"Miss Grey, may I have a question?" Scoresby, an old man, sitting on a blanket on the other side of the campfire, asked me.

I hesitated, not ready to talk about myself, about what had happened to me. I still wasn't sure if the merchant could be trusted or if I could expect to end up with a collar around my neck.

"You can," I said with a nod.

It depended on the nature of his question whether I answer him.

"My memory is not what it used to be, but I can't remember a race like yours. You are not a Dwarf, a Gnome, or an Elf. I'll be bold and say you're half-beastmen, but I've never seen anyone like you. Those horns, charming eyes, and beautiful ears, are something I would remember," said the old man.

Yeah, that was something I couldn't hide. Like those of deer, two horns were growing from my forehead at the edge of my hairline. The left one was short, only about ten centimeters long. The right one was about fifteen centimeters long in the middle with a small protuberance. This was the only mutation on my body that was not symmetrical.

My ears were another feature that I could hardly hide. They were the ears of a mammal I had never seen in my life. They were big ears. One ear was almost thirty centimeters long, and when I lowered it, it touched my shoulders. However, their natural position was horizontally tilted somewhat backward.

My eyes were brown all my life, and I was satisfied. It wasn't an eye-catching color, but I didn't mind. Now the irises of my eyes were green with a purple circumference and veins intersecting the green.

Scoresby didn't mention it, but another mutation on my head was my mane. It was the mane of some mammal, different from the one to which my ears belonged to. Not that those ears belonged to anyone before, they were mine, just mutated. My hair was much thicker, firmer, and healthier now. You could say they were what a woman could wish for, right? Almost. They were too thick and bulky. The first weeks after the mutation, was hell for my neck. I suffered from severe neck pain.

When I underwent this mutation, it also had other unexpected side effects. The mutation wasn't limited to my head hair. The madman Frederic Dungreen was eagerly taking notes when he observed me. He explained that this mutation was a combination of my previous one, my ears, and this new one. Therefore, now my eyebrows were thicker than before. My nose's bridge was covered with fine short hair, and my teeth had the features of carnivore's teeth—especially my canines, which were longer and sharper now.

As other mutations followed, especially my tail, smaller changes began to appear on different parts of my body. White hair grew under my collarbones above the sternum between my breasts. Surprisingly, my back remained bare, fur appearing only under the wings on my ass, which was now all covered with it. As is said, thanks to my over a meter and a half long tail. The hair on it were very long, soft to the touch, and large in volume. Thanks to that, my tail looked like something huge, as its diameter with hairs was about eighty centimeters.

My calves were overgrown with hair, but feathers grew around my ankles. On the contrary, my wrists were covered with white fur, elbows with feathers. The small thing was the change of hair in my armpit and lap to fine white fur.

The overall color of my fur was probably affected by the color of my hair. I was a redhead. Most of my fur was the same red color, with the exception of white to light gray spots. Like the ends of my hair, the inside of my ears, the hair between my breasts, my wrists, the top of my tail, and its end. On the contrary, the wings were white to light gray, with red ends.

So I was not surprised that the old man was interested in my race and had never seen it. The race whose members had the same form as me simply did not exist.

I sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"How do you know what I would believe and what I wouldn't?" He asked with a smile on his face.

He was right, I was just assuming it, and I shouldn't follow prejudices.

"I'm not ready to talk about it," I told him the truth.

I wasn't ready, and I really didn't want to talk about it.

Scoresby smiled. "I see, then it will be another mystery to me that will remain unsolved."

"I'm sorry," I said.

I felt that after what he was doing for me, he deserved to know the truth. I wanted the whole world to know it. At the same time, however, I was terrified that I would end up behind bars again when the world finds out.

That's why I remained silent.

"You don't have to apologize. When you're ready, I'll be happy to listen to your story," the old man said, lying down on a blanket. "I must apologize to you now. I don't have anything for you to lie down on to or cover up yourself with."

"Oh, I don't mind. Why don't you sleep in the wagon?" I asked him.

He grinned. "The nights are cold, and the fire is warm. But I will not park my wagon so close to the fire and risk burning it at night."

"I see," I nodded.

"You should sleep too. We'll leave at dawn," he told me, tangled in a blanket.

He turned his back to the fire, and our conversation was over. I didn't mind, and I rather welcomed the silence that ensued. Silence accompanied by the sounds of a crackling fire, the old man's breathing, the sounds that horses sometimes made, and the nightlife in the forest.

But for me, it was a beautiful paradise. The nights I remember were filled with crying people, mad mumbling when their minds couldn't stand the torment and pain.

When I looked at the sleeping Scoresby on the other side of the campfire, I could do nothing but envy him. I was determined not to close my eyes, the food might not have been poisoned, but that didn't rule out the possibility that someone might be hiding in the woods. All they had to do was wait until I fell asleep. In the morning, I would wake up in the hands of my new master. Nevermore.

I have no masters.

I couldn't deny that I was a little paranoid. More than a little, very paranoid, but I won't apologize for it. Scoresby was very nice, and I was grateful to him. He took me with him, gave me food, and let me join him at his fire. If we really arrive in Castiana tomorrow, I was ready to apologize to him. Until then, however, everything was possible, and I was determined to be careful of him as well.

The old man thought I didn't see him, but he was wrong. As he tangled in the blanket, he carried a dagger and a magical tool. The item was different from the lighter. Either he was as ready to attack me as I was him, and it will only depend on who is faster, or it was protection from me. Who would just trust someone he meets on the road and without problems would fall asleep in their presence. He would have to be a fool, and Liam Scoresby didn't seem like a fool to me.

I carefully threw a few branches on the extinguishing fire so as not to wake him, and I continued to enjoy its flames and the peace around me.

In the end, I couldn't take it anymore and had to stretch my wings and tail.

"Ahh…" faint sound escaped my throat, along with it arrived relief in my new limbs. I hadn't moved my wings and tail for so long that they were really numb now. Fortunately, feeling returned to them very quickly, especially after I spread my wings to full width and let them warm up. I felt free again.

The collected wood could not last all night, so I went to the forest several times for more. It didn't seem as dangerous to me to be in the woods at night, as Scoresby described. I kept the fire going all night, just as I hadn't closed my eyes, not even once.

When morning came, and the old man woke up, I was sitting by the campfire with my legs crossed, my tail in my lap, and my wings on the ground. My left hand covered my breasts.

The fact that Scoresby is waking up did not escape my attention. I could take the same position as yesterday. I really wanted to and had to fight my body and emotions not to do it. Scoresby gained a little of my trust and deserved a bit of mine in return. It didn't mean I wanted to reveal myself to him. I wasn't an exhibitionist. No, I wanted to show him my wings and tail