"Wow"
Entering the house, the little girl held the little white rabbit and looked around curiously.
This house was remarkably clean — cleaner than any she had ever seen. The owner must be someone who valued cleanliness greatly.
But besides being tidy, the house felt rather sparse. Many everyday necessities, and even some basic living facilities, were missing — a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet, and so on.
There were only two rooms and a living area.
The little girl hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked into the open room.
Inside were only a few simple furnishings and a bed without a single wrinkle on it.
Curious, she reached out and poked the mattress, then lightly hopped up and sat down on it.
She set the little rabbit down on the bed beside her.
*Phew*
The little girl let out a long breath, her body and mind finally relaxing completely.
Only then did she settle her thoughts and recall the person she had seen right before losing consciousness.
*He was so beautiful.*
Ah... no, no!
Realizing her thoughts were straying, the little girl shook her head vigorously, as if trying to shake the distracting thoughts loose.
She calmed herself and tried again.
There were still many questions lingering in her mind.
For example: why hadn't the Tacet Discords attacked him? They had behaved as though they couldn't perceive him at all.
And why was he so handsome?
Ah... she was straying again.
The little girl shook her head in frustration.
What was wrong with her? She just couldn't get him out of her head.
Most of the people she had ever interacted with were fellow villagers, and the most impressive bearing and appearance she had previously encountered belonged to the occasional wanderers who passed through from the larger towns.
But those wanderers, who had once seemed so unattainably distinguished to her, paled completely in comparison to the person she had seen — like fireflies fading before the bright moon.
Flawless. Not like an ordinary person. Not even quite like a human.
To her, he seemed more like a divine immortal descended to earth.
"Could it be... it was just a hallucination?"
Thinking this, the little girl couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment.
That would make sense, after all. How could there really be someone in the world who looked as beautiful as an immortal?
It must have been a hallucination born from her delirious state.
With that thought, the little girl gradually withdrew from her reverie and glanced outside through the cabin window.
The owner still hadn't returned. If she stayed here temporarily in the meantime, they probably... wouldn't mind, right?
No, no, no!
It was far too rude to linger in someone else's home without permission!
But...
If she left, she had no idea where to go.
After hesitating for a long while, the little girl finally slid down from the bed.
She turned around and gently stroked the little white bundle of fluff lying on the mattress.
"Bye bye, I'm going now~"
A trace of reluctance showed in her eyes as she slowly pulled her hand away.
Such a docile and adorable little rabbit, so soft and fluffy to the touch... if only it were hers.
*Sigh...*
Suppressing the feeling, the little girl took one last look at the little rabbit and walked out the door.
She left.
The little rabbit simply watched the direction she had gone, not moving an inch.
---
Outside the wooden cabin.
The little girl walked and walked until she eventually reached the edge of the treetop platform.
It was then that she discovered a rather unpleasant truth.
This place wasn't on the ground at all.
She cautiously leaned over the edge and peered down. The ground was hundreds of meters below.
Connecting this with the surrounding scenery... she was at the top of a tree?
*Phew——*
The little girl took a few slow, deep breaths.
She had to admit, the view from such a height was breathtaking. But that did nothing to solve her problem.
How was she supposed to get down?
A small crease of worry appeared between her brows. Even so, she didn't give up. She began walking along the edge of the platform, searching for a way down.
After a few minutes, she found a staircase. Her eyes lit up, and she hurried down the steps.
---
"*Phew~* That was so high... finally made it down!"
The little girl reached the last step and jumped off, landing on solid ground.
But the smile on her face lasted only two seconds before slowly fading.
Because she had inadvertently noticed a group of large apes bigger than grown men slowly converging toward her.
Their faces were ferocious, their expressions savage. One glance told her they were no ordinary animals. They were Tacet Discords.
Panic crept onto her face as she began backing away.
As she retreated, she glanced behind her and noticed a cave-like entrance at the base of the great tree.
A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, followed quickly by unease.
What if there was something dangerous inside?
*No choice. I have to hide.*
A determined light flashed in her eyes, and she ran into the hollow.
The further she went, the more the howling of the ape Tacet Discords outside faded away.
*Phew... thankfully... got away from them...*
The little girl exhaled with relief and was about to stop when her peripheral vision caught a glimmer of light ahead.
She was deep inside a dark tree hollow. There shouldn't be any light.
Driven by curiosity, she pressed on for a few more dozen steps and then the space suddenly opened up before her.
"This... this is?!"
Her eyes went wide, and she clapped both hands over her mouth.
Before her lay a gray, desolate, eerily still scene pale mist, a vast flat expanse, a towering withered tree... and a massive white ape resting beneath it.
The moment she saw it clearly, her heart leaped into her throat.
The presence this Tacet Discord gave off was nothing like the ones outside.
This was something far more powerful than anything she had ever faced something she could not possibly defeat in her current state.
The little girl began to tiptoe backward, retracing her steps as quietly as she could.
But it was already too late. Feilian Bering had noticed her.
"ROAR!!"
A deafening, soul-shaking roar erupted.
The sound alone was enough to drain the color from her face. Her legs nearly buckled beneath her.
But Feilian Bering gave her no time to recover. It leaped from dozens of meters away and came crashing down toward her.
Watching it plummet, the little girl had no strength left to flee. Fear and unwillingness tangled together in her chest.
Just as she was about to accept her fate, a flash of white light streaked past.
Immediately after, Feilian Bering was sent flying backward.
*This is...?!*
The little girl looked at the little white rabbit now standing before her, then at Feilian Bering tumbling through the air. Her mind went completely blank.
The little white rabbit from the cabin had appeared right in front of her and had sent that enormous Tacet Discord flying with a single blow?
But it didn't stop there. What happened next overturned everything she thought she understood.
Before her eyes, accompanied by another fleeting flash of white light, the little white rabbit... transformed into a person.
The figure wore a black robe. Silver hair, deep blue eyes. At the corners of those eyes were faint, scattered crystalline ice markings that shimmered with a soft gradient.
The blue-and-white necklace that had hung around the rabbit's neck drifted slowly down through the air and clasped itself around his left wrist.
The little girl stood frozen, utterly stunned.
The person before her wasn't he the very same immortal brother she had glimpsed right before losing consciousness?
So none of it had been a hallucination after all.
---------
A/N: I'm still an inexperienced translator, but I do have a Patreon! It might look a bit empty right now, but webnovel chapters will be posted daily 2 chapters every day and advanced chapters will be available on Patreon. It may not seem like much at the moment, but who knows what the future holds!
patreon.com/Vorzeichen