Rupegia Ch. 06: Expedition

She crosses her arms and grumbles, "It's not like [Explosion]; it's something every expert magician would have to learn one day."

That's interesting. Maybe one day I'll control all elements at will and become a demi-god? Well, anyway, it's time to change the topic. I'm curious about Roxanne's background.

"Say, Miss Roxanne, can you tell me about your race or your continent?" I gently ask, no hint of teasing in my tone anymore.

The pout fades away instantly and she brightens up. "Gladly! But first, I want to talk about the misconceptions a lot of people have about my race."

I blink blankly in surprise. I still have no idea about race dynamics in this world. "Oh? What are they about?"

She adjusts her glasses and assumes a teaching tone as she starts to recite, "Well, the first thing is that since we have 'succubus' as the name of our race, people think we're promiscuous, but that's not true! We were created based on the myth of the succubus, but we aren't actual succubi. It's just we just have a higher libido than other races, but we still choose our partners very carefully. Also, we're more carefree and open-minded than the other races, but that doesn't mean we are dumb and unreliable."

Just by looking at her, I can certainly see how the last one might've come into being. Curiously, the demon race seems to be the most common adventurer race on Rabanara aside from humans.

"The second misconception is that our horns and tails are sexual organs. Some have feelings when you touch those parts, but it varies from person to person and from type to type."

I can see that causing some misunderstandings.

"The third is less common, but some people think we're descendants from monsters. That's definitely not true. The God of Creation made us just like all other humanoids. They might've used monsters as the basis for some races, but we don't have a single drop of monster blood in our bodies."

I see. Being lumped together with their biggest enemy might hurt their pride.

Then she smiles, satisfied with our acceptance, and becomes more casual again. "These are the three things I always tell other people. Now, you do you want to hear something specific?"

"What about your birthplace?" I start.

She nods sagely and crosses her arms. "Ohh~... that's far away from here. I was born on the Maoka continent, on the west coast, in a small village inside our HolyLands. If you want a more precise location, it's at the west of the Death Valley, if you have heard of it."

Nope, I haven't.

I tilt my head like Alissa and curiously ask, "Holy Lands? Death Valley?"

Alissa smiles awkwardly while Roxanne chuckles softly and answers, "Well, the Holy Lands are a place that no outsider can enter without a permit. It's not a large piece of land, but it's the place that our first ancestors were given by the God of Creation after their birth, so it's a sacred land for us. The Death Valley is a large piece of desert that's very famous among adventurers because there're a lot of very valuable monsters there." -Then she smiles bitterly- "It's also a dreadful place, so hot and dry nobody has ever crossed it, and all the monsters there are horribly dangerous."

I think there's a place like that on Earth, too, minus the monsters.

"So do you have kingdoms, too?" I question further. The idea of "Holy Lands" makes me think they're religious, so maybe it's a theocracy.

She shatters my imagination with a shake of her head. "No, it's just a Council of Elders that's elected from among the aristocrats and clergy." -Oh wait, "clergy"? So they are religious, somehow?- "We do it the same as the elves, so we always had a good relationship with them. Human and dwarven nobility drama books are famously complex, and nobody wants any of that for our race."

We all share some chuckles. I watched Game of Thrones and House of Cards, and I don't want any of that drama, either. I'm way too straightforward to survive on that backstabbing nightmare.

Then I turn to Alissa and ask, "What about the wereanimals? How do you govern yourselves, Alissa?"

Her tone becomes energetic as she seems happy to talk about her people, "We have a Council of Elders, too, but they serve as advisors to the Chief of the Forest that they elect, which is the one who governs all the other clans, though the position generally stays within the same family. The Council is supposed to be composed of the wisest among us, while the leader should be the strongest man or woman of the tribe, but the clans choose their own candidates, so it varies between them."

I hum in thought. "The Chieftess you mentioned was that leader?"

She smiles a bit cheekily and giggles softly. "Yes and no. She and the current Chief were the two best candidates for this generation, so they decided to marry and share the title."

Roxanne laughs like a haughty lady and excitedly claps the tip of her fingers. "Hohoh, how romantic."

Alissa's smile turns wry. "Well, yes. I wasn't born when they married, but the Council of Elders was very amused. They even made their story into a play, to the embarrassment of the Chiefs.

"You think it could come to Rabanara? I'd watch that," Roxanne comments.

Alissa shrugs. "I don't know about that, but you might have more luck if you enter my clan's territory."

Roxanne leans forward, showing a lot of interest. "Oh, do they accept foreigners?"

Alissa stares at her cup as she recollects, "Only adventurers and merchants, but I think there are ways to get permits for other types of business. I have little idea how that works, but I know that they don't allow those who aren't werefoxes to settle on the land."

Roxanne nods in understanding. "Ah, then it'll be okay, I guess, so I might visit one day. Where is it?"

Alissa's eyes become faintly nostalgic. "West, beyond the mountain range, it's called the Misty Low Forest."

Roxanne brightens up. "I saw it on a map once. It's not far, so I'll definitely go."

I think for a moment. Her homeland is actually really close. Though we have to go a bit of a roundabout way because there are only a few spots where it's feasible to cross, I think it'd take only a few days to cross the mountain range in her fox form.

Would it be too cruel to make this question...?

I'm not able to hold myself back, so I tactfully ask her, "Alissa... would you like to go visit your homeland one day?"

Her ears go flat and her tail stops wagging as she thinks for a while, then she shakes her head in refusal. "Not yet, I'm not worthy of returning. I still need to work more, but... I'm really grateful you offered, Master." And she gives me a sweet smile.

I release my breath in relief. I guess that wasn't a bad choice to ask this.

Roxanne turns to me with a cheeky smile. "Ah, Mr. Ryder. I see you're reserved, but do you mind telling us more about your homeland?" She politely asks.

Ah, shit, now that I asked about her homeland it's obvious she might ask about mine. There's no way I'm telling, though. I haven't prepared a proper lie for it yet, so I'm just going to avoid this.

Even Alissa seems interested in knowing more, so it hurts my heart to do this.

I take a sip of my juice to stall, then I gently shake my head as I apologize and explain myself, "I'm sorry, but I don't like talking about that place. It's not that I'm a runaway or a criminal, I just don't like talking about it."

Alissa nods obediently. She respects my feelings about this.

Roxanne raises an eyebrow in confusion, then she adjusts her glasses and returns to being cheeky. "Well then, if you don't wanna talk about your homeland, then let's talk about mine!" She exclaims with pride.

Well, okay, her personality might not be that bad.

Her stories are mainly comedies about the stupid things the people of her village do. They seem to share her carefree and positive mentality, and they also like to party a lot.

We talk for a long time, and we eventually get tired, so we go to sleep and start the watch cycle. We'll do three-hour cycles, starting with me, then Roxanne, and then Alissa. Roxanne drew the worse one since she'll have to sleep, wake up in the middle of the night, and then sleep again. It can be bad for the body to interrupt sleep like that, but them's the breaks. I could put out a summoned guard dog, but I don't want to show that magic to Roxanne yet.

They all go to sleep and I sit down outside the tents. Now that I'm all alone, I start to feel a little bit lonely.

Hello, Goddess of Knowledge. How do you feel about today? I think it was pretty interesting. We found how a Giant Tarantula turns into an Arachne even though I want to forget that image; we found that the tarantulas are likely using the web as a way of mating, though I'll need to make an autopsy if I want to be able to discern their sexes and confirm this; we also found that love, or perhaps just plain sexual thoughts, or maybe even just masturbation is enough to break a mind poison, and we don't need to slap ourselves until we nearly bleed.

I feel like this world is somewhat interesting, and I'm still thinking about the [Golemancy] skill. Maybe in a few levels, I could put some points into it and try it out. Perhaps that skill could start an industrial revolution in this world?

I'm still trying to keep the balance, so I don't attract too much attention from others and from the God of Destruction, but I could leave my knowledge behind after I die or something. I do have a degree in robotics, so it's likely to be my biggest contribution to this world.

What do you think about this? Isn't this your reason of existence?

Suddenly, I feel something change within me, so I open my stats and see that my "Piety" increased by 3 (now 6), then I see that under "Status Effects" there's a new entry: "Blessing of the Goddess of Knowledge."

Oh, boy.