Translator: Nox

Chapter 24

Bunny clenched her tiny fists tight and opened her mouth.

“No way!!! Bunny’s a shorty, y’know?! The Young Master said Bunny’s a shorty!!!”

No sooner had Bunny finished speaking than the children exchanged baffled looks before erupting into booming laughter that seemed to shake the ground. “Hahahaha!!! ”

“He said shorty. Hahaha!!!”

“What, so even the Young Master’s just messing around with you for laughs in the end? Well, who’d really adopt a kid like you anyway? He’s none other than the hero Kiriel himself!!!”

“Sh-shorty’s small and cute…….”

“Nope! Shorty means small as a pea and ugly, dummy!”

The children surrounding Bunny burst into more peals of laughter.

‘…Bunny, you got tricked?!’

Thud!

A brick of shock slammed down on her head and crumbled to the ground.

‘Bunny got betrayed so fast…….’

Bunny’s mouth fell open as her body trembled. Then she clenched her fists tight again.

Suddenly, she slung the bag off her back, gripped its rabbit ears hard, and narrowed her eyes.

“What’re you glaring at?! Ugly thing!”

“…….”

Bunny, clutching the rabbit ears, flashed her pink eyes with a sinister expression and jerked her head up.

‘Luri said there was something to say to bullies. What was it in human words?’

Bunny blinked.

Dog….

Dog…….

“Baby, don’t forget. If you run into a talking dog bullying you on the road, grab the rabbit ears first and shout it out.”

Flash!

A lightbulb went off in her head.

Remembering at last, Bunny gripped her rabbit bag in one hand and charged at the children, swinging it wildly.

“Hey, you dog bastards!!!”

The rabbit bag emitted a dull glow in response to Bunny’s furious, imperfectly translated human shout.

At the same time, the rabbit bag in Bunny’s grasp began assaulting the children indiscriminately.

“It’s a magic spell that punishes bad kids real pretty.”

Bunny grinned.

‘Luri’s a genius, just like always.’

Do exactly as Luriel said, and everything would be solved.

“Eek! Eek! Eeek! Eek!”

“Eek! What is th—this, eek!”

“Oww! Eek! Eeek!”

Bunny swung the rabbit bag without restraint, smacking the children with crisp, resounding thwacks.

The kids reached out desperately to block it, but for some reason, they couldn’t lay a hand on the rabbit bag.

Even when they tried to grab it, it slipped away from their fingers like it was sliding through thin air.

They couldn’t even touch Bunny herself.

“Waaah, waaaah!!!”

As the children broke into sobs, Bunny backed away a little and slung her bag back on.

Servants rushed over from all directions at the sound of their loud wails, and soon after—as if someone had reported it—the children’s parents appeared.

“My son!!! Who did this to you……! Oh no, are you okay? My baby. What do we do? Look at that swollen face.”

“Oh dear, who beat my precious child like a dog?!”

The bawling children clung to their parents.

It was the moment Bunny took a step back, preparing to retreat.

“Hey, you! Isn’t this going too far?! How could you do such a thing?”

“They bullied Bunny first.”

“What? Our kid’s so gentle……! They’d never do that. To begin with, what could our delicate, fragile little one have possibly done to a rough stray mutt like you?”

Delicate and fragile…?

Bunny eyed one of the sobbing, puffy-faced children and narrowed her eyes.

“But no, they’re puffier than Bunny…….”

“What?! You and that mouth of yours! No, even if you’re an uneducated brat with no manners, raised rolling around in an orphanage and clueless about the world, how dare you hit people without any sense of propriety and talk like that!!!”

Bunny flinched, her shoulders trembling as she clamped her mouth shut at the parents’ raised voices.

“Anyway, dealing with parentless, backgroundless urchins like you isn’t worth it…… Knew it from the moment you started hanging around with those beast brats.”

“Bunny has a mom and dad too.”

“Enough. Bow your head and apologize to our kids right now!”

The children, nestled in their parents’ arms, all sneered at her with flushed faces.

Bunny huffed in outrage and turned her head away.

“No way. Bunny didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Apologize! Or should we call the guards? Wanna go to jail?!”

At the mention of jail, Bunny froze.

‘Jail’s no good…….’

Her eyes welled up in an instant. Tears brimmed in her eyes, full of grievance.

To become the greatest Demon King, she had to grow into a splendid adult.

To become a splendid adult, she had to stay in this house.

To stay in this house, she couldn’t go to jail. But she didn’t want to apologize either.

“Hurry up! Wanna make this a big incident? You’re the one in the wrong!”

Bunny’s lip jutted out in a pout.

It was so unfair, but here, she had no choice but to endure it.

Luriel had said it: Sometimes unreasonable things happen. Sometimes you have to do things you really hate.

‘Is this one of those times?’

But……

“If the Young Master Kiriel sees this, he’ll be greatly disappointed.”

Jerk.

Bunny’s eyes flew wide, and soon her tearful face began to wobble her lips.

“S-sor… sor… sorry…….”

Bunny hadn’t done anything bad.

“Amusing. Since when did I get so many spokespeople in this house……?”

It was then. A cool, languid voice drifted in, and Bunny’s eyes went round.

“Huh? Who’s disappointed, and who’s doing what……? I must look like an easy mark. Judging by how you’re all flapping your mouths freely…….”

With the chilly voice came a hand grabbing Bunny’s waist, hoisting her body into the air.

Bunny, eyes wide as saucers, slowly turned her head to see Kiriel Yudia tilting his head with a cold expression.

“Y-Young Master……. No, this child violently beat our children…… Look! The bruises are already forming!”

They thrust their children forward as proof.

“Daughter, they bullied you first, right……?”

At the obvious question, Bunny nodded vigorously.

“Yeeah……. Called me ugly……. Pushed Bunny super hard… Said shorty’s small and ugly…… Young Master’s a liar…….”

“…….”

Kiriel Yudia rolled his eyes at Bunny’s accusing tone, then a fresh smile curved his lips.

“Not a lie. My daughter’s a cute little shorty. Who said otherwise?”

“Them…….”

Bunny answered with her lip still jutting out, unable to hide her sulkiness.

Kiriel Yudia chuckled lowly and poked at her pouted lips with his finger.

“I see. Then they need a scolding. Expel them all.”

As his words flowed leisurely, the parents’ faces drained of color.

“Seems like someone else owes an apology. What do you think?”

The authority of the direct line was absolute.

Especially for him. Even if he was dismissed as a good-for-nothing now, he was a hero of the holy war.

In comparison, the collateral branches were candles in the wind—especially now, with the Duke himself ruthlessly pruning unproductive side lines.

“Or, if anyone can step forward and prove in front of the Scales that my daughter lied, be my guest. If it turns out to be true, I’ll apologize personally.”

The Scales.

The holy relic summoned by the current Saintess Salame Yudia at the age of ten, which judged good from evil.

No one could lie in its presence.

Thud.

One of the trembling parents dropped to their knees. The others followed with their children, bowing their heads.

“S-sorry.”

Good and evil had been judged.