"Stacy, what are the normal stats for a 10-year-old?" I asked.
"First, you aren't normal. When we first checked your status a month ago, your strength was double that of a normal civilian child."
"35 is a normal civilian child's strength?"
"No, 10 is. What is yours?"
"70."
"You have got to be kidding me." Stacy just shook her head. Turning around, she hit the board behind her and called out, "Sebastian, take us to the church first, please." She looked back at me. "We will go check out your status at the church."
"Why can't I just tell you?" I tilted my head to the side.
"You can, but I want to see it. And I will also tell you some things about your skills."
"Okay." I didn't want to go, but if it helped me learn more about myself, then it was fine.
It didn't even take us 10 minutes to get to the church. Looking at the building, it looked the same as the one I saw 5 years ago. Walking behind Stacy toward the church, just when we were close to the entrance, one of the sisters ran toward us.
"Good morning, Milady. How can I help you today?" The sister bowed down toward Stacy.
"Yo, we are here to check out her status. Can we use the private room, please?" Stacy nonchalantly pointed at me.
"Ooh, hello there, ma'am. I haven't seen you here before." She looked at me. I was surprised to see that her eyes were golden.
"Name is Kitsuna, 10 years old, so no, ma'am."
"Ooh, I see. You are quite tall for a 10-year-old." She tilted her head to the side, looking at me.
"I told her she is way too tall for her age. She didn't believe me," Stacy complained.
"How should I know that 1.5 m is long for a 10-year-old?" I shrugged. In my last life, I was already 1.6 meters when I was 9 years old.
"Yeah, and 1.67 is small for a grown woman. You just had to use your head." She tapped her head mockingly, causing me to develop some tick marks on my face.
"Old hag, did you just call me dumb!?" I shouted at her.
"Please stop; you are in front of a church." The sister tried stopping us from fighting, but we both ignored her.
"Yes, you dumb child. And what is this about 'old hag'? I am just 32 years old, mind you." She puffed her nonexistent chest out.
"Really? I thought you were younger. You really are old and tiny." Giving her a shocked expression, trying to hide my grin.
"You are in front of a church making a scene; please stop." Ignoring the Sister again.
"At least I am already married. With your looks, no sane woman will even try to get near you." She retorted at my weak point.
"You want to fight, hag?" I was full-on pissed at her pointing out my obvious flaw.
"Let us go, you damn—" We both got slapped across the face by the sister. Looking at her, baffled, she started talking.
"You are in front of a church. Behave yourselves and apologize to each other, you stubborn fools." The sister was giving an aura that made neither of us want to talk back.
"Sorry for calling you an old hag." I bowed down 45 degrees.
"What about the tiny one?" Stacy inquired.
"I can't apologize for a fact," I said with no emotion in my voice.
"You—"
"Apologize!? Now!?" The sister hit me over the head this time.
"I apologize for everything I have said to you, Stacy." Bowing down again.
"Apology accepted, and I too apologize for what I have said to you." Stacy did the same gesture as me.
"Apology accepted."
"There, that is better. Follow me to the private room." The sister walked into the church. Following behind her obediently, we arrived at one of the private rooms. The sister opened the door and looked inside. "Here you go. I believe Milady knows how to use the room?"
"Yes, thank you for guiding us, Sister." Stacy said her thanks and walked in. Following behind her, I saw the interior of the room. I was absolutely disappointed. The room was completely white—no gold inside. The furniture was also just 2 wooden couches and a coffee table with a black tablet on top.
'You would think a church full of so much gold would have better private rooms.'
"You look disappointed?" Stacy asked while closing the door behind us.
"You would think with all the gold the church was built out of, these rooms would look nicer. Not that I mind this plain room—it feels calming." I was confused about how just 3 pieces of furniture and nothing else made it feel calm.
"Ooh, this room is specially made for our family and was designed by yours truly." She puffed out her chest in pride.
'What designing? There is only the furniture.' Looking at her with a deadpan look. "Anyways. Why do we have our own room? Also, why does it feel so calming? Is there some spell on the room?"
"Yes, there is."
"Ooh, let's get this over with. I want to know more about myself and how things work in this world."
"Eager, are we? Sit down and put your hand on the black tablet." Doing as she said, I saw my status pop up from the table like a hologram.
"Your status really changed after a month of sleeping. Well, now that I think about it, it makes sense. You were at your weakest then."
"Are you saying that a person's status will change every day?" I asked, looking my stats over again.
"No, it will only change if you are injured or something big is happening with your body. For example, if a monster evolves—during its evolving process, it will be at its weakest."
"So, it is the best time to kill said beast when it evolves?"
"No, you need experience to level up, and experience works on the stats of the things you kill. Because the stats of the evolving beast will be so low, the experience you will gain will also be low."
"Aah, I get it. So you want to kill it just before it evolves because it is at its strongest."
"Yes. If you look at a monster's stats, the most important things you look at are its strength, vitality, and defense. Those three are the most important to look at—if they are abnormally high, you know it is set for evolution, and it is best to kill the monster as fast as possible."
"I see, I will remember that."
"Brat, you better remember everything I tell you. Your stats look great. I will find a workout for you to get your dexterity and strength up. Let's get to your skills. Dimensional Storage is self-explanatory. Super Regen as well, and your Self-Analysis—I already told you how it works. You can upgrade that skill to Normal Analysis, which will grant you the ability to look at monsters' stats but not humans' or humanoids' stats. You will need a God-Eye for that."
"God-Eye?"
"It's something you are born with. There aren't a lot of them in the world. The most impressive thing about your skills is your racial elements. They are not as rare as God-Eyes, but they are close to it and very powerful."
"I am a cheat," I mumbled.
"Yes, you are. Most people are born with one or two base elements like fire, wind, earth, and water. Then there are the rare elements like light, dark, ice, lightning, etc. These rare elements are only seen every 5 years—excluding reincarnates, since every one of you has a rare element. But for normal people, it's only every 5 years. Then there are your racial elements. These elements are a specialty for each race—not one racial element will be the same. These are by far the strongest there are, and you have 3." She gave me a worried look, and I knew why.
"If people know about that, I will become a high assassination target. That's why the safest place will be close to someone strong, and stay at a dangerous place like the Dead Forest." I looked down, realizing what sort of situation I was in.
"Yes, that is why House Draig was ordered to look after you. We pride ourselves on being the strongest in 1 vs. X. Don't worry about your life for now. Only 5 people know about you having 3 racial elements."
"Sigh, that's good to hear." I was glad that I didn't need to worry that much about assassination attempts just yet. "Stacy, what element do you specialize in?"
"Sorry, kiddo, I can't help you with magic. I don't have an element, but I can help you with weapons and mana control. I am the best in the entire kingdom when it comes to weapons." She beamed at me.
"Awesome, do you know how to use every weapon there is?"
"Yes. Do you want me to teach you how to use every weapon?"
"Yes, please."
"I will think it through. Let's go—we need to do your shopping."
"Are we walking or taking the carriage again?"
"Hmm, let's walk." She smiled at me.
We stepped out of the cool quiet of the church and back into the sunlit streets. The transition was almost blinding—the white stone road reflecting the midday light, the hum of voices and clatter of hooves filling the air again.
The city felt alive in a way that pressed against all my senses. Merchants barked prices over the smell of fresh bread and roasted meat drifting from food stalls. The clink of coins mixed with the creak of wagon wheels. It was crowded, but not unpleasant—more like walking through a living river of sound and movement.
I noticed how little we stood out here. No one gave us a second glance despite our noble status; Stacy's simple, practical clothing and my own plain tunic blended us in with the crowd. I wondered if that was intentional—Stacy always struck me as the type to avoid unnecessary attention.
We turned down a side street lined with small shops, and that's when a foul, acrid stench hit me so hard my stomach lurched.
"Kitsuna, are you okay? You don't look so good," Stacy asked, noting my sudden grimace.
"I smell something revolting." I tried to keep my breakfast where it belonged while talking.
"I see. That's a problem." She scanned the street, and her eyes landed on a stall draped with colorful scarves. "There—follow me."
The scarf vendor greeted us warmly, but her eyes darted toward me when she saw my pale face. Stacy explained about my strong sense of smell, and the woman nodded knowingly, guessing it was the adventurers who had passed earlier.
I let my eyes wander over the neatly arranged display until one caught my attention—a black scarf with subtle red streaks, almost like embers in shadow. Without thinking, I pointed to it.
"You picked a good one, miss—it will fit with your hair," the vendor said.
The fabric was soft against my fingers as I wrapped it over my mouth and nose. The world instantly became bearable again.
"Feeling better?" Stacy asked. I nodded.
"Good, because we're almost there," she said, and after a short walk we arrived in front of a tall building with a polished sign: Lucy Clothing Store.
The large glass windows revealed neat rows of mannequins dressed in everything from traveling leathers to shimmering silk gowns. I could already tell this wasn't some ordinary tailor's shop—it looked like a place where nobles could wander in without anyone blinking, yet also where a merchant's daughter could save up for a special dress.
As we stepped inside, the air changed again—cooler, scented faintly with lavender and fabric dye. I had the feeling the shopping trip was about to be longer and more complicated than I'd expected…