I'm so soooooooore! Last night, Nyros and I walked for hours through the caves. We got lost and had to circle back a bunch of times too! Even after we got out of the cave, we had to walk for a few more hours to reach Nyros's base. By base, I mean a log cabin in the middle of the woods. Honestly, with a setting like that, I thought I was going to be murdered in my sleep, but I was too tired to care. I just flopped down in one of the beds immediately after going inside.

I sit up and rub my eyes. Lying next to me is a middle-aged human. His short hair is starting to grey. He’s not wearing a shirt, so I can see how tan and well-built he is. Currently he's propping his head up with his elbow and looking at me quizzically.

"KYAAAAA!"

"A-arle siim rae epitem. Cynfer ine jernil!"

He seems to be explaining something to me in a hurry. Oh, I probably didn't sleep with this guy then. That's good. I thought I was having a nightmare there for a second. Also, I made an extremely embarrassing sound. Damn, I want to go crawl in a hole and die.

"Nyros! Blyne ver suun kasten!"

Nyros enters the room, and takes off his necklace. The guy I was in bed with snatches it out of his hands, then puts it on.

(Sorry about that. Normally I would never give Nyros a telepathic necklace, but there was no other choice. He's the only soldier I have left.)

(Ahh, a normal person that calls soldiers soldiers!)

(Ahh, A normal person that isn't creepily cheerful!)

We look into each other’s eyes with newfound mutual understanding and our hands meet in a firm handshake. Oops, I still have to apologize.

(Sorry for making that weird scream earlier. I'm glad we didn't sleep together though...)

(You understood what I was saying?!)

(Haha, no, I just figured based on your tone and inflections.)

(Is that so...)

He eyes me curiously before talking again.

(...Well, you seem to have accidentally slept in my bed last night. Honestly, I was just as surprised as you were when I woke up, and I also made a strange sound at that time, so 

don't worry about it.)

(Thanks, that's reassuring. By the way, that cr-... Nyros mentioned something about a Slave Liberation Army?)

(That's right. We go around freeing sla, stealing from nobles, you know, that sort of thing. Most of the slaves we free decide to join us, since they have nowhere else to go. Because of that, our numbers grew large enough for the Alterrian central army to take notice come attack us directly. Sadly, Nyros is the only one left...)

Damn, why did Nyros have to be the one that lived? I guess it's fine as long as he doesn't have a telepathic necklace though. There's a lot of names I'm not familiar with though...

(I don't have anywhere to go either, so is it fine if I join the Slave Liberation Army?)

(OF COURSE!)

Right, this guy is probably glad for any company besides Nyros. I feel the same way.

(Can you use weapons of any kind?)

(No, not really. I'm good at stealing though. I can pick locks okay enough too.)

(Hmm, those are useful skills for freeing slaves. Good, we'll be able to increase our numbers quickly with someone like you. As always, Nyros has good taste in 'friends')

(By the way, you mentioned an 'Alterria' earlier?)

(Hm? That's the name of the empire we're in right now, you know. Even if you don't know the language, not knowing that is kind of...)

Should I tell this guy about being from another world? Well, let's try. If he doesn't believe me I can just pretend I was joking or something.

(To tell you the truth... I'm from another world.)

(I figured that was the case.)

(Really? Just like that? Does this sort of thing happen often?)

(Yeah, well, it happens every hundred years or so. Though, usually only the elves summon otherworlders. There have been a few exceptions though. Supposedly, a hero was summoned here in response to a human tribe's prayers a few weeks ago but...)

A few weeks ago? That could be Hise!

(Really! Where was he summoned?)

(I don't know, it was somewhere in the Grand Wilds though. It's full of monsters and savages, so I don't think you can meet him anytime soon even if it's not fake.)

Damn. Then, I just need to get stronger! 

(Mister-)

(-my name is Girida, feel free to call me G-san though.)

So he's aware of how old he is? I'm starting to respect him a bit more.

(Ah, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sayane. Uhm, Jii-san, how do I go about raising my stat points or learning magic?)

(I've never heard of 'stat points', and as for magic, only elves can use it.)

I had a sneaking suspicion that was the case when Nyros mentioned something like that earlier, but still, this is really disappointing. I can't level up either? 

(Anyway, the main reasons I'm not surprised that you said something like that are because of that strange language you speak, and because I've never met a beast-kin as intelligent as you.)

(So I'm called a beast-kin, huh? But, I don't think I said anything particularly intelligent...)

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(I don't need to tell you this, but beast-kin have an extremely critical period of mental growth when they're a few months old. If they aren't raised properly during this time, then their mental growth becomes stunted. Since most beast-kin in this world are either slaves or runaways, it's very rare to encounter one smarter than a 10 year old.)

(I see, so that's how it is... then, please continue to tell me more about this world.)

(Hmm, let's see... there are two major powers on this continent. The Dwarven Military-State Vristill occupies the west, and the Alterria Republic, where we are right now, occupies the east. In the center of the continent is a large forest home to monsters and human savages, the Grand Wilds, like I mentioned earlier.)

(What is the Alterria Republic like?)

(Well, they're very prosperous due to their overseas trade, they have a fair and democratic government, a strong military, and are overall good to it's citizens. For it's non-citizens though, this place is a living hell.)

(Non-citizens?)

(Slaves, girl, I'm talking about slaves. That would be humans and half-humans like you. We have no rights at all. Most slaves end up being used for hard labor or 'pleasure'. I'm sure you're very familiar with that.)

What is he implying? Surely he’s saying I’m familiar with the hardships of slavery, and not with ‘pleasure’, right? Damn, I had only been somewhat entertaining murdering him in the back of my mind in case he turned out to be hostile, but now I’m starting to think about it a little more. Learning more about this world takes priority over my pride though.

(Only humans and half-humans are enslaved? And, what do you mean by half-human?)

(You don't know you're half-human?! Are there only beast-kin in your world or something?)

(To tell you the truth, there were only humans in my world. I've inexplicably become a beast-kin though.)

Of course, I'm not going to tell him I used to be a guy. I'm taking that one with me to the grave.

(Heee? This is getting stranger and stranger... In that case, let me tell you about the races that live here. 

There are the dwarves, who inhabit Vristill. They have a lifespan of 200 years and an average birthrate. They are excellent at inventing things and make use of automatons for their military and daily needs. 

The elves have a life-span of 1000 years, and have a somewhat lower birthrate than that of the dwarves. They are capable of casting magic and like the dwarves, use it for both their military and daily needs. They live in the various territories that comprise the Alterria Republic. 

The beast-men, which are different from beast-kin, by the way, have a small kingdom to the east of the elves. They have a lifespan similar to the dwarves but have a higher average birthrate due to their large litters. Their kingdom is highly xenophobic and not much is known about it. There are also some nomadic beast-men to the south. However, the vast majority of beast-men are in Alterria, which has about a 3:5 ration of beast-men to elves.

Does that answer all your questions?)

Well, that is quite a bit of information, but I do still have more I want to ask.

(Wait, what about humans and beast-kin?)

(Ah, that's right. Then first, let me explain how humans got to their current state...)

Jii-san and I, or more like just Jii-san, talked a lot so let me summarize what I learned today.

[Read: I'm giving up all pretense of trying to disguise these info dumps.]

The dwarves have machines, the elves have magic, and the beast-men have speed, strength, and enhanced senses. The humans have nothing but a short lifespan and a fast birthrate. It seems they are considered monsters, and there are even elven adventurers that go and subjugate them every now and then. They are also popularly used as slaves in Alterria. The dwarves don't have slaves because of all their machines, but they still consider humans vermin nonetheless.

A hundred years ago, Alterria wanted to combine the beast-men's speed and strength with the high birthrate of the humans, and they succeeded in acquiring a few hybrids, the beast-kin. After all, the beast-men saw them as abominations, so they happily gave them up to the government. The beast-kin only inherited the enhanced senses from the beast-men, but the beast-men's large litters and the humans' fast rate of birth were combined. Therefore, they were considered a success. 

There are a few reasons why they haven't totally supplanted humans as the main slave though. The first is their critical growth period. While dumb slaves are usually a good thing for slave owners, there are still some complex tasks to be done, and it's cheaper to use a human rather than nurture a beast-kin through the critical phase. Also, it seems beast-men find owning beast-kin slaves distasteful, so that's already a large portion of the market gone.

Also, the place I'm in right now is on the western border of the Alterria Republic, not far from the Grand Wilds. I’ve already resolved myself to go find Hise. If I can't learn magic, then I'll just train in martial arts and weapons to become stronger!