Chapter 1586: Chapter 1586

"As if you could ever slay that monster, you insolent little…!" Drakogon began, but a pair of towering Zodiacrons intervened. They were the tiger and ox Quick Hare had mentioned.

"Calm yourself, my king. Do not heed her words," the tiger urged.

"You know how small people are. They are ignorant and insolent, knowing nothing but thievery and shallow insults," the ox added.

"Hmph… Leave at once!" Drakogon commanded.

"Fineeee~" I replied.

We departed willingly, leaving the guards who had tried to seize us humiliated. We overheard them being reprimanded by the King for their failure to breach my barrier.

"Oh, there's a lot of noise! W-What happened?" Quick Hare asked us. "Wait, you didn't make them mad, did you?!"

"Nah, everything went smoothly!" I assured her. "Right, guys?"

"Uuuh… yes!" Jonathan nodded, giving Quick Hare a thumbs-up. "It sure did…"

"That guy is really grumpy," Partner said angrily.

"He told us to fight at the frontlines, to kill twenty of those stupid bugs," Arachne said. "We could do that while sleeping. No, I could do that while sleeping, actually."

"T-The frontlines too?!" Quick Hare exclaimed, surprised. "Aww, so I'm the only one they never let go there?"

"You can join our party temporarily and come with us," I offered. "It'll be a good opportunity to earn more EXP and break through the level cap. You've reached level 100 already, right?"

"N-No, I'm level 20…" she muttered.

"Only twenty?!" Lucifer asked. "You really need to up your game, as the young'uns would say…"

Wow, did Lucifer just sound like a boomer trying to act young? That was so adorable of him, haha!

"Well, yeah, I was born only four years ago, and I'm a rabbit…" she sighed. "We don't get much respect at all, and it's hard to find a job at my age. My seniors sometimes find me small jobs, but… there's not much to do besides delivery. Whenever I go out to hunt, I get my metallic ass beaten and run before I get killed."

"That's so sad…" Alma murmured. "A-Ah! I didn't mean to make it sound offensive. I'm so sorry."

"Nah, it's fine, Alma," Quick Hare said with a faint smile, though it seemed forced. "I know I suck… It's hard to work in this society or do anything when there are monsters out there, a war fought every day, and a clear division based on what animal blesses you at birth. It's not something we can choose either. It's all luck! I wish I could've been born a dragon! They're all so awesome! Lord Drakogon is amazing, right?"

She shifted her tone midway through, as if she still admired her superiors despite her evident issues with society's structure.

"Well, despite everything, it's still a fine life, right? I survive every day and make a living," Quick Hare shrugged. "I know that one day things will improve! I will simply gain the claws of a tiger, the horns of an ox, and the flight of a dragon in my own way! I just need to save a lot of money."

Despite her circumstances, she found some contentment in her life.

She was a conformist, I suppose.

There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone lives their life as best they can, and I'm no one to judge her.

Yet it was still rather sad that she settled for so little when she could achieve so much more.

"Ah! I forgot to ask that guy why he doesn't tell you all you can evolve," I said, rubbing my chin. "Well, whatever. Let's explore the city to see what it's like and then head to the frontlines, shall we?"

"Y-You're really going? It's a chaotic battlefield! Couldn't you at least wait a few days? Maybe get accustomed to the place…" she suggested.

"Nah, we have no time to waste," I replied. "Well, we do have a little time to spare. Can you show us around? Your favorite spots? Oh, your home?"

"M-My home? Aaah, I do have one, but it's small. I live in… a capsule home. That's where most of us live. It's all we can afford," she said.

"Capsule home?" I asked, curious.

"I'll show you…" she said. "Um, can we fly again, Maria? That was really awesome."

"Sure!" I nodded. "Let's go."

Quick Hare guided us through the city as we passed towering skyscrapers and dodged large flying vehicles piloted by irate Zodiacrons. We finally reached a massive building filled with giant capsule-like rooms, around two hundred in total.

"This is where I sleep… and rest, and clean myself, and eat," she muttered. "It's small, huh?"

It was quite spacious for a capsule-sized home, but for someone as large as her, it was barely the size of a bathroom. Zodiacrons didn't require bathrooms or beds, but they needed a private space to clean and repair themselves and consume their food, which consisted of oil rich in minerals and raw ores.

"It's big for us small people!" Nyx giggled, scampering around. "But you don't have a bed?"

"Bed?" Quick Hare asked. "No, only small people use those. We don't need them. Though I do have a seat over there. And some of my things, lots of junk I've been gathering."

"I see…" I nodded, looking around. "Alright, let's have a meal here with her before we depart."

It was around lunchtime, so we gathered around a table she provided. I brought out food from Azure Star, including pre-made meals, instant ramen, fruit, various sugary drinks, and more.

Quick Hare watched with curiosity as we ate, intrigued by the taste of our food but refraining from asking for any, knowing she couldn't digest organic matter.

"Do you want some? It's yummy!" Nyx offered, holding out an apple.

"Oh no, we cannot eat organic food," Quick Hare explained. "It would clog our internal fuel tanks. Sorry."

"Ohhh…" Nyx nodded. "Then would you eat this? It's one of my scales that fell off."

Nyx offered a crystalline scale, and Quick Hare smiled, nodding.

"I can assimilate this. Thank you, Nyx. Nom… Hm! It's quite crunchy. I've never tasted anything ."

"So you eat stuff that isn't food…?" Arthur asked. "Weird."

"Well, it's also weird for us that you eat strange little things that rot away," Quick Hare said, laughing. "We're all different!"

"Does your body get tougher based on what you eat?" I asked.

"Yes, it's synthesized into our bodies," Quick Hare nodded. "Why?"

"Nice. Take these," I said, handing her a bundle of unused ingots I had set aside. "These are special alloys I created and don't need anymore. Eat all you want."

"Oh wow! They have magical properties?! T-These would sell for a fortune in the market!" she gasped. "Are you sure?!"

"Yeah, eat them, don't sell them," I insisted. "You need to get tougher, Quick Hare. We don't accept weaklings on my team."

"Hah… alright then, thank you!" Quick Hare smiled. Her face was adorable, despite being made of silver steel. "I'll pair them with this nice oil I save for special occasions! Down the hatch!"

She ate happily, biting into the ingots as if they were soft chocolate, despite their incredible hardness. I recalled that dragons also consumed crystals and metals to strengthen their scales, claws, horns, and fangs, didn't they?

After lunch, we decided to depart. We had explored some areas, but they weren't suited for us, as they catered to machine people with shops for machine parts, armor, and even restaurants, offering nothing for "small people," unfortunately.

"I feel stronger now! But I think I need to exercise and level up before I can fully experience the effects of the synthesis," Quick Hare said after I asked how she felt. This update ıs available on N()velFire.net

"Nice. Let's go. Where's the frontline, anyway?" I asked.

"Northwest," Quick Hare replied. "I've only seen it from afar before, but now that we can fly, we can get there and see the action. Wait, aren't Vyperion and Gallotron heading there too? We should meet up with them! They're my friends and seniors, after all. Ahh, I can't wait to tell them you met our God King! You must feel honored, right? Lord Drakogon has such a divine and imposing presence…!"

"He was… fine," I said with a nod. "And sure, where do your friends live?"

"I believe they're there by now!" she replied. "Let's find out where they might be!"