Natasha the Halve

“But because Valikas prohibited the formation of Packs through an Eternal Edict, the law had to adapt and give Chasers individual legal representation instead of a unionized body of contracted work force,” Yolin explained.

I was looking ahead, not sure when or how the conversation went there.

“Fortunately though, as a consequence of another Eternal Edict, the reach of government-owned businesses is limited when it comes to natural resource acquisition and monster population control,” she continued. “The army, on the other hand, is not part of the government and thus free to exterminate monsters within a certain distance around settlements if, and only if, they pose an immediate threat to the settlement. They are not allowed to gather resources, however, so that's left for Chasers.”

Right, I remembered with a nod, looking around at the trees. I asked about labor laws for Chasers

“This allows for a slow and controlled gathering of resources whenever needed in a smaller scale compared to the systematic extraction and depletion that comes with state-owned enterprises,” the Oni kept going. “Now, when it comes to the extermination of monsters, animals, and E'eral beasts, there exist laws that prevent total eradication in order to preserve as much of a natural balance as reasonably possible while considering the continuation of our species and the civilizations we have built.”

I let a tiny sigh out.

“About extraction of natural resources, like the gold mine we went into, a Halve visits and is given the pertinent research that shows that total extraction will have no negative consequences to the land around it,” she told me. “It is then up to the Halve's judgment if the mine will open or not, for how long, and how much is extracted. In the odd case that the research given is false... well, everyone knows what happens then.”

I nodded in agreement. She did mention having read up on mines, I recalled her words after she threw us down the chasm back in the mine dungeon.

My girlfriend didn't stop for another hour, telling me about Chasers, their relationship with the government, the Church, the markets, and other organizations.

Useful stuff to know, to be honest.

__

Night came and we made camp.

I took first watch with Hanna.

We sat down on Pokor'as chairs a good distance from the tents.

I retrieved some of juice and sighed.

The Ork retrieved a pair of daggers and began inspecting them.

I eyed the blades and asked, “Why daggers?”

She looked at me, then knitted her eyebrows and tilted her head.

I shrugged. “I mean, I bet you're strong enough to wield swords with ease, so why daggers? They're too short.”

“A sword is easier to parry, Your Excellency,” the Scout replied. “The longer and bigger a weapon is, the easier it is to grapple out of the wielder's hands. A sword swings wider as well, and while that may be more beneficial to strike more targets, it's not what I aim for.”

“Huh,” I uttered, not expecting such a response.

“Besides,” she continued with a smile, showing me the blades. “These are long enough to reach vital organs with ease, narrow enough to pass through ribs without problem if my target's bones are too tough, and have a long enough edge to cut tendons. Also, the throat is full of fun things to effortlessly slash without requiring a longer blade.”

I slowly nodded.

“My aim is generally to weaken my target due to blood loss rather than kill them in a single strike, though,” Hanna chuckled. “Stabbing comes later and is not the safest either since I would be in danger if my blades get stuck inside my target. So, I wait until my target attacks first. If they use a sword as Your Excellency mentioned, they'd be offering me a limb to slash into since those require wide swings. That leads me back to daggers being short. We Scouts use two so we can redirect the attack with one and slash with the other.”

I held my chin and hummed in contemplation. “That makes a lot of sense,” I commented, then probed, “What if you can't slash or stab?”

The Ork tapped her right temple with the tip of a dagger. “Illusions,” she snickered.

“Ohhh,” I excitedly breathed in amazement, leaning forward. “Can you show me?”

Hanna's body glowed for a split second then took the appearance of a Luzo with red scales and light pink skin. She had horns, reptile eyes, clawed fingers, and a tail.

Her eyes, however, had an unnatural glimmer to them.

There was a low thrumming coming from her body as well.

“Awesome,” I whispered. “Does this...” I gestured at her, “person exist, or did you create the image from scratch?”

“From scratch,” she chuckled in a completely different voice, but it had a weird effect as if it came from the other side of a phone. Her lips moved and I noticed she had a split tongue as well. Naturally, her Orkish tusks were nowhere to be seen.

“Wow,” I muttered. “Impressive.”

She gave me a nod and replied in her original voice, “Thank you.”

“Can I touch you?” I requested. “To see how it feels?”

“Go ahead,” she agreed with an amused smile.

I stretched my arm towards her shoulder, touching it.

My hand went through like it would through a hologram.

Hanna's actual body was right under the illusion, stopping my hand's movement.

I pulled back and nodded. “Amazing,” I whispered in... well, amazement. “That's really cool!”

She deactivated the illusion and her body returned to her regular appearance.

“How many disguises do you have... or know?” I inquired with interest.

Hanna sighed. “That's not something I'd usually answer, but I can make an exception for Your Excellency.”

I raised my hands. “You don't have to if you don't want to,” I assured her.

“Fifteen,” she threw at me.

“Wow,” I whispered again. “And... can you, like, change it downstairs?”

Hanna's eyebrows climbed her forehead. “It's just an illusion, Your Excellency. My physical body remains unchanged.”

I nodded in understanding. “I see...”

My fellow futa nodded. “Yep.”

“So...” I decided to bring it up. “About the fulse matter. Can you tell me about it?”

“Right,” she muttered. “We... don't like the term Clerics came up with to label us. It has this... connotation that we're different from others, and we don't appreciate it.”

I hummed. “Have you faced any discrimination?” I inquired in the most gentle tone.

The Ork's eyebrow joined in confusion. “Discrimination? Why?”

I let out an internal sigh of relief. “Just trying to understand,” I commented. “Is there some... discontent or discomfort when dealing with society's roles?”

Hanna's eyes squinted. “Not at all. It's just discontent with the term, Your Excellency. We grow up as regular people with regular ambitions and regular relationships.”

“Okay,” I accepted. “Do Clerics have a main Church somewhere where the leader lives? I ask because if there is, then maybe I can tell them to change shit.”

She nodded. “There is one,” she confirmed. “It's to the far west, near the coast. The High Ordinators reside there.”

Odd name, but okay, I considered. “I thought it'd be way harder to accomplish anything, to be honest,” I pointed out.

“It is for us,” She sighed. “They're stubborn and won't listen.”

“I see,” I muttered. “Well, we'll go there after visiting the Gods.”

Hanna's eyes widened. “That quickly?!”

I tilted my head in confusion. “You want change, right?”

“Y-yes,” she blurted out, a little out of words. “But I thought Your Excellency would attend to more pressing matters first.”

“Like?” I shrugged.

The Ork blinked a few times. “Like meeting other Halves, the rest of the Gods, the many countries and their rulers,” she counted.

I nodded. “Shush, we'll get that sorted out,” I assured her. “Some cozy, old ruler can wait.”

“Wow,” she whispered now, looking down at her daggers. “Just wow...”

Well, I thought it was going to be incredibly heavy... good thing it wasn't, I thought while looking at the Ork's relieved face.

“I initially considered a few decades before anything happened,” she breathed out, then turned to me and exclaimed, “Thank you very much, Your Excellency!”

I chuckled. “I haven't done anything yet, Hanna,” I pointed out. “And don't celebrate the bare minimum.”

She calmed down and nodded. “Right, right,” she sighed, but a smile was on her face.

I squinted my eyes. “Do you mind if I ask you a few personal questions?”

“Yeah, anything, Your Excellency,” Hanna accepted too quickly.

“Let me know if I step out of bounds,” I requested.

She nodded.

“How has your experience with partners been?” I inquired.

“Only men so far,” she immediately replied.

My eyebrows almost fused with my hairline. “Pardon?”

“I have only had relationships with men,” she repeated. “I... like my penis very much, and as such have leaned towards people that have them as well.”

I slowly nodded. “What about women with penises?” I ventured.

Hanna squinted her eyes. “I'm not quite following, does Your Excellency mean us fulse?”

I sighed. “No, like... when someone is born in a body that doesn't match their... mind, or soul, or spirit,” I elaborated.

“Ahh,” she uttered in understanding. “Yeah, no. Clerics pick that up before the age of ten and send them to Danuva,” she chuckled.

“Ah.. whu... ha...” I stuttered, not sure how to take it. “Okay... can you tell me what happens?”

Hanna nodded. “Sure. When we go to Compulsory Basic Education we get weekly checkups which are mandatory. The Clerics are the best of the best since children are the future. If one of the children has mental scars due to being in a body that doesn't fit their unconscious self, they are sent to Danuva.”

I covered my mouth. “Mental scars?” I repeated in shock.

She nodded. “It's a very serious issue that has to be remedied. I can't imagine living under such torment.,” she sighed. “They are sent to Danuva and she performs a final, soul-deep check, then rearranges the child's body down to the molecular level.”

“Holy shit,” I breathed out.

Hanna bit her lips. “Your Excellency...” she began in a concerned tone. “People can't reach their full potential if they're uncomfortable in their own flesh.”

I nodded. “No, yeah, I totally get that...” I agreed. “That's... wow...”

“Nature is sometimes faulty, and the Gods are there to help people in such cases,” she explained. “We fulse were once thought to be in that group of people, but Danuva found no issues.”

My eyes widened. “They sent us there?” I asked in shock.

“Out of worry,” the Ork clarified. “We fulse are exceedingly rare, Your Excellency.”

“Fucking hell,” I whispered, taking some time to digest the fact a Goddess performs transitions.

“I dated a man who went through that,” she shared with a smile. “Didn't last, unfortunately.”

I opened my mouth to ask something but closed it, not sure how to word it. After a few seconds I found the words. “How do people see them?”

She shrugged. “Normal? I don't quite get Your Excellency's question,” she replied.

“I see,” I muttered and thought for a while.