Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Camping

"Miss Grey, may I have a question?" Scoresby, an old man, sitting on a blanket on the other side of the campfire, asked me.

I hesitated, not ready to talk about myself, about what had happened to me. I still wasn't sure if the merchant could be trusted or if I could expect to end up with a collar around my neck.

"You can," I said with a nod.

It depended on the nature of his question whether I answer him.

"My memory is not what it used to be, but I can't remember a race like yours. You are not a Dwarf, a Gnome, or an Elf. I'll be bold and say you're half-beastmen, but I've never seen anyone like you. Those horns, charming eyes, and beautiful ears, are something I would remember," said the old man.

Yeah, that was something I couldn't hide. Like those of deer, two horns were growing from my forehead at the edge of my hairline. The left one was short, only about ten centimeters long. The right one was about fifteen centimeters long in the middle with a small protuberance. This was the only mutation on my body that was not symmetrical.

My ears were another feature that I could hardly hide. They were the ears of a mammal I had never seen in my life. They were big ears. One ear was almost thirty centimeters long, and when I lowered it, it touched my shoulders. However, their natural position was horizontally tilted somewhat backward.

My eyes were brown all my life, and I was satisfied. It wasn't an eye-catching color, but I didn't mind. Now the irises of my eyes were green with a purple circumference and veins intersecting the green.

Scoresby didn't mention it, but another mutation on my head was my mane. It was the mane of some mammal, different from the one to which my ears belonged to. Not that those ears belonged to anyone before, they were mine, just mutated. My hair was much thicker, firmer, and healthier now. You could say they were what a woman could wish for, right? Almost. They were too thick and bulky. The first weeks after the mutation, was hell for my neck. I suffered from severe neck pain.

When I underwent this mutation, it also had other unexpected side effects. The mutation wasn't limited to my head hair. The madman Frederic Dungreen was eagerly taking notes when he observed me. He explained that this mutation was a combination of my previous one, my ears, and this new one. Therefore, now my eyebrows were thicker than before. My nose's bridge was covered with fine short hair, and my teeth had the features of carnivore's teeth—especially my canines, which were longer and sharper now.

As other mutations followed, especially my tail, smaller changes began to appear on different parts of my body. White hair grew under my collarbones above the sternum between my breasts. Surprisingly, my back remained bare, fur appearing only under the wings on my ass, which was now all covered with it. As is said, thanks to my over a meter and a half long tail. The hair on it were very long, soft to the touch, and large in volume. Thanks to that, my tail looked like something huge, as its diameter with hairs was about eighty centimeters.

My calves were overgrown with hair, but feathers grew around my ankles. On the contrary, my wrists were covered with white fur, elbows with feathers. The small thing was the change of hair in my armpit and lap to fine white fur.

The overall color of my fur was probably affected by the color of my hair. I was a redhead. Most of my fur was the same red color, with the exception of white to light gray spots. Like the ends of my hair, the inside of my ears, the hair between my breasts, my wrists, the top of my tail, and its end. On the contrary, the wings were white to light gray, with red ends.

So I was not surprised that the old man was interested in my race and had never seen it. The race whose members had the same form as me simply did not exist.

I sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"How do you know what I would believe and what I wouldn't?" He asked with a smile on his face.

He was right, I was just assuming it, and I shouldn't follow prejudices.

"I'm not ready to talk about it," I told him the truth.

I wasn't ready, and I really didn't want to talk about it.

Scoresby smiled. "I see, then it will be another mystery to me that will remain unsolved."

"I'm sorry," I said.

I felt that after what he was doing for me, he deserved to know the truth. I wanted the whole world to know it. At the same time, however, I was terrified that I would end up behind bars again when the world finds out.

That's why I remained silent.

"You don't have to apologize. When you're ready, I'll be happy to listen to your story," the old man said, lying down on a blanket. "I must apologize to you now. I don't have anything for you to lie down on to or cover up yourself with."

"Oh, I don't mind. Why don't you sleep in the wagon?" I asked him.

He grinned. "The nights are cold, and the fire is warm. But I will not park my wagon so close to the fire and risk burning it at night."

"I see," I nodded.

"You should sleep too. We'll leave at dawn," he told me, tangled in a blanket.

He turned his back to the fire, and our conversation was over. I didn't mind, and I rather welcomed the silence that ensued. Silence accompanied by the sounds of a crackling fire, the old man's breathing, the sounds that horses sometimes made, and the nightlife in the forest.

But for me, it was a beautiful paradise. The nights I remember were filled with crying people, mad mumbling when their minds couldn't stand the torment and pain.

When I looked at the sleeping Scoresby on the other side of the campfire, I could do nothing but envy him. I was determined not to close my eyes, the food might not have been poisoned, but that didn't rule out the possibility that someone might be hiding in the woods. All they had to do was wait until I fell asleep. In the morning, I would wake up in the hands of my new master. Nevermore.

I have no masters.

I couldn't deny that I was a little paranoid. More than a little, very paranoid, but I won't apologize for it. Scoresby was very nice, and I was grateful to him. He took me with him, gave me food, and let me join him at his fire. If we really arrive in Castiana tomorrow, I was ready to apologize to him. Until then, however, everything was possible, and I was determined to be careful of him as well.

The old man thought I didn't see him, but he was wrong. As he tangled in the blanket, he carried a dagger and a magical tool. The item was different from the lighter. Either he was as ready to attack me as I was him, and it will only depend on who is faster, or it was protection from me. Who would just trust someone he meets on the road and without problems would fall asleep in their presence. He would have to be a fool, and Liam Scoresby didn't seem like a fool to me.

I carefully threw a few branches on the extinguishing fire so as not to wake him, and I continued to enjoy its flames and the peace around me.

In the end, I couldn't take it anymore and had to stretch my wings and tail.

"Ahh…" faint sound escaped my throat, along with it arrived relief in my new limbs. I hadn't moved my wings and tail for so long that they were really numb now. Fortunately, feeling returned to them very quickly, especially after I spread my wings to full width and let them warm up. I felt free again.

The collected wood could not last all night, so I went to the forest several times for more. It didn't seem as dangerous to me to be in the woods at night, as Scoresby described. I kept the fire going all night, just as I hadn't closed my eyes, not even once.

When morning came, and the old man woke up, I was sitting by the campfire with my legs crossed, my tail in my lap, and my wings on the ground. My left hand covered my breasts.

The fact that Scoresby is waking up did not escape my attention. I could take the same position as yesterday. I really wanted to and had to fight my body and emotions not to do it. Scoresby gained a little of my trust and deserved a bit of mine in return. It didn't mean I wanted to reveal myself to him. I wasn't an exhibitionist. No, I wanted to show him my wings and tail.

The old man unwrapped himself from the blanket, stretched, yawned, and farted hard. Then he looked at the still-burning fire and at me. A smile appeared on his face.

"Good morning, Miss Grey," he greeted me.

"Morning, sir."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Did you sleep at all?"

"No," I told him honestly.

"I see," he said nodding. "Thank you for keeping the fire going. My old bones will definitely appreciate it. How about a piece of dried meat? Unfortunately, I have nothing else."

After my nod, Scoresby got up from the ground to take something out of his wagon supplies for breakfast. I was grateful to him, but once again, I had his meat and water tested first.

When he served me dried meat, it was the first time he had noticed my wings and tail. His surprised expression amused me.

"Yesterday, I was wondering what a strange outfit you are wearing," said the old man, clearing his throat to hide his surprise. "I must be really old that I didn't notice it was your wings...and tail."

"Yes, tail," I said, waving the tip of my tail so I wouldn't reveal my lap.

"An unusual combination," he muttered.

I frowned and asked. "Have you seen anyone with wings and a tail?"

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The old man smiled. "Not like yours. I met a couple of beastmen who have wings. For example, Avier has wings that grow from their backs. But their wings are larger than yours. Harpies have hands covered with feathers and serve them as wings. Every beastmen has a tail, but I've never seen one with a mammal's tail and wings."

I did not expect such an answer. A simple yes or no, would have been enough. Plus, I wasn't a beastmen, so none of them could look like me. I had no idea what I was. Was I still human? That lunatic was trying to make some kind of better human, so maybe I was Supreme Human? I definitely didn't feel that way, more like a mutant. Oh, like X-men, however, I did not have their uniforms.

Scoresby didn't wait for my answer and returned to his wagon, the contents of which he began to rummage through. While constantly mumbling, he emptied the contents of something in the wagon. In a moment, he returned with a piece of rag. Old dirty canvas sack.

"...as I said, I don't have much to give you. When I travel alone, I can do with little. I know this is just an old sack, but I thought you could use it to cover yourself up," he said.

"How?" I asked.

Scoresby didn't think that far. However, together we came to a successful solution when we cut a strip of fabric from the sack, which I tied around my chest. The rest in the form of a wide strip of fabric I tied around my waist, like men wearing towels, only shorter and with a knot over my tail. It was like having a skirt halfway up my thighs and going commando.

It wasn't the first time, but it was a different time and in a different world.

While I was dealing with my lack of clothing problem, Scoresby hitched up the horses to the wagon and was ready to go.

"What do you say?" I asked him about his opinion on my clothes with my hands on my hips and outstretched wings.

The old man smiled. "A little short for my taste, but it suits you, miss."

"I agree with you, I'd rather worn more too, but I'm grateful for this," I said.

Scoresby did not comment further. He knew it wasn't much, that it wasn't real clothes, and I didn't even want more from him. He didn't know that it was the first piece of fabric I had worn in the last year.

As soon as I sat down on the bench next to him, we drove forward. After the first few minutes in our journey, the bruises on my ass reminded themselves. It was immediately clear to me that this wouldn't be a pleasant journey.

But time was running fast for me, as is the case with things you are not looking forward to. I wanted to get to the city, hoping so much that it really would be Castiana. However, I was terrified of what would happen when I met its inhabitants, especially its rulers.

"Is there an army in town, I mean the Sahal army?" I asked Scoresby.

The journey was quiet, we hardly spoke at all, but I knew it was my fault.

The old man shook his head. "No, but Castina has his guardsmen."

"What are they like?" I asked.

"I know what you really want to ask, miss," Scoresby said, whipping reins to push the horses. "You want them to listen to you and punish your former master. I don't want to disappoint you and deliberately deprive you of hope, but you should be prepared for them not to do anything like that. They are the guardsmen of Castiana. Even if it were an army, they would not invade another kingdom's territory. It would only start a war. Although Sahal disagrees with the treatment of slaves in Arda, the empire cannot do much with it without a military confrontation."

Would that be so bad? If there were slaves like me in the whole Arda, would that be so bad? I know that war would cause suffering to many innocent people, but it would also prevent more suffering. But I couldn't be sure. It wasn't even my decision to make. How a slave like me could command an army.

"Will they at least listen to me?" I asked.

"Sure, they will," Scoresby said with a nod. "They wouldn't even let you into town without talking to you."

"Why?"

"You have no ID card. You have to prepare to be asked where you are from and what you are. But you don't have to worry, they will just ask. I know a few Guardsmen. They are nice people."

That didn't reassure me much. On the contrary, I began to consider whether the trip to the city was a good idea. Whether it was worth the risk. But I didn't have many other options. Without food and water, I wouldn't survive very long in the wilderness. I could still try to rob Scoresby, but that would put everyone who hunts outlaws on my tail. The closer we were to Castiana, the more this possibility was out of the question.

Then, when we went up the hill in the midday sun, and I saw a high-walled city in the distance, the thoughts of robbing the old man were gone. Instead, I wanted to run away immediately, fighting my instincts and emotions, which were trying to overwhelm my mind.

(ding) Indomitable Will (IV) reaches lvl 107

Yeah, that was my Class skill with the highest level. The skill without which my mind would have long since collapsed like a house of cards. It didn't matter if I was free right now. Such suffering cannot be forgotten without leaving a mark on you. Even now, I suffered. The strange system operating in this world confirmed it to me when my skill gained another level.

I was sweating from head to toe, my body shaking, and my heart racing as we reached the gate. The fact that there was already a wagon in front of us didn't help my nerves. When we finally started moving, I almost jumped out of the carriage and fled.

"Hello, Liam," Scoresby was greeted by one of the four guardsmen. "Shouldn't you have arrived yesterday? Marlen was worried about you."

"Nice to see you, Frank. This wagon has had its best years. I had to have the wheel fixed. Luckily I was still in Mitta, when it broke. It delayed me, but half a day," the old man told him.

Oh, so that was why he had to sleep halfway between cities. He didn't tell me, but I didn't ask him either. All the guardsmen's sight then fell on me, and I froze like a doe in front of the high beams.

"And who are you, miss?" guardsman Frank asked.

"I…." I was unable to speak.

"She's a slave from Arda," Scoresby said, for which I was grateful. "I met her at the bridge over the Traim."

"Another slave, Liam? When will you stop?" Frank asked.

The old man shrugged. "You know me when I stop working and stay home with Marlen."

"She would definitely like that," Frank said.

That made Scoresby laugh. "….Oh yes, she would."

"All right, miss, do you have an ID?" Frank asked me.

"…" I shook my head. I didn't have it.

"They should issue it to you in Mitta," he said, narrowing his eyes.

(ding) Indomitable Will (IV) reaches lvl 108

Shut up. I shouted at the system.

"I don't think she came through Mitta, but swam the Traim," Scoresby said for me.

"Is that so, miss?" The guard asked me.

I nodded quickly. "…"

"Interesting, what is the border guard doing?" muttered one of the guards, shaking his head.

"Miss, can I ask you to get out of the wagon?" Frank asked.

"You don't have to worry, Miss Grey. You're in good hands. Frank is a good man. I will vouch for him," Scoresby told me.

But it was easier said than done. I was just a bundle of nerves, my body was trembling, and when I tried to get out of the wagon, my bruised and stiff ass joined in. Were it not for my wings and tail's quick reactions, which helped me keep my balance, I would have landed with my face-first on the ground. Now I was looking at the wide-eyed expressions of the four guardsmen. It wasn't the best first impression I could make, and I definitely didn't intend to show myself that way.

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