Investigating the Gardens…

The destruction of the hazeblooms was definitely a mystery, but someone had to have seen something. There’s no way this much damage would go without someone having seen something. Hops gave me a list of buns who might know something and i had a feeling Hutch might be the best place to start. This has to be an imp based on the vague reports of those who did manage to catch a glimpse of whatever is doing this. 

I hastily made my way through burrowgatory, towards Hutch’s Imporium. When I arrived, Hutch was tending to the many imps he cares for at the imporium, they’re all so adorable, I can’t help but ogle them whenever I’m here. But now isn’t the time for cuddling the cute imps! I need to get what I came here for, and that’s answers in regards to this mysterious garden trampling imp.

“Hutch!” I tripped towards him, knocking both him and myself over upon impact. I clutched my knee to soothe the pain while hutch shook his head and tried to regain composure. “Oops!”

I’d knocked the poor guys glasses off, they flew a few feet away and were luckily not damaged. After retrieving them, I helped hutch to his feet and offered his glasses back. “I’m so sorry Hutch, I didn’t mean to trample you like that!” I laughed nervously. 

He half sighed, half laughed. “It’s alright, what can i help you with Lupin?”

I perked my ears up, completely having forgot what I was here for. “Oh! I need your help, I think you might be the best bun to ask.”

Hutch cleaned his lenses off with the edge of his shirt. “What do you need answers about?”

I fixed my hair and straightened my composure to seem a little more professional, I’m not good at all this super sleuthing stuff. “About the imp that’s destroying all the hazeblooms!”

“An imp destroying hazeblooms?”

“Yeah!” I took out my little notepad where I’d jotted down a few details from others reports about the garden trampling bandit. “It seems that quick a few buns in burrowgatory have reported that the garden bandit has antlers, which no bun I’ve ever seen has those! So it must be an imp!”

Hutch pondered for a moment. “Well, I suppose there is an imp that fits that description, but it’s far too out of season for them to be showing up right now.” He walked over to a shelf and pulled down an old looking book, flipping through a few pages and landing on an antlered imp.

The top of the page read Freign. Below the text was the picture of an antlered imp with a deer-like shape. That’s got to be it, of course an imp of this nature would want to eat plants! It makes so much sense.

As if he could read my mind, Hutch immediately shut down the idea that it was definitely a freign, but not that it might not be one. “Though they’re usually only in burrowgatory during the first snow of winter, so it’d be odd to see one so far away from then.”

I sighed in defeat. “So it’s not a freign?”

Hutch closed the book and returned it to its place on the self. “I’m not saying it isn’t a freign, just that it’s very very unlikely to be one, but what you described does fit their description.” He pondered. “Maybe one got left behind and lost during the first snow and is just stuck wandering around burrowgatory.”

That sounds like a win to me! If there’s even a small chance this is a freign, then it probably is since it doesn’t match anything else ever seen before. “Thanks hutch!”

I still had a lot to do, so next was to speak with some other buns, onward to Dan’s I go! Hutch seemed like he had more to say, but time is of the essence, and the essence is saving these hazeblooms! There’s no time to dilly dally.

Dan’s Dango was close by, so I made it there quickly. I rushed inside, only to be greeted by a grunting noise that made me blush. Wh-what could dan be doing at a time like this?! As frazzled as I felt, I still needed to ask him if he had any ideas about what this imp could be, or if he’s fallen victim to its garden-destroying ways.

I crept out back, to where a small shed sits, and slowly looked inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of…I mean, see if Dan was inside. 

I’m not sure if my sigh was out of disappointment or relief when I saw it was just Dan hammering away at some fresh mochi. 

He must’ve seen me, as he stopped hammering and wiped away sweat from his forehead. “Ah, Lupin, what brings you here?”

“Uh-Uhm.” I’m still trying to get that dirty image out of my mind. “I wanted to know if you, uh, happened to know anything about the imp that’s eating the hazeblooms.”

He seemed confused for a moment, then seemed to realize what I meant. “Now that you mention it, some of my flowers have recently been destroyed, I guess that means the imp is hitting more than just the hazeblooms.”

I shook my head to rid the dirty thoughts. “So the imp isn’t discriminating against different plants, nice.” I said as I hazily turned around and began wandering off.

I just can’t get that image out of my head and need to report back to Hops before I get myself into any trouble for trampling some gardens.