Chapter 2: The Kunta Song and Dance Troupe

Ka Slan Mianbao felt like she had suffered eight lifetimes of bad luck.
Ever since she opened her eyes a few days ago, she felt as if she had been living in a dream.

First, she found herself inexplicably lying in the water, having turned into a woman.
Then she was rescued by someone and forced to sign a contract of servitude.
And now, she was being forced by a bunch of damn old hags to learn some kind of… deportment class.

At first, Mianbao thought she had been forced to sign a contract for an Eden Garden.
Only later did she realize it was just a contract for a song and dance troupe…

For the sake of her freedom, Mianbao tried her best to explain to the old woman in black that she was a man, but the old woman ignored her every time.

‘It’s just too infuriating!
Why won’t she believe me!?
Forcing a man to learn how to dance, I can’t do it! Aaaah!’

“Ouch!” Just as she was lost in thought, a board rapped Mianbao on the head.
The person teaching Mianbao’s deportment class was still that old witch in black.
Her name was Kunta, and she was the head of this Kunta Song and Dance Troupe, which consisted of a dozen or so people.

The Kunta Song and Dance Troupe didn’t seem to be famous on the continent.
In truth, Mianbao didn’t know much about these things, because the only people who came to Lange Village were missionaries from the Church, not any song and dance troupes.

“Are you even a woman?” Kunta stood with her hands behind her back, sternly criticizing Mianbao.
“How can you not even learn such a simple movement? What a waste of such a fine figure!”

Mianbao shrank her neck and growled in a low whisper, “I wasn’t a woman to begin with…”

“What did you say?” Kunta continued to stare at her, as if she were about to eat Mianbao alive.

“Nothing!” Mianbao quickly replied.
A wave of sorrow washed over her heart.
She knew that if she dared to talk back, she would definitely not escape a beating from the old witch.

For now, Mianbao could only endure.
As a saying from the Eastern Continent went: “When you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head.” In any case, the old witch hadn’t made her do anything strange.

However, if she didn’t find a way to escape this place soon, the days to come would be unbearable.

“Also, why do you have a name like Mianbao?
My god, it’s so rustic!” Kunta said, clutching her forehead.
“From now on, your name is Firia. Do you hear me?”

Having been properly “trained,” Mianbao nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice, looking utterly docile.
But in her heart, she thought fiercely: ‘What Firia, Firia my foot, I like the name Mianbao just fine!’

“Alright, that’s all for today. You may leave.” Seeming to feel that the day’s lesson was about over, Kunta waved her hand.

Hearing this, Mianbao felt as if she had been granted a pardon and ran out of this “room” used specifically for her training, taking two steps at a time.
To call it a room wasn’t quite right; theoretically, it was more accurate to call it a carriage.

Because the Kunta Song and Dance Troupe operated through mobile touring performances, they ate, lived, and slept in their magi-mobiles.
Therefore, they had several magi-mobiles, each with various “rooms.”

The so-called magi-mobiles were technological products driven by elemental crystals, a very convenient mode of transportation.

Mianbao dragged her sore body, trained for half a day, down from the carriage and saw some of the other old women directing a few girls about her age, sixteen or seventeen, to build a fire and cook by the river.

Mianbao proactively pulled over a stool, spread her legs, and sat down with a plop, not a shred of ladylike grace to her.
If not for her skirt providing some cover, she feared she would have exposed herself.

‘Why have I become like this?’ Mianbao’s azure eyes traced the lines on her own jade-like hands.
Several days had passed in the Kunta Song and Dance Troupe, and she still didn’t know why she had changed from male to female.
‘Could it be that I did something wrong and God is punishing me?
If I had known, I wouldn’t have secretly drunk Dad’s wine…’

‘I wonder if Dad and Mom will be worried if they don’t see me.’

“Ouch!” Mianbao suddenly yelped in pain.
Kunta had appeared beside her at some point and had rapped her with the board.
“Who gave you permission to sit? If you don’t want another punishment, get over there and help!”

“I know, I know!” Mianbao was now thoroughly applying the principle she had heard: “When you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head.” She walked over.
‘Damn old hag, you said I could rest… Tsk!It’s just helping with cooking, that’s too easy for me.’

Walking up to the group of girls, Mianbao immediately regretted it.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared intently at this newcomer.

Mianbao’s back broke out in a cold sweat under the girls’ stares, and she felt the air around her gradually grow scorching hot.

“Um… Big sister, my name is Xixi. Could you please take these vegetables to be washed?” A very cute-looking little girl, struggling to carry a large bucket of feiluo vegetables, walked over, breaking the extremely awkward silence.

‘This is too despicable, isn’t it?
These old hags even tricked such a cute, young girl into this.
It’s so inhumane!
If I can escape, I’ll definitely call the Guardian Knights of the Church to teach them a good lesson!’ Mianbao, having been tricked herself, subconsciously determined that the other girls here were also pitiful souls being exploited by Kunta.

“Okay, no problem, leave it to big brother me!” Mianbao confidently patted her soft chest and, after a moment of suspicious blushing, carried the feiluo vegetables towards the nearby river.

“Eh, this big sister is so strange. She’s clearly a sister, why does she call herself big brother?” Xixi’s limpid, large eyes were filled with confusion as she watched Mianbao.

Actually, Mianbao had planned to use this opportunity to slip away, but unfortunately, that old hag Kunta had been following her ever since she picked up the feiluo vegetables.
And after her previous attempt to knock Kunta out and escape had failed, she had finally come to terms with the fact that she couldn’t beat this old hag.

‘Damn it!
Have I become so weak that I can’t even beat an old woman!?’

‘If ‘Sirius’ were still in my hand… alright, it looks like I still couldn’t beat this old hag.
This old hag might be a high-level, old swordswoman…’ Mianbao said, deflated.

“Say, Firia, where did you get the pattern on your back tattooed?” Kunta, standing behind Mianbao, suddenly asked a question she had been wanting to ask for a long time.

Mianbao froze, stopping her vegetable washing by the river.
She reached back to touch her own back.
The light dress she was wearing was open at the back, revealing her snow-white skin with a strange tattoo-like pattern.
“This isn’t a tattoo. It seems to be something I was born with.”

On Mianbao’s back was a large, dark red marking that took up a significant amount of space.
Her dad had said it was a birthmark.
But a little thought made it clear that no birthmark could be so neat and complex.
However, Mianbao didn’t particularly want to know the specifics.

“Oh—that’s quite peculiar.” Kunta nodded and watched as Mianbao finished washing the feiluo vegetables before they returned to the camp together.

When they returned to the camp, the girls had already lit a bonfire, giving Mianbao the feeling of a celebration.

The tables were set, the dishes served.
Soon, everyone was seated in their respective places.
Beside Mianbao sat the cute little girl, Xixi.

“Xixi, how were you tricked into coming here by this group of strange old ladies?” Mianbao grabbed a piece of bread and stuffed it into her mouth, asking in a low, muffled voice.

“Why do you say tricked, Big Sister Firia?” Xixi’s voice sounded a little puzzled.
“We were all persecuted by bad people or were homeless children.
Grandma Kunta saved us all, gave us a skill, so we can make a living!”

“Ah? Is that so?” Mianbao was a bit dumbfounded now.
She had thought the old witch Kunta was a vicious human trafficker who specialized in deceiving ignorant young girls.
She never expected that in the mouths of the other girls, she was actually a great benefactor.

Xixi added, “Isn’t it the same for Big Sister Firia?”

“Don’t call me Firia, just call me Mianbao.” Mianbao corrected Xixi’s way of addressing her, then said dejectedly, “That’s right, the old witch… Grandma… Kunta forced me to sign the contract…”

“Mianbao… Big Sister, your name is so strange…” Xixi giggled, covering her mouth, then grew puzzled again.
“But why would Grandma Kunta force you?”

“Heaven knows.” Mianbao pouted.
“Maybe she’s sick…” she vented in a mosquito-like voice, spearing a piece of roasted meat with her fork.

“My dear young ladies!” Kunta stood up, wearing a gentle smile Mianbao had never seen before.
She said to the surrounding girls, “Today, let us formally welcome a newcomer!
Her name is Firia!”