It's been a month now, since I came to this world.
I spent that time doing quests and learning the alphabet of this world. Now, I'm fully fluent in reading and also staying in a new town, closer to the curious elven forest.
Right now, I'm clearing out a bandit nest.
"Get her—!!"
"Who the hell—?!"
Not even letting them get a chance to react, I hack and slash my way through this dirty cave they've made a base of and head deeper inside.
After taking care of all the bandits I finally find their stash.
"Whoa! These guys sure have been busy!" I was awed at the haul of gold and crates of minerals they amassed.
And it's all for me!
A soft clang of metal distracted me, directing my attention further inside the cave. I shone my lantern at the source and saw a small cage with an animal inside it.
"Omigosh ~!" I squealed like a girl as I looked at the cutest thing I've ever seen.
It was a baby fox. It was green and tiny and cute and precious and… injured!
"Oh, no! Little baby is hurt!! I gotta do something!" I panicked a little before remembering the high potion I bought a few weeks ago.
Not that I needed a potion, but just in case someone I came across needed it. It's paramount that I use it on this cute baby fox!
"Don't worry little guy! I'll get you out of that cage and heal you up in no time!"
I easily bent the cage open and the fix immediately but my finger as I tried carrying it out. Even the way it aggressively nibbles my finger is cute!
"There, there… It's all right. There you go, just keep biting my little finger… the pain will go away very soon~" I baby-talk to the animal as I pull out my potion and pour its contents onto the wound on its paw.
The potion worked immediately and the gash had quickly disappeared as if nothing had happened.
The fox let go of my finger and stared curiously at its paw.
"There, good as new!" The baby fox started running around in circles, happily chirping 'kyun! Kyun!'.
"Ah, looks like you're feeling all better~! How adorable~!!"
The fox stopped and sat down, staring up at me with such a cute face that I almost melted on the spot from the high blood sugar.
"Do you wanna come with me?"
It seemed to understand me and let out another, more affirmative 'kyun'. It jumped up in the air, higher than I expected, and landed on my head.
My knees buckled from happiness, but I managed to get a hold of myself. "I- I need to name you if you're coming with me… how about… Inari? It's the name of a God of foxes from my original world."
"Kyuun!!" It seems the fox likes the name quite a bit as it even went to my shoulder to rub its cheek against mine.
"Hahaha~ Stop it~ you're seriously gonna kill me with your cuteness at this rate!"
I find myself giggling but soon, I stop dead in my tracks.
"… What the hell is wrong with me…?"
Do I ever act that way towards cute things…? No, this was uncharacteristic of me, I think.
"It's… definitely because my body is different, right? Astolfo is known to really like cute things, after all… maybe it was just a bodily reaction…?" I told myself to calm down.
Either way, it's not necessarily a bad thing to be weak to cute things. Probably.
Putting those unnecessary thoughts to the back of my mind, I walk back to the new city I'm staying at, The City of Diento, dealing with the rest of the bandits in the large hideout.
"Haha! That's what you get for hurting Inari!"
"Kyuun!"
I dust off my skirt and sheathe my blade, smiling proudly at my gory, bandit exterminating work. Inari barks in agreement it my statement and I pet her soft fur in response.
"That's right, you tell 'em, Inari! I'll make sure to get you some delicious food tonight! Let's hurry back!"
"Kyuuuuun~!" She roared.
Yes, 'she'. I made sure to check. Luckily Inari is a neutral name.
I hurriedly sprinted back to town, running without stopping until it was dark out. As I'm running, I sensed a person ahead of me, so I stopped and quietly caught up to them.
It was a figure in a cloak. They were looking slightly down, as if looking at something I couldn't see. Soon, the figure pulled down their hood and revealed their face.
It was a young man with sparse eyebrows and slightly long hair. The most noticeable feature, however, was his ears.
"An elf!!!" I unconsciously shouted out, revealing my presence.
The man quickly reacted and unsheathed his sword, pointing it directly at me. "Who are you… and what do you want?!"
I raised my hands up and shook my head with a smile. "Sorry~ Sorry~ my name is Astolfo, a traveler! This is my first time seeing a real elf, so I got super excited~!"
He glanced at Inari, who was sitting in my head, and seemed to relax quite a bit.
"You're human, right…? Hard to believe a ventuvulpis would get along with one." He stated as he sheathed his sword.
Huh? Has he been charmed by Inari's cuteness too? How come he relaxed his guard so easily in this dark ass forest?!
"A ventu-what?" I wasn't familiar with the term.
"A Ventuvulpis. More commonly known as 'Cottontail Foxes'. It's that spirit creature sitting on your head."
"I see… I just saved this cute one from a bandit encampment and asked her if she wanted to come with me." I explained.
The elf chuckled, "Huhn. Even elves have trouble getting spirit beasts to like us, let alone a human. It just shows that the world is full of oddities."
"Huh, really? Humans are a greedy bunch…" It's in their nature, after all.
"So, what brings you here? I've been living in the city close by for about a month now, and I've never seen an elf! Are you heading there now? I can guide you around!" I changed the topic somewhat with a wide grin on my face.
He seemed caught off guard by my offer but just shook his head in disbelief. "Are you truly human?"
He turned his face away and shook his head again. "…Humans fear and loathe anything superior to them. And even though we made a treaty with the Rhoden Empire, they still hunt us down like animals. Tch! All because our folk would fetch a high price for the right buyer!"
I see.
Elves are being hunted.
And this elf is saying it's because of their value. If elves are being 'hunted', that can only mean they are being captured alive and sold as slaves.
This elf is close to a human settlement. A dangerous place for him to be, yet he's doing it anyway.
He was scouting. He planned on freeing his fellow elves, which means there has been illegal slavery right under my nose this whole time.
"You plan to free the slaves." I rhetorically asked.
The elf glared at me, like I were a danger to his plans. I met his eyes without blinking. "Don't worry, I won't say a single thing. In fact…"
My vibe shifted, my insides feeling like their on fire from my rage.
"…I'd much prefer to help you than to keep silent on this matter."