Mr. Sibrian actually took responsibility for Shia and let me pee in peace. I wished he'd done the same for when we showered but he didn't. Apparently, it was fine since we were young and she was my sister. Well, it wasn't fine with me and so I took very, very short baths. And yes, baths. When we stopped by villages, we almost always got luxury inn rooms and they came with private baths. My baths weren't private though… sigh.
Still, it wasn't that bad. Shia was wild and a brat and annoying too but she wasn't doing it on purpose, at least I hope she wasn't. She couldn't be like this back at her place. So, when she finally found the reins a little loose, she didn't hold back.
The reason she was infamous at the academy wasn't because she was violent, but rather because she was mischievous. She'd prank you, no matter who you were. I think she didn't harm me because of two things. One, I was family. And two, she was wary of me. What if I found out and told her mother? What if I actively worked against her in her very own home?
However, now that I'd earned more of her trust, she really didn't bother hiding her true self. Which I appreciated but at the same time… didn't.
"You've lost some weight," she said, splashing water without intent. We had a small wooden tub. Roundish. She barely had a towel wrapped.
Mine was pretty tight.
"Kind of. Been running around a lot," I said. I took a look at my body. Lately, I hadn't been paying attention. I didn't have as much as fat as I used to. I couldn't really call this healthy though. I was clearly lacking protein in my meals. Just milk wasn't good enough. Maybe I'll focus more on meat? "Oh on the other hand," I paused. No, she hadn't gained weight. She'd just gotten bigger…. She smiled. Oh yeah, she knew where my gaze was. "I'm getting out."
She snickered. "I didn't say anything you know," she shrugged. "You can look if you want to." Sometimes I wondered whether she was intentionally leaving shame outside the door.
"No, thanks. I'm only interested in bigger-" I shut up. What the fuck are you saying!
She burst into laughter as I stormed out of there.
Most of the women I knew would get upset way too easily. They'd hold grudges, they'd pout and wouldn't tell you where you went wrong. And most of these women were from the other world. in this world… I'd met three women who didn't fit that narrative. Shia was one of them.
There's definitely something wrong with her though.
***
We reached the border earlier than expected. Our escort knight explained things and the guards just let us through.
The border itself wasn't that interesting. Just random wooden planks and some group of people patrolling the place. As we passed them by though, I saw more. They had dogs. Big dogs. Like wolves big but those things looked like if Siberian Huskies and German Shepherds had kids. So Siberian Shepherds? Did Siberian Shepherds have weird blue streaks on their bodies though?
I expected a gradual change in our surroundings. But instead, it was pretty sudden. The temperature rose in haphazard fury and before long I was shivering. "How the hell is this possible?" I managed
Wait a second, was that snow? In spring!?
Before long the ground turned white… and the carriage shook more than usual.
"Nothing new. Weather changes fast here. Wouldn't be surprised if it's summer in their capital right now." Shia wasn't bothered. She took out a thick blanket from her bag and spread it over us, while she snuggled up next to me. Our shoulders were touching and although it would have bothered me in other circumstances, right now, I happily accepted her warmth.
Why?
It was freezing damn it!
"Ow…" Shia mumbled.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. It's rather bumpy today, huh?" She said… sweating?
"Do you have a fever?" I reached for her forehead. She batted my hand away.
"Nope." But she was making somewhat odd noises every now and then and… huh? My hand felt warm… and wet….
She was clutching to the blanket a little too tightly but- Did she… pee on me! I pretended to look away but then immediately lifted up the blanket. Yes, there was small amounts of liquid just beneath where she was sitting. No, it wasn't pale yellow… it was red. I quickly clutched the blanket back where it was supposed to be and we started sweating together….
Well… fuck.
"I'm sorry…I'm really sorry you had to that disgusting…" Shia said. "I… forgot…" she spoke meekly.
"It's alright," I said. "Mom said, this happens to girls…" Obviously no one said that to me. But God bless you Sex Ed Class! No, not you Askavan! "I'll go out. Clean and get changed and stuff…" I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible but boy was she upset. She could almost break into tears any moment now. "Hey, I need to go, can you stop!" I yelled giving the door a knock.
"Yeah, sure thing Sol," the driver said, stopping.
I got out, but our guards didn't get off their horses and just watched me march into the distant bush. Sometime later I got back. "Hey Mr. Sib, I-" I went closer. "Might have peeled of a little skin there, can you drive slowly?" I whispered. He flashed me some teeth. "You got it man! I totally understand!"
Did he though? Does he seriously think I just jacked off or something? Actually, I'd never done it in this body, huh? Plus, I didn't get any wet dreams yet either. I'm still too young anyway. Moving on, I knocked on the door. She coughed once and let me in.
"I'm sure you're disgusted but…" Shia was fidgeting. She'd got changed and even wiped the blood clean with something.
"As I said, Mom already told me, so relax."
"Okay…"
The journey for the rest of day… was awkward to say the least. She didn't share the bath and she didn't try anything funny for the next two days.
***
Meanwhile, though Shia had become meek, our journey didn't become any less exciting. For example, the houses in this place were all weird. Weird as in, I had no idea things could even bend like that. "That looks like a dick," Shia said.
Young miss, you shouldn't be saying shit like that… "It kinda does," I snickered. But yeah, she was right. One of the buildings looked like a bent dick. And then another one looked like balls. And then another one like a clit? And a vag? Almost all the buildings in the area were weird and the statues were weirder. Naked statues doing… not safe for work things.
"Umm…" I said. "What is this town?"
"It's the city of desires," our accompanying knight answered.
"How come I don't see people?"
"They're… living their desires…"
It was midday. I suppose most people didn't like being out in this hot weather. And yes, hot. The cold just went away like it was on introvert or something. But it wasn't just most people it was all the people. So, they're like screwing each other right now?
Wow… and here I thought people were sane in this world. Well, sex was fun so I understood where they were coming from. Wait, you're still a virgin!
It was a small town and we didn't really need to stop here. Not that I was eager to….
We had two more days to go on this journey and since nothing major happened so far, we could reach the Duke's city by tomorrow midnight, assuming nothing happened from here on out too.
It was a little strange how we didn't get targeted by Fiends or even bandits on the way. Maybe they got scared by our resident knight and thugs?
Probably not. There was something more. There had to be.
"Umm… Sir Sol," the knight said.
"Yes?"
"Is your sister alright? She's been awfully calm since yesterday."
"She's a bit under the weather. Should be fine with some proper rest tonight."
"I See…"
I took our escort knight to be a serious man. And for the most part he was. However, he was also quite vigilant and picked up on things quickly. I liked that trait in people. Yet, I didn't like this guy for some reason. Blue hair, a fake smile and that odd look in his eyes. He was great at his job but, I still didn't like him.
So, again with nothing major to do, I focused on manipulating wind as Shia just sat on the other corner minding her own business.
Can't I like suffocate people with this? I knew what air was. Bout 78 parts nitrogen and 21 parts oxygen. As long as I decreased Oxygen and increased something like carbon dioxide or just decrease oxygen in general, I could probably knock people out with it.
So, for starters I tried to control the oxygen around me. Good thing I'd drilled its chemical structure in my mind. I can't see the structure with my eyes though? So, useless?
At first nothing happened. It wasn't like I could see oxygen in the air. But strangely, with some patience and persistence, I was able to identify and control oxygen. It was like I was seeing blue particles or something. Blue for oxygen, red for CO2 (and other stuff like argon), and green for nitrogen. Obviously, the colors were imaginary and my brain was probably just making shit up to help me focus but… when I tried moving the oxygen (which took half of my mana)… I felt faint and it was harder to breathe.
I stopped. I didn't need to actually suffocate myself. I just needed to know if it worked. So, I tried with Shia to test my range. Surely my range wasn't that big, I mean I had terrible mana capacity and-
She was out of breath and looked at me weirdly. "It's harder to breathe in here."
"Sorry," I said. "I was just trying out something new. Didn't think it'd reach you." My eyes felt droopy. Used too much mana?
No just suffocation, this would work in all sorts of ways!
"What?" She was more curious than furious.
"I was taking out the air you breathe in."
"But I was breathing it in just fine…" She eyed me suspiciously.
Well, she wouldn't understand oxygen. And if I haphazardly went around sharing my knowledge about elements, the church could brand me as a heathen and execute me, so…. "I decreased the quality of the air you breathed in. You thought it was the same but I just made it worse and that's why it was harder to breathe."
"That's… actually kind of scary."
"Yeah."
I was totally out of mana though. And I felt sleepy… so I fluffed my pillow… and just slept.