Hiatus Gifting This Unfortunate Guy With Blessings

"Uuuuhhh… my head hurts" I g.r.o.a.n.e.d as I lifted myself up from the damp ground. The pain in my face that wasn't present in that white room came back with full force so I couldn't help but wince.

I touched the left side of my face and unfortunately, I felt the familiar irregularities present on it. I released a tired sigh and decided to focus on my current situation.

"Am I really in another world?" I looked around and my vicinity certainly didn't look like a hospital room or anything like that. But to be honest I didn't see much of anything. It was seriously dark but I could see some lanterns in the distance. It appeared as if I were under the bridge.

"Hmmm..."

The wind picked up and I felt a little breezy in my nether regions.

"Hmmm?!?!"

I looked down and realized I was completely n.a.k.e.d.

"What the-?!"

A shout came out of my mouth as I realized the lack of any kind of clothing on me. During her last speech, Sylph-san mentioned that I was supposed to be a 'hero' that 'will save the world' and then she has sent me to this world without even trunks to my name?!

"What now?"

I was in a totally new place. I didn't know anyone there either. I started wondering if asking for help from a random stranger in my state was a possibility.

No way.

Even when formally clothed in modern Japan I was constantly being held up by policemen for being suspicious. There's no way a random person would take kindly to someone that looks like me and is buck-n.a.k.e.d.

I tried to calm myself and think about what new 'hero' in a story would do in this kind of situation. I mustered all my brain cells to think of a plan and soon an idea came to my mind. Sylph-san didn't mention anything about getting clothes but she talked about a power I would receive!

The power I chose could be perfect for this kind of situation. In my search for transformation-like abilities to remove those scars on my face, I stumbled upon this quirky [Imitate] ability.

In short, it allowed me to change into any monster/animal/race with whom I had enough physical contact. The time needed depended on the difference in strength. Sylph-san wasn't sure about the details and if there are any restrictions but supposedly I could even transform into a Dragon if I managed to get my hands on one… for enough time to get his form, that is.

"[List]!" I shouted a keyword for my personal list of available species I could transform into. I waited excitedly for the list to appear in my consciousness but only one word appeared - NONE.

Well… it was an obvious outcome as I haven't touched any creature yet. I had hoped a little that animals that I've touched in my previous life would be available but I had no such luck. It seemed that I had to work my way up from scratch.

I sighed and sat on my b.u.t.t. The feeling of grass on my ass-cheeks was kinda nice - I doubt it would be a good explanation if policemen or guard or whatever found me n.a.k.e.d sitting on my b.u.t.t under the bridge.

There seemed to be no other option than to ask someone for help, no matter how ridiculous it sounded for me. From Sylph-san's description, I could surmise that it was a medieval-like fantasy world that is plagued by a Demon King.

"People wouldn't just randomly stab me because I had a scary face, right?"

With nothing else coming to my mind I came out from under the bridge and looked around while keeping a low profile. There was no one around and the street wasn't that well lit. Perfect. Still, it would be better to stay clear of main roads with my attire so I went into the first alleyway I could find.

The common sight of a trio of thugs mugging a girl present in almost every fantasy novel I've read in the past… did not appear so I proceeded to continue sneaking while looking out for any signs of people that wouldn't have anything remotely pointy on them.

When I was about to turn the corner I heard a common, but still unsettling, sound of a person dumping the contents of her stomach outside.

"BLUEEEERGHHHHH!"

"If you barf over your clothes I sure as heck won't wash them tomorrow."

"Who do you think you are talking to, I got everything under con-"

The sentence was cut before the girl could finish and another round of liquid-ish things hit the pavement. I hid behind a barrel and peeked out.

There stood one guy above a girl that was curled up and was having a stomach fit seemingly after drinking too much alcohol. I could smell the peculiar smell from a few meters away.

I was wondering if I should talk to them while they continued to quarrel.

"You can't even control your drinking habits, you useless Goddess!"

"I am not useless you shitty NEET, I'll have you know that construction boss was begging me to keep working there, and you..." the girl with blue hair stood up quickly and as quickly got back down to hold down another barf.

"If you want, you can keep working there. I will find myself a party and start adventuring on my own!"

"You will have no chances against Demon King without this magnificent and beautiful Goddess."

"This 'magnificent and beautiful' Goddess is barely keeping her dinner inside of her."

The two talked weird and the girl seemed to be a little bit narcissistic calling herself a goddess and whatnot but they didn't seem like bad people. And most importantly it doesn't look like they have weapons on them. I decided that there was no use hoping for a better chance with my nonexistent luck.

I stood up, keeping one of my hands covering my son, the other in the air to show the lack of bad intentions and I tried to put out my best smile.

"Hello there. Can you…"

As soon as the guy looked at me his eyes bulged out and he screamed.

"Aqua-sama, there's a scary pervert behind you!"

The blue-haired girl stood up and while turning around she said:

"Trying to assault a goddess like me is a death sentence…"

"No no no no, hear me out…!"

I tried to say something but...

"God-blow!"

Was the last thing I heard before passing out.

***

Rays of sunlight were hitting my sore face as I woke up. It took me some time to recollect why I was passed out again. I remembered about the drunk woman that took me out in one hit… and I g.r.o.a.n.e.d again.

The good thing about that situation was that I somehow had some simple clothes on me but I was sitting on a straw mattress in what appeared to be a prison cell. The light was coming in from a window barred with iron bars.

When I looked around the cell I noticed a plate lying on the floor with some bread on it. At that moment I heard a protest coming from my stomach reminding me that I haven't eaten since last night.

As I was nearing the plate I noticed that it suddenly trembled slightly.

"Huh?!"

I was confused for a second but after spotting the cause of the sudden plate movement I moved quickly. While surprising myself with the speed of my hands I managed to catch the culprit. It was a little mouse that was trying to gobble on the meal I was given.

Although the little furball was violently trying to escape I held it firmly in my grasp but I made sure to not hurt it. My mind was processing how exactly did I manage to catch this little rodent before a more important revelation hit me.

"Hey, you are an animal, right? [List]!"

I remembered about my power and used a command. This time, instead of a word - 'NONE' appearing in my consciousness there was one line a little bit greyed-out with a timer on it - 'Mouse(0:07)'.

The timer ticked down each second and when it hit 0:00 a 'ding' reverberated in my head and the 'Mouse' option shone with a few different colors until it settled on white.

Realizing that this fact meant that I could now use my power I almost couldn't contain my excitement and immediately used the [Imitate] to change into a mouse on spot. But after careful consideration, I decided to check my power in a more secure environment.

I lessened my grip on the mouse and patted it a little bit before putting it on the floor. It quickly ran out of the cell. I looked at the bread in my left hand and I divided it into two pieces and put the smaller one on the floor.

After eating my ration I tried to look out of the cell to see if someone was near. There was no soul in sight.

"Hello? Is anybody here?"

No one responded so I started wandering from one corner to another, thinking about the future. When I was on the opposite side I saw the mouse come back into my cell and warily look at me and then at the piece of bread I left for it on the floor. I froze in place to show that I was not a threat and the mouse used this opportunity to snatch the bread and it bailed out.

I smiled at this but after a minute I once again started pacing around the cell while thinking.

"I hope they will let me keep those clothes… I don't have any money. Maybe when I am released I will try to find some job."

It was about an hour of waiting until I heard the sound of a door being opened at the end of the corridor. I ran towards the bars and noticed three women in armor coming towards my cell.

They stopped in front of my cell. I saw the two women in the back alternatively looking at me with a scared expression and then nervously at the woman in front who looked like she was in charge.

The woman in front had an angry expression on her face and I saw her reaching towards the hilt of the sword she had hanging on her belt. She looked at me as if I were some kind of sc.u.m. I blinked, not understanding what is going on. Without minding my confused expression the woman, without any opening, sternly stated:

"You have been accused of s.e.x.u.a.lly assaulting an adventurer."

"But-"

She didn't give me even one second to explain myself and roared at me:

"Silence! The adventurer gave out the testimony under a Truth Bell! You will be castrated on the spot! She asked for leniency so we will make sure you will not die!"

"Wha-!"

"But Ma'am isn't that too-"

"You be quiet as well! We don't need to bother the judge with sc.u.m like him! One more word and you will be fired for insubordination!"

The woman in the back closed her mouth with uneasy expression while I started sweating bullets. The madwoman once again yelled with a commanding tone towards me:

"Lie down and hands-on your head!"

She said that but didn't move an inch from her spot, clearly hesitating.

"NO!"

"Move away from the door!"

"No way in hell! I will not let you do it!"

"We are authorized to use-"

"I don't care! Come at me! I will protect my son!" I yelled out loudly, completely panicked, but they still didn't move. After a few seconds, I realized what was going on. Although the woman in the front looked furious she had a glint of fear in her eyes.

She was clearly serious but also scared of me. First time I thanked gods I had such a terrifying face. With how scared I was my face must have been even more terrifying than normal because the woman in front stepped away a little bit.

It was a stalemate but not for long. I saw the woman start taking out her sword but in the corner of my eyes, I suddenly saw a mouse running towards the madwoman's leg. After scaling the boot it started scratching on unprotected skin with its nails.

"Kyaaah!"

The woman quickly shook off the mouse from her leg and started screaming loudly. All three of them looked away at a mouse that was currently disappearing under the closed door.

"I hate mice! What the hell are you goons doing all day! I told you to bring some fleabags to take care of them!"

Before her subordinates could answer the woman looked back to my cell and...

"Wha-!"

… and didn't see me inside of it anymore. I was currently sitting inside of a small, mouse-sized hole in the wall.

"Where the hell is he?!"

She asked madly her two subordinates but they just stared blankly at the cell before fumbling:

"I have no idea! He must have teleported!"

"Maybe he was one of those crimson demons? I heard they all look weird and they are all Archwizards!"

"And you didn't check it before?! You are so useless! I will make sure to write an appropriate report! Now out! We need to inform guards that a pervert broke out!"

The two didn't look pleased upon hearing the unjustified insults coming their way but they still quickly followed after the madwoman out of the door. After several seconds the prison became silent again.

That crazy guard seemed to be the main reason the situation escalated so quickly to the idea of me being castrated although that blue-haired berserker swinging her fist seemed to really believe I was assaulting her.

I decided that my first priority would be escaping from the vicinity of that madwoman and finding that blue-haired adventurer so she would straighten out the facts.

I came out of my hidey-hole in the wall and started moving towards the door at the end of the corridor that seemed to be a way out. I then realized that although I am using an animal's form I have no problems whatsoever with moving around.

"Huh… it's not that bad…"

I thought I would have some problems adapting to different shapes of creatures but the power I have seemed to give me all the skills needed to live as a creature I turned into.

The only thing disorienting was how everything was huge. Doors, chairs, tables were just gargantuan in size for me. Even the mouse I fed earlier was looking pretty big.

"Nononono, don't come closer!"

I exclaimed in my mind but the mouse still came up to me and started sniffing my body. It didn't squeak or give out any sounds but it felt as if it asked me "How are you a mouse now?".

I had no idea how to respond so I just tried to go away but it stopped me by squeaking. It sounded as if it were saying 'Come with me. I will show you the way out.'

It led me towards the wall and started scaling the bricks towards the window with iron bars in it. I uncertainly followed it, but quickly noticed that I could do it as well without much problem with those 'mouse skills' coming from my [Imitate] power.

Soon we reached the window and the mouse just jumped into the pile of hay. Suddenly one could hear a sharp cry of an eagle… not, but my brain sure added that sound effect to this scene.

On the bottom of the hay pile, there was a nest. There were three more mice munching on the breadcrumbs.

"Aniki!" x3

They squeaked when the mouse I followed entered the nest.

"You girls ate your fill?"

"Yes!" x3

A scene of four of them snugging played out. I realized that this mouse is helping others in need! It seemed to be an extremely cool mouse indeed. Maybe I should call it Aniki as well?

I wanted to thank Aniki for saving me and then helping me leave prison but I didn't know how to communicate in mice. This seemed to be beyond skill's capabilities so I just nodded my head appreciatively and went for the exit.

"No problem newbie, you also shared your meal although you didn't have to. With this, we are even."

"Aniki… so cool!"

I pushed my way out of the nest and came out of the hay pile. There was a small hole in the wall standing around the prison building. When I went through it my eyes saw a street bustling with human activity.

For some, it would be annoying sight, some would find joy seeing so many people. In mouse's eyes though, it seemed like a trap room in a dungeon with thousand walking traps designed to crush you.

I decided that it would be safer to change back to human and risk being spotted by those female knights and changing into a mouse in some back alley than trying to cross the street as a mouse.

"[Imitate]: Human" I squeaked.

No 'Human' form registered. - this 'prompt' appeared in my consciousness.

"What…"