Yuki considered the blonde’s words. On one paw, it was nice that they had similar goals. Both wanted to go back; both wanted to learn about things and Yuki was all in favor of that. On the other paw, the methods? Yuki’s gut churned in discomfort. When talking about this Gregory person, Jenny’s tone of voice was one Yuki knew all too well. Even so, in Yuki’s opinion, [Dominate] was too much.

Jenny hadn’t pressed for an answer; most importantly, the ear massage hadn’t stopped. What was the correct answer here? There was other magic Yuki could employ other than [Dominate]. [Enslave] was out of the question; Yuki wanted nothing to do with that, but spells like [Switch Body], which would let them pose as this Gregory for a time. Or maybe [Clone]. A clone knew everything the owner also knew up to when the sample was taken, and it only lasted for the spell duration. Was it immoral to extract information from a clone? On the less evil side of things, there was [Project Sense]. If Yuki understood it correctly, it could function like the Arcane Eye spell, with the benefit that the eye, in this case, was invisible and intangible. The spell wouldn’t allow her to hear anything, but maybe explore the manor for clues.

In her zealotry, Yuki hadn’t considered how [Dominate] would make her feel. She was so engrossed in video game assumptions about minor spells such as Friends, Charm Person, and Suggestion that she thought only about Dominate Monsters from DnD. Now that she was inside a world with such spells, using them on a person was a line Yuki didn’t want to cross. What other options did they have?

No, magic wasn’t the answer. Magic points were hard to come by, and if, for every problem, Yuki tried to use magic as a solution, they’d be caught on the wrong foot with no magic points eventually. The current situation was a perfect example. She could barely heal herself, let alone dream about getting more spells.

Yuki asked another question while pondering Jenny’s request. “Isn’t it dangerous to go back? People were chasing you that night.”

Jenny nodded. “If I were alone, I wouldn’t try to go back,” she admitted. "It is only speculation, but I’m guessing the guards are looking for me and maybe even the church.”

Yuki’s purring stopped to ask a question. “Why the church?”

“This place fears magic, and you left a magic circle drawn in blood at the manor. If he wants to keep his lands and title, Gregory must report that and blame it on someone else.”

“Is the church that powerful?”

“Yes.” The woman sighed. “Worse if an Inquisitor shows up. A part of me just wants to move away from Thornfield and to the capitol, book passage on a skyship, and flee the island. But I left all my money hidden in the manor, and Baldwin was almost like a father. I know going back is a bad idea, but I need to at least try. With your magic, we have a good chance to learn what happened and get provisions and money. After, we can decide what to do next.”

It felt like Jenny’s motivation was more complex than Yuki could place. Going back was something Yuki was already planning to do, but still. “I don’t mind helping with Shapechange,” Yuki said after a long while. “But I don’t want to dominate another person.”

Jenny’s fingers stopped for a moment before they started again. “I understand.”

The woman’s voice was calm and guarded. Yuki didn’t know what to make of the situation. She felt terrible about the whole thing. Immediately, she wanted to go back and say yes, but that would also make her feel worse.

To assuage her anxious mind, she asked another question. “Can’t we do it the old spy way?”

“What do you mean?”

Yuki considered her words. “We could sneak into the manor while they sleep and try to find anything that would give us more information,” she thought back to the time when she entered the lord’s office. “I smelled magic when you took me to the lord’s office. Maybe it is related?”

Jenny giggled. “The sneeze?”

Yuki ruffed and looked away. “The smell was too strong. I couldn’t help it.”

“It was adorable,” Jenny said between giggles. “It was that sneeze that made me want to keep you.”

“I’m not your pet,” Yuki grumbled. “You’re my pet.”

Jenny burst out in laughter.

The hours idled away while Yuki concentrated on her magic. Jenny talked about the island, its king, and the lords, about the church and how magic was feared and abhorred, about title holders and specialized perks. Yuki interrupted the infodump there because that was something she needed to know.

“Wait, title-holders? Like the one you and I have?”

“Do you have a title too?” Jenny asked, surprised. “Your blue tiles didn’t say you had one.”

“Status,” Yuki called out. “Share,” she added soon after. From the landing page, she navigated to the abilities tab and glared at the two heroic lines, demanding the system spill its secrets. She should have done this a long time ago.

Heroic Trait: Reincarnation.

Upon death, you are reincarnated as a random animal or creature. Uses remaining: 0

Heroic Title: Summoned Hero.

Grants access to the system user interface. Allows limited manual selection of system options.

Yuki didn’t remember her second death. She only remembered Truck-kun exploding. There was a gap between dying on Earth and Reincarnating as her bunny self she couldn’t remember. Did that mean no one else could access the system? Yuki guessed it was like that, even if Jenny took to the system like a fish to water. Since she was on this tab, Yuki also glared at the trait.

Perfume of Power: Allows the user to sense magic. The method used to sense magic is based on race.

Did the trait give her the ability to smell magic because of the name, or did the trait name change because she got the ability to smell magic? Was this a chicken or egg first type of question? Was it even worth considering?

Jenny’s voice took Yuki away from her musings. “I can see the trait, but the title is empty.”

“I have two others. Heroic Trait and Heroic Title.”

Jenny inhaled sharply, her fingers stopping. The woman looked down, eyes wide. She opened her mouth a few times, breathed deeply, and looked away.

“What is it?” Yuki asked.

“It’s nothing, just a coincidence.”

Yuki insisted. “Tell me?”

“It’s a long story and has a lot to do with my childhood,” Jenny sighed. “I’ve been revisiting those memories a lot in the past days. Can we talk about this later?”

Yuki guessed that whatever those memories were, they weren’t pleasant. In the end, aside from her curiosity, Yuki didn’t mind waiting until Jenny felt comfortable sharing.

“I was just curious. Tell me when you feel comfortable.”

The fingers started again. “Thank you, Biscuit.”

It was still strange to know Jenny had named her cookie, and it was even more strange that she had done a dere thing and accepted it.

“Do you know what my title does?” Jenny asked after a while.

“Focus on the title,” Yuki said, “and demand the parchment tell you what it means.”

“Humm,” Jenny mumbled, her eyes glazing over. “Oh,” the woman exclaimed. Jenny’s hands moved away from Yuki, and the blonde covered her face. Jenny’s shoulders shook and at first Yuki thought the woman was laughing, but from behind the hands came muffled, pained, choked sounds. It made Yuki want to cry as well.

What had happened?

FatElf

Thank you for reading.

Next chapter tomorrow.