Curiously, Dillon observed the water gun.
Before letting him use it, I gave him some words of warning. “Don’t ever point it at a human being. Worst case, they could go blind.”
“What?! Is it that dangerous?!”
“Surprisingly, yeah. You can easily make it with stuff you can find around Freida too. I’ll tell you how later.”
“Wow... You can even concoct poison?” he asked.
He was blowing things out of proportion. If this counted as “concocting poison,” people who went into the mountains and those all-natural farmers who didn’t use pesticides could get arrested for making something similar; they’d be violating the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law.
Dillon wrapped the holster with the water gun around his waist. This might sound kind of silly, but modern water guns like this one were designed like revolvers, so they looked pretty good. I’d also cast a spell to make it extremely durable, so I didn’t have to worry about it breaking.
“Now, let’s check your food and other items,” I said.
“Right. I brought food that’s light and portable. As for water—”
“You should be fine as long as you have some for an emergency and have the empty water bottle I gave you. We can always fill it up later.”
A lot of watering places were available throughout the dungeon. Some places didn’t have any at all, but there was water at relay points and safe points in explored areas. We even had maps marked with various points of interest, so watering places were widely known among Divers.
Dillon picked up a plastic water bottle and said, “This is so useful.”
“Yeah, I didn’t realize how convenient they’d be when I brought them here,” I agreed.
Water bottles were useful in practically any situation. It was too bad that in my world, they ended up in the recycling bin after they were emptied. However, the part that came in contact with the mouth had to be thoroughly washed before reusing a bottle, or it could cause stomachache. I’d already warned Dillon about this, so we were good on that end.
Finally ready to go, Dillon and I set out into the Forest.
I was wandering around without a care in the world, then Dillon suddenly yelled in a panic, “Th-There’s a giant monster over there!”
“Huh? A giant monster?”
“Y-Yes!” he said and gulped.
I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. We were in the Great Forest Ruins, which was a beginner area; there was no way a giant monster would be here. Maybe it was only visible to Dillon.
“It’s coming closer!” he shouted.
“Huh? Where? What monster?”
“Right there!” he said and pointed.
“There?” I asked and looked, but there was no monster in sight. “What does it look like?”
“Well, it’s about double my height,” he began.
“Uh-huh. So it’s twice as tall as us.”
“It’s furry all over with long ears and big eyes!”
“Furry, long ears, and big eyes,” I noted.
“Yes, with jet-black eyes. It looks very evil.”
That sounded familiar. In fact, I’d seen something like that the other day.
“It’s crouching in the bushes over there and slowly approaching,” he said.
“Uh...”
The monster he spoke of realized we were watching it, so it retreated into the bushes. The bushes rustled for a while longer.
“It’s about to come out,” said Dillon nervously as he drew his sword.
Eventually, a shadowy figure jumped out of the bushes—yep, it was a rabbit, the token weakling and comforting creature of the Great Forest Ruins: the Walker Rabbit.
Meanwhile, Dillon clenched his sword hilt, completely intimidated by the rabbit’s size.
I’d seen plenty of monsters that were actually gigantic, but since rabbits weren’t classified as monsters, his description hadn’t rung a bell. Looking at it now, I supposed it could be considered relatively big in these parts. I probably shouldn’t have been thinking along the scale of a Poison Chimera Zombie.
“I-It’s coming closer!” shouted Dillon.
“It sure is,” I said in an unamused tone.
“It’s fast!”
“Yeah, I guess it’s relatively fast,” I said.
“K-Kudo?!” said Dillon, growing even more perplexed by my casual attitude.
The rabbit swung its arms back and forth as it walked toward us. It thought it owned the place because Mr. McGregor wasn’t here; though, we’d probably need a six-meter-tall Mr. McGregor to handle a rabbit of this size.
I was used to seeing them, so they seemed cute to me, but Dillon’s reaction was probably reasonable for someone seeing one for the first time. He hadn’t even seen a small rabbit before, so it was completely alien to him.
Hmm? What’s its breed, you ask? Probably a Netherland dwarf rabbit.
Once the rabbit got closer to it, it raised its arms high overhead, striking a pose as if it were the strongest creature on Earth, in Yujiroesque fashion. Though, I knew whatever attack it was gonna deliver from that stance would be anything but strong.
But I soon realized this one wasn’t the type of Walker Rabbit that actually attacked people. Most of their basic activities consisted of walking around, munching on grass, and digging holes in the ground like European rabbits, but there were also several types of Walker Rabbits that acted differently when they encountered Divers. Some would approach and attack (harmlessly), some were friendly and would rub up on people, and some would mess with you by pulling on your belongings. I had a feeling they just really liked Divers. This rabbit must’ve been the type that rubbed up on people. It wasn’t taking up the Rabbit Kenpo stance by raising its paws before itself like a ghost, and the prankster types never came out from hiding. Anyway, I had to warn Dillon before he did anything rash.
“You should put your sword away,” I said.
“What?! But—”
“Attacking the rabbits with weapons is against guild regulations,” I pointed out.
“Then what are we supposed to do?” he asked, visibly anxious.
Stabbing, slashing, and hitting them with magic were illegal, so there wasn’t anything we could do. Though, they were tough enough to shrug off such attacks from low-level Divers anyway. Either way, anyone who attacked a rabbit would probably disappear at the hands of the secret lawless organization known as the Bunny Lovers Club if they ever found out.
While Dillon stood frozen in place, the rabbit approached him and began sniffing.
“Eek!” he shrieked as its nose grew closer.
Its size was rather intimidating, so I couldn’t blame him. He clenched his eyes shut, but he eventually realized that no harm was coming to him and slowly opened his eyes.
The rabbit rubbed up against him and squealed.
“Huh?” he said in disbelief.
He finally gets it.
“Um, is it...?”
“Why don’t you try giving it some attention?” I suggested.
“O-Okay...” he said.
The rabbit was big, but it only rubbed up against him, so the interaction wasn’t particularly taxing. Dillon gradually got used to it and began patting the creature’s head.
“It’s so soft,” he noted.
I mean, of course it was. Rabbits were soft and fluffy creatures. After rubbing up on Dillon for a while, the rabbit switched targets and approached me. As soon as it came within range, it started bopping me on my head.
“Hey!”
It bopped me again.
“Why are you like this with me?! Can’t you rub up on me like you did with Dillon?!” I complained.
The rabbit tilted its head adorably—then it tugged on my safari hat.
“Hey! Quit it! Stop that!” I shouted and desperately held on to my hat.
Dillon watched us with a dumbfounded expression. He seemed confused by how differently it was acting with me.