“I would not have offered if I was not willing.” I said with a smile. Only when I answered did Sophie raise her head once more. I do hope she will be more comfortable. But I fear she will lose her spot at the academy now that she is going against the count.

“Why? Why would you go so far for me, a person you just met?” Sophie asked suddenly. I can understand why she would ask this. I would ask the same thing. A complete stranger was going above and beyond to help them. It just didn’t seem ordinary.

“Why not? Are we not friends now? I mean we beat up bad guys together, acted in a play together, and even had lunch together. Are these not things friends do?” I asked with a bright smile.

Sophie seemed stunned by my answer. She kept mumbling the word friends over and over. “Friends…. You really wish to be my friend? I mean, I am nothing but a lowly demi…. Ah!”

“Sophie, do not tell me this entire time you did not realize I was a demi human?” Sophie’s entire face turned bright red. I guess I hit it spot on. Did she really not see my horns, tail, and wings!? -.“I…. Then, let’s be friends….” Sophie clenched her fist and nodded her head. I guess now realizing I was a demi human made her feel more confident. This was good as a cute fox girl, she should be more confident. Back on Earth, fox girls were a thing of many boys’ fantasies. I only know this because of all the web novels I read that dealt with them were pretty popular, and the comment section was filled with a bunch of pervs. There is something about the fluff that gets them, I guess.

At least now I have officially made my second friend. I may even be able to talk to Adel and see if we can get Sophie into the academy as well. Having an affinity for spatial magic was something that was probably unheard of and would make her a great resource to the kingdom. Even though I have my inventory and can also cast spatial magic if I truly wish to, once I learn the magic equation, that is, I would not mind having a comrade next to me who could use it as well. Being able to bring artillery in on different sides of the battlefield is like a dream come true. Sneak in and set up pre-made defenses or artillery. Now that I am thinking about it, this would be very OP! I can imagine bringing in something like a magic cannon and setting it up behind the enemy’s line and just letting it go to town. They would not think a single person would flank them and place down such heavy artillery.

Just thinking of the possibilities was making me grow excited. “Faith?”

“Ah! Sorry I was lost in thought.” When I get carried away, I lose touch with reality. I wonder if I will become a military nut in the future. But this one thing made me think of more ideas. But I would need the help of people more proficient in the area of magic weapon crafting. In other words, the dwarves. I will need to visit their kingdom sometime in the future.

I ended up buying two treats and pushing one into Sohpie’s hands. She did not seem as reluctant as before as she took and began nibbling on it. “We have most of the day ahead of us, so what shall we do?”

“I do not know. I have never been to the capital.” Sophie replied as she looked around at the stores. I should have expected such an answer. After all, she was just like me.

“You girls looking for something to do?” The stall owner who sold us the treat chimed in. I turned and looked at him but was unsure if this was one of those fake modeling agency type deals that pick up girls to do a fake photoshoot, only to make them do something bad.I held my suspicions in since this world had no such things as I asked: “Do you know of a good place we can visit?”

“If you are not in too much of a hurry, you can check out the street show that is going on down the street. It’s the annual harvest fest which brings out a bunch of street performers who do many different things. It is quite the show, and it is free.”

“Thanks, we will go check it out.” I waved at the stall owner and grabbed Sophie’s hand, and began running in the direction he had pointed in. But who would have thought that by just down the street, he meant like an hour’s walk?

But I had to say that when we arrived, my eyes were filled with different color streamers and balloons of all kinds. Magic lights of different animals danced just over our heads. They were not high up, so you could not see them unless you were in the area.

Men on unicycles rolled around while juggling torches. People dressed up in funny clothes, and strange makeup walked around trying to make people laugh. I guess they were supposed to be clowns, but they did not look like clowns on Earth. They seemed more like a jester that you would see in ancient times back on Earth but scarier looking. But for some reason, the kids who were on the streets were laughing and enjoying the show they were performing.

The entire thing closely resembled that of a huge circus, and the people were wandering around having a good time. I do believe this event was more geared towards kids because there were many more kids here, unlike the play I acted in earlier.

Sword swallowers and flame eaters did their things to entertain the crowd. It was really fun to see as I have never seen such things in both of my lives. I only ever imagined them as I read the novels that told about them. But seeing them in real life was much more amazing than I had ever thought. Sophie’s eyes were also shining as she watched the shows going on.

We watched the show for some time before walking over to a concession stand for some drinks. The day was hot, so standing out in the sun was making us sweat and very thirsty. The drink we bought was called Furtain. A strange mix of wild fruits and greens that you can get in the forest not far from the capital. The strange thing about this drink was that it was said to be very healthy yet did not taste bad. You would think with its deep greenish orange color that it would be a strange flavor, but it was actually quite good, and best of all, it cooled the body. It was tangy yet sweet.

We walked around the area and watched many of the shows when we spotted a tent off to the side that seemed to be doing some kind of fortune telling. The line was not long, so the two of us decided to check it out.

The tent was purple in color with what looked like moons and stars imprinted on it. I have never heard of fortune telling in this world before, so this was kind of unique. A young girl was in line in front of us, so I asked if she knew what to expect. Come to find out that the fortune teller only shows up at the festival every year, and no one knows exactly who the person truly is. The person always wore black with a black veil covering their face making it impossible to see who they were or how old they were. They only knew that the person was a woman. But every person who has had their fortune told by this mysterious person can say for sure that the fortune teller was legitimate. She had never been wrong, not even once.

I kind of felt it was hard to believe. I mean trying to tell someone’s future was like sticking your hand in a mystery hole, hoping what you pull out will be some amazing treasure. The chances of it actually happening were practically zero. I could understand if the woman was able to guess a few things here and there every so often but to always be right was much different unless she had some kind of far sight that allowed her to see into the future.

After waiting a while, it was finally our turn. Both Sophie and I pushed back the purple curtain and walked inside. The room was dark and filled with sparkling lights on the ceiling of the tent. The room had a strong sense of incense that filled the area making one feel calm and relaxed. And in the middle of this tent was a small table with a cloaked figure in black sitting behind it. In front were two chairs. The person in black acknowledged us with a nod and motioned with her hand towards the chairs. “Please have a seat.”