NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20
Diarrhea fruit
This fruit that looks like a bunch of grapes fused together to become one thing and grown on the Diarrhea Tree is one of the most recommended and successful midwife methods to help with digestive problems, as the fruit causes exactly what the name suggests.
Sadly trying to grow the tree anywhere other than on the moon Luna has proven itself to be too expensive and time consuming.
Local newspaper
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Argul opened her eyes. The sun was coming through slits in their barricade, illuminating the room. Alyra was laying underneath one of the barricaded windows with Aina next to her. Arthur was nowhere to be seen, but you could hear him in the kitchen.
She looked down at the girl that had stirred. She had fiery red long hair and her fur was of the same color. Her human ears had been replaced by something similar to squirrel ears. They were still growing from the same spot though.
The girl was wearing pink pajamas, but you could still see that her body was furred up to about her belly button. Her feet had claws and were also furred.
Otherwise her overall humanoid shape had not changed except for the tail. The girl's tail was as long as her whole body and curved downwards at the height of her head.
Argul began to caress the girl's hair again. The girl tensed up before she relaxed again. She still didn’t say anything and Argul didn’t mind.
Argul looked up again and tried to look for any corrupted, but she couldn’t quite pierce through the stone with her mana sense. That was good and bad. Good because it meant she had found a way to improve her sense mana and bad because she desperately needed to know what was going on outside before they could attempt to flee safely.
Something clattered in the kitchen and you could hear Arthur swear. Argul smiled to herself. That sounded a lot like breakfast and she wasn’t the one doing it, so it might even be edible.
She leaned down to the girl to whisper in her ear. “What’s your name? I’m Argul.”
She leaned back again and for the first time the girl opened her eyes. They were of such a radiant orange that Argul was left staring at them. The girl looked Argul in the face and then stared at her ears.
Argul smiled at her and flicked her ears. Then she used her tail to tap the girl's head. “You are not the only one who looks cool.”
The girl looked away and teared up a bit. “I’m Mia.” A tear rolled down her cheek.
Argul sat her upright and then hugged her tight. “It’s okay Mia. You can cry if you want. We are safe.”
And so Mia did. At first it was another tear, then a sniff and then full blown crying. Argul did her best hugging and patting the poor girl, but didn’t know what else she should or even could do for Mia right now.
She could not remember being on the receiving end of such a hug in her last life. Don’t understand her wrong, she had needed them, but the last time she could remember having an emotional break out in front of someone, her mother had taken her into the city to buy clothes.
That had literally been worse than just leaving Argul alone. For one, she was not a fan of shopping and second, she was definitely not a fan of going shopping with eyes red from crying. One of the worst days of her life.
Argul focused back on Mia. “Do you know what happened to your parents?” She had to admit that now might not be the best moment to ask that.
Mia’s tears intensified a bit and she shook her head. “They-”
She sniffed and wiped away some tears. “They disappeared weeks ago.”
Her crying became worse. Argul hugged her tighter and now Mia returned the hug, burying her face in Argul’s chest.
So Mia had likely been teleported alone going by how unused the house had looked yesterday. She had to be incredibly lonely, no matter how much other people tried to console her. Argul supported her hug with her tail.
After a few minutes Mia stopped crying and looked up again with a hint of fear in her eyes. “Are you going to disappear too?”
Argul looked at her and smiled a warm smile. Then she leaned down to Mia and whispered in her ear. “This is a secret, but making me disappear is really difficult, not even killing this body will do.”
Mia’s eyes widened a bit and she nodded. Then she hugged Argul again and Argul nearly didn’t hear her next question. “Am I a monster?”
Argul was a bit taken aback by the question. Why would she think- ahh of course. That wouldn’t do. She stopped embracing Mia, took her by the shoulders and looked her into the eyes. “Do you think you are a monster?”
Mia teared a bit up again. “I don’t know.”
Argul raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I am a monster?”
Mia shook her head and Argul nodded. “Do you know fantasy stories of magic, knights and dragons?”
Mia seemed unsure where Argul was going. “Yes?”
Argul embraced her again. “In stories of magic there are often people that are similar to humans, but oh so different. They have some traits of animals, be it wolf ears or a cat tail, but one thing was important. Despite being all different they were still people.”
She looked down at Mia and petted her head. “That is what you are Mia. A cute little girl with the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen and no matter what others say that won’t change. It doesn’t matter if you are partly a squirrel.”
She pointed at her daughter. “That there is Alyra, my daughter. She isn’t even humanoid anymore, but does that make her a monster?”
Argul shook her head. “It does not. Her deeds are what define if she is a monster or a person. Don’t judge a person by what they look like.”
Alyra snorted. “Hear, hear! Argul the wise is speaking, sharing her book-wisdom with us lowly people!”
Argul glared at her, mock annoyed. “Hey! At least I am trying and not just laying on the floor like a lazy dog.”
Alyra opened her eyes. “Woof woof.”
Mia giggled a bit and Argul smiled. They had managed to cheer the girl a bit up.
Arthur appeared in the doorframe to the kitchen and eyed them all. “If you are done playing around, food is ready”
The gaze he shot Argul was laced with meaning. “This time the food will even be edible and taste good.”
Argul faked an offended pout and stood up. She offered Mia a hand, who took it and hid behind Argul. Argul tried to reassure her a bit. “That’s Arthur. He is part of our small group and won’t do anything to you.”
She looked at Arthur again. “Did you have any success while I was sleeping?”
Argul turned around and led the group into the kitchen. He had put a small table with three chairs next to one wall. The question seemed to cheer him a bit up. “Yeah, I can now see the mana and move it, but I am still not able to create a magic missile.”
Argul smiled. “I can show you mine later, but don’t try to copy it completely. I have improved it a lot already so it is rather complex, even for such a basic skill.”
Mia tugged at Argul’s hand and looked up at her. “Mana? Is magic real?”
Argul nodded. “Yes, let me show you.”
Then she cast a cleanse at all three of them, much to the excitement of Mia. A fire seemed to have been lit in the girl's eyes. “Can you teach me?”
Argul looked at the girl. She couldn’t withstand those puppy eyes. “I can try, but only once we are safe again.”
After that they had a nice breakfast of deep frosted vegetables, french fries and some chicken nuggets. It was a lot better than having charred meat.
Once they had finished eating they decided to collect things they might need for their travels.
Argul looked at Mia and took her hands. “Mia, you need to come with us and pack a few things.”
Her expression became a bit conflicted, but she decided to tell the truth. “The people of this village are either dead or have become monsters that will attack you. I can’t let you stay here, so please come with us.”
Argul had no idea what was going through the girl's head right now, but there was a lot of fear and a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Mia agreed to accompany them, not that Argul had given her much of a choice and changed into some of her clothes. She chose to wear blue jeans and a white shirt over her underwear.
Argul then packed her a bag full of things she would like to take with her. There was a lot and they took most of the time to sort things out to be left behind.
Arthur meanwhile more or less looted the house for essentials like knives, matches and other stuff. He made sure to include some seasoning and especially salt.
Argul felt a bit bad about looting Mia’s house, but it was better than leaving everything behind and it would help them survive.
After having packed Mia’s things she proceeded to look for some clothes of her own. Argul rummaged through a wardrobe in the sleeping room of the parents. She made sure to try everything she chose so it would match her size.
Argul had no idea of woman clothing and man clothing, but was a lot more comfortable with the latter. So in the end she was left with mostly man clothing and a nice black dress that she really liked. She had also taken some adventurous underwear and made sure to hide it.
After that she taught Arthur how to cast magic missile. They left a few marks in one of the walls, but Argul tried to ignore it.
The group made sure that they had everything, even water and food and gathered in front of the door. Argul was carrying Mia’s backpack, her own bag, Aina and the rifle. Alyra was carrying the still bruised Arthur, Mia and all the other stuff.
They were as ready as they could be and needed to move on. While the mana zone would spread more slowly with time it did not pause and they needed to find a method to stop the corruption.
Argul moved the cupboard away and opened the door, ready for anything and everything that might be behind it.