At the break of dawn, I left my home. Hopefully, the last time. Quickly I brought some distance between me and the pile of rotting corpses. I was nervous. Nervous and excited. When I brought Aoife home, it just felt like nothing else than bringing her home, but this time the excitement coming with the beginning of a new journey pulsed through my veins.

»Alright, time to go.« I mumbled, and followed the trail of water, that calmly carved its way through the forest.

The air was filled with the aromatic smell of resin and a weak breeze tickled my skin and ruffled through my hair. What a perfect day to start a journey.

While travelling along the water, several times goblins or volt hares crossed my path, quickly meeting a bloody end. With my newly ranked up strength and agility stats, they were barely an obstacle. It was hard to believe, that I fought those monsters in a life and death battle just a week ago.

When I first arrived here, I had nothing more than my underwear, and now, I was fully dressed (except for shoes of course), had a weapon and something I always missed in my last time: a goal.

No matter how cruel this world had been until now, I was going to survive here, and I wouldn’t be staying alone. My first step was to settle down in Ainmhí and making friends, as soon as I learned to talk mor than the bare minimum with other people. Maybe there was something like an Adventurer’s guild or hunting parties in this world. After all, this was usually the case in fantasy worlds like this one.

Around noon, I decided to take a break. The river had  grown wider and was flowing around a little Island. It was only a few steps long and wide and entirely made from gravel, but nonetheless, it was an unusual sight for me, so I sat down, were the two streams merged, my gaze travelling along with the crystal-clear water.

Directly behind the island, a small part of the river was entirely calm and flat. Barely a ripple distorted the surface. My face looked back at me from the water. An absent-minded expression clouding the two emerald-coloured eyes. No matter how long I looked at myself, I couldn’t deal with the fact, that I looked like a twelve-year old. The round and childish face stood in heavy contrast, to my not so childish breasts. They still didn’t made me look like an adult, in no way, but they still didn’t belong on the body of a child. Perhaps with time I would grow more mature, though my status didn’t give me much hope in that matter. After all, it stated my age as 16.

»This world…« I sighed.

Enjoying the warmth of the twin suns a little more, I relaxed. I knew enough about this world already, to be certain that the next danger was just around the corner. I used the precious time I had to its fullest, until my stomach declared his wish for a new soul.

I considered myself quite lucky, as in that exact moment a Volt Hare arrived at the riverside. Though it was quite strange to see a teal-coloured version of that monster, I had never seen clad in anything else than white before. Well, it should taste the same, just like nothing but air.

Letting out a sigh, I lunged myself onto the rabbit, the tip of my rapier targeting its eyes. Surprisingly it dodged and tried to give me a crackling kick. I was surprised, but not unprepared, so I dodged the rabbits attack as easily as it dodged mine. The rabbits face turned from a mocking one into a perplexed one, while its body passed centimetres away from mine.

It definitely thought I would let it hit me. It was fast, but not necessarily particularly intelligent. Moving away from its next attack, I appraised the rabbit.

 

It’s agility had the same rank as mine, probably increased by the attunement. Everything else, was the same as a normal Volt Hare.

Using my newly learned way of fencing, I launched an attack here and there, carefully observing the way it dodged.

As soon as I found a pattern, I would be able to predict its escape route and adjusting my attack to it. Yet, the rabbit seemed to notice my plan and when I thought, I would land a killing hit, it dashed away into the forest.

Not wasting any time, I chased after it. Its escape didn’t last long. After not even a minute of running, I was close enough to strike. I readied my rapier and tripped. Landing headfirst in soft moss, a screech of pain reached my ears, telling me, that my blade found its target without me.

Cursing, I stood up and touched the soul.

»Why am I killing these monsters by accident all the time! What’s with all these hours of footwork training? Worthless! I just need to trip, and the sword does everything itself!«

An angry groan left my throat, while I picked up my rapier. There, something caught my eyes. A few scraps of brown cloth were hanging on the twigs of a bush. Why would I find cloth out here in the wilderness? I approached one of the pieces and cautiously took a nose. It smelled just like the forest around it.

Perhaps, it was hanging there so long, that it had lost its original scent, or my [Scent Detection] was simply not on a high enough level.

Shrugging, I diverted my attention back to the dead rabbit. That uncommon fur would surely fetch a nice price. The monster was too weak to reward me with status points, so I wanted to get at least a little money out of it.

Thanks to the knowledge I stole from the leatherworker Orc’Lin, I was able to quickly and precisely separate the fur from the fats and flesh below.

My belly happy and full, I continued my way along the river.

I reached the edge of the forest, when the sky started turn red. In front of me, were wide plains, and a gigantic lake. The reddish light of the suns let the water look like it was on fire. I was so captivated by the view, that I didn’t notice the brightly lit city at its shore.

Excitement accelerated my steps, and it took me only a few minutes to reach the gates. I had my hood pulled up nervously. Whether, because I remembered the reactions of the people in the last town, or just because I got scared in the prospect of talking to people, I didn’t know.

»You there! Who are you?« A guard called out to me.

I froze. It was definitely because of the latter one. Pull it together Maeve! You managed to talk to Aoife and Fianna too. I tried to remember how I did that, but instead only my embarrassing stutter in front of Aine, the girl who saved us from the wolf, came to my head.

»I-I… I’m M-Maeve.«

The guard pulled back my hood rather violently and I was forced, to look up to his face. He saw my ears and his expression changed from a wary to a friendly one.

»Ahh… You came from Sadiskonia, didn’t you?« He let go of my head

I nodded slowly, guessing that Sadiskonia was Aoife’s home country.

»You don’t ta worry ‘bout your ears and tail here. Look.«

He took off his helmet and revealed a pair of small, round ears on the top of his head. Together, with his warm smile right now, he looked more like a teddy bear, then a proper guard.

»T-th-thanks…« I mumbled, looking at him doubting

Suddenly, someone burst out in laughter beside me. The guard’s colleague was shaking.

 »I’ve never seen a kid being so wary of you, even after you showed your face. Hahaha! She just ruined your bet with the Captain. Hahahahaha!«

I looked back and forth between the two guards. What the hell were they talking about?

»Please, don’t look strange at me. I’m a kind lad.« The teddy bear guard said almost pleading.

My expression turned even more doubtful after I heard that, which in turn induced another laugh from the other guard.

Tears formed in the corners of the teddy bear’s eyes, as his head sunk dejectedly.

»Ah… E-ex-excuse me…« I tried to win back his attention.

»Haha-haaaah! Just ignore him. He’s gonna sulk for a while now.« The other guard was still on the verge of laughing himself to death.

»Anyways, welcome to Lough Salainn, the best city in Ainmhí.« The guy waved his arms at the city. »You’re new here, so the best would be for you to go to the orphanage for tonight. Just walk to the end of the second street to the right once you entered the city. It’s impossible to miss and you’ll get some food and a bed for tonight.«

»Th-thanks.«

»No problem! Can’t just leave a little girl out alone, can I?«

I really wanted to shout, that I wasn’t a child, but the whole scene was already embarrassing enough, without that, and I really didn’t want to be laughed at, like the teddy bear.

I walked past the guards and followed the guard’s directions. Soon I arrived at the orphanage. It was a giant wooden building. It was probably as large as my old school. There must have been a lot of kids in there.

Uncertain about, what to do now, I stood awkwardly in front of the door. It took me a while to muster up my courage and knock.

The door opened, before I was even able to drop my arm. An elderly woman looked at me through thick glasses.

»Huh? Cia… Ah, sorry, that's not you. Did the guards send you here?«

The lady had already an arm around me and pushed me in, before I could even answer.

»I’m sorry, dinner's already over, and the little ones didn't leave anything behind. I can only offer you a bed for the night.«

She led me to an empty room. Empty, except for an old mattress on the floor.

»I’m sorry, that’s all we can offer. Make yourself at home for now and tomorrow, I will show you some ways, how you can earn money here in Lough Salainn.«

With these words the woman left. She seemed to be really busy, judging by how fast she dealt with me. I didn’t care that much about it though.

I wasn’t really tired yet, but which person in their right mind would decline a chance to sleep? Especially, if you could fall asleep hugging the fluffy bliss, that was my tail. Nobody, right?

I stripped down to my underwear and tugged myself into the bed. For a while I simply enjoyed caressing my tail. The fluffy feeling under my fingers was wonderful, not to speak of the warm tingle that wandered from my tail up my spine. Blocking out everything else, I slowly lulled myself to sleep.