Ch.342[Episode 342] Event: Story

As Sir Dominic entered the event story lobby, there were four doors.

Each door had a nameplate: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and Epilogue. Sir Dominic familiarly opened the door marked Prologue and entered.

…

Early 1900s, Sanhof City.

After the government enacted the Milk Prohibition Act banning milk, many citizens here rebelled against this unjust law.

However, the government remained unmoved, and eventually people sought new opportunities instead of opposing the government.

Specifically, secretly distributing milk…

Sir Dominic suddenly realized that some background knowledge had entered his mind.

He noticed this after realizing that although he had never seen this street before, it somehow felt familiar.

“If this memory is correct, this must be Sanhof City.”

Sir Dominic looked around the street, which wasn’t much different in prosperity from Gacharland, though it appeared somewhat provincial.

Many people were moving through the streets, and oddly, not a single one was walking—everyone seemed to be in a hurry.

However, what interested Sir Dominic wasn’t this.

What interested Sir Dominic about the street was that all the people moving around were beastkin, orcs, goblins, and other non-human races.

“Hey! Watch out!”

“Ah, I apologize.”

Sir Dominic was so amazed by this remarkable melting pot of races that he had forgotten he was standing dazed in the middle of the street.

If not for the shout from an ogre in a suit holding a newspaper, he might have stood there all day.

Sir Dominic immediately moved from the middle of the street to the sidewalk.

He stood at the entrance of a less crowded alley and observed the street again.

The people were lively, numerous buildings were growing taller, and though the people walking the streets were busy, their faces showed bright hope.

On the surface, it truly seemed like a city full of hope, but Sir Dominic somehow noticed that there was a subtle worry etched on their faces.

Wondering why people’s faces showed such concern, Sir Dominic stopped a passerby.

“W-what?”

“Excuse me. I am Sir Dominic of Feralant.”

“I-I didn’t do anything wrong! I haven’t committed any crimes yet!”

Sir Dominic found the overreaction of this chubby-cheeked mouse beastkin suspicious, but since he wasn’t interested in whether the mouse had committed crimes, he reassured him.

“Calm down. I just have something I’d like to ask. Answer me, and I’ll let you go.”

“…What is it?”

The chubby-cheeked mouse beastkin looked up at Sir Dominic with an anxious expression.

His eyes trembled, suggesting he had a very timid personality.

“Looking at the faces of people passing by, they all seem full of hope.”

“Y-yes. Sanhof is always full of hope! It’s the most developed city in the world!”

Except for Hope City, the mouse beastkin added.

It seemed that in this setting, Hope City was the most prosperous city, with Sanhof being the second most prosperous.

Thinking it might be good to know such background information, Sir Dominic nodded a couple of times and asked the mouse beastkin again.

“But there’s a trace of worry in them. That’s what I’m curious about.”

“W-worry? What kind of word is that?”

“…It means having many concerns.”

“Oh.”

The mouse beastkin glared at Sir Dominic as if wondering why he used such difficult words.

Of course, the mouse’s appearance was so small and weak that it was merely amusing.

“Well, yes. Everyone’s dissatisfied since milk was banned.”

“Milk was banned?”

“Yes. After many people got sick from drinking milk, the government banned it. Officially, they say there’s a disease spreading from cows to people, so it’s banned until the disease subsides… but the people of Sanhof can’t live without milk for even a day!”

The mouse beastkin started jumping up and down in anger as he spoke.

“They tell us to drink alcohol instead if we want milk so badly, but why should we drink that tasteless alcohol? Milk and alcohol are completely different beverages!”

After grumbling like this, the mouse beastkin soon looked at Sir Dominic nervously again.

He clearly didn’t want to stay with Sir Dominic any longer.

Who would? A tall, muscular man wearing formal attire that only the upper class would wear, talking to a commoner!

“I-I answered your question, so can I go now?”

The mouse beastkin glanced sideways and asked Sir Dominic for permission.

“I answered, right? You promised. Let me go now. Okay?”

The mouse beastkin pleaded with Sir Dominic, frightened for no apparent reason.

Sir Dominic couldn’t understand the mouse’s attitude, but thinking he must have urgent business, he nodded.

“You may go.”

“Th-thank you! Have a nice day!”

As soon as Sir Dominic gave permission, the mouse beastkin ran off, nearly falling over, and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

But Sir Dominic was no longer interested in the mouse beastkin.

He was busy processing the information the mouse had provided.

“So this is a place called Sanhof, and although milk, a necessity, is banned, it’s still a good place to live…?”

While organizing this information, Sir Dominic tried to find a connection between Sanhof and the steam locomotive race.

However, no matter how much he thought about it, it was difficult to find a connection between the two.

“…Well, I’m sure the creators of this story didn’t make it without any thought.”

Sir Dominic began walking down the street, thinking quite optimistically.

Even if he wanted to find more information at the starting point, he figured it would be difficult to get more than what the mouse beastkin had just provided.

At that moment, someone called out to Sir Dominic from the opposite alley.

“Hey. You there, one-eye.”

When Sir Dominic first heard the voice, he didn’t think it was referring to him.

Although he did have only one eye, almost no one had ever approached him so rudely.

“Hey! One-eye up ahead! Geez, you beanpole! One-eye! Whitey!”

“…Are you talking to me?”

Sir Dominic had been ignoring the voice coming from behind him, but finally realized it was addressing him when the person stood in front of him and pointed.

“Yes! You!”

Sir Dominic looked at the person who had called him.

It was a small girl who barely reached Sir Dominic’s waist, wearing a large bun-shaped hat with rabbit ears drooping through the gaps.

Since Sanhof was a city where various races lived together, the person before him was probably a rabbit beastkin.

“I saw you having quite an intense conversation with that Groise hamster just now. Are you from Groise too?”

“…What is that?”

Sir Dominic didn’t understand what the rabbit beastkin was saying at all.

“No, I mean, are you a gangster… I mean, a hamster!”

As Sir Dominic continued to show confusion, the rabbit beastkin stamped her shoe-clad feet on the ground in frustration.

“I don’t know what you’re referring to, but no, I’m not.”

“…Really?”

The rabbit beastkin thought for a moment, then spread her arms toward Sir Dominic with a bright smile.

“As long as you’re not a hamster, that’s fine. Sorry. The hamsters and our Bunny Gang don’t get along. I apologize for the misunderstanding.”

Sir Dominic looked somewhat puzzled at the rabbit girl’s sudden change in attitude, but soon decided that good was good and replied to her.

“Well, it’s fine.”

“Anyway, you don’t look like someone I’ve seen around here… Are you an outsider?”

“I am.”

Since this was indeed his first time here, Sir Dominic nodded at being called an outsider.

“I see. I thought you didn’t have the Sanhof style. Where are you from? Groise? Blanshen? Albio? Or maybe Arisha?”

Sir Dominic didn’t know much about what the rabbit girl was saying, but thinking it was time to introduce himself, he spoke.

“Feralant. I am Sir Dominic of Feralant.”

“Dominic de Feralant? Are you a nobleman?”

“No. I hold a knighthood.”

“My goodness. In this day and age, a knighthood…?”

The rabbit girl was surprised not only by the unfamiliar name of Feralant but also by the fact that knighthoods still existed somewhere.

“Well, Feralant is quite a harsh place.”

“Ah, so it’s a frontier region or a small country. I understand.”

The rabbit beastkin thought that could be possible for a small country.

Though she was quite intelligent, her life was too busy to keep track of every minor country.

“And who might you be? Can you tell me why you suddenly called out to me?”

“Oh, it’s nothing special. I just saw you talking with a hamster. I was wondering if you might be a new recruit for the hamsters. I’m glad you’re not.”

The rabbit beastkin said this while extending her hand to Sir Dominic.

“Well, since this is a fateful meeting, I should tell you my name too. I’m Donna Carota. I’m from Bunilia, a small country like yours.”

Sir Dominic took the rabbit girl’s hand.

The rabbit beastkin shook Sir Dominic’s hand a couple of times, then said with a meaningful expression:

“I’m also the boss of the Red Arrow Bunny Gang.”

Her expression contained ambitions far greater than her small stature would suggest.