Rayla gives me a bit of a weird look, “Say…Thoma…Did you know that a tail is just an extension of your spine?”

  “Nope, I didn’t! That sounds interesting though!”

  “Yeah…People without tails can actually imagine a bit how it feels like. I’d need to touch your spine though, is that okay with you?”

  “Like…Directly?”

  “Yeah, is that a problem?”

  “Uhm…I just don’t like it when that area is touched.”

  Her eyes seem like she's closely observing me when she asks, “Oh, why is that?”

  “It just…Feels wrong.”

  “That’s okay, you don’t have to go further into detail.”

  “But I guess since it’s you…I’ll trust you.”

  Taken on a saddened expression, she gives me a smile and looks into the fields around us.

  “Perhaps you shouldn’t.”

  “Hmm? Why not?”

  “Well, to tell you the truth we just had this conversation. I touched your back without asking first and you got really mad at me, afterwards I asked some questions that triggered your curse and you forgot about it. So, I already acted in a way that broke your trust. I’m sorry about that.”

  “Is that so…Then that means that you just confirmed my trust in you.”

  “Huh? Why?”

  “Well, you could have easily said nothing about it since I don’t remember but you instead told me that I shouldn’t trust you and told me a mistake you made that I already forgot about. That means you’re trustworthy.”

  Saying that seems to have made her happy again, which in turn also makes me happy, so I take off my shirt and position my back towards her.

  Her voice getting closer to me, she touches my shoulder, “Okay, so I need you to close your eyes. I’m going to trace your spine and then tell you to imagine something.”

  “O-okay. Eeek!”

  Stopping her movement on my spine she seems amused, “Eeek? Pfft, haha.”

  “Sorry about that.”

  “It’s fine, it’s fine. Okay so just concentrate on your spine as I trace it.”

  “Okay.”

  “See, your spine actually goes a lot lower than you think it does, if you start to really feel it down your lower back as well and then imagine it expanding further down you’ll get a feeling as if it goes on longer than it actually does.”

  “Y-yeah kind of.”

  “Now just imagine that there is some weight dangling from it as well like a pendulum and that’s basically what a tail feels like. But you can also move it up and down and curl it.”

  “I-I see…Yeah, now that you say it I can imagine it quite well. Almost like it’s supposed to be there but isn’t. Seems…Like it would be nice to have one. Though now that I think of it, having more than one would seem quite confusing. It’s very hard to imagine.”

  “Right? It’s actually hard to imagine for me as well! And now! As a reward for overcoming your fear and trusting me, you can touch my tail all you want! You said you wanted to do that right?”

  Happily turning back around, I ask, “C-can I really?”

  Rayla then shows her back to me and moves her tail onto my knees, “Yep, go ahead!”

  “O-okay just, if anything hurts or feels weird just tell me.”

  “Pfft, don’t worry, it’s not that sensitive. You’d have to really try to make it hurt, just don’t pull on it too hard and you’re fine.”

  Touching her tail it starts to move slightly. Trying to be gentle I brush over it with the back of my hand.

  “It’s sooo fluffy!”

  “Kekeke, it sure is! I take good care of it!”

  “Can I hug it?”

  “Sure! Go ahead.”

  Hugging the tail feels amazing. Like hugging the softest pillow ever.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Oh man…This takes me back. This feeling reminds me of mom. I used to play with it a lot.”

  “With…Her tail?”

  “Huh? I…I’m not sure. Sorry my head hurts.”

  “It’s okay, forget it. If it gives you happy memories I don’t mind letting you do this more often.”

  “Th-thanks. Sorry I’m feeling a little weird, my head hurts a lot.”

  “That’s okay, don’t fight it. Just stay in the present and enjoy the moment.”

  “O-okay.”

  —-----------------------------------------

  “Hmm…Looks like he fell asleep. Maybe since I stopped him like this he’ll be able to remember what we talked about later…Either way I need to write all of this down.”

  —-------------------------------------

  A few hours later I get shaken awake by Rayla.

  “It’s time Thoma. Look, they're everywhere. We’re lucky it isn’t cloudy tonight.”

  A bit drowsy I look around and see multiple herbs glowing in the moonlight. They shimmer like shiny fish scales in candle light.

  “Woah…They’re pretty!”

  Picking one from the ground and holding it up proudly, Rayla answers, “Also pretty useful! They’re one of the main three ingredients for healing potions.”

  “What are the other two?”

  “Uhm...Honey and…Some kind of alchemist alcohol I don’t remember.”

  “Neat! How many do we need?”

  “The Quest asked for twenty. Any more that we find we can sell ourselves, so make sure to get as many as you can!”

  “How much do they sell for?”

  “About a big copper per plant.”

  “Woah, that much huh?”

  “Yeah, you can only really find them in moon light and it’s a bit dangerous to pluck them because you need to leave the gates at night for it. Also before we start gathering them, I have a question. Do you remember what we talked about before you fell asleep?”

  “Yeah, we talked about how your tail reminds me of someone, but I forgot who.”

  Getting a warm smile on her face, She answers, “That’s fine, that’s already a lot more than I expected.”

  —-------------------------------------------------------

  Currency:

  Every country has their own currency and exchange rates but generally speaking the currencies are:

  1 Copper (worth an apple or two eggs)

  10 Copper—> 1 Big Copper (worth about a day at a boarding house, which is one small room with a bed, heating in winter and three warm meals per day). The average single middle class worker makes about 2 normal copper per hour which is about 1 Big copper and 6 copper per day.

  10 Big Copper—> 1 Silver (about the worth of a piece of clothing for a commoner. A Whole set is about three silver.)

  10 silver→ 1 Big Silver (About the worth of an iron tool or a small set of utensils like cutlery). Usually most commoners use cutlery made from wood due to the high prices of ones made from iron while nobles would use cutlery made from materials such as pearl or silver to show off. Commoners who use iron tools often pay them off in rates over a few years. Usually these contracts come with free repairs and maintenance of said tool by the smith that sold them. Many adventurers also start off by getting a weapon made for them at the average cost of 8 Big Silver. Depending how successful they are as adventurers this is either a small investment paid off in a year or crippling debt that follows them for half their lives.

  10 Big Silver—> 1 gold (Worth about the living expenses of a lower noble, per day) Many commoners would only see a gold coin in their life if they work in high end shops catering to the upper class or work in banks.

  10 gold—> 1 Big Gold Coin (About the worth of a piece of clothing tailor made for high ranking nobles without accessories or gems included) Used almost only by nobles or high ranking merchants, this coin is what nobility use for nights out or small luxuries like going to restaurants or the theater. Big gold coins open the way to the lifestyle of a noble. Usually nobles carry these around like a commoner would Big Copper coins.

  10 Big Gold Coin—> 1 Jade Coin (About the worth of an accessory worthy to be worn by high ranking nobles.) 1 Jade coin could feed and house a small town of around a thousand people for about three months. Jade coins are often called the Emperor's pocket change and used by nobles for large investments or trade outside their domain or country.

  100 Jade—> 1 Grim Created from the horns of the Grimjilow, a powerful monster that could destroy an entire city’s worth of people in a night. This currency is only allowed to be minted by one bank in dwarven territory and is very rarely used for international business between nations. It is not a coin that can be spent, instead it is a guarantee for a certain amount of real money for cases that a country does not have enough jade or valuables to pay the deal fully.

  —--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  “Aaaand forty two. I think that’s the last of them.” Rayla says proudly counting all the herbs we gathered. If we sell the excess herbs at the guild, then together with the reward we’ll get a whopping fifteen Large copper each.”

  “Woah…That’s a lot.”

  “Nah, you can’t think that way. This is just a pittance to the money we’re going to make! We’ve got to think big!”

  “Of course! Hm? Wait a second Rayla, do you hear that? It sounds like…Singing?”

  “Haah Haaaah~”

  “Great catch Thoma. Those are Haa Haas, they’re really tasty. Here, hold the basket and follow quietly, I’m gonna catch one.”

  She then puts her weapons on and boosts her strength and speed. Afterwards we quietly walk towards the sound. From behind the bushes I I peek out and see them for the first time. They look like piglets with white feathery wings on their back, fluttering around in the moonlight. They seem to communicate in what sounds like a song.

  “Haaaaha, Haha ha~”

  I would probably have stared at them for a few minutes just listening to their song but Rayla cuts that time short by suddenly running at them like a wild wolf killing two of them and injuring one as the others fly away.

  “Nature sure is cruel…”

  Excitedly holding up two dead ones, her tail wags as she says, “Look Thoma I got two!”

  “Good job!”

  I help her prep the meat so we can carry it and get back to the guild at around two am without a problem. We then get our quest reward and sell the rest of the plants to the guild. Afterwards, we bring the Haa Haas to the kitchen. In exchange for getting to use some of the meat the chefs accept to prepare Haa Haa stew and steaks for free tomorrow. Rayla and I then go our own ways and about half an hour later I arrive back at the house.

  I’m always supposed to make as much noise as possible when I enter so Rhaast knows it’s me so I bang some pots together when I come in.

  Hearing the noise, Rhaast wakes up and walks up to me,

  “How’d it go?”

  “Uhm…So the quest went fine but I did end up getting kidnapped by cultists before that.”

  Not changing his expression whatsoever he asks, “But you’re fine now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s good. How much did you earn?”

  “Fifteen big copper coins!”

  “That’s nice.” He holds open his hand and I put the money in it.

  He gives me back one big copper coin and says, “Good Night.”

  “Good Night!”