Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Round-Eared Rat-Kin

“Waaaaah!”

The little girl’s sobs tore through the silence.

Everyone, each lost in their own thoughts, turned toward the cage still hanging beneath the great tree.

The white-furred rat looked utterly helpless, while the little girl, having recovered somewhat, cowered in terror against the corner of the cage.

Seeing that one rat remained, Alirith rose with her sword in hand and prepared to approach.

“Hey! Big fellow, what are you trying to do? Wait! Wait! I’m not with those black rats. Can’t you see I’m locked up too? I even protected this—”

The great white rat seemed to realize what Alirith intended and hurriedly tried to explain.

“All right, Alirith. She’s different from those sharp-eared ratfolk.”

“That’s right! That’s right! I’m nothing like them.”

The white rat nodded repeatedly.

Kana walked over and opened the wooden cage. He lifted out the terrified little girl, and the instant she was free, she seemed finally to have found someone she could rely on. Clinging tightly to Kana, she began to sob uncontrollably.

“All right, all right. It’s over now.”

After soothing the girl, Kana handed her to Alirith.

Alirith accepted her somewhat awkwardly.

Kana turned back to the white-furred ratfolk, who was climbing out of the cage.

“Round-eared ratfolk, why are you here?”

The ratfolk were divided into two races, and the difference between them was enormous.

The sharp-eared ratfolk were, without question, an evil race. In the game, they were invariably red-named monsters, embodying every prejudice intelligent beings held about rats.

Because of their size and cowardice, they often targeted the young of other races.

That had driven them straight across the bottom line of every intelligent species, making them a scourge that had to be eradicated.

Round-eared ratfolk, on the other hand, were mostly green-named allies in the game, and at the very least were white-named neutrals.

The worst thing they were known to do was steal—and even their thievery often carried an air of chivalry.

Compared with their kin, round-eared ratfolk possessed a remarkably high level of civilization. Their people regularly produced adventurers, scholars, archaeologists, and mages.

In some great cities, one could even often see round-eared ratfolk serving as translators.

That alone spoke volumes about their culture.

Yet their excessive refinement also meant that their population could never compare with that of the sharp-eared ratfolk.

They generally lived around civilized cities, and even then, only near the larger ones.

The two races were easy to distinguish by appearance.

One had pointed ears; the other had rounded ears.

Sharp-eared ratfolk were usually black- or gray-furred.

Round-eared ratfolk were mostly white- or brown-furred.

This round-eared ratfolk looked thoroughly wretched. Clearly, she had suffered quite a bit while imprisoned in the cage.

“Calling me by my race is a little impolite. You may call me Popot.

“Popot of Latariel—the Sapphire Isle.

“What is your name, big fellow?”

Climbing out of the cage, Popot dusted herself off and tugged her tattered clothing back into place.

Latariel—the Sapphire Isle?

One of the Four Isles of the Encircling Sea. Kana had a rough idea now of how she had come here.

“You came here by ship?”

“That’s right. You guessed it immediately. You’re a clever big fellow. And your name?”

“You can call me Kana.”

“All right, Kana. How about we discuss these questions later? Popot doesn’t think this is a very good place for conversation.

“And aren’t you still in the middle of a battle? As the commander, shouldn’t you be paying more attention to the fighting in front of you?”

Popot offered the reminder kindly.

Her words drastically changed the way Alirith and Blake viewed ratfolk.

There was simply too great a difference between this rat and the ones they had just cut down.

Her tone, expression, and movements all conveyed the same message: she was an educated and civilized creature.

“I have to admit, you’re right.”

Kana turned toward Blake. Some color had returned to his face.

“How are you? Can you keep going?”

As he spoke, Kana pulled Blake to his feet from where he had been slumped on the ground.

Blake nodded. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’m just... just a little dazed.”

What he had experienced today was more than everything he had gone through in his entire life combined.

He had countless questions, but he knew this was not the time to ask them.

“Good. Then I’ll trouble you to go check the situation ahead and see how Joniel and the others are doing.”

More importantly, he wanted to know whether the ordinary rats ahead had also been corrupted by the Void.

Blake nodded and turned to leave.

Before this, he might have hesitated. After all, his only duty was to protect the prince’s safety.

But now he had to admit that there was a gap between his strength and Alirith’s.

Their encounter with that monstrous giant rat had made that perfectly clear.

Besides, he had already come to place great faith in Kana—though he did not seem to realize it himself.

Kana turned around.

Alirith was standing where she was, her expression stiff, completely motionless. The little girl in her arms had fallen asleep.

Alirith was now looking at Kana with an expression that silently begged for help.

Kana smiled. “Let her sleep. For a child, what happened today was far too overwhelming.

“And she wouldn’t have fallen asleep if she didn’t feel safe with you. You should be happy. Relax a little.”

Alirith nodded. Perhaps Kana’s words truly helped, because she seemed to loosen up slightly.

She even began gently rocking her body, imitating the mothers she had once seen.

Yet her expression remained somewhat desolate.

Kana saw it clearly, but did not immediately offer comfort.

Meanwhile, Popot was wandering around, rummaging through things. No one knew where she had found the pile of ragged clothes she now wore.

Changing out of her torn garments seemed to make her feel much better. Her entire body appeared more relaxed.

“Oh, my. I never would have guessed you were a prince. Forgive my disrespect.”

Popot gave a simple bow.

At that moment, Kana had to admit that Popot truly knew her manners.

It was a diplomatic courtesy practiced in most human kingdoms.

“I won’t ask about anything else for now. I need to find something—a fragment of a stone tablet.

“It belongs to some ancient civilization. If nothing unexpected happened, it should be from the ancient Alchemical Empire. I’m sure that if you’ve seen it, you won’t have forgotten it.”

Popot nodded. “Popot knows what you mean. I saw Forktail carrying it once.

“Popot even asked him to let her take a look, but he clearly didn’t want to.”

Then she added, “Forktail was the Toothblade you just defeated... that giant rat.”

“I know what Toothblade means,” Kana said.

Popot looked surprised. “You’re far more learned than I expected.”

She then spent a long while rummaging through the pile of clothes and debris she had searched earlier. At last, she pulled out half of a stone tablet, nearly as large as her head.

“I believe this is what you mean.”

Kana looked at the tablet and nodded slightly.

“That’s right. This is it.”

After taking the tablet, Kana examined it carefully once more. Once he had confirmed that it was indeed the object he sought, he began searching through the heap of debris for anything else that might serve as loot.

Watching him, Popot scratched her head in confusion.

Could there be some treasure hidden among the pile that she did not know about?

That seemed unlikely.

It was obvious that everything in the heap consisted of objects those rats had found, stolen, or seized from somewhere.

“Um, what are you looking for? Perhaps I can help,” Popot said from beside him.

“Anything of value.”

Kana gave her a casual answer, though he found nothing useful in the pile of rubbish.

“How about this item?”