A lot of Explaining to do

[Ceobe POV]

It's finally over...

The beast village was finally saved, the chaos has vanished and peace returns in the great forest.

Thanks to Rudeus and his comrades, they apprehended the bandit boss and his henchmen. The adult beast people begin to repair the damages that the fire had caused and the rest, assisted in returning the beast children to their family.

As for me...

"[Do you care explain yourself, young lady?]"

Yeah... Apparently, my mother was watching me the whole time and she wanted me to explain why I didn't come back to her after I saved mister Geese.

Ah, speaking of mister Geese, he was locked up again together with the bandit boss. He even begged me to free him when he saw me, so I gave it a try.

However, the best I can do for him was reducing the duration of his captivity from a whole year to just three months, according to what the chief said.

Anyway, I am currently at the chief's house, together with my mother, sir Gyes, the chief, and Rudeus with his comrades. They also wanted to know what happened during the attack in the village.

So, in order to get this over with, I decided to talk.

"[I just wanted to save the village by defeating all of the bandits, mama]"

"""[What?!]"""

When I told them my answer, not only chief and sir Gyes were surprised, but also Rudeus as well.

"[So, you're the one who responsible for all of the dead bandits scattered throughout the village?]" he worriedly asked. So, I nodded to this question and I replied...

"[Yes, I use knives and an axe to kill them]"

"[I-is that so...]"

Rudeus was so dumbfounded by my answer that his red-haired comrade asked him what happened.

After my interrogation was done, the chief congratulated me for my brave effort in defending the village from the bandit invasion.

Curiously, I asked about the reason for the invasion, which Rudeus volunteer to answer my question.

He first told that him and his comrades were originally stuck at the demon continent because the spearman named Ruijerd, had an expensive boat fee at the other port. They tried searching for a way to cross the sea together but they had no luck.

However, the bandit boss appeared one day and made a deal with Rudeus. He told them will assist the spearman in crossing the sea in exchange for a favor, which was freeing the beast children from the dungeon.

Unfortunately, Rudeus found out that the favor was a ploy all along and he was deceived. It turns out that the bandit boss used him as distraction for the beast people, while his henchmen used that opportunity to kidnap more beast children in the village.

I get it now, he was tricked by the bandit boss into freeing me and the other beast girls in that prison cell, even it endangers his own safety. However, if he didn't do it, I would have been stayed dead for who knows how long.

Perhaps I should thank him later for taking that risk.

---------------------------------------

Once the discussion about the incident came to a close, the chief had prepared a huge feast for me and the others to eat and we all dig in together.

"[There you are! We have been looking for you!]"

All a sudden, a cat beast girl enters the chief's house along with a dog beast girl. I look at them and recognized their appearance.

'[Ah, it's those two]'

They were the ones that Rudeus saved in the prison cell other than me. If I remember from the memories I acquired previously, their names should be Minitona and Tersena.

The two of them walk towards my direction, then they paused in front me and they stared at me in the eye. I also look at them but their gazes were making me anxious.

"[Um.... Hello there, you two. How have you been?]" I awkwardly said.

However, they kept staring at me for a several minutes and suddenly, tears were starting to build up from their eyes.

""[BWAAAAAH~]"'

Both of them then tackled me and cried loudly. I was surprised by their sudden action that it made a scene in the chief's house.

"[Is there something wrong, you two?] I worriedly asked them.

They tried to wipe their tears, but it won't stop pouring. Then they spoke...

"[Ceobe, thank goodness, you're alive]"

"[We thought you were dead]"

"""[What?!]"""

Once Minitona and Tersena said that, my mother, sir Gyes and the chief were all utterly shocked by the sudden revelation. Rudeus, on the other hand, is getting nervous.

'Oh no, this is bad....'

-----------------------------------------------------

All went silent for a second and everyone's eyes were lock on to the two beast girls right beside me.

"[Minitona, explain us what did you just said]" sir Gyes asked, confused on the context of his daughter's statement.

the cat girl nodded and told everyone on how I, or rather the original Ceobe, got beaten up and stabbed by a bandit back when they were in the prison cell.

I could vividly remember that memory. Although it wasn't me who experienced these suffering, I still felt it within me.

The pain that I felt in my chest when I fell asleep in my bed, was the same as Ceobe's pain when she got stabbed by that bandit.

"[Ceobe, is this true?]"

I was then called by my mother and asked validity to Minitona's story.

What should I do? Should I tell her the truth?

If I do that, will they still trust me?

Think Ceobe think... How do we solve this predicament.

"[Miss Adoldia, can I answer that question?]"

All a sudden, I heard Rudeus's voice and he volunteered to answer the question that was meant for me. I look at him and he nodded at me as if he was telling to leave everything to him.

"[Yes, sir Rudeus. Go ahead]" mother prompted him to begin.

And so, he started to narrate his story about this matter.

"[It is true that Ceobe got beaten up and stabbed by a bandit. I watched it happened]" he said as he grimaces in his flashback.

"[Then how come she is still here and alive?]" mother worriedly asked him.

Before he answered her question, he looked at me, nodding one more time. I nod back at him and he return his attention to mother.

"[I brought her back to life using healing magic]"

Mother widens her eyes in awe and then she looks at me.

"[Is that true, Ceobe. Did Rudeus actually do that?]" she excitedly asked.

I look at Rudeus one last time and he happily nodded as if telling me that his job is done. I gently smiled at him and then look back at mother.

"[Yes, he saved my life]" I answered cheerfully.

As I said that, mother sudden burst into tears and went towards to Rudeus in order to thank him profusely. Rudeus was troubled when a grown beast woman is thanking him for his good deed.

Seeing that, I couldn't help myself to giggle at the scene and then everyone joined the laughter right after.

'Thank you, Rudeus. I really mean it'