Somewhere on the Korean Peninsula, a new royal candidate was born.  
This was the reason for the village meeting with the elders.  

Levinas observed the village people from a distance.  
Being a horned rabbit, considered the weakest among the beast-kin, Levinas was never included in these meetings.  
No matter the situation, the horned rabbit clan was always excluded from such important gatherings.

Frustrated by this, Levinas used her exceptional hearing to eavesdrop on the village discussions.  
The adults argued endlessly about whether the royal candidate should be killed or accepted into the clan if they proved useful.  
Listening to their heated debates, Levinas decided to find the royal candidate herself.  
She had never seen a "king" before, and curiosity drove her to seek one out.

Levinas hoped that the new king wouldn’t dismiss her as insignificant.  
With that hope in mind, she wandered the peninsula for several days in search of the royal candidate.  
It didn’t take long for Levinas to track down the candidate, thanks to the rumors spreading about the beast-kin who had settled in Yeomyeong Guild.

The moment Levinas laid eyes on the young beast-kin girl in the park, she knew.  
That seemingly clueless child was the royal candidate of this generation.

Wasn’t she a bit too weak to be a royal candidate?  
Levinas thought that perhaps she could make this candidate her subordinate.  
However, she quickly realized how wrong she had been.

“Wh-what...!”

From the girl’s pocket emerged the mana stone of a horned rabbit general—the highest-ranking horned rabbit.  
Levinas had lived in the village thanks to this horned rabbit general.  
Only Levinas, a fellow horned rabbit, could control the general.

It was this ability to handle the horned rabbit general that allowed Levinas to stay in the village. But now, this royal candidate had killed the general, robbing Levinas of her place.

“T-the horned rabbit... killed it...?”  
“Horned rabbit?”

Levinas trembled with fear.  
She was devastated, realizing that her only value had vanished.

---

As I moved toward the garden to plant dandelion seeds, Levinas fell backward onto the ground.  
Her entire body was trembling, as if she was terrified.

“D-did you k-kill the horned rabbit...?”

Her gaze was fixed on my pocket.  
She must’ve been talking about the large crystal I had just shown her, which came from the giant horned rabbit.  
I pulled the crystal from my pocket once again and showed it to her.

“Yeah. I got this after defeating a giant horned rabbit.”  
“T-the horned rabbit general...!”

“The horned rabbit general?”

So, the giant horned rabbit I killed was called a horned rabbit general?  
As I imagined the massive creature in my mind, Sophia approached from beside me.

“What’s a horned rabbit general? I’ve never heard of it.”  
“T-the horned rabbit general is the guardian deity of the horned rabbit clan...”  
“A guardian deity?”

Sophia and I both expressed our confusion.  
Levinas lowered her eyes and mumbled softly.

“T-they didn’t tell you about it...”

“I see...” Sophia nodded, as if she had figured something out.  
Even with just a few words, she had deduced the significance of the horned rabbit general. Sophia was always impressive like that.

“Do you understand what she means?”  
“Yeah. It explains why the aggressive faction accepted the horned rabbit clan. It must’ve been because of this horned rabbit general.”

The horned rabbit general could block the magic of others.  
If someone could control that power, even the weakest of the horned rabbit clan would be valuable.  
It was no wonder they had kept them around as a “secret weapon,” as Sophia explained.

“But there wasn’t a horned rabbit general in our world.”  
“They probably believed one would show up through the gates someday.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

After all, the gates connected different worlds and constantly brought new things.  
They must’ve been waiting for the horned rabbit general to appear.

I suddenly felt sorry for Levinas.  
We had killed something incredibly important to her, reducing her value in the process.

“Hey, do you want this?”  
I pulled out the horned rabbit general’s mana stone and offered it to Levinas, but Sophia quickly stopped me.

“Gyeoul, I don’t think giving her the mana stone is a good idea.”  
“Why not?”

“You’d be giving the aggressive faction the power to block magic.”

“Oh...”

Nodding, I understood her point.  
It would be dangerous to give them such a powerful ability.

“But I’ve been wondering, what exactly is the ‘aggressive faction’?”  
“Ah.”

It seemed Sophia hadn’t explained that part yet.  
As she muttered to herself, Levinas suddenly jumped up from the ground.

“I-I am Levinas, of the great horned rabbit clan...!”  
“O-okay...”

Just moments ago, she had been terrified, but now she was full of energy again.  
Maybe she had mood swings.  

‘What a strange girl,’ I thought.  
Or maybe she was just pitiable.

As I put the horned rabbit mana stone back into my pocket, Levinas rushed toward me.

“Levinas will prove her worth, even if it means dying!”

She grabbed at my pocket. Startled by her sudden movement, I grabbed my pocket as well.

*Rip.*

The worn stitching on the pocket began to tear from the tug-of-war. Just as I feared the pocket would burst open completely...

*Pop!*

The seam gave way, spilling its contents everywhere.  
Tools for tending the garden, the horned rabbit general’s mana stone, and the fifty other horned rabbit mana stones I hadn’t sold yet scattered into the air.  
It all happened in slow motion, like time itself had slowed down.

“Aaaah!”  
Levinas’s eyes went wide as she stared at the falling mana stones.  
She looked as though she had just seen a swarm of insects, and then, with a thud, she fainted right in front of me.

“Um... are you okay...?”

She was frozen in place, arms raised as if she had turned to stone.  
She had fainted without any warning.

‘What’s going on...?’

I blinked, unsure of what to make of the situation.  
When I poked Levinas’s cheek, Sophia crouched down beside me.

“She must have been shocked to see the horned rabbit mana stones.”  
“The horned rabbit mana stones?”

“Yes. The horned rabbits are naturally very skittish.”

“Ah, I see.”

Now that I thought about it, Levinas had introduced herself as part of the great horned rabbit clan.  
To her, those mana stones must’ve been like seeing the corpses of her kin.

‘Wow.’

Dozens of corpses falling from the sky.  
No wonder she was scared.

Scratching the back of my head, I grabbed Levinas’s arm.

“I think we should move her inside the container.”

“...Yes, let’s do that.”

---

After planting the dandelion seeds in the garden, I was taking a break when I felt someone moving inside the container.

Had Levinas woken up?  
I stepped inside to check on her and found that she had just regained consciousness.  
Our eyes met.

“I-I am Levinas, of the great horned rabbit clan...!”  
“O-okay...”

She really liked introducing herself.  
I wasn’t sure how to deal with her, so I just rolled my eyes.

“T-this time, I admit defeat! So, release me at once...!”  
“That’s not going to happen.”

Sophia, who had come in with me, responded before I could.  
I wasn’t sure why we couldn’t release her, but I trusted Sophia’s judgment.

“W-why not...?! I’ve admitted defeat...!”  
“If we let you go, you’ll run straight to the aggressive faction and tell them everything.”

“Ugh...!”

The conversation was starting to sound dangerous.  
Not wanting to get involved, I quietly slipped out of the container.

‘Are they fighting a war between aggressive and moderate factions?’

I wasn’t entirely sure, but I didn’t want to get tangled up in it.  
For now, I would focus on selling the horned rabbit mana stones.  
Levinas clearly had a problem with them, so it seemed best to get rid of them.

‘...But now I’m wondering, should I be afraid of mana stones too?’

Since I had cat-like ears and a tail, would I freak out if I saw mana stones from feline monsters, like Levinas had with the horned rabbit stones?

After thinking about it for a moment, I decided it was unlikely.  
I hadn’t been born a beast-kin, after all—I had been human.

“Hmm...”

Still, it made me feel uneasy.  
Maybe I should experiment with it later, just in case.

As I was pondering this, I heard Yeoreum calling my name from a distance.

“Gyeoul, what are you thinking about so deeply?”  
“Oh... I just met a horned rabbit beast-kin earlier.”

“Horned rabbit beast-kin?”

“Yes.”

I explained my earlier thoughts to Yeoreum, about how Levinas had fainted at the sight of the horned rabbit mana stones and how I was wondering if the same thing could happen to me with feline monster mana stones.

“You’re just being cautious, huh?”  
“Yeah. I’d like to know ahead of time, just in case.”

“Hmm... I’m curious too. Should we try it out?”

Yeoreum placed her

 hand on my shoulder, her eyes gleaming with interest.  
It seemed like this had piqued her curiosity.

“Where can we get some mana stones?”  
“There are plenty in the guild building.”

Yeoreum pointed toward the guild building.  
I’d forgotten that the guild had a storage room full of mana stones.  
If there were feline monster mana stones in there, we could definitely test it out.

Nodding, I followed Yeoreum toward the guild building.  
I didn’t think I’d react the same way Levinas had, but it was always good to be prepared.