Chapter 91

"Whoa, I sense a killing intent! Lady Reni!"

Samu, who had been submerged, suddenly sat up straight.

It seemed she was trying to protect me from a girl with a knife.

"Who are you?!"

Samu hugged me and leaped high.

After putting some distance between us and the girl with the knife, Samu looked at the source of the killing intent with a sharp expression.

"...Are you okay?"

She looked cool. Samu looked really cool.

However, her face was drenched, and water was dripping from her mouth and nose... Clearly, she had been submerged.

As I looked up at her, Samu nodded.

"I'm fine. I panicked. I'm sorry for making you feel in danger, Lady Reni."

"That's okay, as long as you're fine."

"Lady Reni, please stay here. I'll apprehend her."

Samu put me down and closed the distance with the girl.

The girl was quickly captured, and Samu tied her up with a rope.

The girl, having had her knife taken away and thrown to the ground, seemed to be exerting force, but the rope didn't budge at all.

"Wh-What's wrong? If I'm a beastkin, this rope should tear easily!"

"It's impossible. No matter how strong a beastkin is, it's impossible to break a rope reinforced with elf magic by force."

"Ughh!"

The girl struggled, but the rope was securely fastened. It seemed there was no danger.

After confirming this, I walked over.

"I'm coming closer."

"Yes, Lady Reni. It's safe now."

I stood next to Samu and looked at the girl nearby.

The girl, as she had said, was not human. She had fluffy, long pink ears on her head and a pink, round tail on her bottom. In other words, she was a—

"Rabbit."

A sigh escaped my lips.

I knew Muto, so I had seen races with horns, wings, and tails in human form. However, this was the first time I had seen a fluffy-furred beastkin in person.

Wearing the [Cat's Hand Gloves], I looked like a beastkin, but seeing a real one made me so moved that I couldn't help but exclaim. It was so fluffy...!

Her pink hair was tied in braids on both sides. Her eyes, the same color, were round and very cute.

"Why did you target Lady Reni?"

Samu looked down at the cute rabbit beastkin girl with a cold gaze.

The rabbit girl seemed to have given up on escaping from the rope, relaxed, and glared at me.

"I don't know who Reni is! That girl was pretending to be a beastkin! It's cruel for a human to pretend to be a beastkin! She must have been trying to damage the image of beastkins!"

"Damage the image of beastkins?"

"Image damage?"

Samu and I exchanged glances and tilted our heads in confusion.

Earlier, I had taken off the [Cat's Hand Gloves], so my cat ears and tail were gone. The girl must have seen that and thought I was "pretending to be a beastkin."

However, I didn't understand what "damage the image of beastkins" meant.

Samu seemed to have the same thought and looked down at the rabbit girl with a cold gaze again.

"What do you mean by 'image damage'?"

"It means just that! ...Beastkins are said to do bad things. Beastkins have high physical abilities, so they can do whatever they want in the human world. That girl must have been pretending to be a beastkin and using that to torment the village!"

The rabbit girl said, "I can't forgive that!" and started to exert force on her body again.

I watched this and thought, hmm.

I had been reincarnated in this world for four years. Although I hadn't been traveling for long, I had felt a prejudice against beastkins in the human world, as the rabbit girl had said.

Especially during the Gyral incident, I had strongly felt this.

I had thought it was due to the creation myth believed by the new religious sect, which stated that elves were closest to the goddess and beastkins were the farthest.

However, according to the rabbit girl, beastkins, with their high physical abilities, could easily attack humans and steal from them, which might have strengthened the prejudice against them.

So, the rabbit girl had jumped to the conclusion that I was using this to harm the village at the foot of the mountain.

"Reni wouldn't do that."

I shook my head firmly.

Samu, who had been listening, seemed to realize that the girl's attack on me was a misunderstanding and had a determined look in her eyes.

"The village's troubles were due to the petty and greedy interactions among humans. Lady Reni, with her generous heart, saved the village. ...It's unacceptable for someone who only observed from the side to attack Lady Reni based on a misunderstanding."

Samu grabbed the rope tied around the rabbit girl and started walking towards the lake.

"Let's sink her in the lake."

"Wait! Even if I'm a beastkin, I'll die if I'm thrown into the lake with a rope that won't come off!"

"You should regret your foolishness."

"Ah!"

Samu stood at the edge of the lake, and the rabbit girl screamed.

Muto was watching from above with her arms crossed, and the [Water Snake] in the lake looked at me with a troubled expression.

It seemed no one was going to stop her.

I hurriedly called out to Samu.

"I like the lake because it's beautiful."

Yes, I had always loved the lakes depicted in CG. I had destroyed a reservoir, returned the water, and finally seen it with my own eyes.

But if it became a cursed lake, that would be a bit... The [Cool Rain Lake] would become the [Tragedy Lake]...

"I want it to stay beautiful."

The water quality, the history... So, I said that, and Samu, who was about to throw the girl into the lake, stopped.

Then, she looked at me and smiled.

"You're right! It would be terrible to pollute the lake with a rabbit's corpse! Let's bury her!"

Burying her... that's a bit... I tried to stop the eager Samu.

We decided to move everyone first.

Our destination was the village inn.

After saying goodbye to the [Water Snake], it rubbed its head against me as if to say thank you, then dove into the lake.

When we arrived at the inn...

"I'm really, really sorry! It was a misunderstanding...!!"

On the way, the rabbit girl must have realized her misunderstanding when she saw me being praised as "the cat lady" by the villagers.

She performed a very beautiful dogeza on the floor of the inn.