The Tailed Warrior of The Unknown Race

Chapter 3

In the southern regions of the empire

A/N: this might be cringe… bear with it lol

"Master Kael, your father wishes to speak to you."

Removing my focus from the work before me, I brought my gaze towards the maid that was standing at my furnished bedroom door. She was a middle aged lady who wore the ever standard black-and-white maid attire with a fluffy white headpiece. Her most outstanding feature was her bright orange hair, and the beauty mark under her left eyelid exemplified her maturity. And adding that with the ever-neutral expression on her face, it was hard to not know who she was, and what it implied to the message she was relaying.

"Ok, thank you Citrus," I smiled cheerfully, giving my thanks to the head maid of the manor, "I'll be down in a second!"

Giving a quiet nod, Citrus closed the door, leaving me once again in the solace of my bedroom. I brought my attention back to the objects before me. Numerous piles of wood shavings decorated my desk, and standing amongst this field of sawdust were wooden statues of various shapes and forms. From animals to modern objects, to mythological entities to humans. Altogether, there was great variety to my creations, but one recurring feature was the overwhelming femininity behind the structural form of each lamp-sized figurine.

Almost reluctantly I stood up, giving a solemn look to the over-exaggerated figurine of a busty heroine I was in the process of making. With the skin tight clothing against an unnaturally hourglass figure, you'd think I would be making some sort of high-end slut. But no… it was simply a character from a rom-com series I used to watch. Sure, it uh… had its erotic moments, yeah, but it was a really good series. I would definitely recommend watching it.

'Sorry, mae-chan, but I must go for now,' I cooed to the figurine, caressing my hand over her unfinished head, 'But I will be back… and I'll get you all cleaned up for my bookshelf.'

And thus, I quickly tidied myself and left my room in its state, navigating down the large and eccentrically decorated hallways of my home. The air held a fragrance of flowers, which paired perfectly with the numerous landscape oil paintings that dotted each wall of the Victorian-themed manor. Every little feature of my home was of pristine quality, and every little piece of furniture had worth that could, without a doubt, feed a village of twenty for months. That was the life of nobility, and the life that I've been enjoying for quite some time now.

My old name was Tagawa Masaru. I was the average guy, with a salary job that gave the bare minimum and had social connections that were as strained as a water leak. In other words, I was a complete shut in, and most of my days were spent slaving away on gacha games, dating sims, or pretty much anything that had a waifu of some kind. And, honestly speaking… I was pretty fine with that. I had little to no problems in my day to day life, even if many people were saying I was wasting away my life. I really didn't care for any of that. I had a good thing going.

But that's when the accident happened. At the intersection, a truck's brakes failed, and for some reason the driver made a sharp turn… maybe in an attempt to dodge the oncoming pedestrians, I've assumed. Because of that, the truck's direction was diverted towards me, who hadn't even had the time to even process what had happened. Next thing after that, the lights were out.

I had died, and… and even now I'm not sure how to feel about it. But no matter how emotional the whole experience was, I got a second chance in life. One moment, the lights were out, and then the next they were back on, though this time with blurry vision and uncontrollable wailing coming from my very form. It took me a minute, but I eventually realized that I had turned into a baby. Heh… and what really made it set and stone was when my new mother oh-so-generously squished my face into her bosom to quit my crying. I didn't even get to meet some higher being or whatever… I was just thrown right into my new life, sucking tits away not even a second in. And I was not complaining. Never have, never will.

With that said, my new name now is Kael. Kael D'Arclaire, the twelfth son of the D'Arclaire family. My father is called Edwin, and my mother is called Liora. I've got eleven older siblings, with the oldest two being Caius and Marielle. Both are already out of the house and doing noble duties, and Caius even has his own family. The other nine siblings I don't know much about, since most live in other sub-manors that my family owns, but I've seen a few of them during some family conventions. As for me, I'm currently shooting seventeen years old, and I've been raised in this manner for pretty much my whole life. Homeschooled and everything. Lastly there's my baby sister, Evelle, who is the thirteenth child and had been born into the family two years ago.

So, yeah… new life has been and still is an entire fantasy rollercoaster. Medieval kingdoms and governments, mythical species like dragons, elves, dwarves… it's all here. And magic… man, as complex as it is, there's so much fun to it and I'm not even exaggerating. They've got pretty much any form of magic you could think of, so much so that they have an entire continental institution specifically built for magic studies. Some time ago, my father hired this one tutor that came from this institution, and under her teaching I was able to shoot fireballs for the first time in my life…

…

… and, uh, shoot some other stuff… but I like to skip over that when talking to my old folks.

In any case, that's what has been going on for me so far. This new life is full of fun, and without the worries of work and other trivial life duties, I can indulge in my very own pleasures. And by that, I mean making as many waifu figurines as I want!

[ Daily Walking Quest Completed! 75 EXP]

… oh, right. I also have a neat cheat system as well. The standard MMORPG sort of system. I don't really use it much outside of my side hustles, though. My figurine crafts always came first.

Eventually, I reached the doors to my father's office. I knocked twice and heard a deep muffled voice before entering. What greeted me was an expansive wooden office, with bookshelves hugging every wall except for the giant glass window at the back. The classic workplace for a noble. My father sat on his desk near the giant window, both hands clasped together on top of the table while giving me a neutral stare. From this alone, I deduced he was going to talk about something serious.

[ Character Status

Name: Edwin D'Arclaire

Title: Duke of Silentrina County

Age: 46

State: Contemplative ()]

Oh yeah, something definitely serious.

"You called for me, father?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Yes, Kael, please sit down," he said, nodding towards the seat before him. I complied, walking over and taking a trained seat down onto the expensive leather. After seeing me seated comfortably, he continued. "I'll keep it plain. As you may already know, the upcoming spring will be a new school year. With the rather empty agenda you have, I will have you start attending the noble academy this spring."

I blinked at the blunt words from my father. It wasn't like I was surprised, but… he really went straight to the point. I had a hunch something like this would happen eventually, though. "So you want me to start packing up then?"

At my question, my father chuckled. "No, Kael, the servants have already begun preparing your traveling essentials. I simply need you to just be ready in time for the departure."

"Oh… alright."

A moment of silence fell between the two of us before my father leaned in, giving me a wide smile behind his bushy mustache. "Kael… you're a good young man, so I have no doubts you won't have any problems at the academy. Your achievements at the adventure guild are more than proof of that… however…"

I curled a brow. "Yes?"

"... try to avoid bringing your… ahem, sculpting skills with you to the capital," my father huffed exasperatedly, seemingly uncomfortable by the very idea of mentioning my masterpieces, "you have an exemplary talent, Kael, but… they tend to be distracting. I'd rather you not be punished… or expelled for something like that."

'... ha, looks like this old guy is still recovering from the slingshot swimsuit figurine I made. At least mom wasn't as shocked about it,' I internally chuckled to myself, though outwardly giving an understanding nod towards my father. "Yes, father, I won't do or bring my sculpting to school."

"That makes me glad to hear," my father leaned back with a content sigh, "then, you will depart in three days. Have any of your requests completed before then. With that said, you are dismissed."

"Sweet, thanks father."

"It's my pleasure."

Just as quickly did I enter my father's office did I leave it. That was just one of the few things I liked about the guy. He advocated efficiency and didn't worry too much about the nitpicky social queues. I mean, he still does, but compared to the other snobs in this empire? He's a lot better.

In any case, it looks like I'm about to start my public schooling. I guess the equivalent to this would be me attending college… for the second time. Nothing against it, of course. I wonder how different it'll be from my previous life.

Sean POV

As time passed, I dozed in and out of sleep, listening to the sounds of the river currents and the distant wildlife. The sun's light gradually waned, indicating that it had passed over and was heading for dusk in no time. The environment was quickly getting darker, almost pitch black in fact. But I didn't bother to get up, much less do anything. No, I continued to lazily sleep on the tall grass, unaffected by the coming nightfall.

It's been a long time… too long since I've felt this sort of comfort. Since I've felt comfort at all. I couldn't care less about some wild predator, or some deadly entity coming after my blood. Whatever happened, I wouldn't let it ruin this one moment. This one moment where all my stress was flowing out… being drained like a clogged nose. Besides… I bet that whoever or whatever comes after my life… the outcomes would be much better than what those bastards did to me.

Unfortunately, the urge to pee was what stirred me up. It seems my body was making thorough use of the water, something that was definitely pleasing to know. Cracking my eyes open with a yawn, I blinked up towards the orange-colored skies. And… It was beautiful. Like something right out of a painting, and something I've repeated many times already. I… I've realized that I've taken up a hobby of sky gazing. It's been a thing about this place that I've acknowledged many times already. It all just felt surreal… an inviting surrealness, and it was one of the few remedies I cling on to through my suffering.

As I admired the beauty of nature, I quietly noticed the trailing form of a blue light slowly hovering at my peripheral. Interested, I silently watched as the light hovered over me, and as I focused I could see the flapping forms of wings. A blue firefly of some kind… interesting. I've heard that blue was not a natural color in the animal kingdom… maybe this is some radioactive firefly?

…

…I should start embracing the oddities of this place.

However, as I continued to watch the firefly floating, I noticed that it wasn't flickering like a normal firefly. In fact, it hadn't moved from its position for more than four seconds. It was completely stationary… as if purposely. It made the sight just slightly more unnatural.

'...?' I narrowed my eyes, slightly lifting up my head to get a better view of the weird insect. Hopefully, this thing wasn't actually emitting some radiation into me... the chances were probably there, but radiation poisoning was not on my list. Maybe this was a different species of firefly? But even then, wouldn't it kill the insect if it keeps this light on constantly? I… I don't think even an angler fish would keep its light on for this long… however those two correlate.

Unsurprisingly, none of my internal assumptions were anywhere close to the truth. The moment I looked closer, my body instinctively jumped backwards as a small wave of shock ran through me. By squinting slightly, I could see what appeared to be the form of a small… humanoid. Like, humanoid as in human legs, human arms… just human everything. Nothing resembling anything to a firefly. The only thing stopping this… flying human-like creature from being a complete person was the fact that it was small, flying, and blue…

…

…oh fuck, it was also wearing clothes?!

"...!?" My lips instinctively parted. Yes, it's true. The thing was wearing clothes… winter clothes, from what I could tell. A dress that went from the neck all the way down to the thigh… and then some sort of capelet or shawl. A pair of boots, and then finally the wings on its back…

… is this fucking Tinker Bell?

I stared blankly, frozen in confusion but nonetheless in awe. Aside from my fairy assumption, I genuinely had no fucking idea what this creature could be. Was it a spirit? It… I mean, I couldn't even doubt that idea anymore with everything that has happened. At the very least, I think it's a girl... it looked feminine. Or maybe not…?

…

… is this another near-death experience?

There was a moment of silence between the two of us before the humanoid began to flutter with a silent twinkling sound. Like something close to wind chimes but… softer… yeah, I might as well call her Tinker Belle at this point.

'This is fucking insane…' I thought to myself, unsure of what to do. As I stared dumbly, the small fairy creature raised one of her tiny arms and then waved at me rapidly with an even wider smile, showing teeth that had just a slightly brighter tint of baby blue. At the same time, I also noticed the gloves on her hands that I didn't realize before. I didn't even know how to properly respond to her, so it took me a moment before I gave an awkward wave back. She didn't seem to care about that as she began to finally move from her idle hover, fluttering around in an almost childish manner. All the while, she continued to make twinkling sounds; in fact, there were even small sparkles trailing after her.

…

… this is really surreal. So weird and… fictional. Definitely fictional. I have no damn clue what I've just encountered, but it's one hell of a novelty that I doubt any science can explain.

'I'm probably just hallucinating right now…' I sighed disappointedly at myself, moving a hand to rub my face… but quickly regretting that action. Suddenly, I shouted out in pain as I felt a sharp pain in my eyes, as if sand got caught behind my eyelids. I crawled frantically over to the river to wash the soil that got into my eyes, splashing my face with water continuously. Passively, I could hear the twinkling sounds stopping, but I was more distracted from washing out the dirt that was messing with my vision than to care about that. When I finally managed to get the dirt out—fortunately having not felt anything wiggle within it—I saw the creature hovering right beside me.

I squinted my sore-ish eyes—something I've noticed that I'll have to keep doing in order to see her properly—and saw that she was tilting her head in confusion, her smile gone. She looked worried. In response, I simply gave an awkward smile out of embarrassment. Really, I should've been more mindful of where my hands have been… and subsequently the rest of the filth covering my body…

…

…damn, I need to take a bath, huh?

I'm not one to openly complain about people being around me, but… man, is this thing really persistent. Not once had this fairy creature left my side since I first saw her. She followed me even when I reentered the forest to take a leak in the bush, for fuck sake. But… to be honest, I really wasn't bothered by it. Modesty was already thrown out the window, and I didn't have the energy to really give a fuck.

On the side note, however, I was feeling… mildly jealous. A weird feeling right now in my situation, but I just couldn't help it. Why? Well… to be blunt, this new body's packing more inches than what I had back home. At max length, too. And… yes, I'm aware how childish of a complaint that is, but owning a monster like this right now sort of makes me self aware of what I used to have before. And it wasn't impressive. So… it's just a small thing peeving me off. I guess I'll get over it soon.

Maybe I should be happy, though, since this is technically my body now. I've yet to experience any soul or psychological phenomenon that would imply that there was someone else in this body, so… I guess I should just accept this being the new me. Still such a weird thing to say, but I'll bear with it…

…

… makes me wonder what happened to the old owner…

…

… yeah, no.

It got really dark by the time I was done, but the fairy's light was fortunately enough to light my path. In fact, it looked like she was doing it intentionally. With that thought, I glanced at her with squinted eyes, seeing her floating form next to my shoulder with one hand raised in front of her. Yeah, she really was going out of her way to light my path.

" Thanks," I decidedly said my thanks openly, having nothing else to offer for the free convenience. The fairy glanced over at me and beamed with a smile, the light growing stronger just slightly, enough that I had to temporarily squint and look elsewhere.

As me and my newfound small companion trailed the riverside back to the clearing, I had one thing in mind. Food. I had water, but didn't have food. And I unfortunately didn't find any food on my trip through the forest. Meat was out of question, since I don't even know how to start a fire. As for fruits… there was no doubt that they were all the way up in the canopy. I've yet to try and climb up to see, though.

Reaching back to the clearing near the river, I looked up, seeing the brilliant night sky with thousands of stars. It was the same scene I looked up at the other night before falling asleep, albeit the moon not being present. It's probably being hidden by the trees right now. With a sigh, I flopped onto the indent in the grass that was shaped exactly like my body. As I did so, my stomach timely grumbled, yearning for solid nourishment. I held my stomach in an attempt to ease the ache, but it barely did anything. I couldn't remove my frown, nor resist lamenting aloud.

"Man… I'm hungry," I voiced out, closing my eyes as I tried to get myself comfortable over the cold grass. But suddenly, out of nowhere, the fairy started making twinkling sounds, which were a lot louder than what I heard before. I looked up to her with squinted eyes, seeing that she was pointing in a particular direction with an eager expression. I stared at her for a moment before looking at where she was pointing at. Nothing.

Did she see something? I wasn't paying attention… I also didn't really hear anything either…

…I doubt it's anything worth trying to investigate.

With that, I leaned my head back down and relaxed myself, attempting to ignore the pains in my gut. But yet again, the fairy made more loud noises, though this time going so far as to pull one of my cheeks.

"... what?" I grumbled, weakly waving a hand at my face to make her stop. Despite that, she continued to make more noises, and so I squinted to see what this living phone alarm was doing. I managed to catch a few eager gestures from her, with the most notable one being her rubbing her belly while still pointing towards the previous direction…

…

… oh.

To confirm, I sat up and gestured towards the same direction she was pointing at. " Food?"

The humanoid nodded even more, extending her arms out in a "hurray" gesture. A slightly adorable little gesture.

So… food was apparently on the other side of the river. That was if I took this fairy's word for it… but honestly, I've yet to see any sort of negativity coming off the creature, so I doubt she's lying. It's a good thing that the river was an easy jump over, so there should be no problem getting over there. The only real drawback was, again, whether to trust the fairy or not…

…

… I guess I'll humor this thing for a bit.

Far southeast, near the towering stone pillar highlands…

The waning moon casted its pale light across the quiet land, granting just enough visibility for one to travel through the infested wildlife. Amidst the tall and numerous disorderly rows of stone pillars that covered much of the land was a particular complex of buildings. Built in the faces of the mountains, thin rope bridges interconnected these wooden structures like a maze, with minimal protections against falling down to the dense foggy abyss below. Though, such a danger was not a problem for the inhabitants of this complex.

Numerous green flags with the emblem of a crane flapped idly in the wind, continuously showing the pride and power of the Crane School—regardless of whether its students were rested or awake. And indeed, many of the Crane School students were in their chambers, resting on their flat, stiff beds and re-energizing for the following day's training.

Unbeknownst to these students, however, were the four individuals who travelled across the rope bridges. Armored, armed, and decorated with red cloth, these four men leisurely traveled towards the heart of the Crane School, a large three-story Japanese style fortress with torches that illuminated every corner. Archers were of no threat to them, as they did not come in violence. In one hand of the men was a scroll wrapped in a red ribbon. They were an envoy, and one that was expected.

At the end of the bridge, the front gates of the fortress opened, as if automatically. Partially surprised, the men entered, where they found a single individual standing in the center of the court yard. He was an elderly man, with a narrow saggy face and skin as rough as rock. A pair of shades obscured his eyes, and his gray-blue hair spiked on either side of his balding scalp like horns. He wore a green and yellow uniform, as was the dress code for the Crane School, but the most outstanding feature on him was the black bird cap on his head.

For anyone else, this man could've been mistaken as a senile old fool. However, to this envoy, he was revered as the master of the Crane School. Master Shen.

One of the men stepped forwards, giving a custom martial arts bow. "It is an honor to be in your presence, Master Shen."

Master Shen simply smirked, eyeing each of the men before him. "Messengers, I see… and respectable ones to boot. And here I thought the world had forgotten what the meaning of respect was."

"We've come with a message from Emperor Red," the man explained, taking the scroll and offering it to the Crane Master, "he requests for an immediate response, as time is currently against him."

"Hmph, if he wishes something from me, he should approach me himself," Master Shen scoffed, snatching the scroll and opening it, "though, I suppose with such a title as his, such an idea would be inefficient."

He scans his eyes across the text before quickly scoffing once more, tossing the message back at the men. "Tch, you struggle with a wild boar and expect me to personally handle the situation? Pathetic and dishonorable. Tell your emperor to slaughter his own hogs."

His response was unfavorable, much less was the message that he wished them to relay. Sweating with uneasiness, the leader of the envoy persisted. "Master Shen, with all due respect, the beast is of unknown ori—"

"And you say this under what implication? Oversized livestock is still livestock. You dare expect me to be your butcher?"

"N-No, Master Shen, not at all!"

Master Shen clicked his tongue. "Then leave my school. I have no time for such foolery… carry this shame to your deaths… which I don't doubt will be near, haha!"

With that, Master Shen turned around and began to walk back towards the interior of the fortress. However, one of the other men stepped forward, with an urgency and desperation to his demeanor. "Chi, Master Shen! The beast had chi!"

It was out of turn. None of them but the leader was supposed to talk, less they all suffer lethal consequences. Yet this risky move was fruitful, as Master Shen turned around, giving a rather dead serious look.

"... What did you say, fool?"

Gulping, the same man cleared his throat. "R-Reports showed that the beast's attacks were not of magic origins, yet they vaporized everything in its path! We believe that the beast used chi, the same practice your honorable school teaches!"

There was silence for a moment. The other men quietly looked at each other, most of them unsure of what this "chi" thing even was. Could this be the thing to convince this world-renowned martial artist?

Then, like lightning, Master Shen was gone from his spot. None of them had time to react, and not a second later did he have his grip tight against the throat of the man who spoke out of turn. The Crane Master looked at the man dead in his eyes, with a bloodlust that caused the other's to hold stiff like statues.

"And where, exactly, did you gain such knowledge?" Master Shen muttered, his tone seething with malice.

"W-W-Word T-Tournament!" The man helplessly screamed, throwing away all his self-image. "The 35th World Tournament! I-I was one of the fighters! I nearly died to your students!"

Master Shen was silent for a moment after this revelation. Eventually, though, he released his grip, letting the man tumble down to the ground. "Hmph, I suppose a fighter against one of my students would have an idea of the Crane School's hidden techniques… though, it's rather unnatural that you managed to escape a guaranteed death. I suppose you're worth more than a worm."

"Th… Thank you…"

With this given information, Master Shen frowned. He was planning on completely ignoring this, but… with this new information, he just might not be able to do that. A beast being capable of using chi? It was unheard of.

He glanced over to the leader of the men, his tone serious. . "...and that old emperor of yours wishes for me to subjugate this… chi beast?"

The leader nodded. "Yes, Master Shen. He promises great wealth, and acknowledgement of a higher status."

"Hm… very well, I suppose I shall humor you bunch for a while," Master Shen scoffed, resuming his walk back inside, "tell Emperor Red that I will send one of my students to hunt down this beast for him. In return, I expect a bare minimum of ten thousand golden coins, and a title that rivals that of the Emperor himself. Is that clear?"

"Y-Yes, Master Shen, your will shall be done."

"Good good… now leave this instance, if I leave only one of you to relay the message."

And thus, the men wisely said their goodbyes, returning to the empire with news that would surely please their emperor.

Author's Note

I hope the POV change wasn't confusing. Yes, I do plan on having two protagonists to follow. I realized Sean isn't in the current position for me to write out the average isekai slop... so I gotta make due with this Kael guy. Also, how'd you like the introduction to the Crane School? Leave a comment if you saw anything off about this chapter!