I lowered my body so that only the top half of my head peeked from the bathtub. I also asked Nowa to do the same.
“Come in,” I shouted.
The door creaked open, and Freya’s head poked out from the gap. Before she could say anything, her face turned red as she let out a short gasp and slammed the door shut.
-”S-Sorry!” I could hear her muffled shout from behind the door.
“I don’t mind.” That was the truth. My body was covered by the bathtub anyways. Why was she acting like that? “What did you call me for?”
-”W-Well, dad’s back, and w-we’re having dinner!”
“...Okay. I’ll be down there in a sec.”
I was hungry, and I wanted to see if the food here was good for Nowa, so I could excuse Freya for ruining my relaxing moment. Sighing, I stepped out of the bathtub, and dried and dressed us both.
With Nowa wrapped in my tail, I left the house. Freya told us that they often ate at a table outside, so I didn’t bother looking for a dining room.
And I was right. Sitting on the set of tables and chairs in front of the house were Fred, Freya, the Guildmaster, and…Clara.
Food was lain on the wooden tables. I didn’t know what they were, but they were definitely foodstuff. Mostly meat, judging by the smell.
I sat down on a chair—with Nowa still sitting next to me, of course. There were two chairs or so separating us from everyone else, as it should be.
The Guildmaster frowned. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it and instead opted to close his eyes and clasp his hands in prayer.
Clara and the two kids also did a similar thing.
Even Nowa was copying them despite not knowing what it meant. I was the only one who didn’t care enough about religion, so all I could do was sit there awkwardly, staring at the food and salivating.
“”Goddess Caedes, I thank thee for this bountiful meal. May the world prosper under your watchful gaze.””
They all said that simultaneously as if they were some kind of automated golems. This was why I hated religion… It had the power to brainwash people.
My experience as a Swordsmaster and a Monarch told me that the Goddesses couldn’t interfere with the world freely (unless they want their Causality to run dry), so the people under them could be corrupt without any care in the world.
Well, I wasn’t judging the Guildmaster and his family for following a religion. As long as they doesn’t force me, I was fine.
The Guildmaster then raised a wine glass and spoke, “And under Goddess Caedes’ gaze, I shall begin the celebration of admitting Esther and Nowa Raze into our family!”
‘...Did I just join a cult?’
.
.
.
.
.
Aside from that very awkward start, everything was normal.
The food was…okay. It wasn’t bad, but I could’ve made it better.
And the atmosphere was…strange, to say the least. Everyone was focusing on their own food without talking with each other much—which I appreciated.
However, Freya wasn’t satisfied with the silence.
“Clara, how do I get the fox spirit to talk?” She whispered, but I could still hear it.
I pretended to not notice anything and sipped a glass of water.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“It’s going to be hard,” Clara responded with a smile. “She seems…cold.”
“Nuh uh! She said that she’d be my friend!”
“Is that so?” Clara nodded thoughtfully. “Then, how about finding out more about each other?”
“...?”
“You know, ask her where she came from, what she likes, things like that.”
Freya hugged Clara and thanked her out loud. Not very discreet, huh? Then, she slowly slid her chair (not very discreetly) toward Nowa and me. After ten agonizing minutes, she finally arrived at her destination.
“Hey, where did you get that scar on your cheek?”
‘Who the fuck starts a conversation like that?’
It seemed that Fred agreed with me.
“That’s insensitive!”
“You’re insensitive!” Freya shot back. “You ran away when she needs someone to guide her!”
“No you!”
“No, you!”
Then, they both turned toward me with burning eyes. Literally. Their eyes were even more burning than the flames in my pupils.
“U-Uh…” I glanced at the Guildmaster and Clara, asking for help.
However, the Guildmaster merely sipped his wine and acted as if nothing was happening. Meanwhile, Clara stifled a chuckle. She was clearly not intending to help me out.
‘Well, this can be a good situation.’
I needed to put boundaries, anyways. They may become my friends, yes, but that didn’t mean they could annoy me like this always.
“I don’t mind telling the story behind my scar.”
Freya cheered loudly, while Fred shrank back into his chair, dejected.
I waited for the children to calm down before continuing.
“Some crazy cult leader ran a dagger across my face. It made me mad, like a beast.”
“A-And then?” Freya gulped.
“I tore my family apart. My servants, gone. My friends, gone. My Mom…” I chuckled and covered Nowa’s ears with my tail. “...I killed her with my own two hands. I tore her guts out and ate them. She begged me to stop, but I didn’t stop. Only when she’s been reduced to no more than a pile of meat and bones did I stop.”
That was a gross exaggeration of the truth (and a displacement of the timeline.) But now, I could rest assured that neither of the kids would get closer to m—
“B-But do you regret it?”
Unexpectedly, Freya inched even closer to me and clasped my hands.
“What are you doing? Are you not…scared?”
“I can tell that you’re in pain.”
“How?”
“I’m a Dryad. I can feel people’s emotions…faintly.”
No wonder she had tree branches growing out of her head. And by that logic, Fred must be a Druid.
But following her gaze, it was more like my drooping ears and tail clued her on what I was feeling.
“I’ll ask again. You don’t need to answer, almighty fox spirit. Do you regret what you did?”
Did I regret it?
Did I regret not being strong enough?
Did I regret not being able to protect Mom?
“Y-Yes, I do.”
“Then, don’t worry.” She smiled. “Even if you go crazy again. We’ll be fine. Dad’s a 6-star after all. I’m sure he can suppress you peacefully. Isn’t that right?”
The Guildmaster gave a nod while staring at me carefully.
Damn, I felt kind of guilty for lying to her. I should probably correct her and say that I wouldn’t go mad again, but this had been a long and awkward day, so I gave her a thank-you and concentrated on my meal.
.
.
.
.
.
The morning after the hectic first day was peaceful. Birds were chirping, and the sun was warm. The only thing wrong with it was the noise of something banging on my door.
Groaning, I stood up on the bed, carefully waking Nowa up, and opened the door.
Of course, it was Freya. “Good morning!”
“...Morning.”
Hearing my answer, she nodded happily and rushed downstairs.
‘She’s going to do this every day, isn’t she?’
I groaned again.
Yawning and going downstairs, I expected to find a hot breakfast waiting. But no, I couldn’t find anything—or anyone waiting for me.
All I found was my ears hurting because of another loud banging sound outside the house. Of course, I went to investigate it.
The sound was caused by the Guildmaster hammering logs to make a shed? I didn’t know how to describe it, but he was definitely making a building of some kind.
Right beside him were Freya and Fred, watching everything with mild interest.
“Esther, good timing,” he said as soon as I approached him. “Punch me as hard as possible. I need to know the full extent of your strength.”
‘Again, who the fuck starts a conversation with that?’
I ignored the Guildmaster’s question for now and asked him, “What are you building?”
“A Heat shelter.”
“A what?”
“You seriously don’t know?”
I shook my head.
The Guildmaster hung his mouth open, baffled that I didn’t know what this supposed “Heat shelter” was.
Eventually, he answered my question with a sigh.
“Just think of it as…a surprise tool that will help you later.” He then muttered, “good thing you came to me before you turned twelve. I can’t believe you don’t even know what that is.”