It didn't last very long, though. A few minutes after the bell stopped ringing, the voices around me reached a crescendo, and soon concluded in final squeals of release. Just like the information I received indicated, bunnies didn't last very long. There were a few here and there who took a minute longer but they seemed to be more the exception than the rule.
Soon enough, bunnies began to leave their home again. The Muyal family's door opened again. Waja waved at me to come back inside while smiling, looking refreshed.
"Sorry for the wait. Please come in."
However, considering her size, her head was right at the correct height to have a perfect view of my boner, which I had no way to hide in the current circumstances.
"Oh my! This is… quite unexpected."
Her initial surprise didn't last long and she grinned amicably. I wasn't sure how to react to this situation.
"I'm sorry. It kind of happened while I waited."
"Oh, no, please don't mind my words. This isn't a bad thing. Come in."
I quickly entered their home again, wanting to use the table to hide my boner until it settled. Unfortunately, the husband and daughter, both also looking refreshed, had their eyes straight on it. The daughter immediately looked elsewhere while blushing but Zay laughed heartily.
"Hahaha. What a rare sight!"
I sat as fast as possible, finally hiding my lower half from view. Still, I couldn't help my curiosity.
"What do you mean by that, sir?"
His wife came to sit next to him while the daughter sat on the other side. For some reason, she was trying hard to avoid my eyes. When I focused on her, I noticed something interesting. Her eyes were of different colors, one red and one green. She had heterochromia eyes, something I had never seen before in my life.
Zay was ready to answer me when he noticed where I was looking. His expression changed as looked at his daughter sadly.
"Ah… This is my daughter, Kuini. She's…"
Seeing him hesitate, I introduced myself instead.
"Nice to meet you, Kuini. I'm Tila Urtek, a trader from Geola. You have such beautiful eyes, just like precious gems."
This sort of outdated praise would have made people in my world cringe but I knew it worked better in the outer world, with its medieval level of culture and media.
"Huh?"
"What?"
The family's reaction was unexpected, however. They all seemed shocked, looking at me like I was seriously weird, and I wondered if I made a mistake.
"Did I say something wrong? I apologize if I did. I come from somewhere far away from here."
They looked at each other for some time before Waja prudently questioned me.
"Tila, do you feel anything looking at Kuini's eyes?"
"Well, they look very bright and nice. Is there anything wrong?"
I hadn't lied. Who knows what people crazed by sub-culture would have done to have natural heterochromia eyes back in my world?
The family members still didn't look like they knew what to say. Eventually, Zay sighed, easing the tension in the room.
"You come from far away, you say? I believe there weren't any bunnies where you come from either?"
"You're right about that."
"I see. It makes sense now."
"What are you talking about?"
"Hmm. I'll explain. Do you have time right now, Tila?"
"I do."
"Join us for the fourth meal. We can talk while eating."
"Oh… All right."
I didn't expect that invitation but it might be a good opportunity to try a meal made of food grown by bunnies, which was supposed to be tastier than normal. The notion of a fourth meal at this time of day implied that there might even be one or two more. It was quite funny to think that these small species could fit so much food in a day.
Waja went to the kitchen to prepare the meal together with Kuini. Zay and I stayed seated, and he began his explanations.
"You see, from the very start, we had a good impression of you."
"How come?"
"It's your eyes. A lot of people have a bad impression of bunnies. They call us cursed by sel and look down on us. Some even curse us behind our backs. Whenever something bad happens, they say it's because we bring misfortune to the world. On the other hand, some people believe we're blessed by sel. They treat us better than the rest but even they look at us with a bit of disgust because of our bodily needs. The guards who protect this village are the same too. We're grateful for what they do but it's painful to be looked at like so all the time. The adults are fine but it's hard for the children. They don't understand what they did wrong to be hated like this."
He gave a long sigh before continuing.
"That's why we're very sensitive to the way others look at us. A lot of people try to hide how they feel but we can see it. We immediately saw that you were different. There wasn't a hint of disgust, disdain, or fear in your gaze. We like this. I… no, we definitely want to do business with you."
I noticed that Kuini was glancing at me from time to time while working on preparing the food. Every time, I sent a smile back at her and she quickly looked away.
"I see. I understand now. Of course, I want to do business with you too. I can see you're good people."
Just like they were good at understanding what other folks thought of them, I believed I was a good judge of character. So far, there wasn't anything to dislike about this family.
"Is that so? Hahaha. The only other non-bunny who says things like this is Lady Vejas, may sel bless her."
"I heard she did a lot for bunnies?"
"More than a lot. Everything you see in this village, we owe it to her. She's our guardian. She's the person we trust the most. She's our Sel."
I was slightly startled by this. Saying that someone was your "Sel", which was probably the equivalent of saying that someone was your "Ryl" in my world, was the highest possible praise. It was similar to saying that they revered her to the highest point.