This was it now, my new or rather first adventurer's party. It wasn't like in the games I used to play, where a group of four to six childhood friends suddenly decided to become some kind of heroes, but rather felt like a family business of some sort.

There was a married couple, Sophia and Jack, two girls who could easily be their daughters and the uncle-like Ofris who led us all. Aside from maybe Sophia with her unique hair- and eye-color, I was the only one that didn't really fit this picture, due to my fox-ears and -tail. It was also due to me, that this party of us was gathering interested and judging looks from bystanders.

“You really aren’t good around strangers, are you?” Sophia asked when we finally had passed the gate of the town. “You have been hiding behind us all this time.”
“I don't like being stared at …”
“They will get bored of it soon enough. It was the same for me when I came to this town.”
“Why would they stare at you?”
Sophia let her blonde hair wave over her shoulder. “It is because I am a half.”
“A half?”
“My father was a Duarian.”
“A Duarian?”
“Yes,” she answered with some hesitation, “they met in Orynn.”
“No, not that! What is a Duarian?”
“Duarians are a tribe that is blessed by elemental magic.” Ofris explained in her stead. “It changes the color of their hair.”
“So your hair color is due to you being blessed by light magic?”
“It is.”
“You can use powerful light magic then?”
A forced smile appeared on her beautiful lips. “If being able to find your way in the dark is powerful, then …”
“It isn’t,” I couldn’t help but reply.
“I will get stronger soon enough!” She laughed.

She wouldn’t. Sophia had been fighting and questing for longer than I was alive at this point. If she didn’t grow strong enough to use her magic in battle by now, she would likely never do.

“Maybe her kind works differently…”

It took us three hours to reach the forest surrounding the mountains, time we spent talking about this and that. When we finally reached it, we were greeted by the calls of various kinds of animals, most of them being birds and insects. There were howls and squeals, too, but I chose to not pay attention to them. Even though I had defeated them before, I didn't want to think about fighting boars again any time soon.

We only stopped when we reached a picture-perfect oasis in the midst of the forest. It was a natural clearing that had formed around a small stream. I could even hear a small waterfall nearby, though it was still hidden behind walls of trees and shrubs.

Ofris and the others placed down their package next to the remains of a campfire they likely had used the last time they had been here.

“We will camp here for tonight,” he explained. “It is dangerous to travel through the forest at night.”

After saying that much, we quickly built up our tents. Ofris’ Sophia and Jack their plain brown ones, me and Mabel her far more colorful and foxlike one. Naturally, the tent immediately became the topic of a discussion.

“When did you buy that one?” I heard Sophia ask.
“Rika gave it to me.”
“I changed it with my magic,” I corrected Mabel’s half-lie, before grabbing one of the stones from the old campfire and simply stuffing it into my Itembox. When I pulled it out again, it had changed into a small, chubby fox statue. “It doesn’t work with everything.”

After saying that much, I carefully placed the fox into a nearby patch of flowers and sent a quick prayer to Cilia, who was more than happy about this kind of attention.

「You are the best!」 She cheered. 「Well, you are a fox to begin with, but still!」
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Thank you.”
「How about I give you a reward?」
“A reward?”

A pale green screen suddenly appeared in my vision, blocking away the cute stone fox and leaving me with a rather weird quest.

『Quest-Chain accepted: A Good Girl

Quest 1/3: Head pats!

Description: Let yourself be rewarded by either Mabel or Ofris. The following quests depend on this choice.

Rewards:
⇒Ofris Route: 5000 Exp, Manual: How to keep a fox happy
⇒Mabel Route: 500 Exp』

“You are having clear preferences!”
「Don’t mind it. It is fine~」

A sigh slipped my lips as I turned to the others. Ofris had already finished building up his tent and was now absentmindedly working on the campfire. I simply strolled up to him, sat down next to him and placed his hand on my head. He didn’t even fight against it.

「That’s cheating!」Cilia protested.
“You cheated first!”

Despite protesting like that, Cilia soon rewarded me with a green screen that updated my quest progress. It had only required Ofris to scratch me behind my ears, which felt way too good for my liking.

『Quest-Chain: A Good Girl

Quest 2/3: Compliments!

Description: Make Ofris give you a Compliment.』

“...”
“What is it?” My quest-target asked.
“What do you think of me?”
“Is it the goddess again?” He immediately knew what was up. “Well.. you are openhearted, cute, a little bit too innocent but a fast learner.” He chuckled. “And you dance well.”
“Nobody asked about that!”

Once again the quest was updated. This time it demanded that I get hugged by Ofris. Of course that was a freebie. I simply hugged Ofris myself, leaving him no chance but to answer with the same. And the quest immediately finished just like that. I could already feel the heat of several level ups spreading through my body.

『Quest-Chain Completed: A Good Girl

Rewards: 5000 Exp, Manual: How to keep a fox happy』

『Level Up! Level 22!

+10 Vitality
+12 Spirit
+8 Intelligence』

A dense mist began spreading in front of me, forcing me to separate from Ofris. It quickly spun around, like I had seen several times before, to then form a rectangular shape.

“That must be the manual…”
“Manual?”
“Cilia gave it to me. It teaches you how to keep a fox happy.”

Ofris could only look at me in disbelief. He seemed to think for a moment before reaching for the book. I quickly grabbed it first.

“Mine!”

⊱————　❈　————⊰

“What!?”

Ofris' surprised voice woke me up from my shallow sleep. For a split second, I felt like opening my eyes and confirming what it was that had surprised him, but I was honestly too sleepy to really give a damn.

I still remembered that I had been in a gloomy mood after being unable to read most of the book’s words, but I had no idea how I ended up like this, lying right next to him with my head against his leg.

“I fell asleep like this?”

The fire was long burned down, I could no longer hear it crackling. There were only birds to be heard, insects and even more birds. Hours must have gone by without me noticing.

“What is this about?!” I heard him ask.

His question was almost inaudible, I would never have heard it if it wasn't for those fox ears of mine being far too close to his lips.

“He is talking to himself?”

I could hear Ofris turning the pages of his manual and eagerly browsing through its contents. Some pages took him longer than a minute, others he skipped completely, most of them, however, forced a reaction out of him. Some contents made him get restless, others almost made him burst out in laughter and some of them left him petrified for some moments.

“So she likes that spot the best …” He turned the page. “What about her tail?”
“What the fuck is he reading about?!”
“Chapter 8,” Ofris' stammering voice suddenly read out loud. “Ma- Mating…”
“Mating?! What kind of sick fetishes does he have?!”

I didn't dare to ask. How could I, when he was too busy reading his 'good night stories' to even realize I was awake?

“After mating with a human man, Rika's children will have her ears and tail, but may have the father's eye and hair color. Only girls will be born..."
“Why does he drag me into this?”
「Why wouldn't he?」Cilia suddenly replied.「That book is about you in the first place.」
“What?! What did you write? Tell me!”

「It is that manual I promised you: 'How to keep a fox happy'」She explained. 「I translated it for him!」
“What did you write about me?!”
「Your favorite food, favorite color, how to potty train you, your most sensitive spots, magic, pregnancy ...]
I felt a cold shiver run over my skin as she continued listing the contents without a single care in the world. She went on and on. I was immediately wide awake.

“Nooo!” I slapped the book out of his hands. “Don’t read it! Noo!”