Side Story: I Like You, Captain! (Part 3)

#2. The Incident at the Travel Destination

It happened a few days after Lena received permission to marry Alhendore Lengester.

“Toto!”

At the Lengester family’s lakeside. In the dense forest, a pair of cute ears perked up.

A white-furred rabbit, Toto. Lena hugged the rabbit, which had grown enough to fit snugly in her arms, and kept stroking it.

“Why do you like that monster so much?”

Grumbling about being pushed aside for a mere rabbit, Alhendore muttered sulkily. Ignoring him, Lena rubbed her cheek against the rabbit’s soft fur.

“It’s cute, isn’t it?”

As if agreeing with her, the rabbit twitched its long whiskers. Lena, who was petting the cute rabbit, suddenly looked sad.

Alhendore, worried for a moment, frowned at her next words.

“Our Toto seems to be lacking energy these days.”

“In what way?”

“He’s eating less.”

Looking down at the plump rabbit, Alhendore glanced around. The lakeside was filled with endless lush greenery.

He snorted dismissively.

“There’s grass everywhere. Maybe he ate a lot before his meal.”

“He often droops his ears too.”

He recalled the rabbit, always lounging with its ears drooped comfortably.

A rabbit’s life… no, a monster’s life couldn’t be more luxurious than that.

“Maybe he’s comfortable. Ears droop when they’re relaxed.”

“…”

“What?”

Annoyed by his constant rebuttals, Lena puffed out her cheeks.

“You’re mean.”

“…It’s not that I wasn’t listening to you. It’s just that I don’t like the guy shamelessly taking up space in your arms.”

“You can’t say that. Our Toto will get hurt.”

“…Don’t you see the hurt I’m feeling?”

“Toto-.”

Ignoring Alhendore’s grumbling, Lena lifted the white rabbit. The rabbit twitched its nose as if responding.

“Could Toto be lonely?”

“It’s not the rabbit that’s lonely, it’s me, Lena Leshuriel. Your neglect makes me lonely.”

“Should we ask Sir Atul?”

“See, I’m always secondary, aren’t I?”

Atul was a knight of the Red Knights and a monster researcher in the Monster Subjugation Squad.

When the rabbit was still with the knights, Atul had taken care of it for a while.

“Could he be feeling stifled?”

“Here?”

Alhendore, incredulous, looked around again.

His mansion was so vast that they had to use carriages to move around within it. Feeling stifled here was unimaginable!

‘Wait a minute…’

Pondering deeply, he suddenly had a good idea.

“If he feels stifled, we can take him for a walk.”

“Toto?”

Even though the rabbit was tame, it was still a monster. 

Taking such a creature for a walk among ordinary people? 

Lena tilted her head, puzzled by his suggestion.

“Somewhere without people.”

“Without people?”

“I have an idea.”

He smiled slyly as he spoke. It wouldn’t take long for her to understand the meaning behind that smile.

***

Near the outskirts of the capital, many undeveloped areas surrounded the Luban estate. Among them was a forest rarely visited by people.

Planning to take the rabbit for a walk and travel, Alhendore built a villa in the area.

Since no one visited, he thought he could let the monster roam freely.

Of course, he had a different ulterior motive, but that was the superficial reason.

“Toto?”

Lena was preparing a special meal in the villa while the rabbit played in the front yard. In that short time, the rabbit, which had been playing well, disappeared without a trace.

After thoroughly searching the yard and the villa’s surroundings, Lena ran to Alhendore.

“Captain! I can’t find our Toto!”

“Finally ran away?”

Unpacking the luggage himself, as he had brought no servants or maids, Alhendore responded with a cheerful tone. A smile he couldn’t hide spread across his face.

“Is this the time for jokes?”

When Lena put her hands on her hips, Alhendore raised his hands slightly in surrender. Quickly adjusting his expression, he grabbed his outerwear and headed out seriously.

Finding the rabbit quickly was the top priority to soothe her displeasure.

“Since he’s small, he probably didn’t go far.”

True to his position as the leader of the Monster Subjugation Squad, Alhendore soon found the rabbit’s trail. Seeing him search more diligently than during subjugation missions, Lena couldn’t help but chuckle.

She felt conflicted; she was annoyed that he seemed genuinely happy the rabbit was gone, but she liked how he dropped everything to help her.

“Footprints.”

“Hurry, let’s go!”

The rabbit’s footprints led deeper into the forest. It must have been quite a while since the rabbit left the villa, as it had covered a significant distance with its small body.

“What if it got caught by a wild animal?”

“Lena.”

“Yes?”

Concerned by her anxious worry, Alhendore touched his forehead.

“You seem unaware, but that creature is a monster.”

A rabbit’s sharp teeth could easily snap a bone. Though it didn’t match its diet, it wasn’t without offensive capabilities.

“Moreover, would I leave dangerous creatures in a place where I brought you?”

“Oh!”

He had cleared out any dangerous creatures beforehand. To be safe, he had also stationed knights from the Lengester family, including Aquila, to guard the front and rear.

“There are eyes watching this place, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

This meticulous man. 

The reason the rabbit went missing was clearly because there were no guards around the villa.

Why weren’t there any guards around the villa?

Lena glared at him, suspecting he had removed them to have some private time with her.

She admired him, but also shook her head in disbelief.

“There…”

“A cave?”

After walking for a while, they found the entrance to a cave hidden by bushes, just big enough for one person to squeeze through.

Could the rabbit have gone in there? 

The footprints led inside. Without a word, they both entered the cave.

“Toto!”

Lena called out cautiously. Maybe the rabbit would hear and respond. At that moment,

Squeak-!

“Toto?”

Squeak-!

Squeak-!

The rabbit cried out in response to her call.

“Toto–!”

Squeak-! Squeak, squeak–!

Following the rabbit’s cries, they moved deeper into the cave.

The cave seemed quite deep, the dark interior stretching on endlessly.

Alhendore and Lena followed the narrow path inside the cave. The rabbit was definitely in there.

‘What’s that?’

After walking for a while, they suddenly saw a faint light and stopped. The cave’s interior was illuminated by an unknown light. The problem was,

“A dead end?”

There was no path ahead. Lena hesitated, unsure about moving forward, when she heard the rabbit’s cry from somewhere.

“Toto!”

As she called the rabbit and tried to step forward,

“Lena!”

“Ah!”

Alhendore wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back.

She clung to his waist, almost falling into a hidden pit. 

What was that? 

Carefully looking down, she saw a bright emerald glow through the cracks in the cave floor. It seemed to lead underground.

“Toto?”

Lena cautiously called through the cracks.

Squeak-!

The rabbit’s excited cries echoed loudly.

“It looks like he fell down! Can we get in there?”

“It’s okay. We can climb back up using those rocks.”

With Alhendore’s approval, Lena quickly descended into the cave’s underground. What she saw at the end left her mouth agape.

“Wow… amazing.”

Squeak-!!

The rabbit, excited to see Lena, hopped over. Hugging the rabbit, Lena stroked its fluffy head.

Alhendore, who followed her, was also surprised by the sight.

“Magic stones.”

“Magic stones…”

The stones filling their view were magic stones, glowing with green light particles.

“Oh!”

Realizing something, Lena quickly turned to him.

“How much is this land?”

“Since it’s undeveloped, you could buy it with your salary.”

Understanding her intention, Alhendore chuckled.

“Landowner, sell me this land!”

“How much will you pay?”

“How much do you want?”

“I have plenty of money. I want something else.”

“Uh, like what…?”

Feeling his impure intentions, Lena hesitated and took a step back.

“Time.”

“What?”

“Give me the rest of your life.”

Alhendore smiled suggestively. 

“We should thank Toto for this.”

“This land is mine. You should thank me for selling it to you.”

“You didn’t know there were magic stones here either.”

“Hmm.”

To monsters, magic stones were special minerals that enhanced their mana efficiency. Naturally, monsters were instinctively drawn to magic stones.

The rabbit seemed to have sensed the magic stones and found its way here.

Lena smiled brightly. She could now give a special gift to her uncle, who she always felt sorry for.

“Toto- I like you a lot!”

“I…”

“You too, Captain! I like you.”

Hugging the rabbit, Lena nestled into his broad chest. Unaware that the rationality of the beast with wide-open eyes was being completely shaken.