Once I feel like I am in the clear, I take a moment to catch my breath. That was too dangerous...I almost died there for some reason I don’t even know!

I am starting to rethink this whole civilization thing! Maybe I am better off in that cave...a powerful monster might come out any time but here I feel like I am surrounded by powerful monsters everywhere!

As I was thinking that I suddenly heard a voice of a women from behind me…

“Hey, you there, are you looking for a place to work? If so I got a good place, you can work at my place. I know how hard it is for beastkin as beastkin are not really liked around these parts. But that doesn’t speak the same for everyone.”

I instinctly take a step back and get a cold sweat thinking someone came after me to finish me off. After processing what she said, I slowly calm down, but do not let down my guard. I may be 12 but with all my traveling I know a thing or two about lowering your guard in hostile places. The easiest time to be taken advantage off is right after you’ve suffered a setback. Like encountering a loan shark after losing big at a casino.

Her behavior is simply...suspicious…

That said, there is still a possibility that I am over-thinking things and may end up losing my only real chance of getting a place to stay along side information. Lets query about it some more...no matter what I wouldn’t want to offend her either by saying no...this is a world where someone will try to kill you with a mug in the middle of an Inn the moment you come in. So counter to my original conjectures, I doubt people around here will have issue murdering me in broad daylight in the middle of the street either.

With my back to the corner I decide to probe some more:

“Wh-What kind... of-of...pl-place is it?” I say with a clearly shaken and apprehensive voice.

The women notices my fright and responds to me with a more gentle tone “My family runs a stable, as long as you are willing to work I can get you food and a place to stay, maybe even some coins if you do a good job. We already have a foxkin working in the stable, but more help would be appreciated.”

Hmm...I take a moment to process that and think things over. Working at a stable is not as good as working at an inn...but it is still a good option. I can get in contact with people, especially merchants and get lots of information. Not to mention if a person is leaving town and I ask them a stupid question that makes me look suspicious in any way, I won’t have to worry about it. So while not my first choice, it is still a good option.

BUT! That is one thing and this is another. Can I trust this person? For all I know she will take me into a back alley, chop me up and make me into cat stew! Who knows if some people around here think catkin is a delicacy! I already got one lesson in being complacent. So I need to be extremely cautious like I have never been before! “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”!

While there is little I can confirm about how accurate her statement is, there is one thing I can confirm if she is lying or not. I use [Identify]:

Mary Zinger

Gender

Female

Race

Human

Class

Level

Age

28 years

Status

?

Human

12

HP

???

MP

??

Stablehand

3

Well she at least is not lying about working at a stable. But still...I can’t let my guard down. But for now, lets accept her offer. Since I walked all over this village during my inspection, I know there are 2 stables here. If I see her lead me in any direction that is not straight to one of those stables, I will bolt out as quick as I can.

“Really?...misses?” I ask.

“Ah, sorry my name is Mary. Mary Zinger. And yes my offer still stands.” she replied.

“Then I will take you up on your offer! Thank you very much!” I reply back enthusiastically.

Once she got my confirmation, she began to lead me towards the stable. I kept my guard up to the max and watched both her and the surroundings. We kept walking for a few minutes towards the smaller of the two stables in this village. So far there have been no detours.

When we came to the stable, she stopped and told me to wait here. As she went inside to notify her family. While it is possible that this is just etiquette in this world. I can’t afford to risk it when my life is on the line. So I up my caution from 100% to 120% ready to sprint out at any time. I also activate [Smell Sense] to better take in my surrounding. Which by the way was both a good idea and a bad idea. The stench of the horses is pretty bad! But I can’t afford to let up!

In a few minutes, I began smelling a new scent which was not that of a human nor a horse. I take a look and an adorable young brown haired foxkin walks out of the house! Not to let the cuteness overwhelm me, I do my best to keep my guard up. I need to take in every possible scenario in this hostile place, for all I know that is a human dressed up foxkin to trick me! Yes, I am that paranoid at this point!

Amber

Gender

Female

Race

Beastkin - Foxkin

Class

Level

Age

10 years

Status

?

Beaskin - Foxkin

5

HP

???

MP

?

Confirmed! Cutest thing ever confirmed!

Wait she is 10 years old and higher level than me?!?! seriously?! How come I feel so defeated?!

Okay, focus! This might just be my chance. She is level 5 and a 10 year old...which means she somehow leveled up 4 times which I doubt was by fighting monsters. While asking an adult how to level up might be strange, asking a 10 year old is much easier. I can just trick her by pretending to quiz her to see if she knows. A child would no way find that suspicious. I got this in the bag!

While I was busy dabbling in my own little world, the Foxkin girl came up to me and said:

“I was told to bring you around and show you where to work, afterwards help you wash up and get you some food”

For a 10 year old she sure gets down to business fast..she didn’t even introduce herself or ask for my name..you are making older sister sad…

The foxkin brought me around the back of the stables and showed me where we need to clean along side other things we needed to do. We did so for about 2-3 hours. I tried to strike up a conversion with her to get to know her better and maybe get some conversation going. But outside of work related stuff, all I got was:

“...”

I guess in this world there is not much room for a childhood...which was the same in the middle ages where everyone works and works from morning to dawn. It probably is even harder for beastkin around here.

After we finished up the foxkin Amber who has by the way yet to introduce herself brought me to a well and helped me wash up. I kind of went through mud, blood, alcohol, you name it. So my white hair was already looking more like grayish brown rather then white. While there was no bath or the like and the water was cold, I still felt very refreshed washing myself up after all this time. Not to mention the odor was really getting to my [Smell Sense]. I hope when I level up this skill I’ll be able to eliminate some odors completely. Cause knowing how much I stink does not make feel very comfortable.

By the time I finished washing up, the foxkin Amber who I repeat has yet to introduce herself has already come back, she left prior to me since she had far less dirt on her overall. She was carrying 2 bowls of what smells like some kind of soup * growl *

After handing one to me she took a look at me and muttered.

“White...”

This was the first time she ever said anything to me outside of work! I took this opportunity while tasting the soup to strike a conversation. Even if she is strict about working without any distractions, it should be fine while eating right? Right?

“Yup! Its all natural 100% white! I got into a bit of a bind getting here so it turned out that way...by the way my name is Shiro! What is your name?” I say in a proud matter of fact tone.

“...”

The foxkin girl continued eating her food while contemplating something for a while...I hope I was not being too awkward I innerly thought. Social conversations are not exactly my forte…

After what felt like a minute contemplating

“Amber...” she suddenly said.

YES! PROGRESS!

Now what? Oh yes, I need to strike up a conversation and get some information! Important stuff like “Can I pet you? Or can I rub your fluffy tail?”...errr..FOCUS! That is not what I need to ask, I need to ask information about this world. After that I can ask to pet her and rub her tail!

While I was foolishly deluding in my own world, Amber finished eating and went to put away her bowl. Losing my chance to continue my conversation, I dejectedly finish my soup as well.

For the first time in this world I noticed that it started getting darker. With one sun gone and the 2nd one setting, it grew closer to nightfall.

Today has been a really long and stressful day...and I can safely say my hair turned white because of it. I giggle at my lame pun as I start to feel rather sleepy from all the work and stress I have done today...I can...hardly keep...my eyes..open… * yawn *

I try to get up to follow Amber but strength leaves my body and fatigue gets the better of me.

* collapse *