One of the reasons why I don’t like babies is their crying, crying that Ellen and Kraft had to endure the past month. Thanks to my meditation I can sleep in almost any situation so constant crying didn’t bother me. Ellen seemed to be the most affected by the lack of sleep and now I have to help her every day. Mau still visits us to take care of Lea when she can. Ellen wanted to pay her for taking care of us but she always brings the slavery incident up. When I asked her why she does this for free she told me that beastpeople have a custom that was similar to a life-debt. If a beastperson is saved from a situation where his or her life is endangered they would have to pledge their loyalty to the one who saved them. The saviour can decline or call off the pledge at any given time. Since we asked nothing in return for saving her and even helped her find a place to work and stay she decided to help us. It’s better than having somebody follow me because I went too far with putting a guy in its place.

The sixth moth of the year was supposed to be a good month for fruits so Ellen told me to go and buy some strawberries and apples. Apparently those fruits turn blue when they are ripe. I’ve heard of blue strawberries but blue apples are something I have to see.

Mau is still talking with Ellen and Kraft about the baby’s diet which gives me time to finish sweeping the floor. Kraft isn’t capable of doing any kind of housework but his presence lightens the mood. Kraft is spending more time with the baby than Ellen and he’s overprotective with the baby. I just I will be home when Lea decides to take her boyfriend to meet her father. This past month that tough guy image he had was completely destroyed. For some this would be the part where jealousy kicked in but in my case nothing really changed, Ellen keeps taking care of me and Kraft is as absent as before. Every time I looked at Kraft and Lea I imagine a ripped version of Ellen.

“I will be taking my leave. See you tomorrow.” It seems Mau was leaving, I might as well go with her.

“Ellen I will be leaving too.”

“Ali come here and take the coins.”

I wanted to steal the fruits by storing them in my inner world but it’s a little too early to start stealing. I got 10 gold coins from Ellen and two bags. I stored the bags and the coins in my inner world and ran after Mau.

I was walking at the same pace as Mau’s horse thinking about why Ellen gave me the money without telling me how many apples and strawberries to buy.

“Do you want to ride with me?”

“No, I’m used to walking like this and for some reason I feel safer when I can feel the ground beneath my feet.”

“Then do you want to race?”

“Me against the horse?”

“It’s better than walking like this.”

“First to the stables wins?”

“OK.”

And that’s how my walk turned into a race. I was surprised at how much stamina the horse had, it was able to keep up with me and eventually it ended in a draw. As Mau said the race was better than walking, after all not many people can keep up with a horse. Maybe I hadn’t started laughing I might have won but I was close to winning it’s almost frustrating.

“I’m really surprised, only a few subspecies are able to keep up with a horse.” Just to clarify, subspecies meant certain species of fairies, elves and beastpeople.

“It’s all thanks to Kraft’s training.”

“How many years did you train to become like that?”

“Four years of harsh training.”

“How old are you now?”

“Almost seven.”

Huh? For some reason I couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore. I turned around to see what’s wrong and I saw her looking at me. She looked surprised or rather astonished, even her ears and tail were staying straight up. Is it because I told her how old I am? She’s been taking care of us for a month and she didn’t know that. Guess Ellen forgot to tell her that.

“So could you stop being so surprised?”

“But…you are……”

“A lot taller, yeah I know. I grow faster than normal people and my body is a little different than a human's.”

“I’ve heard of demons that grow rapidly when they are young but this is the first time I saw it.”

“How old did you think I was?”

“You are as tall as me, I expected you to be at least 15.”

“I apologise, I thought you knew since you were with us the past month.”

“It’s alright, I just need a few minutes to let this sink in.”

“Then I will wait for you to put yourself together.”

She was pretty shocked and it took a few minutes for her to calm down.

“Are you all right now?”

“Yes, I’m just going to believe what I see. Will come with me to the shopping district?”

“I guess you are still shocked after all and yes, I will accompany you.”

The shopping district was full of fruits and vegetables. Most of them looked exactly like the ones in my past world. The apples were cheaper than expected, 2 for 1 gold coin and the strawberries were 5 for 1 gold coin. Ten apples and 25 strawberries should be enough for now.

“The fruits were cheaper than expected” said Mau while looking at my bags.

“How cheap are we talking about?”

“They were sold at half price. Some merchants usually do this when they have too much merchandise or want more clients.”

“So people get tricked into thinking that the normal price is actually this low.”

“Nobody knows when this happens but what you said was correct, people are fooled into thinking that those products prices are halved and the merchant gets more money.”

“Let me guess, you know because you’ve been that guy’s slave.”

“Yes.”

Great she’s sulking, sometimes is better if I just think before speaking. My body is more advanced than before but my personality is still the same.

“Look I’m sorry for reminding you about that.”

“It’s all right, I know you didn’t mean anything by that, the difference between now and then is so big that sometimes I don’t want to remember how it was before.”

You don’t have to tell me. Most people can forget, but not me, I’m not capable of forgetting anything whether I like it or not. Enough of this depressive crap, I have to focus on what I have to do next.

For now I have to get back home.

I placed the bags in my inner world. I was approaching the inn but for some reason I felt some tension in the air.

The inn’s door opened and two people came out. They were adventurers, in their thirties. One of them possessed wind magic and the other earth magic. The scan didn’t reveal anything else and a more advanced one was a waste of time.

“You monster, I thought you left for good this time.” Said the first one.

“Are you talking about the catwoman behind me?” I said while moving in front of Mau.

These guys meant trouble and their lack of armor is going to make it easy for me to beat them.

“That’s none of your business! Why don’t you get out of here while you can?” said the second one.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, apparently Mau wanted to stop me. It’s funny how she thinks that those guys can stand a chance against me. If they behave I will let them leave without beating them.

“Alex, please don’t get yourself involved in this.”

“It’s fine. These gentlemen just need a little wake-up call.”

The first one went on front of me and grabbed my hair.

“She called you Alex. Well Alex, unless you want to get hurt you should get moving or else I….. GAHHH!”

Without any armor on my stomach punch was enough to make him shake. I hit him in the temples making him fall flat on the ground.

“I gave you a chance but you refused to take it.”

“HAHAHA, you’ve got guts but this is the end for you.”

The second guy took out a knife and charged towards me. Since Mau was still hiding behind me I was worried that he might go after her instead so avoiding the knife was out of the question. Ellen taught how to deal with armed enemies. When he got close enough to me I caught the man by the wrist breaking it with one hand, making him drop the knife then I punched him in the liver incapacitating him. And that’s how I beat two people without moving from where I was standing.

“See, no trouble.”

“I wanted to avoid a fight but this one couldn’t be avoided. I will go to the inn, Alex please go home.”

“Next time I see them I’m going to break every bone in their body.”

After I said that I left the village. On my home I saw one of the village’s knights on a horse passing by me in a hurry. This path leads to my home. There are two possibilities. The first one would be that he saw me and he told Kraft and the second is that he had nothing to do with what happened and this was a coincidence.

“I’m back.”

When I arrived home I took the bags out of my inner world and placed them on the table.

I heard footsteps. I turned around and saw Ellen and Kraft staying in front of the door. If they are going to lecture me I’m going to start throwing apples at them.

“Ali, sit down.”

Ellen’s tone was normal so I might have a chance to talk this out.

The three of us sat down at the table.

"Are we gonna pray or something?" The silence was starting to annoy me.

“Kid, I’m not going to start lecturing you, I just want to hear what you have to say.”

“Two people, adventurers I think, came out of the inn and started insulting Miss Mau. I tried to calm them but then one of them took me by the hair and threatened me. I knocked out the first one, then the second one took out a knife and tried to hurt me….”

“So you took him out too. I understand, considering what Miss Mau has done for us you did what was right but I still have a question. They attacked you first, right?”

“Yes, they did. Self-defense, that’s all it was.”

“Then it’s settled. I wouldn’t have punished you either way, in your place I would have killed both of them. Kraft will talk with the knights and explain who started this incident.”

“Don’t I have anything to say in this?” protested Kraft.

“No dear, you don’t. It is a guard or a knight’s responsibility to stop these incidents from happening.”

“Ellen, I thought beastpeople and humans got along, was I wrong?”

“Beastpeople were demons once that’s why some people think they are superior to them. In Sonne they are considered normal citizens but if something happens to them people tend to turn a blind eye.”

“Yeah, and in Vollmond anybody that’s not human is considered livestock or less.” added Kraft.

“So what happened today wasn’t unusual?”

“Unfortunately no, beastpeople tend to be discriminated regardless of our laws.”

“I’m starting to worry about Miss Mau’s safety.”

“It’s OK kid, the village elder is more open-minded than most people and Mau already has a reputation as a good person in the village. The ones that tried that were probably staying at the inn. I will talk to the one who saw the fight and then I’m going to have a chat with those adventurers.”

“Anything is fine as long as they don’t end up dead.”

“No promises, they still tried to attack you….. The baby is crying, can someone go and see what’s wrong with Lea?”

“I will, let’s go Ali.”

“Fine.”

“In the meantime I’m going to pay a visit to the village elder and the men who attacked you.”

Kraft left the house while Ellen and I went upstairs to see what was wrong with Lea. When I opened the bedroom’s door I noticed a strange smell in the air. She needed to be changed. It’s a good thing that her bed was in Ellen’s room and not mine, because this smell alone could keep me awake at night. I closed the door and opened the windows while Ellen changed my sister’s clothes. I don’t know why Ellen didn’t have a diaper for her and I don’t care enough to ask.

“Ali, go outside and wash these clothes.” And now I care. Why are you making me do that, is this my punishment?

“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not going to wash that even if you pay me.”

“Just take them and go. Just go and wash them, it’s not like I’m making you do something I wouldn’t do myself.”

“Fine, give them to me.”

Give them to me, why did I have to go with Ellen to the bedroom. I should have gone with Kraft, at least I wouldn’t have go through all this shit, literally.

After this terrible experience I found out that washing clothes is apparently a skill for me and that I can hold my breath for five minutes without any difficulties. Now I have to tell Ellen that we need to buy some soap.

In the evening Kraft came back from the village.

“Come on Kraft, we are having apple pie for dessert.”

“Give me a second.”

Before eating Kraft told us what happened to the men who attacked me. Most of their injuries weren’t bad but without a healer they will have to leave the village despite their injuries. He also said that the men were originally from Vollmond and they had no respect for anybody including the other people in the village and this incident was put an end to their stay in this village. Kraft wanted to go after them and teach them a lesson but gave up.

“Glad that’s over. How about we eat that pie and call it a day, just remembering them makes me want go and murder them.”

The day ended with a few slices of apple pie. The pie was sweeter than expected and it had a rich taste. Before leaving the house I must ask Ellen to teach me how to cook like her.

After washing the dishes and throwing out the trash I went to check-up on Lea. She was sleeping and by looking at the sky I could tell that it’s really late. Ellen and Kraft were already asleep. After some more body enchantment training I will go to sleep as well.