'Hmm, with the remaining distance, I will need at least two hours until I reach Valhale.'

After staring at the way sign on the dirt road leading towards the Royal Capital, Rina looked up to the sky. The sun was already on its way to going down, causing the girl's surroundings to get dark. Because of it, she decided to stop for the rest of the day. So she walked several hundreds of metres off the road to a nearby tree at the edge of a forest and sat down, preparing to sleep.

Thanks to her upbringing she was already used to camping outdoors and her experience of the last night, the first time she had camped outside of her village, proved that she wasn't having too much trouble resting in the wilderness.

With her hand she formed a small black magic circle and stuck it on the ground, multiplying the gravitational force around her to protect her from monster attacks. She then laid down in the middle, where the force was not applied, and closed her eyes. However, even after lying still for almost half an hour, she couldn't fall asleep. The cause: her whole body was itching from the two days worth of sweat from walking.

'I want to take a bath.'

Determined to get rid of the itch, the girl got up and set off in search of a water source. Fortunately, she didn't have to go too far. After walking several minutes into the forest she ended up in a clearing with a small lake in the middle, reflecting the rising moon.

After confirming with a quick glance that nobody was around, she took off her clothes, folded them, and slowly entered the water. Looking down, she perceived the reflected moon and beneath it the reflection of her own body.

In contrast to the ball-like figure she had in her last life, this one was like an extra thin bean sprout. If you looked closer, you could even see traces of her ribs lurking out from her malnourishment. On top of her body, this time actually connected by a neck, was a head, that might even resemble that of a human being. Her new face might have looked better than her previous one, but in her opinion, she was still as ugly as she had been in her previous life. The main cause for that was without any doubt, her slightly upwards slanting eyes, which gave her a very nasty look. Her well-shaped but thin nose certainly did not help her in that regard. But that was life. You have to live with what you are given after all.

“And don't forget my red hair and eyes, for some reason they're considered bad here,” she muttered to no one in particular.

Although she had mixed feelings about her appearance, she was quite content with her newfound fitness. She had never known that it was possible to do physical activities for an extended period without having problems breathing afterwards. In fact, except for when she was plagued by hunger, she quite liked running around and climbing trees very much. That might have even been the first time that she had enjoyed anything in her both lives combined.

So, did it mean that she was changing?

Maybe.

To a better person?

Not necessarily.

Would her second life have a meaning?

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

It depends.

“Can I find someone who might love me this time?”

Rina shook her head, swaying her wet hair left and right. No. She had already decided that she would not chase after an unattainable dream. Hope will always lead to despair. She had to learn that the hard way after all. She had despaired enough. So she was done hoping. If you don't expect anything, you can't get hurt or sad.

But it did not mean that she was done with the world. Quite the opposite. This time, instead of concentrating on her own happiness, she would like to see the people around her smile. By doing so, she would become happy as well. A typical Win-win situation. But for that she needed strength. That was why she was on her way to the Royal Capital to train. Perhaps that was why she was given a relatively fit and strong body, not to mention her unique magical abilities.

The girl immersed her whole body, up to her neck, in the water and washed off the dirt. After relaxing for a while the girl left the water, and as she was about to pick up her clothes to put them on...

*Rustle*

...a rustling from the bushes in the forest interrupted her. Because of that she let go of her clothes and focused her eyes on the direction of those noises. After a few seconds, a dark figure emerged from those bushes and approached the girl. With the distance between them shortening and with the moonlight reflecting Rina could soon see the shadow on that man retracting. Out of it stepped a middle-aged man, she might have seen before in the village of Mousa.

“You are from the village of Mousa, aren't you?” the girl asked to confirm that thought.

“Eh? Ah! Yes. Ahem... I have also *hick* seen you there before. So, what are you doing here alone? And at night at that?”

“I'm on my way to the capital. But as it's already dark, I was cleaning myself up before I rest for the night.”

“Hehehe, I can see it. *mumbles* Hmm? No hair? Well, of course... at that age... Hmmm... For a kid's body, this really looks good hehehehehe, this will be fun *mumbles*” His eyes roamed all across Rina's body multiple times as if inspecting it for something while he muttered something inaudible to her.

Although his questionable actions made her feel a little uncomfortable, she managed to ignore them. After all, she could have never guessed, that her body would arouse anyone. “Are you also on the way to the capital, Mister?” she asked, tilting her head which snapped him out of his daze.

“Yes! Yes. We- *cough* I'm also on my way there. What do you say? We could continue our journey there together. If you want I could even help you find a place to stay. Hehehe...”

“A-are you sure about it?” Rina pulled her wet hair from her back to the front to show it. “You don't mind? I thought you are uncomfortable with my presence because of my appearance and my hair colour.”

“Eh? Y-Yes! Of course. No Problems. Now put your clothes on. *mumbles* Or else I might attack. The others won't be pleased by that *mumbles*”

At the part of the response Rina could understand, she smiled like a blooming flower, followed by a blush as she realised that she was still bare naked in front of a stranger. “I-I-I'm terribly sorry that you had to see that.” The girl bowed her head. “I will put them on now. C-c-can you turn around? I-i-it's kind of hard to change when someone is watching.”

“Ehh? Yes of course.” Even though he was surprised for the third time already in this short period, this time by that girl's innocence and naivety, he still turned around. 'What the hell is going on? Are all children as dumb as her? It'll be too easy to trick this brat. Damn, I should tell the others that we should do this more often.'

Unbeknownst to the mayhem in that man's mind, Rina was quite a bit confused herself. Why was someone in her village suddenly so friendly to her? Wasn't everyone, except for Sister Baal, supposed to hate her due to the colour of her hair? She couldn't quite remember whether or not that man was one of those who had looked down on her, but since pretty much the whole village shunned her, it was very likely that he did too. So why did his attitude suddenly change?

While the memories of her past life did indeed help her with survival on the streets, she unfortunately was a complete noob when it came to social interactions. So at that time, even though she felt uncomfortable with the man's presence, she tried not to let it bother her too much. So, without suspecting anything bad at all, she went to sleep in the spot she had chosen before, with that man tagging along.

In the past, whenever she went to sleep, she had always set up a protective barrier around her consisting of gravity magic, that would pull assailants to the ground. This time, however, she refrained from doing so because of the man's presence, as she still had to hide her Dark magic abilities. Besides, the man had been kind enough to offer to stay awake and guard her while she slept. So why should she refuse? After all, it wasn't very often that other people directed their goodwill towards her.

So, satisfied, and even a little happy with the current development, the girl closed her eyes. But still, there was something about this man, that worried her. More precisely, she was a bit worried about him. She did not know how to put it, but somehow...

'I feel sorry for him.'