Chapter 177

-POV Cindy-

This wind in my face and feeling of freedom is great. I should see if I can get some sort of winged race. Since one of my bodies can be a bunny girl, it stands to reason that there might be a dungeon somewhere that can turn me into an angel like Citrine. Coming with my human body was definitely a good decision. It’s been a long time since I’ve been around a lot of humans, but the way my camp acted towards the elves when we first found them… Being looked at with lust can be fun, but being fetishized would be weird.

It was surprising when I first learned that Citrine is one of Jeff’s kids, but hearing her story and knowing Opal’s kids, she’s probably not the only one. Honestly, Jeff and I probably never would have worked out anyway, but it was good to talk about my old friend with someone who cared about him. If he were still around now, I’d definitely apologize.

Well tossing that sad thought aside, I feel us dip in the air and yell “Are you okay? We can take another break!” She doesn’t respond, probably because of the wind howling in our ears. We seem fine though, so I’ll just ask her about it when we have our next pee break. The whole thing so far has felt a lot like a car trip with a girlfriend, chatting about guys and our families. My bunny-girl body is searching for hidden camps with Sap and the pack. That’s pretty boring so far, but if we find one I’m going to ask for more writing stuff. As it is, I’m worried I’ll run out of pens and pencils in a few months.

Paper is less of an issue. Apparently Barrier has a structure that produces scrolls like the Pig Pen makes pigs. From the times Opal has let me study her, I think I could use her hair as a replacement for pencil lead. It’s just too bendy and using it would be really hard so it’s definitely a last resort. Wow, my thoughts are all over the place again.

I notice that we’ve stopped moving, which is strange since we just had our pee break and she isn’t flying us down. That’s when I look down and see an obvious camp pretty far below us. We’re a decent distance away from any of our own camps so I don’t think the monsters here would be a threat. I notice something odd though, and whisper to my angelic taxi “Can you bring us a bit lower?” She responds quietly “Yeah, just stay quiet. I don’t think they’ll spot us even a bit lower.” I nod as she starts bringing us closer to the camp.

Finally I can make out what I thought I saw before. Those are definitely all snake-human monsters of some kind, but strangely they’re all female. Well, at least they all seem to have breasts and I don’t see and dicks flopping around. If my eyesight weren’t better at a higher tier I probably wouldn’t have noticed and just had Citrine fly past. With obvious sexual traits, does that make them a breeder race? All we’ve seen so far around us has been male breeders, but I always hypothesized that there were female types. I’ll have to mark down where we found it next time we land.

I can’t study them now, but I can come back with the pack after we’ve searched the surroundings of Opal’s Home. Maybe they’ve run into other female variants at this new city. There are so many new biological things to look into once I can get my hands on one. I suppose they could be friendly like Opal’s frogmen, but then they should let me do some tests with bargaining. I signal for Citrine to lift us back up and continue on our journey, thinking about all the possible things I’ll find in a female breeder monster.

We didn’t get a quest, so I don’t think they had any captives. Maybe the System just didn’t give us one, or maybe the men they caught all died already. Can female breeders mate with male breeders? Do they capture each other like they would humans… Players? I still think of everyone as human, the elves, the bunnies and our hound children. Using the term Players still feels dehumanizing somehow, but I’m probably just being weird.

When we land for the next break, Citrine drops to her knees and moans. I can’t help but giggle. I guess Marble’s friends are doing a good job for her. Ah, that’s probably why her flying was a bit erratic earlier. I decide not to tease her and instead bring out one of my blank scrolls, jotting down some notes on what I saw of the possible female breeder camp, and a guess on where it is in comparison. She soon regains her composure and we both drink some water from the pond.

“Sorry about that. Those guys are a lot better than I was expecting and it was a bit difficult focusing.” Citrine says, and I smile while responding “That’s alright, I’ve done similarly embarrassing things since getting a second body. I won’t judge.” There have been so many monsters Sap has convinced me to try having sex with for fun. I can’t say I have a favorite right now, usually preferring Player partners, but everyone around Opal seems understanding of random moans now.

I say “The camp we saw was different from the usual. I think it might be female breeders of some kind.” She nods and tells me “Yeah, they looked like Lamias. Men don’t usually survive the breeding, so that’s probably why we didn’t get a rescue quest. The System is weird though, so who knows. I wouldn’t risk fighting them without mom and my sisters if I were you. They have some pretty bad poison if they can bite you.” If they’re venomous, then bringing someone with thick skin would make sense. Maybe I’ll have to change my plans for using the pack.

I ask how she knows all that, but she answers “It’s a secret, maybe I’ll tell you some day.” I’ll just assume it’s something she got from genetic memories then. I’m not sure why she wouldn’t just say that. We don’t spend a lot of time on this break, but she does tell me a little bit about a problem she had with addiction recently. “I think I would have done more to make sure he paid for what he did. You and your family are way too naive and trusting when it comes to other family members. What if he doesn’t change and just grabs more slaves when you lose interest in checking?” I ask her.

She answers with a sigh “He was so cute and innocent not that long ago. I couldn’t bring myself to do more to my younger brother. Family is a big part of our lives as Opal’s children, and hurting family would feel like a betrayal towards mom.” I see a conflicted look on her face, so I tell her “Well just try to stay safe and make good choices okay? You’d hurt Opal more by doing something dumb and dying.” I think I might have soured the mood a bit with the part about punishing her brother, so I’m glad when we get in the air again. Maybe I was a bit insensitive.

I hear her moan again as we’re taking off, and it’s good to see that she’s probably not feeling too down.

A few breaks later and we’re finally getting close to Woodville. I think that was it’s name. They must have changed the name of the city like Jessica did with Barrier since I don’t recognize it. Citrine is in a good mood again, and I think her sex party is over with for now. She has stopped flying erratically and moaning. “As long as we’ve stayed relatively straight, we should see the city soon. If we pass a small mountain with a white cliff face, then we’ve gone too far and should start looking around.” I tell her. There are more detailed directions if we miss it, but I can just tell her those if it happens.

From what I’ve seen so far, the descriptions have us going the right way. If it was originally a human city then it will have roads going to and from it that shouldn’t be completely overgrown yet. Well, the trees around Opal’s Home and the other camps seem to a lot faster than normal, but I think that’s an elf thing. I don’t expect trees everywhere to be the same, so roads will still be a great indicator for us from the air.

I’m a bit disappointed that my other body hasn’t found any monster camps yet. Using the reward for that would be much simpler than finding people willing to trade writing implements. I know Jessica probably has some stashed away for her own documents. I just want a few to hold me off till I can find a more permanent solution.

After being in the air for another hour, I’m not really paying attention to my surroundings when Citrine slows a bit and yells “I think I see it up ahead! Do I land in the clearing outside the walls or in the forest?” I can barely hear her, but she’s slowed enough that I can make out her words. I look and see the reflection of glass in the sunlight. “The forest! We don’t know if they have a flying monster problem, so it’s better to be as human as possible on arrival!” I yell back.

Flying up to the gates carried by an angel sounds like a good way to be misunderstood and hit with an arrow or skill.

-POV End-