*sob* 

” ... ”

*sob* 

Moving my hand gently, I wiped off the small tear falling down her cheek. It had been a common occurrence these past few days... 

” Shhhh... shhh... Everything is fine now. ” I whispered close to her fluffy ear and slowly moved my hand through her hair. 

After that day, she developed a habit of never sleeping without hugging each other. It was partially my fault for it though. Not that it bothered me that much... 

That night, I took her far away from the troll nest and kept her in my embrace until she fell asleep. I had to continuously reassure her that I wouldn't leave her alone when she was asleep so there was no other choice.

I felt a bit stiff at first, with all the physical contact and everything, but there was no way for me to miss such an amazing opportunity. The white knight saving the beauty in distress really did its job. 

Being able to caress her hair and play with her ears was a nice bonus as well. She wasn't even showing any kind of displeasure even though the later would tickle her sometimes.

Letting that aside, I actually did my best to make her feel comfortable and safe... as much as I could. Somehow, if I were to look at the situation from a certain angle, it wasn't entirely wrong to say that she was in that state because of me. 

She probably didn't receive any kind of affection during her childhood, the sole exception being her mother... probably. I refrained from asking the sensitive questions.

What I was certain of, was that she grew up in a hostile world. She had to endure abuses and mistreatment while being accused as impure. No normal person would be able to live like that without shutting themselves in a protective shell, not letting anyone reach them.

My continuous actions most likely made her remove that shell and allowed me in, but the possibility of me despising and abandoning her brought her in that miserable state. 

” Hiiiaa... ” As a drop of water fell on the tip of my ear.

*Shudder*

  Looking down on my lap, I let out a sigh of relief. At least I didn't wake her up. I stroked her head again in an attempt to let her feel comfortable but when I took a closer look at her face, a little grin bloomed on her lips.

She was trying with all her might to hide it and pretend to be asleep but that made it even more obvious. If she had gone so far to hide it, I played along and let myself be fooled to make her happy. 

.

.

.

I looked up at the cloudy sky. 

We had to take a break when the rain started and hide under the biggest tree we could find.

 I said the biggest tree but even that was relatively average when compared with what we saw on the road here. The foliage wasn't even dense enough to shelter us properly. Water droplets would occasionally go through it and assault my poor ears...

According to Fiona, we should have passed in Brigandia already, but we decided to push further to be safe. Even in Brigandia, the border wasn't that safe. The law's application tended to be a little weaker and the corruption level was a lot higher.

Our current goal was to find a road or something to guide us toward a city. The most important thing to do was to take down that slave collar, but I had a lot of other things to take into consideration. 

We needed a safe place to stay and rest. We needed a way to get money and sustain our living expenses. I decided to keep Fiona by my side so I couldn't make rushed decisions and mess up anymore.

But even though I took that decision... Even though I didn't want to put us in dangerous situations... Beside hunting monsters, I couldn't think of another plausible way for us to earn money...

I couldn't imagine myself and Fiona growing things on a field. Not to mention that we didn't have a field. Or experience in doing so. Working as an enchanter or other magic-related stuff wasn't plausible either since outside of a few tricks, I didn't knew much. At least, selling cores and other valuable parts was a sure thing.

And most importantly, this was a freaking fantasy world. My soul couldn't accept being a farmer... Let alone a fantasy medieval-ish version of it. For a person like me, who came from another world, not doing fantasy related work would be akin to blasphemy. 

” MMmmmm... Still raining, Lizza? ” Fiona said while stretching to show me that she just wake up. I had to admit that her clumsy attempt at fooling me was a bit cute, so I let it slide this time.

” Yeah, I don't know when will stop. We might as well eat something to make use of the lost time... Hope that the rain will stop soon. ”

Since Fiona already knew about my ring, there wasn't a need to make a fire and prepare our meal. It was very convenient to just make more at a time and just take it out when you wanted to eat. Since it could keep our meals nice and hot, why not?

*Tsk*

Thinking back at it, before running from there that night, I actually forgot to loot the enemy. As a former gamer, I felt ashamed with myself.

At least, I took the sword that Ron used and his small rucksack. I was a bit annoyed that it couldn't be stuffed in the ring but since the time was pressuring us, I shrugged the thought off and put it on my back.

After a closer inspection, it turned out to be an enchanted rucksack. The rucksack allowed in it quite a bit more than should. It was only a [Medium-Uncommon grade] so I thought that maybe objects like my ring weren't that rare after all.

’Who am I fooling here...’ The quality between the two wasn't something comparable... 

Size and capacity aside, there was the INT boost and the time-freezing feature. The rucksack had none of that. It wasn't possible to store anything that didn't fit the entrance and the weight of anything stored in was still there.

The more I compared the two, the more I started to understand why the ring was labeled as Mythical. No wonder we stumbled from trouble to trouble the whole journey. My luck must have been completely depleted after finding the ring.

Looking down at the girl resting on my lap, I had just one question on my mind. 

” Meat? ”

Her tail started to wiggle a bit.

” Mm. Meat. ”

’Hehehe... So easy...’

After confirming that I wouldn't die from eating meat, I didn't shy away from adding it to my diet, not like I had much of a choice anyway. But that was it. On the other hand, Fiona was a meat person. I didn't know if that would have been considered racist on my part to assume things, but there was something ravenous in her eyes as she was looking at the piece I gave her.

” Ahh, give it back for a second. ” 

I forgot to add some salt to it. We were fortunate to find some between the other stuff Ron carried in his rucksack. At least he was good at something.

” How about this, Fio? ” I also took out some berries.

She cast a doubtful eye at them but picked one in the end. I didn't blame her. Taking into consideration how lacking in knowledge of pretty much anything around us I proved myself to be these past days, I wouldn't put anything picked by me in my mouth either if I was in her shoes.

” Mm, but are you sure that these are good to eat? ”

But that didn't mean it didn't hurt a little... I puffed my chest, raised my head high, and ate one myself with great confidence. 

” Yes, they are. I picked them myself. ” I even hmpf-ed at the end.

These berries were the first thing I was forced to eat upon coming to this world. I tested them on my own so I was pretty confident that these berries were edible. 

” Do not forget that I'm an elf. I know what I'm doing. ” I lied. I had no idea what I was doing.

” N-No, but you didn't act too much like an elf so I forgot about it. ” she said after finally trying the berry. ” Mm, it tastes good. ”

’Y-Y-You forgot that I was an elf?’  Was that even possible? Was I a failure of an elf to the point that she forgot about it? 

” S-Sorry... I didn't want to say that... I mean, you are an elf, but... Sometimes you don't act like one... should? ” 

” Fio. ”

” Mm. ”

” How many elven friends do you have again? I kind of forgot... ” 

I gave her the stare. She responded with a questionable glance...

” One, I think. ” she responded.

’Wait, what!?’ She had other elf friends?

” But you said you didn't—

We stare at each other for several seconds in silence.

” You mean me, didn't you? ”

” Mm. ”

” You did this on purpose, didn't you? ” I narrowed my eyes.

” Mm. But I'm glad you are the first one I met. ”

I got bet red. She didn't even flinch. ’Damn... How can she spout such things with a straight face..? Fuck it! I'm not gonna back down.’

” O-Of course I am. D-Don't forget about it... hmph. ” I got even redder. I wanted nothing more than to find a hole and throw myself in. 

” Mm. Thank you, Lizza. ” she said and took a big bite from her meat like it was nothing. Damn, she was so cool—

” Lizzha ish the besht. ” aaaand she ruined it. Her smile was cute though...

” Don't speak with your mouth full. And don't swing that tail too much. I don't want hair on the meat. ”

” Mm. ”

*Sigh* 

 I let out a sigh and pat her head. Looking around, I let out another one. Without monsters roaming around, it almost seemed like an ordinary place. Except for the blue-leafed tree next to our own, that was it.

And of course, the girl next to me. Unless something happened to my head after coming here, I was pretty sure that my world didn't have anything like her.

Even after so much time passed, it was a bit unreal. A gray-haired girl with yellow eyes, fluffy wolf ears peeking out of her hair, and a freaking tail. Less noticeable were her fangs and claws.

She even had small little puffs-like things on the inside of her hands. As for her nails... Well, I didn't know how to classify them. They weren't really claws, but neither normal nails. Like something in between. Longer, stronger, pointy, and to be honest quite dangerous looking. On the other paw... hehe, paw... Ahem, on the other hand, they weren't realy curved like normal claws were, and she was unable to retract them like normal claws were supposed to either.

My final verdict; her puffs were really nice to play with. Case closed. Also, her tail—

” You are looking strange at me again, Lizza. ” she suddenly raised her head and looked back at me. 

’Fuck, did she read my mind? No, that's impos—

” I'm not letting you play with my tail, Lizza. ” she deadpaned.

” But... how? ” 

” No. ”

” But it looks soooo fluffy... You can't do this to me. ” I pleaded.

” This is why you don't feel like an elf, Lizza. ” she mercilessly crushed my hoped and dreams again. And why was she the one that looked wronged between the two of us? I was the one wronged! 

” But if it wasn't that fluffy, I wouldn't be so tempted to gran it. ” I valiantly fought back. 

” Lizza... ”

” Hmpf, what is it, Fluff... I mean, Puff... Ugh, I mean, Fio. Y-Yes, what is it? Something to say in your deff—

” What if I grab your ears then? It's your fault because they are so long. ” 

”...”

”...”

” The rain seems to have stopped. Let's finish and get going. ” I took another bite from my meat and prompted her to make the same. 

I couldn't help but feel shivers down my spine. It was so strange even if a drop of water were to fall on them, let alone to be grabbed by someone. 

I narrowed my eyes again. Under that fluffy appearance, she was really evil. As they say, a wolf in sheep’s clothing... 

I nodded to myself and took another bite.