Chapter 22

Chapter 22 Gaining Admiration

“Why cling so tightly? Even if you stayed on the other side of the mountain, it wouldn’t be any worse than now,” the young lady was somewhat puzzled by the rabbit-eared tribe’s choice at that time.

“Perhaps they saw hope,” the old rabbit recalled the great nation his elders had described, feeling a sense of things not being what they used to be.

“Your Excellency may not know, the Western Wind Kingdom, many years ago, was the dream homeland for many part-humans.”

“The founding monarch of that era was very enlightened, abolishing slavery and allowing beastmen and other races to become citizens. For small tribes wandering everywhere, drifting for centuries, this was truly like a dream.”

“Unfortunately, I did not witness this scene myself. By my grandfather’s time, the Western Wind Kingdom began to change slowly.”

“A small number of early joining beastmen became nobles of the nation. Originally, everyone thought a good era had arrived, but it turned out to be a repetition of the past. These early joining fox-eared tribes, leopard-eared tribes, and others who considered themselves noble races were not friendly to other beastman races and even acted more recklessly.”

“Humans still had to consider the kingdom’s laws and could not discriminate against beastmen, but these people themselves did not, so there was no talk of discrimination or exploitation, and they acted without restraint.”

“Many other race beastmen had to return to live in the ancient Feiya grasslands in the north, while our weak rabbit-eared tribe could only struggle to survive in this forest.”

Lolan Hill sat on a rock outside the village, watching the rabbits busily cleaning up the aftermath inside the village. Some supported the injured, some cleared the collapsed buildings, and others silently dug graves to bury those who had unfortunately passed away in battle.

The rabbit elder stood beside her, answering the young lady’s occasional questions.

“Village Chief.”

A young rabbit ran over with quick steps, slowing down as he approached the young lady, afraid of disturbing this esteemed person.

“Village Chief, representatives from nearby villages wish to meet the honorable adult who slew the giant snake.” He spoke cautiously, not deliberately avoiding Lolan Hill, to show he had nothing to hide.

“Lolan Hill, Your Excellency, what do you think?” The old village chief asked the young lady.

“Let them come,” the young lady’s light voice echoed from the large rock.

“Alright, please wait here, I will bring them over right away.”

After a while, the village chief led over six or seven similarly dressed rabbits. Seeing that the sky had darkened, they set up fire pits around the large rock to illuminate the surroundings.

The representatives from other villages first respectfully thanked the young lady for saving them, then carefully asked what she needed, promising to fulfill it to the best of their ability.

“I just happened to pass through here and didn’t want to see such a tragic scene.”

The young lady jumped down from the rock, her silver hair swaying gently in the evening breeze, her dust-covered face becoming slightly luminous under the firelight.

“Just that, don’t think of me as some great hero, I’m not that impressive.”

“No, perhaps in your eyes this is just a minor matter, but for us weak ones, this really is a matter of life and death for our race.”

One of the rabbits wearing a linen long robe bowed his head and said.

“Today it’s this village, tomorrow it might be ours. The snake is always hungry; even if it eats today, it will still be hungry tomorrow, and it will eventually attack other rabbit-eared villages.”

“Alright, if you say so, then it must be true,” the young lady sighed and shook her head, causing her long hair to sway slightly.

“Esteemed adult, if you need anything, just say it. If you really don’t need anything, it would make us quite uneasy.”

A rabbit wearing rough black cloth spoke up, and the other rabbits started to agree.

Lolan Hill looked at these earnest rabbits and gradually understood their situation and thoughts.

Indeed, the enormous gap in strength, a slight aversion from a great person would make them worried and fearful. Asking them to do tasks and pay them would actually make them feel secure because it would convey the message that they were still useful and valuable to the great person, rather than disposable.

This was why even though the Rampant Fang Empire treated some races of beastmen poorly, countless tribes still cherished that era. At least in that era, they had the dignity of being citizens of a great nation and the value of contributing to the country.

But now, scattered everywhere, dignity had become a luxury, and survival was the daily challenge.

“Well, actually, I’m hiding not too far from here and occasionally need some daily necessities, like salt, iron, and the like.”

“No problem, tell us what you need, we’ll prepare it for you as soon as possible.”

The rabbits present were overjoyed to hear this information, this was simply perfect.

At first, they thought the young lady was just passing through and would leave soon, after all, this place was quite far from human-inhabited countries.

If she lived nearby, no matter what the young lady requested, as long as they could stay in touch and she visited the village occasionally, it would provide long-term protection. There was nothing better than this.

The representatives of several villages even felt that the young lady’s demands were too low, which made them still uneasy.

After exchanging glances, they seemed to reach some kind of understanding, and these rabbits collectively knelt before the young lady.

“We, the rabbit-eared tribe, are willing to follow you and serve you wholeheartedly, we beg you to take us in!”

The beastmen races had suffered humiliation in recent years, but never before had a group pledged allegiance to a human. At most, they had only expressed loyalty to the nation.

But these rabbits were truly at the end of their rope, and the young lady’s equal treatment and risky rescue of the village deeply moved them. Just like a person about to drown in a river, seeing the only floating board, they could only cling to this sole hope, even if it meant giving everything.

“Oh? This…” Lolan Hill looked at these rabbits bowing their heads in surprise.

(End of Chapter)