Chapter 76: The Guardian of the Inverted Tower (3)

The rabbit, staring at the blonde girl in disbelief, simply blinked as it picked up the chessboard along with its pieces.

“I’ve had my share of weird people show up here. One guy wanted to marry a dragon, another wanted to find a goddess just to kill her. I mean, I’ve seen some cases… But what you’re saying is the stupidest one of all.”

The rabbit said this while hopping closer to the girl and then, swiftly, placing the chessboard with the pieces perfectly arranged between the two of them.

“Hey, what do you mean—?” Ebony for a moment forgot that the fluffy rabbit was a legendary beast and was about to insult it.

But swallowing her anger, she took a deep breath and continued with her polite and cordial tone. “Well, I understand it sounds stupid. It’s a lost relic, but—”

“Lost? Lost is putting it lightly. That crap was forgotten by everyone, even by the god himself. I mean, do you realize you’re looking for something that even its own bearer doesn’t care to find?” the small animal replied sarcastically.

“Yeah, I mean… I know… But it’s either that or I stay like this, and I don’t want to stay like this…” Ebony said, irritated, since during all those days she had forgotten that her goal was almost impossible to achieve.

“Like what?” the rabbit asked while scratching its ears.

“Well… this isn’t my body. Or rather, this isn’t the gender I had in my previous life. I used to be a man and ended up in a woman’s body.”

“A woman? More like a little girl, hahaha,” the rabbit replied mockingly, pointing out the lack of breasts on the girl’s body.

For a moment Ebony felt annoyed. She didn’t know why, but she felt irritated whenever people mocked her body.

“In any case… so you want to change bodies. I suppose you’re right, only the Forgotten God could help you.”

“Whatever… Let’s play, Lord of the Burrows. I want to finish this as soon as possible and continue on my way,” Ebony replied, exhaustion in her voice. Despite the adrenaline of being on the edge of death, her dizziness hadn’t gone away.

“Wait… please… She’s not in any condition to play. Wouldn’t it be better if one of us played instead?” Daniel said, worried about his own life.

“Yes, that’s true… She has Mage’s Sickness from exhausting her magic… We can’t allow her to play in those conditions… sir…” Lucian insisted with the most courteous voice he could manage.

“Blah blah blah. I don’t care, the three of you can play if you want. You should worry more about entertaining me than about winning, you know? After all, I could change my mind mid-game and devour you, heh.”

The rabbit showed its teeth, which were nothing but fang next to fang, a sight that made the boys start sweating in fear.

“Stop whining… Leave it to me. I learned from the best, I’m not going to lose. So watch, you faithless idiots, and see how the great Ebony defeats a Lord of the Burrows.”

Confident, Ebony took out a coin, since they had to decide which color pieces each would play.

After flipping the coin, the rabbit chose heads, and the coin ultimately favored the guardian of the place, allowing him to pick the white pieces.

“Alright, let’s begin then.” Determined, the rabbit moved a piece using its ears as if they were another set of muscles.

“You’ll see, idiot, you’d better get ready.” Ebony, fighting through her dizziness, began moving her pieces.

The game was unfamiliar to Lucian and Daniel. They didn’t understand what was happening on the board, they only knew that suddenly the rabbit said a word they had never heard before.

“Jake mate!”

Ebony stroked her chin and, nodding her head, accepted what had just happened.

She looked at her companions and nodded as if trying to reassure them. She seemed calm, until she turned back to the rabbit and said:

“Best out of three? Heh.”

“WHAT!?” Her friends opened their mouths and eyes in disbelief, because their lives were about to end due to their friend’s stupidity.

“You already lost for real? What the hell?! I knew I should’ve played instead, you damn shorty!” Daniel shouted as he shook Ebony’s body, demanding an explanation.

“To think the last member of House Kul-Raz would end up dying because of a rabbit… and still a virgin…” Lucian muttered as he sat on the floor and held his hair with one hand.

The rabbit, fully intending to kill them, was about to transform, but it didn’t. It couldn’t.

It watched the blonde girl begin arguing with the youngest boy in the group, while the half-elf joined in the complaints and blamed his companions.

Every gesture, every shout, was so stupid and childish that the rabbit couldn’t help but smile.

“(Mortals… heh… I’d forgotten what this felt like…

)” the fluffy entity thought as its smile grew wider and wider.

It felt that warm conflict it had once experienced… once, long ago, when it had a family.

“Alright, alright, stop crying. Best out of three is fine with me,” the guardian said while scratching its ear with its hind leg.

“REALLY!? Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are a merciful rabbit guardian!” Daniel said excitedly, bowing his head several times.

And so the game began again. This time Ebony slapped herself hard and, filled with determination, started playing. Her teammate back when she was Ebon Young had taught her how to play.

He had been the mage of their team, extremely intelligent, and had even reached chess championships when he was a child.

“(Come on, brain, come on… remember what Fred taught us. I know we can do this. It’s just a damn rabbit, it can’t—)” Ebony thought until she saw her rook fall and her king being cornered.

“Jake mate, ha!” the rabbit said with a grin.

Silence ruled the room for a few seconds, until the two boys sat on the floor in resignation.

“Umm… best out of five?…” the blonde girl said with a trembling smile, trying to save her life and that of her companions.

The rabbit looked at her with concern, until once again her companions began shouting and complaining about their lives. She bet on her friends… and lost.

So the rabbit allowed another match, and then another, and then one more, until hours passed.

In the middle of that treasure-filled hall, the group seemed to have forgotten that their lives were at stake.

Even Lucian and Daniel ended up playing. The blonde carefully taught them, and they spent hour after hour playing.

Until eventually everyone fell asleep from exhaustion, except for one: the rabbit, who watched them sleeping with their backs resting against one another.

“…I suppose you won…” the rabbit murmured before hopping over and picking up a piece of parchment. It was only a fragment, a third of the complete map.

On it were chaotic drawings and meaningless letters, but it emanated ancient magic that even the rabbit, in its time, had feared from the one who wrote that parchment.

“Thank you, children… I had a lot of fun. I hope we never meet again, because if we do, it will be on the other side.”

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