Wait! I'm not a Demigod, I'm a Gamer!

Chapter 39: Pardon

Sam and Damian rush over to Yuuya, hugging him tightly as they cheer. "This is so amazing Yuuya!" Damian punches his shoulder lightly with a teasing smile, "Only you would form a familiar contract with a Sacred Beast." Yuuya chuckles in embarrassment while his tail wags happily. Aurora leans in closer, startling the humans in Yuuya's arms. "Oh! Um hi...Aurora?" Sam greets nervously. Aurora smiles, "Hello, nice to meet you two." Sam and Damian look at Yuuya, the beast-man nods, silently pushing them forward. Sam waves his hand shakily, "N-nice to meet you. I'm S-Samuel, but you can call me Sam." Damian gives her a small bow, he too shaking, "H-hi, I'm Damian..." Aurora sniffs them, making the hair on the back of their necks stand up, before replying, "It's a pleasure. I would like to apologize for my actions the first time we met." This time she bows to them, surprising the two. "O-oh! That's okay, Yuuya explained to us that you were under a slave contract. That must've been awful..." Sam stutters out, unsure how to comfort the beast. Damian steps in, "Yeah, I can't believe someone could do that to someone like you. Bastards." Aurora chuckles over their words, "Thank you, I hope I will be of help to your group." Sam smiles at her as Damian smirks, "We're happy to have you!" "Welcome to Orion's Pax." Yuuya smiles wider at them, happy to see his friends getting along. Gunter is suddenly by his side, surprising him, "Glad to see you're okay son." Yuuya nods happily, "Thank you sir." Gunter takes his right wrist, "Now, let's see how compatible you and your new familiar are-" He gasps mid sentence when he sees the five rings linked together on his wrist. His stunned silence makes Yuuya nervous, "Mr. Gunter? Sir, is everything-" Gunter pulls Yuuya to his face, "Yuuya! Do you know what this means!?" Yuuya slowly shakes his head, "Uhhh nooo..." Gunter raises Yuuya's hand up high making the poor beast-man stand on his tip toes to avoid hanging in the air. "Everyone! He's a natural! The Goddess herself has blessed this man with a powerful familiar! The contract shows five rings!" All the nobles and knights gasp and loudly chatter amongst themselves. Beatrice's jaw drops at the news, her family showing the same reaction. Sam and Damian look behind them and shout, "What!?" Before whipping their heads back towards Aurora, seeing the five rings above her head glowing proud fully. Yuuya chuckles nervously as he continues to struggle standing on his tip toes, "Is five rings good?" Gunter snaps his head at him, making him sweatdrop, "Good!? This is amazing! No one in history has ever had five rings!" Aurora shakes her head, "That's not quite accurate. While it is true that no human has ever received five rings. There have been a few to ever have five rings, but that was a long time ago during the Demigod Wars. My previous master was one of the few." Yuuya wags his tail in interest, "Really? Then what does this mean?" Aurora smirks as she happily explains, "With five rings, you have complete access to my mana and magic spells. My strength is yours as well. In exchange, I have access to all of your earth related spells and your large quantity of mana. We can even message each other no matter how far apart we are, however, we will also share our pain." Yuuya ears twitch at the last part, "Share our pain? Do you mean if I get hurt you'll be able to feel it?" Aurora nods, "Yes. Depending on how severe the wound is, it could affect our psyche. We'll have to be careful in the future." Yuuya bites his lower lip, going over all of his previous battles, the wounds he received from each one. "That's, going to be tricky..." Gunter gains his attention again by laughing loudly, "This day has turned out even better than I imagined! Yuuya, you are just full of surprises." Beatrice joins in on the joyous feeling, "I agree, this day marks the beginning of a new era." Yuuya smiles shyly before a thought crosses his mind. "Um sooo am I still being sent to the dungeon?" Before Beatrice could respond, Willcox angrily yells out, "Of course you are! What kind of a question is that?" Willcox stomps over to him, missing the several angered looks, no longer caring over his ruined attire. "Not only have you lied about your identity, but you put everyone here in danger, including the queen herself!" Yuuya's ears fold on his head as he looks down in shame, his friends growing more furious. Willcox continues to rant at the depressed beast-man, "You're crazy if you think you're-" The man is cut off by a young loud voice, "Leave him alone!" Maria runs past everyone, after somehow breaking through her brother's grasp, and puts herself in between Yuuya and Willcox which catches everyone off guard, her hands on her hips with a glare on her face. "Yuuya is a good person who has never hurt anyone!" A few knights and nobles cough awkwardly while Yuuya goes "ummm..." Maria looks around, a blush forms but her glare still in place as she crosses her arms. "Well, at least not on purpose. But still!" Willcox tries to regain his posture as he speaks to the fuming princess. "Your Highness, this beast-man is dangerous-" The man is cut off once more as all three princes stand by her side, their arms crossed as well. "Yuuya may be dangerous, but only to those that mean harm. For the record, you stated and I quote, 'I say we execute the prisoners, save the beast-man for last.' And that is when Yuuya went from being completely compliant to a feral beast. You were the one to cause this." Quinn states, his eyes glaring even harder on the man. Willcox stutters for a comeback, but is interrupted by two knights on either side of him, each taking hold of his arms. Zacharias speaks in a dark tone, "Save it. You had no right to make that call, Her Majesty is the only one to give out the final verdict. You have made this trial unnecessarily complicated and have put everyone here at risk." Phillip, his usual smile long gone and replaced with a deep frown, "You are under arrest for endangering the lives of everyone in this court and for misconducting yourself to the point of jeopardizing this trial." Willcox struggles against his restraints, "Unhand me at once! I am of noble blood, I deserve better treatment than this!" Beatrice steps forward, a dangerous aura surrounds her as she yells back, "As of this moment, your status and title are to be stripped away! You are no longer a Marquess." Willcox pales as the knights drag him away, his voice fading as he leaves, "Your Majesty, please wait! Your Majesty!"
Beatrice huffs and turns around, her anger slowly simmering as she stares into Yuuya's uncertain look while her people fidget in place. "According to the Old Law, I, Beatrice Anastasia Pandaramn, Queen of Akruya, find the prisoner Yuuya to be...innocent and pardoned of all charges!" Yuuya's eyes widen to saucers while all of his friends cheer and jump in joy, pulling the stunned beast-man in the celebration. Aurora stares at the scene fondly, sneaking a glance at Beatrice to nod briefly at the woman who nods back before she turns back as her eldest sons and husband follow her, glad the day was finally over. Phillip and Maria join in, hugging the beast-man with bright smiles. It takes time, but eventually everyone clears out of the Great Hall. The nobles wearily head off in the opposite direction from Yuuya and his friends. Aurora walks alongside her master while Yuuya chats excitedly about their future plans as the rest of group nervously watch. "Are we *gulp* really gonna take it to the guild?" One of the adventurers, Gray, asks anxiously, not knowing a certain beast-man was listening. Gunter gives him a stink eye, "Of course we are! She's a member of Orion's Pax. You know the rules, tamed beasts are allowed to join so long as they follow the rules as all our adventurers do too. She may have damaged the capital and killed many people, but that was all under the power of a slave contract. She will have to prove herself under Yuuya's command." The other adventurers agree with the Guildmaster while Yuuya sweat drops at the conversation. "Wait! The pressure is on me again!? Why!?" Yuuya thinks worriedly, already coming up with troubling scenarios where everything goes wrong and leads to them being kicked out of the country or worse, to the dungeon again. While deep in thought, he wasn't expecting a response in his mind, "Worry not master. I have complete faith in you. You have already led so many quests with these two in the past." Yuuya stumbles in surprise and is thankfully caught by Sam and Damian who looks at him in confusion. "You okay Yuuya?" Sam asks in concern. Yuuya nods with a blush while Damian checks him over for any injuries. "Y-yup, just lost my footing for a second there." Yuuya looks ahead while his eyes looks up to the side at his new familiar. "Hold on a second, you can hear me!?" Aurora subtly nods. "Of course. We are bonded by the familiar contract by the highest degree. You can hear my thoughts as I can hear yours. If that is an issue, you merely need to think of a wall and it will block me out. I understand the need for privacy. Please forgive my intrusion." Yuuya can't help feeling guilty. He understands it's not her fault, but he's not used to having another person hearing his own mind. "This is all so new." He jumps again as he hears her voice once more, "It will take some time to adjust." Yuuya pulls at his ears as the blush on his face intensifies, "Please stop!" The action confusing a few people while Sam and Damian look at him in slight worry while Gunter chuckles in amusement, the man already picking up on the signs. "Looks like the kid is adjusting to the familiar bond, this should be entertaining."
The group finally steps outside, seeing the sun setting and now realizing a slight issue: Aurora's size. Yuuya and his friends stare up at the Sacred Beast and ponder at her massive size. "This...might be an issue." Damian finally states while everyone nods in agreement. Sam walks around her as he hums in thought, "Um maybe she can stay in the forest in the meantime?" Gunter scratches his head, "That could work, but the Royal Guard has watch towers all around the capital so they might set off alarms should they see her and might even attack her..." Callian snap his head at him. "Wha-why!? She's already formed a familiar contract with him, why would she pose as a threat to the capital?" Ivory pulls at her captains shoulder. "Captain, not everyone is completely on board at the idea of a beast-man walking freely around town, much less having the very same Scared Beast that attacked the capital under his command. It's gonna take time for everyone to accept them, I highly doubt that day will ever come though..." While everyone tries to come up with a plan to get Aurora through the capital safely without scaring the townspeople, Yuuya continues to stare up at her sadly, wishing he had some way to help her. "I don't have any magic spells that could alter her appearance for a long period of time and I don't have my Amulet of Enigmas...Friggin Magic Tower, hope they give me back my stuff soon." Aurora leans down and rubs her snout against his head affectionately, "Worry not master. If my appearance troubles you, then I have the perfect solution." Just as she thinks says this, or rather thinks, her body glows brightly that draws everyone's attention. Yuuya shields his eyes at the sudden brightness, "Woah! What the?" The light slowly dims until it finally disappears altogether, allowing Yuuya to look up again. Everyone gasps as Yuuya jaw drops while his tail wags in excitement. What once was a towering tyrannosaurus with a glittering crystal crown, massive claws, terrifying teeth, and piercing eyes now stands what looks to the beast-man a raptor as tall as him. Her black scales taking on a lighter tone, making them look more violet. Her crystal crown having shrunk to the point that it was more of a tiara, even the spikes along her spine were gone. Her claws still look as sharp as before, but they were much smaller, and thankfully her teeth weren't as visible either unless she opens her mouth. Aurora opens her eyes, the blue in them still as soft as when he first saw them. "How's this master? Does this form suit you better?" Yuuya smiles wide as his tail wags even harder, even his ears twitch happily, "You can shrink!? You look amazing! Oh my gosh!" Yuuya moves all around, taking in her new form, not at all noticing all eyes on him. "His tail...his ears...so fluffy..." Callian idly mumbles. Matthew and Ivory rub their palms as they zero in on the tail wagging in a blur. "Looks soft..." They softly comment. A few other adventurers and townspeople keep staring at Yuuya as his fluffy appendages keep moving around cutely, in their opinion, completely ignoring the Sacred Beast's new appearance. Well, all except three people. Gunter sweatdrops at his people gawking at Yuuya instead of Aurora, "Couldn't they at least be surprised that the Sacred Beast is no longer the size of a building?" A dark aura behind him causes the man to stiffen. He looks back and sees Sam and Damian glaring daggers at everyone with their arms crossed across their chests. "What the hell are they doing? They just keep gawking at him like some sort of dog." Damian bites out as he grips his arms tightly. Sam hums darkly. "They haven't even noticed Aurora's new look. She goes through all this trouble to help him out and they want to touch his ears and tail. Something we haven't even gotten the chance to touch freely." Gunter blankly looks at the pair and thinks, "So you're not upset at the fact that they're openly staring at Yuuya instead of Aurora, but at the fact that they openly voiced out their desire to pet his ears and tail while you haven't gotten the chance to despite knowing and being around him the longest...Oh boys, what am I gonna do with you?" Yuuya's warm laugh draws back their attention, dissipating all negative energy. His smile brings a smile to their faces as well, "This is awesome! Now we don't have to worry about you crashing into things or scaring the townspeople." Sam and Damian sigh as they see their friend smiling again, Gunter chuckling at their change of attitude, "Guess I don't have to worry too much." He mumbles to himself quietly. Yuuya's ears twitch as he picks up on the quiet whisper, he looks over in confusion but the Guildmaster waves him off. "Now that settled, let's head home."
Everyone heads off in the separate directions, each civilian was escorted by a group of adventurers, including Orion's Pax. Not trusting that the rest of the capital would look kindly to the group of ex-prisoners. Once they had safely arrived home, the adventurers returned to their homes, most of them returned to the Guild. Orion's Pax was offered to stay at the Guild, but a mysterious letter appeared out of thin air in Yuuya's hand stated that their room at the Moonshine Inn was cleaned and ready for their arrival, including their new member. During the whole trip there, all doors and windows were slammed shut as they walked by. People rushed into alleys, desperate to get out of their path. People in the shadows would have terrified looks on their faces or glare dangerously at them but would never approach them. A few knights that were patrolling turn to look at them, then simply look away, as if they were invisible, but kept a keen eye on the nearby civilians should trouble start. Yuuya tries to ignore the attention, but his high school trauma creeps up on him, making him shake a little and his ears fold on his head, the action noticed by his group. Sam takes his hand, startling him for a second. He looks over and sees a small smile that is betrayed by his worried green eyes. "Hey, it's going to be okay. Remember, you're not alone." An arm around his shoulder brings more warmth than the hand in his. "He's right, you got us. Who cares what these fuckers think? I got over the idea that all beast-men are alike, I'm sure they will too. Even if they don't, fuck them. You got the Adventurer's Guild, Royal Family, Sam's family, umm..." A gentle nudge against his back draws his attention away from Damian's stuttering, Aurora's warm voice fills his head as she comes around Sam's side, "You have me as well master. And I'm sure along the way you will make more meaningful friends. Life is unpredictable and for you is only the beginning." Yuuya's eyes begin to tear up and has to use his free arm to wipe them away lest he start crying. He smiles warmly at them, "Thanks you guys, I feel better. Let's go home." He takes each of their hands and gently drags them towards the inn, missing the blushes forming on their faces.
When they arrive at the inn, Grace rushes in and pulls the three into a hug, startling them in the process. "Thank the Goddess you three are okay!" She pulls back to look at them, seeing their clothes all ruined. "I had a feeling your clothes would be like this, so there are some fresh new ones upstairs in your room. Now as for your new friend-" She leans over to the side and immediately stops talking. In all her days as an innkeeper, and a spy, she never would've suspected one of the most powerful and Sacred Beasts would come across her paths in such a...unique and charming form. A short, unique, and charming form. She covers her mouth and looks over at the men before looking back at the raptor like creature. "Oh Goddess, why didn't anyone give me a heads up about this!? I know Yuuya formed a familiar contract with the Sacred Beast of Earth, but I didn't realize she can take on a different form, much less a much smaller and prettier one too!" Grace quickly regains her composure due to years of spy training in the span of five seconds and puts on a smile on her face once more. "As I was saying, as for your friend, I'm afraid we don't allow animals in the inn-tamed or not. We get adventurers who have pets here all the time, big and small. We usually allow animals such as housecats, small birds and dogs in. However, we draw the line when it comes to creatures heavier, wider, or taller than this desk." She points out to the desk behind her where the guestbook usually rests on. The trio look behind and take in her height, she was as tall as them and they were already taller than the desk itself so that was one penalty box checked. Yuuya stands by her side, eyeing the distance from her snout to the end of her tail, mentally groaning that she was definitely wider than the desk. Finally, Yuuya's ears twitch, taking in the soft sounds on the wood creaking under them, specifically, under Aurora. Yuuya could only groan as he mentally checks all three penalty boxes. Sam turns around to face Grace and awkwardly smiles at her, "Is there anyway you could make an exception just this once?" Grace smiles back and shakes her head, "Afraid not gentlemen. If I did that, I would have to do that for all adventurers, that would affect my business." Sam groans sadly as Damian thinks out loud, "Hey Grace, don't you have a stable? Can't she stay there for now? We can pay extra." Yuuya snaps his head up, his earlier depression long forgotten. He rushes forward and clasps his hands with hers in a pleading fashion, "Please Grace, it won't be for too long. Just until we get our living situation under control. I'll pay for everything, I promise!" He folds his ears back and stares at her with wide eyes, pulling off a cute puppy look. Grace sweatdrops at the look, her face slowly turning red, "I-I wasn't gonna say no! Oh my goodness! Forget money, I want to pet those ears! And that tail! I wonder if he would let me comb it..." Grace once again regains her composure in the span of five seconds and smiles sweetly at him, "Of course, I was gonna recommend that stable actually. It's usually five silver coins per night, but thanks to your services I'd waive the fee all together." Yuuya's ear straighten up instantly, making her chuckle at how expressive the beast-man is with just his ears. "Wha-really? Ar-are you sure? I-I mean thank you, but I don't want to take advantage of-" His mouth is covered by Damian's hand as he smiles happily at her. "Thank you for the offer, we graciously accept." Yuuya looks at him weirdly while Sam takes his arm. "I assume our room is the same as before?" Grace nods, "That is correct, key is in the lock already. No one is up there. Dinner will be served in an hour." Sam and Damian nod and answer at the same time, "Great, thanks." The pair drag the beast-man up the stairs before Yuuya has the chance to argue about the price, but he does get the hand off his mouth. "What about Aurora?" She is still standing by the door, patience as ever with knowing eyes. She looks up at them, "I'll be fine master. I saw the stable on our way in earlier. You go and rest, I shall do the same. Should you need me, simply think of me." With that, Aurora turns towards Grace and nods towards the door. "Miss, would you mind opening the door for me please?" Grace blinks in surprise, not expecting the warm voice in her head. She smiles and opens the door, allowing the Sacred Beast to leave. Once she sees her off, Yuuya allows his friends to take him up the stairs to their room.
True to her word, there on the bed lay three clean set of clothes. Each one takes a set, but before the humans could change, Yuuya stops them. "Hold it! We can't just put on new clothes when we've been locked up in a dirty cell for days. Shouldn't we bathe first?" Sam and Damian blush at the idea of all three taking a bath together. "Wh-wh-why would we take a bath together!?" Sam stutters out. "Yeah! It-it's not like we're children." Damian yells out. Yuuya tilts his in confusion. "Do people bathe together in this world after getting out jail?" Yuuya goes over to the closet, pulling out three towels. "I'm not saying to bathe together if you're uncomfortable. I just think it's poor hygiene to put on clean clothes when we are so dirty after fighting and being stuck in such an unsanitary environment for so long." Sam and Damian look at him with puzzling looks and whisper to each other, "Did you catch anything he said just now?" Damian asks as he watches Yuuya pull out a couple of towels carefully. Sam shakes his head, "Nope, not a clue." After a long conversation about the importance of proper hygiene, and that they did not need to bathe together. The trio were finally clean and in fresh new clothes. Yuuya can't help but blush at how comfortable it was to wear pants with a tail hole, no longer having to hang his pants low or rip a new hole and ruin a good pair of pants to fit his tail out. He had missed the very first pair of pants he ever received when he first arrived in this world, it was the only one that had the proper tail hole, unfortunately, someone in the village had noticed this feature before he came out and saw it to 'fix' it for him. Sam had to comfort him for a while over the loss. The trio was able to enjoy a nice warm meal after a few days in the dungeon, it was heaven. During the meal, Yuuya notices that there was no one else in the dining area, just the three of them and Grace standing off to the side should they need anything else. Yuuya's gut telling him this was a bad sign, but an extra plate of meat placed in front of him had him momentarily forgetting his troubles. Once Yuuya was finished, he requested an extra plate for their fourth member. Yuuya carefully walks outside, holding the large plate of food close to him as he heads over to the stable. He hadn't noticed before, but as he walks he instinctively knew where to go to find his new familiar as he passed several pens without even looking. It's only when he stops at a closed pen does he realize this instinct, "Huh, must be the bond." Yuuya shakes his head and gingerly knocks on the wood. "Aurora, I brought some food. Can I come in?" Her warm voice fills his mind, "Of course, please come in." Yuuya enters slowly, still careful with the large plate of food. He sees her laying on a bunch of hay, her form looking comfortable, almost as if she had made a nest. He gently places the plate next to her, "I hope this is enough, I can always ask Grace to make some more if you want. She insists." Aurora sniffs the food, purring happily. "Thank you, this is plenty. I was able to acquire some food before I had arrived at the castle today. Plus, thanks to your mana I feel refreshed." She quickly devours the food in seconds, licking the plate clean. Making the beast-man doubt her earlier comment. "Are you sure this was enough?" Aurora nods and lays her head down. "Yes, I appreciate your concern. I am alright, thank you. You should rest master." Yuuya's ears twitch, he decided he wanted to address that issue. "Hey Aurora, can I ask you something?" Aurora raises her head again, "Of course." Yuuya sits in front of her. "Could you just call me Yuuya? Hearing you call me 'master' makes me feel a bit uncomfortable." Aurora tilts her head. "I see, but you are my master." Yuuya sighs, "I know, but it makes it sound like you are a slave. You're not! Can't you call me something else besides master?" Aurora thinks for a minute. "Hmmm, if I cannot call you master. Shall I call you Mr. Yuuya?" Yuuya grimaces at the name. "Ummm no, makes it sound like we're shady business partners." Yuuya sits for a second as he too thinks of a different title. "Okay, so we can't go with master nor Mr. Yuuya. Maybe a synonym for master! The synonyms for master are like ruler, liege, captain, etc...Okay maybe a different type of master like someone is really good at a sport or subject, an expert! Okay so that's genius, prodigy, champion..." Yuuya snaps his fingers as he finally comes up with a new title. "I've got it! How about star?" Aurora tilts her head in the opposite direction as she ponders over the new title. "Star? May I ask why?" Yuuya blushes as he thinks over his reasoning, "W-well, star is a synonym for master in a way and um our group is called Orion's Pax which is based off of my favorite constellation back in my old life and constellations are made up of stars so I thought um..." Yuuya's voice is barely above a whisper at this point as his face is bright red, his tail is wrapped around his legs while his ears fold on his head in embarrassment. Aurora leans closer to him, gently nuzzling his face. Yuuya jumps in surprise, wondering when she got so close. "I see now, thank you for explaining. I have heard of this 'Orion' constellation many centuries ago. I quite like that you named the group after it. If you preferred to be called Star, then so be it. I shall remember that." Yuuya blinks in stunned silence before he grabs hold of her snout. "Wait! You know about constellations!?" Aurora chuckles and nods a little, "Yes, my last master told me all about stars and constellations. The stories on how they were created both in reality and in fairy tales. He spoke of them as if they came from another world. He often told me about Orion's Belt. How easy it was to spot it and its story." Yuuya's eyes begin to tear up as his mind begins to fill up with questions. "How could Aurora's old master know about constellations, much less about Orion's constellation!? Does this mean they came from my world? Were they like me, having died and brought to this world? Did they ever go back and how did they? What happened to them?" Aurora could hear all these questions and feared her mas-star would suffer a mental breakdown, so she gently nipped his nose. Snapping him out his daze and getting a yelp out of the beast-man. "I may not have all the answers, but sitting here and asking all these questions will only bring more harm than good. The day will come when the truth comes out. Heed my advice and rest. These past few days has been hard for everyone and the next few days will be even harder for you, your friends, and me. Only together will we push forward and overcome these obstacles." Yuuya rubs his nose and nods at her in a daze. Aurora purrs and rubs her head against his. "For now rest, star." Yuuya's tail wags slightly at the new title and he smiles at her. "Okay, thank you Aurora."