Yelloy Barrier Fortress (2)

"...Hi?"

Question. What are you supposed to do when you wake up in a stranger's arms?

There was no official answer, but if it were me, I'd go with this:

Get out of there. Fast.

The instant those blue eyes looking down at me met mine, I launched myself across the carriage and landed on the opposite seat. The interior was cramped enough that I could still have reached out and touched her, but putting some distance between us was what mattered.

"Ah..."

I instinctively fluffed up my fur and glared at the woman. She withdrew the hand she'd been reaching toward me and let out a sigh of open disappointment.

Keeping my guard up, I took stock of my surroundings. The carriage had stopped—we seemed to have arrived at our destination, Yelloy Barrier Fortress.

But Yeon, who should have been right here, was nowhere in sight.

Where had that kid run off to this time? A glance at the party window in the corner of my vision confirmed she hadn't logged out.

Which meant the answer was simple. She'd gotten bored waiting for me to wake up and gone off to explore the fortress—and she'd left me with a complete stranger to do it. I was going to bite her on the nose when she got back. I was entertaining that thought, one that would have made Yeon pull a face if she'd known, when I sensed someone creeping closer.

I whipped my head around. The woman hastily looked away, playing innocent, as if she hadn't moved at all.

Now that I looked at her properly, this was the other passenger—the one who'd sat in the carriage the entire ride without a word, staring out the window.

She had a blunt, unapproachable look about her. She hadn't seemed like the type who'd enjoy talking to strangers. Apparently I'd been wrong about that.

Yeon had left me with her and gone off to play, after all. They must have gotten friendly while I was passed out from motion sickness.

Getting along was fine. But she hadn't gone and promised we'd hunt together, had she? The party window only showed my name and Yeon's, but you never knew.

If she had promised a joint hunt, that would be a serious problem. I couldn't transform into a human, and I couldn't use my fox arts in this form either.

I'd told Yeon to turn down party invitations from other people whenever she could. The thought had barely crossed my mind when I snapped my gaze back around—and locked eyes with the woman, who had been stealthily scooting her hips closer, inch by inch.

"Ah."

She flinched, clearly aware she'd been caught. Then, with a creaky, awkward shift, she averted her eyes just like before and pretended nothing had happened.

You're going to play dumb after getting caught red-handed? The sheer absurdity of it was enough to dissolve what little wariness I had left.

This woman looked sharp as ice, but everything she actually did was a complete disaster.

"I'm ba—oh? Choco, you're awake!"

I was locked in a bizarre staring contest with the woman desperately trying to look elsewhere when a familiar voice finally reached my ears.

I stopped glaring and turned toward Yeon as she climbed back into the carriage. A small sigh of relief slipped out from beside me. I paid it no mind.

Yeon scooped me up as naturally as breathing.

"Is the motion sickness any bett—ow!"

Where did you go, leaving me behind?!

"B-but you were sleeping so soundly..."

I poured my frustration into the spirit power I sent her way as she answered in a nasal little voice, my teeth still clamped on her nose.

Then you should have taken me with you. Did you forget what I told you?

"Ah, about that... they already found out you aren't an ordinary fox..."

What? What is that supposed to mean? Don't tell me you said something to that woman—

"I would never! Your transformation came undone and she saw!"

Yeon hissed it as quietly as she could, looking thoroughly wronged. Only then did I check my own body.

And when I realized the transformation I'd been using to hide one of my tails had worn off, leaving them all on full display, a sigh escaped me on its own.

Damn it. If it hadn't been for that motion sickness.

"But Se-jin unnie promised she wouldn't go around telling anyone..."

So that woman's name was Se-jin. They'd already settled into calling each other unnie and little sister, apparently—the honorific came out without a second thought.

But being friendly was one thing. This was another.

Anyone can make a promise.

"I'm serious. And Se-jin unnie likes foxes. Like... a lot, I think."

There was something uneasy in her tone, but instead of questioning it I asked something else.

You didn't accept a party invite, did you?

"We never even talked about that. We just chatted about little things..."

Then that's fine. Go say your goodbyes.

"Isn't that a little cold?"

Yeon grumbled, but to me it was the obvious call.

Yelloy Barrier Fortress sat adjacent to two hunting grounds with barely any level gap between them. If we formed a party with this Se-jin here, I wouldn't be able to walk around in human form for days at the very least.

Unless we planned to reveal everything about me—everything except that I was a player—the two of us needed to travel alone. Secrets were always better kept by fewer people.

Once we were strong enough to reach the Lefhel Kingdom, I could walk around in human form with my ears and tails out no matter who was watching. But that wasn't now.

"...Fine."

I gave her the short version of my reasoning. Yeon pouted but conceded. Then, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still holding me, she approached Se-jin.

"Um, Se-jin unnie..."

"Were you talking with Choco just now?"

"Ah, yes. I guess you heard."

"The carriage is small."

Even if we'd moved to the far end to talk, it was only a few steps of distance. No matter how quietly you whispered, you couldn't help but be overheard in an environment this still.

Of course, Se-jin wouldn't have caught our entire conversation. My voice had only been audible to Yeon; at most, it would have looked like Yeon was talking to herself.

But she was someone who already knew I wasn't an ordinary fox. Even if it looked like talking to herself, there was no way she wouldn't have guessed we were actually conversing.

"To think you can talk with a fox... I'm envious."

"Haha... Well, um, we should get going. I originally wanted to hunt together, but... Choco is really picky about people..."

"It's all right. It can't be helped."

"Let's definitely hunt together later!"

"Yes. Later, for sure."

Se-jin gave a small laugh and nodded ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at Yeon's words.

I had no idea when that "later" would actually be. Nestled quietly in Yeon's arms, that was what I thought.

Yelloy Barrier Fortress, after all these years, was a completely different place.

The walls that had once stood like iron, unshaken even when monster armies came crashing against them, were riddled with gaps and overgrown with weeds. The gates that had once thrown themselves wide to receive people looked as though a hundred years had passed over them, weathered and crumbling.

And the gatekeeper stationed out front was so slack that when a few players walked right past him, he barely spared them a glance before stretching into a long, lazy yawn. The soldiers who had once filled this place were gone—the ones still wandering the fortress grounds were few enough to count on one hand.

The only thing that still spoke of what this place had been were the barracks that hadn't been torn down, silent proof that a real garrison had once been housed here.

This was the Yelloy Barrier Fortress I knew? I looked around with a dazed expression. I'd heard, in bits and pieces, that the fortress had been scaled back considerably after the monster waves ended. I just hadn't imagined it would be this bad.

"I took a look around earlier. Sounds like you can pick up quests over there."

Yeon, who had already toured the fortress, pointed. At the end of her finger, a man in glasses was doing paperwork beneath a sunshade tent.

Let's go check it out.

"Okay."

As we drew close to the tent, the man looked up, registering Yeon's presence.

"What business brings you here?"

"I heard you can receive quests here."

"Quests? Ah, so you've come for a subjugation mission as well?"

Roiman lifted his glasses and looked Yeon over, then rustled the papers in his hand.

"Judging by the look of you, it's not Armor Ants. Kobolds, then?"

"Yes. I'd like to take the mission for the Kobold colony."

"As it happens, I've been getting no end of reports that their numbers have swelled of late. It's been a headache. I do hope you'll thin them out for us."

"And the fox you're holding?"

"Ah, she's a fox I tamed."

Yeon answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Tamed, you say. You're quite the capable adventurer, then."

"Haha... I just got lucky."

"They do say luck is a kind of skill. Come to think of it, there was an adventurer like you in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠old days—one who ran around insisting they'd tame a monster."

That jogged my memory. A guy, he'd said—except it had been a woman, actually.

If he knew a story like that, this Roiman must have been here back when Yelloy Barrier Fortress was still doing its real job.

I couldn't remember his face, though. While I was turning that over, Roiman seemed to snap out of his reminiscence. He gave an embarrassed little laugh.

"Look at me, keeping you standing here for nothing. Forgive me. I have these moments now and then. I hope you find ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good results out there."

"Yes, thank you..."

Yeon dipped her head and stepped out from under the tent. We walked for a while before she suddenly spoke up.

"Choco, can I ask you something?"

What.

"NPCs aren't actually living people, right?"

Well, no.

"But sometimes when I look at them, they feel so human I start wondering if they really are alive. Is it just me?"

It wasn't something unique to Yeon. I'd felt the same way plenty of times, back in the day, and a lot of people said they had too.

But if you watched even a little more carefully, you could tell they weren't living people—just programmed entities.

The easiest way was to start talking about status windows or settings in front of an NPC. The ones who'd been chatting away like real human beings would suddenly stop reacting, like puppets with their strings cut.

No matter how realistic it looked, it was still just a game.

"Is that how it is...?"

That's how it is.

It wasn't strange that Yeon was confused. Most people went through this when they were new to the game, and they always adapted before long.

We talked it over as we headed for the gate that led to Gezina's Forest.

And there, we found people who had spread out their things and were holding up signs, apparently looking for a party.