New Sights

-----Yui's POV

Everything seems to have calmed down now. I'm still suspicious of this guy that's with us now, you can't even see the slightest bit of skin from them. But I guess they'll be hanging around us from now on, or more specifically, Kaede and Fleur. And it's not just me who has a problem with this, even Alice is visibly annoyed by this person's presence, shrouded in mystery. Mom for the most part seems to trust them though, so it can't be all that bad... Right?

Lillian: "So~ Do you have a name?"

Man: "That's none of your concern."

Sicily: "Then could you tell us more about this kingdom?"

Man: "If I can answer it, then sure."

So they can answer some questions? Just not questions regarding them or their other masked friends probably.

Sicily: "I hear Yarene doesn't discriminate towards demi-humans. Is that correct?"

Man: "That is correct, yes."

Lillian: "But they're still monsters in a sense, right?"

Man: "Sure."

Lillian: "Then, where is the line drawn? Clearly you don't seem to be fond of vampires."

Man: "It depends on your race. In general, yes, all demi-humans share an equal life compared to humans. But some species that possess additional threats such as venom, will have to follow rules pertaining to their species."

Interesting. I never really thought of it like that. In my previous life, humans were all the same, regardless which country you came from. So everyone basically followed the same rules as everyone else. But here, it seems as though there are still some specific rules for certain races. I'd argue that's still discrimination, but hey, at least they can live here.

Sicily: "I see... Then, what about elves?"

Man: "Elves? Can't say we've encountered many elves since they live so far up north and to the south... I can't say much, but they'd fall under the same category as vampires."

So in other words, elves are hostile. But Kaede's a vampire and she isn't hostile. So maybe they're elves who are also in Kaede's situation?

Lillian: "Isn't that wrong? To judge a race just based on old some knowledge?"

Man: "Like I said, we haven't encountered elves. We can only judged based on the knowledge we know, even if it's outdated."

Kaede: "Then what if you encountered an elf? What would you do?"

Man: "Highly unlikely. But I guess it'll depend on it's actions. Much like how we approached you and not immediately tried to killed you."

Kaede: "...Then-"

Suddenly, Kaede grabs hold of Sicily's hood before yanking it off of her head. It all happened too fast for Sicily to react as she scrambled to try and grab the hood.

Sicily: "K-Kaede?!"

There I saw something peculiar. Her hair was a beautiful purple color, but hiding away through her hair, were a pair of long, pointed ears before they slowly become masked by her hair once more. Her ears remind me of a goblins in a way, but instead of pointed down, they pointed up and were notably thinner as well.

Kaede: "So?"

Man: "Hmmm."

Just then as Sicily was about to cover her head in her hood, her sister, Lillian uncovers her own head, revealing the same purple hair as Sicily's, only slightly darker. Her ears were on full display, and after seeing her sister's display, Sicily drops her hood back down as she looks on nervously. So... I'm guessing these two are, elves?

Man: "I'll be honest. We were going to check your hoods before we enter Narlimar, so thank you for doing it now. I commend your bravery."

The two sisters remain silent as the man's words.

Man: "I wouldn't have expected to see elves in the flesh."

Lillian: "We promise to not harm anyone."

Sicily: "M-mm."

Man: "I'm only second in command. I'll have to discuss this with my captain when we arrive."

So many surprises back to back recently... Here I was having fun enjoying the ice cold lake, then to fly in the sky with Kaede. Then we get stopped by these guys only for Fleur to suddenly wake up and try to attack them. And now all this time, the people that Kaede's with are actually elves? Looking around, the only people who also seem to be shocked are Mom, Alice and Marcus. I assume Fleur and Faye already knew? But then why is Natalie so composed?

We end up arriving at the entrance to Narlimar as the people in the masks joined up with the soldiers at the gate before inspecting everyone. With us being in the first caravan, obviously the matter of Sicily and Lillian came first.

Masked Captain: "Elves?"

Man: "They revealed themselves to me personally. They didn't show any sign of aggression during the travel."

Masked Captain: "I understand, but we've never dealt with something like this before."

Lillian: "Please!"

Masked Captain: "...Their all yours. I'm sure you can handle supervising a couple elves along with vampires, haha."

Man: "Y-yes, captain."

A part of me feels a bit bad for this person. His captain just dumped all the work on to him. Sure he was the one that vouched for Kaede, but to throw more work on top of him is just too much. But at least that means everyone can stay together I guess.

Man: "Here."

After grabbing a couple more collars from a couple of the masked men, the man that's with us hands over the two collars to Kaede.

Man: "Put these on them as well."

Kaede: "...O-okay."

I notice that both Sicily and Lillian both share the same displeasing look on their face, as if they'd prefer to die than to have that collar put on them. And seems as though Kaede also shares the same feeling.

Kaede: "I'm sorry."

Lillian: "It's fine."

Sicily: "Hah~ We're back to this again..."

All three of them sound dejected as Kaede finishes clamping the collars around their necks.

Masked Captain: "I expect weekly reports from you regarding this matter."

Man: "Yes, captain."

Masked Captain: "Search though the caravans. If you find anything, bring it to me."

Soldiers: "Yes sir!"

Huh... So not only does this masked captain order the other masked people around, but he also orders the soldiers around as well? The way they all quickly obeyed his command so quickly sure was surprising. I can only guess that these people are on the upper echelon of the queen's army.

...

After roughly 30 minutes of waiting, the inspection finally finished as all the soldiers came back to the gate.

Soldier: "Nothing to report. They're all clean but a dozen or people are wounded."

Masked Captain: "Nothing serious?"

Soldier: "No sir."

Masked Captain: "We'll stop here and have them treated before we set off to the capital. Will that be alright, lady Iris?"

Iris: "Yes, thank you very much."

Masked Captain: "Show them to our healers. I'm going out for a bit."

Soldier: "Yes sir."

The Masked Captain then soon leaves us to the soldiers as he leaves with all his other masked men, except for the person who is now Kaede's supervisor.

For a town that's furthest away from the capital, Narlimar sure is big compared to Azalea and even Oakvale as well. But what I found most striking was just how many demi-humans were wondering around. Some look to be 8 feet tall with some among those having complete animal heads, such as a bull. If I didn't already know, I would've thought that these guys were straight up monsters. Yet compared to them, Kaede, Sicily, Lillian and now Fleur all look relatively normal looking, despite them being regarding as "true" monsters.

It was no surprise that we end up catching numerous glances from both the demi-humans and the humans as we ride through the town in our caravans, with the soldier's leading us slowly at the front.

Sicily: "I can't believe I'm stuck in this stupid thing again."

Lillian: "It's the only way, sis."

Sicily: "I know, but still..."

Man: "Like I said, this for the most part will be temporary. If it weren't for your friend here, we'd likely not be giving you this much freedom as it is."

Yui: "Does it itch or anything?"

Kaede: "Not really, but the edges do dig into your skin."

Sicily: "Ugh! Yes! Couldn't you have trimmed these down a bit?"

Man: "Well, we use them for criminals and the like. So comfort wasn't really something of importance when constructing these."

Yeah, seeing Sicily try and pry her neck away from the collar does make it seem quite uncomfortable. Honestly makes me feel bad that I don't have to deal with something like that even though I have a sliver of vampire blood running through my veins.

Yui: "...Can you put one on for me as well?"

Kaede: "What?"

Iris: "Ellen... You don't need to."

Man: "Your mom's right. Plus I don't have anymore on me, so even if I wanted to, I can't."

It was worth a try... I just wish to share in the pain as they are, even if I'm not going to be supervised.