Risa’s fleeting alliance with the elven woman ended as soon as she left the room. She accompanied Ofris on his way towards the counters, to then try to woo him once again. Yet again she feigned being an innocent little girl, as if it was Sahria alone that had pushed me this far, but Ofris knew better. He sighed and played along, trying to get it over with as soon as possible.

Once she had made sure Ofris wasn’t angry Risa pulled forth a book from under her counter, one too large for it to be held with a single hand alone. It had many hundreds of pages, if not thousands, and each of them was twice the size of any textbook I had stumbled upon in school.

I stared at the book, trying to find out what it was for, but the runes carved into its red leather cover didn’t give me a single glue. It was the first time I saw them and the first time I realized their writing system couldn’t even be compared to what I was used to.

“Thank god they can at least understand me...”
「No need to thank me~」The goddess’ playful voice answered. 「You are my daughter, after all!」
“Nobody would thank you!”
「But Rika~」

She didn’t get a chance to harass me further. Before she had even uttered a single more word, Risa had pulled forth a round, black disc of stone that had silver runes carved all over its surface. It was about the size of both of my hands combined and gave off a threatening aura, one I could neither see, feel or smell. Still, it made me feel anxious, enough for me to tense up.

“I can’t allow them to use that on me! It will turn me into a slave for sure! It will do something to me!”

Risa finished her preparations with an ink feather and a few sheets of paper, enough for her to write down half a novel’s worth of the cruel future she had in the works for me. She didn’t smile, but I knew she was looking forward to getting rid of me.

“Why is she such a bitch to me?! She can have him! I don’t care! She can have any man she wants!”
Sadly, Risa had decided on this one. “Please put your hand on this plate.”
“N- no! I don’t want to!”
“Don’t worry,” Ofris' voice reached me from above. “I will make sure you are treated better this time.”
“I’m not a slave!”
“It would be for the best if it isn't true,” he answered with a sigh before, with Risa’s eager help, forcing my hand onto the plate. “You wouldn’t want them to think of you as a spy instead.”
“What would they do?”

There was no answer. Ofris stared at me for a moment, trying to come up with an excuse or some soothing words, but after failing to do so he simply moved his attention onto Risa who was already closing her eyes just like the elf had done before. This alone was answer enough. They would simply get rid of me upon deciding I was a spy.

“What are you planning to do to me?!”
“She will check your attributes and level for now,” Ofris explained. “That way she will know what to search for.”
“My attributes? Just ask then! I will tell you! There is no need for that... thing!”
“It is a formality.”
“Do you think I would lie?!”
“When was the last time you got examined? After all that trouble your strength and endurance surely have increased quite a bit.”
“They have!” I immediately confirmed.
Ofris went silent for a second, before answering a single word. “... probably.”
“...”

It didn’t take Risa more than twenty, maybe thirty seconds to activate the strange device. It slowly changed its color from black to a dark gray, then suddenly turned pale blue, all of this with the silver runes giving off a faint mist of the same blue color.

“She is using magic?” I couldn’t help asking.
“She doesn’t know how to use magic,” Ofris answered my question. “Sahria is the only magician working here.”
“But the stone changed its color...”
“She is just inserting her mana into it.”
“So everyone has mana?”
“Yes,” he answered with a smile, “even you.”
“Does that mean I can learn magic, too?!”
“I am sure you will when you work really, really hard.”

Even though Ofris tried to sound honest, both his voice and the expression found in his face gave off the obvious lie. He had saved me from those bastards, dragged me through that hellhole of a forest only to then lie straight into my face again and yet again. All of this because he pitied me and was worried about my future.

“He treated me like a dog before! Why does he try to protect me now!?”「He seems to be a good guy.」
“He really is ...”
「What are you waiting for, then?」
“...”

A movement attracted my attention, forcing it away from the far too annoying voice in my head. Risa’s hand was reaching for the ink feather. Without opening her eyes, she felt for the paper and began writing down the results of the examination. The smiling expression she had on her face before slowly changed. It revealed shock at first, then even pity.

“Even she pities me?! She is a bitch!”

Risa’s hand finally came to a rest after about half a minute of them turning black ink into tiny runes and unrecognizable letters. She placed down the feather and opened her eyes before her sobered voice began reading out loud:

“She is around level fifteen, with an estimated strength of ten, dexterity of fifteen, vitality ranking between twenty-five and thirty, a spirit level of about thirty-five and an intelligence level of... thirty.”

“She is so weak ...” Ofris’ voice resounded in my ears. “How can she be so weak?”
“I am not weak!”
“That cat we tested back then had around thirty-two intelligence ...” Risa added emotionlessly.
“What?!” I couldn’t help but exclaim. “I’m more stupid than a cat!? This can’t be true! This must be wrong! I can do math, you know!?”
“Oh, what a biiig surprise!” A laughing voice came from behind the counter. “The dog is worth nothing. Who would have thought?”
“THAT ELF? IS IT THAT ELF AGAIN!?”

It really was. A little more than a second after I had heard her annoying voice, Sahria was already standing at the counter, next to Risa who was too startled to fight back when the elf stole the test results right out of her hands.

“Level Fifteen!” The elf began reading with joy and glee glowing in her eyes. “Her strength is ten?! She is like a child! No! She is even weaker than a child!” Sahria’s eyes grew even bigger than her smile. “Her intelligence level is thirty?!” She burst into full-blown laughter, not caring about all the confused and judging stares coming in from all those strangers surrounding us.
“Sahria! Please!” Risa tried to calm her down again. “They are watching!”
“She is weaker than an insect!”
“Stop making fun of me!” I protested, my voice far too weak and shaky.
“You better start learning how to pleasure a man, little bitch. Maybe you will find somebody willing to keep you as their pet when you are fun enough to play with!”
“Stop-”

My voice suddenly broke away. Even though I tried my utmost holding back the bitter tears were already welling up in my eyes, there was nothing I could do. My composure was chipped away with each of their laughs and words, which each stare coming from the two girls or any of the strangers standing nearby.

Before long, all of them became blurry, including Ofris who still tried his best to soothe me somehow. The first of many tears rolled down my skin. And not even a minute later, I was already crying like a small child, like the kid I was according to my test results.

It had been too much for me, all of this. Being separated from Mira, all my friends and my family only to be transported into a world that held nothing prepared for me but death, rape, insults and slavery. All of this while a self-declared goddess was trying her best driving me insane.

Not even a week ago I had been the happiest I ever been and now? My life was as good as over. It was all gone. I was nothing more than an animal in their eyes, a slave you could treat however you wanted.

“I can’t do this- I can’t handle this any longer! I want to go back! I just want to go back! Please! Please ...”
「...」
“That was totally unnecessary!” Ofris angry voice pierced my ears. “What is wrong with you!?”

He did not wait for their answer. Instead, he carried me away, away from the counter, away from their eyes and all the insults they might come up with.

Ofris said nothing to me as I hid my face and the endless streams of tears behind both of my hands. Maybe he was looking at me with his pitiful gaze again, maybe there was anger or hate to be found in his expressions, I would never find out.

We had barely left the town hall when all the hardships I had endured today came hunting me down, gradually stealing away my remaining strength. Without that nasty potion to keep me going, it was only a matter of time before my consciousness faded away. I fell asleep before I could even think about fleeing his arms.

⊱————-　❈　————-⊰

A bright beam of light hit my face, blinding my eyes and urging me to seek cover under the thin blankets that protected my sapped body. I still felt sleepy, enough for me to forget about the day and everything that would come with it, but soon enough a threatening sound reached my ears.

Somebody was sleeping close by, his or her light snores echoing in the room. It was a good bad, almost enough to forget that it wasn’t mine, but neither was this my room nor was it my world.

I immediately forced open my eyes only to be greeted by the sun casting its light directly onto me. That and a green screens displaying a single line of white text, not runes but the kind I had grown up learning.

『Title Gained: Loved Child』

 “... ‘Inspect’”

 『Loved Child

Type: Title
Class: Permanent; Passive
Effect: Increases Intelligence by 15
Description: I’m sorry.』

“This fox ...”

I examined the screen, making sure to check it for possible traps, but there simply weren’t any hints of ambiguity hidden within the little text it had. Instead, it looked as if the goddess felt... sorry?

After looking at it a few more times, I hesitatingly closed the screen, only to be greeted by the picture of a sleeping Ofris. His well-built body was leaning against the wall next to the bed, his head resting on his chest which was slowly rising and falling under each of his calm breaths. With his armor reflecting the dancing sun rays that had found their way through the small windows above the bed, he looked like a hero painted in oil, resting against a tree after defeating his mortal enemy, not like a guy who had put a girl on a leash like a dog.

“He didn’t even grab a blanket for himself ...”