Liam was bold before, but now he started getting nervous. The pond was fine. However, going to the house? Was this going to land him in trouble? Wait, did he have to meet the so-called dad?
"Ummm. Miss Itzel, I don't want to disturb your parents. I am not sure if you are allowed to ring friends back to the house. Would you be in trouble? How about I stay near the pond? You can tell me what you need help with and bring it there, maybe?"
"No, big bro Kouske. Papa and Mama are still not home. My sisters are also busy at the auction house. No one is there at the house. It's fine."
The little girl did not want to hear no for an answer. She continued dragging Liam all the way to the main house, and luckily they didn't go in.
She took him to the big garden that spread for acres and acres and brought him over to a small flower tree. Its flowers were extremely beautiful.
But the most remarkable thing was the creature lying under that tree. It was a rabbit, a rabbit with snow-white fur.
More specifically, it was a female rabbit who had just given birth to a litter of small bunnies. They were all newly born and looked adorable.
The little girl swooned as soon as she saw the bunnies and left Liam to run over to them. She picked them up, and started playing with them, completely forgetting herself.
"Ah! I want to bite you!"
"I want to eat you!"
"Come here, little squishy."
Miss Itzel was a complete goner. At one point, Liam was worried that the little girl would really eat a bunny as she was kissing them so much.
He chuckled and walked closer. "These are adorable, Miss Itzel." He squatted down to tickle one of the little bunnies on its stomach.
The little one was slightly a darker shade compared to the rest of the milky white bunnies, and its right eye was scarred. It looked like it was blind in that eye.
However, as soon as Liam touched it and rubbed it, the bunny immediately became attached to Liam and grabbed his finger like it was a carrot.
"Good girl. Good girl." Liam laughed as it reminded him of Luna when she was still young and newly hatched.
Seeing the two of them bonding together, Itzel unexpectedly asked. "Big bro? You want him?"
"Huh? Can I take him?"
"Yes! Milky is actually my sister's bunny. She will not like the blind one. I was thinking of letting him go free in the wild, but if big bro takes it, then it will be awesome!" She gave him a thumbs up.
Liam didn't think too much about it. It was just a rabbit, probably an ornamental pet, and he wanted to earn more browny points with this girl, so he readily nodded.
"Alright, I will take care of this little one. Do you want to name him?" He lifted the little rabbit and tickled her again.
"Yay! Yes! Yes! I want to name her! We can name her Violet?" The little girl licked her lips.
"Right, it's a good name. She looks a shade of violet from this angle." He nodded with a serious expression. It was not like he cared about that.
The thing that he cared about was…
Just as he was about to broach the main topic, the little bunny in his hand suddenly nicked his palm, drawing blood.
And the next second, a screen flashed in front of him.
[Ding. The astral spirit seeks a bond with you. Do you wish to bind with the astral spirit?]
[Ding. Click Yes or No to accept or reject the contract]
Liam was completely speechless. Astral spirit? What the hell was that? He had heard of spirit beasts, legendary beasts, epic beasts, ancient beasts. What the hell were astral spirits?
He hurriedly clicked yes. The next instant, a cool refreshing feeling swept past his body, and a small voice squeaked in his mind. [Papa.]
"This… papa is not… ahem… call me, Master?" Liam awkwardly corrected the rabbit.
Itzel saw this and started laughing loudly. "Big bro! Ha Ha Ha. What are you saying? Papa suits better." She started rolling on the grass and laughing even more loudly.
The dozen bunnies all jumped up and down on her, and the bunch of them were enjoying themselves thoroughly.
How was he supposed to do reconnaissance in the midst of this playtime? Liam sighed and waited, joining in on the fun now and then.
He was supposed to be preparing for the apocalypse, but when in Rome… He flopped back onto the green grass that somehow grew on this jelly-like land and looked at the strange sky.
There were green lights today dancing in the sky, just like the aurora lights back on earth. It looked beautiful, mesmerizing.
Liam had never had a chance to visit places like that, so he enjoyed this view.
The bunnies jumping up and down on him as well felt relaxing, and he took a deep breath, momentarily forgetting the burden on his shoulder.
But suddenly, Itzel shrieked like the little girl she was. "Big bro! You have to leave! Now!"
"Oh?" Liam didn't have to ask her what happened. He already knew. Someone was back. Maybe the dad or the mom? Fuck! Today was going to be his funeral.
"Which way should I go?" He hurriedly leaped back on his feet and started sprinting out of the garden. The few bunnies and Itzel chased after him.
"Big bro Kouske, take this route. You will reach the city faster." Itzel showed him a smaller path in between the trees and sent him away.
And Liam as well clutched his newly acquired pet and started running without looking back. He was only able to breathe when he reached the bustling city.
"Huff. Huff. Huff. Why am I even running? I didn't do anything wrong, right?" He shook his head helplessly and mixed back in with the crowd, feeling safe amidst the masses.
***
Golden Ticket Bonus Chapter~~
