Try again?

” Soooo... What was that, Fio? ” 

After we stormed out of the training ground, neither of us said anything as we returned back. Even Sara looked like she figured that something wasn't right but in the end, she just smiled and waved at us as we walked to our room. 

And the awkwardness got to a whole new level. 

’Why isn't she responding???’

” That old man was a jerk... Just don't think about it anymore. Okay, Fio? ”

”...”

’At least say something... Don't just peek at me like tha—

” I'm sorry. ”

’Hmm!? Wait... What!?’

” That wasn't your fault. He was a jerk even before the situation to escalat—

” It was. I could tell it. He was looking at me how they used to look at me in the past. ”

” Was looking at you? What do you mean... Oh... oh... yeah, I see... ”

” Mm. I'm sorry. It was my faul—

” It was not. Fio, look at me! ” I said and got closer to her to the point that we stod face to face. She tried to avoid my gaze but I grabbed her face and looked right in her eyes. 

And I froze in place.

’What the hell should I do now?’

That was the moment where the hero was supposed to spout some self-righteous crap about goodness and resolve the situation with the power of friendship. Well, too bad... I was no hero and didn't know what to say. And her big and yellow eyes with which she was staring back at me didn't help in the slightest.

’Calm down me... Calm down me... Just a fluff... This is just your cute fluff...’

” Ehem... Why do you think that it was your fault, Fio? Hmm... no, forget about it. I think I know already why... ”

I was careless. Just because in this country was a law against slavery and other races were somehow accepted, that didn't mean that everyone was happy with it. History taught us well about how petty the reasons for discrimination could be, such as a mere skin color difference. Taking that a step further and applying it to entirely different races... I could already see where the problem was...

I could see it... But that didn't mean I was agreeing with it. 

” Listen, Fio. That old man was not the first one to treat you like that and probably would not be the last. And we could do little to change that but so you know that something like this will never change anything between us. ” I said and took her into a hug. I already abandoned the thought of formulating an elaborate explanation and such, I just spout out whatever I thought at the moment. 

” You don't need to apologize. It's not your fault. He was a jerk for no reason. If someone dislikes you for such reason, that means they don't deserve our attention. Don't even bother with them from now on... ”

” Mm. ”

’Also, how did you even know the difference???’ Was that a racial-fluff stuff? Like a 6th sense? Maybe these fluffy ears worked as some kind of fantasy-magic-radio-antennas... 

’Can she detect lies with them? Probably not... I wasn't caught yet... I'm still safe, I hope...’

” Umm, Lizza... what are you... doing? ” she said and averaged her gaze again. Her fluffy ears flattened a bit too. 

’Hmm!?’ Was I right? Was she closing her ear-receptors to not be caught by me? 

Yes. That must be it. Though, she looked quite cute while being caught. ’Mufufuf’

” D-Don’t stare... that much... ”

’Ohh... Ohhhh!?’ Her ears flattened even more...

*pat* *pat* 

” Li-Li-Li-zza... w-w-w-wha—

” There, there... Do not worry, Fio. I won't tell anyone... ”

”...”

” How about we go down and eat something? I think I saw Sara making something earlier... ”

” M-Mm. ”

*pat* *pat* 

’Yup, my fluff is the cutest! How dare that old jerk to... to... Shit.’

” L-Lizza!? ”

I faceslapped myself. 

” Fio, how much did he asked for two swords and two spears? ” I asked her after contemplating for a while. It was possible to have done a grave mistake. 

” One lesser silver for a sword and 15 coppers the spear... Why do you ask? ”

” Yeah... That's like 3 lesser silver and 10 coppers... ”

”...”

”...”

’Fuck... I gave him extra money!’

.

.

.

Speaking of how the situation could get even worse... No wonder he didn't say anything when I tossed the silver coin at him... We got treated poorly and scammed at the same time. 

It was just around 10 coppers but the worst was that I gave it to that jerk. 

*sigh*

” Something happened, Miss Elizabeth? ”

” Hmm!? Oh, don't worry, Sara. Nothing important. ”

” If you say so... I'm almost finished so just wait a little bit more. ”

” Okay. ”

I didn't mind waiting for a little bit more. I felt like skipping the meal actually but since we came down and told them that we would dine together, I couldn't say no afterward. 

The reason was because Albert came earlier when we weren't here and left what I asked from him a while ago.

Books. 

Maybe one of the biggest differences from a normal medieval setting. Excluding the whole status thing, the monsters, the different races and magic, that was it. In this world the whole population was literate.

Taking that into consideration, it wasn't as hard to get information as one might expect at first sight. 

’Mufufuf... This... and this... good, good...’

*spark* *spark* 

” M-Mother, I made it! ”

” Ohh, you got the notification? ”

” Mmm, not yet. ”

” Then, keep going. You'll get it in the end, sweety... ”

’Hmm!? Notification... what notification?’

” Miss Elizabeth, are you interested in it? I saw you looking... ”

” Ahh... I was? Although, I'm a little interested... ”

The younger sibling, Arron, was sitting in a corner and was playing with something. Or so I thought but it seemed that he wasn't. 

At least, from his conversation with his mother, he seemed to actually do something useful by playing with...

’Isn't that the thing with which Sara light the fire?’

” What is he doing? ”

” Arron tries to get the [Mana Manipulation] skill. ”

’What!? Well, that is something interesting.’

” No, no, no. It's not what you think... He's not going to learn magic or something. ”

” No!? ”

” No. I'm sorry, I don't know about your kind but our ability for magic isn't much. But even so, learning something basic like [Mana Manipulation] is still useful for everyday life. ”

” Is that so? ”

” Yes. It's useful when we use the sparker for example... ”

’The what!?’

” Arron, give it to Miss Elizabeth to see it. ”

” M-Mm. ” the little boy nodded his head and gave me the small device. 

It had a cylindrical shape with some bumps at one side and an opening to the other. At a closer look, I could see some small patterns made with copper on one side. 

I tried to guide some of my mana through them and...

*SPARK*

” Ohh... ”

”...”

”...”

” Lizza, are you ok? ”

” Yeah... don't worry, Fio. ”

I almost burnt my hair... I actually saw the thing in Sara’s hands. Albeit better than the flint, it was still just throwing some sparks. On the other hand, in my case was more like a little firework...

” Sara, I think it's not made for me... ”

” I see... I'm sorry, I didn't know. ”

” Don't worry. I just hope I didn't break it or something. Here... ”

I gave it back to her to see if the thing was broken. Fortunately, the sparker was still working. She gave it back to Arron and we continued as if nothing had happened, even though the overall mood was a little awkward. 

We ate with them and got back to our room shortly after that. I was still excited since the books finally came. 

” Here, Fio. ” I said a gave two of them to Fiona. 

It wasn't right to search just for what I needed. I saw that she already know a lot about herbs and liked to collect them so I brought her a book about it. 

Additionally, I asked for another one with recipes and stuff. I didn't expect her to become an alchemist and make potions but there was another thing called herbalist. 

Even though it wasn't as effective as a potion, this profession had its strong points. It was also easier and cheaper to learn... Perfect for a beginner. 

” Mm. ” she nodded happily and took the books. I didn't saw her so excited in a while. It made me glad that I thought about it. 

Next, my stuff. 

It was quite a lot. The reason was that I couldn't tell him that I lacked common knowledge so I started by asking about a book about Brigandia. It wasn't weird wanting to know about the country since I just arrived here. I should get some information from that. 

After that, I asked about something about enchanting. That proved quite tricky. 

While it was true that the books were quite common here, that didn't mean that everything was for everyone. Books regarding magic knowledge, about rare skills, alchemy and enchanting weren't easy to get. 

I had limited myself at whatever Albert could find but even something basic could be of use to me. I doubted that I learned the stuff in the normal way anyway.  

I asked about skills and magic but the problem from above was applied there as well... 

Finally, the last one was about monsters. As an adventurer... 

*shivers*

’Adventurer, huh...’

Anyway, as an adventurer, I couldn't ignore such a thing. It was always good to know what you could meet when you were there, adventuring...

Just a fool would ignore such a thing...

” Haaaa... Much to read... Let's do our best, Fio. ”

” Mm. ”

FDSIO

Aaaand there's the chapter. I took me a while but here it is. 

As a side note, I started to rewrite... No, rewrite is a strong word... to revise the first few chapters. Better. I made a lot of mistakes there and wanted to repair some of them. 

Reason? Yeah, I have one. The first chapters were quite important. That what a new reader gets and judges the story at first after all. I already finished the first one :)

Ps- the plot won't change. Maybe a better description there, a better word here and so on. The story won't change but I want to flesh them out a bit more and make it flow better. For whoever wants to reread them, is free to do so but I wanted to let you know that for whoever does not want to do it, wouldn't lose anything(plot and story-wise).

Regarding the new chapter release thing, I will not stop writing new chapters. Expect one, maybe two chapters/week depending on how free I am. The rewriting thing is a side project after all.

Also, hope you enjoy my story! :)