"Our village is relatively small," said Kai as he walked side-by-side with Valerie. They were looking around the area, with Kai acting like Valerie's tour guide. "There are only a few houses here and a few beastmen like us live here."
With a nod, Valerie agreed with Kai as he stared at every villager in the area. Like Kai, they had fluffy ears, light bodies with a tail attached to their behind, and a thin piece of black cloth covering their private areas.
Although some wolf beastmen appeared to have the same coat color, some others had different hair and eye colors. Some of them had black, white, gold, brown, and a combination of all in hair color. At the same time, their eye color ranges from blue, dark brown, or black, amber to pale yellow and even green.
Valerie finally understood the setup of this world. And even though it was quite different from what she had been used to, her mind was already geared towards the alternate world she got herself into. Seeing them felt unique, and Valerie found them quite cool.
"Yes, that is right," Valerie said with a smile. "Right, may I ask where your father— I mean, the chief has gone?"
"A chief is a busy man and he's already on his post," Kai said as he continued to walk, guiding Valerie around. "He is really passionate about his work as well."
"I see,"
As they continued to walk around, Valerie could see how the other members of the tribe greeted Kai. It seemed that he was popular among them as the son of the chief.
Several girls eyed both of them, especially that one woman with rusty ochreous hair color. She had a certain look on her face that screamed anything other than friendly.
Valerie's trail of thoughts disappeared when she heard a crying sound that a little girl might have made. The sobs that traveled through the air were heartbreaking, as if it was crying her heart out. Then, when she looked at a distance, she saw a small kid with her bottom on the bare ground.
Gathering her courage, Valerie stepped forward until she stood next to the crying girl, leaving Kai behind. She placed a hand on top of the girl's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. But, instead, the girl turned and looked at her. Then, with the little girl's ears perked towards her and tail tucked behind her, the little girl's round eyes focused on her.
"Please," she said as she was crying, "I really want to become a C-ranked!"
Valerie ended up just patting her shoulder as a way to comfort the crying child. She did not know what the little girl meant by that and just stared at her with a confused facial expression.
Knowing Kai was now standing next to Valerie, he crouched down next to her and stared at the little girl.
"I want to be strong and protect the other kids like me." The little girl sniffed, trying her best to stop herself from sobbing. Valerie wanted to melt at the little girl's cuteness. "We can't even step outside of the village to play as the hyenas are preying on weak beastmen like us!"
“C-rank is where we fully reach adulthood,” Kai explained to Valerie softly when he noticed her confusion. “Beastmen children usually start off at E-rank.”
“What’s your rank?” Valerie asked, curious.
Kai flashed Valerie a cheeky smile. “I just ascended to C-rank earlier on. I’m officially a fully-grown wolf.”
Valerie quickly ran the information through her head. If Kai had just reached C-rank, that could mean that his ‘dog’ form was something below C. By alphabetical order, he would’ve been a D-rank when they first met.
Even at D-rank, Kai had been targeted by the hyenas when Valerie met him. How much more if this little girl would come out of the village?
"Is that the reason why you wanted to become an adult C-ranked wolf? So that you can protect your friends?" Valerie asked, to which the little girl nodded in response. "But you are still a kid, little one. So I think it is better to be safe and stay here in your village."
"It must be because you're a human, older sister," the little girl confidently said with a pout. "But you don't know how beastmen like us are treated.."
That comment from the little girl surprised Valerie that she could not say anything else. She pursed her lips and blinked. The little girl was right.
She had no idea how this world works and only got to know tiny bits of information that she could gather in just a short amount of time.
"And my name is Lisa," the little girl added as she sniffed while wiping the tears that were left on her eyes. Her black and short hair looked adorable on her as she fixed her black-colored eyes on Valerie. "Please call me by my name, sister."
Kai cleared his throat and finally joined the conversation, "Lisa. Weren't you a little bit disrespectful to this lady who just tried to comfort you? You should apologize to her."
"I'm sorry," the little girl said as she sniffed. "It's just that we don't have anyone to protect or guide us…” she trailed off, "And I wanted to become a strong adult wolf so that I can protect my precious friends. I didn't mean to be rude to her."
"It's okay," Valerie said with a smile as she patted her head. "Honestly, you are right, Lisa. I apologize for that insensitive comment as well." Then, with a smile, she continued, "All I can say is, for now, you should wait until you become a fully adult wolf before you explore the wilderness. Okay?"
"Okay, sister," Lisa said with a happy nod and a joyous smile. Her face brightened up, and the little girl was no longer crying.
Valerie stood up with a burst of her strength, and so did Kai, who was crouching near her. She offered her hand to the little girl in a friendly manner. "Promise me that you won't be crying after this, okay?"
Lisa nodded as she grabbed Valerie's hand and stood up. Then, with a beaming face, she said, "No, I won't! Thank you for your kind words, older sister!"