18 Suicide, Figurine, and Kiss

"Everyone! Jade woke up!"

Bridget Will barged into the hut and tripped on her spidery legs as she dived into the plates of fruit

"My food!" Scarlett tearfully screamed as she hauled the dizzy Bridget away from the sweet and sticky devastation.

"How is she?" Melody asked.

Bridget shook her head, "She's acting strangely. How about you all go check her out yourselves?"

Jae and the others complied as they moved to the hut where the others were resting.

An anguished voice void of all hopes and dreams resounded from within the hut.

"Just let me die already!"

"No~! Suicide is prohibited~!"

"J-Jade! Do-don't commit s-suicide! You h-have so m-much to live for! Th-think about A-Alexis!"

Bridget ran into the hut and yelled, "Natalie! Don't aggravate her! You sound more anxious about this than everyone else!"

Jae followed Bridget into the hut and witnessed a hornless demoness attempting to strangle herself with a vine. Natalie and Wendy were in dismay as they were trying to pry Jade's hands away from the makeshift noose. Meanwhile, Iris was observing the scene while smiling in the corner next to Layla, who cared less about Jade's hysterical actions.

"...what's happening?" Melody questioned as she entered.

Jae shrugged and proceeded to help the panicking fishwoman and cervitaur. The three managed to prevent Jade from dying and tied her up.

"Please, just end me! I'm not worth anything. I'm just a useless piece of garbage that nobody needs," Jade dejectedly lamented.

"What are you talking about? You're the confident school president that everyone admired back in our old world! You da best!" Scarlett flattered while shaking Jade.

"This is unbecoming of you Jade! As a lady of the Hargraves household, you should be acting dignified and proud!!" Clara scornfully glared.

"Yes,...you're right. That's why someone like me should disappear!" Jade moaned.

Melody turned toward Iris and asked, "Why is she acting like this?"

Iris tilted her head, "I don't know. She started speaking nonsense when she awoke and then suddenly tried to kill herself."

Castain Pherlorna walked into the hut and glanced at the demoness. He blinked several times, surprised, "A demon who lost her horns?"

"Do you know something?" Jae inquired.

Castain nodded, "I recall that if a demon loses its horns, then it will enter a state of depression until its new horns grow out. However, I've never seen such an extreme case. She must be really stressed to act like this."

"How long does it take till she gets a new pair of horns?"

After pondering for a moment, Castain answered, "I believe that it'll take from a week to a month."

"So we have to deal with this mess for up to a month!" Scarlett pulled her blonde pigtails and screamed. Jade copied Scarlett in creating a ruckus. The whole scene was chaotic.

"It's quite rare for a demon's horns to fall off. Did anything happen before?" Castain crouched down and examined the sides of Jade's head.

Jae recounted Jade's transformation and actions to Castain. He noticed that the demoness had returned to her original appearance at some point in her slumber.

"I see. So she activated her combat form prematurely," Castain said.

"What's that?"

"All demons have a form for combat, which they normally unlock when they become adults. However, it seems your companion had forcefully initiated her form far too early and her horns detached as a result. She could be considered talented for her kind to be able to activate her combat form at her age."

Jae looked at the pitiable girl, "Is there a solution or medicine for this?"

Castain shook his head, "We don't have the demon's remedy for this condition. In these parts where demons are utterly disdained and killed on sight, there is no way we would possess anything that will benefit the demonkin. Not even healing magic would regenerate a demon's horns. They are organs created from that demon's mana and if any foreign mana is inserted in their horn's former location, it would infect the demon with bizarre diseases."

Jae sighed, "Welp, I guess we have to wait it out. By the way, doesn't your people hate demons as well?"

"Yes, however, we overheard from Ialantha that you all were previously human, so we do not mind your companion's current race."

Jae's vision caught the sight of a bag as he remembered the state Alexis was in. He decided to ask Castain about how to fix her. During that time, Jade abruptly became silent and listened as well.

"A crystal golem? She can be repaired if given enough mana and magic crystals. Magic crystals are mostly mined and traded from the human empire. But since you do not wish to go there, I suggest heading up to the dwarven country, Mol Stan, north from the beastmen country. They should have plenty of magic crystals considering their stable transactions with the human empire."

Jae recovered the map they had purchased in Ellan as the other children peeked at the paper. Since the beastmen country really was on the way, the group decided to stop by there before going straight to the dwarves.

"It will take around half a year on foot or four months on a carriage if you go straight to Mol Stan, so you will need to regularly supply the golem with mana, otherwise, she will die. A complete golem could simply absorb the mana in the air, but one broken into pieces will gradually leak its mana until it wears away."

Jae nodded as Castain stood, "I will go now and procure supplies and a carriage for your journey."

"Thank you very much, sir."

"No need for thanks, we of the Pherlorna clan truly thank you, children, for all you have done for us," he replied while exiting the door.

Wondering about how long Alexis had been in her current state, Jae requested to the slime, "Nora, since you're the best out of all of us in channeling mana, could you start feeding her right now? We can all take turns every day until she recovers."

"Yup. I can charge her batteries, no problem!" Nora formed a thumbs up with her tentacles as she hopped into the sack. A glow emanated as it vibrated for a couple of seconds. Steam discharged from the bag.

Ping!

To Jae, it reminded him of an alchemy pot used by a particular character from a certain game.

Nora stuck a part of her body out of the container and spoke, "Um, guys. I think you should take a look at Alexis."

"Hah? What's wrong?" Scarlett tore the bag apart as Nora rolled out. From the torn fabric bolted out a miniature glass figurine as it animately strode to the bounded Jade.

"Ms. Hargraves! Are you alright?"

"Alexis?" Jade bent down to acquire a better view of the tiny figurine.

"Yes! I managed to slightly recover due to Ms. Cheng's mana. I apologize for not being at your side when you required my assistance at the most crucial moments," Alexis bowed bitterly.

"Everything is fine as long as you're alright," Jade's expression finally relaxed. Alexis caressed Jade's cheek with a tender expression.

Unlike having an eight-year-old body as everyone expected, Alexis appeared the same age as her previous life, albeit a mini three-inched version.

Natalie blushed and hurriedly covered Jae's and her own eyes while Bridget wrapped a cloth around the naked golem's body.

"Aw~. Poor Alexis~. She's so small now~," Wendy picked up Nora and cuddled her while empathizing with the crystal golem.

"She might look like that because her body is taking a form similar to her soul's. Her soul is an eighteen or twenty-one-year old's if you count the years here," Nora hypothesized.

"At least she has her bust back! I miss my large chest!" Scarlett complained, motioning in front of her bosom.

"You never had one in the first place," Iris smiled as Scarlett froze.

"How do you feel, Alexis? Are you injured anywhere?" Bridget inquired, worriedly.

"No. Other than my size, I am fine. However, I apologize. it seems that I will still need trouble everyone to borrow mana as my body momentarily cannot absorb any," Alexis answered.

"No problem! I got plenty to go!" Nora jiggled cheerfully.

"I will help as well," Jade smiled wryly, "Also, I believe that I can keep my emotions in check now. I apologize about my acts of hysteria. Could you all release me?"

"D-don't worry about i-it, Jade. Everybody h-has their periods of depression," Natalie unfastened the ropes on Jade.

"Depression sucks, mate. Eat sweet stuff and cuddle fluffy objects like Wendy!" Scarlett commented, seemingly forgetting Iris's sardonic statement.

"You can lay down on my back if it helps~" Wendy kindly offered.

"No, I cannot impose on you any further," Jade rejected as she lifted Alexis close to her.

"So, we all agree that we will head east to the beastmen country, Alkbestia, and then to Mol Stan, right?" Jae asked for confirmation.

The group affirmed as they began preparing for the travel.

-------

"What the h*** is that?!"

Scarlett pounced on a gigantic dog-like monster fastened to a carriage. It seemed to resemble a black and white Maltese Other than its enormous size, its thin oxen tail and three horns on its forehead indicated it was a monster.

"Doggie! It's a f***ing cute puppy!" Scarlett rubbed her face on the creature as her own tail swayed from side to side, imitating the beast. The fluffiness was divine.

"Aw~ It's so cute~" Wendy galloped toward the creature and patted its head.

The creature walked toward Melody and kept on licking her in spite of her struggles to shove it away. "Get it away from me! I hate dogs!" She cried out.

"Bad doggie~!" Wendy admonished as it barked at her.

"Woof! Woof!"

"No~! You're not allowed to!"

"Woof! Woof!

"It's also impossible breed with her~! You pervert~!"

"Woof!"

"I can't either~!"

"Wait, Wendy. You can understand it?" Melody widened her eyes.

"You can't~?" Wendy tilted her head as her deer ears twitched.

"Nobody else can understand it! It's been saying "woof woof" the entire time!"

"Oh~."

"I guess it's because Wendy is some kind of half-beast or so," Nora assumed.

"Beastmen shouldn't be able to understand monsters though," Castain mentioned while securing the ropes on the creature.

"Hm, then it should be Wendy's ability. By the way, what's its name?"

"Doesn't have one. It's a monster created from a long-lost species called Canlvaitae after it was corrupted by mana. You can name it if you want."

Jae, who was passing by, noticed that the species name was an equivalent to "wolf" or "dog" in this world's language.

"I don't care that it's a pervert. It's just too fluffy!" Scarlett continued to rub her face on its fur, "Its name shall be Sir Snickers!" Scarlett declared, wagging her scaley tail.

"The previous Sir Snickers died eating a chocolate bar with the same name," Iris smiled, sitting on a log near the carriage.

"Uh, then it shall be bestowed the name Pepper! Cause Its colors remind me of salt and pepper!"

"Scarlett, move. I need to bring these up the carriage. And, stop wagging your tail! It's flinging dust everywhere!" Jae wobbled toward their transportation with several bags in his arms.

"Huh?" Scarlett turned around and accidentally bumped into Jae with her tail.

The supplies dropped all over the place as Jae tripped.

Instead of kissing the ground, he felt a soft sensation like marshmallows on his lips. A sickeningly sweet taste reminiscent of honey filled his mouth. He inhaled nice floral scent as familiar amber eyes stared at his own. Flowers popped out of his head.

No, flowers literally burst out from Jae's head.

"Bleeaargh!"

And, he vomited.