Chương 67: Volume 3: Chapter 2- The Strange Fox Girl

Just as I was about to rest, a small commotion came from the aisle.

"Excuse me… sorry… please let me pass…" A soft, nervous voice entered my ears. I opened my eyes and turned my head. A girl wearing an oversized traveler's cloak was squeezing through the aisle while carrying a large leather bag. The bag bumped lightly against the side of a seat, causing her to stagger.

"Ah!" She hurriedly caught herself, hugged the bag tightly, and looked around in panic. The first thing that caught my attention was not her face, but the pair of fluffy fox ears poking out from under her hood. Golden hair spilled messily from the edge of the cloak, and beneath the hood, she wore a mask and a pair of large glasses that covered most of her face. The lower half of her face was hidden, her eyes were blocked, and only her fox ears and golden hair revealed anything distinct about her.

For a moment, I could not help but be stunned. It was not because she was breathtakingly beautiful. Rather, it was because she had tried so hard to hide herself that she had become even more conspicuous. With that oversized hood, large glasses, mask, heavy bag, and trembling fox ears, she looked less like an ordinary passenger and more like someone desperately trying not to be recognized.

She reminded me of popular idols from anime and movies, the kind who wore masks and sunglasses outside to avoid being surrounded by fans. As I watched her, she seemed to notice my gaze. Her ears twitched, and she quickly adjusted her glasses. Then, after glancing around the carriage, she carefully sat down in the empty seat beside me.

"H-Hello!" Her voice was extremely pleasant, even nicer than expected Judging from her voice alone, she was definitely a very cute girl.

"Hello. I am Robert." I responded calmly, not really expecting much from her. After all, judging from her suspicious appearance, she clearly looked like someone who did not want to reveal her identity. However, contrary to my expectations, the fox girl answered.

"I am Fia. I am going to the Western Ridges. What about you?"

"I am going to the Anglus Territory."

"I see…" She nodded, then hugged the heavy bag closer to herself. I looked at her for a moment before asking, "By the way, are you hiding from someone?"

"Why do you think so?" Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Even though I could not see her eyes clearly, I could hear the surprise in her voice.

"You dressed up so conspicuously that anyone can tell you are hiding something." I suppressed my urge to laugh and continued, "Rather than looking like a normal traveler, you look more like a thief trying very hard not to look like a thief." The fox girl froze, clearly not expecting such an answer.

"Is it that obvious? But the book said that you can hide by dressing up like this!"

"What kind of book teaches people to disguise themselves like suspicious criminals?" I resisted the urge to complain.

"If you want to hide next time, I suggest using makeup or ordinary traveler clothes instead. This outfit only makes you stand out more, especially since you are from the Fox Clan."

"And if possible, you should hide your ears properly too." Although slavery was banned in the Antasia Empire, and the Empire was relatively safe, that did not mean danger did not exist. Special races like fox girls, cat girls, succubi, and other demi-human races were still easily targeted by certain nobles and merchants. On the surface, no one dared to openly violate imperial law. But behind the scenes, there were always people willing to take risks for profit.

The fox girl slowly raised both hands and touched her fluffy ears.

"Ah… When did I?"

"Now wouldn't Mom find out..." The girl's voice became so small that even I couldn't hear it at the end. But seeing her ears droop pitifully, I decided not to tease her any further. However, I vaguely felt that this girl's background wasn't simple because this plot was very familiar to me. In many animes and novels, the protagonist meets a mysterious girl running away from home or hiding from strangers at a certain time then saves her or lives with her for a while, causing the beauty to fall for him.

Later the beauty is taken back by her clan then the protagonist heads out on a level up journey to take back the heroines. Along the way, he meets companion and levels up to the top the world then saves the heroines from her evil clan members who are forcing her to marry someone she doesn't like. In less than a minute, I conceived a million word long novel in my heart. But then I shook my head. This kind of plot is exclusive to the protagonist. As a villain, I probably don't need to worry about anything like that.

Besides, there was no heroine or side character named Fia in the original work. So I really don't need to worry that much. Thinking so, I slowly withdrew my gaze from Fia. Since she was not a known heroine, nor an important side character, and not someone mentioned in the original plot, she was probably just an ordinary fox girl who had accidentally sat beside me. At most, she was a little suspicious, a little naive, and a little too easy to read.

I leaned back against the seat and prepared to close my eyes again to revise the content of the All Attribute Magic Theory which I had returned to the library a few days ago. But just as I was about to rest, Fia suddenly spoke in a small voice.

"Um… Robert?"

"Hm?"

"That, do you know how to go to Fairyland from the Western Edge? I heard the legend about the Radiant King. It is said he obtained the blessings of Fairies from the Fairyland and signed the contract with the Fairy Queen of the Fairyland."

"I have heard that later Kings of the Empire have also signed contracts with Fairies."

"A Question Fia?" I raised my fingers towards the innocent blond girl.

"What?" The girl tilted her head.

"First, why do you think I would know how to enter the Fairyland? I am not from the Royal family."

"Second, aren't you acting a bit too familiar. We have just met for the first time, haven't we?"

"What do you mean familiar? Aren't we already friends?" Hearing the girl's familiar way of chatting, I couldn't help but smile wryly. Since when did I start viewing others so carefully. Was it because of what happened with Volth and Carol. Are those two still affecting me? Yes, there is no need to think so much because a simple chat could make friends. Wasn't I like that in the past life? I could easily chat with strangers and make friends normally. It's just, the change in this life has changed me quite a bit.

"Yes, we are friends." I nodded.

"See, you said we are friends. You can't go back on your word." The fox girl face was covered but I could feel her happiness through her words.

"Well, now that we are friends, I will answer your question."

"About the Fairyland, I don't know how to find it because according to legends, it exists in a higher dimension separate from the material universe and it is invisible to mortals unless one has entered the Ninth Rank and come into contact with high dimensional power." As someone who had read a vast variety of history books and mythical legends as well as Magical books, I knew about Raiment King very well because he reminded me of King Arthur.

There were far too many similarities between the two but it's unknown whether the Author created the Radiant King based on Arthur. Of course, all this wasn't mentioned in the novel. It is something I only got to know through the books of this. For this reason, I had complained a lot about the author. The lazy author wrote the worst possible plot in the history of Trestria.....