One green screen, that was all that was left when Cilia fell silent again. I quickly sent her a prayer, thinking it would make her return, but no such luck. She didn’t even react to my honest words of praise.

The quest she had given me with her last strength was pretty straightforward. It was named 'Barks for Power' and demanded exactly that: I had to bark. Not like those silly 'kon kons' the transformation magic had forced me to do, but real barks like the ones that slipped my mouth whenever I tried to say something in my fox form.

By doing nothing but barking thrice, I would already accomplish the quest goal and thus receive a changed or rather improved version of the transformation magic. It would then come with a lifeline: By barking thrice exactly like the quest had asked me to, I could turn back to my human form whenever I felt like it. Not only that, I would also receive a summoning spell that allowed me to summon a fox to aid me.

“I guess this is her way of saying sorry…”
I quickly formed fox ears on my head. “Kon kon!”
Ofris, who saw that, immediately went into panic-mode. “No! Wait!”

It was too late. A thick mist was already surrounding me to all sides and warmth spread in my body. When it finally dissipated and I had freed myself from the dress, Ofris was bent over me, as if to protect me from an attacking monster.

“Why would you do that?” He asked me, half angry, half sad.

I could only bark at him. Three times I barked, easily finishing my quest, to then once again be rewarded by a comfortable warmth and a quest update screen. It really was a freebie.

Barking thrice more returned me into my human form.

“Turn around, please.” I asked Ofris while still hidden by the fog.

Ofris stayed silent but did as I told him. I quickly reached for my clothes and dressed myself before facing him again.

“I can now free myself from the fox form,” I explained.
“Then at least warn me!”
“I am sorry…”

Ofris looked like he still wanted to say something, but chose not to. He instead raised to his feet and walked over to his tent.

“We will leave in half an hour,” he told me. “Make sure you are ready by then.”
“I will…”

After saying that much, Ofris began packing his tent. I walked over to Mabel to help her with hers, even though I knew things between us were more than a little awkward right now. Still, I had nothing better to do, with the meadow cleared completely of its slime population and almost three hundred cores stored in my inventory magic.

Mabel and the others had each cleared their own tasks. They had not only slain Prinja-Boars and Goblins, leaving me alone with the easy to deal with slimes, but had also gathered rare herbs that could be turned into various potions if treated right. Only downside being that we had to hurry back before they turned bad and thus more or less worthless.

We did exactly that. After breaking down the camp within mere minutes, we quickly made our way to the nearest road, which took us an hour or two to reach. By then I was already slightly annoyed by all the walking, especially since Ofris and the others didn’t slow down for me.

“How long will it take us to reach Siltar?” I asked him.
“We will reach the town late in the afternoon if we are lucky. Maybe early in the evening.”
“I see…”
“Do you need a break?”
“I am fine.”

I really was. Contrary to my past self I felt like I could walk for ages. Especially now that my endurance had more than doubled I felt like a superhuman being. Of course I was still weaker compared to Ofris, but it wasn’t like comparing a child with an adult anymore but rather two adults that had spent different time honing their skills.

“Good to hear.” He said after placing his hand on my head. “I am proud of you.”

A smile grew on my lips. I had not expected him to compliment me, but turns out even he could easily see the progress I had made just in days.

“I will become even stronger!” I promised.
“Just take your time and be safe.”
“I will.”

Before we could deepen our conversation, Jack discovered a large carriage that approached us. It was pulled by two sturdy black horses and elaborately painted with a shiny white color that was further decorated with dark blue emblems and ornaments. An uniformed man was sitting on the driver's seat, with two armored guards right next to him.

Ofris was the first to recognize the vehicle. “The king's emblem?”
“The king?”
“It is probably an emissary. Maybe they are returning from visiting Siltar.”

It didn't look that way. Siltar was a small town and even though it was somewhat decent to live in, if you weren't born as a beastkin, it was still hardly worth mentioning in some official document coming from the king itself.

My guesses were proven correct when the carriage slowly came to a hold right next to us: they were here for us instead.

“Who sent them?”

The strangers didn't even wait for me to ask my question. They simply stepped in front of us, as if trying to block our way, though their eyes were glued only on me.

“Good day,” the man greeted us. “Are you Rika the Foxkin?”

 

I could only nod. What else could I do? I didn't even know who they were! They could be friends, enemies, fox lovers, anything! I would never be able to know without them saying their thing first.

Upon hearing or rather seeing my answer, the second man stepped forth. He pulled forth a magic stone out of his bag, one that looked much like those Risa had used to measure my abilities with.

“Please allow me to confirm your identity, my lady.”
“Lady…” That one word echoed through my mind. “So they are no enemies?”

Unable to find any reason to deny his wish, I could only reach out for the stone, place my hand on its surface and let the man do his work. He was done within a few moments. Not enough time for me to prepare for all possible questions he might have.

“I am sorry, my lady,” the man said after bowing slightly. “I will have to ask you to accompany us.”
“Accompany you?”
“By decree of King Hensin the Third, Rika the Foxkin is to be found and escorted to Korinth so that his Majesty can meet her.”
“... what?”

I could only look at the two in disbelief as they handed me a pale beige, wax-sealed scroll. It had the same emblem on it that could be seen on the carriage.

Still in a daze, I broke open the seal, unfolded the parchment and began reading – or at least I had thought so. There wasn't a single line I could read, nor a single symbol, nothing. There was an elaborately drawn emblem and an even more beautiful signature on it, but that was all I could interpret somewhat. It seemed as if it was the king himself who had written this.

Before I could even ask him for help, Ofris had already stepped forward, grabbed the scroll and began reading it. The expression in his face changed several times between surprise and distress, but in the end, it was anger that won over.

“Damn it!” He cursed.