Chapter 41: Gentleman Rabbit

After obtaining from Xi Ya the magic potion formula for the Farmer path from Sequence Nine to Sequence Seven, Lei Kedun no longer has to worry for a long time about Tu Ba Ge's promotion. Although it's just a pet, Lei Kedun still hopes the creature can help him at times.

"The rabbit's magic potion is solved, but I still have no lead on my own—how absurd," Lei Kedun thought, his head hurting because the Reader trait within him hasn't been digested much yet.

"From now on I must study seriously," he set as a goal in his mind.

Not long after Lei Kedun completed the deal with Xi Ya, Captain Yi Kang Dun came over to announce new news.

"The area behind this contaminated zone will be cleaned by extraordinary beings of Sequence Seven and above; those of lower sequences need not come here," Captain Yi Kang Dun said.

"What happened?" Xi Ya asked curiously.

"The aggregating property will make the mutated creatures here increasingly dangerous; incidents like today's will recur, which is too risky for low-sequence extraordinary beings, and the contamination they carry may cause them to become uncontrollable," Captain Yi Kang Dun explained.

"Captain, what are we supposed to do?" Qiao Xi asked.

"Return to standby for now; there are no other missions," Captain Yi Kang Dun gave Lei Kedun and the two others a break.

"Understood, Captain!" Lei Kedun and Qiao Xi replied in unison.

Only the more responsible Joseph felt he should do something, but before he could speak, Qiao Xi pulled him away.

"Let's go, let's go, just obey the captain's orders; is the captain great or are you great?" Qiao Xi cut off Joseph before he could speak.

"Lei Kedun, do you have any plans? Want to go to the musical theater together?" Qiao Xi asked.

"Reading; I haven't even started a few of the books on the stack Mr. Kesi gave me!" Lei Kedun declined Qiao Xi's suggestion.

"Alright then, good luck; you've been delayed so much lately, I hope you can still finish them in time," Qiao Xi recalled the huge stack Mr. Kesi gave.

"I'll read as many as I can," Lei Kedun said helplessly.

"I'm heading straight to the library; what about you?" Lei Kedun asked.

"We'll return to the squad first, then go to the theater in the afternoon; if you get tired of reading, you can come find us," Qiao Xi said after thinking.

"No problem." After saying goodbye to Qiao Xi and Joseph, Lei Kedun took a carriage to the Naso Xi Grand Library.

Following the stack Mr. Kesi previously gave, Lei Kedun found a huge pile of books in the library and placed them in the lounge to read slowly.

"Why so many books?" Tu Ba Ge was stunned when he saw Lei Kedun dump the massive stack onto the table.

"Take your time; there are still many books to read," Lei Kedun replied casually.

"By the way, can you read?" Lei Kedun suddenly asked curiously.

"I'm just a rabbit," Tu Ba Ge stepped back two paces, feeling Lei Kedun's tone was a bit frightening.

"Right, once the captain and the others return, I'll ask if they have any talismans that can directly impart some knowledge," Lei Kedun nodded and said.

Lei Kedun thought the Knowledge Church should have such talismans, but wasn't sure whether they are rare items or common talismans; if they're rare, he'd have to seek a hidden sage to impart some knowledge to the rabbit so it can read.

Tu Ba Ge tucked its neck, feeling uneasy for no apparent reason.

"What do you want to do?" Tu Ba Ge asked curiously.

"Of course I want you to read more, to be a cultured rabbit," Lei Kedun said.

Tu Ba Ge's red eyes widened: "You're abusing a small animal!"

"You're no longer a small animal," Lei Kedun retorted.

"Alright, stop arguing; I'm not making you start learning right now—you still can't read. Go play by yourself; I'm going to read," Lei Kedun shooed the rabbit aside and picked up a book to start reading.

After digesting the logic trainee trait within his body, Lei Kedun felt his memory and comprehension had been somewhat enhanced.

Basically, after flipping through a book once, Lei Kedun could fully memorize and understand its contents.

Immersed in the sea of knowledge, after finishing a book, Lei Kedun felt his extraordinary trait being digested.

"At this pace, I should finish digesting the Reader trait within this month," Lei Kedun estimated the digestion progress.

He set the finished book aside and picked up the next one to read. Fortunately a rabbit was beside him; otherwise Lei Kedun felt he couldn't get through a single book.

Time passed until evening before Lei Kedun finally rose from his chair.

"Did you finally finish the book?" Tu Ba Ge sat bored on the table in front of Lei Kedun, chewing on the potted plant.

"Let's stop for today; I need to write a request form for the extraordinary materials. Whether it's the materials for my ritual magic or your magic potion ingredients, they must be applied for through the Church," Lei Kedun sighed.

In the first month he wouldn't receive any salary, and whether it's the rabbit, his own magic potion auxiliary materials, the components for practicing ritual magic, or even, looking further ahead, the promotion potions for the Reader path, all require applications.

Lei Kedun thought that at the Church he wouldn't even get a salary; his pocket money would probably have to be contributed as well.

"When can we get the materials?" Tu Ba Ge's eyes lit up as soon as he heard Lei Kedun was applying for extraordinary materials.

"I don't know; probably within a week," Lei Kedun, who had never applied for materials before, wasn't sure.

"Sunflower juice 20 milliliters, gray amber one piece, golden cloak grass powder 10 grams."

Lei Kedun pondered while listing the extraordinary materials he needed on the checklist.

"Alright, let's go submit the application to the captain, then head home for dinner," Lei Kedun said, pulling Tu Ba Ge onto his shoulder.

When out, the rabbit still needs to disguise itself as an ordinary small animal.

Carrying Tu Ba Ge to the captain's office, he placed the application form on the captain's desk, then left the squad and rode a carriage home.

After returning home, the butler saw Lei Kedun bring back another rabbit and looked somewhat surprised.

"Young master, is this another pet you found?" the butler asked smoothly.

"No, this is just my pet, named Tu Ba Ge. Uncle Shawn, could you tell Aunt Sally to prepare fresh vegetables and fruit for it each day?" Lei Kedun introduced Tu Ba Ge to the butler.

"Woo~" Tu Ba Ge skillfully acted cute.

"Very well, young master," the butler replied politely without asking why such a strange name was given to the well-behaved rabbit.

Lei Kedun took Tu Ba Ge to the second floor, rummaged in the room and found a small black bow tie and a spiral-patterned staff resembling an umbrella handle.

Both the staff and the bow tie were toys from Lei Kedun's childhood; though miniature, they fit the rabbit's size quite well.

"Come stand here; I'm going to give you a gentleman rabbit look," Lei Kedun pulled Tu Ba Ge in front of him.

He then tied the bow tie around Tu Ba Ge's neck and handed the toy staff to it.

"Holding this, I can't walk on all four legs," Tu Ba Ge stood on its hind legs uncomfortably.

"It's fine; try standing and walking on two legs like me. Since your body has mutated, this motion should be fine," Lei Kedun said, adjusting Tu Ba Ge's posture before releasing his grip.

"Eek!" Lei Ke Dun let go and Tu Ba Ge became unsteady, but it promptly planted the cane in its hand on the ground, relying on the cane to steady its posture.

"Hahaha! Not bad! You're very talented, practice a few more times and you'll learn it quickly." Lei Ke Dun burst out laughing at the rabbit's actions.

Watching Tu Ba Ge, wearing a bow tie and holding a cane, awkwardly practice walking on two legs on the ground, Lei Ke Dun always felt something was missing.

After looking around the room for a while, Lei Ke Dun took out the sealed object he had placed in the display cabinet, and the Great Magician's top hat.

Taking the books out of the hat and setting them aside, Lei Ke Dun felt the hat in his hand was like a salted fish that had lost its dreams.

"Come here, I'll give you a hat; wearing it will increase your control over your body, and you should then be able to learn to walk on two legs." Lei Ke Dun called Tu Ba Ge over.

Although Tu Ba Ge is a lop-eared rabbit, Lei Ke Dun discovered that after mutation it could control its ears to stand upright, but it seems unaccustomed to this; usually it keeps its ears drooping.

Lei Ke Dun placed Tu Ba Ge's ears on top of its head and arranged them, then placed the Great Magician's top hat on it.

When this sealed object was placed on Tu Ba Ge's head, it automatically shrank to a suitable size; Lei Ke Dun had originally worried the hat would be too big for the rabbit to wear steadily.

After putting on the tall top hat, Tu Ba Ge's originally awkward and unfamiliar movements instantly became smooth.

"Wow! Amazing, I just learned to walk in an instant!" Tu Ba Ge exclaimed in surprise.

"It looks like this sealed object really suits you; keep it with you, but to suppress the negative effects you need to put two books inside the hat—treat it as weight‑training practice, and when you're free you can also read the books yourself." Lei Ke Dun nodded satisfactorily.

"Why do you keep wanting me to read books?! I'm just a rabbit." Tu Ba Ge resented that its master kept insisting it read books.

"If you had enough knowledge, wouldn't you have been tricked so many times by that parrot?" Lei Ke Dun tempted Tu Ba Ge.

"But I'm just a rabbit." Tu Ba Ge said resentfully.

"When you wear this hat you're no longer an ordinary rabbit—you're a Great Magician rabbit; haven't you noticed you've become much stronger since putting on the hat?" Lei Ke Dun continued to coax.

"Mm-hmm, it seems I've become much stronger." Tu Ba Ge found that after wearing the hat it was indeed far stronger than before.

"But this hat has negative effects; to avoid them you must read." Lei Ke Dun continued to lecture the rabbit.

"Oh, I see—fine then!" Tu Ba Ge reluctantly agreed to Lei Ke Dun's persuasion.

(End of chapter)