Ofris' house wasn't far from the town hall. It wouldn’t take us more than maybe four or five minutes going by foot, but to me, each step felt like an arduous journey. It was late evening and the farmers working the fields surrounding the town were all returning to their homes.

They all stared at me. Again, there were those who looked at me scornfully, thinking I was still a slave, regardless of my citizenship status, but there were also those who were simply interested in me or our odd group. I could have handled all of this somehow, but a part of me told me that there were two additional kinds of strangers staring at us. It was these who made me hide myself at Ofris' side like a little, shy child.

One of those were the men who I had met at the tavern. They had seen a part of me that I didn’t even know myself about, one that was outgoing and openhearted, far more so than me. The second group were those that had learned that I was a fox.

“They totally want to drag me away!”

「Of course they want to. You are cute and you have an openhearted soul - when you are drunk.」

“...”

As if he had seen the expression in my face change, Ofris suddenly turned around to me. He looked at me with pitiful eyes, placed his hand on my head and began stroking my hair. I was startled at first, but this feeling changed into something whole different soon.

“Mother …”

We had never been close, my mother and I, and I clearly had never been the best son she could wish for, but I loved her. I had really loved her. It must have been years since she had touched me like Ofris did just now, years without her showing any kind of skinship. I was feeling lonely, even though she had been with me on any single day. And now Ofris was just giving me all of this attention without me asking for it? I couldn't understand the world anymore.

“Don't worry about them, Rika,” his gentle voice tried to calm me down. “Once they know who you are, they will stop talking like that.”

“I would rather have them find out nothing about me,” I answered almost inaudibly, “so they wouldn't get any wrong ideas …”

“They won't try to do anything to you.”

“How can you be so sure about that? Don't you see how they look at me?!”

“Risa and the others will take care of you,” he promised me, “they won't even dare to flirt with you.”

“Why would they care about what she says?”

“She is giving them their work,” Ofris shrugged his shoulders, “isn't the person paying your bills somebody you won't offend no matter what?”

“And the others?”

“They are the same, essentially. We have Katrina and Sahria, who aren’t working the counters, but are the sole healers this city currently has. Aside from you, maybe …”

“They know that I can heal wounds?”

“You told Mabel you could do it,” Ofris revealed, showing a weak smile, “I don’t know if anybody else listened to it and took you for real. You were drunk, after all.”

“I see …”

One last time, Ofris stroked my hair and neck, then he took my hand and turned towards the town hall, which now was only little more than maybe fifty paces from us.

When I let my gaze wander over the building which now would be my home, I found a familiar, curly haired girl standing in front of its doors. Risa was wearing her usual dark gray uniform, new, however, was the disapproving expression I discovered on her face once we were closer. She didn't like me at all.

“Why does she look at me like that?! I never did anything to her!”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Ofris didn't even see her expression, or he blatantly chose to ignore it, instead. It was only when he felt my grip getting stronger, that he forced himself to an answer.

“She will get over it, don't worry.”

“Is she really,” I hesitated, “envious of me?”

Ofris sighed, “it is fine. Just try not to get on her bad side.”

“I think I already did …”

He could only answer with another sigh, before releasing me and stepping forward to greet Risa. The expression on her face instantly changed into a smile.

“She couldn't make it more obvious …”

「Don't worry. You can do it!」

“This vixen …”

"Good evening, Risa," Ofris greeted her.

"Good evening," she answered, without ever lifting her gaze from Ofris.

"Are those rooms ready?"

"More or less,” she explained, “They weren't used for years, after all. But it should be enough for somebody to live in."

“What about me?! I am here, too!”

“Good evening,” I chipped in almost inaudibly.

Risa's eyes meet mine. It was only a split second, but I felt like I had seen something close to hate in her expression. It instantly was gone, however, and in its place grew a weak smile.

“Hello, Rika,” she greeted me. “Are you feeling better now?”

“I- I do.”

“What? She doesn't care! She doesn't care at all! At least try to hide it, will you?!” 

A sigh left Ofris' lips. “Should we head inside? I think she needs a good bath and some rest for now.”

“See?! Even he sees it!”

“You don't have to worry about that. I will show her everything. You can check on Laki for now. She has a new job for you.”

“A new job?”

“It is something about a group of goblins that raided a farm in the south.”

“I see. I will hear her out.”

Ofris seemed reluctant to leave, but after being assured several times that everything was fine and he wasn't needed, he slowly made way. It was only when he had entered the large entrance on the other side of the building, that Risa spoke out to me.

“We should get inside for now.”

“Ok …”

Risa turned around and stuck a key inside the large wooden door that had been behind her. It had the same color as the roof and the doors on the entrance the adventurers used: a dark brown that reminded me of walnut wood. This one, however, was decorated with a crest made of polished metal. It showed an animal with an eagle head and what looked to be a lion's body.

“A griffon? This world has griffons, too?”

She didn't stop to explain it to me. As soon as the door was opened, she slipped inside and used a wordless wave of her hand to ask me to follow her. After a few moments of hesitation, I made my way inside.

What awaited me was a large entrance room that had several doors waiting on both its left and right side. There was a large, colorful rug on the floor, a table and four upholstered chairs were waiting at the far end of the room and beautifully painted landscape pictures on all of its walls.

Although nothing of this really fitted my personal preferences, it gave off the feeling of this being a rich guy's house. Still, it was too big, far too big for me alone.

“I would prefer sleeping on Ofris's couch …”

A sudden slam startled me. I looked towards Risa, who had just closed the door. She was looking angry, quite openly this time. Nothing was left from the weak smile she had just given me seconds ago.

Before I could understand what was going on, she had already locked the door. She placed her hands on my shoulders and rammed me into the wall. I could only scream out in surprise and pain.

“Ugh!!”

“Listen to me, bitch!” She began. “I don't care what you think about him, you understand? Just because you are a fox doesn't mean you can be with him! You are a beast kin! You can never be together!”

“I- I never wanted to-”

“Who cares what you want?!” Her voice got slightly teary. “Why did you do that?! Why would you go drinking and dancing with him?! Why would you say all of that?!”

“He invited-”

Once again she cut me off: “You don't deserve him!”

“I don't want him!”

“SHUT UP!!”

Risa’s voice painfully cut into my ears. I was petrified. I couldn't even react to the girl who slowly became blurry behind a veil of tears. My ears hurt worse than they ever had before, but I couldn't even scream or fight back. It was only when her silhouette left my view and an almost equally painful door slam announced her departure, that I came to.

“What- what just happened?”