"Hm..."

Soma looked upwards carefully, where there were traces of creatures flying about. But they didn't seem to pose a threat anytime soon as they still felt pretty far away, like stars in the sky.

Despite the sighting of Wind Lizards in the Schmizula Forest at night, there were still traces of aerial creatures at daytime. They were, however, a different type of creature in this world.

"How is it?"

"Mn, looks like we're still good for a few hours. Let's make haste. ...And you, don't slack off."

White had became distracted with interest following Soma's sudden action and squinted, carefully adjusting his vision to see what she was looking at in the sky.

However, he still couldn't see much even with Hawkeye LV1. It was Level 1 after all.

Incidentally, White did not have a Passive Skill like this before even when he had retained his memories.

It had attached to him unknowingly after the fight with the Abomination. But of course, White himself didn't know of this as his memories were almost all wiped clean from his dysfunctional mind. He couldn't keep his memories for long whenever Kuro, the identity who was assumedly another soul in his body took control. It was just a matter of time that White would receive a clean slate after a day's rest.

But some parts of his mannerisms had changed permanently. He did not know of this as well, but he had become a little less trusting of people now. Besides Soma and Lestia whom he found it strange when he had associated with them so easily, Arglav and Karna on the other hand were still on his side of suspicion. Even though their village had been burnt down a few days ago, they still didn't seem to hold any sort of attachment to their old residence and kind. On the surface level however, White still tried to maintain a neutral disposition between them. Besides that, White had also learnt to talk a little more fluently between the two women who were constantly around him besides Karna. He stuttered a little less and could talk a little more openly without fearing backlash. Soma would still berate him for his 'uselessness', but since he couldn't do anything about it, White just took it with a pinch of salt and laughed it off.

Lately, the two haven't been having sex. It had been two days since, and White was feeling a little pent-up. More that that, he was feeling a little guilty that it was probably because of him that Soma had started to give him the cold shoulder even more than usual.

"What are those?"

It has been two more days after finding out about the possibilities of a curse from Soma. White had become increasingly interested in the happenings of this world. Although he still held lingering attachments to his previous one, White had decided to do his best here. If there was a way to return back, he would try to do so. Although there was only visiting his parents' tombstones and one of his old acquaintances, White still felt a strong obligation to do so as he was brought up to be a very filial and dutiful son.

"...Ah, you... right. Why would I t- OWUUCHH!"

Soma had bitten her tongue from an arm chop on her head.

"What she's trying to say, is that those are Wyverns. Although this is second-hand information that also came from her."

Lestia followed up curtly while Soma was glaring at her, still with a painful expression she was recovering from. Her glare wasn't very friendly at all.

Since this was the usual routine the two had shared every time the three conversed together, White had gotten used to it and had adapted to that unusually consistent slapstick routine.

"Wyverns?"

"Well... they're like dragons, smaller in size and they only have two legs. Again, I'm not the one that knows all of this. But I did encounter an Earth Dragon before. It was dead before I came across it though."

"Dragons... huh..."

"It was extremely delicious."

"Ehh... uhhm... did you just lick your lips?"

"It was just your imagination, fufu~"

That was the first living creature Lestia had consumed after all. And it was served on a silver platter by the Necromancer that had left it there after failing to resurrect it. That Necromancer would soon fall into the bottomless pit inside her gel body after losing its powerful familiar as well. But Lestia had to fight for her life in order to defeat it, since it was a B-class threat capable of protecting itself adequately even without one.

Still, that was a story for another day.

"...So why are there wyverns flying about in the sky? Is this a common occurence? Like planes back on Earth? Probably, they're some sort of transportation system?"

"... ...That's... a very interesting thought..."

Lestia had known the vague answer from Soma, but this gave her a little more insight on what they were really used for. As she pondered with a hand on her chin, she stole a glance at White.

As expected... he... no... Master is pretty smart... To apply comparisons between worlds like this without being flustered by its differences. Fufu, I'm falling even more in love with you if you keep doing this...~

Soma had long since recovered from that previous jab on the head and was pouting her lips in jealousy.

Even though she hated the weak-willed White, Soma was still very much in love with him. He was her Master, bound to his Aspect of the Ruler with Lestia as well even if it had been hidden in his Status Window. There were many skill implications within that skill, as it was an Interface Skill. One that could open up an additional screen that revealed even more information in the Status Window, like an User Interface (UI) upgrade.

These were called Slave-Master Skills, and there were more than a dozen and almost all of them were greyed out as they had not been learnt through Skill Points (SP).

One of them had flipped the switches of its slaves through an aphrodisiac-like effect. It was a Passive effect that had already been learnt, and it was called Love Mist LV1. Probably it was because of the foreign element; Monster Instinct Lestia had, but Lestia wasn't as heavily influenced by it as Soma was.

Soma, who had already lost her mind and body to White a long time ago, would be further induced into a state of arousal which she could not contain. However, since she could not show her weakness to someone who didn't have the same aura as her Master, Soma had played the card of equivalent exchange.

She would play it off as a debt White had to pay off with his own body and pleasure her every night in exchange for safety until they reached the City of Hiomi.

But lately, it seems that White had begun to take control of his forgotten bearings and become a little more assertive when speaking and composed while fighting the rigged battles between monsters in an attempt to powerlevel him up. That was the true reason she was trying to refrain herself from having sex for the two days. She was afraid she might lose her image of authority in White's mind if she let loose.

She was determined to hold down her own reins until her 'true Master' showed up.

Not good, not good... why am I even feeling jealous... it's not him... he's not... Master...

Even as she continued to tell herself that, Soma could not help but see the overlapping image of White and Kuro together occasionally. Her heart felt heavy and dark whenever she saw Lestia getting too close to him.

...Ah that's right. I... I'm supposed to be the one more knowledgeable about the outside world here... I'll use it as an exc... ...no... it's... it can't be help... that's right... it can't be helped...

Unbeknownst to Soma, Lestia had been sensing that feeling of doubt since a while ago even without looking. She had Slime Sense after all, and they were already connected with a telepathic web between slave members and their Master. Thoughts that became too overbearing would become transparent and could not be hidden from each other.

With a playful smile befitting that of a sadist, Lestia began to harbor thoughts about teasing Soma in some way.

"Hey Soma~ Help me out here, could you? I don't really remember what you told me about those wyverns already..."

Soma was startled as Lestia had suddenly called out to her, but her mouth slowly turned into a truimphant grin as she began to feel an obligation to teach White about this world. She walked over with prideful strides, and puffed up her chest in front of White.

"I-it can't be helped now, can it? Well, as a special service, I'll teach you about it then~ Mn, that's good, that's good. That settles it the-"

Lestia suddenly came closer to her left ear and whispered something.

"Wh-what is it... ... ...H-hueeee?!!! ... ... ...Guhehe..."

"Wh-what..."

White made a step backwards in a panic, as he saw Soma's sloven facial expression all of a sudden.

Lestia was definitely up to no good again, and had almost certainly told her something that would escalate her mischievous plans like before.

...Most of these plans involved humiliation plays. Like getting naked on the floor.

...

Without a doubt, White had identified Lestia as a sadist. She had not even bothered to hide that trait in her Status Window, so he had confirmed his suspicions on the day he was forced to lie down naked. It didn't end there, as Lestia had made use of his exposed body position to rub herself all over him. It was as if she was trying to mark him with her scent. Slimes didn't really have a distinct smell, so it was relatively unknown why she had done so.

Now it was going to happen again. White knew Soma was a soft-hearted individual deep inside, so he was afraid that she would be influenced very easily by the devilishly tempting words of Lestia.

Did she do something with her skills?

He did not think that Soma was such a sex-crazed woman.

He didn't want to.

Finally, Lestia had finished the lulling of words she had planted inside of Soma's head and began to back off. White looked at her, and she did the same.

That brief moment of eye contact told him everything.

"...dog... dog... ...dog... ...dog... ..."

She was seemingly in a feverish daze, repeating the same word over and over again. Her balance had became a little unsteady, and was rocking back and forth while panting heavily.

"Wh-wh-wh-what did you tell her..."

"Fufu, nothing in particular. Just... equivalent exchange... right?"

As if gesturing Soma to take action with those provocative words, Soma nodded fervently.

She took a few more steps forward and stood right in front of White, who was blushing intensely from Soma's unusually docile behaviour.

"Th-that's right... You... You're just a lowly se-servant... so... in exchange for this inf...information... you need to accompany me tonight."

Wha...t... that's... the usual thing... I'm glad it's not...-

"-W...we'll..."

It wasn't over.

"We'll..."

"Yo...you'll?"

White was sweating buckets. There was no way this would turn out like he expected.

"Go on~ He's waiting for your request~

...Like a faithful... dog~"

"H-hau... thi...this is so indecent... ...Uuu... ..."

Soma leaned her body even forward, forcing White's back to rest on a tree behind him. Soma's hands pressed down to the left and right of his head, as her eyes were spinning crazily with a wild and passionate stare. Drool continued to leak out of her mouth like a ravenous beast.

With that controlling motion, Soma had finally made up her mind to say it. In between rough and hot gasps, she opened her mouth.

"Y-you... *haaah haaah*... this time... I want you to... *haaah haaah* treat me like a dog... and handle me roughly..."

"....Eh?"

White had not expected this at all.

For a perverted closet masochist like Soma, Lestia's suggestion had flipped her switch almost instantly. A woman who enjoys the degrading act of being abused physically and verbally by someone, this was the perfect thing to ask of her Master. Not to mention the fact that Soma was just as pent-up as White after not doing the deed for 2 days...

...Of course, this was all for an equivalent exchange. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this.

Yes, nothing was wrong.