⊱————-　Ofris’ PoV　————-⊰

One backpack, that was all that was left of my temporary home. I had hurriedly stuffed all of my clothes into it, the equipment and my dagger, all of this without even once thinking of wasting the single more minute it would have taken for me to fold my laundry neatly. I could live with wearing messy shirts for a few days as long as it meant getting away from here as soon as possible.

I had ignored the antics of the researchers for far too long, driven only by the thoughts of the few coins I would receive once they were done, but after what those three degenerates had done just now I was more than regretting ever having followed them here. No, I shouldn’t even have started becoming their adviser to begin with.

“For them to try to force themselves onto a defenseless girl...”

She was a slave, that much was for sure, but that didn’t mean they could just do whatever they felt like. It was one thing to own slaves but a whole different story to abuse them like that!

When thinking back at the state she was in when we found her, I could only imagine the worst. Something unspeakable must have happened to her and I couldn’t help but pity her for every single image that appeared in my head. There were way too many of them.

 “Just because she is a Beastkin...”

I didn’t like Beastkin all too much as I had grown up being told stories about their cold-blooded crimes and their vile characters, but I didn’t exactly hate them either. Most of them probably tried their best to live a peaceful life and it wasn’t right for me to blame them for the horrible crimes their ancestors had committed.

Although I believed in this truth, I knew that I had never acted on it. My own family had never owned a slave, but I knew of one that once worked in the guild and all those that were working on the markets, in the smithery and all the other workshops.

It wasn’t exactly a bright world, especially for Beastkins like her, and still this girl didn’t seem to be afraid about us finding her, at least not at a level that couldn’t be explained by me and the boys wearing weapons combined with three old men demanding her death. It wouldn’t have been strange for her to wet herself, but to not even scream?

“Why didn’t she put up a fight? Sure, she is weak, but still...”

No, she wasn’t just weak. She was pathetically weak, so weak in fact that it was a miracle that she was still alive. Anything living out here could have killed her, everything but small rodents and insects, that was if the latter didn’t use poison.

Her being here safe and sound could only mean one thing: somebody had brought her here to leave her behind. They had tossed her away as if she was a piece of garbage, which was exactly how she was treated by Maxon and his friends as well as the three scholars. If it wasn’t for me, she would already be dead - or worse.

A long sigh slipped my lips as I grabbed the backpack and crawled out of the tent. I raised up and stretched myself, before turning around to check on the girl who was still sitting by the fire.

“Wha- what?!”

I was startled, unable to even breath. The girl was just sitting there, stark naked and in front of a bundle of cloth I didn’t remember ever seeing before. It was white and pale-green in color and held together by nothing but a beautifully prepared, red ribbon.

“Where did she get it from?!”

She didn’t even notice me, so much was her mind focused on the dress she now slowly folded out. From what I could see, it was a rather expensive looking piece of fabric, nothing to fancy, but good in quality. The girl, however, didn’t even pay much attention to it. Her eyes were burning on two pieces of black, laced fabric.

“Underwear?!”

No, it wasn’t just underwear. It was lingerie. The kind used by young women hunting for adventures or those selling their bodies.

“So she really was a pleasure slave...”

My mood dropped. The girl didn’t seem to be aggressive, loud or unpleasant in any other way. There was nothing that would give a reasonable explanation for her ending up here in the nothingness, so of course I felt bad for her. A girl like her couldn’t possibly commit a crime deserving her being left to her fate like this.

“She is pregnant...”

It didn’t change a thing. I wasn’t interested in the girl, at least not in any romantic way. I just pitied her. And naturally, I would pity a pregnant woman even more. The father of the child, her owner, probably was a nobleman, and judging by her appearance even one of the richer ones.

“Why didn’t they just sell her instead of leaving her here to die?! This is messed up...”

While I was still busy thinking about her dark past, the Beastkin girl was slowly dressing up herself, or at least she tried to. The underwear proved to be that big of a hurdle to her that a part of me even urged me to go help her, but I somehow managed to ignore this voice again and yet again.

The underwear she was trying to wear had been tailored especially with Beastkin in mind. While the bra seemed similar to those other women would wear, the slip had a slit for a tail at its back and black ribbons to close it with once the laced fabric had been pulled up. Never in my life had I seen such a delicate handcraft.

With all the questions popping up in my head, it took me a few moments to realize what exactly I was doing right now.

“Am I a pervert or what?!”

I hurriedly turned around, staring at my tent as the girl was struggling with her underwear. With her having such a hard time putting on the lingerie, it certainly didn’t look as if she was experienced with them. It was more as if she had never worn them in her life, though that couldn’t possibly be true. Maybe her hands were still too shaky from being out here in the cold.

A few minutes had passed by when she finally seemed to be done. I slowly turned around to find her sitting there, with both the early sunlight and the fire flattering her thin silhouette.

“Beautiful.”

No, beautiful wasn’t worthy enough of a word. When she rose up, it was as if a young saint or goddess arrived. Her dress was rather appealing, especially for a girl of her age. It embraced her body, leaving not much to your imagination, but at the same time it hid more than enough for her to not appear as if she would ever try to seduce someone. She looked innocent even.

The girl looked like the daughter of a nobleman visiting her first ball, not like a slave. It was as if somebody had dressed her up for her to find a good husband. But that didn’t make sense. Nobody would try to marry off a Beastkin, they would just sell them. And you didn’t need them to wear fancy clothes for the auction. If anything, those would hinder the process instead.

“Just who was her owner?”

While I was still trying to guess where she had come from, the girl seemed to have realized something was amiss. She was petrified for a moment, only staring into the air, then she slowly sank to the ground again. I could see that she was hesitating, that she was about to do something she hated, but I couldn’t even dare to guess what it was. There was nothing but grass and dirt spread in front of her, after all.

Suddenly, the girl placed the palms of her hands together, as if preparing herself to pray. When she then closed her eyes and fell into silence, I was left flabbergasted.

“She really is going to pray?!”

I stared at her in disbelief. The girl didn’t move. For about half a minute she just sat there, as if frozen to ice, then suddenly a white mist began spreading in front of her. It grew denser and denser until you could no longer see through it, to then, without a warning, disperse within mere seconds. In its place, a pair of knee-high, heeled boots had appeared.

“What?! They were answered?! Just like that?!”

I couldn’t believe it. Gods never went out of their way to help anyone, not even their believers. I had seen faithful men slowly dying away from illness and churches burning down, without the gods ever doing as much as sending a sign. I had seen children starve and fatally wounded soldiers begging for their gods. But those had just continued watching, possibly enjoying themselves as they did so.

This girl seemed to have experienced a life that was the exact opposite of mine. She didn’t even seem to be surprised about receiving a blessing from the gods. It was normal for her! So normal in fact that she even dared to make a grimace as if the boots weren’t to her liking! They were perfect! Not only had they the very same colors her dress had been tailored in, white and pale-green, but they also looked sturdy and feminine at the same time, too! I could bet they were comfortable to walk in, too!

“She is weird...”

The girl simply pushed her feet into the boots without thinking of at least cleaning them before doing so.

“It is a gift by the gods! At least clean yourself!”

She didn’t. Instead, she just laced up the boots to then raise up again. It was only when she then began to walk around, testing her new boots, that she realized I was watching. She became petrified.

“Go- good evening,” I heard myself stammer.

She just stood there, looking at me with her ever-changing expressions. The morning sun laid itself onto her, seemingly turning her reddish hair into glimmering waves of rubies. The morning sun. Yes, it was still morning.

“Am I stupid or what?!”