Geez. A lot of stuff has happened. Apparently, Naofumi was accused of raping her companion. And since this is medieval times, and being lesbian, gay whatever would be the sign of evil, they tried to execute her. But, me being me, I managed to prove her innocence, and piss off the king in the process.

So, now, I avoid being in town for as long as possible, occasionally bumping into Naofumi. She's become colder, but is still friendly with me. Oh, and the baby blade tail dragon, which I learned the name through Demetria, was called Crystal, through much begging from Demetria. She's grown quite a bit, and her tail has become, well, a blade. We often ride around on her back.

Now

Crystal is curled up under a tree, while Demetria and I rest against her side. But soon, we hear a scream. We jump up, and Crystal stands up and snarls. A little girl bursts through the undergrowth, before tripping and falling.

A trio of soldiers burst through after her. They chuckle darkly. Only to stop cold when Crystal grinds her tail against a outcrop of rock, heating it up and sharpening it. Demetria stands up, and so do I and we emerge form the shadows.

"So what the fuck is going on here?"

"Shut up, Damn Demihuman! We here to capture this girl and bring her back to our lord! Turn around and you'll leave here alive!"

But before he can react, I burst forward and bash him with the hilt of my sword. I then swing my sheathed sword, and and knock out the soldier to his right. Crystal rushes forwards, and smacks the last man with her tail. I stroke her neck, and she purrs. I gently pick up the girl, who yelps.

"Hey kid. What's your name?"

"I-It's Rifana. Who are you?"

"The name's Dagon. I'm the Balancer Hero."

Her eyes grow wide, and she begins to sob.

"I-I knew a hero would save me! Thank you! Please help me! I'm looking for someone! Her name's Raphtalia."

"Raphtalia? You mean, the Shield Heroine's party member?"

"She with the Shield Heroine? Really?! What's she like? Is Raphtalia okay?!"

"She's fine. Though she does have a slave crest, she's fine. Naofumi considers her family."

"Cool! I hope we see them soon!"

"I'm sure you will. Now, where did you come from? Are there more prisoners?"

"Y-yeah! It's that way."

She points in the direction she came from. I grin and my sword begins to hum with energy.

"Let's get going. We have slaves to save and people to beat up... and maybe kill."

We set off, and after a couple of hours, we come across the estate. A very nice estate. Not for long.

"Crystal. Go fetch the prisoners."

Two hours later

Crystal returns with a bunch of Demihumans in rags . And clutched in her mouth is the noble that owns the estate, Idol Rabier. She tosses him like the fat sack of meat he is, and steps on his legs, preventing him from escaping.

      Demetria walks forward, and her skin returns to its original color. She opens her mouth and let's a strange noise. It's almost soundless, yet Idol began to writhe and froth at the mouth. I signal for Crystal to step off him, and she does so.

"Leave him here. Hopefully his squirming will attract some monsters."

But I then spot Crystal running back to the ruined estate, and dragging a corpse of a massive saurian monster.

"Well it looks like we can get some good money off of this..."

Timeskip

    We helped build a small temporary settlement for the former Demihuman slaves. Rifana would be staying with us, so she could reunite with arson tali's sooner. Then, we headed into the city. We cashed in the monster corpse, and we got at least two thousand  gold coins. Safe to say, we were set for a good amount of time.

We returned to our friendly inn, and put most of our gear away, and then went back out to buy Rifana some proper clothes. She smiled happily as she twirled in her new dress. (The one in the picture from earlier).

"It's just like the one I had back at home! Thank you Mr. Hero!"

    She hugged me, and I hugged back. But I was worried what she'd look like once she gained enough levels. That's gonna be awkward. Especially since Demetria has been giving me, "the look" since we got back.

(Finally got this done! And sing eu don't want to start another page just to put a vote in. So here's what the votes about! Drumroll please!

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Should crystal gain a human form?
-Yes
-No

If yes, here are you choices.

(Which of these will you choose? Choose wisely, and may your soar on your mighty wings of imagination! Farewell, for now, fellow readers and writers.)