Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) by V.A. Lewis (autobiographies to read .TXT) 📕

"In any case—" Rin paused to take a deep breath, then spoke in a calmer voice, "You’re the one who volunteered to go hunting yourself. You could have just let others do it, but you wanted to help. Don’t call yourself a burden when you’ve been trying your best!"

The Cat Beastkin crossed her arms. She stared at the young man challengingly.

Feri met her gaze, and he felt… happy?

The former slave was not sure how to describe the feeling, but he certainly did not feel upset at the scolding. He was used to being yelled at, however this was different. He nodded his head slowly.

"I— you’re right. Thank you. I’m sorry for—"

"And stop apologizing! Don’t say ‘sorry’ unless you’ve actually got something to apologize for! Got it?" Rin stamped her foot down, and half-glared at him.

Feri paused. He stared blankly at the young woman. Her words slowly sunk in, causing him to stand up straighter. He inhaled deeply, and spoke in a more confident voice.

"Yes. I got it."

The catgirl nodded to herself. "Nn, that’s better."

Rin turned away from the former slave. She bent over to the ground, and picked up his fallen weapon.

"Now let’s continue,"— Rin handed the man his rifle— "then maybe, we can get back to camp before the sun sets."

Feri watched as the Cat Beastkin spun around and walked off by herself. He stared down at his rifle, then back at Rin.

"You coming?" the young woman called out in the distance.

The young man quickly slung the rifle over his shoulders, then hurried after his companion.

"I’m coming!"

Later that evening Rin and Feri returned to the camp after claiming and harvesting two deer. Only the choice cuts were carried back to camp due to the weight. Both carried their own bag, but Rin had taken the heavier one since she was stronger.

They were greeted upon arrival by many people, and began distributing the food. It was a large encampment spreading throughout the plains, so what they brought back could not be shared with everyone. But the two of them gave out as much as they could, and were rewarded with nothing but the heartfelt gratitude of the recipients.

Feri felt his cheeks heat up from all the attention he was getting, and kept his head down. He let his companion do all the talking as they made their way through the camp. And although he stayed silent, he felt a sense of pride and accomplishment building up deep within him.

After a while, the two of them finally reached their destination somewhere in the center of the campsite. There, Feri found his other two companions waiting for him.

"Hrn, welcome back."

A Dog Beastkin sat cross-legged by a fire. Shang bowed his head slightly, as he called out his greetings to them.

"Eh, what’s up? What’d you guys bring back?" their second companion chimed in.

Sitting across from Shang was a Rabbit Beastkin. He had brown hair and the same colored eyes. His long floppy ears were that of a lop-eared bunny, an uncommon— but not rare— trait for a Rabbit Beastkin.

His name was Dawa, and he was the only other surviving Beastkin from Bys.

Feri set down his bag, as Rin just collapsed by the fire. She sprawled herself on the ground and sighed in relief.

"Nn, that was a long day. Also, I’m not a guy. Also, we got some deer meat. What about you guys? When’d you guys get back?"

"About an hour before you. There’s some boar meat if you want it," Shang said.

The Dog Beastkin picked up a skewer cooking by the fire, and offered it to Rin. She took it gratefully and muttered a thanks. Shang then turned to Feri, and raised a second one up to him. "How about you, want some?"

"I’m fine, thanks." The young man was knelt down, unpacking his bag of deer meat. He poked a stick through the venison, and set it to cook by the fire. "I want to try some of what I caught."

"More for me!" The white furred catgirl snatched the skewer from Shang’s hand, and he uttered a curse.

"Rin! You could have just asked and I’d have handed it to you. Your claws are sharper than mine, you could have cut me!"

"That just means I’m better than you! It’s not my fault you’re so fragile!"

"That’s not what I’m—"

The two continued bickering as Feri sat himself down by the fire. The young man waited in anticipation as his food slowly cooked.

"The first hunt is always the most rewarding," a voice came from the side.

Feri turned to face Dawa. The Rabbit Beastkin was nibbling on a bit of meat. The Human man blinked. "Really? It uh— doesn’t get any better than this?" he asked.

"Generally? No," Dawa answered bluntly. Then he added in, "Eh, not with hunting animals, at least."

"I see." Feri nodded his head. Then, he raised his head thoughtfully. "You guys were Hunters, right? Before all this."

"We were, yes. There were a dozen of us in our group. Pretty big for a Hunter team. Some would even say inefficient. But we were good." The Rabbit Beastkin stared longingly into the flames.

"Oh,"— the young man shuffled in his seat— "and as Hunters you guys just… uh, killed animals?"

"No, not animals," Dawa snorted. "Monsters."

"Oh…" Feri flushed at his mistake.

"There’s no need to get embarrassed about not knowing. The Hunters Guild does not extend to most of the Free Lands. And Rem too, but that’s for entirely different reasons. Anyway, you were a slave all your life, right?" The Rabbit Beastkin waited for Feri to nod in affirmation, then continued. "So it makes sense that you wouldn’t know."

Dawa took a deep breath, then began to explain.

"Eh, Hunters in the Hunters Guild