Chapter 7: Tail Companion

We went for another pig hunt and collected its meat. The following day, we left the tree root with all of our belongings. The place is no longer safe as wolves and goblins seemed to have wandered in but decided not to attack after they saw the corpses of the previous goblin raid party.

“Where are we going?”Lily asked. Her reluctance was felt by me.

“Anywhere but here. Maybe to the north?” I suggested.

“Okay…” She nodded and left. Going to the north leads deeper into the forest. We might meet more dangerous enemies. But going back would get us killed by Silvester. The choices that we had were either going north or going west.

Going west would lead to another country. But I am not sure if the treatment of demihumans like Lily would be better there. After looking at her status bar, the enslaved status is gone, but the slave job is still there. I don’t know how to remove them, and this job would be visible when we try to enter other countries.

“Hey!” Humans wearing rags came out from the bushes.

“D-drop your weapons!!” Several of them came out. A total of five people came out.

“Bandits!!” I totally forgot about these bandits. Silvester was supposed to get rid of these guys.

Lily dropped all her belongings except her sword and buckler. I also grabbed a sword with my tail. They shouted once again to leave everything behind. But we can’t do that. Without these camping tools, we would suffer going forward. And besides, if we go back, we would go back into the city.

“Lily… stand strong!” I said as the submissive Lily seemed to be intimidated by the bandits.

“Wait... she is a demihuman!” Another demihuman came and shouted. A female cat tribe. She wore pretty much the same rags as the other bandits.

Hmm… this group is odd. Aren’t all demihumans supposed to be enslaved? And yet, there are demihumans and humans there side by side.

“She might be a slave from the lords of the city! How can she roam around with a complete camping set? Beastmen should be poorer than us!” Another bandit roars. He is not wrong. Compared to some of the malnourished bandits here, we were indeed better than them. But I hope you didn’t think we lived a luxurious life.

“She doesn’t have a collar. She is safe. For now, let’s bring them to our hideout.” The catgirl spoke.

“Nora, Wait. We need to ask her first. Girl, what’s your name?” Another bandit came. He is a muscular man with scratches over him. Unlike the other malnourished man, this one really screamed a bandit from his appearance.

“My name is Nora. Here is my status.” She said.

“My name is Matheus. Here is my status,” he said.

A blue box appeared in front of them, and they displayed it to us. Whoa, level 35! We can’t beat him no matter what we try. I wonder if he can match that Silvester guy.

“M-My name is Lily… Open Status, turn public….” She said. Her status was opened. But just like she said earlier, we can only see her name, race, status, job, age, and levels.

“Lily, is showing your status to others like this okay?” I asked her telepathically

“Young Master Luigi often showed them to his friends. And the merchants always showed theirs to the lord,” she replied. It seems that displaying your status is a gesture to curry favor or show that you can be trusted.

Hmm… is it okay to show them our status? They are bandits, you know. There is too much information displayed, even in basic status. Especially our levels. But it doesn’t seem like we can beat Matheus anyway. We better wag our tails to him for a while and try to find an opportunity to run later.

“I see. Level 7, huh. Not bad.” Matheus replied.

“See! her status is normal. She might be a runaway slave. Just like me!” Nora replied while smiling.

“So, girl, Care to introduce yourself?” Matheus asked.

“I am a runaway slave… My previous master is Luigi Berhondst… second son of Count Albert Berhondst. The lord of Verundra city. Two days ago, Luigi went to the forest to level up with two of his knights. But suddenly, two trolls came and killed him with one of his knights. I escaped amidst the confusion.” Lucy parrotted everything I said to her. Her meek attitude would make this conversation harder, so I helped her. This seemed like a good chance. If we managed to find humans that didn’t discriminate against demihumans, we should join them.

“See!! She is just like me!!” Nora immediately came forward and hugged Lily in glee. She was so cheerful in contrast to Lily, that had that depressing and meek attitude. Watching them together feels like a dog and a cat, with their behavior switched. I inadvertently smiled at them.

“I see.” Matheus looked at us. “Will you join us? Lily?”

“Please! Join us! I will certainly promote your rank! You have several swords, right? You only need one, right? You also have a camping set and even a juvenile moss boar! We can share our tent! No, I will give you whatever I have! Please join us!!” Nora said while suggesting we donate our equipment to the group. She was so touchy that I could sense Lily’s skin crawl in displeasure. But deep down, I feel she got excited or happy for finally having a friend.

The meek Lily could only nod. The poor bandits carried our stuff except for the two swords in our hands. And thus, our new life began.