Chapter 17: Chapter 17 – Sisters in Arms

Minutes had passed since Risa had talked to Ofris. It had been a rather short conversation, but that did not hinder the girl from tossing dismissive glances at me over and over again. When she finally left the room to get the healer that was to examine me for wounds or ailments I might have, I was already restless from anxiety.

That girl hated me, more than anybody else in my two lives save for the three scholars who would have killed me if only Ofris had allowed it. Risa hid her hatred behind fake smiles and mock pity; masks she wore whenever Ofris was listening.

When she returned, Risa was accompanied by yet another stranger. It was a woman clad in a light-blue and white robe that covered most of her tanned skin. Her hair was almost white, with only a tint of green to be found in it. Emerald colored eyes looked at Ofris, slightly shining as if a weak ember was empowering them. These features would have been enough to leave me stunned, but there were delicate pink lips to boot. As if that wasn’t enough, I found two pointy ears partly hidden under her hair, proof of her heritage.

“An elf! She is a real elf! Now it is a fantasy world!”
「You aren’t human either, you know?」
“Who cares about that?! She is gorgeous!”

The elven woman had a faint smile painted on her lips as she greeted Ofris, one that immediately died upon finding me sitting on the bed behind him. Her eyes burned in anger and hatred as her expression changed to pure disgust.

“She hates me?! Why does everybody hate me?!”

Seeing her reaction, even the goddess grew upset, which was a first for the whole time I knew her. Maybe she was really protective of me, who she had appointed to be her daughter, or she was once again trying to mess with my head. I couldn’t tell.

「Nobody hates my cute Rika!」 I heard her protest. 「NOBODY!」
“I’m not cute!”

The elf didn’t even try copying Risa’s fake smiles. She instead began belittling me without a single care about how it affected her appearance.

“What did you bring ‘that’ to me for,” she asked, pointing onto me.

I could swear I had seen a smile on Risa’s face as she realized that she had found a formidable ally. “She isn’t right in the head,” she explained without wasting the time to beauty up her words. “We hoped you could take a look at her.”

“A look? At a dirty beast?”
“I am not dirty!”

I was. It had been almost a week since I was reborn into this world and I had yet to see a single droplet of clean water. My hair felt rough and unkempt, especially on my ears and the tail, those parts of my body I still tried to get accustomed to.

The elf rolled her eyes upon hearing my protest, making it seem as if my voice alone was too much for her to deal with. She let out an annoyed harrumph before trying to weasel her way out: “Make her rest for now,” she demanded, “I will take a look at her after I finished my work.”

Risa wasn’t exactly happy with this. “Sahria,” she protested, “we really need to check on her now.”
Sahria rolled her eyes. “FINE.”

Realizing she wasn’t getting out of this, the elf instead pushed forward, trying to get out of the room and away from me as soon as possible. She hastily grabbed one of the chairs, placed it in front of the bed and sat down before leaning in closer to me.

It took just a single glance at her emerald eyes for me to know I was on the same level as a rat to her, maybe even lower than that. I couldn’t help but utter a far too weak protest.

“I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Who cares about what you did, you filthy-”
“Sahria!” Risa cut short her insult. “Please.”
“Whatever...”

Sahria once again voiced her annoyance before placing her right hand on my forehead, closing her eyes, regaining most of her beauty in the process.

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“Helia of the sun and the moon,” she began chanting a magic spell, “Helia of the light and the dark, please shine down upon this child of yours and reveal the shadows weighing it down!”

Aside from her voice slightly changing when she had forced herself to call me child, Sahria somehow had managed to recite the entire spell with a clear and angelic voice; and soon after she had finished doing so, I felt a tingling sensation invading my body starting from her hand. It spread in my head, crawled down my neck to then conquer my whole body. Within mere seconds my entirety was assaulted by what could only have been hundreds of tiny sparks of lightning tearing on my flesh.

“What is she doing?! It itches!”

The magic tormented me for about a minute before it finally stopped. Sahria slowly opened her eyes, stood up wordlessly and put the chair back to the table where she sat down again. Without wasting a single word on me, Risa or Ofris beforehand, she began writing down the results of her examination on a small sheet of paper.

“She is about fifteen years old,” Sahria announced. “There are bruises on her arms, legs and other parts of her body, none of which seem to stem from violence.”
“Those are my fault,” Ofris confessed, “I pushed her too hard.”
“Her body is weakened from hyperthermia and lack of sleep. Furthermore, her muscles began deteriorating due to them being overstrained and lacking nutrition, making her unfit for physical labor for at least a week. You can support her regeneration by ordering her to rest and feeding her a balanced diet.” Sahria explained before looking down on her paper again. “She is a virgin.”

Upon hearing that last bit of information, a mixture of feelings invaded Risa’s face. She seemed relieved that Ofris hadn’t done anything to me but concerned too, as me being untouched meant that I couldn’t possibly be a pleasure slave of some nobleman, which she had assumed before. This meant I was still on the market, so to say, and an unasked-for rival.

Ofris was more dumbfounded than anything else. He had treated me with utmost care, thinking I was a pregnant girl with a tragic past, only to now realize that story was only half true at most, considering that I wasn’t even a girl to begin with.

“Did you find anything wrong with her head,” Risa asked before Ofris could sort out his thoughts.
“There are no issues with her mental health nor poisons or drugs altering her character or ability to think.”
Ofris’ expression changed to one of disbelief. “Are you sure,” he asked. “She seems to have lost her memories.”
“Did you check her attributes?” Sahria answered with an eye roll. “I believe she is plain stupid.”

I had been shaking with anger for a minute by now, fighting back the urge to scream at the two girls for being the bitches they were, but that last word was too much for me to cope with. I snapped.

“STOP TALKING AS IF I WASN’T IN THE ROOM! I am NOT stupid, so treat me like a human being for a change!”
“Can you please make your dog stop barking,” Sahria asked or rather ordered Ofris. “It is hurting my ears.”
“Have you been out in the sun for too long?! I’m not a dog! I’m a fox!”
「Good job, Rika! Show them who’s the boss!」

The elf stared at me in disbelief before a wide smile grew on her face. She didn’t even try to hold in her laughter.

“A fox?!” She exclaimed before turning to Ofris. “It seems your dog is even more stupid than I thought! You better take it away before it decides to mark its territory or gnaw on the furniture!”

 Ofris could only sigh. He walked past the elven bitch, laid his arm around my back and lifted me up again, all of this without wasting a single word on either of us. He was at the end of his patience and it was only a matter of time before he would end up sinking as low as the elf and result to insults himself rather than wordlessly listening to her attacks.

After making sure I was feeling more or less comfortable, which I clearly wasn’t, Ofris approached Risa, who was still unable to decide between smiling and continuing to fake pity.

“Can you check the books for me?” He asked her.
“Ye- yes. Follow me, please.”

Ofris did as he was told. He carried me in his arms as if I was too stupid, weak or small to walk on my own; and thanks to him being a few hundred times as strong as me, I had no choice but to accept it.

“He totally thinks of me as a child, does he!?”
「You can go for a good-night kiss instead!」
“...”

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