The more I think about it, and I know that violence is not the answer, but if it truly comes down to it, I will use what force I need to. I do not wish to deal with such things, but now that I have decided to befriend Sophie, I will protect her as such. A person who abandons their friends is not a person. At least, this is how I see things.

I know some of the ideals of this world are much different from Earth’s, but I still can’t stand by when a young girl is being forced into things. “Sophie, Let’s go to this sandwich shop I went to yesterday. It was pretty good.”

“Huh? Okay…” As always, Sophie seems to be spaced out. She is probably still trying to understand what is happening.

I dragged Sophie all the way to the sandwich shop I went to yesterday with the prince. I really wished to try out a different sandwich this time. While the sandwich I had last time was really good, with the prince being there, I did not really get to enjoy it. “What can I get you two lovely ladies?” The shop owner asked. He had a big smile on his face when we walked in. “Oh, not with the prince today?”

“Why would I even wish to be with that idiot?” I asked with a sour face. I guess this tickled the owner’s funny bone because he started laughing.-.“Haha…. Don’t let him hear that. He will be very sad. You are the first girl I have ever seen the prince with.” I guess his teasing did not get the reaction he wished to see because I only sighed and gave him a look like please don’t talk nonsense.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the prince might be under the king’s orders. I mean, who would like a country bumpkin like me. I am nowhere near crown princess material. Plus, I would never do well dressing up in skirts. My tail would get in the way. Unless the skirts were tailor made for me, taking into consideration my tail and wings like the dresses Adel bought me, then maybe I could not refuse, but I still would not want to be some princess. I already have enough things on my plate. Plus, I need to be able to have as much time as possible between my other things to work on fusion magic and other things. At any rate, even if the prince did like me, it would be a big no.

“Can I get a tontalinia sandwich, please? Extra greens, please. ” I found the green vegetables this owner was using blended nicely with the meat last time. So I wanted some extra. After I finished ordering, I turned to Sophie. “What do you want?”

“I-I will have what you have.” Sophie answered me softly.

“Then order up! Two tontalinias with extra greens.” The owner yelled out. I paid before finding a seat with Sophie in the corner.

“So tell me, what does this Count look like?” I was curious about what this Count’s appearance looked like. I wondered if my assumptions about his body were as I imagined.

“Around six feet. Well, fit and handsome if you can get by the eyes that stare at you as if you are a piece of meat.” To be honest, hearing Sophie’s description, I was kind of surprised, but I guess judging a book by its cover is never a good idea.“I bet that gets annoying. So even if he is handsome, you do not like him?” I had to make sure I was doing the right thing. If Sophie did like the man and was just too shy to say then I would say nothing but…. If she did not like him and this man was actually trying to force her into a marriage or something along those lines, then it could be said he was trying to groom her for the future.

“No… I did not wish to leave my hometown. By using his status, he forced my parents to allow him to take me away. While he has been nice, I do not like him like that. I know he is only nice to me due to my magic and not that he likes me. When he brought me to his house, I could see he already had many girls older than me there who all looked down on me. I couldn’t handle it, so I ran away last night.” I guess it was a good thing that the Count was at least nice to her. While this does not change my initial impression of him. Even if he was not after Sophie for her looks, it still did not change the fact that he had snatched a young girl out of her home by force.

“Then come stay with me for a while. I got a big place and extra rooms. So you can stay with me. When I move to the residence that is being prepared for me, you can follow along as well.” I did not hesitate to give her an option. She could always try to return home, but the road home would not be safe. Of course, I also do not know how well trained she is either. I mean, for all I know, she could be a serial killer. You can call it a bit of immaturity on my part, but I would rather risk it than let Sophie go off on her own, especially if she is not good with crowds.

Sophie did not give me an answer. It seemed she was lost in thought, which is also normal if you think about it. While I do not know much about her, she didn’t know a thing about me. We ended up eating our food in silence. I was not going to push her into anything she did not wish to do. While it is saddening that I will not be able to properly help her if she does decide to go off on her own. There is nothing I can do about it.

After our meal, we walked the streets. I found out the weird looking doll was called a sombrenia. It seems to be a popular mascot at some kid’s show a few blocks away. I kinda like the fact that there were many different forms of entertainment. From plays to musicals and, like I just said, kid shows with different characters who just try to entertain the kids. But surprisingly, no one even thought to make a school for the kids to go to to learn. While I did not like school much myself, I do know it is an essential part of life.

If schools are done in an object oriented fashion, then kids can go and learn everything they need to learn for certain skills while still getting the basics, reading, writing, basic arithmetic, and, of course, magic. All the essentials to get by in their daily lives plus the skills they wish to learn, a trade they can make money at. No need for extra stuff unless the students wish to learn it. History is not essential. What happens in the past should stay in the past. The future is what everyone should be looking towards. Now, this may be my own bias, as I hated history because I saw no need for it, but it is definitely not worth it. You only need to learn what you need to at the time of needing the information.

Like, let’s say you are doing research on a subject. It would be good to look up information and see if anyone has ever researched it before. Then you can take the time to learn the history of that subject so you can change things in your own research. While I know I may be contradicting myself, I did indeed learn the history of this world, but that is only because the history of a fantasy world is much more entertaining than the history of Earth. But I still say it is not really essential. Well, I guess ancient learning languages might be a good idea, but that is only if you are researching something to do with the ancient societies.

At any rate, it has been a half hour, and Sophie still hasn’t said a word. She still seems to be lost in thought. She only smiles here and there. Why do I feel like this is what I was doing with the prince?

After leaving the shop with the strange doll, I stopped off at a street vendor which was selling some kind of treat. “Sophie, do you want one?”

No answer. I turned to see Sophie standing there with her head lowered. “Faith…. You said I could stay with you, right? Will I cause an issue for you?”

“An issue? Why would it cause an issue? If anything, my place is probably the most secure place in this part of the city. I am not forcing you to do anything you do not wish to do. I just wanted to give you an option so you do not need to sleep outside or try to leave the capital on your own. Traveling alone is not easy. There are a lot of idiots out there.” Like an idiot hero. An idiot prince. Idiot bandits. A lot of things that I did not say out loud…

“Then… If you are willing to allow me to stay with you….” I sighed seeing Sophie lowering her head once more. I wonder what made her this way. I guess things will come in time. She already told me about her problem but there seems to be more to it.