บท 16: Investigation

"Goddess."

All of them muttered at the same time. Almost like they were in a trance-like state.

Mira heard them mutter and looked at them with a frown.

'Shit! I bet these people are here from Lunar Fox City sent to investigate me. Fuck! How unlucky, I just left that cave, and now that I'm full of injuries all I can hope for is that they won't hurt me.' Mira thought to herself. She put away her scythe and just ignored them. Right now she has to deal with the wounds. She took out a leather pouch full of water and washed off the gashes on her back, shoulders, and legs. Then she took out all of her Blood Mushrooms and started to grind them into a paste. After the paste was made she applied it to her wounds and meditated.

After a few minutes, the women that were in a trance finally awoke and they saw that she was dealing with her wounds.

"Are you the one that did this?" One of them asked even while knowing that she probably did. It was hard to believe someone so young could do this.

Mira just ignored her.

"Why are you out in the forest alone, especially this deep into the forest?" Another woman asked, but got ignored again.

They kept asking questions like where her weapon went or where's her home or her age. All they got was silence. The women were starting to get annoyed because they were being treated like air by a child. Finally, the Rineheart woman spoke up.

"What's your name?"

She also got ignored, but she continued.

"I guess it's rude if I don't introduce myself first. My name is Ellen Rineheart. I'm the young miss of the Rineheart family in Lunar Fox City. We have come here to investigate a disturbance in the forest."

This time Mira opened her eyes and spoke.

"Mira." That's all Mira said.

"So your name's Mira. I've never seen or heard about you before, but there is a rumor going around about a 'Forest Goddess' in the city and villages around here. Seeing that you aren't that far away from the cave where she was rumored to be, do you know anything about this?" Ellen asked, but she already guessed that this child was somehow related.

Mira knew that Ellen probably guessed that she was related to the cave. She could say that it was her master, but if they've already been to the cave then they'd know that nothing there is the work of a master. Also, why would such a person want a continuous stream of magical beasts around their cave? Anyone with a brain would know she's lying if she said that. She might as well just say that it was her.

"If you mean the idiots that kept bothering me calling me a goddess then yes. That was me that lived there." Mira said shocking everyone.

They thought that might be the case, but to hear it straight from her mouth and in such a crude way was enough to shock them. Ellen just nodded her head in understanding as she guessed that might be the case. Especially with Mira's looks.

"Were you living there with anyone? How long were you there?" Ellen continued to ask. She was doing her job well as someone sent to investigate.

"I've lived at that particular cave for a year. Someone was staying with me for the first 6 months of my stay, but she left so it was just me for the rest of the year."

"I see. Can you tell who stayed with you? Was it your master?" Ellen continued asking

"No." That's all Mira said. She didn't want to bring up Maria, as it might cause trouble for her.

"Okay. Oh, one more thing. Why did you only kill men that came to see you and not the women?" Ellen asked out of pure curiosity.

Mira just looked at her like she was an idiot. Then she stood up and then pointed at herself. They were confused for a moment then understood. She's too beautiful, plus a weak little girl on top of that. She might be able to deal with the common people under the Qi Condensation Realm, but if she ran into someone from a main family or sect. That would definitely be trouble for her.

"Thanks for answering my questions. It looks like there was no need for us to worry so much. Do you need any help with your wounds?"

Mira just shook her head. "No need."

"Well, I will give you something anyway." Ellen said and took out a pill from her Spatial Ring and threw it at Mira.

"Here take this, it's a Rank 1 Rejuvenation Pill. This should heal your wounds and won't leave any scars. Just think of this as payment for answering my questions." Ellen explained.

Mira looked at the pill for a minute.

'It seems like it really is a rejuvenation pill.' Mira thought

Mira nodded and swallowed the pill. Her injuries were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. It took Mira around 10 minutes for her injuries to completely heal.

"Thanks." Mira said with a blank face.

"You're welcome." Ellen said back with a smile.

"Well, then I will take my leave." Mira then began to walk off.

"Wait! We can't just leave a child here! Even if she's strong enough to survive here, it's still not right!" One of the girls spoke up. Most of the other girls agreed, but a few weren't sure if they should. Even though they didn't want to leave a little girl alone, is she really just a little girl?

Ellen decided to run over to Mira.

"Why don't you come back with us? I can't on good conscience leave a little girl in the forest. Even if you can survive, it will be nice for you to interact with other people. You could even gather supplies there to help you." Ellen said trying to convince her.

Mira was about to immediately reject her but stopped herself. Several things popped into her mind.

'I might actually need to consider this. Some things in a city would be nice for me to have on a journey. Like a Spatial Ring, various kinds of pills to help me recover, sparring partners, and better food. Also, I'm starting to have doubts about this forest being a Rank 2 forest. If this is a Rank 2 forest then why the fuck was there are Rank 2 Ghost Wolf in the outer region? Also, the amount of Peak-Stage-Rank 1 magical beasts is overwhelming. I have to go out of my way to find something weaker in this region. This happened right next to my cave too. I guess I could also make sure Maria isn't slacking either.'

"I guess I will go to the city with you, but I have a couple of conditions. I need a mask to put on and I'm going to cover my hair in mud. Also, I know someone in the city. If I'm going to stay in the city I will only stay with her." Mira laid out her conditions.

Ellen thought about it for a second but agreed. The mask and mud thing is normal. Her wanting to stay with her friend and not them was a bit rude, but then again they just met.

"Okay, that's not a problem. Who is it that you know in Lunar Fox City? With our connections, we should be able to find them easily." Ellen wondered.

"Maria."

"Maria huh? There are plenty of Maria's in Lunar Fox City. Do you know her last name by chance?"

"Hmmm, I think she said, Zaria. Yeah, that should be it." Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

"What!?" One of the 10 girls exclaimed.

"Maria Zaria, with the shoulder-length blonde hair?" She asked Mira.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Ah! I see now. It was probably her that stayed with you for those 6 months right? Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Ariel Zaria. I'm Maria's cousin. I thought she died at first because of the rumor that the Rineheart family spread, but then Uncle Cole just showed up with her one day 6 months ago. She also did say that she stayed in a cave and trained. So it was you that she trained with." Ariel said as she came to a sudden realization.

"*Sigh* She was intent on sticking with me for some reason, but with her awful sword skills, she would just immediately die without a form of protection. And I had no intention of protecting her so I made her go through training and sparred with her to increase her battle prowess."

"Hehe, that's true. It seems that she is much better when she returned though. I will take you to the Zaria family when we head back to the city. You can also see Maria there too." Ariel giggled.

Mira nodded and started to cover her hair in mud. After she was done with that, one of the girls handed her a mask. Maria packed up her stuff and the 11 of them made their way back to Lunar Fox City.