Chapter 92

I sat on the sofa, and Sami stood next to the rabbit girl who was doing a dogeza, and proceeded to question her.

The rabbit girl no longer showed any hostility, so she was no longer bound.

Why did she come here, and what was she doing? Summarizing the rabbit girl's story...

"So, you left the beast girl village and have been traveling to various places to 'help people,' right?"

"That's right! It's a beast girl image improvement campaign!"

That seems to be the case.

"And, you were helping those who were drying up the lake and selling water at exorbitant prices?"

"...Ugh. I'm really, really sorry! I didn't know...! I was told that I was helping a village in trouble by finding a water source, and because my ears are good, I was asked to tell them the location of the water source..."

The pink rabbit ears drooped.

It seems that the men were able to locate the water source upstream thanks to the rabbit girl's hearing.

"They said there were [Water Snakes] so they couldn't get the water, and they wanted to build a new reservoir upstream. I was praised for being a good beast girl... I was so happy that the beast girl image improvement was a big success! I worked hard to dig the reservoir because I was told I had the strength to do it..."

"Then the lake dried up, the [Water Snakes] lost their energy, and the village faced the danger of becoming a ghost town. What you did only damaged the image of beast girls."

"Ugh..."

The pink, round eyes welled up with tears.

She must have acted with good intentions.

"Well, it's no wonder. It would be impossible for humans with no knowledge or skills to accurately locate a water source or to build such a reservoir by hand."

Muto, sitting on the window frame, shrugged.

Indeed, Muto had been suspicious from the beginning. Can humans do that?

"Stealing water resources and extorting money from the village is something only humans would think of, but it's not something ordinary humans can do. The [Water Snakes] probably didn't expect the water source to dry up and left the humans in the forest. The presence of a beast girl was an unexpected factor."

I nodded in agreement with Muto's words.

The [Water Snakes] live in the lake and should always protect it. That's why the village at the foot of the mountain always had plenty of water.

This time, the reservoir was built upstream, and an ordinary human would have left it alone without any problems.

In response to this, Sami snorted.

"All of this is your responsibility. You should direct your knife at yourself, not at Lady Rini."

"That's right. I'm really, really sorry..."

"Your thoughtless actions caused people to suffer. But, in the end, Lady Rini saved everyone. What should you do now?"

"Thank you. Thank you."

The rabbit girl, still in a dogeza, repeatedly bowed to me.

Sami looked down at her coldly.

I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with this.

I wanted to say "That's enough" and stop her, but Sami told me not to get too close in case something happened.

So, I tried to change the subject.

"What's your name?"

At my words, the rabbit ears perked up.

"My name is Karigano."

"Karigano-chan."

I nodded and called her by name.

The cute pink rabbit girl, Karigano-chan, was now doing a beautiful dogeza.

I introduced myself as well.

"I'm Rini."

"Rini-chan!"

Karigano raised her head and smiled.

Suddenly, Sami promptly pressed Karigano's forehead to the floor.

"Your head is too high."

"I'm sorry!"

Sami...

"Karigano isn't very smart... I'm really sorry for causing trouble for Rini-chan and everyone. I'm so glad Rini-chan fixed my mistake. Thank you so much."

She deeply bowed, touching her hands and forehead to the floor.

Seeing this, I felt uncomfortable again...

"Karigano-chan, you thought you were helping the village, right?"

"You might have been deceived. But it was wrong of Karigano not to think deeply."

"...You wanted to help people and tried hard. It's sad that it ended in failure."

...I always make mistakes too.

I tend to act immediately when I have an idea, and I think I'm similar to Karigano-chan. So—

"Karigano-chan, if you're not sad, that's fine."

"Huh?"

Karigano's ears twitched at my words.

She raised her head as if involuntarily and looked at me.

"The lake, back to normal. The village, back to normal. Rini, happy."

I chuckled.

"There's no problem."

Right?

"R-Rini-chan...!"

Suddenly, Karigano's cheeks turned red.

She shivered on the spot.

"Rini-chan is super, super kind...! I've decided! I want Rini-chan to be the leader of the Beast Girl Image Improvement Club!"

"Beast Girl Image Improvement Club...?"

I tilted my head at the unfamiliar name.

Karigano nodded and jumped up and down on the spot.

"It's a club I made! I'm the only member, but from now on, it will be Rini-chan and me!"

"Ah, but Rini isn't a beast girl?"

That's right. Karigano must have seen it.

I'm wearing [Cat Hand Gloves] now, but if I take them off, I have round ears like an elf. If I lose control of my magic, my ears become pointed like an elf.

"Rini-chan looks like this because you're wearing that item, right?"

"Yep."

"Then it's fine! When you wear that item, you look like a beast girl! Rini-chan will definitely improve the image of beast girls! Let's do club activities together!"

Karigano beamed, thinking it was a great idea.

But I...

"Rini probably isn't very good at it."

I've never been in a club in middle school or high school.

I always stand out in group activities and make others irritated. I usually end up not knowing what to say.

Hearing "club activities" made me think of my past life, and my chest felt sharp pain.

I gripped the fabric of my shirt and took a shallow breath. Then, Sami was suddenly in front of me...

"Is something wrong, Lady Rini? Are you in pain?"

A warm hand gently touched my tightly clenched hand. This... is Sami's hand.

"Sami-chan..."

"Is there something wrong with your chest, Lady Rini?"

"...No, I'm fine."

Sami's warmth spread from my hand to my chest.

I realized I had been holding my breath and let out a sigh. The pain in my chest gradually disappeared.

"Look at me."

"...Muto-chan?"

A serious voice made me look up, and Muto was peering at me.

"Little elf, how are you feeling now? Is anything wrong?"

"No, I'm fine as usual."

"I see."

Muto frowned, looking puzzled.

"Did you feel any use of magic just now?"

"No, Rini didn't use any magic. It was just a warm feeling in my chest."

I tilted my head at Muto's question.

I didn't feel any use of magic at all. It was just a painful memory from my past life that made my chest hurt.

...Now that I think about it, I've been recalling more memories from my past life recently, and they're mostly unpleasant ones.

The black vortex I was swallowed into during the [Magic Outburst] might have triggered this.

In response to my answer, Muto lowered his eyes.

"...If that's the case, what does this mean?"

He sighed, deep in thought.

"The world just distorted."