"Yukina… Are you sure you can do this?"
To my right, James leaned forward. It was pretty clear, he was worried. He slumped shoulders, with his pupils wavering.
"I'll be fine."
This was my only response. I gave him a nod, in fact, I felt confident. A year had passed since my reincarnation; I had never gotten any more of those visions.
My body has grown; I was already taller than Alissa; our height difference was over a few inches. Which is still too short for my liking… If I could estimate, I was at least five feet two inches. Melinda was the most shocked by this, but eventually grew to accept it with her head down.
As much as I hate to say it, my height wasn't the only thing that grew. My bust had too, four to five months ago, they were well below average in size; comparatively, my breasts were big enough to make Melinda's bow down to them.
I'm not tooting my own horn, nor am I proud of this fact. I'm pretty fucking mad at this fact; if they were JUST smaller, I would've been able to use a sarashi to hide them. Therefore, I could hold the small bit of manhood I could barely hold onto!
In addition to my appearance, I wanted to cut my hair short. Long hair was a pain to have; it got tangled when waking up, it was messy to upkeep. Also, I never knew when it was going to be my last day in this body. It could very well be my last day as a living being in general.
And… I do not want to mention I have no human ears. Do you know how fucking disturbing it was to learn that fact? Apparently, all animalkin beings do not have them! They were completely different from other humanoid races. And here I thought artists were just being lazy having the hair hide the ears back in my world.
After all of that, I kept my hair long; although it was such a pain in the butt, or I could say scalp. Having long hair really suited this body, it made it quite cute and adorable looking. There was some babyfat on her face, but if I disappeared, Yukina would look like a beauty growing up.
Disappeared… Huh…
Besides that, the period cramps were terrible. I got moody, and I had no energy; it was a constant piercing agony for a few days every month. Sometimes it lasted a week. The ladies around me reassured me it was normal and nothing to be embarrassed about.
Like hell! I was a man before!
Honestly, I don't know if it was my pain tolerance. Less than two months ago, the guys would train me in different types of weaponry. The reason being: I need to use something else other than my magic.
Mana by far, is the most important bar in my arsenal. More than my stamina, and more than the strength of my muscles. Even more so with my class; additionally, witches gained perks for their mana supply.
Every level more points would go into my intelligence stat, from two to four. If I were to describe it… It's a graph, level one to two, my intelligence stat would increase my mana pool in incremental percentages; to elaborate, the witch class increased those increments. From small exponential increases, to double – quite possibly more.
Anyways, over the year, I got used to being a girl slightly… Although I can never get used to them trying to force me into a bath.
The first time that happened, my eyes were shut. The others were laughing trying to get me to open them.
Y'know- As a previous guy, it was a glorious shot- especially seeing Melinda and the other women… Oi, I'm not some kind of pervert taking advantage of this.
Okay… Maybe I am, but I got used to the sight after the sixth or so time. That would not have stopped me from admiring the sight.
I should refocus- Fine, there are other updates to our current predicament, not just mine.
For the past eleven months, we were on the run; moreover, every city was captured by that damn kingdom. They had flyers with James; Melinda; Shaun; Verd and their families. It was similar to those wild west stories. Pictures of their faces were plastered on yellowed paper, with big bold letters saying dead or alive. The bounty is big too..gold coins?!
Even on the outside walls, their faces were there. By chance, Jin and I went to these places. It was creepy and saddening, all of the citizens were walking skeletons. Furthermore, they all had similar stories. Just one day, everything went to utter hell.
They were living their life, prosperous and full of joy and laughter. And it was usurped, removed and completely downhill ever since the Kingdom.
"Yuukina, Dad's trying to talk to you!"
"Wo- Don't do that!"
Alissa tried to grab my shoulders– she successfully grabbed them and yanked me back and forth. In addition to my foot still injured, she pulled me to the ground.
Ever since that happened, where Untergrant was destroyed she's been extra clingy to me. To pinpoint the reason, I've been treating her like a little sister; I consoled her when she cried; held her tight when James and Melinda argued over their plans. Basically, I was her only comfort at the current moment.
She'd hug me, and rely on me. It felt… Nice? I do not know how to describe it, but it made me feel better. When in my past life I was not the best older brother to my sister.
"C'mon Alissa! Please let me go!"
I yelled at her to let me go, taking till James pulled her off me and untangled her arms.
"You two can play later, okay? That town, we need Yukina and Jin to go in."
"Dad… What if it's a safe place? We don't know, plus, we have these hoods we can use to hide ourselves!"
James let out a long, rugged breath, he pinched the ridge of his nose and bent down to her level. With a pat to her head and a soft smile he brought out an old idea.
"You've gotten smarter my Dear… But, we can't risk being caught, as strong as we are, we can't fight a whole city… However…"
There was a pause, he raised his head, looked at all of us with a serious frown. We all knew what it was, if Jin and I went in, if there were no signs we'd leave temporarily and grab them.
And so, we came to an agreement. My adoptive family gave me a warm embrace; their arms which wrapped around me filled me with warmth. Although… Melinda grabbed my ear, this was a habit she gained after my near death experience.
"Melinda… Please let go…"
I begged her all the time to stop it, she never stopped. It was highly uncomfortable, as if someone was caressing freshly scarred skin. Even so, she didn't stop.
"Nuh uh… Not until you call me mom."
"Honey, it most likely feels awkward. Look at her face."
"That's the point, at some point she'll give in!"
This woman doesn't know when to give up!
Sorry Melinda, nothing personal here but..
"I'm not going to call you Mom!"
I told her this several times; I will not call her mom, and I never will. My heart was still attached to my previous life, perhaps my family was reincarnated. Nevertheless, if that is a possibility, it would be an increasingly low chance to find them. If they're even alive that is.
"Yukina, let's go."
Jin, who had seen my increasing discomfort, yanked me from her hands.
Melinda had such a tight hold on my right ear, I saw a few specks of fur in her hand. I ignored that, rubbing my ear, as we strolled towards the city in front of us.
Being this slow is seriously a pain in my ass…
It took us nearly an hour to get to the gates; two guards in gleaming armor saw us approaching. A wolfkin girl, limping and a man, with a frustrated look on his face. They went on pure defense, holding their spears, and aiming at us.
"Hold it! State your names and what your business is!"
The first one, an older gentleman yelled at us. He did not sound threatening; he was scared. In addition, his hands were shaking whilst wielding his weapon.
"We're travelers."
Jin stated. He raised his arms up, as if it was a police stop.
"I said, state your name and your business!"
Sometimes this guy is a fucking moron…
To copy him, I raised my arms up too; contrary to him, I elaborated on his words.
"We're travelers, my name is Yukina Gabri. My travelling companion here is Jin. We were seeking refuge in your city."
My words were successful at convincing them. The older gentleman let out a sigh. Eventually, he let his weapon down, his younger companion followed. Seems that being a young girl in this harsh world has its perks, huh? I still don't like it. I still don't like it!
"There are a few more questions I must ask you. Where did you come from? Your clothes are not from around here. And what are your occupations? I can see that sword your older friend has."
Aha~
I totally didn't forget what we were wearing. To hide all of our identities we were wearing cloaks; all of us are, even Jin and I. It wasn't exactly conspicuous, but it did its job, over the eleven months we weren't caught.
"Those two-"
"Don't mind him, he isn't the talking type. We came from a place called Untergrant. We were adventurers that lived there."
To help with my story, I poured some of my mana into my hands. Flames quickly danced on my palms. As if they were prepared to fight, they jumped back in unison; it was natural, it happened with a few cities during our travel.
"As you can guess, I use magic. My travelling companion, he's mediocre with the sword; however, he does his job right."
…
That fucking stings- I did our usual, we bickered and sent nasty comments to each other. I had to fall to the floor. Additionally clutching my skull. If lightning struck my skull, I would believe it; it pretty much did, he slammed his fist against the top of my head.
This as-
"Maybe, choose your words right next time."
Despite his demeanor softening over the trip; he was still a jerk, if my comments got to his nerves he would hit me. At times, he would throw a nastier "joke."
"Um… I thought you two were companions…?"
"Ack… Yeah, yeah we are companions…"
Just to ease the pain, I rubbed my skull. For a second, I was mesmerized by the fluffiness of my ears; I don't blame Melinda for wanting to touch them, or rubbing them. They were indeed quite fluffy…
"That isn't…"
"How we treat each other isn't any of your business."
Everything became quiet for a moment, I guess him hitting me gave them quite a shocker. Not to mention the thud that came out, they looked to be quite shocked at the fact I was standing. I'll admit it… I was barely holding on. His hit was pretty rough, it nearly knocked me out.
The two guards were staring at us; their jaws were dropped to the floor.
"Ahem… You mentioned you were from Untergrant, correct?"
"Yes, we are from there."
I gave out a white lie; I did not know Yukina's origins, it was probably japanese based. But, this world was different, I can tell. I heard some Germanic names, and Asian names in the cities we passed through.
"That's a miracle you made it out; did you travel all the way here on foot?"
"That's enough. Can you let us in?"
"Um, can you show your ident- Oh…"
Quick rule of thumb: always bring something to verify your identity. If I hadn't learned that from my past life, I'd be totally screwed. I kept them in my pocket, whilst I fashioned a clip for my adventurers plate to my cloak.
It took a heavy inspection, if I was being serious.
They held our ids up to our face, double checking if it truly was us. After some impatience, they handed our ids accordingly.
"It's truly a miracle that you both survived this far, and you somehow managed to evade being put on a hitlist."
The older guard fiddled with his tiny beard. His words were true, it really was a miracle.
My luck wasn't that good, I couldn't see the according stat.
"Ah, Mitim has not set their eyes on us. You don't need to have those worried looks."
He gave us a smile, he was looking towards our group. They were far indeed, but they were visible to the naked eye.
"We'd like to check it ourselves; can't be too careless, right?"
Jin agreed immediately, it seems like I said something right.
Both of the guards had agreed, they let us in. Inside, it looked like any old city. Family owned stalls lined our sides, but… There was something else, there were other animalkin.
Was I meant to have a tail?
I grew curious of this, I could see other animalkin walking around. They didn't seem to be stressed, at that moment I knew it was safe.
Though my interest in this body's past intensified. Each and every one of them had a tail; be it short, scaly, or long. I did not have a tail, nor did I see any fur growing on this body's tailbone. My conclusion was that it could've gotten cut off.
It sounded brutal.
But, I don't believe this world was that kind to my kind; there was a history of slavery, mostly throughout its history.
I shouldn't worry about it, I need to find a safe place.
Respite was rare, nearly impossible to find. We didn't want to risk being caught, nor did we want to die. Jin and I searched around.
What's that?
It smells oddly familiar.
"Hey, where are you going?"
I didn't verbally reply to Jin, instead I pointed in the direction of this aroma. It was meaty, and savory. Was it a hamburger? I curiously led him to a tavern, there was a sign just to the right of the door.
[Animalkin individuals are welcome.]
It read. That was pretty exciting, despite them running around this city; it was quite rare for a tavern to welcome them.
"How did you spot this?"
"I smelled it, they're cooking something nice in there."
"What are you? A dog?"
"Wolf, but close enough."
My response left Jin speechless, although it was weird being compared to an animal. I mean… I am part one in this life, it says so on my status and my two furry ears.
Inside, it was pretty barren. There was a handsome guy at the counter, around my mental age; he was twiddling with a pencil in his hand, he heard us enter and stood straight up.
"Welcome! Please have a seat, I'll get your orders here in a moment."
In a cheery tune, and a bright smile he directed us to one of the ten round tables. The entire tavern was vastly different; it was almost modern, with lights hanging from the ceilings, pictures with landscapes were on the walls.
At first, I was slightly taken aback, all the others were just, medieval there wasn't anything to them. Even with the existence of lights, there were no lightbulbs as I passed under them- they were just balls of light…
"You look amused."
Jin observed as he rested his chin on his hand. He was right, it was something new after a year of running. Conversely, it was modern, it reminded me of home; which I did miss dearly, there was not a night I didn't think of it.
"It's a place that allows animalkin, why wouldn't I?"
"That's true, it seems being an animalkin is tough, huh?"
My answer wasn't totally against my personal feelings.
"Socially, it is."
In my past life, I never got a tenth of the amount of stares I got. If there were a hundred people around me, I would have at least ten staring. At most twenty, whilst in my previous life, they wouldn't bother looking; moreover, they wouldn't give a crap and walk away.
"How old are you?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"You seem older than you look; act older, and do not act as a young girl."
Jin had put it bluntly. I guess being out of that scared little girl phase, had changed their views on me. In fact, they took my ideas and suggestions into consideration… I must have reverted back to my old self.
"Well…"
"If you're afraid of outing yourself as an otherworlder, don't worry."
Crap! I should've been more careful.
As I wallowed in my ignorance, the frontdesk worker came up to us. Notepad in hand, in the other a quill, he inquired about our orders. However, I didn't order anything- my stomach was in flips, I was utterly foolish.
I was not careful, the other guys must have realized my actions. I could feel the flips in my stomach split, creating two waves of saliva entering my mouth.
I was scared, what would happen to me?
"You do not need to be so afraid."
Jin's voice resounded in my head. I lifted it, seeing he had already ordered multiple dishes; pork; steak; salads, and some sweet looking dishes. He held his fork between his index and thumb.
"B-B…"
"The others already realized it, it does not change who you are in their eyes."
He told me, tapping the table. Of course they did, I had a feeling ever since Allisa confronted me that one day. But, I still remembered Exim's words, however, his words were comforting.
"I am… An otherworlder, or whatever they say."
I laid it. Yet, I held my head down, I was still afraid. What will happen if I reveal more of myself; I only showed my personality, I never revealed much of my previous life.
"That's all you needed to say. Everyone will be travelling here, get that fear out of your heart; it'll only hold you back in this life."
After some time, we were all together. All the food we had ordered was gone in mere minutes, everyone was eating ravenously… Of course, I joined in after I ordered mine. It was a nice setting, we were all together. At last, somewhere we can rest.