"Syl’Vyr, wake up, we’re here." Faye shakes me as I get up feeling dizzy. I look at my missing arm—I’ve never been able to get used to it, but I take a deep breath.

"What part are we in?" I ask Faye, who’s worked so hard. As soon as we could, we fled from the demon continent, mainly to escape from Esther and Eve, who would definitely want to kill us.

So we came to the beastmen continent. Faye carried me flying for over a month. She arrived at this continent exhausted, and so did I because of the wounds I hadn’t even had time to recover from.

But now that we’ve been on the beastmen continent for some time, we started looking for a place to stay and trying to become adventurers since it’s the only thing left for us to make money. It’s either that or stealing.

"We’re approaching a kingdom!" Faye says quickly as the carriage stops. I stretch a bit, getting out of the carriage with Faye. We both look at the bull-man who gave us a ride.

"Thanks for the help," I thank him, and he shrugs.

"It was nothing. Be careful out there." He leaves with the carriage while we see the kingdom entrance about 400 meters from where we stopped. The two of us, having no form of identification whatsoever, aren’t sure how living around here works. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Syl’Vyr, is your arm better?"

"...A little, but without Evelyn, there’s nothing I can do... maybe with money I can pay for a prosthetic or something like that... if they have it, of course. This place seems underdeveloped..." I look at the kingdom. It doesn’t even come close to the demon kingdom in architecture.

"I read in books that beastmen decide many things through duels..." As a mage, I’ll probably be at a huge disadvantage depending on the enemy. As much as I hate to admit it, Eve helped a lot and I depended heavily on her to use magic without being interrupted.

’Faye doesn’t fight... but she’ll help a lot...’ I stare at Faye, who waits for me to lead. The beastmen seem to look at Faye with great puzzlement, but at least no one seems to have a direct conflict with her.

"Faye, let’s try to enter that kingdom. If everything goes wrong, we can escape—it’s the best for now... at least we don’t need food in large quantities. At most, food will help us recover from fatigue." I start walking along the dirt road while she follows me.

"Things seem difficult, Syl’Vyr... was this what you expected from freedom?" She asks innocently, but her question is almost physically painful for me.

"I think... things will get better with time. We have to see. Besides, I’m still a mage... I have at least something that most here on this continent don’t have—talent with magic." I give her a calming smile.

"I hope your talent with magic helps us, because these people here are quite primitive. For someone to force us to marry them wouldn’t be difficult if we’re not strong, considering we’re beautiful women and much can be taken using force."

"Hahaha, what a joke, Faye. I might be missing an arm, but with you here, one strike from me will be enough to defeat most. And even in a duel, if I have any room to maneuver, I can win."

"I’m not that weak. I even managed to run from Eve without her catching me for quite some time." I still have high physical capabilities even being a mage, and even though the lack of an arm will hinder me, it’s not the end of everything for us.

"Well, I hope so! I’m really worried, since despite this being a continent the war hasn’t reached, it’s still one of the most dangerous." She speaks with obvious discomfort as we arrive at the city gate that doesn’t even have anyone guarding it.

’This place reeks of blood... and dirt.’ I look around seeing various beastmen of various types. It’s kind of unusual to see so many who are of my "species," since I’m similar to them.

"..." Faye approaches me, staying very close so as not to get lost while we continue forward. I wonder if there’s any guild around here, or if guilds even exist. I think they probably do.

"Who are you?" Before Faye and I turn a corner, four soldiers surround us with spears. Faye stares at me waiting for my leadership, while all the normal citizens continue their lives as if nothing is happening.

"We’re just travelers..." I say, ready to fight if necessary.

"The boss doesn’t like outsiders. She likes outsiders like her even less." The one talking to me points his spear at Faye.

"We’re just passing through—"

"The boss wants you there now for a talk. Walking with that ’thing’ without a collar through these lands is forbidden." I look at Faye and at everyone here. It would be a problem to start a fight now.

"Psst, Faye, think we should follow them?"

"M-Maybe?" Faye nervously gets closer.

"All right, we’ll go with you." When I say this, two of them make room, and one of them starts walking ahead while the others flank us. I start following the one in front while holding Faye’s hand in case we need to fly away.

’How did she notice me? I don’t understand. Faye and I aren’t even emitting that much magic...’ Noticing us as soon as we step into the place is kind of bizarre, but following the guards, we end up arriving at the best building in the city, a sort of "mansion" that I suppose is the city chief’s house.

"..." The door opens and we’re practically pushed inside while the door closes. Only one guard is with us now and he continues guiding us through the mansion, which is quite empty.

"The boss is behind this door..." As soon as we enter, the door closes and we’re alone in a room with a chair turned away from us, until the person gets up from the chair.

’My Status?...’ A Status screen appears for me, and also for Faye, which is strange. This person is showing us their status directly?

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Name = Lya

Race = Chaotic Fox

Title = Chief of Tiry City

A woman with a strong, muscular physique, her skin has a slightly grayish tone like ashes from a bonfire, while her eyes are a dark red. She has fox ears and tail in a very dark black tone, while her muscles make clear her elevated physical capabilities. She is tall and has a wild aura. She has long black hair and generously large breasts.

Personality = Cold, Sarcastic, Manipulative, Destructive, Insane

Weight = 63Kg

Age = 112 years

Birthday = ?

Height = 179 centimeters

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"So you two are the ones who arrived in the city. How curious." The woman, now visible outside the chair, approaches. She’s wearing black clothing made from some animal’s skin, and she has an uncomfortable aura without a doubt.

’Her General Status, why did she reveal it?’

"It’s called basic etiquette. Think we’re primitive or something? You from other continents really treat us like animals. I showed you my status so you’d have an idea of who you’re dealing with." When she speaks as if she knows what I’m thinking, I’m shocked.

"How do you know we’re from another continent?"

"Your smell and the smell of that ball of feathers beside you. You smell like outsiders. You don’t have the scent of any region of this continent, nor do you smell of blood enough for someone who lives in these lands." She looks me up and down and gives a strange smile.

"So, stray bitch, what did you come to do in my city?"

’Bitch?... what manners...’

"I just came to take a look... me and my companion... GHUUURMM!!" Before I realize it, I’m being violently pressed against the wall being choked. My tail thrashes from side to side in pain. Faye stares shocked while I didn’t even see or hear when she moved.

"You underestimate me too much. Every chief is only chief if they’re powerful, girl. Don’t look at me with such shock. Now let me explain a rule to you. We have territories, and we hate outsiders."

"Know what I do when members of other tribes come to my city? I impale them at the gates so anyone who leaves sees what happens to those who mess with my things. So don’t say you came to ’take a look’ or I’ll rip out your eyes so you’ll never ’take a look’ at anything in your life again." She throws me against the floor while I cough in pain.

"You’re lucky I’m benevolent. Other chiefs from other tribes would have killed you as soon as you appeared, and that’s the reality around here. However, I have great curiosity about those who come from outside the continent. That’s the only reason I haven’t cut your throat." I get up, noticing my hands trembling.

’...’ I, who am a mage, would never have the speed to react to this.

"Now that we’ve clarified things, let’s go to the rules. You entered my city and I didn’t kill you? Then you’re mine now. Stole something in my city? I’ll cut your hands off. Killed someone without a reason I find adequate? I’ll sever all your limbs."

"Tried to run from me? I’ll cut off your legs and chain you in my basement. Irritated me? Then you’ll participate in my ’games’... I think these basic rules are pretty clear, aren’t they?"

"There’s no subtext, between the lines, or anything hidden. The rules are what I said they are. Now that you’ve entered here and I’ve decided your life has some value, you’ll stay around until I decide you can leave this city." She looks at Faye, who shrinks back, her wings fluttering weakly at her strange gaze.

"What do you want from us?" I ask, trying to calm myself.

"Who knows? I’ll see what I want from a stray bitch and a ball of feathers. I haven’t totally decided yet. As I said, you were lucky I’m a benevolent tribe chief and haven’t killed you yet. Plus, you seem to have quite a bit of magic. That’s at least interesting. Mages are rare, very rare."

"So be smart. I can smell your scent from more than 5 kilometers away, and I can detect tracks from more than 20 kilometers. Besides, fleeing by flying isn’t an option, so I suggest you get that foolish idea out of your head and wait calmly for me to decide if your lives continue to have value."

"For now, you’ll stay here in my house until I decide I want something from you. And if you manage to captivate me, I might even let you leave. Guards, take them to the ’guest room’ until further notice, and stay alert. Stray bitches tend to want to escape."

"..." A guard enters while I look at Faye, realizing that maybe coming to this city was a terrible idea.