Chapter 41 - Beginning Her Journey
"Ceilie, let's go while we still can. We can no longer stay in this forest." Kana knew what Lysairth said was correct. If they stayed here, then they would most likely be targeted once again. The only choice left was to leave this place and head to a new land far from humans.
"Yes, we should. But Kana, I promise one day we will come back here and take down every one of these damn humans. I will find the noble who took my mother and kill him along with Ray's father, who wanted to capture you. We will bide our time and grow stronger so no one in this world can stop us!" Ceilie also knew it was best to leave. But she also hated that the one who wanted to capture them was still getting to live for a while longer. She vowed to herself in her heart that she will come back one day and take out those who tried to harm Kana and her.
The two took off west towards the demi human domain. It would be the best and safest place for both Kana and Ceilie. One was a talking dragon while the other was now a cat sith. If they truly wished to be able to have a decent life, that was the place to be. Not all demi humans were humanoid; some still looked just like the monsters they started as, which was a perfect place for Kana until she got stronger.
Although Kana was slightly sad, she could not get stronger right away. She still was excited about the journey she was about to take. Exploring the lands around her was indeed an exciting experience for Kana, someone who grew up seeing more bricks than trees. But as it was so far, she had only been in this world for about a week and was already put into many life or death situations. But she also met two companions who she could trust with her life as well. She hoped that although things started off rough that from this moment on, they would be able to have a more carefree adventure. Fight monsters level up and explore new lands with Ceilie by her side.
Ceilie was also feeling the same as Kana. She felt after her evolution; she had been completely reborn. No longer a human, her dream had finally come to a reality, and she felt so much better about herself. She no longer looked down at her hands in disgust. She loved her new cat ears and tail very much. She also felt much closer to Kana now that she was a demi human. Just the thought of the adventures they will be embarking on in the future really excited her.
The two girls traveled until nightfall and only made camp when the sun finally set beyond the horizon. They had been following a small river that led towards the demi human domain. Surprisingly the place they stopped was already occupied by a few carts being pulled by scaled horses. Kana and Ceilie cautiously made their own camp further away and began cooking up some horned rabbits they had caught earlier.
"Kana, if they seem hostile, we will run as fast as we can to get away from them." Ceilie did not know if the ones who owned the carts were humans or not, and if they were, she sure as hell would not trust them at all.
They were still far from the border, and it was highly likely that these people could be merchants, but that did not mean they did not have any ties to any of the nobles in the area. There was also a chance that the ones who own the cart were demi humans as well. Which if that was the case, the need to run away was much lower, but they still had to be on guard in case they were connected to some noble. Ceilie had always lived her life, not trusting anyone too much. Kana being the first.
"You two will be safe. Those are rabbit men." Lysairth announced to ease Kana's worries. She knew the two were jumpy every time they saw someone else. But the direction they were going was mainly used by demi human merchants.
Only the towns and cities in this area would deal with demi human goods, which was hard to get. Their spices and some of their other foodstuffs were things that could only be bought from these merchants. They all had special permits that allowed them to do trade in select cities. Nobles and even the royal family would order these goods and have them sent to the capital. These merchants were treated with respect only because of the goods they sold. If it wasn't for that, they would be treated like any other demi human.
This did not mean they did not run into their fair share of discrimination. They could only sell their goods in the towns and cities. They were not allowed to stay in any inn or enter any business they were not selling to. They also could not enter any city they did not hold a token to. This meant that they were always put in a position where they could be attacked by bandits at any time.
Hearing Lysairth's words did calm Kana down, and when she told this information to Ceilie, Ceilie also lowered her guard slightly. The girls ate their roasted horned rabbits as they planned out their next day. But as they were talking, a young rabbit man came walking up to them. "Hey there! Good day!"
Ceilie and Kana, who were in the middle of eating rabbit meat, put on strange expressions seeing the rabbit man standing before them. For some reason, they both felt very guilty, as if they had just eaten this rabbit man's sister or brother.
"I..." Kana started speaking.
"I?" The rabbit man tilted his head in confusion.
"I am so sorry for eating your brother!" Kana suddenly dropped to her knees and prostrated herself in front of the rabbit man.