V2Ch100 New Secrets

Sarge and I spent some more time in the interrogation room. The door opened without warning and Babur along with Ness were standing there. We were caught in the middle of a dumb game. Sarge had bet that I couldn't win the knife game. He was happy to try himself too. When they opened the door, he had stabbed the middle of my hand.

As serious as Sarge could get, he had a goofball attitude at times.

Ness was in shock at what she just saw. Babur looked a little annoyed.

"Sarge! What? Why did you stab him?"

I looked at my hand.

"Oh. You missed! Gimme that silver."

He remembered what he was doing.

"I got distracted! That don't count!"

"I see blood. It counts."

I felt a full set of claws in my right shoulder. The pressure was getting stronger. Her claws had broken the skin.

"You left me at the inn and you are playing a game without me?"

"Without you?"

Ness repeated.

"Why does everything about this situation seem wrong while you three seem like this is just another day? Your hand got stabbed. SARGE! You are the one who did it. And now Babur is..."

*Crack*

"Can you not? You broke my shoulder."

"Gods! Babur! Stop hurting him! Eh... How come you aren't in pain?!"

I looked at ness with a calm face.

"You wanna try the knife game too? Starting pool is one silver."

"NO!"

"Okay okay. Calm down."

I pushed my seat back to make room.

"Here, Babur."

I spun her around and sat her down on my lap. I put the knife in her hand.

"Wanna do a practice round? You just have to try to stab the table between my fingers. If you draw blood, you lose. Try to get as close to my hand as possible."

"Sure."

Her attitude seemed to change. She lifted the knife and began her "practice" round.

*stab stab stab*

"Ow ow ow.... That's now how... Oh."

She was still mad.

"BABUR!"

Ness yelled. Sarge started laughing.

"SARGE!"

"It's okay, Ness. Top secret, by the way. I'm immortal."

I lifted my hand up. The knife was still in it but, the other wounds healed up within Ness's view. She seemed to get a better understanding of the situation.

"He's right. As of this moment, his condition is not a public matter. Release of information regarding his condition to anyone outside of this room is subject to the death penalty."

Sarge stared down Ness with intensity. She quickly saluted with wide eyes.

"SIR!"

"Ears..."

Babur mumbled. She got up from my lap and reached out toward Sarge's bunny ears. Her but was right in front of me. I couldn't help myself. I wrapped my arms around her thighs and hugged her with my right cheek against her left butt cheek.

"Uhg."

She sounded slightly annoyed. Her reach continued until she made contact with Sarge's ears.

"EY! What ya doin?!"

He swatted her hand away.

"So fluffy! I want to feel them!"

"Git aweh!"

It seems that Sarge hides an accent.

"Ow would ye like et ef somun starteh grabbin ye ers?"

"I like it when Lake touches my ears."

He seemed to compose himself a bit.

"Well, I'm not him nor you. You shouldn't do that to someone without permission."

"So... More serious question. What happens with Babur and me, now? We were trying to get to Tianret. I guess I'll need to get a permit to travel through the middle territories. Can you help with that?"

"Hmmm. As a human..."

"Human?"

Ness gasped.

"Humans are extinct. What human?"

I revealed my human form to her.

"More top secret stuff. Shhhh."

Sarge looked at her.

"Sir! Understood. Penalty of death. Sir!"

"I'm not sure that the permit office will allow a human to get one. They might call for the local guard and have them escort you to some sort of preservation. Scientists and researchers will come from all over Cumios and probably from Grampus as well. If any other humans are still around within these research and preservation groups, you may be stuffed in a cage in the hopes of mating and working on preserving your species."

"It would be fine for a beast-man, though. right?"

"No. It won't be a problem for Babur."

"Then I'll be fine. Can we go get them now?"

Sarge was confused at first. I assured him that it would be fine. He would see that I was telling the truth once I got there.

We entered a large office building on the top floor of the city. I was immediately reminded of the DMV from Earth. We probably waited for an hour before Babur was called up. It seemed like a few questions was all it took for her to finish. She came back empty-handed.

"He said that, since you are paying, he will give you both once you pay."

I nodded my head. I was next. I walked up to the window.

"Name."

"Lake Andrus"

"Reason for applying for a permit?"

"I need to get to Tianret. I'm searching for a loved one and I believe she..."

"Yeah, yeah. Race."

"Beast-man"

"Specifics."

The dwarf looked annoyed.

"Uh, fox type?"

"Tribe?"

"I was an orphan in Fricity. I don't know my tribe."

"Unknown. Okay. Ears?"

"What?"

"Show me your ears."

I lowered my hood and revealed the ears that come with Mother's power.

"Tail?"

I turned around and moved my cloak out of the way.

"Kay..."

He jotted down a few more things.

"You are covering the cost of the beast-woman before you, right? That's 1 silver for both."

"Right."

I dug in my pockets and handed over a silver coin. He gave me both of our permits. I went back to the gang and handed Babur her permit.

"That was easy."

After we left and were walking in a quieter area, Sarge spoke up.

"How did you do that?"

"A power that I don't like to use unless I feel like I have to."

I lifted my hood just enough to show him the lack of ears that were present only a few minutes earlier.

"Huh. Well, that's the easy part down. Next, you have to set up your queue in line for the gate. That could take a few days before it's your turn."

"Serious? I thought the permit was the hard part. What about the assassins? If one of them sees me wandering, especially with any of you..."

"I think the best thing we can do is keep you above ground and hidden. After this, Babur can take your permit and get you both into the queue. I'll take you to your temporary housing. It would be best if you don't leave after you get there."

"Uhg. Fine..."