[Honestly, it looks a lot like Elmira,] Liri thought to herself as Arisa pointed ahead at her tribal village. [But... bigger. A lot bigger.]
She meant that in the literal sense. The buildings up ahead, made of straw, leaves, wood, and rocks, were much larger than the ones in Elmira. Probably because, if Arisa was any indication, the average ven was probably almost half the size of the average drasen.
"We are here," Arisa declared with a proud smile. "The Levera Tribe."
A couple of guards who sported the same wings, black lips, and horns on their heads as Arisa looked at the duo with curiosity and suspicion. They wore what looked like standard leather armor in RPGs and were carrying spears and shields. As Arisa began walking toward them, Liri tried to calm her heart down.
[Just stay behind her… They're giving me a couple of bad looks right now but, whatever, it'll be fine. It, ehm, will be fine, right?]
"Is everything going to be fine?"
"Probably," Arisa replied cheerfully. "Just let me do all the talking."
"Got it… Got it."
As the two of them walked up to the guards, they addressed Arisa, although their eyes remained on Liri the entire time.
"Who is this?" One of the guards asked immediately. Liri tensed up as Arisa wrapped one arm around her.
"My new lover~" The woman bragged. "Are you going to deny us entry?"
"I wouldn't dare, if it were not for the fact that the lover you speak of is a human," one of them, a female guard, pointed out. "Are you siding with the enemy?"
[Enemy? I guess they've been getting attacked by humans too.]
"Ha! No, no, no. Liri is not human at all. Look!"
[Huh?]
She gave Liri no warning.
Before the ven knew what was happening, Arisa reached down, grabbed her loincloth, and pulled it up.
Liri's face turned red instantly. The guards' eyes bulged out of their sockets. She could almost feel them scanning her cock. Speechless, Liri just watched as Arisa let it fall and allowed her to regain a small portion of her dignity.
"What the…?" One of the guards finally said quietly. Liri didn't notice who, because she couldn't look either of them in the eyes after that.
[Just breathe,] Liri told herself, inhaling deeply. [Just… breathe. It's alright. So what if she just showed them your dick? We needed to do it to get in. Yeah. Just breathe.]
"… Even if she isn't human, you should be careful not to associate too much with outsiders," the female guard, who was blushing nearly as much as Liri was, pointed out. "Whether human, elf, or whatever this woman is, outsiders have never been more dangerous than they are currently."
Having said that, the two guards moved their spears away and allowed Arisa and Liri to enter.
To her left, Liri saw two people engaged in a fistfight while others watched and cheered them on. To the right, some men and women carried fruits and vegetables in baskets down the street. Guards stood ready, keeping watch between moderately sized huts.
Liri was further reminded of Elmira, though it seemed like the ven were just a step ahead technologically.
That begged one simple question.
[So… How have these people managed to outlast my kind?]
Everywhere Liri looked, someone was glancing her way with the same caution that the guards had displayed. Liri felt smaller under the weight of all their stares.
"We'll see the relan right away," Arisa stated. "Just to let him know you're here and so he can tell all the guards to calm down. As soon as that's out of the way, you can head to the archives and start doing your research."
"Relan?" Liri asked.
"Ah, our leader," Arisa clarified. "Telvan Levera. I haven't spoken to him too many times myself, actually," Arisa said with a chuckle. "He does tend to grant audience to whoever asks for it, though."
"That's nice of him."
"I wouldn't describe it as him being 'nice'. I think it is more so him wanting to make sure no one in the village is too unhappy. Such a thing could lead to a challenge for the relan title, after all."
[Oh… So, this village follows the "whoever is the strongest gets to lead" mentality?]
Having made note of that, Liri took a second to look around and scan the Soul Ratings of everyone nearby.
[Hm. 1200, 900, 1100… If every random civilian here is this strong, then it's no wonder how they've managed to hold out for so long. Their regular citizen's Soul Ratings are on par with an average Elmira fighter. Well, it could also be that they've made an effort to increase it after hearing what happened to other tribes of theirs, assuming humans are doing the same thing to them that they did to us.]
Liri then bumped into Arisa's back, as she hadn't noticed the woman had stopped walking.
"We're here," Arisa told her.
"What? Already?"
"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "The Leveran Tribe is on the smaller side of Drasen settlements."
[Okay, never mind. I guess it's not that much like Elmira. I grew up in a city back on Earth, so I'm not too sure how big Elmira was when compared to medieval villages from that world, but, I mean, Elmira felt pretty damn big. Even though these structures are so big, it looks like the tribe as a whole is pretty small. Maybe the size of this place is part of the reason they've been able to fly under the radar for so long.]
A hand then reached out and softly grasped one of Liri's own. The ven looked over at Arisa, feeling her face heat up.
"Come," Arisa said. "We're only gaining more attention by standing out here for so long."
"R-Right," Liri replied, looking away as Arisa let go.
They walked into the leader's hut, which happened to be a lot bigger than the rest. A few guards, all of which boasted the highest Soul Ratings Liri had seen here so far, stood ready at the sides of a wooden desk up ahead. Behind it, sat the relan, a man whose horns extended far beyond that of the other drasen.
[1910, 2100, 2240… These guys are strong.]
"Arisa Gelmara," the drasen leader muttered with a slightly guttural voice. "Who is this?"
With pride that Liri found a little embarrassing, Arisa responded:
"My lover."