“Ugh, I knew it.”
To my firm refusal, Alice unexpectedly detached herself from the desk and plopped down into the chair. I was glad she was a rabbit who gave up easily. At that moment, she glanced around and started sniffing the air.
– Sniff sniff.
“Hmm… But there’s been a really stuffy and blocked strawberry smell in this room since earlier…”
“Is there such a smell…?”
Did such a smell even exist? As Alice tilted her head while sniffing alone, she seemed to realize something and clapped her hands.
“Ah… Luna unnie has been counseling, right?”
Alice propped her chin up and asked me.
“Is she tired?”
I didn’t answer her. A counselor’s stories aren’t meant to be shared with others, no matter what they are. I just silently waited for her next words. Taking my silence as a positive, Alice smiled and said,
“Luna unnie… is nice. It’s true that she’s really nice and a good person, but… do you know what her most fatal problem is?”
I almost asked, “What is it?”
I leaned in to listen. Since S-rank Hunter Luna’s acquaintances’ direct stories are quite valuable information. Alice, enjoying the look of anticipation in my eyes, took her time before speaking.
“She’s an Adar.”
“… What?”
Did I hear that wrong? Alice opened her eyes wide, as if she couldn’t understand my confusion, and repeated it.
“Ah-da-ra-go-yo. Don’t you know what an Adara is?”
I knew.
But what did that have to do with anything…?
“She’s an Adara, which means she’s completely blocked in many ways.”
She stretched out the word “many ways” and gave a meaningful smile.
“She always lectures me about how to conduct myself as a proud member of the Empire, how to guard my instincts as a beastman… You have no idea how much she nags me.”
Alice shook her long ears as if tired of it all.
“It’s not even funny. The very proud Empire folks don’t treat beastmen like us as people at all.”
I felt like I had picked up a clue. Luna’s worries. The true meaning of the phrase [Wavering between her identity as a member of the Empire and a beastman.]
But for some reason, I didn’t feel particularly good about it. Was it because she kept dissing my client?
It felt like touching a slightly painful sore spot. Without realizing it, I spoke to Alice aggressively.
“You seem to know a lot, Alice. You must have rich experiences.”
At that, the charming smile on Alice’s face stiffened slightly.
“… Huh? Wh-what… Haha… Of course, right…? I’m a, a rabbit beastman, aren’t I? Isn’t it strange to not know…?”
She let out an awkward and exaggerated laugh before hastily changing the subject.
“… Wow! What’s this?”
Alice’s red eyes landed on a small cookie basket lying on the desk. Without asking for my permission, she picked one up and popped it into her mouth.
“Yum, oh?! This is delicious!”
She exclaimed in pure delight, crunching and munching.
“You can just take that and leave.”
“Really? Yum. Then if you give me one more, I’ll go.”
She mumbled with her mouth full of cookie. I pressed my temple with my fingers and gestured toward the entire basket.
“Take it… please.”
As soon as I gave my permission, Alice, like a squirrel, stuffed the remaining cookies into her combat uniform pockets.
But then…
“Put that down, Alice.”
The HR team leader came in. Alice froze in place, holding the cookies.
“What are you doing here during work hours…?”
“Aww, what a shame…”
At the team leader’s sighing reprimand, she drooped her ears and pouted her lips, taking the cookies she had stuffed in her pockets out one by one.
In the end, Alice was dragged out by the HR team leader.
I quietly watched the scene.
***
Meanwhile, in Luna’s rabbit hole.
The rabbit hole was not some grand magic. It was just the safest bedroom in the world for her. Specifically, it was a very personal escape magic that allowed her to dive straight onto her bed.
– Poof!
With the sensation of space distorting, Luna’s soft body fell onto the fluffy bed. She buried her face into the huge pillow.
The bedroom, contrary to her externally cold image, was filled with pastel-toned furniture and stuffed bunny toys.
“Ugh…”
After a moment, she lifted her legs into the air and began to torment the innocent bed.
– Bang! Bang bang! Bang bang bang!
Like a child throwing a tantrum, she wildly pounded the white blanket with her feet clad in white socks.
Her true self was exposed. She cried openly. The dignity and grace she had built up as S-rank Hunter Luna had completely shattered.
There was nothing left to hide now.
Stopping her kicking, she hugged the massive carrot-shaped body pillow at the head of the bed.
“I’m doomed…”
Until that evening, Luna remained holed up in her room’s bed.
It was unbecoming of her. The star-shaped glow-in-the-dark stickers hanging from the ceiling flickered faintly in the darkness, providing no comfort to her.
‘Is she still in the guild…?’
She had heard that they continued their counseling until late in the evening. Unconsciously, she checked the time.
‘At this point…’
She gathered her clothes and got dressed. She couldn’t just skip work. She finally summoned the will to lift her body.
Before she knew it, she had arrived in front of the Union building.
Walking quietly down the corridor like a stealthy thief, or rather, a stealthy rabbit, she headed toward her personal waiting room. Fortunately, the floor where the counseling room was located was dark, and there was no one in the hallway. Just as she exhaled a sigh of relief and was about to open her door, at that exact moment…
“Ah… Luna-san… You’ve come at just the right time…”
At the voice coming from behind, Luna’s shoulders stiffened. It was Team Leader Gukhaewon.
He approached her with a tired smile, as if his day hadn’t been easy. In his hand was a small paper bag with a luxurious design.
“Counselor Yuseonwoo asked me to make sure to deliver this before she goes home.”
Luna took the bag with a puzzled expression. Inside was a small box tied with a pretty ribbon and a stiff card.
First, she opened the card. She began to read the letter written inside.
[To Luna]
You must have been very surprised, right?
I thought you would be quite startled by the sudden incident this morning.
The most important thing in counseling is starting when the client genuinely desires it.
So you can set your mind at ease.
I will be waiting in the counseling room until you’re ready, Luna.
This is just a small treat. Sweet things improve your mood, after all.
So please have a relaxing evening.
– From Counselor Yuseonwoo.
Luna stared blankly at the letter for a long time. The message was completely different from the sharp, defined features of the writer… It was very… fluffy and evoked a strange feeling deep inside her. His words contained only consideration without any rush.
Feeling that warmth, she unconsciously noticed her cheeks had turned slightly red.
‘What is this…?’
It felt like the first time in her life, awkward yet sincere, as if she had received a love letter.
With trembling hands, she opened the box. With the sweet scent of butter, a delicious cookie sandwiched with thick white cream was revealed.
“What is this person…?”
Her favorite snack. The cookie she secretly devoured when her stress reached its peak.
Just as she was about to pick up the cookie, she discovered a small note under it. Written in a slightly lighter, more casual style compared to the letter.
[Next time, I’ll add strawberries. :)]
“……”
Seeing that note, Luna quietly opened her mouth.
“… Team Leader, do I have any official schedules tomorrow?”
“Huh? Ah… No, I believe you’re off tomorrow… Is there something up?”
The team leader answered, surprised by her sudden question. Without meeting his eyes, Luna looked down at the cookie in her hand and mumbled.
“Then, I… I’d like to take a day off tomorrow…”
“Pardon?”
“Tomorrow… I’m planning to go to that counseling office…”
Team Leader Gukhaewon’s eyes widened enormously. Counseling she had never accepted despite multiple offers. Her wanting to go first?
Gukhaewon doubted his ears and asked several times, but Luna didn’t respond.
She thought.
Perhaps, just once.
I must meet her.
With determination, she took a big bite of the cookie in her hand.
“Wow…”
Inside her mouth, the sweet, smooth cream spread out.
***
That evening, I leaned back in my chair, staring at the translucent system window floating in the air.
[Luna] [PINNED]
[Current status: Covering herself with a blanket up to her head in her bedroom, ignoring reality. Experiencing extreme embarrassment. Feeling ashamed as her identity is exposed.]
[Main stance: Desiring to give up everything and simply become one with the bed.]
In fact, this alone was already half a success.
When I first met her, her feelings were centered around the heavy theme of identity confusion. But now, it was different.
All her emotions had transformed into much easier and clearer feelings—shame and embarrassment.
I had turned a chronic illness into a temporary acute one.
There couldn’t be a better first step for treatment.
At that moment, the system window flickered, and her status changed.
[Current status: On the way to the company. However, she feels she does not want to meet the counselor. If they meet, she plans to use the rabbit hole immediately.]
If she had arrived, she would have gradually received the gift I had prepared for her.
I continued to keep an eye on the system window.
This was the best the counselor could do.
If the client did not wish to counsel, then there was nothing to be done.
After a short while, the awaited change occurred.
– Crackle!
[Luna] [PINNED]
[Current status: Her tongue is overwhelmed by an unparalleled sweetness, along with the heat rushing to her eyes and head, filling her heart with a melting sensation; these conflicting sensations are driving her into extreme confusion.]
[Main stance: ‘Isn’t it really time to go just once…?’]
“Done.”
I closed the system window floating in the air, wearing a satisfied smile.
This is enough.
The wary, wounded rabbit had finally jumped into the trap I had set for her. The bait was probably… the cream cookie?
Now what remains is to treat this scared rabbit.
From now on, there is only one thing the veterinarian must do.
“Empire and beastmen.”
I stacked the thick papers I had received from the association’s resource room that detailed the regulated world: the Empire, high on my desk. With these documents, I could fill her official knowledge about the Empire’s history and social structure.
… And once I had filled in the formal knowledge, I would need unofficial information as well.
I turned on my computer and logged into a familiar site.
[Hunter Gallery]
A chaos of various speculations and information. Sometimes mixed with raw truths.
I searched for the keyword “beastman” in the search bar.
Hundreds of posts filled the screen.
And among them, one post caught my attention.
[Title: The mating season of rabbit beastmen is scientifically identical to real rabbits’ mating seasons of 365 days. Fact]
“……”
This…
It must be right, right?
After a brief moment of agony, I finally dove into the chaotic rabbit hole.
