Once again my gaze wandered towards the man sitting on the other side of the table. I had long finished eating my portion of the beef he had roasted, Ofris, however, seemed to fight with every single bite he took. It was obvious something was on his mind, which was me, the weird Foxgirl sitting right in front of him.

Even though the silence that had conquered the room grew more and more awkward and unbearable by the second, I didn’t dare to speak up yet. There was nothing I could say, nothing I could do to regain the confidence and pride I had lost the day before. Ofris had seen me at my weakest, at the lowest point in my life, the very moment I had turned to a little girl.

My mind was flooded by the memories of yesterday, memories of all the insults that had been tossed at me from all directions, of all the things Ofris had done and said and especially by the tears I had shed while he had carried me in his arms.

“I’m slowly losing myself ...”

It was obvious that I had become weak, not only physically but mentally too, and while I could train my muscles and gain experience to slowly grow stronger, the same couldn’t be said about my heart which still cried for the life I had lost. It probably was due to this I had become so helpless around him, who had more or less accepted me with open arms.

I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. It was true, I trusted this man, this total stranger that could easily end my life or destroy my future. He had saved my life several times by now and even though I still did not know what it was that drove him to do all of that for me, I couldn’t help but stay close to him. I had even hid behind his back before!

Even with all of this happening, there was no explanation for me waking up in his bed the next morning. I didn’t even remember how I got there in the first place!

“I am lucky he didn’t try to ... do something with me.”

The fox had been silent ever since I had woken up. She had given me that title, telling me she felt sorry about what had happened, but that was it. She no longer joked with me, didn’t play me tricks, did not insult me or call me her daughter, nor did she toss in her random objections. I was finally free. And yet I felt lost.

“What is she up to?”

A long sigh broke the silence. Ofris placed down his knife and fork, to then meet my gaze. “I didn’t touch you,” he explained, “don’t worry.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“I couldn’t possibly leave you with Sahria.”
“She despises me that much?”
“Sahria isn’t good with beastkin.”
“Why? I never did anything to her!”
“She knows you are innocent, given your age and strength, but your kind ...”
“The beastkin?” I heard myself ask. “What did they do to her?”
“Her village was attacked,” Ofris explained after a moment of hesitation. “She doesn’t talk about it much, but as far as I know there haven’t been many survivors ...”
My throat went dry. “I see ...”
“Don’t talk to her about it. Or better: don’t talk to her at all. It is better that way, for both of you.”

Ofris stared into my eyes, waiting for an answer, but my mind had long since gone blank. Sahria was a bitch, that much went without saying, but I couldn’t even blame her for ending up the way she was. If my whole family was killed by dogs, I naturally would despise them all, wolves and puppies included. Her case was pretty much the same.

“Damn it…”
“Things said, I still need you to bring you back to the town hall.”
“The town hall? Again?!”

A cold shiver ran down my back, ruffling up my tail’s fur. It wasn’t much of a sign, and inaudible at that, but Ofris immediately spotted it out. He let loose a long sigh, took another sip from his cup and began explaining exactly what would happen to me.

Apparently, there was a second method beside the stone Risa had used on me the day before. This one was far more delicate, complex and expensive, making it a hassle to work with, but it allowed the user to read more than just the physical and mental capabilities of the one examined.

Not only would it reveal my attributes in exact numbers rather than guessing them, but it would also tell them what my real name was, which race I belonged to, my chosen class and a number of other miscellaneous data I have no idea about. There was nothing I would be able to hide, nothing to lie about.

“... do I need to go?”
“Yes,” Ofris answered within a heartbeat. “It is for your best.”
“But I don’t want to!”
“We have to prove you are not a slave nor wanted. I am sorry.”
“Why?! You said it yourself that my owner left me behind! Why would you need to find them?!”
“Because you can never become a citizen this way.”
“A citizen?”

Ofris sighed for one more time, making it a few hundred times since he saved me from his former comrades, before reaching into the sleeve of his shirt. He pulled forth a leather band I had never seen before, one that had a shiny amulet attached to it. It was a short metal rod that had four thick rings of various metals slung around it, all of which had been decorated with runes of unknown meaning. Both ends of the rod were hammered flat, as to secure the attachments from falling off. I saw what looked like silver, together with two rings of gold and one made from a dark bluish metal.

Without thinking much, Ofris shoved this piece of jewelry towards me, before pointing at it. “Every free citizen of Aurent is, by law, required to carry their identification with them. It not only states their name but their ranks in the various guilds. There are some jobs you might be able to do without one of these, but a girl like you should stay away from those. Far away.”

Ofris' expression was enough to answer any question I might have had. There were guilds, that much I had guessed before, and you needed this identification amulet to apply for quests or any kind of work. And those jobs he advised me to not think about, they were likely in the redlight district or underground. Those places would swallow me whole, leaving behind an empty hull or a rotting corpse.

“I need one of these ...”
“Risa will give you one once she has examined you. After that you could apply for additional rings at the merchant guild, the magician guild, the army, churches and many other places.”
“How many rings are there?”
“I have seen people wearing as many as fourteen of them, but one lifetime would never be enough to achieve anything above silver rank in that many. So you can think of those people as trophy collectors or posers rather than hard-working men.”
“Where are your rings from?”
“The silver one is from the merchant guild. I was somewhat of a bodyguard for traveling merchants back then. Aside from showing them that I am trustworthy, I might get discounts from time to time, though that is more or less limited to bigger cities. In Siltar, owning one of these means nothing.” His finger pointed at the two golden rings. “They are from the adventurer guild and the royal family itself. You receive the latter of the two for honorary work, protecting the king and his family from danger or various other reasons. The adventurer guild, on the other hand, is pretty straightforward in this regard. They basically rank you by strength alone. Above gold rank, there are only Azenit and Kingstone.”

“I have never heard of those ...”
“The blueish one is made from Azenit. It is the second highest ranking after Kingstone.”
“What do you get it for?”
“Don’t ask ...” Ofris demanded before sighing and revealing it anyway: “I once accompanied a newly founded party of four girls aiming to become adventurers. It was only after saving them from about a dozen goblins, several Moonstalkers and two gangs of bandits that they revealed one of them was of royal birth. Turned out she was one of King Hensin’s daughters and had decided to spice up her life.”
“Sounds like a pain in the ass,” I couldn’t help but mumble, “not that I am any better.”

Ofris stared at me in disbelief. For a moment he was like frozen in time, then his expression slowly changed into one that, despite being completely inaudible, could only be described using a thousand words.

“You didn’t choose to be like that.” He forced himself to say. “Nobody would.”

It looked like I was right. Ofris was done with babysitting and, to him, I couldn’t possibly be much better than that princess. For all I knew I was weaker than her in any regard; she was a princess, after all, thus receiving both the best tuition and equipment.

The only thing I had going for me was Ofris feeling pity whenever he saw me, forcing him to cope with all of my weaknesses and antics for far too long. Naturally, I couldn’t feel proud of that.

“Are you done eating,” he asked after a short yet uncomfortable moment of silence. “We should be on our way soon.”
“Yes ...”

I wasn’t. My stomach was screaming for a second and third serving, but I didn’t dare to make demands. I had already overstayed my welcome, messing with not only Ofris’ job but his private sphere and even his love life. It would be better for the two of us if I start standing on my own feet as soon as possible. At least it would be better for him ...