Happy to be finished with the tiny apothecary, we left Amoranth on foot and made for the dirt road running along the city’s wall. Just past the city was a sprawling field of wheat where dozens of people toiled away. A few gave us kind waves as we passed, but most ignored us. Feeding an entire city took a lot of work.

We hurried along and once we were good and far enough away from any possible spectators, I opened the map menu. Curious still since her last look had been interrupted, Yua leaned against my arm and looked upon it as if it were some sort of revolutionary magic tool and, in a way, it was.

Staring from our spot on the outskirts of Amoranth, I dragged the map towards Guerraway and skimmed the lands between, which were now thoroughly detailed thanks to Miss Bellenfort.

“Let’s see. If Guerraway is where we want to go, the fastest route to get there would be to go…”

 Mostly north. Shocker.

I’d already noticed the perfectionist detail of that drunkard’s map, but it was so exquisitely made that the safest route to Guerraway practically begged for attention. The path did zig-zag through trees and around small mountainous ranges a bit, but it deftly avoided all the dangers she marked for us. The same one we stood on lead right to where we needed to go. Though, it was actually just a line that cut through the plains where the grass and soil had been trampled flat over years of travel. The distance between the two cities was a little longer than the distance between Amoranth and our chain.

Assuming that the road was born from years of traders passing between the two cities, I turned to Yua. 

“With this, we’ll be there in no time. Are you ready to…”

“Ehhhh?!” she gasped. “Alex, look! Look right there!”

 Excitedly, she pointed towards a small village marked just below and to the left of Guerraway called Pumaria, right in the eastern center of the same forest we’d come to plunder. It wasn’t at all large and, in fact, I’d completely missed it. It was so out of place and so well hidden in the depths of the Dumort Forest that I wouldn’t be surprised if the people of Guerraway didn’t know about it. And just the sight of it had her tail whipping my side.

I guess Miss Bellenfort was no slouch at her job if she caught wind of it.

“Do you know that place?”

 “That’s my village! That’s where I was born and where my parents live!”

 “Really? Then that’s the northern tribe you mentioned when we met? Why didn’t you say you were from there when we accepted the quest?”

“Because I really didn’t know. We don’t call the forest Dumort. To us, there is no name. It’s the same for Pumaria. We just call it the village or home. The humans must have named them on their own.”

“Yea, we tend to do that… But then how do you know it’s the right place?”

Sure, a village hidden in a forest wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence, but it sure was convenient. And there were many forests in the world. In fact, Miss Bellenfort’s map shows no less than three.

Smiling giddily, her ears and tail sharing a delighted spasm, she pointed towards the western-most tip of the Dumort Forest where the trees gradually thinned into a curious short spiral on the map.

“There. I recognize this part of the forest. It’s where parent’s say goodbye to their children before they send them off for the dungeon challenge. It’s where I last saw…”

Biting her lip, her joy suddenly faded. She stared almost blankly at the map as she no doubt remembered that moment five long years ago. Remembered having to leave her home to chase her dreams, her love and passion for fighting that led to her being chained away in the city. The same city that once stole away her hope of tasting freedom again. Until we met, of course.

Her chains may have only been metaphorical, or maybe just magical, but I could imagine how many times that last moment with her parents played back in her mind these last five years.

It wasn’t hard. After all, I’ll probably never be able to see my own parents again.

“It’s close to where we need to go,” I said. “Why don’t we stop by and say hello?”

 “C-Can we, really?”

 Yua turned her emerald eyes to me, shining so clearly on the verge of tears that I almost couldn’t speak. And as if her gaze wasn’t enough to sway my very soul, she then added a bonus, completely forgetting that I already offered to take her.

“If we go, we might be able to get some Cure Poison potions. The village usually keeps a good supply of the essentials. A-And my mother is pretty adept at herbal remedies. Maybe she could help. They live inside the forest, after all!”

“Relax. Relax,” I said, throwing up my hands. “You don’t need to beg. I’d be happy to take you. You were worried your parents might be thinking you’re dead since you haven’t come back yet, right? I bet they would be happy to know that you’re alright.”

“Alex!”

With joyous tears in her eyes, Yua lunged into my arms as fast as she could without building up a running start. She nearly tackled me to the ground as she squeezed the life out of me. Fighting back against the strength she surely didn’t mean to put into her arms, I caressed her back, grit my teeth and silently enjoyed her happiness.

Regardless of quests and promises, we now had a pitstop to make that I wouldn’t let myself back out of.

“Okay,” I started, still rubbing her back as she wiped away her tears. “I get the name, but what about the poisonous animals there. Or the fact that Amoranth was just to the south? Did you not know that either?”

 With a smile, she shook her head.

“No, I didn’t. I knew there were poisonous animals, but the village kids aren’t allowed to enter that part of the forest. Only the Hunters and the warriors that have proved themselves in battle by beating the fifth floor of any dungeon on their own are allowed.”

Fifth floor? By themselves? I knew she was participating in some sort of test given by her people, but she almost died on the third floor! What the hell kind of standards are those?! And what kind of animals are we supposed to be worrying about that requires you to be that strong?

We might actually be a bit over leveled for the fifth floor at this point, but her people live right next to such dangers?

“I never knew Amoranth was to the south,” she continued, oblivious to my worry. “When leaving the village to train in the dungeons, our parents take us to that spot in the trees, have us close our eyes, face us in a direction of their choosing and then they give us a push. And we just go. We are to train using whichever dungeon we find first in that direction, regardless of how far away it is or how long it takes to get there.”

“They make you walk to a city at random? But there are so many. And they’re so far apart.”

Our teleporting across the Vierre kingdom the night we fled Amoranth took us what I estimated to be at least a few weeks’ worth of regular travel time and not once did we spot another city. As was proven by my mostly empty map. 

“The distance is part of the test,” Yua clarified. “Although, I think my father might have taken it easy on me. He had a really hard time making up his mind on where to send me. He twisted and turned me so many times that I was a little dizzy once I started walking. To think Amoranth was so close. Haha. It felt like it took months to walk there, but this map makes the distance look so small.”

Her curiosity for the map had turned into a full-blown affection as she traced a finger along the path from her homeland to the city. Meanwhile, I was struck speechless at the lengths her people went through just to prove themselves.

Their standards were baffling, so strict, that it was no wonder she was scared that she’d become weak and failed them. Her tears after beating the third floor of Amoranth’s dungeon must have weighed more on her than I ever could have thought.

“You don’t need to worry about my younger self,” she said. “Our parents give us good clothes to wear and plenty of food and water for the journey. It’s not like they were leaving us to die… Although, if we ever ran out of what they gave us, we’d have to work or forage for our own meals.”

“Well, that’s good, I suppose. You had me worried for a minute there. Still, we need to get going. It’s a little out of the way, but I’ll definitely take you there.”

 “Yes, please! Let me show my parents how strong you’ve made me!”

She bowed her head low to plead for something that, as far as I was concerned, was already a done deal twice over. So, I patted her head and gave a small laugh of approval.

“Let’s get going then. Judging by the distance compared to the size of Amoranth, even with teleporting, it might still take us a few hours to get there.”

It really was no wonder why Madame Turquesse hurried to get the quest to the guild when she did. She needed the Connefery flowers ASAP, but even by horse, I had to guess that your average Adventurer would need to travel two to three days nonstop just to get there, spend a day picking the flowers, only to then make the same trip back. No wonder why nobody took the quest before us.

“Why don’t you tell me about your village on the way?”

“I’d love to!”

As she started talking, I peered down the path ahead of us, memorized the detail of the furthest point my vision could reach and, after double-checking to make sure nobody was watching us, cast Dimensional Step. Blue specks of light swirled into existence and when the spell finished taking shape, I took her hand and stepped through the portal.

We came out at the other side and our line of sight switched instantly from the edges of farmland to a lush, green grassy plain the bent in waves beneath the gentle touch of the wind. We were already far enough from Amoranth that it looked as though I could pluck the city off the horizon and stuff it in my pocket. Traveling like this by day is so much easier. And with Yua’s homeland as our destination, it’s like this quest was made just for us.

Free from needing to worry about any magically-inclined voyeurs peeping on my magic, we had free reign to teleport as we pleased. I wasted no more time in opening the next portal.

As we walked, stopping only to prepare the next portal, Yua explained to me some of the history and customs of her people.

According to her tribe were similar to amazons, in that everyone practiced basic fighting and strength building exercises so they were always ready to fight. However, she told me that only those that show the most potential are allowed to leave and challenge the dungeons. Those that couldn’t hack it stayed behind to serve the village as guards, hunters, cooks and so on. Taking on the dungeon test was also a choice one had to make themselves. It was never forced.

 “… Because, if you yourself don’t think you’re ready, then you will inevitably fail.”

“That’s pretty harsh. What if you just doubted your own abilities because everyone around you was so much stronger?”

She shook her head, her long hair and cloak swaying in the generous breeze.      

“When our parents train us, they fight us with most, if not all of their strength for that exact reason. They rarely hold back. All to make us stronger and eliminate those kinds of weaknesses. There’s no point in worrying about who is or isn’t stronger than you. All that matters is how strong you are.”

Yua pumped her fist with the same look of pride in her own power that she wore every time we faced the dungeon together. She smiled a bit and continued.

“It also prepares us for our journey to the dungeons, because we are expected to meet many tough enemies along the way. And even more once we are inside the dungeon. If you can’t handle that much, then you aren’t even allowed to try. For your own safety.”

“It’s nice that your people don’t seem to force you to do what you are incapable of. But when you’ve completed the challenge, are you expected to go back to the village?”

“Only if you want to. By the time you get that far, you are already expected to make your own decisions in life. So, whether or not you go back is completely up to you. Many do, but not everyone.”

“But then, why were you so scared your parents thought you died in the dungeon? Wouldn’t they think you chose to stay and live with the humans?”

Yua took on a bit of a somber look as we stepped through the next portal, but she quickly put on a forced smile to keep up with her own determination.

“It’s because I swore to come back. My father is the chief of our tribe. So, it was my duty to join the ranks of the Expeditionary Force and prove myself further.”

What? Her father is the chief?! Did I unknowingly turn the daughter of a village chief full of beast-kin trained since childhood to be warriors into my slave?

“E-Expeditionary force?” I stammered, hoping I wouldn’t be executed on the spot once I brought her back. “What’s that?”

Her grin restored, she immediately launched into an explanation.

Though it may have sounded similar on paper and in title, the Expeditionary Force doen’t do what Miss Bellenfort had done. They don’t go around mapping out new lands for their people. Instead, they are more like traveling merchants that head to faraway lands to bring back foods and tools that they are otherwise unable to make themselves. They would use the foods they grew near their village, the leather and pelts dropped from the animals they hunted, the weapons they made and any coin their tribe had on hand to facilitate these trades.

And this was apparently done mostly on foot, which is why they needed to be so strong. They were expected to face many dangers during their trips and had to defend both themselves and their cargo. They were also going to need a tremendous amount of stamina to make it to their destination and back without dying.

According to Yua, this was the most dangerous job anyone in her village could take on. And therefore, it was a well-respected position.

“So, if I failed in the dungeon, I would only shame my father.”

“Well, you are plenty strong enough to finish the test, but…”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already chosen to live by your side. I know that, even after seeing my tribe again, I won’t be changing my mind.”

My heart burst into a fluttering panic. I was only going to try and suggest that she could prove to her parents that she was capable of doing such a task, then she hit me with a line that made me want to put off meeting her parents so I could drag her back to our cabin. Specifically, back to bed.

“Good to know. I wasn’t planning on giving you back to them anyways.”

“Hehe. The cat-kin do mate forever, remember? And we’ve mated plenty of times.”

 “Right!”

We continued our travels while Yua filled me in on more small details about her people. It only felt like a brisk walk to us, but we were actually making about a mile per jump. I watched the beautiful scenery fly by time and time again and was once again taken by the sights of nature that I was denied by living in a big city back on Earth.

It was only supposed to be a temporary stop, but after a month of living there, I come to love the area where we set up our cabin. But I wouldn’t mind moving it out here if Yua decided she wanted to be closer to her people. I bet that would make her happy.

The way she smiled so brightly as she held my hand and how her every step almost started as a skip, already had me drawing up plans for upgrading our cabin. Maybe moving and starting over while we actually had time to plan out our home would make the process easier.

I closed my eyes for a second to imagine it. Our little cabin in the middle of nowhere moved between two cities, one a large trading hub and the other a port city. And to their side, her homeland. If we positioned our home just right, we could teleport between the three at will. Assuming we could find places within them that were secluded enough to keep the spell a secret. And even if we couldn’t, the walk to any of the three wouldn’t be so bad.

“Oh, look! There’s the edge of the forest now!”

Still full of excitement, Yua pointed towards what looked like a small bundle of tree tops about a mile or two away. As I thought, a quick look at the clock on my HUD showed that it only took us about an hour to make it this far. Considering how a horse probably would have taken a full day or two to make it this far, I definitely couldn’t complain. I mean, thanks to my new body and improved stats, I wasn’t even sweating yet, let alone tired.

I opened up another portal and we stepped through and onto the edge of the forest that had been so far away only a second ago. Excited to see the village I had spent the last hour learning about, I stepped forward, ready to switch our teleporting travels to a nice hike through the trees, but stopped once I noticed Yua hanging back.

She bit her lip and, staring down at her feet, an almost pained apprehension drew itself plainly across her face, afflicting her beauty with doubt. She didn’t look up again, not until she stopped hearing my boots crunch the fallen twigs and leaves that were scattered about.

Thinking back on everything I just learned about her and her people, I wondered if her hesitation was born from returning without completing her dungeon test. Having even more time to play with than I thought thanks to my magic, maybe we should have made a quick stop at the dungeon. At this point, she was strong enough that clearing the fourth and fifth floors probably wouldn’t have taken all that long. Especially if she let me help.

“Something wrong? If you’ve changed your mind, we can…”

“I-It’s not that, Alex. It’s just…”

She pressed her knees together and wrapped her arms around herself and her hips started to sway. At first, I thought she might have been trying to give herself a reassuring hug before meeting with her parents again after a five-year absence to prove she wasn’t dead, but then a thought came to me.

“Oh, uh, if you need to pee, I can turn around…”

“N-No. I, um… To go any further, I would have to break one of your… One of Master’s orders. So…”

“An order? What order did I give you that would make you think you can’t walk through the forest?”

Baffled, I sprinted through memories of our daily conversations in search of something I said that she could have misunderstood as an order, but nothing really stood out to me. Hell, due to my want to treat her as a normal girl, most of the half-assed orders I did give her were more along the lines of requests, rather than actual honest-to-Goddess orders. And most of these were centered around trying to help her feel normal again. Like, say, forbidding her from sleeping on the floor.

“Does it maybe… Have something to do with your parents learning you were enslaved. Or something like that?”

I wasn’t taking her back entirely on a whim. I was well aware that once they found out she was enslaved, her parents might end up trying to force me to give her back to them. And I’d be on their turf, surrounded by their people. Yua herself already made it clear she’d side with me in such a scenario, but that didn’t mean they’d take it lying down.

 Although, I would like to be on good terms with her parents. She may still occasionally call me her Master, but if I could prove to them that I didn’t treat her like a slave…

“N-not that,” Yua said, shaking her head emphatically to deny my guess. “Th-The one I mean is how you ordered me not to show my naked body to any man other than you. And as your slave, I cannot willingly break that order.”

“… Pardon?”

I blinked hard, confused enough to wonder why my eyes couldn’t somehow unhear what she just said.

I was not expecting to have to relive the one order I made out of a jealous caution when we shared a bath in the semi-public space behind The Lazy Cat Inn.

“… What does that have to do with entering the forest?”

“Well, um… It’s just that, um, the cat-kin of my tribe don’t wear clothes unless we are planning to visit a human city. A-And I really want to return to my people as a cat-kin, not a slave. S-s-so I would need to take mine off and, um, well… there are men in my village, so…”

She gripped the front of her skirt and my eyes widened at her immediate lack of a laugh to prove she was only joking. Seeing Yua turn into a stuttering mess for the first time since meeting her, I instantly felt my thoughts on moving over here vanish in a cloud of white light.

“Wait, are you saying that everyone in your tribe is a nudist? Really? Why didn’t you mention that on the way here?”

 “S-Sorry! It just slipped my mind because I was having fun talking to you. I don’t have really good memory like you, so…”

Yua sharply dipped her head in apology, her shoulders shaking, as if still expecting to be hit after repeatedly telling her I meant to treat her better than that.

 “Uggh… I had fun too, but this is a bit much to spring on me at the last second, Yua.”

 “I’m sorry!”

She hurriedly bowed again. With a sigh, I patted her on the head to let her know she could stop. If I could trust her to shave my face with a blade as sharp as a sword, then I could trust that she was at least not lying to me now. Still, better safe than sorry.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I gave her the answer she was waiting for.

“Alright, Yua. This is honestly really hard for me to believe, but if you are serious about this, then please listen carefully to my next order.”

I hated using my rights as her master to prove a point, but I felt it couldn’t be avoided. As long as I worded it correctly, she wouldn’t be able disobey. Meaning I’d have the truth from how she responded. Her expression was way too serious for this to be some misguided joke, but just the thought of her parading herself around the forest in her birthday suit had my cheeks burning.

Yua, however, stood firm and nodded without hesitation.

As baffling as this sudden declaration was, she clearly had no issues undressing around me anymore. So, there should be little to no embarrassment for her now. We may be in the open, but we were alone. And if she was telling the truth about her people, then that could lend some idea as to why it only took a few days to get her to open up to me that much. And on a lesser note, why it was she as a young woman had absolutely no sense for fashion.

“Right here and right now, I order you to undress. Take off every single piece of clothing you have on right now, but only if you are telling me the absolute truth about your people.”

Besides, if she was truly serious, then there was a strong possibility that the men in her village wouldn’t necessarily look at her in a lecherous way, anyway. To a village of nudists, the naked body, even that of a beautiful girl like her, should just be a common sight. So, there should be no need for me to feel jealous, right? And I’d be in the same boat, seeing parts of other women that should be hidden, right? That probably even goes for her mo…ther…

Shit. Can I undo the last five minutes?

“Yes!” she exclaimed, robbing me of my chance for a do-over. “Oh, thank you! Thank you!”

Without further pause and with her bright smile returned to her, Yua skipped the bow this time and lunged into my chest to kiss me. Then, right there under the unrestrained eyes of the Sun up above and in front of the audience of trees making up the forest beside us, she began to undress.

With a bright, cheery smile completely devoid of any ill meaning or trickery, Yua began to undress as casually as though she were simply getting ready for a bath back home. Quickly and quietly, she pulled off her backpack and set it on a nearby stump. She then unbuttoned her cloak and unceremoniously shrugged it off her shoulders to stuff it in her bag.

As far as my breath-stopping bewilderment went once her dainty fingers drifted up to start untying her blouse, once the leather straps holding up her breasts loosened and the two soft mounds fell into a more relaxed position, I realized once and for all that she truly wasn’t joking. But that was not all that I noticed.

Something curious caught my attention. And no, it was not because I was reminded of just how much of her slender beauty that thick cloak truly hid. Instead…

“Um, Yua, where’s the bag of coin I gave you?”

“Eh?”

Somehow, it was my ears that caught the lack of clinking coins when she dropped her cloak. Likewise, there was no green bag tied to her hip where I saw it last. And while her diet had improved since meeting me, she was still slender enough that noticing the bulge of a coin purse on her person would have been easy. Only, nothing was there.

Her ears shot up before she even looked, hearing the lack of that distinct sound all too late. Then, trembling, she let go of her blouse to face me.

“I-I’m so sorry! The bag was just so light that I barely felt it. I don’t know where it went!”

Light?! I gave you at least 10 gold’s worth of small coins. It should be at least a little heavy.

“Is it in your bag?” I said, pulling it open.

But as I had already stored our supply of stamina potions in my item box, the only thing inside was her cloak. I checked in all the bag’s pockets just in case, thinking she might have just forgotten stuffing it away, but nothing was there.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Yua cried. “You trusted me with your money and I…”

“Yua, it was your money. Not mine. Besides, I still have plenty of coin for the both of us in my item box. I guess… No, it’s not that big a deal.”

Although, I did work pretty hard trying to turn her shirt into a nice bag, so she wouldn’t regret wearing it…

“I’m more worried about how you lost it.”

The only thing she bought was breakfast. So, she definitely didn’t run out of coin. But she couldn’t have dropped it. Sure, we had some fun chatting as we walked the streets of Amoranth, but her ears definitely would have picked up the sound of a bag of metal coins hitting the street. Then how?

You know, when I promised to get you your pork, that meant I was going to pay, right?

I was no detective, but my Memorization trait caught on to the most logical course of events.

As we walked to the Adventurer’s Guild, Yua had pat her bag of coin to boast about buying my breakfast. Then that Lilt girl bumped into her by the quest board. She even said she saw us before that, saying that I looked like a tourist.

She must have seen Yua pat her bag. So, she knew where it was and how to grab it when she bumped her. How the hell did I not notice?

“Goddess, damn it,” I said, palming my forehead. “I’m too naïve.”

I’d jumped to conclusions again. This time, I assumed Lilt was innocent, because I knew accidents and bad situations could easily turn people into thieves. After all, Yua was innocent, too. At least in my book.

“I’m sorry!” Yua cried again.

“It’s… fine. I think I know what happened. The info box of that Lilt girl we ran into at the guild said she was a Thief, but I ignored it. She must have taken your coin when she bumped you.”

“Wha… But, I didn’t feel….”        

“It’s fine, Yua, really,” I said, heaving a great sigh. “It’s just a bag. And we can make the gold back by beating the first boss in the dungeon again. It’s really not a big deal.”

 “It’s not fine,” Yua barked, stomping hard enough to shake her blouse loose. “It was a present you gave me! I’ll… I’ll definitely get it back!”

Stomping again, this time with honest tears streaming down from a glare fierce enough to know she was out for blood, Yua started back towards Amoranth. But I jumped to grab her wrist and stopped her.

“Yua, calm down. She’s probably long gone by now.”

Lilt ended our conversation by taking a quest slip of her own. I may not be able to suggest how it was a Thief would be able to accept a guild quest without being caught by the scrying orb, but I distinctly remember there being no quests available within the limits of Amoranth. Which means she may have already set off to who knows where, same as us. So, even if we teleported straight back to the city, we were still likely too late.

“I can make you a another bag later. Really. We can try and track her down later. But for now, let’s go see your parents.”

Perhaps seeing my logic, or maybe it was just the reminder of why we came here, Yua stopped her march. She turned on her heel, biting her lip as if to try and stem the flow of tears before giving in and wiping them away with her arm.

In a situation such as this, seeing how her blouse had been left in such disarray for me to see the entirety of her cleavage, I should have carefully fixed her clothing for her to save her some embarrassment, but my promise to take her home stood firm. I didn’t want to use her anger with Lilt to let me back down from this.

While she composed herself, and as I tried to suppress my jealousy for what her people were about to see, I undid the last strap holding her top together and helped her to pull it over her head. The moment the perfected shape of her breasts and their pink tips were left bared to the sun and her connection to her people had gotten just a little closer, she found the strength to let out a small smile. 

“We’ll deal with Lilt later when we go back.”

“O-Okay. Sorry.”

With her breasts now free and with them feeling the same breeze that cooled my face, she let her smile broaden just a little as she bent over to carefully stuff her blouse into her bag, looking as though she really didn’t want to let any of my presents touch the dirty ground.

 She turned a hopeful look to the wall of trees and her tears vanished. Working quickly, she undid the small clasp holding up her skirt, loosened and stepped out of it only to then immediately put it away with her shirt. There wasn’t so much as a hint of embarrassment on her cheeks. Nor was there a single thread of clothing to cover her bare vagina.

Wait, what?

 Yua knelt to start on her boots and the knees socks she wore only at my behest, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the perfectly smooth slit that had happily handled all of my desires this last month. And how utterly defenseless it looked. The discrepancy between what I gawked at and my expectations was too jarring.

Then it dawned on me. How did she lose her bag of coin without noticing?

The answer: this world worked partially like a video game.

“Um, Yua… A question.”

“Hmm?”

“You said that the slaves you lived with in the slave house taught you a few things about thieves, right?”

This caught her attention and, perhaps assuming I meant to bring up her lost coin again, she stood up straight.

Yup. She definitely wasn’t wearing anything down there.

“Yes, why?”

“It’s just… Did they ever mention thieves having some sort of ability that lets them steal from their victims without even touching them?”

“Oh, yes. But only the really, really skilled. They have an ability called Snatch that lets them do just that. Only, they have to know the person is holding the item they want to steal. Why? Do you think that’s how she stole the bag?”

“Maybe...”

That was a definite possibility, though it also gave reason to why Lilt bumped into her not once, but twice.

“She… Lilt, uh… Took something else from you.”

“Eh?! What?”

Flustered and furrowing her brow, Yua started digging through her bag again, looking for what clearly wasn’t’ there. And as she did, she bent over. Facing me, staring at me, was proof of her second loss.

“Yua… You were wearing panties when we left the cabin, right?”

Her head shot up, her eyes growing wide yet again.

No, sorry. It’s just… skirts are so breezy.

Leave it to a girl that was apparently a former nudist not to notice that her underwear had been stolen. But why the hell would a thief like Lilt steal another woman’s underwear? They weren’t exactly expensive.

After a brief look down between her thighs, as her eyes apparently needed to see what she definitely couldn’t feel, Yua glared in the direction of Amoranth. Feeling as though she might start off towards the thief, this time butt naked, I stepped in front of her. 

“Again, Yua. Your parents now. Lilt later. And when we catch her, you can punch her square in the face for both of us. But for now… Um… do you think I should join you? In, uh, taking off my clothes?”

I blurted the question in the spur of the moment, influenced in no small part by the unbearably sexy girl in front of me, but when the words left my mouth, Yua’s face brightened once more.

I never would have thought the promise of nudity coming from a man could brighten anyone’s mood so much. And now it feels like I’m bribing her to do what she already wanted to do.

 “W-Would you really do that for me? You don’t have to.”

Maybe not, but putting Lilt aside to think logically, if this tribe were truly all nudists, then me wearing clothes while walking amongst them would only make me stand out all the more. And my being a human likely meant I was already going to be somewhat of a pariah. Moreover, Lilt’s theft of her things was entirely my fault for not speaking up as soon as I noticed what she was.

I’d hate to be the reason why she gave up on meeting her parents. So, it was on me to fully support her now. Maybe I could just siphon off some of the easy-going confidence she had in just standing here fully nude. And maybe, just maybe, I won’t die of embarrassment.

Not to mention that me being around her might help keep the other men’s eyes off of her. They haven’t seen her in five years. They don’t know how beautiful she is now.

“I’ll do it. I’m here with you, Yua. If this is how your people live, then I want to stand by your side how they would… At least while we’re here.”

Clasping her hands over the smile she utterly failed to conceal, Yua let out a small squeal of delight. Dashing to me, she grabbed hold of my arm and hugged it dangerously between her breasts. Her tail fluttering about behind her, she gazed excitedly into my eyes.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! Do you want me to help?”

“Huh? Oh, no. I can handle it myself.”

I drew in a breath and separated myself from her. Coming here was my idea in the first place, so showing up as the only one wearing clothes in a village of nudists seemed like it would be just as weirdly rude as it’d be showing up to a suit-and-tie dinner wearing only a dirty track suit.

Still, now that I know she really wants me to join her, and seeing her standing there so easily with her breasts, ass and pussy all equally and totally exposed, I still felt the need to ask if this was somehow a joke.

But I shook my head to jazz up some resolve. Just enough to make her happy.

Attempting to discard enough of my embarrassment to take my cheeks down from a boiling mess to just a steamy nightmare, I pulled of my cloak and handed it to Yua. She set about stuffing it into her bag with her things as I worked on my belt. Because I was forfeiting my cloak and my belt pouch, I wouldn’t be able to discreetly access my item box like I usually do while here. We’d have to carry our things normally.      

I handed her my shirt, boots, socks and then my pants, but hesitated a bit to remove the final piece while she put the rest away, locking it all away behind the barrier that was my will to see my promise through to the end. I gulped and gripped the band to my underwear, but didn’t move any further.

Am I really doing this? I mean, it’s already pretty chilly just standing here like this, but I nearly had a heart attack when someone walked in on me while I was taking a bath back at the inn. And now I’m about to bear it all in the middle of an entire village?

Yua gave me a sympathetic smile, like she knew exactly what I was thinking, and when I hesitated once more in removing the last line of defense towards my sense of modesty, she stepped forward. No doubt she meant to offer her support once again, but I put up a hand to stop her.

What sort of man would I be to let her go through this while I clung to a safety net? My idea of doing better in this new life didn’t mean to involve willingly partaking in public nudity, but I could see how much it meant to her that I at least try.

Seeing that my mental debates would go on forever if I didn’t take action, I yanked my underwear down in one quick motion and handed them to Yua. She gave an appreciative smile for my efforts while I did my best to endure the sudden rush of what felt like an arctic blast against my nether region. I had crossed the line of no return.

Without so much as a glance at the monster now dangling freely between my legs, she pulled her backpack back onto her shoulders before she wrapped her arms around me to enact in some public indecency together.

“Thank you for this, Alex. I know it’s not normal for humans, but it makes me really happy. If it ends up being too much for you, don’t hesitate to let me know.”

I swallowed my embarrassment along with her thanks and hugged her back. Hugged her probably a little too tight, considering our physical location and which of our bits and pieces touched each other.

“D-Do you know the way from here, Yua?”

 “I do. Please, follow me.”

She took my hand, apparently unconcerned that those of her tribe might use our affection against us as she did in the city, and took us into the forest.

 

I had trouble at first, walking all over and around dead leaves, fallen branches and twigs and all while wondering how doing so didn’t hurt Yua’s bare feet as much as it did mine. But like she probably had years before me, I was slowly getting used to it. Instead, I had to fight the constant temptation of covering myself while Yua carried her nudity with a completely natural ease.

Yua continued to lead us through a small dirt path that casually wound through the trees. I hadn’t exactly stopped to observe her feet last night in bed or this morning in the bath, but were they tougher than they looked? I supposed they would have to be if she used to live out here like this. Or maybe it was just a beast-kin thing?

Doesn’t matter. Just have to take it one step at a time and be thankful that the map showed us as being a ways away from the village, where nobody could see us. Yet.

“Oh, hey. A Jack Rabbit.”

Distracting myself from the ungracious breeze between my legs that, unlike the pain in my feet, was growing harder to ignore with each step we took, I pointed to what looked like an exact copy of the first animal I saw in this world. It lifted its crown of thorns to the sky, saw me pointing at it, but stayed cautiously still.

Yua in turn giggled, much like a mother amused by her child’s naïve wonderment upon seeing literally anything even remotely interesting for the first time.

“There are many Jack Rabbits in this side of the forest. There are also a several kinds of birds, foxes and even some Brawler Bears in the caves not too far from here.”

“Brawler Bears?”

Suddenly alert at the name drop of one of the forest’s deadliest predators, I tensed up and started running through my list of spells and how I might use them incase danger found us.

I now had two spells that would risk burning down this entire forest if misused. And while I knew Water Ball was about as powerful as its fiery counterpart, for some reason I felt as though all I’d achieve in using it against such a creature would be to turn it from a Brawler Bear into a Soggy Bear.

That leaves Rock Through and Strangle Thorn. Which were the ones I had the least experience using. And, if the bears here were as large as the ones on Earth, I doubted my sword would be of much help.

“It’s okay to relax,” Yua laughed. “The bears here a huge, but they know that my people are stronger than them. So, they don’t come near the village often. Plus, they mainly eat fruits and honey.”

“Don’t come often? Doesn’t that mean they still do?”

“Mm. Sometimes, but that’s only when their leader wants to fight for dominance over the forest. Happens every few months or so. And when it does, it’s up to the village head, my father, to fight their alpha-male one on one.”

Every few months? Well, if Yua can handle a wolf half her size, hearing that a likely more experience fighter could handle a bear honestly wasn’t all that strange.

“Really? Your dad must be really strong then.”

“Yes, he really is,” she said, proudly puffing out her bare chest. “In fact, the only time he` ever got hurt in a fight, was because he’d been drinking when a particularly large bear showed up to challenge him. After the fight, when he came back covered in blood, he threw away the Health Potion my mother gave him and chose to let the wound heal on its own. That way, he’d remember his mistake every time he looked at his scar…”

 As she spoke, she raked her fingers down over her cheek and to the center of her chest, likely mimicking where his scar was. Then she smiled a bit wryly.

“He’s told me the story so many times that I kind of got bored of it.”

Your dad fought a giant bear while drunk, won and wears a scar on his presumably naked body to prove it. And you think that’s boring? That sounds like something that should be turned into a legendary fable!

We continued through the forest a while longer until Yua’s cat ears pricked up and she stopped. I recognized it immediately as a sign of danger that I couldn’t yet see. Assuming it was none other than one of those bears, I readied myself for battle, but she threw up a hand to block me before I could pull my sword from my item box.

Seconds later I heard the faint snap of a twig somewhere nearby.

“Alex, quickly. Raise your arms like this.”

She raised both of her hands in the air and stood with her feet hip’s width apart, making an X-shape with her body. Feeling the seriousness in her voice, I did as she said.

“What’s this for?”

“It’s to show that we have no weapons and that we mean no harm.”

Ah, yes. Being naked and splaying your body out like this ought to be more than anyone could ever be needed to show you aren’t armed. Hopefully they don’t take the sight of my monster as a literal threat to their safety.

The sounds around us all stopped in unison. Whoever was out there was observing us cautiously as they hid amongst the trees. I could see nothing, but Yua was focusing on one spot where the number of trees was most dense. Once the forest had gone deathly quiet, Yua started to speak.

                “I am Yua, daughter of Chief Tama. I am back from my training in the dungeons. I’ve brought someone with me. Please do not harm him!”

                Soon after her declaration, a pair of slim, yet muscular men holding spears appeared from behind the trees. As they approached, I saw that they were indeed wearing nothing on their bodies but the pointed cat ears atop their heads. And like Yua, were without a hint of shame as their bits and pieces dangled out in the open.

                They walked up to us, spears at the ready, and stopped only once they had gotten about ten feet away. They looked me over fast enough to assess that I truly wasn’t a threat, but their attention openly lingered on Yua. However, just as I thought, they didn’t seem to be looking at her with any sort of mal intent.

                On the contrary, after a brief moment of squinting, both men broke into jovial smiles and nodded to one another once they got a good look at her, not at her naked body.

                “It really is you, Daughter Yua. We had started to give up hope that you would return … Who’s this man?”

                “He is my mate and my master.”

                “Master?”

                “W-Why would you tell them that?” I whispered hoarsely and likely pointlessly considering the combined ear twitch of all non-humans present.

                “Because they’d know if I lied,” Yua said honestly without taking her eyes off them.

                Apparently these two, if not everyone else in the village, were walking talking lie detectors like Yua. Fantastic.

The men turned a pair of sour gazes towards me and clenched their spears. They clearly knew what the title Master implied. I tensed up, ready to defend myself however I could if the need arose. Though I was most definitely shaking in the boots I wasn’t even wearing.

These men weren’t mindless monsters like what we fought in the dungeons. They were trained warriors. And if they were trusted to guard the perimeter of the village like this, then they must be good at what they do. Meanwhile, the only knowledge I had in fighting came from the free class I was given for just touching a sword.

However, despite my mind racing to come up with a combination of spells that would end the fight mostly painlessly for Yua’s sake, she bravely stepped up between the three of us before anything could happen.

“I asked that you do not harm him. Alex has been incredibly kind to me. I am his slave, but I swear on my ears and tail that he treats me as his mate. More importantly, he has made me much, much stronger.”

Casually dropping the same promise that ended with her being enslaved in the first place, Yua lifted her arm to flex her bicep at them, but her arms were so thin that I didn’t think they would buy it.

Then one of the men, the one with his long dark brown hair pulled back into a pony tail sniggered.

“If you let yourself be captured as a slave, you can’t be all that strong.”

Wow. No love for finding out your fellow tribesman was enslaved? You could at least ask what happened, you dick.

Unlike my annoyed mental backlash, Yua only smirked right back at him and adopted her signature fighting pose, that of a mix between a boxer ready to strike and the mountain-like rigidity of a professional martial artist. Somehow, likely due the lack of clothing, it was clear as day that her legs were steady, but limber enough to move her entire body with ease.

“Care to test my strength, then?”

Despite the fact that this rather thin girl was completely naked and had barely any visible muscle to her name, she was completely in her element.

The pony tail man sniggered again and readied his spear. His friend stepped aside, but I quickly checked the former’s info box to see what Yua was getting herself into.

The pony tail man’s name was Haru and he was a level 8 Beast and Spear-Warrior combo. Yua held a level of 10 in both her own Beast-Warrior and Monk classes, which meant that she at least had the upper hand where numbers were concerned. But this man had a spear. And it wasn’t one of the worthless pieces of trash the dungeon goblins dropped. Haru’s spear was about as tall as he was and was clearly well-made.

But Yua’s fierceness was unwavering.

She remained confident in her ability to fight, regardless of the handicap. So, I stepped back as well, but readied myself to sneak a potion and my sword from my item box.

The two warriors stared each other down, quietly sizing each other up. As if meaning only to meet her challenge head on, not once did Haru’s eyes wonder down to the softer parts of her body. Not in the slightest. For that, at least, he had my thanks.

Since the challenger, Yua, did not make the first move, Haru did. With a deep howl to show his strength, he lunged at Yua with the spear tip aimed for her chest. This was only supposed to be a test of strength, but his strike left no doubts that he fully intended to kill.

However, Yua smacked the spear away with the back of her hand just before the tip could reach her. Surprised, Haru staggered. She lunged at him, kicking up forest debris in her wake. Dipping down beneath his thrust without stopping charging her Iron Fist, she launched into a full-forced punch straight into the man’s unguarded stomach.

It connected and he lurched. His eyes went wide from the sudden blow and the speed at which it was delivered to him. He dropped his spear on the spot and held his stomach. A single cough filled with spittle and blood escaped his mouth before he almost blindly put a hand on Yua’s shoulder for support.

Before either of us could protest his touch, his friend quickly came to collect both him and his spear. I could tell Haru’s touch was not meant for his own gratification, but as a genuine attempt at preventing himself from falling down. So, I chose to let it go and so did Yua.

“Daughter Yua,” Haru’s friend said for him. “You truly have become stronger. We’re sorry for doubting you. Please follow us.”

Wait, that was it? That didn’t even last ten seconds. Did three days with me in the dungeon really give Yua so much of a boost strength that overpower one of the village’s guards seconds after meeting him? In a single punch?

Purely for Yua’s sake, I checked Haru’s info box to make sure she didn’t accidentally kill him.

This second man, Maki, lifted his injured friend up over his shoulder while Haru himself blinked repeatedly. At first, I thought he might have been confused, but when his gaze started to look a little empty, I guessed he was just trying to stay conscious. Unconcerned with this, Maki carried him much like a sack of potatoes, seemingly equally unconcerned for the fact that a certain bare, unfortunately-male appendage of Haru’s was most likely pressing against him.

He walked ahead of us without looking back to make sure we were following. Given their cat ears only differed from Yua’s by color and size, they could easily tell if we were following.

Yua, though, wasn’t moving. She continued to stand where she’d finished the fight and, with her arms still up in front of her face, her entire body started shaking. Before I could say a word, she jumped into the air with a cry of success that sent her chest bouncing wildly.

“Alex, I did it! I won my first duel since coming back!”

“Congratulations…? I’m proud of my strong Yua.”

Confused, but taking her joy as a sign that we were safe again, I patted her head after she leapt into my arms for another hug.

Feeling a bit less tense now that I had undeniable proof that Yua wasn’t lying about the nudism and that I had some of an idea of how this tribe worked, I hugged her back. And when she was done celebrating, we followed our guides to the village. They wasted no time bringing us there.

The second the endless rows of trees came to an abrupt halt, we set foot into a clearing nestled deep within the forest and a sprawling, but noticeably homey-looking village opened up before us. My eyes widened so much at the sight of it that the fear of them popping out of my head was definitely real. Yua smiled wryly at me as she pulled me along, but for the life of me, not even for the price of every single coin I’d ever own in this life, could I look away. I could never look away.

All around me were cat-kin and as promised, every single one of them was completely naked. Not a shred of protective cloth or armor could be seen for miles.

From the men guarding the boundaries of the forest, with both their spears and their spears eternally at the ready, to the women sticking chunks of meat onto skewers and lining them up to cook over the large bonfire at the center of the camp, before letting their breasts wobble freely as they wiped away their sweat. Naked bodies of varying shapes and sizes, all of them lean and perfectly fit, were walking, standing, sitting, working and playing around or just talking and enjoying each other’s company without so much as blushing.

What’s worse, was that all of the women I could see were gorgeous enough to say that I had no other choice but to accept that being born as a cat girl meant that you were destined to be beautiful. It was a fact set in stone. Their breasts and butts varied in sizes and shapes just like their bodies, just like anyone else’s, but they hid none of it. Not even when the men with their equally varyingly-sized members hanging out walked by to greet them, chat or give them a kiss as they returned from what looked like a hunting trip, judging by the fallen deer draped over their shoulders.

“My village is pretty amazing, right?

Seeing off Maki and Haru with a nod, and with her ears and tail flicking about excitedly, Yua held out a hand to present her village as though she’d turned into a gameshow host. I scrambled to pick my jaw off the floor to answer.

“Y-Yea. It looks really nice. But do you all really sleep in tents?”

The only sort of housing in the village, the only forms of leather available that could hide one’s body from the others, were the dozens of tents stretching over the entire clearing. There were no other solid structures found anywhere in eyesight, save for the thicker tree branches holding up some of the tents and the large stone temple-like building nestled away where it sat barely visible at the back end of the village.

“Yup,” Yua answered happily. “Cat-kin prefer to be one with nature, so we sleep outside. Sometimes, if the weather is nice, we don’t even use the tents.”

So, everyone just sleeps outside naked? These people took living with nature to a whole different level.

“Amazing...” I mumbled, wondering if she could hear the sheer turmoil of my heart as a group of cat girls stood from the logs they sat on to move somewhere else, their tails drawing my attention before I snapped out of my perverted delirium. “I’m, uh, glad I brought you here.”

“Hehe. Thank you. Now, let’s go find my parents.”

Yua took my hand and led me straight through the crowd of naked cat-kin without any regard for her, my or their privacy. And naturally, none of them seemed to care. A few of them did look confused when they saw me, but not because I too shared in the nudity. Their eyes quickly found out about my lack of cat ears or tail.

Again and again, my humanity was noticed, taken into consideration, mulled over, then to my surprise, all but completely ignored. Their initial confusion and the occasional cautious glances they shot my way all quickly flew away when they noticed the beautiful girl holding my hand.

“Hey! Daughter Yua is back! Daughter Yua has returned from the dungeons!”

We’d been on our way to the back of the village near the temple where the largest tent was sat at the crest of a small hill, when one of the men that noticed Yua started to shout.

In all my years, no matter how long I live this life, I will never forget the sight of an entire village of cat-kin prick up their ears in unison. It was as if the village grounds were suddenly filled with hundreds of small furry spikes trying to spear the sky itself.

Without exception, all stopped what they were doing and ran to surround us, all of them smiling, all of them vying to greet Yua in what felt like a hero’s triumphant return.

Confused as I was, and despite the presence of no less than fifty equally naked men, I had a hard time controlling my eyes once all the cat girls joined the fray. Never before had I thought it’d be possible to experience whiplash while standing completely still.

As they gathered, a sense of claustrophobia that reminded me of my past loner’s life started to set in. But none touched her. Though they filled up enough of the space to make my every breath feel a little strained, none tried to touch her. No hugs. No pats on the back. Not even a handshake. A few even glanced at our interlaced fingers and took a step back. Then, several of them flicked their ears, hearing something amongst the clamor that drew their attention.

“Big Sis!”

A loud cry from behind the mob sounded out. Yua smiled warmly at the sound of the voice, but it took the crowd between us separating before I could put a face to it.

There, a girl noticeably slimmer and much more petite than Yua stepped into view. Sporting long, messily black hair that fell low enough on her body to almost look like she was wearing a top, she shoved her way through the crowd as if they were holding her back.

None actually stood between them, but every single one of them smiled softly for this small girl.

When she saw Yua, saw the girl that had so suddenly become the center of everyone’s attention, her eyes widened in a disbelief that suggested she had doubted her own cat ears at the sound of her voice. It took less than a second for this girl’s eyes to start to water and, her lips quivering, she sped through the crowd and jumped to latch onto Yua.

Once Yua wrapped her arms lovingly around the crying girl and patted her head to comfort her, I almost instantly felt as though I didn’t belong. That I could not dare step in between this reunion.

“I’m back, Mana.”

“Big Sis!”

The girl, Mana apparently, buried her face between the much taller girl’s breasts and sobbed openly. All the women around us continued to smile softly at the loving reunion, a few even followed in Mana’s footsteps and started to tear up. Meanwhile, all the men let out a raucous round of cheers for the return of their chief’s daughter.

The deafening celebration seemed to go on forever until this Mana girl sniffled and, without removing herself from Yua’s cleavage, started jumping for joy against her.

Looking only slightly troubled, Yua lifted the girl out of her bosom and pulled her over to stand before me. She probably only meant to give the girl a proper introduction, but the moment I fully saw this cat girl’s face, all other thoughts ground to halt so jarring I almost fell over.

What stood before me in this wonderfully petite package was none other than the purest exhibition of adorableness that could ever hope to exist in this world or any other. Her hair, jet black in color, held a messy wildness that gave her the appearance of having only just now rolled out of bed. But at the same time, it was nothing a quick comb of your fingers couldn’t fix.

The great big, irrefutably adorable eyes making up the centerpiece of her otherwise equally cute face were a pair of light blue globes that each had a picture-perfect image of a clear sky imprinted in them. Wiping her tears, she gazed up, first to Yua in confusion, then at me. Her lips, a glossy, vibrant shade of sakura petal pink twisted in a mild confusion that suggested she wanted to ignore me to spin around and hug Yua again. But her nose, sniffing the air in front of me was, well, it was cute as a button.

Her body was, as mentioned, petite, but in every way imaginable. Her breasts were tiny enough to say they’d only barely fit in my hand if all sanity had been lost on me and I dared to reach out and touch her, just to see if she were real. Everything from her chest to her waist was incredibly slender, but not in a way that suggested she was malnourished. In fact, she had the tiniest bit of plumpness that rounded out her hips perfectly.

She tilted her head, blinking, and then looked at my chest for some reason. Then she smiled.

 

 

Along with her curiosity, came with the most unmissable aspect of her cuteness. A pair of pointed cat ears flicked atop her head as she met my staring with some of her own. Upon closer inspection, notably after she removed her face from Yua’s breasts, even her ears were smaller than her “Big Sis’s.” The same couldn’t be said for her tail, though. The same shade of jet black as up top made itself known there as well as it repeatedly swished against and entangled itself with Yua’s.

In short, this girl was cute. Ungodly cute. And too tiny. Much too tiny. She barely stood as tall as my chest. The second I realized this, regained my faculties and my brain restarted, I focused hard on her to check her info box. Assuming this girl to be a child and that, upon observing her in so unerring much detail, that I was about to be arrested as a pervert by whoever policed the tribe, I desperately checked her age.

Upon finding my answer, I sighed almost hard enough for my knees to buckle and for Yua to tilt her head.

The girl was eight-teen. Same age as Yua. Apparently, genetics just hadn’t been as kind to her as it was her Big Sis. Though this girl’s cuteness was on a whole other level.

Not higher than Yua’s, mind you. Just different. Yua definitely had the girl-next-door vibe when it came to beauty, but Mana was cuteness incarnate.

After that mini heart attack, and while I was chastising myself for thinking of this girl in any such way when I already had Yua, Yua put her hands on the girl’s shoulder’s and finally began her introduction.

“Alex, this girl is Mana. She’s been like a sister to me ever since we were kids. We used to play and fight together all the time. Mana, this is Alex. He is my mate and my master.”

“Oh? Um, it’s nice to meet you.”

While it was mildly disturbing to think Yua had actually ever raised a fist at this girl, mainly because she was barely a level 2 Beast-Warrior, I still felt it was my guilt for allowing this girl to make my heart flutter that made my greeting feel forced and awkward.

However, when Mana looked up at me with a deeply confused expression, I got the impression that it wasn’t because I was trying so hard not to look down once her hair uncovered her petite bust and the light pink tips she left out on display.

“Master?” she said. “Big Sis, are you this male’s slave?”

I blinked. I thought my brain had done a complete reboot once I managed to calm myself, but memory served to show that Yua once more introduced me as her master.

Here we go. I knew it was going to come, but I didn’t think I needed to hope that it wouldn’t while I was surrounded by the entire village. Why hadn’t my Luck stat kicked in to at least prevent this girl from airing out that natural question until we were alone?

And just as naturally, everyone in the village with a pair of cat ears, meaning literally everyone, heard this. And because they heard it, that meant that Mana just pointed out to everyone that Yua was my slave. Instead of falling on her the way Maki and Haru’s did, everyone’s gazes turned towards me and I suddenly felt very small.

Unconcerned with the crowd’s reaction, Yua hugged her friend again and spoke sweetly.

“Yes, I am. And I couldn’t be happier to be with him.”

“Happy? But…”

Just when I found myself admiring Yua for how calmly she managed to both answer the question and defend me at the same time, Mana broke free from her hold and ran over to me. Thinking that Mana was finally going to dole out the punishment Yua was unable to, I braced myself for the impact of a well-deserved punch.

But she didn’t hit me. Didn’t even raise a fist or pull out an unscrupulously hidden blade to stab me. And I honestly couldn’t figure out if what she ended up doing was worse.

The second she was, damn myself for thinking so, within touching distance, she raised her chin to the sky much like Yua does when searching for enemies, but her smaller ears didn’t flick cutely. Instead, she inhaled sharply through her nose. And when her chin came back down, she started to flip-flop between glaring at me and tilting her head curiously.

Said curiosity didn’t last long, however, as she immediately started running circles around me, sniffing me loudly from every direction and angle. All while wagging her tail. Under the chorus of painful glares, I could do nothing but stand there and let it happen.

Seriously. I know their ears define them as cat-kin, but with her circling around me to catch my scent the way a dog would another dog while on a walk in the park, I couldn’t help but….

Oh! What?! Yup. Nope. Definitely a dog. No doubt about it now. Those cat ears are a damned lie.

Ending her one-girl race around my stiffened body by coming to a rest directly in front of me, Mana bent down and took a nice, long, very audible whiff and came right back up. Pulling her face unceremoniously away from my crotch, she once more tilted her head, confusion so apparent on her face that it very nearly detracted from her outright strange behavior.

“Mana, why are you smelling him like that?” Yua said, looking confused herself. “Is your nose stuffed up?”

“No, it’s not that,” Mana said, taking another deep sniff, letting her chest expand to twice its normally petite size as she did. “It’s just that he smells like you.”

Yua’s eyes shot open in surprise, almost like she’d been gone long enough to have forgotten how it felt to meet someone else capable of distinguishing between people’s scents the way she could. She smiled so sweetly at the girl that I was sure she was in for another boob-suffocating hug, but then Mana spoke again.

“But he also smells like when my parents mate.”

So. This is the day I die… again?

In the span of seconds, Mana successfully outed me as Yua’s slave master and then told the whole tribe that I had sex with her. And there was no doubt in my mind that the only connection these people would be able to make between the words “slave” and “mate” in this context would be that I forced myself on her.

I could feel the already dagger-like glares surrounding me to prevent my escape sharpen as they stabbed into me.

“Did this male mate with you, Big Sis?” Mana said, driving the knife deeper.

Yua, however, continued smiling as though nothing in the world was wrong with this situation, despite knowing full well how male masters preferred to treat their female slaves.

“He sure did,” she said, pulling out the dagger and replacing it with a spear. “He even taught me how to have an orgasm!”

Oh, Goddess, what have I done? Why did we come here?

Yua pumped her fists, as though that were some great accomplishment. And, as my consciousness was beginning to fade, I thought I might have heard more than a few confused mumbles flutter about amongst the crowd.

“Eh? What’s an orgasm?” Mana said, tilting her head yet again, her cuteness never wavering.

I have sinned. That’s what I’ve done. Yup. No denying it. Yua forgave me and even said she loved me, but I have sinned against her. And I have now sinned against her people.

Feeling my heart trying to kill me in an attempt to spare me the painful  torture these people no doubt planned inflict upon me for my crimes, I chanced a glance at them, ready at least to meet my killers in the eyes….

… Only to find that more than a few of them looked confused as well, muttering the word orgasm over and over, as if they thought saying it repeatedly would unlock its meaning. Others were indeed still glaring at me, but the concept seemed utterly lost on the rest, despite some being old enough to have had kids of their own.

Ah, right. Yua didn’t know about it, either. Maybe these folk just don’t have a word for it. I mean, after all the screams of pleasure I made Yua let out into our little cabin in the middle of nowhere, I was sure these people at least weren’t entirely unfamiliar with the feeling itself.

Yua, though, puffed out her chest, thrust her hands on her hips and looked entirely too happy to share this information with them. I, on the other hand, failed to remember how to breathe fast enough to allow enough oxygen to reach my brain so I could think up a way to stop her.

“An orgasm is when you mate and all the good feelings you feel while doing it suddenly burst out all at once. When Alex orgasms, he lets out a lot of semens from his manhood. And when I do it, I kind of feel like I’m peeing, but it feels really, really good.”

Goddess. O’ Sweet, beautiful Goddess up above, just fucking kill me. I have failed this life. I have besmirched your attempt to make right on our shared wrongdoings and fucked up spectacularly. There is no coming back from this one. She even named and pointed at me!

… Or so I should rightly think, but the crowd’s confusion only seemed to grow further at her, sort-of-cutely-worded explanation.

Goddess, are these people truly so impossibly naïve that they don’t know how they themselves were brought into this world? Or, what? Do cat-kin reproduce asexually, or something? No, that can’t be. Yua very clearly has a little belly button hidden between her lightly defined abs. She was most definitely born normally.

“Daughter Yua,” one of the women in the crowd stepped forward to speak. “I think I understand this orgasm-thing, but what’s this semens stuff you said? Is it this?”

Proving to be the epitome of nonchalance, this woman, a beauty in her own right, though not on the level of Yua herself or Mana, spread her legs and then spread herself for the whole village to see as if the gesture meant absolutely nothing to her. And what did they see if not her shimmering, aroused pussy?

Oh, well, let me tell you. What they, we and I all saw was nothing less than a stream of thick white liquid running down her inner thigh.

Without noticing, or perhaps without caring for the half a dozen heart attacks she’s caused me so far today, Yua knelt in front of this woman, put a contemplative knuckle to her chin and examined the white stream openly. Thankfully, for my soul, my heart and for the sake of not allowing myself to become aroused out here in public, Yua did not actually touch this woman. She stood back up with a smile.

“Yes. That is semens. Though, Alex lets out a lot more than that.”

“Eh? Really?” the woman said, then turned to the man beside her and said, “My Mate, you gave me your semens? In my special place?”

“Hmm? I suppose so.”

Goddess, just strike me down now. I have corrupted these people to a completely unfixable extent.

This level of naivete and curiosity should not be allowed to exist within a single body, let alone a people.

Also, special place? Are you kidding me? What’s so special about it when you live your life with said place completely and fully on display?! Hell, you even just went and showed the entire village that you just had sex!!!!!

Grinning triumphantly, Yua turned and gave me a thumbs-up, apparently proud to have shared some of what she’s learned during her time with the humans. I, on the other hand, rubbed at my temples.

I didn’t just now realized this, but I had to begrudgingly accept the fact that the loving comfort of modern medicine was nowhere to be seen. There may be a potion aimed at curing headaches, but I sure as hell didn’t have one. And the thought of swallowing a bottle of painkillers was starting to look pretty good right now.

How can this be? My beautiful Yua comes from a people so secluded in the forest, away from the rest of the world, that they are all apparently insanely naïve when it comes to sex. But somehow equally as insane, entirely open about it? I mean, for Goddess’ sake, Mana even went and compared the sweet scent of our love-making to her own damn parents! Apparently, the soap we used in the bath was defective.

If there was anything to be gleaned from this ungodly embarrassing situation, it was that the people in the crowd all stopped glaring at me at some point. They were all too fixated on what Yua said to care.

That, or, judging by their half-smiles, some of which were directed at me, hopefully out of sympathy, they might have forgiven me for what I’ve done to Yua. And why shouldn’t they when Yua said all that with a great big smile? I had no idea what she was like when she was younger, but I had to imagine that they took notice that she was happy with me.

My vision fading in and out of existence, I only just caught the sight of Yua’s ears giving a curious flick as she started scanning the village for something the same way she would in the dungeon. I was of half a mind to ask her to stop, as she was effectively showing off every angle of her own nudity to these nudists, but my headache got the better of me and managed to remind me that I basically gave her permission to exist like this in the first place.

“Mana, where’s…” she started, then shook her head. “Mana, I want to show Alex our village. Want to come with?”

“Sure!”

Forgetting all this talk about orgasms and semen within the span of a second, Mana’s lips curled into the cutest of smiles that all but cured me of my headache and darted over to Yua. Grabbing her by the arm, she pressed her head and ears against Yua’s breasts. Yua, for the first time since my little slip up in the dungeon when I accidentally groped her, strained a smile at anything having touched her breasts and just let Mana nuzzle against them.

Was this girl trying to rub my scent off of Yua, or what?

With this slightly worrisome thought in mind, I let the two girls lead the way through the village. And to my surprise, the villagers let Yua go without further question, even though they were all over her just seconds ago.

I staggered to follow them, thankful my execution had been postponed.