I held out my palm to the rabbit rubbing its cheek against me.
It pressed its head into my hand, acting utterly spoiled and affectionate.
It no longer looked like a ferocious monster at all, resembling nothing so much as an obedient large dog.
"Incredible... This thing is actually doing that..."
Jerry could not contain his astonishment.
Since Jerry was the one who had captured it and remembered that struggle vividly, the stark contrast with the sight before his eyes seemed completely surreal.
Holding his breath, Jerry timidly reached out his hand.
He moved as if to say, Let me try petting it too...
"Miki—!!"
The rabbit suddenly flew into a rage and swatted Jerry away with the side of its head.
Thud! With a heavy smack, Jerry's hand was knocked back.
Jerry rubbed his stung hand.
"Hahaha, looks like it doesn't like you."
"Nah... That's plenty amazing on its own. Considering what it was like when I caught it, it wouldn't have been weird if it'd bitten my hand clean off just now."
"Ah, good point."
I nodded slightly with a faint smile.
I understood what Jerry meant.
The rabbit had rejected Jerry somewhat roughly, but only with the temper of a pet or livestock.
He meant that the true ferocity of a monster went far beyond a mere swat.
"Miki!"
The rabbit's demeanor did a complete about-face as it went back to nuzzling up against me.
When I stroked it, it narrowed its eyes in sheer delight.
"Whoa... It really is a whole different beast now... Oh, right."
"What is it?"
"Can that thing fight?"
"Yeah, it should be able to—can you?"
"Miki!"
Reacting to my question, the rabbit spun around.
It clamped its jaws sideways onto the open door of the cage and gave a violent wrench.
Instantly, the iron bars making up the door warped and twisted out of shape.
"Ho."
I was a little surprised.
Given the structural nature of a door, I knew it was easier to apply force and break it while open rather than shut, but seeing the rabbit mangle thick iron bars so effortlessly was still quite a shock.
"This is... just about the same power it had when I captured it."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah... Back then, it was smashing chariots to pieces just like that, one after another."
"Hmm."
Since a chariot's purpose was to charge into enemy ranks, both the horses pulling it and the chassis itself were built solidly out of iron.
If it could crumple that as easily as these iron bars, it was truly formidable, and Jerry's assessment that its strength remained largely unchanged made complete sense.
After mangling the iron bars beyond any hope of repair or closure, the rabbit hopped back over to me, sat neatly, and looked up.
Staring at me with crystal-clear, glassy eyes, its face practically begged, Praise me, praise me!
I reached out and stroked the rabbit.
It looked ticklish yet thoroughly contented beneath my touch.
"Whoa..."
"Now then, do you have a name?"
"Mikiki."
"You don't, huh... Let's see."
Since it didn't seem to have one, I decided to give it a name and racked my brain.
"...Mule."
"Miki?"
"The first beast of the one revered by all beasts."
Ahaha.
"—Miki!"
The rabbit—now Mule—happily leapt toward me, frolicking about to express its joy with its entire body.
It seemed to really love the name I had chosen.
"My Lord."
"What is it?"
"Can we deploy that thing straight onto the battlefield?"
"Who knows. It's docile right now, but it doesn't seem like its monstrous nature has completely vanished. It might run wild if it leaves my sight."
"Mmm... Then we can't use it in the army, can we."
"There might be a way to manage it."
I replied, falling into thought.
Since Mule had only just become like this, any specifics remained purely within the realm of speculation.
That included the golden light in my left hand.
I needed to understand the conditions and principles behind it much better.
"—!"
When I cast my gaze toward my left hand, the status display in the corner of my vision caught my attention.
――――――――――――
Name: Noah Ararat
Emperor of the Empire
Gender: Male
Level: 17 + 1 + 1 / ∞
HP: C+A | Fire: E+S+S
MP: D+B | Water: C+SSS
Strength: C+SS | Wind: E+C
Stamina: D+B | Earth: E+C
Intelligence: D+S | Light: E+S
Spirit: E+A | Dark: E+B
Speed: E+A
Dexterity: E+A
Luck: D+B
―――――――――――
The number after the plus sign on my level had increased by one.
A bit surprised, I told Jerry to summon the magician once more.
When the magician appeared and displayed my status again, the public-facing level had also risen by one.
"T-This is..."
"It's thanks to this little one."
I said, stroking Mule.
Perhaps sensing a difference in my touch compared to earlier, Mule looked up at me with a puzzled tilt of its head.
"Whew... That's even more incredible..."
Jerry murmured in pure admiration.
Since there was already a precedent for the "+" on my level, I felt pleased, though not particularly shocked.
More importantly, I thought.
My left hand, which I had been staring at just before the status appeared.
I pondered under what exact conditions this left hand, imbued with the power of Behemoth, unleashed its ability.
"Behemoth, give me the details."
Okay.
The awakened Behemoth answered in a tone entirely unlike its time as Behemot.
The voice of a fair-faced boy—I still wasn't quite accustomed to it.
That light is merely a medium, a conduit to connect heart to heart.
"To the heart?"
Between the one who is revered and the one who reveres, what connects them is the heart.
"I see."
That made sense, so I gave a small nod.
Connect hearts and feelings—the one to be revered, and the one who yearns to revere. Once that bond is formed, the other side will open their heart to you willingly.
"Hmm, is that all it takes?"
As I hesitated, wondering if it could really be that simple, Jerry, who had been listening in silence, spoke up.
"What's the matter?"
"I was just taught how to use this."
Saying that, I raised my left hand and displayed the golden light.
"Through that rumored Magic Sword of Water?"
Jerry asked.
I smiled with a different kind of amusement.
It was common knowledge that the former Crown Prince, Albert, had bestowed the Magic Sword of Water, Leviathan, upon me.
Similarly, the late Emperor had granted me Lutye, but that carried a strong nuance of being a quiet substitute and was never made official.
The only treasure I had officially received was the Magic Sword of Water, Leviathan, making it the most famous.
Among the retainers, quite a few knew of Leviathan and nothing else.
Jerry was one of them.
There was no real point in correcting him, so I let it slide and returned to the matter at hand.
"In short, I was told to punch it with love."
"Punch it with love?"
"Yeah."
"Like a stubborn old man's lecture?"
"That might be one way to put it."
I nodded with a chuckle, and Jerry nodded along in understanding.
I had summarized it rather crudely and violently, but in essence, it wasn't far from what Behemoth had meant.
"So that means this fella turned out like this 'cause you punched it with love?"
"That's about the size of it."
"Hard to believe, but that's one hell of a story..."
Jerry muttered.
I could understand his disbelief.
If I were an outsider looking in, I probably would have thought, What kind of nonsense is that?
It sounded that ridiculous.
However...
"Miki?"
In reality, Mule was happily attached to me, Behemot had evolved into Behemoth, and by definition, Behemoth was an existence "revered" by all beasts.
There simply wasn't any other way to interpret it, I concluded.