What did I do wrong? Ouna, why don’t you like me?! Was I too weird? Did I come on too strong?!

  What do I have to do to get you to love meeee?!

  Okay~, overreacting aside, I know she’s actually probably right; It probably wouldn't go so well for either of us if she came along with me. Ouna has her ‘Super secret past?~!’ going on for her right now, so there’s a chance that if she gets caught somewhere that she's not supposed to be then she might get in trouble with her people, which would completely negate me using her for camoufge purposes. And, you know, there’s my whole problem of needing to free my inner monster that I’m sure would be bound to go awfully if I kept her around. I love to think that I could be super duper sneaky and keep it hidden from her the entire time, but at this point I think trying to take chances like that is only gonna slow down my rescue efforts with Til, not to mention I wouldn’t be able to move around as fast as I’d like to if Ouna was there watching me…

  Yeah, I know all that, but-

  =Do you like living here, Ouna?=

  “Well, I’d be lying if I said it was particurly convenient… But I’ve grown rather used to it now, in one way or the other. I have Sekina to keep me company, and I’m free to do as I please out here.”

  Hmmm. Something's going on here, I can smell it!

  Alrighty then: Quick analysis time, go!

  Let’s see~! Strained smile? Check! Awkward tone of voice? Check! Hugging herself? Check! Eyes wandering towards the floor? Check!

  These are all the signs of a cutie in distress!

  I don’t buy what you’re saying to me at all, lizard dy!

  =Ouna! Ouna Ouna! Are you in a tight spot or something? Did something bad happen to you? If you need help, then I’ll totally help you out with anything! Anything! Tell me if there’s anything I can do to help you!!!=

  I may look like just a pretty face, but I’ll have you know that I’m actually kaiju-level trouble, Ouna! I can totally wreck a town for you, if that’s what it takes to make things better! Heck, I could even try and take on one of those dragons I was so worried about before if that’s what she needs to get her out of this pce!

  I’ll do whatever it takes, just so long as you promise to leave here with me~!

  “Oh my… That’s very, um, generous of you, but…”

  Uh oh… I guess she’s not a big fan of how closely I just crawled over to her, judging by the way she’s pulling back like that. She’s not giving a particurly ‘Oh thank you, my savior!’ vibe to me right now… Or maybe it’s just that she doesn’t believe in my words? Maybe I don’t look all that trustworthy? Well I can’t bme her for thinking that, since we just met, but Ouna! You can totally believe in me!

  =No wait! Before you turn me down, hear me out! I’m actually really powerful, you know? I don’t know what’s wrong, and you don’t even have to tell me everything about it! But if you tell me what you need, I promise I can get it done for you!=

  “...Again, that’s very kind of you, but there’s nothing that can be done. No matter what anyone does, it won’t be enough to fix what's been decided.”

  Uggggh, why are you being such an emo character right now, Ouna~?! I don’t dislike it, but you’re making things really hard for meee!

  Well, I guess it’s really hard for her too, since her eyes are totally welling up with tears right now. Almost makes me feel like I made a pretty girl cry… That's no good.

  =Is there really nothing that could fix it? Nothing at all?=

  Hmm, Ouna just shook her head instead of even trying to talk, so I guess there really is nothing that can be done about it, huh? Well damn… I don't like that at all.

  =…Okay well, if you can’t fix things, then why not try just running away?=

  “As I mentioned, I must stay here. If they find out that Sekina and I have left where they pced us, then-”

  =Yeah okay, and I get that, but I doubt they’d be able to do very much to you if we went to the Forest territory, right?=

  Ooooh, I love the stunned way she’s blinking at me right now! Who knew surprising pretty dies like this was so fun to see~?

  “The… The Forest territory? Why would I ever go there?”

  =Heyyy, don’t say it like that! It’s actually a super nice pce! There’s trees and flowers- It’s actually super pretty there compared to here!=

  “Is… Is that so…?”

  =Yeah! There’s this cute little town there that I pn to settle down in that you could come live in with me. And there’s even already another lizard person who’s living in it!=

  Or at least I hope he is. I highly doubt Skild would have just gone back home after all of that fun betraying that he did for me~!

  “Oh… Oh wow, is that true…? But how can they stand it there…?”

  Eh, if it’s anything like the discomfort that I’ve been feeling every time I leave the Forest territory, then it does suck, but you kinda get used to it eventually, you know?

  =I guess it's because they have a big enough reason to put up with it? Being in the territory you were made for is nice and all, but being somewhere nice that protects you and makes you happy is much more important, I think.=

  “I admit, that does indeed sound very nice, but… But I…”

  Ohhh, such a pretty face shouldn’t have to wrinkle up like that! C’mon Ouna, come back home with me! I’ll make sure you never have to look like that again, promise!

  W-wait, where are you going? Why are you opening the door all roughly like that…?

  “…I’m sorry to do this after saying that you could stay, but I think it would be best for the both of us if you left now, Miss Mellily.”

  …Huh?!

  What went wrong all of a sudden?!

  Why is Ouna kicking me out???

  =Wait a minute Ouna, what did I do that was so wrong?!=

  “It’s not because of anything you did, Miss Mellily… I know you’re only saying the things that you are because you’re a kind person. Truly, I understand. It pains me that I couldn’t keep my word and let you stay here, but if you’re here for any longer then I’m afraid that my will may waver. I… I can’t let that happen. It may not be true for anyone else, but at the very least what I’m doing here is important to me; Too important to let anyone convince me otherwise.”

  Oh, so she’s kicking me out because I was being too convincing? But that’s hardly fair at all! If I'm being convincing, then all you have to do is say yes! Ouna, it’s not too te, you can still change your mind!!!

  ~~~

  It was too te.

  Ouna didn’t change her mind.

  …Wah.

  …I know that there was like mostly only downsides to trying to get her to come along with me, but I still feel super double unhappy that I couldn’t get her to do it. Boooo to Ouna’s dark past~! Boo to you for making Ouna not come along with me~! Having a pretty dy come along and break up the monotony of this journey would have been great! It would have made everything so much more enjoyable!

  I do have to admit that I’m making great time now, though. Ouna was kind enough to at least point me in the direction of the nearest town, so as long as I make sure to keep a good distance from it, I should be able to keep using my tentacles to run super fast for a long time; At least until I find a good spot to finally get big in. Yup, it should be smoooooth sailing from here until I can find my way into the elven nds in the East~!

  Orrrr at least that’s what I thought, anyways…

  Hate to say it, but I’m starting to think I might have gone a little bit too close to the town!

  “M-monster! It’s a monster! Call the guards!”

  “Eeek, look at its legs! Its arms! Look!”

  “Aaaagh, it’s hideous!!!”

  …Hey now. That’s really rude!