms to the sky like that?”

“Wait, don’t tell me—that bastard’s casting a spell! Attack, everyone!”

Too late. When they charged at him, holy energy was already gathering above Nibbit. Some of them fired their arrows at him, only for their wooden projectiles to disappear as the spell consumed them.

“G-guys! W-what is going on here?”

“W-why are my legs shaking all over a sudden?”

Fear suddenly grabbed their hearts. But not fear towards a demon who would obliterate them with a single spell. Instead, it was a more divine kind of fear—fear that you were being judged by a holy presence for your sins.

One by one, the bandits all kneeled in front of him, overwhelmed by his aura. Nibbit himself didn’t really understand what he was doing, but seeing how they reacted, he just assumed that what he was doing was working.
 
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"That voice wasn't me, I was far too focused upon trying to pull you back together to be concerned about attempting to create speech, however if you did indeed hear a voice, it seems I failed in my attempts to mask you, and for that I apologize Lord Nibbit".
The ever present gem announced, apparently done with whatever had been keeping it quiet.
"Lord Nibbit, I could have told you what that dream meant with far less embarrassment than you telling Elder Saggia about it, I see enough of your thoughts even without trying that I believe I have been desensitized somewhat".
It announced a little later.

The feeling of being watched faded to the back of his mind, barely present once he had dressed again, as if whatever had been looking was now doing so less intensely and now focusing on stealth, perhaps it was a particularly perverted Elf? A worker or scout that wanted a peek at Nibbit's body...
Of course that was just one possibility, with no proof or evidence, and making accusations wouldn't be very fair on others or make him look good.
The gem didn't seem to have noticed anything, apparently having gone into a short hibernation while Nibbit bathed, which while intended to spare his modesty, did leave him without one of his most useful allies while he bathed.

The ride was unexpectedly lewd, the cramped space and endowment of one of the girls creating many opportunities for less than chaste incidents, of course Mimir didn't even really see much to be ashamed of, she was learning about decency, but as long as she wasn't nude it was fine right? And she enjoyed being a pillow for Nibbit, in fact she now assumed this was what breasts were intended for anyway! Many Wabbits would usually sleep on each other for warmth and comfort, and these things on her chest were clearly quite comfortable, she's have to ask Nibbit if he wanted to use them more often!

Unfortunately with Hasuki's less than impressive assets that she was all too conscious of combined with her having more skill at driving the cart than the others meant she didn't have a chance to join in, the most she accomplished was occasionally having her tail brush against something sensitive, and that wasn't even usually intentional, as well as being indiscriminate, meaning everyone got brushed against at least once.
"You are quite... Perverse".
The gem announced at one point, though didn't seem to entirely disapprove... Could the gem be a closet pervert as well? Or perhaps it just didn't care about such things?
"It is good that I lack a body, or my maidenly honor may be in danger... Maiden?... Odd, why did I use such a term? This... This bears further thought".
With that sudden bit of a revelation the gem went quiet again, apparently to focus on this new bit of it's identity that had come to the surface.
Wait, did this mean Nibbit had a girl inside him?

Faced with the bandits Hasuki was already reaching for her stave and Mimir was preparing to jump into the fray, they felt there was a good chance their group could win without serious injury... And then Nibbit made his move.
Without an incantation the holy energy was formless and wild, he couldn't have attacked with it even if he tried, especially as the gem was still occupied with it's own thoughts and unable to take control of the energy, which oddly enough seemed easier to draw on and control.
Of course as he kept such a mass of energy going the drain became considerable, Nibbit could feel himself tiring and wouldn't be able to keep up such a massive expenditure of raw magical energy for long... Fortunately he didn't have to as the bandits went down on their knees, certain they had accidentally attacked some sort of arch-mage and were going to meet their ends.

Unfortunately before Nibbit could take advantage of the situation, one member of the group seemed to shake it off and began shouting.
"Idiots! Run! Whatever that is isn't charged yet! Even the boss won't hit as hard as whatever that is!"
These words and the mention of their boss seemed to stir the bandits, who got to their feet and started sprinting away from the group.
"Do we follow?..."
Mimir questioned, staring at the retreating backs of the bandits.
 
Wait, it wasn’t you? Nibbit replied to the gem Well, now I’m starting to get worried.

Who could it be then?


On the gem’s statement on his last dream, Nibbit simply huffed. It would be nice if you had told me that earlier.

-----

Shuddering at the strange feeling that he was indeed being watched, even though he couldn't find anyone, Nibbit hurriedly put on his clothes. He couldn't just chalk it up to his imagination, as he knew the feeling was pretty much real.

Urgh, what is this weird feeling? I better hurry up and leave…

He quickly forgot about it however once he returned to the village.

-----

Hasuki's tail brushing into him was certainly something Nibbit noticed. Sometimes it would brush against his nose, making him sneeze, sometimes it would brush against his ears (both pairs), tickling him, and even brushing against the thing that's between his legs, which, naturally, distressed the poor Wabbit with a yelp.

When the gem accused him of being a pervert, he quickly denied it profusely.

H-hey! It's not like I want all of this! This is just what happens when you're stuck with a bunch of girls in a narrow space like this carriage!

The gem would be able to tell however that there was a part of him that was happy of all the teasing he was getting. If it decided to read his mind, that is. Nibbit, in the end, was still a young and healthy unmated male Wabbit after all.

And what do you mean by maidenly honor? Aren't you just a gem?

-----

The bandits then wisely decided to flee. Mimir asked Nibbit whether they should pursue.

"Eh, let them go, I say," he replied. "It's a bother to go after them. And then what? We tie them all up and leave them here? We can't carry them with us after all."

"And besides," He smiled, turning to face Mimir. "We got something better to do than to chase after a bunch of bandits, don't we?"

-----

Entering the carriage once again, they quickly departed to resume their journey, confident that no other bandits would try to attack them again.

Another day passed, and now, they could see the Capital of the Beast King ahead of them.

"Everyone, we've arrived!" Eirsha shouted from the driver carriage.

Nibbit quickly disembarked, and his mouth quickly opened with awe.

Whoa, this place is huge!

He could see a large walled city in front of him, standing tall and proud amongst the grasslands around it. It was a far different sight than the two villages he had visited before.

Those tall walls… were they built to protect the city from monsters? They could certainly be useful against other nations that might try to attack it though...

The group would then have to wait in line behind a couple other wagons and carriages as one by one they were checked by the guards at the front gate before they were allowed to enter.

And, just as Nibbit hoped, they were admitted inside quickly. Well, this is the Beast Capital after all. No discrimination to us nonhumans whatsoever! Nibbit thought as he cheerfully smiled.

Once inside, they were immediately greeted by the sight of a busy, bustling city. People, who are majority beastkin, would walk back and forth, each doing their own businesses.

"I guess we should find an inn first," Nibbit told the group. “Or maybe we can just go straight to the farmers, wherever they are? I don’t really know how things work around here, but if I were to guess, they would have a representative of sorts that would buy their produce and then sell it to the vendors on the market. If we can find that representative, he or she could arrange a meeting with the farmers for us. They’d most likely ask for a fee though.”

Nibbit didn’t really know what he was talking about. It’s not like he had ever interacted with farmers before in his previous life after all!

They soon walked into the part of the city designated to be used for commerce. And, as expected, it was full of merchants trying to sell their goods. From food to clothes to even magic items (or so they said), it was all there.

“Be careful, Master NIbbit,” Eirsha suddenly spoke up. “In a dense crowd like this, pickpockets are common. Though with your instinct, I doubt any common pickpockets could ever get close to you with you noticing.”
 
"I see... The prudent thing here would be to pretend to believe you would it not? Therefore I shall pretend to believe you are an innocent chivalrous man while secretly knowing the truth".
The gem declared, seemingly enjoying the chance to tease him, it probably had to deal with his thoughts on a daily basis so earned a little light teasing right? And it didn't seem overly malicious about it at least.
"I... I am indeed a gem, I am not certain why I used such a term, I urge you to forget it, I must think on this..."
With that last request it rather pointedly went silent, not willing to speak again outside of emergencies or until it felt like doing so again.

"Hahh... Thank goodness they ran off... I was not looking forwards to a fight, especially so close to the city... Bandits like that usually have friends in the guard... And I don't wanna get put in a jail again... Umm! Not that I'm a criminal! I just sorta... Underestimated how far a spell could fly... And how many statues it could knock over..."
Hasuki was apparently overexcited by the short encounter and ended up stumbling over her words until she revealed a past incident... Hopefully it wouldn't cause trouble for them.
Mimir nodded at Nibbit, putting on a slightly nervous grin.
"I hope this city thing isn't too hard to move in... It looks large".
She commented as they neared the gate.

Once they finally reached the massive gate, the guards gave them a quick look over to check for contraband and then waved them on in without trouble, out of the four men there only one was (presumably) human, and he didn't seem to balk at the odd trio of beast folk other than one comment.
"Rare to see Rabbit Folk so far from the Usagi Plains, I hope you find the trip to be worth it".
Huh, it appears there were Rabbit folk in large enough gatherings to be well known, but they were far away and unlikely to have any link to Wabbits other than the obvious traits.

The city was incredibly busy from the looks of things, right from the gate there were inns and stores with people going in and out at a constant rate, and the sounds of people filled the air, fortunately it was not so packed as to make it difficult to move, but during festivals or after harvests the streets would likely be difficult to navigate.
It seemed that being so open to all races naturally turned the city into a Center of trade, and there were many exotic looking people wandering around.
A few humans seemed to actually live there, but it was for the most part beasts, including more than a few that were not humanoid, but seemed sentient nonetheless.
"Well the Inns on main street tend to fill rather quickly but are also expensive, I suggest the Hag's Crown, it's just a couple of streets away and the food is really good too".
Hasuki commented before answering the question about the farmers.
"Well, for something like this it would usually be best to try and arrange a meeting with a Farm Guild representative, though a lot of farmers also tend to have stores and stalls run by family so that could be a good way to find people".
Hasuki seemed to be in her element in the city, while Mimir was clearly struggling a beat, ears drooping as she looked around nervously, Nibbit had experience with far louder cities from his past life and even he was a little on edge from everything, Wabbits were not made for loud cities and would need time to adapt it seemed.

Almost as soon as Eirsha spoke up a woman ran right into Nibbit, landing breasts on face and letting out a cry as they both fell to the ground, the girl falling so her breasts landed on his face, not totally unpleasant to be honest.
"Oh no! I'm sorry! I'm in a hurry!"
She declared, and just like that she was up again and running off, having discretely sliced his purse strings with her claws and attempted to brazenly rob him!
a6313c6e5df9e9289b9180cecdb0adca.png
 
Gaaah!

At this point, NIbbit was exasperated enough, making him decide not to reply to the gem anymore, letting it think whatever it wanted to think. It wasn’t worth his energy anymore, trying to correct its view of him. It’s stuck inside his stomach after all. He’s practically its master. It can’t do anything without him. So he’s the one with the upper hand here!

-----

Huh, so Hasuki has been to jail before? So technically, she’s an ex-con then? Wow, looking at how timid she is, she certainly doesn’t look like one…

Well, if she gets her sentence just from accidentally knocking over some statues, I suppose you can’t really count her as one…


-----

“Just keep close to me, Mimir, and you’ll be fine,” Nibbit replied with a smile. “It certainly can be overwhelming, to be so close to so many strangers you don’t know, but as long as you just keep to yourself, you’ll be perfectly fine,” he explained. He expected her to be terribly uncomfortable, as she had been living in a forest all her life with only the other Wabbits as her companion.

Hmm, I guess I should expect for her to take my hand to calm herself…

When it was their turn to be inspected, the guards commented about them being a rabbit folk.

Oh, I suppose that’s how we would look to the outside world. Actual rabbit folk would not actually be evolved Wabbits, would they?

-----

“Alright, Hasuki! Lead us there then!” Nibbit quickly accepted her suggestion. It’s not like he got any better suggestion for an inn after all.

He also listened to her explanation about the Farmer Guild. Huh, so that’s a thing in this world… “I suppose we can just ask for one of the farmers to tell us where their guild is located. So then we can just speak to their guild master.” He imagined they would have one of those as well.

Just right after Eirsha gave her warning to Nibbit, he bumped into a girl. And in quite the spectacular manner as well as both of them fell down to the ground, with her breasts landing on top of his face.

“Ummpphhh… umpphhhhh!” He protested, though at the same time, his male instinct was also enjoying the pleasantly soft sensation that was assaulting his face.

Before he could say anything, the girl had already stood up, apologized, and ran. With him not knowing any better that he had just been robbed in broad daylight.

“Master Nibbit! That girl had just taken your purse!” Eirsha shouted, before she bolted right after her. Her sharp elvish eyes caught everything that had occured (even the fact that Nibbit had just caught a pair of boobs to the face), so she was the first in the group to act.

To her annoyance however, the tiger girl was actually faster than her. Wood elves might have exceptional agility that allowed them to climb trees with ease, but that girl’s tiger blood allowed her to run really fast. It didn’t take long until Nibbit and Mimir caught up with her.

“Over there! She took that corner!” She pointed. “You two go on ahead!”

“Got it!”

Nibbit, instead of remaining on the road, instead decided to take the bold choice of jumping up to the rooftops instead. That way, he could cut time on the corners. Ignoring the gasps of awe of the pedestrians that saw him, he did just that, landing with ease as if he was simply jumping over a small half a meter ramp.

Mimir soon followed, and then Eirsha. Hasuki was the only one who was quite left behind, unfortunately.

Nibbit remained on the lead, and his eyes were now locked on the tiger girl ahead and down below. Darn it! I can’t catch up to her! She’s too fast! Nibbits can jump really high but they certainly can’t run really fast!

...Wait. Hold on, I got an idea. Sorry, whoever owns this roof!


Using his Wabbit ability, he kicked off said ceiling, boosting forward in high speed while leaving a hole behind. And then, he did a little spin on the air, aiming his feet towards the tiger girl.

“Hyaahh! Take this, you thief!”

Putting all his body weight downwards to his feet, he did a stomping kick at her. Not in full force of course, as he wouldn’t want to kill her or anything, but enough so that she would be incapacitated to be sure.
 
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"Hnn... I'll be okay..."
Mimir declared after a minute, gritting her teeth as she slowly pulled her hands away from her ears, forcing herself to get used to the noises, she was a Dire Wabbit! She couldn't let her first trip to a big city defeat her so easily! Especially with how their own home seemed to be developing... The Wabbits may end up needing to adapt sooner rather than later, even if it would be quite a while until they had anything near as dense as this city, which was actually one of the larger ones in the world, it's status as a Haven for beasts ensuring a steady supply of immigrants and visitors bringing coin.
"I just need to get used to it, this isn't a scary as Hell Hounds..."
Mimir assured Nibbit, though did discretely take one of his hands to hold, walking shoulder to shoulder with him for comfort, this had been the longest period of time she had spent away from the rest of the Wabbits, so she was perhaps feeling just a tad lonely.

The unknown Tiger Girl moved incredibly fast, not quite superhuman, but definitely faster than any normal human or most beast folk could hope to, and she moved through the hustle and bustle of the city streets like a veteran, clearly this wasn't her first time as a cut purse!
It made following difficult, and normally there was no way she would have been caught, but Nibbit was of course anything but normal, by jumping up to a roof he was able to spot the girl, her bright fur making her an easy target even among such an eclectic city.
Of course she was still running away from them, heading down an alley in an attempt to lose poor Hasuki who was trying to keep up on the ground.
Nibbit's little acrobatic kick almost scored a knockout on the girl, however it seemed her tiger blood was enough to clue her in to the attack and in an incredible burst of speed she attempted to dodge... But was still grazed, which was enough to knock her down, the coin purse falling and scattering it's contents on the ground around her, fortunately the alley was empty so no opportunists stole the many coins.
"Ugh... Whaa... Who's cart was that?..."
She mumbled in a daze as Mimir jumped down to join Nibbit, Hasuki was still a little while off though.

After a moment the girl seemed to snap out of it and leaped to her feet, claws out as she struck up a defensive posture, it was a bit sloppy but showed signs of training... Extremely familiar to something Nibbit saw in a movie once actually.
"Back off.... I'm warning you! These claws are super sharp! I umm... I'll cut you?"
She didn't seem entirely well rehearsed, perhaps she wasn't used to getting caught?
A moment later her stomach growled, bringing a slight blush to the Thief's face.
"How odd to see a Tiger Kin this far from the Fire Isles... Be Careful Lord Nibbit, those claws can make short work of even Chain Mail with a few good slashes, you would survive but it would likely be incredibly painful".
The gem finally deigned to make an appearance again with that little warning for him.
"However after that burst of speed she should be exhausted, you may be able to outmaneuver her".
 
Nibbit had a secret smile on his face, seeing Mimir putting on a brave face. She’s handling it better than I thought she would, he thought to himself.

Nibbit just looked with a worried expression as the tiger girl switched into defense mode after he had managed to stop her running away. He wasn’t worried about himself however. He was more worried about her, and the fact that he might have to hurt her for real if she kept up this defiant attitude of hers.

Yeah, don’t worry. I can handle this, he told the gem. She shouldn’t have enough agility to keep up with me in close range like this.

He then heard her stomach growl, which only made him think that she wasn’t fighting at her full strength.

“Look here, I don’t really want to fight you. I just want our coin back,” he tried to reason with her. “But if you insist on acting up like this, then I would have no choice but to hurt you. And I don’t hold back in a real fight.” He gave her a stern look.

He then began to circle around her, waiting for an opportune moment to launch an attack while examining every twitch—every muscle movement on her body, for any signs of her going for her own attack.

And then, just as he expected, she decided to attack first.

Yep. Too obvious. I can read her like a book.

In response, he simply did a quick sidestep with his feet, before maneuvaring behind her as she was launching her attacks on an empty air. He then planted his feet on her back, kicking her with his Wabbit technique.

Still, he lied. He wasn’t going all out, or else he might actually end up breaking her bones. Or worse, killing her.

It sent her flying a good distance away before she hit the ground. Nibbit then slowly walked up to her and said, “Give it up. You don’t know who you’re dealing with here. I’m not just your ordinary run-of-the-mill rabbit-kin.”

“Mimir, tell her who we are,” he then asked his aide. He thought he should act a little cool by letting his “subordinate” do the introduction—to emphasize that she had messed with an important person.

After she understood just who the great Nibbit was, or not, he told her to pick up the coins that had scattered on the ground, before commanding her to give it to Eirsha, who he declared to be another one of his servants.

"Of course, Master Nibbit." Eirsha gave a short bow. She realized what Nibbit was doing and quickly acted accordingly. "Though I believe you should be more stern with her. We can take her with us and then judge her in our grand court. Such an offence cannot be tolerated." She gave a stern, cold look towards the tiger girl.

...Wow. She really can pull off that cold and calculating advisor look, Nibbit thought, impressed. And I feel she could also make a good head maid kind of character. You know, the stern, always serious type, maybe with glasses. N-not that I would ever force her to wear a maid outfit or anything…

Little did Nibbit know that if he asked, Eirsha might just wear it for him.

Suddenly, another loud growl came from the tiger girl's stomach.

Nibbit let out a fake sigh. "Eirsha, give this girl some food. I can't bear to hear any more of her embarrassing growls," he said, wanting to embarrass her a little while still pretending to be this magnanimous, grand leader.
 
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The girl clutched the coin purse close to her, it was limp and looked much smaller with most of it's contents spilled across the dirty cobblestone of the alley, but even what was still in it was worth quite a lot.
"No... It's mine now... I took it so I can have it, that's the rules... And if I give it back I can't eat!"
The girl declared with honest conviction, as if she actually saw nothing wrong with stealing things, and believed that the coin was hers, that certainly wasn't any sort of local law or custom so it was anyone's guess where that idea came from.

The girl's eyes followed Nibbit as he moved, her body tensing up which each of his movements, though her fighting style was clearly flawed and incomplete, her instincts were certainly very impressive, she could probably be quite scary with proper instruction.
Finally she attacked, a desperate, almost flailing swipe of her claws as she attempted to clear a path to escape through, it seemed she was reluctant to actually hit him though, making dodging a trivial affair, even so she almost recovered enough to dodge Nibbit's attack, though was still sent flying with a painful sounding crack, followed by a shocked whimper as she hit the ground.
"Don't like that..."
She whimpered, trying to get back up.

As Nibbit approached the downed girl the Gem decided to try out something it had been thinking of, and using a very simple alteration, caused minuscule amounts of magical energy to form an aura around Nibbit, even someone like the Tiger girl who couldn't perceive most magics found herself strangely intimidated despite Nibbit's cute appearance, and of course Nibbit was entirely aware of his new aura, as well as how to use it now.
Mimir stepped in to explain that Nibbit was a great leader of Wabbits, Goblins and Half Giants, who felled many great foes! It sounded almost like some sort of made up boasting, except that not a single part of it was exaggerated, Mimir just honestly saw Nibbit as being that cool, something that seemed to slightly embarrass the Wabbit girl as a blush formed on her face when she finished.
This seemed to impress upon the girl that she should stop fighting, and she dutifully began picking up the coins with only a little trouble, her claws and furry paws making it a little more complex, she still got them all eventually though.

At this point Hasuki arrived, panting and sweating a little.
"Hahh... I... Need more exercise..."
She informed Nibbit before doing a double take as she took in his new aura.
"That's new..."
She declared, tail whipping around anxiously for a moment.

"Ehh... What's a Grand Court?..."
The girl was clearly a bit scared, but also confused by the strange new words, she didn't even speak Mainland common for most of her life and these were definitely different words to what she was used to hearing!
"You sound like Mr Seyo!"
She declared, before groaning as her stomach growled, she'd skipped breakfast and running like that earlier was incredibly exhausting, much like how it would affect regular Tigers.
"Food?..."
Her whole body perked up at that word, and she would happily chow down on the rations she was given, spearing them with her claws before taking big bites.
"You're nice! But umm... What do I do now?... Mr Seyo always told me and Dash that nothing is free... Oh! I know... I could carry stuff for you? I'm really strong and Mr Seyo always told me I have to pay off debts before umm... Interest builds? I dunno who interest is by Mr Seyo always said they are really bad".
 
Hmm, she's…

Nibbit took notice of the tiger girl's attack, and sensed how she was holding back.

I see… she doesn't want to hurt me, does she?

He smiled. That means she has some goodness in her, not just a common thief.

When the gem activated the aura, he certainly felt the change in the air around him. This is… He quickly figured out that the gem was using it to make himself look more intimidating. Thanks. I think I can use this.

Thanks to that, the tiger girl was willing to do as she was told.

"Mr. Seyo? Who's that?" Nibbit asked. "And a court is a place where a kingdom puts judgement on their naughty subjects. Like you! For being a thief and all." He smiled casually. "We're our own nation after all, with our own laws. In fact, you doing this can be seen as attacking a foreign king, you know." He put on a bit of a frown, just to scare her a little.

Ah, I see. This Seyo guy must be her teacher or caretaker. And Dash is one of her friends, I imagine.

"Hmm, I suppose I could use someone to carry around our stuff. Fine! You can come with us if you want!" Nibbit declared with a grin.

"Are you sure that's wise, Master Nibbit?" Eirsha interjected with a displeased expression. "She's not trustworthy enough to be with us."

"It's fine," Nibbit replied with a relaxed demeanor. "If she tries anything, then I'll be there to stop her. Right?" He turned back to her, smiling while activating his intimidating aura.

-----

After their little incident, Nibbit decided that they would have a meal first before they went to the Farmer Guild’s office, wherever that is.

“Let’s see… what kind of food should we eat?”

Nibbit was seriously thinking of going to one of the many meat-related restaurants that they were passing by as they explored the food district. But he wouldn’t know how Mimir would like it.

But on the other hand, tiger girl here certainly would like some meat.

Haah, what is the type of food that you can serve for both carnivores and herbivores?


And then, the sight of a noodle shop hit him.

That’s right! Noodles can have either meat or vegetable toppings! They can just choose according to what they want!

And dammit, my mouth is starting to water! How long has it been since I’ve eaten a delicious hot noodle dish?


He was a lover of spicy foods in his previous life, including ramen noodles. Even if his eyes would be watery like hell and snoot would drip out of his nose, it was all worth it to him.

“Hey everyone! Why don’t we eat there?” He pointed at the noodle shop.

He waited for any objections from the group. If there wasn’t any, then they would enter immediately.

“Ooh, welcome dear customers! Wow, quite the large group you have there! Let’s see… oh, over there, at the corner! You can take that table, nya!”

The one who greeted him was a cat girl, wearing a colorful bright yellow waitress outfit with a short skirt and thigh-high white socks. She had short black hair, the same color as her tail and her ears.

The place was decently filled, though not full by any means. And, like themselves, all of them were some kind of beastkin or another. There was a pair of lizardman and sheep girl, a dog girl who sat alone, seemingly heavily invested in her food, and a lamia who might actually be sleeping in her seat, with her food only half-finished, amongst others.

“Here’s the menu, nya!” She gave the menu to them.

Ah, that’s a relief. There really is pure vegetable-only noodles and meat-only noodles.

“I’ll take the meat one,” Nibbit told her. “And make it as spicy as possible,” he added with a confident grin. He really missed eating his spicy foods, so he thought he would go all the way for their reunion.
 
"Mr Seyo is my teacher! And umm... Boss? I think that's what he said... He helped me when some mean people brought me here, taught me Common and other stuff! And got Dash to teach me how to run super fast and fight!"
She declared affectionately, it seemed she had a strong fondness for both Mr Seyo and this Dash person she kept on mentioning.
"Oh! My Name's Nychia by the way!"
She finally introduced herself.
Nychia shivered visibly as Nibbit put on his aura again, whatever that was she didn't like it! Especially when it was seemingly directed at her!
"I won't do anything! Mr Seyo would be angry if I didn't repay debts and you're too strong to rob anyway!"
She assured them, raising her paws as if to show she wasn't planning anything.
She would also happily and easily carry whatever they told her to without complaint or visual sign of struggle though her stomach occasionally let it's displeasure known at being mostly empty.

The whole group agreed readily that a meal would be good, the whole way there they had only had access to rations and hard tack, and admittedly the village had pretty average food, mostly fruits and a small amount of meat from a Deer like creature, hardly a stimulating diet.
Looking over at the noodle shop caused Hasuki's eyes to practically sparkle.
"Ooooh! Noodles! I haven't had any in so long... This place looks like it's really good! And smells it too..."
Her tail was wagging as she got a whiff of the incredible smells wafting towards them, it seemed this particular shop worked hard to make it's food good, which made sense, it must be hard to stand out in such an incredible mix of cultures and races.
"What's Noodles?... If it's tasty I want it... It smells good".
Mimir stated, she could smell meat, but it wasn't making her nauseous or anything, especially as she could smell some much more palatable things too.
"Oh I hope they still have the Fish special... Me and Dash eat here all the time and always get it, it reminds me of home".
Nychia declared, her reaction was less overt than Hasuki's but still obvious.

Inside the shop they barely got a second look from the other customers, ahh the simple joy of anonymity, in a human city it was entirely possible they'd run into a 'No Beasts' sign, this world was sorely in need of a strong civil rights movement.
Mimir gave Nibbit a look when he ordered meat, but it seemed muted, like she was honestly just acting surprised for the sake of it now, and then with some help from Hasuki reading things to her, she ordered a carrot based dish, she had never actually eaten a carrot but had a strong urge to eat one right then.
Hasuki for her part got a very meaty mild dish, she couldn't quite handle spicy things, they always tended to hurt her stomach.
Fortunately for Nychia they also still had the Fish Noodles.

Their food would arrive quickly, and immediately after there was a slight commotion between two people at a table, a pale, human looking boy and a large Horse eared and tailed man.
"What? I ain't paying you..."
The larger man declared, though oddly didn't seem to be drawing attention from other patrons.
"You're not paying ME you're paying your debts... Look I don't..."
Before the kid could finish the larger man threw a punch, and faster than Nibbit's eyes could even follow, the kid got up, moved behind him and kicked him onto the floor.
"Seriously? You tried to punch me? Look just... Get out of here and pay soon and I'll forget that happened..."
The large man got up and ran out, muttering something that sounded strangely like 'Damn that Seyo to the hells.'
With that little confrontation over Nychia called out and waved excitedly.
"Big bro Dash! You came here too?"
The boy in question who was apparently called Dash, seemed surprised but wandered over.
"Hey Nychia, yeah I had to do some work... Farmer got uppity... Who are your friends?"
He asked, though the question seemed directed at Nibbit and his companions.
There was something... Off about Dash, at first glance he appeared to be human, but up close there was an unnatural pale pallor to his skin, and an elfish curve to his ears, he was most certainly half something, but it wasn't Low OR High elven.
sample_fadd72d0c74029e3b5330f03a27260f1.jpg
 
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Ah, I see… So he’s basically her benefactor, to put it simply…

“Good. Then it’s a promise.” Nibbit smiled at the now introduced Nychia, relaxing his aura. Yeah, I think she already learns her lesson well enough.

-----

“Hehe, you like noodles, don’t you, Hasuki?” Nibbit asked with a light smirk, noticing Hasuki’s frankly adorable reaction.

“Oh, right, you never ate them before, Mimir.” He turned his attention to the other girl. “Don’t worry. I think you’ll like it very much.” Hopefully, he whispered under his breath. He didn’t really know whether normal Wabbits would like noodles in the first place. She seemed to like the smell though, which was a good sign.

Fish, huh? I could eat some fish as well, Nibbit agreed inwardly with Nychia. But for now, I think I prefer meat instead.

In the end though, Mimir ordered a carrot-based noodle instead, which Nibbit thought was a bit of a shame. He wanted to introduce her to a wonderful world of meat after all!

Eirsha on the other hand, opted for what looked like cabbage noodles? What in the world? He was so bewildered that his expression was quickly noticed by the sharp-eyed elf.

"Is there something on my face, Master?"

"N-no! I was just… surprised… by your choice of noodle."

She tilted her head. "Do you not like cabbages, Master Nibbit?"

"Well…" As a human, hell no. But as a Wabbit, he probably would. "I just think it's an odd thing to eat with noodles, that's all."

"...I see. Then should I change my order, Master Nibbit?"

"N-no! If you want to eat it, then it's fine! Don't let my opinion stop you!"

Eirsha gave Nibbit another look, before returning back to her menu, looking for the drink that she was going to order.

His own meal (as well as the others) soon arrived. And, just like he wanted it, it was nearly completely red, with all the chili the cook had put inside it. Just when he was starting to really enjoy the delicious dish however....

Oh God what is this?

Nibbit groaned internally. It was clear that some conflict was brewing right inside the restaurant, between what looked like a human boy and a horse man (he didn’t have the horse head however). Wanted it or not, he ended up paying attention to them, while his noodle was slowly turning cold.

Wow, he’s fast!

He was immediately impressed by the boy, as the speed he displayed actually eluded his eyes.

And then, Nychia called out to him, revealing the fact that he was this Dash person she had been talking about.

He came up to them, and now that he got to see him up close… This guy… isn’t actually human, is he? His skin kinda looks pale in an unnatural way… and his ears are a bit curved, but not quite like Eirsha’s…

"Hello!" He smiled at him. "I'm Nibbit! Pleased to meet you! You’re Dash, right? Nychia had mentioned you before.”

Judging by what I just witnessed, I think I can make an educated guess on what this guy’s job is.

Hmph, a debt collector, huh? Even in a fantasy world, you still need that kind of unsavory work. And that horse guy is a farmer. We could’ve asked him for directions to the Farmer’s Guild. A shame he had to run away.


"Greetings," Eirsha spoke next, with her usual prim and proper gait. "I'm Eirsha, Master Nibbit's secretary." Hey, I haven't really fully decided on that, you know! "Your friend here unfortunately tried to steal from my master. So now we would be employing her for a while."

Oi oi, aren't you being a little too blunt, Eirsha?

Then again, it might be better to just lay it all out from the start, to prevent misunderstandings later on.


"Master Nibbit here might not look like it, but he's the ruler of the Nameless Forest. And we came here in official capacity. But for now, Master is gracious enough to treat us all to lunch, even your friend here, though if you ask me, I believe she shouldn't even be here sitting on the same table with us. Once again, it's a sign of my Master's generosity and magnanimity."

H-hey, stop it, you're making me blush here.

Even so, Nibbit's tail was actively wagging back and forth and his ears were all twitching as well. It was clear that he's really happy from all the praises Eirsha was showering him with.

He really didn’t look like some nation’s ruler for sure.
 
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"They're really cool Dash! They totally beat me, I couldn't even run away cause I skipped breakfast, but it's okay cause they didn't hurt me or put me in the Jail again".
Nychia informed her friend, who looked more than slightly exasperated at her naivete, she wasn't a stupid girl per say, however she had been raised in a much simpler, more honest place, civilized culture, and with it, civilized crime, were fairly new to the girl, she hadn't even seemed to understand exactly what was likely to happen to a girl like her being illegally transported by slavers, and likely would have suffered a terrible fate if Mr Seyo hadn't taken an interest in her and had his men 'negotiate' a low price for her purchase.
"Still Sis... You can't let ANYONE catch you, these people may have decided not to hurt you but others might, and you know Mr Seyo doesn't like needing to get you out of prison, I won't tell him so you won't get in trouble, just be careful, I'm too busy to watch out for you all the time now".

With that little conversation done between the two Dash acknowledged Nibbit's greeting, he didn't smile, but held out a hand seemingly instinctively, it wasn't a very common action for a casual greeting in these parts, or at least it wasn't as far as Nibbit could tell.
"Yeah I'm Dash, or at least that's what I go by, I'm the fastest runner around too, so I figured I earned the name".
He declared, despite his rough appearance and mannerisms, Dash was surprisingly clean, it seemed he bathed regularly at least, and the street style appearance was more of a costume, likely to enhance his 'business' by making him look more dangerous, especially as he looked fairly small, with some toned but not incredibly defined muscle.
Meanwhile internally he was trying not to snicker at Nibbit's weird name... Seriously who would name their kid that? Still, weird names was something Dash could sympathize with, literally the only thing he got from either parent was a weird name, so he wasn't gonna rag on Nibbit over that at least.

When Eirsha spoke he seemed a little off guard, then irritated as he let out a loud sigh.
"You sound so much like Mr Seyo... He was always going on about his secretaries and their skirts... It was kinda gross..."
He glanced down to her less than lengthy skirt for a moment.
"Huh... Guess you are a secretary then..."
He commented almost casually, before snickering.
"Ruler of the Nameless Forest? No one rules that place, there isn't even anything TO rule, then again, I guess that means any crazy guy can claim to rule in that case".
Dash didn't seem to take them seriously, though how much was an act and how much was bravado was anyone's guess, he did seem to be trying at least a little to look cool in front of Nychia.
Finally he smirked again, a slightly crooked smile.
"So you say she robbed you? But I bet you've still got all your coin, she's clearly bruised and you were seen chasing her, a poor, starving orphan down the street... And you're all strangers to the city too, with no one to vouch for you... Are you sure you're not the criminals?"
Dash asked, completely confident in his words as he leaned in just a little, before suddenly pulling back.
"This city doesn't work like you might expect Forest Rabbit, you make trouble without the right connections and you might find yourself in trouble... But you fed Nychia so you can consider that a freebie, just don't keep her after dark, or else Mr Seyo won't serve her dinner".
Dash requested as he got up and headed to the door, more than one glare following his back.

"Dash... He always speaks weird like that when people are around... Dash used to be nice and played with me before Mr Seyo started giving him special jobs... I wonder if special jobs will make me act funny too?"
Nychia asked aloud, she got a look or two from other patrons as well as they realized who she was, but they weren't as hateful as those leveled at Dash at least.
"Don't like him... Acts weird, trying to be big and tough..."
Mimir commented through a mouthful of carrots and noodles, having not stopped eating during that confrontation, sure carrots were bad for regular rabbits, but a Wabbit could easily digest them, and in human form they were no threat at all, and very tasty.
"Whoah... He was using high level Physical channeling... That's some incredibly rare magic! I wanna ask him about it.... But he seems like he might be troublesome if I do... Oooh... No Hasuki, no getting distracted! Gotta focus..."
Hasuki talked to herself, before getting back on focus by finishing up her food.
"Umm... Anyway... We should finish up and find the farmer's guild, if we get all the business stuff sorted today we could maybe spend some time exploring... I could even show you some things... One on one... If you wanted".
Hasuki suddenly went very blushy, she had sort of made a move!
 
Nibbit shook the boy’s hand when he offered it, returning his firm shake with his own. Somehow, just from the handshake, he could tell that he might not be able to get along with the boy that well.

Which was quickly proven just a few minutes afterwards, from their continued conversation.

Well, that’s a simple name to give someone. Though I guess it’s just a nickname, since I doubt he’s already “the fastest” right when he was born.

After Nibbit introduced himself however, he couldn't help but feel the boy wasn't really taking him seriously.

Urgh, is it the name or is it the cute face? Seriously, I can probably pass as a girl if I dress like one.

The boy's comment about secretaries and skirts didn't escape his attention. Especially since he noticed him leering at Eirsha's thighs when he said it. Hey, watch where you’re looking at! Nibbit sent him a glare.

“I see. So this Mr Seyo is that kind of person… Well, I better make sure that he’s nowhere near my Eirsha then,” he replied with a smile.

M-my Eirsha?

The implication of those two words didn’t escape the elf’s ears. She immediately reddened, looking away from the side as she tried to regain her composure

“True enough,” Nibbit then replied to the boy’s comment about the Nameless Forest being an uninhabited place. “But one day, you’ll see that it would be a proper country with proper citizens. That’s my dream—to create the most advanced and wealthy nation in the whole world,” he said with a smile. “That’s why we’re here actually. We’re looking for farmers to work for our nation.”

“Oh please, a thief is a thief,” Nibbit replied with a grump, folding his hands together. “If I were just an ordinary Wabbit, she would’ve made off with my money, and then I’ll be stranded here in this city, penniless. So nope, I don’t regret it in the slightest. Right, Nychia?” He sent a glare towards her, activating his intimidation aura. Then, he turned back to face the boy and said, “I expect her to have learned her lesson. If not, well, I’d have to punish her for real this time around,” he added with a frightening grin.

Nibbit didn’t care that he might be her friend. He had to tell him who’s in charge around here!

“Hmph, you don’t have to worry about me. You have no idea how strong I am, do you?” Nibbit replied to his warning with another intimidating grin. The boy was seriously quite pissing him off at this point,

And with that, their short confrontation came to an end.

Nibbit smirked at Mimir’s comment, though he was more interested in what Hasuki had to say. “Physical channeling? What do you mean by that?” he asked her.

“Yeah, we really should,” Nibbit replied to her next statement, completely oblivious to her flirtation. “Though I doubt it would go that easily, if I were to be honest. Maybe we’d have to do a favor for them, just like we did with the elves.”

“I assume you don’t take offense to that, Master?” Eirsha naturally replied, giving him a look.

“What if I did?” he replied, giving a smirk. “What are you going to do then?” He thought it would be fun to tease the high-strung elf a little.

“Then you would be less magnanimous of a person than I had thought you are,” she replied, before taking a long sip of her tea. “It’s only natural for Elder to give you a little test before deciding to help. It is foolish to just believe a complete stranger you just met and give him a great favor for no good reason.” When she said that, she gave a glare towards Nychia. “I might be your subordinate now, Master Nibbit, but it doesn’t mean I won’t criticize you or give you opposing opinions if I disagree with your wisdom.”

“I see.” Nibbit smiled. “I’d prefer that to be honest, rather than just a bunch of yes-men as my subordinates. That’s the kind of land that I want to build—a land where everyone can freely live and think for their own.”

At that moment, Eirsha’s eyes brightened. It seemed she was quite impressed by his statement.

“Then, I’ll make sure you stay in the right path until that land manifests,” Eirsha returned with a smile.

-----

They soon finished up their meal. Eirsha, as the secretary, was the one who paid, naturally. She then asked the owlkin cashier whether she knew where they might find the Farmer’s Guild.

“Umm, I don’t really know to be honest,” she replied. “But if you want to find a lot of farmers selling their goods, then you can go to the Day Market. They have their own section there.”

“I see. Thank you for the information,” Eirsha replied. “Might I ask the directions to get there from here?”

The group then left the restaurant to resume their walk, heading straight towards said market using the directions the cashier had given them.

It didn’t take long until they reached the place, and it was even busier than the already busy city parts they just went through.

“Urgh, be careful everyone!” Nibbit warned. “Stay close and be aware of your belongings!”
 
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Amusingly Nibbit was not the only one who had thought about his ability to pass while cross dressing, Hasuki in her mostly covertly perverted mind had at least twice imagined him in a skirt, as had more than one of the people back at the village, it was more than likely that fate would one day endeavour to have him dress as such.

Dash didn't seem to notice the glare he received from Nibbit, and even if he had he likely wouldn't have felt guilty in the slightest, if someone willingly wore a skirt like that to a public place they couldn't reasonably expect people NOT to look, or at least that's the kinda thing Mr Seyo would probably say, and Mr Seyo was generally a smart guy, even his many, many detractors agreed on that fact.

"No need to worry about that, Mr Seyo doesn't like girls like her... Something about mountains or something... ".
Dash informed Nibbit, sounding somewhat confused himself, he personally liked tall people, and was pretty sure Mr Seyo was talking about that?
The Aura had the rather satisfying effect of making Dash visibly flinch, breaking his 'cool' facade for a moment as he took a quick breath.
"Gods... Look I wasn't threatening you... It was a warning not to be stupid, even strong people can get hurt if they aren't careful here..."
It seemed Dash hadn't completely intended to try and intimidate him, partially he did, but seemed to be actually giving a warning, admittedly mostly for Nychia's benefit.

Hasuki was excited to explain something magical to Nibbit, this was basically her best skill! And main passion as well, so her tail was wagging as she spoke, eyes all but sparkling.
"Well you see, magic, normal magic at least works externally, mages use certain words and gestures from the ancient tongue, to manipulate their magic and invoke a mystic law, essentially declaring the spell's effect to exist, usually anything that lasts more than a few seconds needs external aids like ritual circles, runes or staves, but physical channelling uses the caster's body as the catalyst to achieve a large increase in physical ability, that boy was clearly using it like a natural, i'd love to examine him closer... But umm, I don't think he's agree to that".
Hasuki explained, giving a short lesson on magical theory in the process.
"It is somewhat similar to what I use to enhance your own body, of course my own method is superior, and more permanent, and likely more energy efficient".
Ahh, the gem was back it seemed, and sounded a little smug as it chimed in, even as it quite ironically talked about being energy efficient... This gem was seemingly anything but!
That smugness faded a moment later however as it spoke again.
"However I am not certain I could easily match his likely top speed, unless you were to bite him of course".

Nychia didn't seem to notice the look from Eirsha, as she finished up her food, having not stopped eating at all, though did have a comment on Nibbit's words.
"Mr Seyo said he wants lots of Yes Men... I dunno what that means but he said I'm one of those so I'm good! Oh, does that mean I'm not allowed to help you Mr Nibbit?"
She asked, sounding almost sad, she felt weirdly guilty about earlier and wanted to make it up to the group!

The owlkin was oddly slow in giving an answer about the farming guild, it might have been they were just generally slow, or they might have had a reason not to want to tell them, either way they got some information and went on their way.
Within the market a pickpocket almost approached them, but seeing Nychia convinced them otherwise, either they were her mark or friends of the boss, either way not a good idea to rob, and as such Nychia accidentally made them thief proof.

It took them surprisingly long to get information about the farmer's guild, people seemed reluctant to talk to them, which was of course due to the presence of Nychia, not that Nibbit could know that, and Nychia definitely didn't know.
Finally a younger merchant took pity and gave them directions to the Farming Guild Hall, where the representatives and distributors of the various farms could usually be found.
The hall when they found it was actually quite impressive, a three story mansion looking construction with clear signs of wealth before they even entered, clearly farming was more profitable than in the modern world... Which made sense actually, many beast folk were likely vegetarian, or at least had a limited choice of meats they would eat, and these were also the days when things such as cotton or other cash crops would be in much more limited supply.

Upon entering they were quickly greeted by a young, pretty looking mouse woman, likely some sort of secretary, who asked sweetly whether they were farmers, investors or representatives... But upon hearing their request her whole demeanour changed to one of disappointment.
"The Farmer's guild is currently not offering any such contracts, and will not be for the foreseeable future, please leave".
This seemed to surprise Hasuki.
"Whaa... But the farmer's guild usually jumps at things like this... Never mind the gold, the chance to set up farms with links to the guild is usually a top priority... And it's not harvesting time yet".
She declared, earning a sad sigh and shake of the head from the woman.
"My apologies... But right now we cannot afford to take such contracts, with the pressure we're under it's all that the guild can do to support the current farms".
Okay that sounded ominous, something was clearly going on that was out of the ordinary, that the guild didn't want to talk about.
 
Nibbit on a skirt would honestly be quite adorable, as much as he himself would disagree. Especially if he wore a short one like Eirsha. He wouldn't be used to it at all and he would have to walk around being wary of flashing anyone of the girly panties he probably wore with it as well.

Mountains, huh? Nibbit replied in his thought, giving an awkward, almost pitiful glance towards Eirsha’s chest, which, thankfully, wasn’t noticed by the elf. The elf herself didn’t really catch it either.

It's alright, Eirsha! I think their size is part of your charm!

Although…
I gave a glance towards Mimir and her clearly more noticeable bust. Yeah, I think I should keep an eye on her if we meet him.

If Eirsha knew about Mr. Seyo's opinion on her skirt, she probably would heavily disagree. She wore it not to attract stares from others. She wore it for ease of movement, as with such a skirt, she could jump from trees to trees with ease.

Though if she were to be honest, she wouldn't mind if Nibbit took a peek, which is why she always wore her best pair around him. Today she wore black by the way.

“Thank you for the advice,” he then replied to him with a thin smile. “We’ll make sure to be careful.”

“I see,” he replied to Hasuki, as well as to the gem. “Maybe I could learn to use physical channeling as well one day. It could certainly be useful in a fight.” He folded his arms. As strong as he might be right now, there’s no sense in limiting his growth. If he was really going to be the leader of a nation, then he would need the strength to protect it from any danger. And he could certainly see his current self still not being strong enough to face adversaries that might and would appear in the future.

“I wonder though, if we can both use physical channeling together for the double the effect,” he brought it up to the gem.

“Mmm, that means Mr Seyo is probably not that good of a leader,” Nibbit replied with a small smirk. “After all, just having Yes Men around is bad for a leader and the organization he leads.“

“But of course! You can still help me, Nychia.” He gave a comforting smile.

After he finished his food, Nibbit decided to make a trip to the privy, as he had been feeling the urge to go for a while. After asking one of the waitresses, he was led to a chamberpot. Ah, that's right. Indoor plumbing isn't widespread at all in this world. Maybe I should consider building that as well back in the forest. Though that means we would need pipes and such, and I don't think the elves are good at that.

We really need dwarves after all.


After doing his business, he returned back to their table, just in time for the others to finish as well.

-----

After asking the owl girl about where the guild was, which, strangely enough, she seemed to be reluctant to tell, the group left the restaurant.

Nibbit did see the pickpocket approaching them, just by the way they acted so suspiciously—they weren’t as skilled as Nychia in the matter—but before he was just about to grab them in the act, they suddenly changed their course, avoiding them instead.

Huh, did they just decide against it because Nychia is here?

Well, whatever the reason was, he was glad that it didn’t need to be resolved in violence. He really didn’t want to make a scene in the middle of a busy road like this. Not to mention that it would definitely delay our trip to the Farmers’ Guild.

Afterwards, they asked around for clearer directions to the Farmers’ Guild as they were nearing their destination. Nibbit certainly hoped he didn’t just make them get lost. Thankfully, he actually didn’t, though he couldn’t help but sense that there was something wrong, with how reluctant all the people they asked on giving the directions they needed.

Huh, that’s odd? Do the people in this city just not like foreigners like us?

-----

“Well well well, this is fancier than I thought…” Nibbit remarked once they arrived at the guild building. The place oozed wealth, from the well-polished red marble floor, to the silver statues of what looked like… vegetables?—Huh, what an odd choice—and the golden chandelier put above the main hall they were currently in.

Since when farmers are this fancy?

However odd it might be, it was a clear sign of the prestige and prosperity the organization might have. That, or their vanity. Maybe they're just patting their own back a bit too much...

"Can I help you, Sir?" She gave a sweet, yet somewhat cold smile. "Are you here as a farmer, an investor, or a representative?"

"We're here to make a business transaction with the guild," Nibbit answered, putting on his professional face. "We are in need of both produce and skilled farmers, so we would like to purchase or rent them, in case of the latter. So we would request an audience with your guildmaster to discuss the details in private.

"Payment would not be a problem," Eirsha chimed in. "In fact, we're willing to pay extra if the process could be done quicker."

And of course, it didn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped.

"Hasuki is right," Eirsha commented with folded arms. "This doesn't make sense." Her expression visibly upset. "We have the coins, you know."

“Pressure? Is something the matter?” Nibbit then asked politely, sending that there was something wrong as well. “If it’s within our means, then we would be willing to help with the matter.” He put up his determined yet adorable look. There’s no way the mouse girl would be able to resist!
 
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