"I cleaned the bowls and cutlery in the cave. About the food... " Vincent raised a sly grin while he gazed at Lupa and continued, "The bird was chopped in four pieces, right? Then Ester will take two pieces as a celebration for her recovery." Ester raised a smile when she saw Lupa become suddenly flustered. Lupa raised her ear's full attention, and her tail stopped swaying. Lupa stopped swirling the soup, and the wooden ladle slipped from her fingers. The sentence of not receiving the extra food made her turn her head with a frown and ask, "Do we need to celebrate now? Maybe another time?" Ester seemed in a happy mood now. She laughed at the sad wolf while patting her shoulder for her loss. Lupa was a very competitive wolf, and when food was involved, she was even more. This loss made her even sadder. "Be a good girl, and next time I will give you an extra piece." As Vincent said this, Lupa gazed at him with a pair of golden puppy eyes. It felt like his few words saved her. Sometime later, the sun began to set. The bird soup with the few remaining Skor Mushrooms cooked nicely was ready to eat. Unlike the spicy frozen soup, they planned to eat until the last drop with a smile. "It's ready... *growl. " Lupa said when her stomach growled. Her mouth was covered in drool while eagerly holding an empty bowl. Shortly, everyone had their share with an extra one-fourth of the bird going to Ester. Lupa eyed her bowl for some time until Vincent jokingly said, "If you don't want to eat, then I will happily take it off your hands." Lupa frowned as she protected her bowl from his gaze. Then she began eating to remove any ideas of stealing her food. She acted childish yet cute. Vincent and Ester giggled when they saw Lupa eating while peeking at the same time. In a matter of minutes, their bowl became empty. The meal left them with a happy belly and a smile for its delicious taste. The spicy soupy tasted like hell while the bird soup tasted like heaven. *Crunch Lupa began munching on the bones. However, they were small, unlike the boar bones. Vincent knew that Lupa secretly chewed on the bones in her guard duty. "Lupa, the bones are small, so chew with attention. I knew you enjoyed the last set of bones." Vincent said with a hint of worry. He didn't have any Soul Power in case of an emergency. Lupa raised her tail in surprise. She was caught. She tilted her ears while her face had a faint blush, then lightly said, "I will chew carefully." "Shall we prepare the cart? Lupa will be here for a while." Vincent asked. He forgot to prepare the cart after he grounded the Red Numb Mushrooms to paste, and Kazumi told him about the storage ability. Ester nodded and followed behind. She felt flustered as the words Vincent said flashed in her mind. 'We can talk about or relationship later.' Were the words repeating in her head. "Kazumi will stay guard for the night like last night. So you don't need to worry about guard shifts for now and sleep together like last night." Vincent said. Then he went to pick up one of the five makeshift spears he recently made to place in the cart. But he soon noticed Ester acting strangely after he tried to hand one spear to her. "Is something wrong?" As Ester heard this question from his mouth, she became agitated and grabbed his hand instead. Ester gazed down. With a rush of embarrassment, she pulled her hand. Her face flushed red, but Vincent seemed unfazed by this touch. "Is something wrong? You can tell me." Vincent asked once again. "I... I vaguely remember about you pulling down my p-pants... But then you said I'm your family, and that we can discuss our relationship later. But now you want to sleep together?" Ester fiddled with her fingers. Her voice shivered from the nervousness she felt. She knew he meant to sleep under the same pelt, but her mind went elsewhere. 'Keep it cool. I hope Ester will not call me a pervert for pulling down her pants. I didn't even take a peak.' Vincent thought as a cold sweat began forming, ready to drop. "Well, didn't we sleep together last night?" Vincent said with a straight face while wiping his forehead. He knew what Ester probably meant from her red cheeks, but he intended to tease her after such a reaction. "Ahem... " Vincent cleared his throat to stop teasing after he saw Ester about to leave from embarrassment. "Kevin made me realize one thing. Parents, siblings, or a wife. A family is the most trusted relationship I know. Well, even though I consider Kevin as my best friend, his wife, Aunt Trisha, and his mother, Grandma Tessy." Vincent honesty said. Ester stared at Vincent. Her face blushed even fiercer as the word wife got stuck in her mind. But he already had Lupa targeting him, what could she do? "Wi-wife? M-me? You already have Lupa. Her chest is large, unlike mine." Ester suddenly asked after pushing her courage to the maximum. Vincent face-palmed both from feeling flustered and her inferiority complex. He sighed to calm and try to think of an answer. Kazumi was currently AFK. The support line was off. "We slept so many times together to keep you warm at night. A wife would be nice... " Vincent soon understood the words sounded worse than in his mind. He lightly blushed when he realized he messed up. "It's your choice to decide. I... I already told you that I like you. It's your choice if you want to accept me or not. Even if you are my retainer and have to follow me not to get caught, your heart is yours to decide." Vincent turned around to hide his red face and continued, "You are cute the way you are. No matter the size, a women's chest is every man's dreams." [Nice response, lover boy. You didn't notice the time pass, haha. When you facepalmed, I completed the job. You missed the inspection window at the time.] [Now this is the kind of drama I like. Hehe. I might rewatch the show a couple of times.] Vincent gasped as the sly Kazumi retuned. She secretly kept quite to enjoy the show. Such drama seemed to be to her liking as she giggled in content. [Starting a harem without me? Don't forget that I'm number three on the list. This sexy soul is waiting for numbers one and two to join, hehe.] "Th-then... I will think about it." Ester turned around. She left in a hurry for a breath of fresh air. She needed time to calm her fluttering heart. Vincent couldn't describe what kind of feelings he felt. He had to change the subject quickly, or he might not be able to sleep this night. [Name] Vincent Agius [Condition] Healthy [Soul Power] 0sp [Class] Soul Hero [Class] Soul Mutation [Class Soul Hero] *Soul Retainer Bond (Blessed) *Inspection(Basic) *Soul Spells - Minor Heal *Dimensional Storage (Unable to use until 100% understanding. Current progress is 20%) "Dim-dimensional Storage! Th-this cheating power!" Vincent stuttered in surprise. Kazumi could actually create abilities or spells in his stead. However, there was a problem. It all depended on Vincent's memories. Even if he forgot about them, Kazumi didn't, and it seemed to work if she remembered what Vincent experienced in his life. [Cheating power, my wisp ass! I did the hard work while you are benefiting from the poor cute soul. I never thought you were such a slave driver, "Sniff."] -I'm sorry for saying that. You are great. Yey for the mighty Kazumi. The best and cutest soul in the world.- [Hehe, your praise is accepted. However, it's becoming harder to understand. I hope the progress won't halt midway.] -I think the hardest question is, where will everything go?- [Now you got me...] Vincent and Kazumi had to leave this problem for last. The last huge wall to surpass and achieve their desired result. In games, the inventory system would have some story or legend about it, but the game's code will always do the same thing in the background. The items would have a placeholder where the items become visible and invisible, depending on when they need to be used or not. But how would it work in real life? How would the items get saved, stored in a place where no one could find, and retrieved at will? These were mostly the hard questions the two brooded about. At least Vincent forgot about the last romantic event. As it never happened. His otaku self excited him to the extreme. "Does that mean it will take more than four days? I think we should learn with caution. We will be leaving here tomorrow, and I have the feeling Ester made a mistake on choosing to travel through this forest." Vincent said with a spear in hand. Then he placed the last of the five spears he quickly carved before making the numb paste in the cart. [Yes, I have a feeling too. Ester heard adventurers took this path. But I think it was for E Rankers or higher since they would have a class.] The Great Gray Wolf might have arrived from Aero Forest, but Lupa doesn't know the forest names. She might have lived her entire life in Aero Forest. The Great Yok Boar's sudden appearance made it more apparent that Aero Forest was not an easy journey. This might be the reason why the soldiers didn't seem to have followed them. Vincent layed on the bed to sleep. Soon he closed his eyes to sleep with a smile. It was a calm and comfortable day for the group. *Outside the cave "Sister, why are you alone?" Lupa asked after she finished snacking on the bones. Behind her was an extinguished the campfire with burnt sticks dripping water. "Ahem... N-noting unusual." Ester panicked. Then she raised her gaze and used the moon as an excuse, "I wanted to look at the moon, that's all." Lupa raised her ear's full attention. When she picked a familiar sound, her lips curved a smile as she said, "Vincent is sleeping, hehe. Which side will you pick?" "W-what! Why do you look so happy?" Ester stuttered from such an embarrassing question. "Vincent is righthanded, so I want the right side. Is it ok with you, sister?" Lupa slyly said with an alluring smile. "Why are you asking me this? Do what you want." Ester turned her gaze in the opposite direction while her calm heart raced once again. "Yey. Let's go to sleep, sister." Lupa grabbed Ester's hand with a firm grip. Then with an excited smile, she pulled Ester to the cave with her. "N-no, don't pull." Ester helplessly said. But Lupa was far stronger, pulling Ester with ease. Lupa stopped her hold. Then she swiftly entered under the pelt with a cheery smile. She smoothly pushed Vincent to the middle of the bed to give Ester space to sleep on the left side. Ester stood rooted to the ground. In front of her were Vincent sleeping and Lupa grinning beside him. She used his arm as a pillow to sleep on. Kazumi enjoyed his show quite thoroughly. But she had to calm herself as a giggle almost escaped. She didn't want to wake Vincent and ruin the opportunity Ester was given. To decide on what she wanted to do. After a few minutes of staring, watching Vincent with Lupa sleeping made her feel sleepy as well. She gulped while carefully sliding under the pelt on Vincent's left side.