Chapter 178
For now, just as Peridot had said, Suhyeok decided to look around the villages near the temple.
To the right of the temple was a village where smaller beastkin such as rabbits and squirrels lived.
On the opposite side was another village inhabited by larger beastkin.
Of course...
Judging by the different energies he could sense, it wasn't a place where only beastkin lived.
Several races seemed to have settled together.
Suhyeok looked genuinely surprised.
Beastkin are one thing...
But I didn't expect to find Elves and Dwarves here too.
How had Peridot managed to settle those two races here?
Even if she'd used the portals inside the temple to bring them over...
Convincing them to actually live here couldn't have been easy.
He set the question aside for now and stopped at the central fork in the road.
Two signs stood side by side, each pointing toward a different village.
"Herbivore Village and Carnivore Village...."
"Interesting."
Even the signs showed the character of each place.
The Herbivore Village sign was covered in cute little decorations.
The Carnivore Village sign, on the other hand...
Was filled with rough, crude markings.
"I'll have to visit both eventually."
"But I should start with the closer one."
"If I'm going to spend the next few days here, I should at least get to know everyone."
The distance to each village was written on the signs.
Herbivore Village was closer.
So Suhyeok decided to head there first.
"Peep?"
"Peeep?"
"...?"
A sound suddenly came from below.
Suhyeok lowered his gaze.
Standing there...
Was a married pair of rabbit beastkin.
"Peep?"
The wife wore an apron and held a watering can.
Beside her...
Her husband held a sickle.
Both tilted their heads as they stared up at Suhyeok.
The wife's expression practically said,
Who are you, and why are you standing here?
Nom. Nom.
"Peep, peeeep?"
Meanwhile...
The husband calmly munched on grass beside her.
He didn't seem particularly interested in who Suhyeok was.
[Trait ‘Apostle (EX)’ causes all village residents to regard you without hostility.]
[Additionally, you can understand the speech of residents on this floor.]
"Nom, nom."
"Honey, let's just go."
"He's probably a new resident from the village next door."
"Stay still for a moment."
"Can't you tell?"
"He looks completely different from the people over there."
"And what if he's an intruder?!"
"Well..."
"That's true...."
"But I saw the Saintess personally bringing him here earlier."
"He doesn't seem like a bad person either...."
"Nom, nom."
"Stop eating!"
"You can eat when we get home!"
Smack! Smack!
"P-Peep!"
"Ow! That hurts...!"
"I'll stop eating...."
The husband dropped the grass he'd been chewing.
His ears drooped as he lowered his head sadly.
Then...
The wife immediately started comforting him after being the one who hit him.
Suhyeok couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't scold him too much."
"After all, I'm the one who was about to enter your village without permission."
"And don't worry."
"I'm definitely not an intruder."
The rabbit couple froze.
Then...
They screamed and clung to each other before falling over.
"H-How can he understand us?!"
"He's not even beastkin!"
"Can non-beastkin understand our language?"
"Honey..."
"Th-This is a dream, right?"
"R-Right...?"
"I-I don't know...?"
"What is happening...?"
"He mentioned the intruder thing I said..."
"And what you said too..."
"So I don't think we're imagining it...."
The two stared at Suhyeok warily.
"It's because of my ability."
"So don't be too surprised."
Then Suhyeok tilted his head.
"By the way..."
"When you say ‘Saintess,’ do you mean Peridot?"
The instant he said Peridot's name...
Both rabbits' ears shot upright.
"You really know the Saintess...?"
"Yeah."
Suhyeok nodded.
"Believe it or not..."
"I'm the owner of that temple."
"So naturally, I know her well."
Silence.
The husband tilted his head.
"Owner?"
"Isn't the Saintess the owner?"
"She's the one who called us here."
"That's strange...."
"Right, honey?"
The wife looked equally confused.
Then suddenly...
She seemed to remember something.
"Wait..."
"When we first arrived here, didn't the Saintess tell us?"
"She said she served someone called the Primordial God..."
"And that this place became like this because of the Primordial God's Apostle."
"Th-Then..."
"Is he...?"
The couple glanced at Suhyeok.
Then exchanged looks with each other.
A short while later...
Once the misunderstanding had been cleared up...
The rabbit couple properly introduced themselves to Suhyeok.
"My introduction was late."
Suhyeok lowered himself onto one knee and carefully extended a hand.
"I'm Lee Suhyeok."
"The Apostle of the Primordial God..."
"And a Constellation."
The husband awkwardly laughed and accepted the handshake.
"Haha!"
"Hello!"
"I'm Husband Rabbit!"
"I never thought I'd meet the Apostle here."
"It's an honor!"
"Would it be all right if I called you Lord Suhyeok?"
"I'd appreciate that."
The husband immediately welcomed him with a warm smile.
The wife did the same.
"We've heard a lot about you from the Saintess."
"She told us you worked hard so all of us could move here."
"Thanks to that..."
"We've settled down well and are living comfortably."
"I didn't really do anything."
Suhyeok shook his head.
"Peridot..."
"No."
"The Saintess did all of it herself."
"I didn't even know you had built villages here."
The rabbit wife fell silent for a moment.
Then she offered to show him around the village.
"Please follow us."
"I'll guide you."
So...
Suhyeok walked with the two of them into Herbivore Village.
"This is the entrance."
"Every race has its own residential area."
"My husband and I live in a small house all the way inside."
Despite the village's name...
Not everyone here was small and cute.
The enormous house visible right from the entrance proved that.
Suhyeok pointed toward it.
"Whose house is that?"
"Oh."
