“Halt, identify yourself immediately!” As the cloud started to clear, I heard a soldier bark such an order at me.

Now that I was closer, I had a better look at the guards. I realized that they were all rabbitkin. Were we in the rabbitkin territory then? I only had the vaguest idea of which territories were where. I knew the foxkin had been pushed toward the wilderness on the east of the country, which put them up against Chalm and made it easy for them to cross the border and join my city. I also knew that the west against Jespain was the lands of the apekin. A lot of their ingenuity came with their close relationship with that place. The wolfkin was naturally in the southeast, and the catkin was located in the northeast and middle of the country. As for the rest, they were scattered around somewhere, but I hadn’t remembered their exact positions.

“I’m just someone passing by.” I gave such a vague answer as Celeste landed on my shoulder.

“This is rabbitkin territory! No trespassers!” The man glared at me with hostility.

“I have special permission.” I pointed up at the airship, which was only now starting to appear overhead.

The soldiers all looked up, making various sounds of surprise. The leader seemed to recover the quickest.

“W-wait… you’re not… are you the lord of Chalm?”

He asked, his voice shaking slightly.

“I am,” I admitted.

“What does that matter? He’s trespassing!” One of the other soldiers yelled out impatiently.

“Quiet, fool! He’s the one who took out King Roth!”

“Ah!”

“Seriously?”

As the leader made that announcement, the other soldiers all let out noises of shock and surprise. The hostile atmosphere seemed to shift quickly, and I saw eyes that were intrigued, awed, and even a bit fearful.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“You’ve heard of me?” I asked with interest.

“H-how could we not have heard of such a great lord?” The leader’s tone had changed considerably, and he all but lowered his head. “I apologize for not recognizing you. We have been informed that you would be taking airship passages through our territory. There is no issue with your presence.”

“Good, good.” I nodded, but then glanced back at the person behind me.

They hadn’t moved since I had landed. Instead, they stood there. The cloak covered their face, but now that I was close, I could distinctly see they were a female. Also, there was a white bushy tail which told me they were an animalkin too. That made sense, as it was extremely unlikely to see any humans besides myself this deep in Dioshin.

“Ah, sir… I don’t believe this woman is with you. She Is trespassing in our territory. This is a serious offense. A wolfkin like her has no place in our tribal lands. If she was visiting, she would have proper identification and papers. When we attempted to question her, she fled.”

“I see…” I looked down, trying to get a better look at the girl. “She is a friend of mine. It seems she was separated from our group by accident. I won’t let it happen again.”

I quickly made up an excuse. My Mimic job helped with the deception. However, no sooner had I tried to help than the girl finally raised her eyes and glared at me.

“Mind your own business, human! I don’t need your help!”

So much for trying to do a good thing.