I let out a deep breath, raising a hand to my face. ’They arrested Mochi for trying to kill me? I have a bad feeling… Still, if nothing else I did manage to get her out like I promised… But… Why am I so anxious all of a sudden…’ I clutched my chest. ‘My lungs are fine, but my heart is racing… Does that mean I’m cured? No, it’s not that I’m suddenly ok… It’s just a different feeling altogether…’ “We need to get that girl out of jail. I’ll take responsibility for her and help her get identification. She was more of a prisoner there than I was…”

Nothing felt right… And from the way Lola looked at me, I could tell she probably agreed. My face and eyes felt completely different like they were suddenly taking on an unfamiliar expression. Although… To be fair I wasn’t sure exactly what I was feeling either. Pity? Regret? Maybe I was just empathetic with how lonely she must have been… Then again… ‘I always get like this when kids are involved… It’s not like I have any real reason to be paranoid… Maternal instinct? Ah, that must be it.’ “Hm…” I slowly opened and closed my hands, the one thing that felt familiar was how my muscles tightened into a fist. “Lola, do you think I’d be a good mom?”

Her eyebrows raised, pushing together as she slightly tilted her head. “That’s… Why?”

I cracked my neck, pushing my fist into an open palm to loosen up my stiff shoulders. “I have really strong maternal instincts. Like I really wanna hit something right now.”

She nervously chuckled. “Isn’t that like… The opposite of what that means though?”

The others seemed to have gotten wind that I was awake, and before long started to crowd around me. It must have weirded Lola out just as much as it did me because she abruptly left without much else to say. Although… She actually loved attention, regardless of whether it was secondhand or not, so that didn’t feel right either.

Since I was familiar with Posy, she was the one who came to officially check on me, and with her… Things went by pretty quickly… I couldn’t really complain because it was always efficient the way she basically forced me and helped to change my clothes, get ready, and start settling my affairs… A part of me was glad too because it didn’t give me time to dwell on any of my thoughts… But… It was still really embarrassing. I practically didn’t even string two words together until we were already on our way to town. And… Considering I couldn’t even bring myself to take off my own shirt when I was alone… I’d probably still be in my room without her.

She filled me in on the ride over. After I fought the assassin I fell unconscious and my foe vanished with little trace.

I vividly thought back to my last moments. ‘Melting into the earth like a shadow…’ “I’ve got to learn shadow magic… Shadow warp is what… Tier 7 through… I bet that’s how she escaped, considering I severed a leg.”

Posy groaned. “If that’s true though…”

“Like I said, Mochi didn’t do anything wrong… This… Really pisses me off that she was treated like this…” I kept my voice calm if only because I understood how Posy wouldn’t know anything about what happened. ‘after everything I did to try and protect her, they accused her of trying to kill me… Come to think of it. Lola said she wasn’t a minor right? So I guess she isn’t a kid after all? So she’s around my age?’

“Even if she didn’t try and kill you, she was still technically a bandit…”

My eyes narrowed as heavyweight sank into my chest. “I know…” ‘She was fairly capable too… So she probably helped them do more than one illegal thing.’ “Stil… It just feels like I put in work for nothing… At least, it will until I get her out…” When the carriage arrived at the jail I groaned as my muscles tried to get used to my new body and stepped out of the carriage. ‘Even sitting and standing feels different…’ “You can wait here, this won’t take long.”

Throwing open the door to the jail, I walked up to the man on duty, who coincidentally… had a large scar on his left hand all the way around his wrist from where it had been severed.

The vivid memory replayed through my mind, tightening my chest and making it hard to speak. “H-hello…”

We stared blankly at each other for a moment until he started to snarl at me. “What do you want?”

I stepped back and bowed slightly, lowering my head. “I’m sorry… I…” ‘Does I’m sorry really work, I cut off his freaking hand…’ “You… Did you need any further treatment for you’re hand after what hapened?”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He growled deeply. “They said it would heal fine on its own over the next couple of years, otherwise getting all the feeling back would cost me a gold coin to go to a 6th-tier healer. Nerves take the longest to heal so it’s no surprise.”

‘A whole gold coin! Well… I didn’t use a normal sword to cut it off… I used an enchanted great blade…’ I hesitated to part with so much money… But it was my mistake, it was the least I could do. “I can’t use 6th tier magic yet… So for now all I can do is give you this. I truly am sorry.” I pulled a gold coin from my storage and handed it to him.

His hardened face slowly relaxed with shock before he reached out and took it. “Uh… Thanks…” After taking a close look at the coin he quickly pocketed it and took a sip of tea to calm his nerves.

It wasn’t great, but it was the best apology I could give, so it was time to move on. “Ok then. I’m here to break the halfling girl out of jail.”

He spat out his tea all over the desk, thankfully missing me, if only because I quickly turned to the side. “You what?” He shouted.

‘I should probably explain…’ “She didn’t try to kill me, she helped me fight a high-level shadow magic user, so she’s innocent, and I’m here to get her out. Furthermore… I actually owe her a lot…”

He wiped his mouth, took a small cloth, and wiped the desk as well. “Oh, ok. That’s a different matter. Since the charges were against you in the first place then it shouldn’t be hard. You can give me the paperwork and I’ll inform the right people, we could get her released in a day or two.”

I let out a long growl. “I’m already really pissed off that she is in jail at all…” Without any conscious effort, my great blade suddenly fell from storage and sank slightly into the ground with a thud. ‘My mind must still be a little unstable… I’ll need to empty out my storage and rest it for a while soon…’

“Ah… So we're back to breaking her out then…” The nervousness in his voice betrayed his smile.

“N-no, this isn’t… I wasn’t…” I embarrassedly put my sword back into storage and apologized again. ‘Why does talking to people have to be so hard…’

He cleared his throat and let out a sigh. “I won’t try to stop you… But you know I can’t technically help you after you say something like that.”

“I said that’s not why I’m here!” I whined, my hole body tensing up from surmounting anxiety. ‘Why would he think that? Is that the kind of image I give off now? I thought I was cute?’ I slowly thought back to the times he had seen me, the image of me covered in blood and standing atop a mass of bodies coming to mind first. ‘Oh…’

His head slowly sank into his hands. “Right… Just try not to make too much of a scene. Even if she is innocent breaking someone out of jail is still still a crime.”

‘Is he just ok with this now? Even if I have powerful friends it’s not like I’m a big shot myself…’ I took a deep breath. “Sorry… Sorry. Let's start over. You said there was paperwork…”

He softly chuckled, tapping me on the head with a roll of paper. “I should only need two signatures. The first states that her testimony is valid,” He said as he unrolled the paper and pointed. The second states that you are not going to press charges on account of her hitting you with a magic spell. They are both important because the first makes sure that rather than you not pressing charges, she will be considered innocent.”

I clenched my fist. “Press charges!” I took a deep breath. “S-sorry… Where do I sign again?” ‘What is this… My chest isn’t tight anymore… But it’s burning… It’s not like it’s hard to breathe but I’m still breathing shallow…’

He gave me a pen and I wrote my name in red ink. “There, now that that’s out of the way. I’ll go and visit her. Is there any technical reason why you can’t just release her now?”

He pulled out a large key ring and unlocked the main door, leading back to another section where several cells and patrolling guards were. “Not technically, but the paperwork has to be approved and processed. I recognize you for instance, but if I didn’t know who you were, then what would stop some stranger claiming to be you to come in and do what you’re trying to, you understand?”

I let out a small disappointed groan. “I guess that makes sense…”

He handed me off to another guard, giving him the details. “Cell 32. Oh, and kid… Make sure you're looking after yourself too alright?”

“Uh… sure…” I muttered back as he walked away. ‘I guess he’s really a nice guy… Now I feel even worse for cutting off his hand…’

I counted each one as the new guard led me down the path.

“You’re Chika then? The guy… Sorry, the young lady that killed the minotaur right?”

‘Young lady… What?’ I suddenly started to feel a little self-conscious every time he glanced at me, only to look away like it was indecent. “Even looking like this… Do I still get mistaken for a man? Yeah, well, either way, that’s me.” ‘Given my history of the people I end up dealing with, it’s probably better if they think I’m a man right?’

“That’s not what I…” He cleared his throat. “Sorry miss, it’s just, the songs about you talk about a tall knight covered from head to toe in blood. You… Look very much like a woman uh… a young lady I mean. Or…”

‘Well… Part of that is just because my clothes are too small…’ I sighed tugging at my collar. ‘Well, it’s nothing like how I had to dress in the bandit cave when everything was actually too small... Although I made it through that because the whole time I was effectively wearing someone else's skin as a disguise… This really is my body now, isn’t it? This isn’t immodest, is it? I mean it’s small, but It’s just tight, it’s not like it’s even showing my stomach… I glanced at him again, his eyes staying squarely on the path ahead of us, but his neck stiff, as if he was hesitant about something, or just embarrassed.

‘This feels… Weird…’ “It’s fine, don’t worry about it…” ‘Things really are easier if people think I’m a man…’ My dark thoughts were interrupted almost before they began as we arrived at the cell. ‘What can I even say to her? She was so timid and afraid, putting on an act just like I was.’ “Mochi…”