75 He Fed me Lies

A thick, warm blanket was keeping me confined. Ofris and Sharia had wrapped it around me, leaving me with little to no room to move so they could treat me like a pet or baby. They simply placed me onto their laps, taking turns every now and them.

Right now, it was Sahria who took care of me. She shielded me from the cold air trying to reach me, scratched my neck and even petted my had, right behind my ears where my weak-spot was. Ofris had probably told her about it.

Naturally, I answered all of these attacks with faint vibrating sounds much like those a cat would produce. It was these signs I couldn't suppress that made her continue for minutes and hours until I could no longer keep my eyes open.

In the end, I had lost a whole day like this. And all this time, it was only Sahria that had talked to me for more than a few words. Ofris seemed to avoid talking to me, for reasons I could not even guess they were about. Sure, he took care of me almost as much as the elf, but he was distant enough for me to feel awkward to be around him.

This feeling was only further nourished by the green screens that had appeared earlier. One had greeted me when I woke up after being attacked by that far too oversized lizard. It had revealed the boons of defeating that monster: a single levelup that slightly increased my endurance and strength.

Naturally, I had not thought much about that one. It was only a levelup, after all, just like the ninety-two I had received before. But when the second came, hours later, I couldn't believe my eyes. The third levelup pulled me out of my sleep. I had felt my body changing, though only slightly. And indeed, I had was only

I had done nothing that asked for such a generous reward. Neither had I seen a monster nor had a single bandit blocked our way. It was quite to contrary: I was bored.

And still, I was receiving experience points, by whatever means. Not only was I getting those, my quests updated, too! The one with the wyvern obviously never changed, but there was 'Ball-less Opponents' which now listed 178 defeated opponents instead of just the 129 slimes I had massacred. Sure, one of them was the lizard, but the others?!

It was obvious it had something to do with Shiro not being around and this sleepiness I couldn't shake off no matter how hard I tried. Naturally, I had I asked Ofris about it during one of the few moments the merchant wasn't around, but he had just claimed he knew nothing about it and that the goddess just disappeared in front of his eyes.

How could I believe that? She would at least have said something to me. And even if she couldn't do so personally, she would still do it with the help of a silly quest like she had done back in the forest, when she wished for me to return to Ofris' side.

I had no chance to find out what all of this was about, as a sudden feeling of dizziness attacked me. It was far too familiar for me to mistake it for a mere travel sickness or the aftermath of eating spoiled food. This was my mana. It was running low at this very minute.



«I have to turn back!»



Three barks, that was all it took for me to change back to my human form. Sahria was too surprised to even control her arms. She tossed me away, onto the floor, the then stare in shock as the white mist began consuming my body.

I didn't waste a second. Instead, I immediately opened the itembox, pulled out my clothes and, after making sure I was somewhat secure from being stared at, whispered a single command.



『Status.』



A green screen appeared right in front of my eyes. On it, there were dozens of lines of small text, each describing my strength and abilities. One of the many numbers let a cold shiver run over my body. It was low, far too low.



『Level: 96 (15% EXP)

HP: 3148/3220 (+250)

MP: 178/6550 (+250)

Strength: 278 (+25)

Vitality: 322 (+25)

Spirit: 600 (+25)

Intelligence: 680 (+25)

Dexterity: 377 (+25)

Physical Attack: 467 (+38)

Magical Attack: 981 (+38)

Physical Defense: 511 (+38)

Magical Defense: 623 (+38)』



"178 mana..."

"Mana?" Sahria asked confused.

"Shiro is using my mana! There is almost nothing left!"

"Why would she do that?"

"She..."



My gaze wandered over to Ofris, who was trying his utmost to pretend nothing was wrong. It was obvious he was getting restless. He knew something. No, he did not only know, but he had also done something himself! Why else would he look so guilty?!

Dozens of pictures appeared in front of my inner eyes. I saw the goddess fight, get wounded, get killed or even get found by goblins or robbers who would do things to her that were far worse. And her being a goddess did nothing. She was weak! Weaker than Ofris, maybe even weaker than me!

I felt something inside of me break.



"What did you do?!"

"..."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?!"



⊱————-　Extra　————-⊰



Shiro: So... this is the guy!

Sir Fluffels: Pardon me, but is this creature supposed to be a human?

Shiro: It is! Don't you see his head? It has arms, legs, everything! Even the hair-color fits!

Sir Fluffels: So that was the head...

Madame Plush: It looks like a monkey.

Sir Fluffels: A monkey would have a tail!

Madame Plush: But it has a tail!

Shiro: That is his sword! He carries it around all the time!

Sir Fluffels: A sword?! It is curved!

Shiro: ... anyway, this is the girl! She is pretty okay once you get to know her. She likes foxes, too! So don't hurt her.

Sir Fluffels: Goddess, this does look like a rabbit.

Shiro: She has long ears!

Fluffy Fox: But aren't they way too long?!

Sir Fluffels: They really are unfitting.

Shiro: I can't draw, ok?!

Sir Fluffels: How are we supposed to know our enemy with just this?

Shiro: You ate his shoes! How could you forget him?!

Sir Fluffels: Pardon me. We are supposed to hunt the degenerate?!

Flaunty Fox: How does he look like?

Sir Fluffels: His hair was like this and his legs ...

Fluffy Fox: It is that guy!

Madame Plush: He was in the capital!

Shiro: Why can you draw better than me?! You don't even have hands!

Faux Fox: Meow!

Shiro: WHO INVITED THAT GUY?!