A Grim Truth

I sat on the back of an old carriage; the wood was cracked, with the wheels buckling whenever it went up a hill while Yuzu in her fox form sat on my lap snoring happily, and Rena was grumbling after it cost more than ten silver to have this guy accept our travel to save time to return and have more days to train together.

"Aki... Do you think they will sell those things in town?"

"Hmmm? What things?" I answered, a little tired from the past few days as my fingers enjoyed stroking Yuzu's soft, silky fur.

Somehow I feel like all I did for three days was fight, fuck and fondle Yuzu.

After we defeated the bandit, we decided to remain in their little village and fight the surrounding monsters to increase our power as much as we could, fighting against each other to improve our skills.

To my surprise, Rena was the one who grew the most, now able to use her mace to deflect most magic either back at the caster or into the distance to hurt other monsters or enemies.

"Ah, well, you know. Medicine to stop... accidents from happening."

Is she worrying about getting pregnant now?

"Rena, you don't need to worry. I can control that, and if I couldn't, we'd probably be done for anyway, as it's been three days, and we were at it like rabbits."

"Mmm... It's not my fault."

  Objection!

That is a pure lie!

She was the one who snuck into my bed every morning and night, wearing nothing and using her naughty hands and body to encourage me to do it!

*Bump*

Once again, the carriage shook, causing Yuzu to bounce into the air, almost falling off again as she clung to my thighs with her sharp claws.

"Ugh... Aki, do you think the things the driver said were true?"

"Hmmm? About summoned heroes?" 

"Yeah..."

Last night, as we set up camp, the old man told a story about the past, something similar to the situation we are in now.

Thankfully, because we don't wear the uniforms, we switched our outfits to match the locals using Rena's skill with sewing and the excess cloth the bandits and travelling traders would sell for the items gained from killing monsters.

I don't know how much we lost, but the outfits are cute.

To avoid suspicion, we told the old man we were childhood friends and left our village to become stronger and marry.

All this was thanks to Yuzu's good knowledge and knowing many of the local villages, helping us to fool him because, during our time over the past three days, we discovered that the heroes weren't exactly welcomed or respected.

If anything, they were viewed on the same level as slaves.

"Well, if there's anyone you want to save, we can try."

"But I don't see why it has to affect us."

"Mmm..."

Rena was too kind and almost forgot about when we were bullied and driven close to the edge.

However, sometimes, she remembered something, looked at me with teary eyes, and clung to me all night.

I thought his words were a joke at first. How can they be treated badly when they are all so strong? 

[What can I say?]

[The Goddess who rules this kingdom hates the impure and doesn't see other races as her problem, so making the summoned heroes of another world like slaves was never an issue.]

[So the king can take away your classmate's abilities whenever he wants; it's also why many female heroes become his toys before they are killed.]

[If you didn't have me or died before being brought here, you would be like them; Rena is safe due to becoming your pet.]

Somehow, I think you would be just as sneaky, though. Let's not blame it all on the goddess.

[Oi... You're not going to betray me for her, right?]

Idiot... as if I would do something stupid.

*Rattle*

The carriage rocked again, returning me to reality as conversations with that woman always seemed to drag on despite intending for a quick one.

"Aki, I think we should arrive at the town soon. Do you have the money for the gate ready? Let's try to avoid any issues."

"It's not like the manga you read; why would there be any issues?"

"Please?"

"Let's split the money now so it's easier." 

With Rena's worries, I gave her half of our money. Now we had just over ten silver each.

The sound of the driver's whip sounded as the huge horses began to neigh as the speed of the carriage stopped; we looked around the side to see the town.

Curious, I looked around the side with Rena to see the town.

Unlike what Rena expected, it wasn't walled, but the entrance was guarded by knights dressed in old and worn full plate armour, checking everyone who entered and exited the town while several merchants argued.

We sat back down as Yuzu woke up from the noise outside, yawning cutely before she sniffed the air and looked displeased, jumping into the chest portion of my tunic before wrapping around my body, her fluffy tails warming my waist.

"You two, it looks like the city knights are patrolling... So get out your identification or coins ready for entry."

Following the driver's words, Rena climbed out and helped me stand, my legs cracking after sitting down for so long.

"Thanks, Rena; my legs fell asleep."

"Hehe, repay me later."

Why?

As we waited in line, Rena held my arm, pressing her breasts tightly against my elbow and making it a little uncomfortable to move while Yuzu's tails tickled my stomach.

The queue slowly moved forward as merchants tried to argue with the knights to enter, but none succeeded, having to pay a tax before entering, while some were allowed through without paying.

When it was our turn, Rena let go, pulling out four silver pieces for the both of us, while the old driver pulled out six silver, giving it to the knight guard.

"Identification."

"Huh?" Rena muttered, confused.

"Girl, give me your identification. If you don't have it, it'll cost you eight silver each to enter."

Rena looked towards me, worried about losing money, but the old driver came to our rescue.

"Hey, guardsman, these kids ain't got no identification; they've lived in the sticks all their lives and only became travellers recently."

The guard glared at the old driver before looking back at Rena and me, sighing as he took our silver.

"Fine, four silver this time, but make sure you visit the guild for identification next time; otherwise, it'll cost you more."

"Thank you!" 

What do you know, if we hadn't gotten friendly with the driver, maybe we'd be extremely poor now, not to mention although the knights were taking the money, it didn't seem for greed as they put all the coins in the box with the royal symbol on it. 

Likely a special Tax due to the war that will start, maybe?

Entering the town, Rena dragged me through the streets, ignoring the delicious food and stalls selling herbs, monster parts and weapons, rushing to the clothes shop where several beautiful women smiled.

"Aki, let's get some good clothes after selling all the fur and parts. I don't know which part of the bandits were needed, but we took their heads and hands like in novels, right?" 

"Let's keep the leader to prove we killed him. Otherwise, those knights will be annoying."

"Nnn!"

Luckily, we asked the driver where to turn things in for both bounties and monster pelts; the guild handled both but gave you slightly less than if you went to the town garrison to hand the proof of bandits being murdered.

I didn't want to deal with the garrison yet; we had no solid identification.

So we chose to go to the guild first; the building was large but not fancy, with adventurers covered in dirt and blood walking around while others laughed and drank alcohol.

Despite being afternoon, it seemed like a bar, with Rena clinging tighter as we entered, finding a receptionist's desk and approaching.

"Excuse me, we'd like to sell monster furs and turn in proof of bandits being killed."

"Also, we would like to register with the guild if possible?"

"Of course; please show me the items, and I shall weigh them and calculate the total."

Following Rena's lead, I carried over the sack we borrowed from the driver filled with monster furs; the receptionist opened it, pulling out wolf fur, rabbit ears and other parts we didn't know the name of, weighing them while using a strange crystal ball to measure the value.

After weighing everything, Rena watched the numbers in the strange tool with her eyes shining happily.

"Now, please place the head on the table for the bandits."

"Here."

With Rena's help, I placed the bag on the counter, opening it to reveal the heads of several bandits and the necromancer together, hoping he was also an outlaw.

The guild receptionist then scanned the heads with a strange magnifying glass-like tool that seemed to detect their attributes or titles maybe?

"Hmmm? You two killed these men alone? Where is their camp located?"

"Um... We were attacked on the road near the bandit camp; the leader attacked us, so we fought back and killed him."

"Then we killed everyone in the village, as they were already... walking corpses," Rena added, acting scared of the bandits.

"I see... Thank you for killing these dangerous men; here is your proof of completion. The reward for the bandits is fifty silver, meaning you two received twenty silver each for the furs and another twenty-five each for the bandits."

Forty-five silver each, that's amazing!

"Now, if you would register with the guild, please fill out these forms and drop your blood on the shimmering black part, and it will add your class and race while confirming you are not an escaped slave or criminal." 

She smiled gently, handing brown parchments to us with various questions and details to be filled in. 

I looked at Rena, who smiled as we started filling out the forms. 

[Don't worry; I promise they won't see anything that would get you two in trouble.]