This chapter shares the same chapter title with “232. Contact”.

Also, from this chapter onwards, once again, I’ll be retranslating〖Mind Speak〗back to〖Telepathy〗.

I’d also like to start a vote on whether to retranslate “shrine maiden” to “miko” or not. Leave it in a comment. I’ll be sure to read your thoughts and reasons of why you picked that translation.

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Partner did what I said and followed the direction that I showed her with my〖Presence Sense〗.
She should arrive there soon.

It’s up to you now, Partner.
Even if you get hungry, don’t even think about stealing in their village.
I’ll feed you later when this is all over.

“A’ight.”

Partner just nonchalantly hums as she walks through the forest.
Hey, at least be a little more cautious-…… I mean, nevermind, being caught was the plan anyways……
Although, won’t being conspicuous only make her more suspicious?

Now, what do we do about her rough speech that doesn’t match her cute appearance at all?
If it’s a part of her individuality that’s separate, then I can’t really do much about it.

The life signs I detected with my〖Presence Sense〗have stopped their movements.
I thought they were the men from before, but since they’ve stopped, their shrine maiden could be with them.
They probably also sensed that Partner was a humanoid like them, so they didn’t react much, and we’re also close to their village.

The shrine maiden may also have a thought-reading skill, so we better be extra careful.
〖Telepathy〗is an exchange of thoughts after all.
If that skill is high enough, they can even feel a change in our emotions or see through our lies.
Next time we see each other again, I’ll make sure to check her status.

It really is troublesome whenever I’m up against opponents with〖Presence Sense〗and〖Telepathy〗.
After hearing them call her “shrine maiden” repeatedly, I’m convinced now. I’m sure she was tasked to save her village too.

Okay, now listen up, Partner, even if things turn bad, don’t even try to attack.
Even if we mess something up, don’t even think about about trashing stuff.
If we even use our powers by mistake, we might end up building a pile of corpses instead.
And, that’s what I’m afraid of.

If you really can’t endure it anymore, let me know.
When that time comes, we’ll have to run away as fast we can to the direction of our escape route, and if our humanization gets undone, that would be the worse thing that could happen, and we probably won’t be allowed to get in anymore.

“Ya don’t hav to worry that much, ya know……”

I’m only worrying this much because we don’t know what situation we’ll end up with, and we don’t know what we’ll exactly do once we get there.
I want to avoid the worse thing that could happen if possible.

“If ya ask me, ur acting all scared like that but ya’ll still wanna get involved even if ya know nothin’”

Partner just went and told me that with no hint of sentiment from her tone.
I don’t quite get you, but I’m sure you’re just enjoying yourself with your newfound body, and I haven’t heard any objection from you regarding our woman transformation.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just go to where those hoomans are and eat their food, then we go back huntin, and spare time to raise our spiders”

…… I feel like saying something, but I shouldn’t.

Partner’s thought process may be more dragon-like than mine.
Nothing but food in her mind, then she gets curious over the smallest things… it’s more like she has the mind of a wild animal, or rather, a monster.
…… I’m glad she’s agreeing to follow my plan, but I worry that there will come a time when all my opinions won’t matter to her anymore.

“I’m just sayin’ what’s on mah mind. At the end of the day, this still ur body”

Well, if you’re still willing to listen to me, then I guess I can live with that.
Then again, there are still some things to worry about that.
Right now, Partner’s feeling too hyper, I’m sure the feeling of being able to move your own body and having your own consciousness think out loud is a new and fresh experience to her.
Maybe I should start giving Partner more chances to humanize from now on…

…… And besides, what’s gonna happen to Partner the next time we evolve?
Will there be another two-headed dragon option in the next evolution line?
It’s best if we could just separate ourselves into two on the next evolution, but considering that retarded god, he’s going to fuck things up again.
If we talk about synthesis and stuff, there’s bound to be a type of resistance…… So, substantially speaking, Partner disappears. [T.N: Big OOF]

Well anyways, right now, I’ve got to start thinking about the task at hand.
The three life signs I’m detecting are approaching closer.
I need to steel myself up.

Whether it was Partner’s humming, or her footsteps, either way, the three life signs have stopped moving.
With Partner’s eyes closed, I can clearly see the three of them in the distance with my wide range of sight.
Looks like they’re observing us.

Right then, it’s up to you now, Partner.
If you think something’s wrong, retreat immediately.
I don’t even know what to do about the horns sticking out of our head.

I was afraid they’ll hear Partner’s voice, but thank goodness she made a silent nod.
I kinda feel like we should’ve acted a little bit more cautious.

First things first, what should Partner even say to them?
Hmm… well, we need to at least let them know that you’re a traveler or something.
When the Manticore infiltrated the village, it pretended to be injured, but in our case, it’s as plain as the sky that Partner is clearly not hurt or anything.
And, even if she does try to injure herself, our passive skill heals all our wounds.

Okay, let’s go with the “I was attacked by monsters while bathing in the river and lost all my clothes, so I picked up what I could find and I’d appreciate it if I had a meal” backstory.
Our face looks good, and our body looks kind of thin, they’ll definitely buy our story.
And, just by looking at us, they should already be able to tell that we’re not carrying any weapons at all.

We only have around 50 mins. left before our humanization wears off.
We’ll also need extra time to run away before they see us transform back into a dragon.

Alright, Partner, try to look as non-hostile as you can and act like a lost traveler.

“Gra ~a?”

I think I just felt our face stiffen.
Are we… sweating?

…… This feeling… this is the same feeling whenever Partner isn’t sure what to do!
Maybe it would’ve been better if it was me who humanized?

A-Anyways, at least try to not look hostile as much as possible.
I’ll tell you what you have to say during a conversation.

The three life signs are already in a distance where Partner can see their faces.
They’re all half-naked and well body-built men.
Two of them carry a bow and arrow, and the one in the front wields a spear.

The man with a spear takes a good look at Partner then lowers his weapon.
Maybe he felt relieved when he saw Partner’s face, his expression has softened now.

“It’s a woman. And, she’s unarmed, put down your weapons.”

The spearman persuades the other two, and they put away their bows.

“…… She came at a great time.”

“Yeah”

The two men with bows are talking to each other in a low voice.
A great time?
What are they talking about?

“Quiet, you two. I’ll do the talking”

The spearman stares at them.
The archers shiver from his stare and they shut their mouths.

“Woman, what purpose do you have for coming to this forest?”

“Uh-uhm, I, travel”

I was so nervous of what she was gonna say, then she’s smattering like a baby.
You were talking to me normally just a minute ago and now you’ve lost all your fluency?!

The two men at the back started looking at Partner suspiciously now.
When I thought it was about to turn bad, the spearman turned his head around and glared at them again, then the two of them went back to their normal expressions.

“How many of you are there? Where are your friends?”

Friends, huh…
Well, of course he’d ask that.
Who’d even come to this dangerous place alone and unarmed?

True, in my former den, it was just the two of us. Me and Partner.
But, it’s a hundred times more dangerous here, so maybe eight people is better.
This is a place where creatures like the Abyss roam around after all.
Let’s just make up a story of how two people ended up here, and how strong they’ve become.

“…… Uhmm, I-I came, with Partner, together”

She’s hopeless, this airhead.
She just picked up some of my thoughts and uttered them aloud.

“Just the two of you?”

The spearman raised an eyebrow and started looking at Partner’s body as if he’s searching for something.
This is bad, the leader’s starting to feel suspicious.

T-That’s it!
Let’s just come up with a decent name and call ourselves the “white mage”.
If memory serves, I’m sure I saw a〖White Mage〗skill in Millia’s title skills.
It’s probably given to mages who specialize in healing magic.

If they ask us to show them a healing magic to prove we’re not lying, our〖High Rest〗skill should be more than enough for a show, if this goes well, we might even be able to put them in our favor.
And, if we show them that we have low fighting strength, then they might also get less cautious at us.

“T-Though I look like this, I-I’m quite a well-known white mage”

And then, uh, tell them that your partner died.
They’re only wary at you for wandering near their territory.

“My partner, was…… uhh, eaten, by a huu~uge bug”

Was the Abyss really the first thing that came to your mind?
I swear you’ve developed a trauma against those things.

“An Abyss, huh. I see. I feel sorry for your friend. You must be tired, you are welcome to come with us to our village”

They completely let their guard down just by listening to our fake story and even invited us to their village.

Huh…
W-Well, I can’t argue with the results, and I’m glad they’re taking us to their village.
But, aren’t they too accepting? I mean, they completely bought our story.

I wonder, was it Partner’s cuteness?
This guy, he may look tough on the outside, but he’s surprisingly dense.

“Come, woman. After you get some rest, we’ll guide you to a safe place out of the forest”

The spearman turned around and walked to the direction of their village. What’s with this dreamboat.
It’s good that they’re nice people, but that’s exactly why it’s easy for the Manticore to deceive them……

The two archers stand up.
Then, the spearman walks past them and covers their mouth with his hand before calling out to Partner.

“Y-… Yarg. Wha-… hmmf”

“Later. I told you I’ll do the talking. You two should stay quiet until we get back to the village”

So, Yarg is the spearman’s name.
The two of them looked unconvinced, and they raised an eyebrow.
But then, Yarg uncovered their mouth and continued walking in silence, and the two of them followed after him.

“Hurry up and come, woman. If you stay fazed like that, the Abyss will eat you.”

Seems like this village is also enemies with the Abyss.
Are they found all around the forest?
I don’t want to encounter another one again, but apparently, it can’t be helped……

“R-Right”

Partner said awkwardly and followed after Yarg.

…… They’re acting really suspicious, but it’s not like we don’t have a reason not to follow them.
This is the whole point of why we came here, after all.