The Feralkin Cadet
1637 Words
The week proceeds as normal; and it's eventually Woodday.
But man, why must I be subject to freaking diarrhea first thing in the morning?!
I've pooped three times within a span of two hours, the excrement I've had is all liquid, and all this was after I've had my morning coffee!
Good thing Laika and Yulissa are there to treat that abnormality in my digestive system.
They give me oral re-hydration salts to replenish the electrolytes I've lost from pooping, and attapuleramide herbs (which are exclusively grown in the Elven Enclave of Bea-Davaeth) to treat those loose bowels of mine.
Sure, I may miss even an hour of classes because I have to get enough rest as recommended by the military school's resident physician; but thankfully, I can take advantage of catch-up lessons.
After roughly an hour of rest in the infirmary (and reassurance that the destabilization in my tummy is placated), I can then proceed with my second class.
While I'm on my way to the classroom to rejoin the girls, I accidentally collide my right shoulder with the left shoulder of an unusual figure.
I say “unusual” because of the cat-like ears of the girl I've just bumped into.
Thankfully, neither of us tumble into the floor.
But then, that “bumping into a girl” thing is a cliche in those selfsame romantic comedy novels.
“Nya! Please watch where you're going!”
“S-Sorry. I'm in a hurry, that's all.”
“Yes. I'm also in a hurry.”
I then spot the girl's name tag. It reads “AEDOLL H”.
“Oh. Nice to meet you, Miss Aedoll. So you're heading to that classroom over there?”
I ask her that because we're both headed towards the same classroom.
“Yes. And you're also going there, right? So then, let's huff it!”
She quickly grabs my hand and convinces me to walk steadily together on the right-hand side of the hallway as per usual.
A minute later, and the cat-eared girl and I are effectively inside the classroom.
“Keenan!”
“Brother!”
The two girls approach me, both stating “Thank goodness, you're out of diarrhea hell.”
And thankfully, they're not jealous of the cat-eared girl who accompanied me.
The military school always emphasizes camaraderie, which is a prerequisite to unit cohesion – whether it's humans, elves, half-elves, or girls with real cat ears and a tail like her.
A professor then arrives, signaling us all to get into the seats.
Naturally, I have to sit beside my sister and my childhood friend, on the second row.
“Good morning, cadets. I'm Professor Gerald Wolfinger, and I'll be your temporary teacher for Military History 101 while Professor Telesforo Lassen is away due to a family emergency. But first... I must introduce you to our newest cadet. Today's actually her first day here at the Lebenswasserheim Royal Academy Military School because the management had to straighten out some immigration issues which prevented her to have her first week here. Alright... without further ado, let's welcome our feralkin cadet, Cadet Hershey Aedoll, coming all the way from the Republic of Sardentha!”
We cadets give this cat-eared cadet with the semi-long purple hair and cyan eyes a warm round of applause.
So... feralkins, huh?
The Republic of Sardentha, which is a country northeast of our kingdom, is home to the feralkins, humans who possess genetic traits of animals.
This land mostly adapts Lebenswasserheim's socio-economic system, but the leaders prohibit intermarriage with humans, elves, and half-elves within their sovereign borders. Miscegenation outside the borders is a-OK, but the involving feralkin must renounce their citizenship beforehand.
Feralkins are first identified according to the spatial domains of the animals whose genes they have inherited from. Thus, there are air-type, land-type, and sea-type feralkins.
Land-type feralkins are the most dominant sub-species.
After the spatial identification, feralkins are then identified by the specific animals inherited from. For example, this lass with the cat ears and tail is officially identified as a feline land-type feralkin.
“Good morning to everyone, nya! I am Cadet Hershey Aedoll, a feline land-type feralkin. I originally wanted to migrate to the Kingdom of Lebenswasserheim because my own land lacks support for promising athletes like me. I compelled myself to take up anything athletic, since it would be a waste if I don't take full advantage of my genes.
“But then... I saw the brave soldiers of this kingdom, and I was amazed by their swordsmanship. They got me thinking. Why not use my own natural acrobatic skills in combat? Why not defend the defenseless? Why not help foster good relations between the two nations? And so, after much introspection, I switched my potential career to a soldier, nya.
“And before I forget, I proudly identify myself as a 'puspin', which is the catch-all term for hybrid short-haired feline land-type feralkins. Because of my mixed-breed nature, I don't have the weaknesses many of my purebred contemporaries have. I hope I can be a reliable ally in and out of the battlefield, nya!”
That gets me wondering...
Since it's a rule that we must address our military superiors with “sir” at the beginning and the end of our statements to them, how would someone with a verbal tic like her handle that?
“Sir, I need to get to the bathroom, nya, sir!“ or something, for example?
But all the same, I'm pretty sure our commanders will take that verbal tic in stride, as long as the proper form of address is upheld.
Once she's done introducing herself, Hershey heads towards an empty seat on the first row, and Professor Wolfinger begins his lecture on the military legacies of the founder's son, His Highness King Genero Javellana Blumstein.
It's then on to lunch break.
After a hearty meal consisting of sour shrimp soup, nacho cheese fries, and espresso soft serve (and the drink this time is just plain old water, and we don't mind that)...
Laika, Yulissa, and I are just chilling together on a bench on the open-air field, finally free from those pesky deviants dishing out disgusting rumors.
But what we don't expect are some cadets who are clearly accosting Hershey.
We all set our sights on her and the cadets surrounding her, and we can hear some words from the surrounding cadets.
“So, you're basically a cat girl, huh? Why don't you put on a cutesy 'nya, nya, nya' show?”
“Oh, you're really a feline land-type feralkin, huh? Prove to us that your ears and tail are real!”
“Come on, don't be shy. I'm just gonna fluff those ears and that tail. No harm, no foul, right?”
And on Hershey's side, her body straight-out displays uneasiness.
Her ears retract, and her tail's hair is on its end.
It's clear to us that they are outright harassing her, simply because they've never seen a feralkin before in their lives.
We also never saw a feralkin before, but that's no excuse for that misbehavior!
Haven't they learned from that “disgusting” mistake?
And so, we three agree to calmly talk to the harassing cadets by first approaching them in a non-hostile way.
With huge pats on their shoulders, I initiate the talk.
“Hey pal, please have even a little respect to our distinguished cadet! You wouldn't want to traumatize her for life, right?”
Laika follows up with...
“Come on, there are also elves and half-elves among us! If we can respect them, we should also do the same to this feralkin here!”
And Yulissa dishes up the following...
“Careful, guys... She can scratch you all if you push her buttons enough~”
As they see our faces, they lower their heads in shame, essentially stopping them from metaphorically stepping all over this poor feralkin cadet.
“OK... we're sorry.”
”She's just too cute to resist.”
“We haven't learned our lesson, have we? Good thing guys like you are preventing us from going too far.”
I finalize...
“Good thing this is settled amicably. Who knows how our commanding officer would react if he catches wind of this. So then... chill for the meantime. We still have one half of the school day remaining.”
And thus, the cadets disperse peacefully; and Hershey is none the happier about it, with glowing eyes and all.
“Thanks, fellas! You're all lifesavers, you know that, nya? So then... can I be your friend? Your buddy?”
With a heartfelt smile, we three all say one word...
“YES!”
“Thanks again, nya! If you ever want to visit me, I'm in room 303, located in Adric Murray Building.”
“OK, we'll keep tabs on it. Bye for now.”
She gaily leaves, eventually finding a comfortable shade from the sun underneath a tree.
And as she lays her body on the grass, her ears and tail twitch in a way that can be interpreted as contentment.
Well, we'd better get back to our own chill-out routine, huh.
Evening then falls.
As we are all prepared to call it a day, the public address system suddenly announces something straight from the commanding officer's mouth.
“Cadets, my apologies if this announcement is out of the blue. Fortunately, this is good news. His Highness King Virgil Almarius's younger sister, Her Highness Princess Mahalia Murasaki Polidario Almarius, will visit our school tomorrow. Since we will be meeting a member of the royal family, please pay only the highest respects to Her Highness, you hear? Alright then, good night.”
Wow. A member of the royal family, visiting us?
That'll definitely make a dull school day much more exciting!
- Writer
