Swordsmaster Fox-girl

My first bath in months was refreshing. But more than anything, I needed to get clean. But also more than me getting clean, Nowa also needed to get clean.

So, what the soap bar in hand, I cleaned her until she was squeaky clean.

After that, I took care of myself. Getting my tail cleaned was a hassle. There were so many things stuck in it. Leaves, twigs, sand, dirt, stones, and even insects!

It was my hair’s turn. I viewed my reflection in the clear pond water. ‘Disheveled hair, of course.’ But at least my skin was still smooth. Though, the scar that Dark had inflicted on me—from the baseline of my neck to the middle of my right cheek was still there. It still throbbed sometimes.

‘Why do I care? It’s not like I had no scars in my past life.’

I had to spend an hour or so cleaning myself while Nowa tire herself out swimming in the pond. When everything was over, I picked Nowa up and left the pond. 

‘Good, my backpack’s still here.’ It was the only thing I had left after the…carriage crash. In it were all of my and Nova’s clothes, along with a few pieces of Silver. ‘There are no casual clothes…we’re going stick out like sore thumbs.’ But it was still better than running around naked, so I decided to put on my usual outfit—a plain white shirt and a long pink dress.

And as for Nowa, her clothes were conspicuous enough as were. I mean, come on, a dark hooded cloak with bandages wrapped around her entire body? Just scream “LOOK AT ME,” dammit.

Anyways, we went past the tree line and reached a road. A ROAD! FINALLY!

There was no one on the road, so I could hug Nowa in happiness without people giving us weird stares. 

“Nowa, Nowa, a town! Finally!”

“Town? Is it good, Nee-chan?”

“Yes.” I held in the urge to ruffle her hair. I’d spent way too much time doing it…

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We approached the gate, which was guarded by two men in armor. And unlike the cities of Vetrix Empire, they didn’t immediately point their spears at us. Instead, one of the men crouched down to make himself look less intimidating.

“Children? What are you doing here? I’ve never seen you before…”

He had wolf ears and a tail. ‘Yep, this is definitely in Ravrt.’

I shouldn’t look at him so much. So, I recited the sob story that was, surprisingly, the truth.

“P-Please let us in… M-My sister and I w-was in the scary forest f-for months…”

The Wolfman frowned. “Where are your parents?”

Clenching my fists, I stuttered, “T-They’re… They’re…dea—”

“Stop, you don’t need to say it.” The Wolfman shook his head and looked at us with pity. “Just go in. And, if you can’t find a job, go to Blue Glade Orphanage. They will take good care of you.”

Giving the guard a grateful nod, I made my way inside the town. And, as I’d expected, we garnered a lot of attention. Though, unlike in Vetrix Empire, they were simple gazes of curiosity.

Anyways, we got to an inn soon enough. ‘Gravel inn…what a name.’ As to how I found it? Well, I just followed some beginner-looking Mercenaries to this inn. ‘If stingy Mercenaries choose this inn, then it’s cheap and good.’ Simple as that. 

I got into the inn and took a whiff of this place. ‘Smells of sex, alcohol, and…food! I knew I chose the right place!’ The inn would definitely give its patron a discount on meals if they were following usual conventions. So, I got to a wooden counter where the innkeeper stood. She was a woman. I couldn’t even bother to take in her appearance.

“Hi, I’d like to book a room.”

She glanced at us for a split second before nodding. “Okay. Do you have enough money?”

I slid her two Silvers. This should last us a week or two…

The innkeeper took my money and threw me a key. “Room 203. Breakfast and dinner are covered, but if want to eat more, you pay extra. But don’t worry, there’ll be a fifteen-percent discount.”

“Sounds like a good deal to me…”

“Now, what are your names? I need them for the inn’s records.”

“I’m Nov—” But I caught myself before I uttered that name. Force of habit, dammit! I’d already thrown it away. That name was one that the bastard Herald gave me, not Mom. ‘Esther it is.’

With the matter of my first name done, all that remained was my surname. Unlike Vetrix Empire, Ravrt Kingdom allowed everyone to have surnames. Something about equality, I didn’t care enough to dig deeper.

So, I had to think of a surname if I wanted to blend in since only criminals would have their surnames stripped.

‘What do Nowa and I have in common?’

I briefly considered our hair color, but no, Nowa’s hair was pure white, while mine was of a murky silver.

The only thing left was our eyes. But picking something like Rediris was just…bad. So, I decided to go with the first thing the color of our eyes reminded me of.

“Esther. Esther Raze. And this is my sister, Nowa Raze.”

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I sat Nowa down on a table and ordered food…for only her. I wasn’t hungry yet. I wouldn’t allow myself to be hungry when our financial situation was so dire.

“Eat lots, ‘kay?”

“Nn!”

While Nowa gulped down her meal, I spread the map I’d just bought from the innkeeper and inspected it. It’d been a while since I’d seen one. I wonder what changed…

‘Nope, nothing at all.’

No countries fell ever since my death. How boring…

Anyways, I took out some markers and began marking down the known Tower entrances, countries’ Capitals, and places of interest that I knew. After just five minutes, I was done.

‘And my current position…I’ll mark it blue.’

And my short-term goal…make sure that I had enough money for Nowa to grow up normally and happily. After that, I’d save up money to afford a slot on a ship to the Eastern continent—where the Federation of Premae was. It was the only place that would allow me access to the Tower.

While there were Tower entrances here, going to them wouldn’t be practical. There was no way anyone in Vetrix Empire would let me in. Haein Kingdom was allied with Vetrix, so that was also a “no.” Austix Coalition was notoriously hateful toward Beastkins, so that was an even bigger “no.”

And while I could access the Tower from Elfinheim, going through a desert with my current power was just suicidal.

‘I don’t know what the fare is…but it’s definitely something really expensive.’

With my short-term goal laid out inside my mind, I patted Nowa’s head. “Stay here, okay? Take my key and go to our room when you’re done. I’m going out for a bit.”

Nowa was still focusing on her first proper meal for a long time, but I knew that she’d heard me. So, after giving her a final look, I reluctantly left the inn—but not after explicitly telling the innkeeper to make sure her employees look after Nowa until she got in her room, of course.

I then headed Westward, where this town’s Mercenary guild was located at.

‘There’s no better way for me to earn money than being a Mercenary.’