After creating the hovercraft outside of the town and driving both of us back to the dorms, Richter and I parted ways, and I returned to room 61 to show Kiori that I got paid what I believe to be a hefty amount.
"500 Qiliq?"
"Yeah. We helped capture a Rhino Tortoise and returned it to its owner."
There was an incredulous look on his face. Perhaps he's impressed I helped capture such a large animal, and I'm speaking so casually about it, and he's taking my nonchalance about the matter as a measure of how easy the task was.
"Do you know where it was raised?"
"The owner said a mansion, and renovations were made to accommodate its stay."
"Hmm…"
Kiori said nothing as he grabbed his key and walked out of the room. I did the same.
"You're coming with?"
"Well, I'm not gonna stay in your room the whole day. And I've got a feeling you've got opinions about this."
"Just some ideas I need to confirm. I'll be in the library to check something."
"I'll help."
He stopped in the hallway, and I stopped a second after.
"How?"
Right, I forgot I can't read. And there was that thing about an invisible lady in the library that seemed very obvious to him.
"Okay, maybe I can't help. But I still wanted to hear your thoughts. That face you made seemed like the Rhino Tortoise reminded you of something."
"It's just… okay, when you helped the Rhino Tortoise, what exactly did you see?"
"Well… I wouldn't say I helped the Rhino Tortoise, but I consciously put effort into capturing it without hurting it."
"Okay, when you captured the Rhino Tortoise, what exactly did you see?"
I recalled the scene of Richter doing a tango with a Tortoise.
"I didn't see what led up to Griesies's rampage. Oh, Griesies is the name of the Rhino Tortoise. I saw Richter struggling to distract the Rhino Tortoise while the knights led bystanders to safety. He was using his attunement to dodge, and it tired him out when he finished."
"Richter? The Earth Attunement?"
"Yeah. Does that… mean anything?"
"Nolval, Rhino Tortoises are terrified of Earth-attuned mages."
Oh.
"To what extent?"
His eyes shifted to a spot on the floor. I glanced at it before looking at his face.
"They will trample them to death if it means protecting other Rhino Tortoises and their babies."
That's… certainly not what I've been told.
The clerk, Ikolees (if I'm remembering their name correctly), said they're usually a docile creature unless provoked. I'm sure that's true for a lot of the animal kingdom in this world. I've heard stories of people dying to animals because they provoked them, or to put it more accurately, "fucked around and found out."
"I've been told they won't attack unless provoked or agitated. The way you say it makes it sound like they've got a vendetta against Earth-attuned mages specifically. That has to be an exaggeration."
"Well, I'm not sure what to tell you, but they're dangerous creatures. Just stay here while I go check something."
…
Kiori was currently in the library, doing whatever he set out to do. I was waiting outside, irked by the idea of being observed by an invisible lady I can't perceive. The only thing I could really do was occupy myself with my thoughts.
She said they're docile herbivores that attack when provoked. For him to say they're ruthlessly violent to the point of killing another has to mean he's heard of an incident where an Earth Attunement mage was trampled to death, and that incident became his expectation of Rhino Tortoise's behavior.
There's also Richter's behavior prior to engaging Griesies bullfighter style. It's likely- no, he definitely has trauma related to a Rhino Tortoise.
Hmm… maybe I should get Kiori to meet Mr. Anzer and Griesies, but they'll likely be gone by the time I look for him.
I sighed.
Either someone's lying, or there is more to this incident than I can see.
God, I hope the extent of propaganda isn't as bad as what I've seen on the internet.
"Oh, there you are!"
"I never left."
"Get in here, I've got something to show you."
He brought me over to a table with some books, one of them being flipped up. The others were stacked on top of each other.
Kiori then placed his finger on the page and began reading aloud.
"Rhino Tortoises migrate in herds of 10 or more. For herds without calves, they're often spread out. But for herds with calves, the mother and children will be in the center of the herd, while all of the adults form a circle around them. There are also cases of herds forming with only the calves in the middle of the formation, and the parent and other adult Rhino Tortoises forming a tight shield around the young using their own shells."
There were a few diagrams showing the different formations the Rhino Tortoises took to achieve this. A circle, a wedge, even what seemed to be a pincer formation.
"What's this one?" I pointed at the open-shaped diagram.
"That one's when all of the Rhino Tortoises agree they hate someone and charge at them at the same time. It's the pinnacle of their aggression."
"So it's the worst-case scenario when encountering a herd of Rhino Tortoises."
"Yes."
"Any information on how they'd act by themselves?"
He began flipping pages, muttering to himself as he turned them. Eventually, he stopped flipping them.
"They eat fruits, flowers, and tree leaves. They sleep in their shells if they sense they're in danger, and sleep with their head and legs outside of it if they feel safe."
"Is that everything?"
It was a bit underwhelming as an explanation, as it could also apply to its shelled, non-fusion counterpart. I mean, it's a literal fusion between a Rhino and a Tortoise! Surely there's some unique trait about the animal that its counterparts don't have.
"Well… they do like ramming things. Their skin is tough, and it's extremely easy for them to destroy buildings just by running into them."
Right, I forgot I had literally witnessed its destructive capabilities firsthand. The only reason it didn't make much of an impression on me is that I had used my power to pacify it nonviolently and quickly.
"Richter said he had to intervene in Griesies's attack on a child, aggroing it into attacking him."
"Aggroing?"
"It's a slang term that means angering something into putting its full attention on yourself."
I know game terminology.
"Do you know what could provoke a Rhino Tortoise enough into making you attack it?"
I had no way of knowing if the child Richter mentioned was merely an innocent bystander or a child who had yet to understand the concept of consequences for their actions. If it's the former, then it's possible Griesies was manipulated or was under the influence of some kind of drug. If it's the latter, then that child needed to be disciplined and might be the target of the Rhino Tortoise's grudge.
Children can either be the most wholesome, emotionally uplifting people you know, energetic, entitled brats. The latter being the reason why I never wanted to have children, even if I did end up in a relationship.
"Umm… oh! They hate loud noises. If a noise is annoying enough, it or an entire herd will search for the noise and put a stop to it, even if they destroy an entire town."
"How loud are we talking about? Or do they have more sensitive hearing than us?"
The sensitivity of their hearing would help estimate how high I should put them on my do-not-fuck-around-with scale. Currently, Mr. Blonde is up high on the scale, with the old man and Richter being in a similar range.
"Well, I've heard merchants desire Rhino Tortoises over Horses. While they aren't as fast since they're heavier, Rhino Tortoises serve as a viable defense against threats, and their heavy bodies and durable skin and shell could also be used offensively against potential attackers. And them retreating into their shell is a more obvious warning than a horse freaking out. Umm…" He flipped through the pages. "A Rhino Tortoise's hearing is said to be better than a human's. I'm not sure about it compared to a Horse."
In hindsight, I should've asked how exactly the Rhino Tortoise had gotten free, or how Mr. Anzer lost the Griesies. I was so annoyed by his weeping that I didn't think of it and instead focused on completing the commission as much as possible.
"Another question: how is a Rhino Tortoise usually restrained?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"If you were a merchant with a Rhino Tortoise, and you wanted to ensure it wouldn't go on a rampage, what would you do to make sure it wouldn't cause chaos and destruction?"
"Hmm… is selling an option?"
"No, and even if you did, I'm not sure that would reduce the likelihood of it going on a rampage."
"Well… if I were travelling from town to town, I'd make sure to stay near its edge to ensure it wouldn't go on a rampage, and if it did, I'd at least have the open field near the town for it to tire itself out."
"So if it did go on a rampage, you'd at least have a way of ensuring no more destruction would be caused."
"Yeah."
Mr. Anzer stayed at an inn that was quite a distance away from the town's edge. I wouldn't say it's in the middle of town, but it was deep in the town enough for there to be a substantial amount of damage if Griesies went on a rampage. Still, it was likely close to the town's edge since it didn't take too long to walk to the inn from the guild hall.
Even then, I didn't see the cart Richter got his bracelet and ring from. Where was it parked?
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm just trying to get into the mind of a Rhino Tortoise owner and how you'd go about ensuring one wouldn't go running around town destroying the place."
"There are stables for them near the edge of town with inns connected to them."
Seriously?
"You didn't- right, you're new to a lot of things. Stable inns for Rhino Tortoise owners are located at the edge of town because of how destructive they can be. Rhino Tortoises used to be banned, but now accommodations for owners have been made for both of them, so they can rest easy while their Rhino Tortoises sleep soundly in the comfort of their own shells, or not."
"Huh. So, how would an owner ensure that, assuming the Rhino Tortoise is restless, it wouldn't leave their stable and wander the town?"
Kiori looked confused.
"Nolval, Rhino Tortoise stables are different from horse stables. You got a paper and… what's that thing you make that you draw with?"
"A pencil?"
…
After I made him a pencil and a large sheet of paper, about the size of his torso, he started drawing what I could only guess was a building.
The finished design had a dug-out area with bricks lining the walls and a narrow entrance containing a set of stairs. Above the bricks, close to the edge of the hole, is what appeared to be a crane with a hook. As for the appearance of the drawing itself, it looked like concept art. Something you'd see in an art book meant to showcase behind-the-scenes artist development, or simply put, a really good drawing.
"What's this for?" I pointed at the crane.
"This is how Rhino Tortoises get in and out of the pen, and why merchants prefer horses over Rhino Tortoises. While Rhino Tortoises are more resilient than a horse, they're also harder to take care of, requiring more expenses."
"And how does a Rhino Tortoise get out of the pen with that?"
He looked at the paper for a moment, his expression shifting. Then, his eyes widened for a split second.
"Could you make a tiny Rhino Tortoise figurine? And don't give it a base."
At his command, I produced a Rhino Tortoise made of carved, stained wood. The color of the wood was close to caramel toffee or gingerbread.
He produced some strings, threading them underneath the Rhino Tortoise's shell, before tying them together above the Rhino Tortoise, forming the edges of a pyramid with 4 triangular faces.
"So they use this crane to lift them in and out of the pen. How long does this take?"
"A few minutes."
"Huh. Kiori, how desired are Rhino Tortoises for merchants?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, if a merchant is willing to wait for their Rhino Tortoise to be picked up and placed on the ground, then surely the merits of owning one outweigh the downsides."
Merchants. Plural. That was the word she used to describe their utility to merchants.
"You need to work on that if you don't want your thoughts to be heard."
"Verbal thoughts, Kiori. I'm still getting the hang of it."
"As for your previous question, they're more preferred over horses for transporting large amounts of cargo over longer distances, and their tough skins and shells make them harder to injure."
"So thieves have tried to steal from merchants."
"Yes."
"But wouldn't it make more sense to target the cargo over the animal?"
"Sometimes, a Rhino Tortoise is trained to attack threats instead of just defending itself. And oftentimes, a mage or two is hired alongside a Rhino Tortoise to protect the goods."
"Hm. You sound like you know a lot about Rhino Tortoises."
"Not really. This is just stuff I know from happenstance."
"Do those happenstances include the diet of a Rhino Tortoise?"
"Umm… not really. Just stuff I've heard they like."
"Like Halgenberries?"
"I've heard they're a Rhino Tortoise's favorite, but shouldn't be fed with Almalga ferns."
"Why shouldn't they?"
"Because when eaten together, it makes them irritable and makes them go on a rampage."