I had to stay calm, confident, and slightly more aloof to give the correct impression for the moment. And that would not have been that hard if I was not in pain.

While my exterior was looking like a perfect elf image, on the interior I was almost crying. How was I supposed— as a proud and elegant elf— to hug that fluffy tail? 

After the involuntary bath in the river and after her hair was almost completely dried thanks to the fire, her damn tail was painfully fluffy.

’My eyes are bleeding here... I demand that tail.’

I started back at her, thinking about how to respond when an idea came to me.

” You've ever seen an elf before? ”

She said that the elves were proud and all that, but it looked like something she heard about from others rather than her own experience. If I was right and she never saw one, my chances would have been much better. 

” No. ”

Good. That was a favorable response for me. To make full use of her lack of actual interaction with a living elf, I had to combine her beliefs of my race with something more convenient to me.

After all, I was a living elf right in front of her. Hearing about something and actually seeing it couldn't be compared. More so if what you could see was vaguely related to what you know.

And like that, I decided to play a somehow proud elf with good intentions. 

’The mission for deceiving the fluff has been officially started!’

” Is that so? You shouldn't say such rude words to your savior. If I can easily save you then I'll do it. I don't know what you heard about us or from where but do not treat my race like we were all indifferent and cold to others. It's not completely wrong, since some of us were like that, but that depends a lot on which one you'll meet. We are not all the same. ”

I had stopped my impulses to throw in the speech some pompous phrases and words like peasant or you ignorant little girl as to not ruin my play and go too far even if that would have been fun.

” Is that so? ” the girl said while making a face as if even she was unsure of what to believe.

And that signaled to me that the bait had been taken. It was hard to stop my grinning at the clueless little fluff but I had to do it. To deceive her like that... What a bad villain I was.

” Of course it is... And if you're finished questioning my integrity, we can proceed to your situation. How about telling me your name and how did you get in that situation? ”

She seemed rather taken aback by my aggressive question but that was the best way to proceed further. I wanted to extract some information from her while doing so, but... she was not saying anything.

’Why?’ I couldn't understand. Even if it was risky, I decided to offer my name first. 

” My name is Elizabeth. But you can simply refer to me as Lizza. ” I said and smiled at her. It was a dangerous move but that was needed at the moment. It would make the conversation easier and I hoped that the gesture would make the situation friendlier somehow.

She seemed taken aback for a moment but felt in what I could think as deep thoughts after that. Maybe my name was a little weird as I expected... 

” My name is Fiona. ”

That... was surprisingly easy. I was on the right track. 

” In that case, I'm gonna call you Fio from now on. As I said earlier, you can call me Lizza too if you want. ”

She reacted rather well to that and I decided to proceed further with my plan.

” Actually, I'm not sure how to explain this but... I'm here, in this forest, from a series of coincidences. If you were from nearby, do tell me where is the closest city. Hmmm, I know a little bit of archery and spearmanship, maybe a little bit enchanting too... It would be safer to travel together if you want.  ”

” You are an enchanter? ” she calmly asked back, but I could see some interest in her eyes. No, looking closely, it was more like desperation rather than simple curiosity. 

I still wanted to play it safe though. I didn't know much of anything after all.

” Is something wrong for me to be an enchanter? ”

” No, it's just that... ” she said and stopped her sentence in the middle ​while pointing at her collar.

 I had not paid much attention to the collar but now that she mentioned it, my interest was piqued and I discovered that it was some sort of enchanted collar.

” Oh, the collar... ”

That was bad. She was looking at me like I was supposed to recognize the collar. Or... was I supposed to recognize the enchantment? 

It was an enchanted item but I was still unable to understand why was she pointed it to me? Was it broken or something?

” I was wondering if you can do something about it. I don't know how much I was asleep, but it must have been less than a day because it was supposed to be activated by then. Maybe it's too much to ask, but at least, can you take a look at it? ”

’What was supposed to be activated? Be more specific, pillow... I mean Fillow... Ehhh... maybe Fio? Yes, that was the one!’

Whatever... I could not be seen as incompetent. If the collar was something basic, then I would certainly be seen as one. 

” Let me check it but so you know from now, I won't promise anything. Come here. ”I said and hoped that I could understand what was wrong with it if I took a closer look. It was better than nothing.

She slowly stood up, walked closely, and seated herself down in front of me. Her hair was in the way so she moved it on her back while making it easier for me to look at the collar.

I had some chances to look at her on the way back from the river and when she was unconscious, but I was not shameless enough to stare at her that closely. But now that she stood at less than twenty centimeters in front of me, I was able to get a better picture of her.

I had to give up and say that even without her fluffy accessories, she was quite the appealing girl from my point of view. And with her fluffy pair of ears combined with her gray hair was almost a devastating combination. What was impossible for me to see before she woke up was her eyes. They were yellow and I doubted that she was wearing lenses. If she showed me a smile at that moment, I was expecting to see some cute canines as well.

” I'm ready. You can start if you want. ”

” Ah... Sorry, I'll start right now. ”

Resisting the urge to find a hole and throw myself in it, I placed my hand on the collar and felt the flow of mana. 

The patterns were unfamiliar with what I was usually working but there was a vague resemblance. I could see some slots for mana signatures and there was also something resembling a type of receptor... The problem was that I did not know what was I supposed to look for.

” Can you tell me a little more about it? From where do you have this collar and for—

” I don't know. After I was caught, they simply put this slave collar on my neck and that's all. Are there differences between collars or something? ”

I was not able to finish my question when she interrupted me at the final. And I thanked the Holy Tree for that or my scheme would have been exposed. I almost asked her what was the collar supposed to do.

” Is something wrong? ”

I was so shocked... My stare seemed uncomfortable for her but that was my last concern at the moment.

How could I be so stupid? A freaking enchanted collar on the beast-girl neck. This was so cliche to the point that I had not even considered it a possibility... Even though it was the simplest and most logical option there could have been.

On the other hand, this confirmed the fact that slavery was a thing and this collar was a tool used for it. I did not even know what was I supposed to do from that point on. A lonely elf was very likely an easy target for these slave traders as well.

” Hey Elizabeth, so the collar can’t—

” No. I don't think that I can remove the collar without any risk to trigger it. The best I can do is to mess with some parts of it that will deactivate the mechanism. Practically, it can't be taken down until I figure out the trick or we find someone who knows how to do the job properly. What do you say? ”

” It's good like this, thanks. ” she said back to me with her flat face but I could see sprouting some hope in those yellow eyes of hers.

’You mom did not teach you to not believe what the strangers were saying? Meh... my fluff chances have been increased exponentially so why would I care?’