Chapter 5: Tailing The Enemy

We ran like mad. Well, only Lily ran away. I directed all of my focus on watching my surroundings. After about 30 minutes, we take cover at a massive tree in the middle of the jungle. The rain started to pour out, and we needed to rest.

“Lily… are you injured?” I asked while checking all sensations of my body. There was no pain, but I can’t be sure.

“No. I am not injured.”

“Okay. Let’s take a break now. I will watch the entrance.” I replied. Lily immediately slept. She used to sleep on the floor back at the mansion, so sleeping at tree roots didn’t make her feel uncomfortable in the least.

While she was asleep, I looked at our statuses. I expected that the slave status would be gone since we saw the troll kill that brat. The enslaved status was gone, but it seemed the slave job still remained.

Damn, this world is harsh. Even if Luigi is a prick, he is still only a child. My heartbeat rose as I remembered how the troll killed him and the knight. It was something that should be censored if it was a video game or movie.

Hmm… now that I regained my calm. A new row was added to my status screen. I could see status points for both of us. If I am not wrong, STR is strength, Dex is dexterity, INT is intelligence, and WIS is wisdom. We could not use any magic, so WIS and INT were useless. Maybe I should assign an equal amount to DEX and STR for now.

Okay, I am done. Now, let’s wake Lily; then, we should scout the surroundings. If we can get some of that Moss Boar, that would be our dinner.

“Lily… are you awake?” I nudged her cheek with my tail.

“Hmm… yeah?”

“Let’s scout the area. We need something for our dinner. It would be nice if we could find another Moss Boar.” I advised Lily on what to do next. I can feel her stomach rumbling since a while ago.

“O-okay… Will we return tomorrow? I can endure not eating for a day… it seems dangerous around here..” She replied.

“Hm? return where? “I asked back.

“To the mansion,” Lily answered.

“Why would we go back there? We are free now! Look! The collar around your neck is broken. You can remove it!” I replied. I lived there only for a month and had enough of it. I prefer being a homeless beggar on the street rather than living in a golden house full of bullies like them.

She proceeded to feel her neck, and she managed to remove it effortlessly. Her hands trembled as the collar fell to the ground. Fear engulfed her body, and it was transmitted to me. I could only feel confused at the weird feeling she gave me.

“Lily? What happened? W-Why are your hands trembling? This feeling…”

“No… I am still a slave… all beastmen are slaves. There is no freedom for us… only different masters….” She said as she trembled. “My next master may not be better than Master Luigi… They would starve me or make me work until collapse… I must return….”

“Lily… Calm down…” I said toward Lily, who was having a mental breakdown.

After a while, Lily calmed down. The sun was beginning to set, but we still scouted our surroundings. After about 15 minutes of walking around, we found a dead hunter, presumably the companion who passed the troll to us. They left most of their stuff here.

“Finally, luck is on our side!” I cheered as I found a camping tool, cloak, buckler, and sword. The tent was destroyed, and other monsters had already scavenged the rations, but at least we found some camping tools. Living in this forest would be easier with these tools. The clothes and leather armor from the dead hunter did not fit Lily, so we didn’t take them.

“These belonged to the adventurers… if we take them, they will hit us….” Lily said

“No need to worry. The dead won’t hit you. If you are so concerned, when we meet with his friends, we can return this stuff!” I said with glee. I wrapped myself around the sword and tried to do a few swings with it. It felt off, but it’s doable.

“Okay, Lily, we need to find dinner! I wonder if there are any moss boar around.” As we wandered around, we immediately heard footsteps. It was several knights.

“they are one of Count Albert’s men….” Lily answered. She immediately came forward, but I stopped her. I have a horrible feeling about this.

“Wait. Just wait. Let’s follow them slowly. Don’t make any noise; use the cloak to blend with the surroundings.”

“Why?”

“Just a precaution. I had a bad feeling about this….” I replied. These knights came too soon. I bet they were Silvester’s men. Those kinds of guys would not care a single bit about us. They might blame everything on us, just like the company in my previous world blamed everything on me.

“Why are we here? Master Silvester already killed the rampaging trolls an hour ago. That braindead monster was seeking a death wish by charging him head-on. Even a goblin would not be so stupid.”

“Don’t fuck this up, man. We need to scout the surrounding for other monsters. If Silvester got his eye on you, you are dead. Even if you are a human, he can chop your head off like that Cain.”

“Eh? Cain is dead? Seriously?”

“Yeah. Silvester chopped his head off after he led the way here and called him a deserter.”

“Whoa… that’s fucked up. “

“Just nod your head for now and obey whatever he says. “

“Got it. Just need to kiss his butt and wag my tail like a dog, right?”

“Exactly. He is totally pissed right now since the bandit expedition was called off just to mourn that useless Luigi. Moreover, since the body was in a shabby mess, the count decided to use a closed coffin ceremony. “

“That’s a shame. It is going to be a scandal for Silvester.”

“Shh.. keep your voice down. I don’t want to die with you and your stupidity. I have a wife and a child!”

The soldiers were pretty chatty. I knew the soldiers that followed Luigi weren’t the sharpest tool in the shed. But it appeared that every soldier from count Albert was a butt-kissing slacker. They can’t even notice a child tailing them all this time. Now that I got all the information I need. We had to leave before some real soldiers sniffed our location.

“Okay, Lily. Let’s leave. You heard them, right? If we return, Silvester will kill us.”

Lily returned to the tree root while feeling dejected. The feelings transmitted to me were not sadness but worry and anxiety. I can only hang my tail while worrying with her about the future.