"Her wounds are so severe… Poisoned from a slime, the bruising around her feet and that stab wound…"
"Can they be healed?"
"Mhm, but I don't know if she'll wake up anytime soon. She managed to stop the bleeding, but the amount of cloth stuffed into her wound could've caused an infection in her blood."
"What do you think happened to her?"
"Dunno, she could've been a runaway slave. Some girl who lost her way. Beats me, let me heal her."
"Do your own thing, man."
… What are they talking about…? Who are they…? I can't open my eyes… Someone just walked away… Could it be that younger sounding guy?
"Ookay… First thing's first… That stab wound." There was a long drawn out breath from that first man. Suddenly, I felt my stomach clench from an excruciating pain emanating from where I got stabbed.
Is he trying to pull my guts out?! I couldn't open my eyes, but my body reacted to what he was doing. That pain changed to a warm feeling, as if I just took a warm bath. Then, an irritating itch. One so bad, that you'd need to scratch it for hours.
"Okay good, it just looked worse than it was…" He let out another sigh. I think his hands touched my eyelids? I don't know what he's doing okay? I can't move, and I can't see, what do you expect? There was a sudden flash, and he spoke again. "You can open your eyes now."
Eh?! Did he know I was awake? Following his instructions, I opened my eyes. A brown ceiling met me, I think we were in a tent? Looked like exactly like one of those cheap ones you buy from a store. I think my stomach's fine to move around with… Here goes… FF! Push through the pain!
"Take it easy, Little Girl. I already used healing magic on you, but your injury is still there." A man with extremely long light brown hair said to me, he seemed to be in a mage's garb. He seemed to be around his mid to late thirties, surprisingly no stubble. A soft smile stayed on his face, probably trying to comfort me or something. "You're safe now, although I can't heal all your wounds."
Great, thanks Mr. Nice Guy! Had to rub in me being a girl… I don't know how long I've been out, third fourth? No clue, but seriously?! Ugh, whatever… I can't really do anything!
"Here, have this. It'll help dull the pain."
What is this? He handed me a ceramic cup, inside it was a red liquid. Definitely not a healing potion, or a potion at all? Was he trying to make a "little girl" drink ? People in this world are so irresponsible. Still I never drank in my previous life. Wasn't old enough or something.Probably some fantasy-esque tea or drink… I looked at him with squinted eyes. Should I trust this guy? Damn it, why are you laughing at me?! How can I trust some random dude, as I'm a little girl, defenseless and in pain?! I hate myself, why did I have to think that?!
He looks so happy, and finds joy out of me being suspicious! Is he some loli-con or pedos?
"Hey, James dinner is about done, hurry it up with- Oh, she's awake." Another man, with short black hair rushed into the tent. He's in casual clothes? Then we're most likely away from that cursed forest! Seems like my l- He just said girl…
"Go ahead and eat without me. I wanna talk to her for a bit."
"Hmmm, alright. "
"Allright, Ms Suspicious, you don't need to trust us, m'kay?" He said, flashing me another forced "comforting smile." "That's good you're suspicious."
What's he talking about…
"Can I ask you a couple things? It'll help me learn about your situation."
I guess… It'll also help me? I'll just have to fake knowing if he asks where "I" came from. After thinking about it for a moment, I nodded my head. I'll also have to act li- This is leaving a bad taste in my mouth! I'll have to act like a scared little girl!
"Great!" With the clap of his hands, he asked the first question. "Can I get your name? You already heard from my pal over there, my name is James."
My name uh… Uhh, Yukina. My name is Y-Yukina in this world. With a bated breath, I responded to him. "Y-Yukina… My- My parents named me Y-Yukina…" I'm never going to get used to this…
"Yukina, huh? Well, it's nice to meet you."
"I-It's nice to meet you… Mr.James…"
"You don't need to use Mister, just call me James, okay?"
"O-Okay…" I wanna throw up…. Never in a century did I expect myself to act like a scared girl. I scratched that cup in my hands, he's just tapping his legs happily. It's really not working! Your plan is super obvious long hair!
"Anyways, how old are you?"
…Is he just nevermind… If I recall my status told me, thirteen? For that, I pulled up my status to double check. Seems like my level did go up… "T-T-Thirteen…" I am cringing so hard…
"Oh! You're the same age as my daughter!" James exclaimed whilst raising his hand to his chin. Was that really interesting? His voice was so loud I had to cover my ears… That didn't help… I can hear his excited breathing.
"I have another question for you, you don't need to answer if it's too traumatic to think about." His statement caused me to feel a bit confused, unconsciously my head tilted. He laughed for a bit, then asked his question. "Why were you in that forest? For Little Girls like you, even boys around your age would've died in there."
How the hell am I supposed to answer that?! I don't know? Probably sold by family, to a group of slavers or something?! In the forest they're probably hunting me to torture, or kill me! I don't know! God… um… "I-I don't know h-how, how I got there…" I'll just say that… Probably the best thing to say for now. I guess that was what he wasn't expecting. I can see his eyebrows furrow, and his smile turned to a frown.
"I see… Alright, thanks for answering that…" After I didn't know how long passed, he stood up. "Are you feeling hungry? You've been asleep all day."
Now that he mentions it… I am pretty hungry… Still acting like a scared girl, I looked away whilst nodding my head. Before I could say a singular word, he picked me up without any effort… Now this is pretty embarrassing… But sooo much worse he picked me up like a princess!
I AM NOT A LITTLE GIRL! LET ME GO! I yelled and cursed at him… In my mind of course… I wanted to punch him so bad, to let me go… I guess he took my fists as a sign of fear, he only let out a stinking chuckle. I can't keep it cool, this is so embarrassing…. Pain? I can deal with running anything like that is fine. I want to get put down.
He took me outside, where three other men sat around a campfire. They were all laughing and joking… Which slowed as they turned to look towards us. This guy just greeted them without a care in the world.
"Yo, James. Long time no see, there's a plate over there for you, and for that Little Miss there's a smaller one next to that." One guy with brown hair pointed out. Stop. Like the other guy he was in casual clothes.
"Oh, she woke up pretty fast!" A blonde haired guy with a dimwitted look exclaimed once seeing us. … I'm guessing he's the guard of the group? He's wearing some worse for wear plated armor.
"Her wounds weren't as bad as they looked." James explained, he walked towards two food filled plates on the ground. "Are you okay with holding yourself up?" His voice sounds so frustrating… I am not- Well! I am, but not mentally… Without a word from me, he set me on the ground.
For the next hour, or so. I had to listen to this group of old guys ramble on. Joking, or just telling stories with each other. The second guy with black hair that interrupted James was called Jin, he was a smart guy, with a lot of information to tell. Assuming, just by his build, an assassin type guy, or a scout.
Then, the brown haired dude. He liked to tell thrilling stories; though they seemed pretty far fetched. So far a pretty friendly group, I still feel a little suspicious; afterall, this is a fantasy world. They could be a small group of slavers, just waiting for me to lower my guard. He was called Verd.
For the dumb, dimwitted guy. My observation was pretty spot on, pretty impressi- Not really, he looked incredibly dumb. Amongst all the stories, his seemed like stories he came up with. Plot holes, inconsistency. His name, Shaun.
I've read enough stories. But hey, the food they served tasted good. It was a simple dish of some fantasy world type of meat with some vegetables. Probably due to me being a wolfkin, the meat was so tasty.
Ah- Right, as for James… He seemed to be a pretty kind and saintly man. Out of all of them, he never peeped a curse word. He just sat there, with a stupid goofy smile, only contributing when they called his name.
"Heyyy, what's her name, Jamsey?" Shaun, who already started drinking, asked.
"Yukina, she's thirteen years old. According to her, she didn't know how she got into that forest."
Why are you giving out all that information…? I glared at him, breaking that act of a little girl I've maintained for over an hour. That's pretty suspicious!
"Ahaha! What a cute little girl, with a fitting name!" Shaun let out a belly laugh. Can I punch him..? "We'll protect you, Little Yukina." He declared whilst pointing at me with his pointer finger.
"We're not some bad guys. We all have children around your age and slightly older."
"Yeah, so don't act so on guard around us, okay?"
That's sudden… I guess I'm not hiding my reservation.
Soon, all of them got drunk, even the saintly James. I just watched them, slowly descending into intoxication. After all of them went to sleep, leaving me out of any tent or security I laid on the floor.
These guys wouldn't be slavers… Nor would they be those pedos Despite the first couple days, the starry night is quite beautiful. An array of stars, darting around the sky. Illuminating the ground. The two moons, with a full view, it's a lot better. I turned my head, it seems like we're ways away from that forest. Just a little over the distance, what I assumed where I came from.
From how far we are, it looks like they traveled… Far. I'll have to thank them… Ahh, whatever. Right, I leveled up! Time to check what's updated…
Name: Yukina
Age: 13
Sex: Female
Race: Wolfkin (???)
Status: Malnourished, cursed
Lvl: 2
Str: 5 Dex: 5 End: 3.5 Int: 12 Agi: 4 Luck: *
Not bad, not good either… Stats seem to go up per level, and it's predetermined. Seems like this body is for using magic… If I actually could use- Wait let me check…
[ Active skills
Palm of Flames(Lvl1)
Passive abilities: Experience Boost: Grants the user a quarter of increased experience from slaying monsters. Bloodlust: ??? Curse of ?@$!: Blessing of the Beastgod: Enhances all senses by many times.]
Only one skill… Better than none. How do I use it though? In stories,- What if I just mutter the name…? Can't forget to visualize it. With a bit of struggle, I sat up. Next, I had my arms outstretched, with my palms aiming up.
I closed my eyes, trying to picture a fire burning in my palms. Quietly, I called the skill's name… For a few seconds, I felt a cool wind wash over my body.
Nope… Nothing… Yeah I figured. What else was going to happen? That cool wind was actually just the wind… What else would this world do to me? Being nice seems to be out of the question!
Whatever…I'll just go to sleep. Slowly I flopped onto my back, the pain in my stomach is still there. Why don't I just go back into that tent James took me out of? I don't think I can walk still, my feet are all purple and I can barely feel anything even if I push against them. Plus… I already tried, one of the guys had to catch me from faceplanting into the ground.
I'll have to rely on them from now on. It's better than being alone, and nearly dying. As the moons entered my vision, I closed my eyes for the night.