The morning breeze blew through the torn tent.
Shivering from the chill that penetrated the blanket, I woke up.
“Ugh—”
Another day had begun.
Rubbing my eyes, I looked around, but saw no sign of the girl anywhere in the tent.
Maybe she’s scared sleeping in place crawling with bugs and fled when I’m not looking.
As I imagined that scenario, a pleasant smile filled my face.
It was a joy I hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Ehehe~”
I stretched and chuckled, producing a weird noise, but I didn’t care too much since I was in a good mood.
This kind of life isn’t for those with ordinary mental strength.
Just as I was feeling proud of my superior mental strength compared to the girl…
Swoosh—
Someone opened the entrance of the tent and came in.
“Oh, you’re up?”
It was the familiar voice of the girl.
Startled, I straightened up in an instant.
“Wh-where did you go–?”
“I just went to wash my face with the stream water. The water around here’s really cold, it makes my drowsiness disappear right away, was it always like that?”
“Uhhh….Ahaha…”
Turns out, this kidnapper was washing her face with cold stream water early in the morning.
She was tougher than I imagined.
With her around, my future seems to be bleak.
“Why were you laughing?”
The girl, wiping her face with the back of her hand, approached me.
Her blatant question made me choke.
She probably knew why I was laughing and was just teasing me.
Looking for an excuse, I grabbed the tail sticking to my back.
“I–I was sleeping, and this thing was tickling me…”
“Ah, the tail.”
She reached out her hand towards my tail.
As if triggered by a defense mechanism, the tail suddenly darted behind me on its own.
“Ah.”
Why did it suddenly move on its own?
I looked up at the girl in silence, tense.
“Sorry, was I too forward?”
She apologized and stepped back.
Of course, I knew it wasn’t a genuine apology.
Sadness, anger, surprise.
She must be curious about the psychological reactions of her test subject in various situations.
I had already figured it out and decided not to react to her provocations.
“I want to go now…”
Turning away from the girl, I got up from my spot.
To survive, I had to start my daily routine.
“Where are you planning to go?”
“…To hunt horned rabbits.”
“Ho–Horned rabbits…?”
The girl looked puzzled.
A person who nearly died from horned rabbits going to hunt them must seem absurd.
It was as if I was planning to be a nuisance to the guild again.
I knew it was a shameful act, but I had decided to be shameless to survive.
“If I don’t catch horned rabbits, I’ll die anyway…”
“Hmm. Can I come along?”
“…Together?”
Was she worried that the body she meticulously altered might get killed?
Yet, she probably wanted to send me to the hunting ground to gather data on the changed body.
Even though I could see through her intentions, I felt pathetic for being unable to refuse.
I nodded to the girl and picked up a pair of dull scissors.
“Then I’ll just cut my hair and we’ll go together.”
“You–your hair?”
“Yes. I need to look like a boy.”
Just as I was about to cut a handful of hair, the girl stuck her fingers between the blades of the scissors.
It was a dangerous moment for me, since I almost cut her finer.
‘She must be really crazy.’ Is what I thought.
I looked up at the girl with a shocked expression and then realized.
With my weak strength, I couldn’t even scratch her skin.
It was a needless worry.
“I need to cut my hai—”
“Wait a minute. Why are you dressing as a boy?”
“To avoid bad things happening to me.”
“Bad things? Ha–Has someone done something bad to you before?”
The girl’s face turned pale.
She must be shocked at the thought that the body she painstakingly modified could be toyed with by someone else.
“Not yet. I always walk around looking dirty, so….”
“Ah… so that’s why…”
The girl sighed deeply and grabbed my scissors.
As if to show the difference in strength, she slowly took the scissors out of my hand.
“My–my scissors!”
I can’t go hunting without cutting my hair!
In a desperate attempt to grab the scissors, I stretched my hand out, but she raised them beyond my reach.
“Let’s not cut your hair. I’ll be there to watch over you, okay?”
Why shouldn’t I cut my hair?
I tried to interpret the hidden meaning in her words.
– Don’t touch a single hair on the body I created.
That must be it.
“Fi–fine. I’ll just get a bit dirty and go.”
“Can’t you go without getting dirty? I’ll make sure to protect you.”
How far does she intend to control me?
It was frightening, but I had no choice but to follow her commands for now.
“Okay…”
✧✧✧✧✧
The beginner’s hunting ground was a thirty-minute walk away.
I wanted to walk, but due to the girl’s forceful attitude, I had no choice but to travel by car.
“It’s really fast by car, right?”
“Yes, it’s much faster.”
It took less than ten minutes by car.