The Morning of the Third Day

My third day in Yusagiverse begins with excitement and loud apologies from my little Raccoon Demi-Human ward.

Yes, a ward. Raphtalia is still too young and unprepared for something else, and I'm not a creep.

"I'm sorry!" Raphtalia, huddling in the corner of the tent, repeats her apologies loudly and bows her head deeply until her forehead touches the floor, her voice sounded extremely fearful.

I ignore my desire to sigh in exasperation. It's still early to sigh.

"Raphtalia?" I call out the girl carefully, keeping my tone as calm as possible.

The girl raises her head until I see her red face. Her upturned dark pink irises are shaking in anxiety and fear, and tears are pooling in the corner of her eyes. It's clear that she's actually afraid to meet my gaze, but she has done so regardless. She's extremely stiff as if she's fearing for something disastrous to happen.

For a couple of minutes, we stay like that; me giving her a deadpan, and her looking at me anxiously. Then, I touch the wet part of my clothes and the sleeping bag. I raise my hand and sniff my fingers. (Smells like piss,) I think in bemusement. My action breaks our staring contest, and Raphtalia immediately lowers her head.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do it! Don't punish me, please!" Raphtalia begs desperately with her forehead on the floor.

I can't hold the urge to sigh this time and release a fed-up sigh, but I am not really angry at her. Annoyed? Too strong word. Exasperated? Yes, that's the proper word.

"Okay! Calm down, Raphtalia. I'm not angry! I promise!" I try to calm her down.

It seems like my words have reached her: she raises her face and glances at me furtively. There is still doubt in her eyes, and she's searching for something as she looks at me.

"Really? You're not mad at me?" She asks timidly.

I nod and answer, "Honest! I'm not mad at you. This is not a big deal."

To make my point across, I use the Cleaning Spell on me and my sleeping bag, drying her piss and erasing the stench of urine.

"See? No big deal!" I say.

Raphtalia nods timidly and straightens her posture slowly. I then inspect her appearance because of the sense of incongruity I've been feeling since my gaze has laid on her a while ago, much to her discomfort.

A moment later, I realize the source of that incongruous feeling. Raphtalia's Pajama is too tight for her. Her change isn't very noticeable unless you know where to look at. It seems like she has grown one-or-two years in the course of a few hours.

At the very least, she has yet to develop her sexual traits as a female. However, I have a feeling that I need to prepare for the inevitable soon.

I can't help but wonder if Raphtalia knows what she has to expect as a growing girl. I don't think that I'm ready to give her sex-ed and the stuff developing girl needs to be ready for.

(Let's ask her after breakfast. I hope that she's already aware of what to expect...) I make up my mind.

"Alright," I say and make her focus on me, "You need a shower. I don't think that you feel comfortable after wetting me and the sleeping bag last night."

Raphtalia blushes deep red, ashamed, and apparently mortified by my blunt teasing. She averts her eyes, unable to meet mine.

I smile amusedly at her adorable reaction from my teasing. It lasts only a few moments. Then, I take out her cleaning items — scrubber, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a towel I've created yesterday — from my Inventory and hand it over.

She silently accepts the offered items, still unable to meet my eyes. Then, she scampers off, leaving me alone in the tent. As she walks off, my attention is fixed on her twitching tail. I realize that her tail expressing her hidden emotions and make a reminder to check her tail if she's not being honest in the future.

After she has gone, I shake my head in exasperation and fondness. Then, I walk out of the tent and savor the clean morning air. Thanks to mastering Tent Bow and Sleeping Bag Bow last night, I don't feel discomfort from the morning temperature and the humidity of the forest.

For your information, Bow's Transformations with Common Rarity have a rapid speed in generating proficiency points. After the proficiency maxed out, I can drain the points to master and upgrade the Bow's Transformations.

After appreciating the fresh morning air, I steal a cursory glance in Raphtalia's direction. I find her cleaning herself in the stream, apparently unashamed by her naked state.

Well, she's a kid. It's understandable that she has yet to feel self-conscious in front of the opposite gender.

After that, I begin packing our camping gear. After our gears were safely stored inside my Inventory, I begin preparing our breakfast. The menu is sandwich with grilled fish and grilled Pill Rabbit's meats as the filling. Also, there are cabbages and pickles. I didn't forget to prepare two glasses of milk. I've abused my Omnipotence to create unavailable ingredients and milk.

"Mister Ran, I've finished!" Raphtalia reports after approaching me. She's holding a small pail filled with hygienic products with her right hand. Her other hand is holding her washed Pajama. Her towel is hanging on her left shoulder. She's already in her combat attire with her sheathed knife dangling at the side of her waist.

I nod and offer my open palm to her. She blinks her eyes in confusion before realizing my intent. She hands over her items one by one, started with her hygienic products, her Pajama, and finally her towel. I store them inside my Inventory while silently making a reminder to increase her Pajama's size later.

"Take a seat. We'll eat breakfast together." I use my eyes to point at the empty chair across the table. Our breakfast is on top of the table. I've abused my Omnipotence to produce the chairs, table, and utensils.

I can sense Raphtalia's curious gaze on me, probably wondering where I've gotten everything. I decide to clear up her confusion, saying, "I have the power to create anything I desire."

"Is it Mister Ran's power as one of the Cardinal Heroes?"

"No. I have this power before I became a hero."

Raphtalia stares at me owlishly, surprised.

"Don't think too deeply about it," I say, snapping her out of her dazed state, "Go! Take your seat! We'll start breakfast."

"I understand..." Raphtalia nods and follows my instruction obediently.

After that, we have our humble yet tasty breakfast. As expected, Raphtalia is eating with gusto, leaking appreciative sounds like "Ummh~ Tasty~" and "Delicious~"

While Raphtalia is busy stuffing herself with the sandwiches, I am eating slowly. Inwardly, I'm pondering our schedule today.

It's when I remember that Naofumi will be falsely charged. I frown slightly when I think about that.

"Mister Ran, what's up?" Raphtalia pauses her munching and looks at me curiously.

"Say, Raphtalia," I start, "Would you mind staying at Erhard's place until noon?"

Raphtalia becomes silent briefly before asking, "W-why?"

I look at her and see her anxiety. Does she fear that I'll abandon her? Maybe, she's still anxious and fretful because of the wetting incident? I guess she misunderstood my intention, and I'm going to clear up her misunderstanding.

"Don't worry! I won't abandon you nor will I throw you away. You'll stick with me for a long time, Raphtalia."

When I find her anxiety dissipate, I know that my guess has been correct. I give her a smile before continuing, "I have some businesses in the castle, and because of the discrimination against demi-humans in this country, I don't think everyone in the castle will appreciate your presence. Hence, you'll stay at Erhard's place until I finish my business."

"I see..." Raphtalia nods in acceptance before munching her unfinished sandwich.

We continue our breakfast in silence. After breakfast, I store our belongings inside my Inventory. Then, we leave for Castle Town. We haven't forgotten to disguise ourselves with illusion. Well, Raphtalia would've forgotten if I didn't remind her, but it's understandable since she's a kid.

On the way, I deal with monsters that bleed while Raphtalia deals with monsters that can't bleed. The range of Raphtalia's opponents are Balloons, Mushrooms, and Eggugs. I never forget to sacrifice the monster's remnants to my Legendary Bow in Twin Swords Mode of Enki Transformation. I can grind some Transformations by allowing it to absorb the items that unlocked the Transformation.

We have been walking and slaying monsters without any unrelated chat. At most, we warn each other about the monster's ambush.

As we approach the gate, I remember something and ask Raphtalia a question. "Raphtalia, do you understand what you need as you grow up? Like your preparation when your menstruation cycle starts and other pubescent stuff?"

Raphtalia suddenly stops, forcing me to stop too. Then, she turns in my direction. She has a 'dear in highlight' expression as if she never expected that question.

"So?" I urge her to answer, jolting her out of her shocked state.

Raphtalia throws her face away from my view, but I catch her reddening cheeks. Her raccoon's ears twitch, and her tail stiffens. She's mortified.

I smile wryly and awkwardly scratch my left cheek with my free hand. I never had this kind of experience with children, so sue me!

"I know..." I hear Raphtalia's shy answer.

I unconsciously release a loud sigh, feeling relieved. I am glad that I don't need to give her the Talk. If I don't have the intention to groom her into my lover after she matured, I wouldn't hesitate to give her the Talk.

After that, we continue our walk in awkward silence.