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Demi-human Girls Completion Manual-Chapter 16 - . Growth
Chapter 16: 16. Growth
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"It was a misunderstanding, Mr. Fisher, since it concerns you and the slave, there's no problem, and you are free to leave now."
The kindly-looking captain of the soldiers smiled at Fisher, setting aside the way that led out of the prison.
Fisher's fully black suit was covered in mud; he straightened his clothes and then turned to look at Rafael and the Slave Trader behind him.
He had been caught by the soldiers of Keken City following the fight with Rafael in the streets, but fortunately, after the soldiers understood the situation, they, in good conscience, let them go...
Well, actually, it was because Keken, hearing of the matter, had hurried over; the city was his, after all, and releasing one or two people was no trouble to him.
This left Fisher feeling somewhat uncomfortable as he disliked being in someone's debt; after all, he had bothered someone for an entire day, and, because of such a trivial matter, had caused someone to make a fruitless trip in the afternoon, which was not gentlemanly behavior.
"Thank you for the trouble, Keken."
"Not at all, I don't have much to entertain you with, so I'm already lucky to be able to help a little. By the way, you were looking to purchase that Dragon-man Species slave, right? Although the other party has agreed to give the slave to you for free, it is still not quite appropriate... I've already paid for you, so you can just take the slave with you."
"...."
Fisher opened his mouth, smiled at him, and suppressed the urge to offset the debt of gratitude for the time being. With the other party's sincerity, he decided he would be fully prepared to help with anything needed in the future.
Having thought this, Fisher no longer declined but simply bade farewell to Keken, who, sitting in his carriage, waved at him with a smile. Then, as Fisher was about to depart, Keken suddenly pulled back the curtain, his expression becoming a bit more solemn,
"Right, look at my forgetful mind, I almost forgot to tell you... Be careful when you pass through Philone City. Although the environment there is pleasant, it's best not to linger too long..."
"Oh?" Fisher had just put on his hat and was interested in learning more about what he mentioned regarding Philone City, "Is there anything in particular to note?"
Keken smiled, slightly hesitant,
"It might just be my imagination... but I feel that the City Lord there is an odd person, and he's very fond of someone as talented as you, which might cause you many delays."
"I see, I'll keep that in mind."
Fisher bid farewell to Keken once more and waited for his carriage to disappear at the end of the street before turning back to look at the Slave Trader, who stood there with a smile, holding onto the Dragon-man Species slave.
"Ah, sir, here's your slave and the Emblem, please confirm."
Fisher did not take the slave seal but instead glanced at Rafael,
"It's just your return exchange; decide the treatment yourself, but don't delay us for too long."
Rafael looked slightly startled and quickly ran over to take the leather scroll of the slave seal and tore it in half. The Slave Trader, seeing the slave seal being torn, twitched his brow but said nothing, hastily dropping the iron chain that he was using to hold the young Dragon-man Species slave and then hastily bidding farewell to Fisher and running away.
Rafael lowered her gaze to the young Dragon-man Species whose body was covered with scars. She was just about to squat down to keep the same height with him but found that the wound on her left foot was extremely painful, so she had to bend slightly and asked in the Dragon Language:
"What's your name, and which tribe are you from?"
"...Qiu'er, I'm...from the Northern Branch Tribe, ran away from the forest after... arguing with Mother."
It seemed there was a slight accent difference between the Dragon-man Tribes, Fisher noticed a bit of grammatical difference in the language he used.
"I see..."
Rafael looked at Fisher who had remained silent beside her. His clean suit was now covered in dirty mud, a result of him holding her earlier, which made her feel even more embarrassed to speak up; but after hesitating for a moment, she still requested,
"Can you take this child out of the city? When we leave this place..."
Fisher glanced at her and then smiled.
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"Seeing as you're due to receive two punishments, that actually puts me in a good mood. I'll take him out of the city with me when we leave tomorrow. As for tonight, his food will have to come from your share... As for now, come with me, wash yourself and your clothes."
The tone of that human man was as nasty as ever, but this time Rafael didn't get angry again. She covered her injured arm and turned to look at the dragon-man child,
"Don't be afraid, tomorrow you'll be able to go home."
...
...
There was no need to spend extra on hotel rooms since they had a carriage, but because they needed to change clothes and bathe, it became a necessary expense. It seemed that spending money was an inevitable part of traveling.
"So...why did you only book one room?"
Rafael, shrinking within the bath tub, suddenly spoke in the steam-filled bathing room. From the next bathing room, separated by a wooden wall, Fisher's voice came through,
"If it's just for a bath, isn't this suite with two washing chambers the most suitable?"
It wasn't for the ridiculous reason of saving money, it was just to make the most of the available resources, that's all.
They had just returned to the carriage to tidy up a bit, had their dinner, and stowed away the muddy supplies that had been scattered on the ground. Then Fisher had booked a hotel room to wash up. He had also handed their clothes over to the maid for cleaning, which incurred an additional tip.
"I've finished bathing..."
After receiving his reply, Rafael spoke softly, feeling somewhat uneasy even though they were separated by wood.
Her red tail emerged from under the water's surface, and she looked down at the gash on her arm, which was still painful. She suddenly couldn't understand why, despite her earlier intent to kill Fisher with all her might, he seemed unfazed as if nothing had happened, not taking it to heart at all.
Was it because she was too weak, so in his eyes, her attempt to kill him was really just a trivial game?
How could he possibly be emotionally affected by a simple game?
Rafael stood up carefully, using a piece of fabric called a "towel" to wipe her scales. While wiping a certain spot, she suddenly hissed softly. Although it was not a wound and no scales had fallen off, a tingling pain surged through her.
It was as if something was growing.
That was a symbol of the dragon-man species reaching maturity. After becoming an adult, her bodily functions would fully awaken, and those scales would turn as hard as armor.
So, I haven't matured yet?
If she were in her tribe, her mother would certainly arrange a grand coming-of-age ceremony for her...
Although if she hadn't been caught by the humans, she would have certainly resented such a spectacle.
Rafael's lips turned up slightly at the thought.
"Knock knock..."
The door was suddenly knocked, startling Rafael into withdrawing from her thoughts.
"Are you done yet?"
"..." Rafael hastily put on her previous sackcloth clothes, responding while dressing, "I'm done, what is it?"
"You forgot, tonight is the time for punishment..."
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Rafael's movements in dressing froze slightly.