13 Cut the first turf

It's not like her body needed any fresh air in the first place; it was merely an excuse to be outside where she could be alone. But the fresh air did help her loosen a bit after that dismal nap. Besides, she doesn't mind breathing the clean unpolluted fantasy air as its pleasantness is almost addictive to her nose. Yet she still couldn't help but dwell.

Her sister, Violet, was only 14 at the time when it happened. She was so scared and traumatized that it caused her to develop a fear of men with her brother as the sole exception. She would always stick close to her brother with every chance she gets whether it was at home or out in public.

'Heh, Sis wouldn't even leave me alone in bed at night. There are often times when I wake up to find her sleeping next to me while hugging my arm as she would sneak into my room at night. She would often have those nightmares which I had to see her endure every night, something I know very much about. This habit has stuck for the first couple of months since the incident. She was the only relative family I had left… Yet like me, she now had to suffer through painful nightmares every night. The fear she had to endure because of that dreadful day. Even now I'd still fear the worst. What if I wasn't there on time? A second too late…'

While brooding, she hadn't noticed that everyone had caught the sight of her now being outside of the duke's carriage. With everyone's attention now on her, the adventurer party decided to approach her and avidly call out to her which caused her to break out of her brooding.

While they were excited to see her again after 4 hours of walking, some of the guards were still both amazed and frightened by her strength that she showed before. Fortunately, it was because she was their salvation on this occasion, and her cute outward appearance that it lessened everyone's inner fear of her a bit.

Everyone was also really amazed that Viola could speak so casually and boldly to a duke like Helder before, but found it understandable if it's someone like her. In a world like this where the strong rule over the weak, one's strength can be considered one's own status.

Even when some of them like Cain and Lyra carried timid expressions, they all had curious and eager looks on their faces while looking at the much shorter purple-haired girl walking alongside them.

Truth be told, everyone here was very curious about the mysterious little girl herself and what was discussed when she was riding with the duke but refrained from asking carelessly to avoid invading her privacy.

Viola acknowledged their presence but wasn't exactly in the mood for a chatty company. Seeing this, Jack was the first to take initiative to speak first.

"Hey, Viola. Just wanted to have a chance to, well... have a chat with you." Jack said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Alright, here's your chance. Shoot." Viola offhandedly said.

"Uh, so how was the ride with the duke?" he quickly asked something off the top of his head.

"Enlightening..." she gave an ambiguous reply.

"O-oh... that's good to know..." he trails off, trying to think about what he should say next.

"So, um... what are your plans once we reach town if you don't mind me asking?"

"Look for a nice place to get myself plastered~" she flamboyantly replied which caught everyone completely off guard from it.

"Wait... you don't mean..."

"Yup~" Viola immediately confirmed with a single lighthearted reply before Jack could even finish.

"Are you... sure you're old enough?"

"Jack!" Layla shouted at him for asking a rude question to a lady he just met, especially someone as beautiful and powerful as Viola.

However, everyone can't help but be curious about her age.

Judging by appearances, she doesn't even look like she's 10 yet. Usually, the physical appearance of elves doesn't stop aging until in their later years, and depending on their magic capacity, some could stop at a younger appearance. However, her appearance looked way too young. She might still be an elf child that possessed precocious talent and immense power, although that seems unlikely from what was seen so far, especially how callous and stoic she is after brutally killing all those bandits earlier.

"I'm pretty sure I'm old enough to do whatever I want," Viola replied equivocally while smiling innocently.

Taking her vague word for it was pretty much the only thing they could do. It's not like anyone could stop her from downing one in a tavern if she wishes to. You're either insane or have a death wish to do so.

"So how about you guys? What are your plans?" Viola decided to inquire with them on the matter.

"We were traveling for a couple of days until we were attacked by those bandits earlier. Again, you really saved us back there. Thanks to you, we can successfully complete this quest without any major problems.

"I mean, we have faced many dangerous Demonic Beasts before, but those bandits caught us off guard and we were outnumbered too," Jack explained.

'Demonic Beasts? If they meant the monsters in this world, I haven't seen anything truly dangerous yet. All the monsters I've met looked like basic mobs so far. I'm still not sure what unknown creatures lie in this world yet, but with my current strength, I should be fine as long as I don't encounter any S-rank monsters or higher.'

Up until now, she has been doing everything she can to guess the rules and power level of this world as it is important for her future survival in a completely strange world. The bandits she slaughtered earlier gave her a rough idea for the inhabitants of this world, but she's still unsure exactly how strong she is in comparison to this world in general so her earlier assessment with S-rank monsters was just a rough guess of her current strength compared to monsters she's familiar with. Although, her comparison was based on the game's standards.

'It's such an annoyance that I can't inspect the status of anyone. Perhaps I'm just missing a skill for that. This wasn't exactly a problem back in the game. But at least I can sense people's mana and lifeforce and get a gist of everyone's strengths that way.

'And speaking of which, I gotta say, being around other people as a vampire, they all smelled delicious. But it's easy enough to ignore. Thank goodness I can't exactly 'starve' and lose control in this body, or else being around with other humans like this would be a problem.'

Although, it was a shame she couldn't feast on the essence of the dead bandits back there without the risk of revealing her vampire identity to these people. Though they seem trustworthy so far, they only just met so she still can't let her guard down.

"Although, while we were traveling through Silvafall Forest today, for some inexplicable reason the Demonic Beast activity seems to have shifted. There were less frequent Demonic Beast attacks when we were traveling through the forest and when we did meet some, their behavior seemed odd. We would have some aggressive Demonic Beasts that would bump into us on the road and we had to fight them off. Some would even straight up ignore us and continue running in a certain direction. It's almost like they were running from something." he added.

'Oh boy... That sounds like my doing.' Viola started to feel disconcerting, a slight chill ran down her spine.

"Yeah, at first we thought it might just be a territorial dispute between high-ranking Demonic Beasts which would result in an increase in aggressive movements from lower-ranking Demonic Beasts due to the rampaging bloodlust, but then we believed it might have been that meteorite that crashed into the forest in the early morning since that's when their behaviors started changing," Layla spoke up.

'Shit! That's definitely me! Crap! Please don't figure it out!' Viola frantically prayed, hoping to not get exposed this early.

"Come to think of it, we hadn't had a single Demonic Beast attack the entire time we've been traveling since the bandit attack. It has been the smoothest trip we've ever had so far." Layla pondered out loud.

In a panic, Viola tried to reassure them before they delve deeper into the matter.

"W-well, I'm sure it was just a random occurrence that scared off the Demonic Beasts, right? Surely meteorite crashes would scare anyone and would tend to fall from time to time... don't they?" she trails off, not sure if they would buy that.

"I'm not sure. The meteorite we saw before was oddly purplish in color so it had to be something special. It crashed pretty far into the forest so we didn't exactly have the option of investigating it. Plus, Silvafall Forest is known to be a very large forest so I doubt a small regular meteorite is enough to scare so many Demonic Beasts unless it was indeed something significant." Layla told her.

'Purplish in color? I didn't notice the flames being purplish when I was falling. But I guess it was because I was panicking and more focused on not ending up like Humpty Dumpty at the time. Recalling it clearly now, I guess the flames were at an abnormal color but weren't too significantly conspicuous and therefore too imperceivable to notice. Did it perhaps look different from their perspective?'

"Did you happen to see the meteorite when you were in the forest, Viola?" Layla asked with a curious look, bringing Viola out of her train of thought.

"N-no! I was probably asleep when it happened." Viola, now feeling perturbed, tried to palliate them of the subject, "Surely the crash must have just caused a chain reaction of Demonic Beasts scaring other beasts during their aggressiveness. I mean, it didn't scare me so I'm sure it was nothing." she gave a stiff smile.

"Well, not to be rude but, would anything scare you?" Jack bantered.

"Oh, you'd be surprised~" she gave a frightful smile in return, which got everyone a bit uneasy.

After a brief moment, one of them was curious about something and couldn't help but ask.

"Can I ask you something?" Layla softly asked.

"Mm-hmm." Viola gave a soft smile in return.

"Why did you decide to help us?"

She ponders for a moment before answering, "Would you help someone you see in trouble?"

"I... I believed I would." Layla steadily replied.

"Then you have my answer. You don't really need a reason to decide to help someone in need, right~?"

While that statement may be true, it was also more of a pretext of her mainly going out of her way, desperately looking for any signs of sentient beings to meet rather than continue to traverse through the massive forest for hours wondering if this entire planet was some kind of forest paradise.

Layla, on the other hand, took in that meaningful response as it's something she wasn't expecting to hear from anyone. Usually, people would expect something in return after helping, yet this person in front of her, who has the power to take anything she wants, desires nothing in return so it was quite unexpecting for her to hear.

"Plus those bandits were assholes so you'd be doing the world a favor." Viola quipped.

"Even when you're not dressed properly, you'd still jump in to save us without hesitation?"

Viola confidently responds by stating, "Sure, why not? Lives are at stake so looking good shouldn't really be the most pressing matter, amirite?"

"I... really appreciated it, but you still can't just let everybody see you like that. You should be more careful in preserving your purity." Layla suggested.

'Preserving my purity? That must be a joke. Nothing about me is pure in the first place.'

"I... don't think it's a big deal so don't worry." Viola tried to write it off in a friendly way.

"What? But such a beautiful maiden like you should be more careful! You need to protect your modesty more!" Layla locked eyes with her and yelled out, "You were way too brazen for a girl of your cute looks! A girl with your looks should be more self-aware. Right, Lyra?"

It took the younger sister a second before she went along with her older sister.

"Y-yes! Please have more self-awareness as a little girl." Lyra, with a quivering voice, timidly spoke up.

"You can't have any dirty eyes of men eying your beautiful body like those disgusting bandits!" Layla sternly said.

"Yeah and look what happened to them..." Viola replied absentmindedly.

"But still! Please be more aware, Viola! You can't let anyone see you bare like that, especially when you have such a young underdeveloped-looking body!" Layla continued with no signs of letting up.

Viola was rather taken aback by how adamant the girls were about it. She was completely stupefied by the assertiveness of the two girls about purity and chastity. Slightly intimidated and pressured, she begrudgingly shrank in compliance, hoping to placate their aggression in a peaceful way rather than trying to argue with girls.

For one, she was still not used to being so short. One thing she definitely missed about her former body was the height she usually enjoys. And being admonished by a girl a head taller than her while only being around 127 cm tall herself was something she was definitely having a tough time coping with.

And despite only one of them being more assertive than the younger one, these two were in perfect harmony with their vicious combo attacks- the younger one surprisingly so as Lyra, despite being the timid one, was also trying to act like a caring older sister to her. All Viola could do against something like this was to helplessly endure it as they continued their relentless assault.

Monotonously, with a slight nod and a listless expression, she could only unenthusiastically reply with—"Uh-huh... Ah... yeah, okay..."—to every one of their scolding, hoping they will stop nagging her about it.

Of course, she's used to it as this was pretty much how she would put up with her nagging exes in the past. But after having never been interacting with anyone for so long, let alone girls, she was absolutely unprepared for this sudden attack. At least now she knows who to be cautious of.

'This is why I stay clear of harems. As much as how boys often fantasize about having their very own harems, reality is often a kick in the nuts. Maybe it was a bad idea getting out of the carriage.' Viola sighs listlessly in her head where she knows is the only place of solace. But since she's already up and out, she might as well live with her bad choices.

'Ugh! Who cares if people see me naked? Who do they think I am, a fashion fanatic? I do what I want! I announced that like the first several hours after transmigrating here!'

Now in a sulky mood, Viola couldn't help but internally expressed her irritation before giving an exasperated sigh as she calmed down.

'Well, I guess they have a point in being modest in my looks. There's a high chance that I would attract many men that would try to do something vile to me, especially with how I currently look right now. Hell, with this appearance, they would even ignore the fact that I look like a small child like the bandits earlier. Even on Earth, shit like this was not uncommon. But it's not like I mind too much when I want to kill them myself anyway. I could use my looks to my advantage this way.

'Besides, if any molesters want to come, you'll just save me the trouble of having to find and exterminate you. It's also free Blood Essence coming to me that is from humans I would have no guilt obtaining from.'

She was determined to kill them all for her sister's suffering. While she may not have been able to do so in the last world, in this world, she'll make sure to kill every single one of them she finds.

'Those damn animals... I'll make sure I burn them all and drink their blood using their own bones as a straw!'

Clenching her small fists, she already can't wait to hunt them down and taste their human blood for the first time. But while she was lost in her sadistic thoughts, Layla was setting her sights on the guys about the subject of them possibly soiling Viola with their lecherous gazes while she was naked.

"By the way... You guys weren't staring at her when she wasn't dressed, were you?" Layla suddenly gave the guys an accusatory stare.

"N-No, I was admiring... uh her healing magic for healing my wound! That's it!" Jack, panicked by her sudden accusation, tried to sound convincing in hopes of Layla sparing him.

Cain, knowing his guilt, kept quiet as he couldn't think of any excuses and was hoping she wouldn't scold him for it. It's not like he had any bad intention, but more like he was caught completely by surprise and couldn't help it.

"Don't look at me. I mainly prefer older-looking women. I promise!" Brady said firmly despite hiding his flushed face by turning his back against everyone.

As the guys failed at mollifying her anger, only grew more uneasy as they continued to receive the death glare from Layla as she berates them. She had a murderous aura and only calm down before uttering, "Perverts."

'It's not like you weren't staring as well, y'know?' Viola resisted the urge of saying that out loud as she wasn't in the mood of stepping on any more landmines. Instead, she decides to have a pleasantry with Jack to help calm the nerves.

"Well, I noticed you didn't really have much of a reaction when you saw me. That's no fun..." Viola said to him in a pretend dejected manner.

"W-well that's because you look like a child and... I only have eyes for busty women." Jack said, trying hard to sound convincing.

"Hey, you and me both~"

"Yeah- huh?" Jack immediately paused to try to understand what Viola meant by her completely unexpected reply.

"Pfft!" she almost broke out in laughter but stifled it to make sure not to risk revealing her fangs for anyone to notice.

Jack flusteredly ignores her giggles and continues.

"...In a way, you reminded me of my daughter who looks about your age. So of course I wouldn't take an interest in an immature-looking body... not that I have anything against that!" he promptly reassures.

"Well, at least you have good eyes..." she dismissively said while looking dejected.

Jack was a little surprised and bemused at her ambiguous statement and sudden change in her mood while hoping that he didn't just unintentionally offend her by calling her a child. Meanwhile, Viola was left to her brooding with an expression—a mixture of deadpan and vexation kind of expression.

'Tch. Even this dumb-looking idiot is married and gets to keep a relationship where I couldn't in my 30 years!?'

While everyone misunderstood Viola's sulky expression for being called a child by Jack, Viola herself was actually ticked off for an entirely different reason.

'Yup, that's right. I died a virgin. Surprised? Of all the girls that I've dated, I didn't get the chance to sleep with any of them before getting my ass dumped. Not even a single successful one-night stand under my belt! They either didn't like my gamer and shut-in life and pulled the ol' "Not really working out" horseshit and booked it, or they were crazy and almost killed me because I was absolute shit at picking them!' she gave a frustrated sigh.

'Anyhow, it was so sad that I would often get teased by my best friend about it all the time. What sucked the most was that I never got the chance to use my 'Sword of Bad Choices' before losing it for good now. If he were to find out about this, I might as well die again. So yeah, to all the nonvirgins out there, go die in a truck explosion!'

As aggrieved as she is currently feeling, Viola tried to be cheerful and inquired Jack about his wife while on the subject. But the answer she received caught her by surprise.

"Oh, um... she passed away from sickness years ago," Jack said in a more darkened mood.

Everyone listening in was also shocked at what they heard as it was something they, too, have yet to know about.

"I'm... sorry to hear that." Viola sincerely said.

"Well, there was nothing I could do from being too poor, you know? By the way, my daughter's name is Ava and she looks to be around your age. I'm sure both of you will make great friends." Jack's bright goofy smile returns as he said that.

"Uh, I'm actually much older than I look..." Viola muttered under her breath.

'Sigh not another little girl I have to become friends with.' she grumbled internally.

"So um, how are your parents... if you don't mind?" Jack asked curiously.

Everyone around them was hard focusing on eavesdropping on their conversation when it's about Viola, who they desperately wish to know more about.

"They've long passed," Viola answered in a casual tone, much to everyone's surprise.

"O-oh... I'm... also sorry to hear that."

'It must've been hard for her.' Jack couldn't help but feel bad for the little girl in front of him. It's the fact that he sees her putting up a strong front when she looks as young—if not younger than his daughter.

"You're a good person. I'm sure your parents would be proud for helping us out today." he reassures her while giving an attempted cheery smile before continuing, "Although, I'm sure they would be quite worried about you doing so while not *ahem* properly dressed like before..."

"I know they would," Viola replied his initial statement before saying, "And don't worry too much about that. My dad especially wouldn't mind one bit as he would've done the same if he was here instead."

"Y-your dad would?" Jack almost choked on his words upon hearing the mention of her father, especially in that context.

'"I'm a good person," he said...' Viola contemplates those words in her head before deciding not to dwell too much on that subject right now.

"*Ahem* So about this town we're heading to, does it have a good place to drink and board and... drink?" she suddenly changed the subject like she didn't want to get into any further details on the last subject.

"I-I believe so. There are quite a few places in town that are popular among adventurers and travelers." Jack gave a proper answer while paying no mind to her strange phrasing.

"Well~ when we get there, why don't you give me a little tour, mainly those places you mentioned? I could really use a nice cup of fermented nectar of the gods right now~"

"D'oh, uh…I don't- um, s-sure..." Jack stammered, completely flustered by the little girl's advances as the image he just had with Viola and his daughter as innocent friends between two little girls just became warped.

"Hehe! Me and Jack know a great place in Silvafall where you can get a good drink!" Brady suddenly jumped into the conversation.

"No, Brady, that place is-"

"Oh? Tell me more~" Viola suddenly had an excited look on her face which caught their attention.

While Viola took interest in the subject, Jack quickly intervened.

"I-I'll tell you when we get there. I hope you don't mind Brady too much. He's a little rough and can be vulgar sometimes, but you'll get used to him."

Paying no mind to Jack, the middle-aged man proceeds with a move that he believes is a good time to make.

"So, since ya interested in getting a drink, you wanna go for a drink with me?" Brady daringly asked the girl that has been on his mind since he met her. "I can show you a fun time in town."

"Brady! Can't you see that she's-" Jack was about to say, but was abruptly cut off by Viola, much to his dismay.

"Sounds good! We haven't got the chance to know each other better so we can do so over a few drinks!" Viola gleefully said with an oddly innocent-looking smile before adding a staggering condition, "But only if you can hook me up with some cute girls. You look like a guy that knows some stuff~"

"Of course! I-" Brady was just about to avidly respond before both he and Jack were dumbstruck when they processed what Viola just said. With a look of bewilderment and denial, he stammeringly uttered, "Wait... what?"

"Make sure you introduce me to a cute one, m'kay~?" she cheerfully told him.

At that, Brady was completely stuck, no longer able to articulate any words nor knowing what the heck he should say next from such a statement coming from someone that does not match their physical disposition.

'We just met and already he's trying to hit on me? How foolhardy of him to ask me of all people on a date; and even when he's uncertain of my age. Kinda reminds me of myself. Sorry pal, but I still don't swing that way. However, there are exceptions: maybe like a cute trap or a luscious futanari, but you, sir, are neither of those. Although I wasn't joking about him hooking me up with some cute girls he may know. I may just hold him to that drink~' Viola hid a roguish smile.

Of course, as someone who watches a bit too much hentai of various tags for their own good and therefore is a little "curious", at this point, no one can truly comprehend her sexual preference.

Still trying to keep up with Viola at the same time trying to get used to her weird deviant and flamboyant antics, Brady decides to change the subject to something hopefully a little easier to keep up with and with less shock value. Although, Viola was secretly enjoying the priceless reactions she was getting from everyone.

"So, ya some kind of elf by chance? Just wondering, since we do get many demi-humans around these parts of Athalia, but elves are still pretty rare." Brady was genuinely curious for reasons unknown.

"I suppose... But let's just say that I grew up in an environment where I haven't really accustomed myself to my race custom—and this is the result." she pointed at herself with her thumb with a smug look, perhaps complacent with the excuse she thought up.

Everyone who heard that only gave her a perplexing stare as this subject also led to another surprise factor for everyone. No one even wanted to know more about the "environment" she apparently grew up in and just continued to awkwardly walk along with befuddled expressions as Viola chortles at the reaction she got from everyone with her "answer." The only problem was that some of them misunderstood what she said.

'I-I see... I have heard that half-elves don't have the most pleasant livelihood...but it would seem that she's used to it by now.'

However, Viola paid no attention to the somber mood and instead was in a more enlivened mood for a different reason.

'Demi-humans huh? If it's what I'm thinking of... does this mean there'll be beautiful elves, cute catgirls, and foxgirls of the likes that I could meet? If so, I can't wait to meet some and fluff their ears and give them all the headpats to my heart's content~!'

Viola was now in a buoyant mood as opposed to before; she is now fantasizing about the wonders of meeting real kemonomimi girls that could only be found in fantasy and what she'll do with them.

'Meeting cute fantasy elves is a dream come true as a gamer, but I am also a firm supporter of the Neko and a pious believer in the Fluff! Meeting some elves, catgirls, and kitsunes is now at the very top of my bucket list—a list I now have confidence in completing in this life! If it's really possible that I could meet some in this world and soon, I'll be living the dream of every gamer and otakus! For once in my life, I'm gonna have so much fun once I meet my dream fantasy girls~!'

"...Are you thinking of something weird, Vio?" Layla said while giving an inquisitive look.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Viola blissfully said, feigning ignorance.

'Yikes, the female instinct is sharp...'