《Master of All trades》


 Chapter 1: Useless

    The day today is sunday, the 6th day of the 9th month of the year. I woke up early like I always do and like always nobody greeted me. Actually I am pretty used to this already but¡­ today is my 16th birthday. I don¡¯t know if dad anyone remembered it but I will. Though they never celebrated it, this day was called the cursed day since today is when I was born.


    Everyone even the maids didn¡¯t care about me, but since I am still the first son of the Bauer family they didn¡¯t throw me out, yet.


    In every knight family the rule of the kingdom is for the title to be inherited by the first son, but if the son is deemed useless or incapable the rights would be transferred to the next in line. And that would be my brother, Bernhardt, in one word he hates me.


    Though I never did anything to him he looks at me in ridicule, each day when he see¡¯s me. I have two other siblings both sisters, they are what you could call spoiled brats. But though they look cute and kind, to me they are monsters. I might be older than the three of them but they are far stronger than me.


    And all that is because of one thing¡­


    ¡°Burn Urs!¡±


    The voice of my brother resounded in my ears, and the words he uttered can only mean¡­ before thinking anything else I leaped forward trying to dodge the incoming wave of heat. Rolling on the ground to cushion my fall I looked at the place I was before and it was charred.


    ¡°Good reflexes!¡±


    The sound of my brothers voice resounded as it mixed with the laughter of my two sisters. Normally I should get mad at them, my brother is 12 years old this year and my two sisters are both 10 years old. I should have the rights to get mad and scold them but that is if it were a normal situation. But my brother and sisters they all had one thing I didn¡¯t.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Familiars¡­


    Partners that are born together with every sentient being. These familiars form spiritual bonds with the person while in their spirit form and thus a mark would appear on every being''s body.


    My brother was partnered with a giant flame bear, a magical beast that¡¯s body and magic come from another world. My sisters both have twin beast Jaguar of light and jaguar of darkness. In terms of familiars my sisters have better ones than my brother but when it comes to experience and battle power my brother far surpasses the two of them.


    Though my siblings all have high potential and a passing baron when he saw my siblings said that they had the potential to become royal knights my parents were ecstatic. But compared to them I am but a mere failure. Since I don¡¯t have one a familiar. Though many people are born like me without a familiar those people at least have marks on their body. A mark is the connection of a familiar and with the person but¡­ I have not any mark on my body.


    Though I should have been twisted and may have gone mad from the living environment that I am in, there is a reason that I can cope up with this. It is a secret that only I know of.


    Not minding the jeers of my siblings I took my bag and proceed to exit the manor. This may sound funny but I was kicked out yesterday. They said that on my 16th birthday when I am allowed to be independent that a failure like me should just leave the house. Of course I knew that it was all planned by my brother but I didn¡¯t mind.


    That is because I still have this.


    After leaving the manor the sun was seating and the day was ending, I took up camp deep inside the forest one or two kilometers away from the manor. I may not have a familiar but I can still use magic.


    Piling up sticks and dried leaves then surrounding it with stones, I light up the pile and after a few seconds it started to burn. I then went into the tent and took out some of the hunted game that I caught on the road.


    They were two birds the size of a duck I think it was called Quirk Birds but I don¡¯t mind. After all the only poisonous things in the wild are magic beast, some plants and other dangerous stuff.


    After only less than an hour the roasted bird smelled delicious. Though it is lonely but it¡¯s better than when I was at home.


    ¡°Happy birthday to me¡±


    After eating my dinner I used earth magic to lift my tent up a few inches above the ground. I entered the tent and made a mud wall surrounding it, though wild and magic beast rarely appear in these woods it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry.


    Finishing the walls I lay comfortable on my hard rock bed and fell asleep.

 Chapter 2: Skills

    The next morning I woke up refreshed, the bed may be hard but to me it¡¯s pretty soft. Well for many nights I was forced to sleep outside or on the floor by my brother sisters or even my parents. I don¡¯t hold hate or anything.


    Though I do feel pity towards them, since they like all the others see the world in tunnelled vision. Well it¡¯s not like I¡¯m one to talk, even if I hate them the fact still remains that I can¡¯t do anything with the fact that I have no familiar. Though that is until I got this mirror.


    This normal looking hand mirror that I found stored in in the basement is one of the things that I requested to have from my father. Though he wouldn¡¯t give me anything that has great value I guess in his eyes this mirror is nothing but trash.


    Aside from the fact that mirrors are very expensive this old small mirror to the family is worth not a cent. But that is because they don¡¯t see it¡¯s true value. I did some research and found that this tiny old mirror is actually a gift to our family¡¯s ancestor by the king at his time.


    Though it looks normal the mirror actually holds the name ¡°Glass of truth¡±, the mirror was enchanted by a powerful archmage. And the enchant it has gave it the ability to look through the truth hidden behind illusions. It will undoubtedly reflect the seals and other hidden truths of the person reflected by the mirror.


    Of course the my family since the past all looked at it but since they had neither illusions surrounding them or seals placed on their bodies this mirror was seen as trash by them. Well unlike them I, have lots of secrets on my body the naked eye can¡¯t discern.


    First when I looked into the mirror I saw on my face were silver patterns forming an intricate system of lines and shapes. But I think the thing that took my interest was the two marks on both of my eyes.


    My left eye had a pure white insignia and on my left was another similar but different pure black pattern. They had similarities but they also had subtle differences. I took the chance to copy both marks and look for similar insignia¡¯s. But the closest thing that I found was a mark of a familiar from my ancestors.


    That ancestor of mine had a dragon as a familiar and he had a similar mark on his left hand. Well the difference was obvious since the mark on my eyes had a more varied array of symbols and a more beautifully designed pattern. Also the mark on my ancestors left hand was a dirty white in contrast to my pure white and black marks.


    Of course I came only to one conclusion, that is that I had a familiar from the beginning but for some reason it was sealed away. Though I was elated I was also scared, I had two mark and both were on my eyes. A person with two marks has two familiars and people with two familiars are destined for great things. Of course the kingdom or all those other world powers would surely do their utmost to get me.


    Well since I didn¡¯t want to be an inconvenience to my family and to escape the troublesome job of being a hero or something I just kept it hidden all this time. Though the two marks were just the beginning.


    I got curious of the silver lines like tattoos that were reflected by the mirror so I traced them and what I saw shocked me. When I followed the lines on my left arm were seven marks, they were surrounded by the silver lines like encasing them and the marks were all golden colored. I then looked at my left arm and there were again seven marks with golden color and still encased in the silver line.


    Following the line on my chest is a giant red circle the size of a plat, the circle was gigantic but the symbols and designs were as big as those in the smaller marks. The circle I think should still be a familiar''s mark but I can¡¯t find any historically similar mark even the great heroes had no such mark.


    Then going down to my legs there were still marks but they were far less complicated. They were simple marks wrapped in the silver lines. There were five marks in total they were colored green, blue, brown, colorless and red. Though the colorless is hard to explain I came to this conclusion since the mark had a distinct mark it was like it was traced on my skin. Though my skin is not that brown in fact I could be called pale but the mark had a distinct essence of being colorless. I compared it to the dirty and pure white but it perfectly matches the color of my skin. Though I say it¡¯s colorless but I have a feeling looking at it¡¯s reflection that it¡¯s there but at the same time not. Well let¡¯s leave that aside for now.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The most important thing is that I found out is that the silver lines are responsible for sealing these marks. I did more research and found that this lines also appeared on another human. Though it is only seen as legend since the story came from thousands of years ago. But I was still surprised at the amount of books that our library had though nobody uses it, I was still glad that I was born into a family with a long history.


    Well back to the lines, it seems that those lines the person who got the lines seem to have been born as a god. His race was human but he had the power of god in his body technically the power of divinity. Well that person didn¡¯t have any marks but his body was covered in this silver lines.


    The lines sealed his divine powers until he tempered his body enough so that it could already contain the divine power without needing to mind of dying due to the power of gods. In the end that person was able to create many miracles and do many heroic acts but then no matter how powerful on is or how close to a god he is no one can survive the test of time.


    Well in any case the circumstances of the past legend were vastly different first the silver lines on his body were not hidden. They were visible to the naked eye while mine hid everything. Not to mention the fact that I had familiar marks all over my body he on the other hand had divine power inside his.


    Putting this into perspective it could be seen that the silver lines were simple seals while the reason for both of our seals are vastly different.


    Though I want to believe that I can summon familiars or even one familiar, well that is a problem for the future. In any case these marks are not simply familiar marks.


    First of all the marks on my eyes, I did the very same training needed for familiars and contracting and when I did so I was able to feel the deep power in these marks. The eyes especially, when mana is converged and put into the marks on my eyes my vision greatly improves. Not only that with more mana I was able to make it so that I could see the mana in living beings and their forms. I trained and in a few years, I don¡¯t know if they evolved or what ever but my vision improved greatly even without inputting mana and now when I put mana in the marks even with just a small amount I am able to already see the mana bodies, veins and the mana field of the world.


    Then the mark on my chest, it is amazing the mark greatly increased my magic capacity when I tried connecting with it. Well after a few years I was able to connect with about 10% of it and due to that my magic capacity increased much so that I am able t freely use magic for regular living.


    Now the 14 marks on both of my hands, they did not make me stronger physically but they did increase the mana absorption of my body. With this I can even start studying high leveled spells.


    Lastly the five marks on my lower body, having different colors they each made my affinity for each of their respective elements increase. The elements are as follows.


    Green = Wind


    Brown = Wood


    Blue = Water


    Red = Fire


    Colorless = Space


    The first four were pretty normal considering the benefits of all the other marks but the last one. Space, although I had a hard time confirming this fact it showed true when I tried to summon my pen. When I did the mark lit up and due to that I was able to summon my pen from my table in my room.


    Well thinking about it I don¡¯t think that I will have a need for familiars. After all the reason why familiars are useful is due to them compensating for what their partners lack. Well most of the time the familiars are depended upon greatly by their human counterparts but that is because humans are lazy. It is in my eyes since I saw the training that my parents and siblings were doing.


    My siblings were simply training on how to fight while making sure to properly lead their familiars. This is because the familiar will never die unless the master dies. Though most of the time familiars are treated as partners, when nobles are put into the perspective it could be seen that familiars are nothing but undying slaves to them.


    Of course this practice came from the fact that familiars with power and can become war potential are turned into soldiers and these people are part of the army. And Familiars that can use magic and such are already enlisted in the elite.


    That¡¯s why in this world the wars are technically where people are fighting on who could properly control their slaves to kill the men behind the fighting. Well that¡¯s why familiars get stronger while the nobles train in ¡°leadership¡± and escape tactics.


    Though in this world there are still people who despite the trends still practice magic, excluding me there is a number of people practicing magic and/or swordsmanship and become adepts sometimes experts. And they don¡¯t fight behind but with their familiars at these times.


    But the people doing this normally are people whose familiars are not suited for war or can¡¯t use magic. In this case the problem still falls into the dependency on humans on their familiars.


    I can¡¯t blame anyone since that is what the world is in but I may be able to change it. Though that is troublesome and requires a lot of hard work. Taking the task of changing views is already hard even for my own family then what about the kingdom? The world? A pipe dream is what that would be called.


    ¡°[sigh] Guess I¡¯ll just live my life to the fullest¡±


    It may sound stupid and a waste not only for me but also the world but I¡¯m not a saint who wants to change the world. Nor am I a hard worker who wouldn¡¯t mind my own health as long as I get a job done. As long as I live I only want to savor every day of my life and live to the fullest. Well most of the time people like me die easily but I do still have the benefits from those marks so my survivability would at least be greater than my siblings. I mean in my perspective, having power to yourself is better than relying on the power of another being even if it would die for you.

 Chapter 3: Monsters

    Three days passed since I left the Bauer household, I don¡¯t know how far I¡¯ve travelled or if I¡¯m getting any closer to civilization. Well it¡¯s not a problem to me anyways, I bought with me three changes of clothes. Actually two would be enough but the third one is in case I ripped one of my clothes.


    I could stitch it up but then in the wild where danger is always around the corner I can¡¯t afford to focus on patching the clothes. Well I could always use magic but, with the training I am currently doing it doesn¡¯t matter that much.


    Also I was able to advance considerably since I began my journey. The giant red mark on my chest actually had another skill. Well the skill only applies to any creature with magic. It is that if I consume the meat of a magical being then I could increase my mana capacity without having to deplete it every time.


    Of course the red mark passively increases my mana capacity but unlike before it has slowed considerable. So for a faster increase I will need to deplete it until I got to eat demon beast meat the other day.


    Though people say that demon beast meat is poisonous I had the feeling that I could eat it for some reason. And I was actually able to eat and digest it. No moreover the demon meat was delicious, it tasted better than the roasted duck we had for my siblings birthdays.


    In any case I continued my travels while catching game and collecting magic cores. Well to lighten the load I ground the magic cores and mix them into hot water. I know that it¡¯s not possible to eat magic cores as magic cores are solidified magic power so the density of magic in them may be high but in taking them will kill humans.


    Well I don¡¯t care about that since the magic core tea tasted better than the silverwood tea that my parents drink. Well silverwood is actually not that high class of an item but considering the location of my family''s territory it becomes a luxury. Of course I understand that eating demon meat and drinking magic core tea is due to the red mark.


    But I seem to understand the effects of the red mark somewhat. Throughout a human''s life mana is absorbed into our body naturally. I read that there are places wherein they have a technique to forcibly absorb mana from the environment but more importantly when humans exhaust their mana they reabsorb more mana thus increasing their mana capacity. Also it seems that no matter how large the capacity of mana increases the regeneration or reabsorption as I would like to call it would always take 5 to 6 hours.


    In this case I am different as the red mark increases my mana capacity even if I still have a full tank of mana. Well at first I thought that it would be scary but I noticed that the rate of increase slows down as the capacity increases. Well after all no matter how fast the increase is I am still bound to the fact that I am human.


    Well books I read said that the demon race named Malumia, had ten times the mana capacity of humans. It seems that humans would always reach this point where they can¡¯t increase their mana capacity anymore and that capacity compared to the maximum of a demon is ten times lower.


    This is also one of the reason as for the rise of familiars who have random capacities. But if I remember correctly, the kingdom recently had this hero from another world and it seems that his familiar is a humanoid type. I didn¡¯t remember anymore of the news but it seems that the hero is a female and her familiar is similarly a female.


    Of course many men even the princes were said to be in love with her but considering the fact that her familiar has a mana capacity much like that of a demon and that her familiar is also a humanoid type all those males just held back and simply admired her.


    Though I was shocked by the news, the reason was very different from what you think. My brother laughed loudly as he declared that he would make the hero fall for him and my sisters already treats her as an idol of some sort. Seriously they haven¡¯t even seen her with their own eyes and yet they already have this reactions. No more than that, the news of a beautiful hero comes to our territory that fast and yet news on the current state of the nation hardly arrives.


    Actually all the facts I know about cities and the maps at home are all 100 years old! Well the territories in the kingdom could possibly have not a single change in the past 100 years but truthfully that¡¯s very unlikely. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s just the people and father being useless or that they just don¡¯t give a damn about the other territories.


    [rustle]


    Jumping to the top of a tree I reacted immediately to rustling. Currently I am walking through a dense forest and I could only say this might already be demon beast territory. Well even if it is I don¡¯t mind as I could easily obliterate them. Though that may be the case I am still a frail young 16 year old boy.


    When I look down I see a black wolf like monster it had glowing red eyes as it stared back at me from the bottom. Judging from the size of its foot marks that were on top of mine it would be about 3 meters tall. Seriously of all the monster to appear it had to be the shadow dire wolf. And of course since it¡¯s a wolf¡­


    [Awoo~]


    With that a bunch of other wolves a bit smaller than it but not much came. They were 12 to 15 of 2 meter tall wolves that all gathered around that single dire wolf. This is one of the cases that adventurers don¡¯t want to face, getting surrounded by wolves.


    Well that is if I was a normal adventurer or traveler but unlike those useless people who rely on their familiars I could destroy these beast easily. Though I felt pity towards these wolves, the world revolves around the concept of eat or be eaten. I focused mana around myself and made 20 arrows of pure mana. I then fired each arrow accurately towards the necks of the wolves. They look like they don¡¯t understand what is happening as they didn¡¯t move from their spot.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry wolves but, bye¡±


    With that the 20 arrows pierce the wolves necks and release a mana blade that beheaded the wolves perfectly. I then extended my mana to the trees and used their roots to coil around the wolves carcasses. Using the roots I drained the blood of of the wolves bodies and dismantled them by creating mana blades. Hanging upside down the wolves were all dissected and everything else was placed inside a magic bag.


    This magic bag has a capacity that is directly proportional to the mana of the user. My siblings and parents wanted the bag but since they had a miniscule amount of mana this bag to them was trash once again. And because of this I was able to bring a whole lot of materials.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    I collected the fangs and used transmutation magic to turn them into knives. Though a bit rough on the edges this knives could still be considered as great equipment as the raw materials are from demon beast. Testing out the knives I put my mana into it and soon after the knives were enveloped by a dark aura.


    The dark aura seems to increase the sharpness of the knife as well as adding a rotting effect to whatever the blade touches. The effect wasn¡¯t that serious but even this could probably kill my brother if he is not purified immediately. Also even if I stop putting in mana the blade will take a good 5 minutes before the dark aura completely disappears. It seems that the mana is somewhat stored into the blade and the dark aura will appear continuously unless the mana is completely depleted.


    I made holsters for the knives about 4 knives are hanging on my waist while the others are stored in my magic bag. As I was preparing to leave I heard a scream.


    ¡°Help!¡±


    From the pitch of the voice the owner must b e a woman and since she screamed in the forest it¡¯s more or less a demon beast attack.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a saint¡­ I¡¯m not a saint...I¡¯m not a saint¡­ ¡±


    I will not save her I am not a saint¡­


    ¡°Haha stop resisting and let us see those bountiful mounds of yours!¡±


    ¡°Noo!¡±


    [sigh]


    I guess that I¡¯ll have to save her then. Wait if they want to rape her here then that means there''s a town nearby¡­ I hope I get there before she losses her virginity. Following the voice I soon arrived at the scene of the crime.


    There are four men surrounding a 13 to 14 year old girl. The men consist of two old men with grey unkempt hair, a fat guy and a guy who looks to be skin and bones. Though they are all different they all have that disgusting look on their faces.


    ¡°Haha little Tirza from now on you are our toy!¡±


    One of the old men grabbed her hands and was pulling the clothes at her chest area trying to stipr her. Next the other old man went behind and started to lift her skirt up. Feeling the old man''s hands on her chest and bottom she let out a scream as tears were flowing down her cheeks.


    ¡°Please, no¡±


    Her voice was losing it¡¯s power as she felt the helpless situation she¡¯s in. Well she may be young but she¡¯s still a beauty also a young girl being treated like this is just. Unconsciously I already released mana and that mana went into the heads of all four men and they all dropped down falling asleep.


    The girl losing her balance also almost followed the men but I immediately used teleportation magic and caught her before she fell. It was already evening and the moonlight on the girl''s face made her look even more beautiful. I took out a handkerchief and gently wiped her tears.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine you¡¯re safe now¡±


    As I said that she started to cry and dived into my chest. Well she did almost get raped by four men so I could just leave her be, this is not because she¡¯s beautiful definetly not! Well going to the main problem I used magic and tied the men to wooden poles that are actually roots of trees coming out of the ground. I tied them using the roots and with that these four men can¡¯t possibly escape now.


    Also after I finished tying the men up the little girl named Tirza already fell asleep it seems. Well I simply made a small house out of earth and laid her on a mattress of soft tree leaves and went out to train magic.


    The next day the four men as well as Tirza all woke up, currently I am standing i between her and the men. The men were staring at me hatefully, if gazes could kill then these men would already killed me a thousand time over. On the other hand Tirza was standing behind me still fearful of the men.


    I questioned them and it seems that they belong to a village also Tirza is apparently the village heads¡­ daughter. Well that¡¯s not the main problem now, as I was questioning the four men, I noticed that they had cat ears and tail¡­ slowly I turned and behind I saw that even Tirza had such ears and tail. The relationship between humans and beastmen could be called anything but friendly and being able to finally notice their appearances cold sweat emerged on my back.


    ¡°Where is this?¡±


    I asked Tirza as I fear that I may have wandered too far from my original goal.


    ¡°This forest is at the border of the Holy Beast Empire and Trysting Kingdom¡±


    So I reached the border huh? Well considering that my family¡¯s territory is close to the border it¡¯s acceptable but if I remember correctly I should have gone through a town where humans and beastmen live in harmony. The name of that town¡­


    ¡°Is there perhaps a town called Trismegria closeby?¡±


    When she heard my words Tirza immediately showed my a bewildered expression. Contrary to my beliefs the one who answered me was the old men tied up.


    ¡°Boy that town is long gone, after the war with the demon race the town was attacked by the remaining soldiers of the demons and burned to ashes.¡±


    So it seems that a lot of things happened huh. I would¡¯ve already known about this if my parents were more serious about their responsibilities but seems like I can¡¯t change it already.


    ¡°Then Tirza please lead me to the village¡±


    Though I already know where to get I atleast have to ensure that this little girl gets back to the village. But Tirza looked at me with lonely eyes and she looked down as she quietly wept. Hmm? Why would she cry? It couldn¡¯t be that the rape thing a while ago was some kind of ritual, could it be?


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think that returning would do anything at worst we would only be reprimanded by the chief but that girl she can¡¯t return¡±


    The fattest one of the four rapist told me with despise, after which he looked at Tirza with more lust than ever. His gaze was also accompanied by a waterfall of drool from his mouth, also his little brother was standing upright. Geez, is this guy in heat or something.


    ¡°Well you should give up cuz that girl ain''t got a future fer er¡±


    Though this was the first time he spoke the thin man had a strange accent but then again it seems that Tirza was most likely thrown away, but why?


    ¡°Oh? And why is that?¡±


    I asked the four men while showing them a huge fireball floating beside me. They still shut their mouth but when the fireball increased to a dozen they started talking.


    ¡°A cu-curse the child is cursed!¡±


    ¡°All cursed children will be thrown out!¡±


    ¡°We just took the chance to play with someone the village doesn¡¯t care for anymore~¡±


    They immediately blurted out words one after another. They were rushing some stuttering and the fat guy even started weeping. In any case it seems that she was cursed with some sort of mark. If I remember correctly even beast men have familiar mark but it seems that Tirza¡¯s mark was different. Unlike the normally dirty white mark her mark is black.


    Well since ancient times when the familiar¡¯s started rising in popularity the black tinted marks were seen as cursed marks. In contrast those pure white marks were seen as holy. Well to me they have no difference as both my eyes have the same effect. Though I am still curious as to what kind of familiar this black mark has.


    ¡°Her familiar?¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t have one¡±


    I think he meant that her familiar was not born alongside her but in any case it seems that her familiar was¡­ wait could it be. I shut the four mouths with vines and took Tirza¡¯s hand. On it was a mark, although it¡¯s black it¡¯s very different from mine. It seems that we¡¯re both in the same situation.


    ¡°Well since we can¡¯t bring you back where do you wanna go?¡±


    I asked her and to my question she just looked down. I know how she feels, being rejected for being different and all. But unlike me she was thrown at her young age, well I wanted to be able to get out at a young age and not wait till 16 but everyone is unique so she has a different state of mind and.


    ¡°If you want you could travel with me¡±


    Tirza didn¡¯t answer but I knew that she showed a desire for a minute but that died down. Does she not trust me? Well isn¡¯t that natural as I am a human and just showed up to save her. She doesn¡¯t fully understand me and all. Well I could always use that.


    I took out the mirror and showed her the reflection, there Tirza saw my pupils and the silver line that wrapped them.


    ¡°I am just like you¡±


    I told her with a smile and looks like she kinda grew some trust but then someone''s voice resounded from behind.


    ¡°So you are just like her¡±


    It was the skinny one among the four, it looks like he bit through the vines. But as expected of beastmen their physical prowess is indeed top class.


    ¡°What of it?¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s it, you you guys are monsters! Monsters! MONSTERS!¡±


    To the guys screams Tirza looked to have remembered something. Sighing I knocked the guy out and then put TIrza to sleep. I look like I¡¯m kidnapping her but, well I need to bring Tirza somewhere else. Well it seems that I am not the only one with this huh, should I travel saving people like me?


    ...to much of a hassle, and this girl¡­ hmmm¡­ That¡¯s it I saved her on a whim! Someone like me who face the same hardships I can¡¯t possibly leave her right? I mean I¡¯m not a saint but I¡¯m also not a demon. Um um that¡¯s it ha~ really why do I need to make excuses to myself.


    And with that began my journey with the Cat Girl named Tirza.

 Chapter 4: A Cat girls thoughts(Tirza POV)

    It was my 16th birthday and today my mark that used to be white turned black. When my father saw this he immediately brought me to the village priest. The priest was an old man in his 60 and he told me to consult his brother, his brother was another old man in his 60 but he was instead a doctor. It seems that this mark turning black was a sign of disaster.


    ¡°Get out of the village¡±


    Those were the only words my father told me as he kicked me out of the village. It seems that my mark will undoubtedly cause great disaster to befall the village so I didn¡¯t mind and instead went out. But not even an hour after I left the village I felt some presences following me. Although I wasn¡¯t grown as a warrior it was natural for cat people to have better senses.


    [snap]


    I heard a branch snapping and when I turned around I was already pinned down by two people while two others followed behind. Getting a closer look the two who held me down are the priest and doctor brothers. Behind them the two other people are the skinny son of the doctor and the fat son of the priest.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    I wanted to know what they wanted to do. They couldn¡¯t have been sent to kill me to ensure the safety of the village, right? But their answer is one that I didn¡¯t want to hear¡­


    ¡°Why? Because we waited so long for this, the time where your father can¡¯t protect you and now¡­¡±


    The old priest licked my face as he gave out a lewd smile and the other three similarly laughed as they laughed lewdly.


    ¡°N-no¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°No, no Help! Someone help! NO!¡±


    As I began to struggle the two old men raised me up and started to undress me as they groped my body here and there


    ¡°Haha stop resisting and let us see those bountiful mounds of yours!¡±


    ¡°Noooo!¡±


    ¡°Haha little Tirza from now on you are our toy!¡±


    ¡°Please, no¡±


    And suddenly I lost my balance, the old men fainted and I was caught by a human. He had a young handsome face, he should probably be at my age. He looked at me in pity as he stared at the four men angrily. I felt the earth shake for a moment but it died down immediately. I didn¡¯t look at what has become of the four men, instead I looked at the the young humans face with fear.


    He probably noticed my anxiety as he whispered softly into my ears as he wiped my tears with a soft smelling handkerchief.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine you¡¯re safe now¡±


    I felt the urge to cry and I just did so as I jumped towards his chest. Why did I jump to his chest, I wonder¡­ but the next day he interrogated the men asking them about this town tr- I forgot but after that he seemed to want to turn them in for rape. But although they almost raped me my father¡­ he¡­


    I didn¡¯t notice that I began to cry so I crouched and tried to hide it but he seems to have noticed it. After which he convinced me to go with him. I didn¡¯t want to as I don¡¯t want to involve him in my misfortune but he showed me that he also has the same mark as me. Though I think he has it worse as he had two marks and more all over his body also it seems those marks were sealed by the gods, he said.


    I don¡¯t mind if he has troubles with god or whatnot but I will surely repay him. I tried slipping into his bed at night wanting him to use my body but he instead pushed me away saying stuff like ¡°I am not a lolicon¡± or ¡°In five years¡±.


    I asked him how old he was and he was also the same age as me, I told him my age and he had a look of bewilderment. It was not until the next day did he accept that I was 16 years old but I think he still doesn¡¯t want me to sleep with him.


    Every night he would make two small house, technically they are only rooms. Since the have a size that only fits a bed. The size didn¡¯t matter as it was better than sleeping on the cold hard ground. Though everything was made of dirt Erik had many leather skins of dark wolves. He turned them into soft blankets and matresses and that¡¯s what we used as bedding.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Though I thought he would lose composure and play with me since I am the same age as him it seems that instead of trying to get closer he keeps a certain distance from me.


    ¡°Um, where are we going?¡±


    I asked him one day while we were walking and he only looked at me with a bitter smile. I thought that I was making it so that he can¡¯t go to towns but apparently the reason was completely different.


    ¡°Well, I think we''re lost¡±


    He told me with a smile, it seems that he had a map in his head but that map is outdated by a hundred years and that he can¡¯t navigate around the forest. In fact he started making markings on the tree¡¯s to make sure we aren¡¯t going around in circles.


    Well normally I should get mad but I felt happy instead, I think it was since I thought he can¡¯t enter town due to me being cursed and all but it seems that it¡¯s totally different. Also it didn¡¯t happen only once but his body is well trained. I learned that he is the first son of a noble but due to his marks being hidden from the naked eye he was seen as a failure and thrown out.


    Looks like he had the same problem as me leading him to be unable to leave me alone.


    ¡°Well I thought at first that saving you was some sort of obligation but now instead I feel like protecting you¡­ ¡±


    He was saying words like that of a lover, is-is he confessing but¡­. Unintentionally it appears that my face become red and I immediately hid myself in embarrassment. Erick then noticed his words and he also turned bright red as he hid his face and stuttered.


    ¡°I-I was not saying anything like that, I only wanted to say that I treat you as¡­. A little sister, a kind little sister that I want to protect¡±


    After which he turned around and started to cook some meat. The meat we are eating is the game Erik hunted in the forest, although he said he was a noble son I think due to his marks he had to learn to fend for himself at an early age.


    I wanted to cook for him but he has more knowledge at me even in that area, technically I feel like a neet but then he said that I only need to smile and he¡¯s satisfied. Again he said another confusing remark but let¡¯s just take it that he likes me. Soon I will become a woman who could stand beside him.


    A few weeks since we started travelling together it was early morning. Last night we set camp immediately as Erik had to fight against a pack of panthers. They were not normal panthers, they were called shadow panthers. Shadow panthers are fearful monsters that hunt in packs and they are ambush predators so we should already be dead. But Erik was able to notice it and immediately took care of the threat.


    Since he was tired we set up camp and immediately fell asleep. The next day although I wanted to cook for him Erik held the magic bag and so I had to wait for him. But I heard unfamiliar sounds.


    [klop klop klop][klop klop klop]


    I heard the sound of hooves as they moved through the ground. Walking towards the bright light in between the tree¡¯s I am greeted by a vast meadow. There I can see a road, carriages moving to and from the two directions.


    ¡°Erik!¡±


    I immediately went to wake up Erik, rubbing his sleepy eyes he asked me in a gentle manner.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    Normally people no matter how close they are when woken up like this they would undoubtedly get mad or something but Erik is different. His kind, thoughtful and understanding he really is a prince like man.


    ¡°The road, we reached the road!¡±


    Hearing my words Erik stood up collected the skins and changed clothes also I am wearing male clothes as my clothes were messed up the other day. I knew it his scent really makes me feel better.


    After making the two houses crumble Erik made me lead him to the road and then we reached it. We both had wide smiles as we walked towards the roads but instead of stopping and asking us the people on the carriages didn¡¯t mind us in any way.


    ¡°Well we are nobody¡¯s that came from the forest, taking us would just be a waste of money¡±


    ¡°So we can¡¯t go to civilization?¡±


    Though I expected him to say something negative Erik instead had a smile on his face as he told me to follow him to the forest. In the forest he caught two large silver dire wolves. These wolves compared to others were fairly fast. Normally people wouldn¡¯t want to face them but Erik knew that these were the best steeds to have. The problem was they were like the king of the forest.


    At first he hesitated on hunting them as it would be a waste when he couldn¡¯t sell their skin and teeth. But now that we found a road he thought of the greatest idea, most importantly these wolves for some reason wanted to be contracted by Erik.


    We tried to make them contract me but they only wanted to be contracted by Erik, then after a while Erik came back with the two silver dire wolves. He even made a leather seat on the back of them both. Of course I know how to ride horses a bit but¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry all you need to do is hold on tightly¡±


    Telling me so I simply held tightly on the back of the wolf and with that is dashed. For some reason even if I didn¡¯t hold on I can¡¯t get knocked of by the wind.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I enchanted the seats so that we won¡¯t fall also that wolf will follow your order from here on so try leading it¡±


    I looked at the wolf and told i to follow closely behind Erik and it did so, no more that it looked at me as if all the hate it showed a while ago was gone. I looked at Erik and he just smile and told me.


    ¡°I told him that you are an important person to me¡±


    I-If he said it like that it¡¯s not weird for me to think that there¡¯s hope right? I mean he already said that I am important to him¡­


    ¡°Then, will you protect me, e-even if the whole kingdom hunts you down?¡±


    To my question Erik simple smiled and replied with a soft and kind voice.


    ¡°Even if the whole world has its eyes set on killing you I won¡¯t leave your side¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°But in exchange...Promise me you will never leave my side okay¡±.


    Smiling Erik turn back towards the road and continued. I was frozen and it took me a while before I finally came into terms with what was happening. He he said he wants me to forever be by his side¡­ that¡¯s a proposal right? It¡¯s a proposal right? That means he loves me right? Kukuku, Erik may not want me to sleep with him but he is honest with his feelings.


    With that we are officially a couple right? Then that means Erik belongs to me and I belong to him, right? I¡¯m the only one who can understand him¡­. But with his strength it¡¯s not impossible for more women to fall for him¡­. Well when that time comes I could always show them my place at the top. Also Erik is surely a virgin right? If so then I will not allow him to sleep with anyone besides me for his first night. Huhuhu I will forever be with you¡­. Honey


    ¡°Kyaaa!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°No-nothing¡±


    ¡°Okay then¡±