The aftermath wasn't pretty, the earth slowly sucked in the blood of men and combined into a bloody mess as the two girls casually walked around to collect anything usable from them.

Loren saw the progress or rather the adaptation that Isabel showed. This time she didn't throw up and even she took a part in the battle. The worst still could be ahead of them as they lack the information what they would face at the camp, but in Isabel growth as a future warrior, Loren found inner strength that helped her to gain reassurance at least. It wasn’t an impossible task to train her. But of course, there was still a long way ahead of her, but the faint light of hope gave faith to Loren.

After Loren extended a few belts on armour pieces for Isabel to be able to wear them, she left her to finish the looting of the bodies while she got a closer look at the enemy’s camp.

Back then when she roamed the land with her own party, she was a good scout, but as time passed and she changed trade to a more profitable one, she got used to it to have someone else gather the info for her. It felt like her past haunted and mocked her the more she roamed the wilderness. With her new body, it was impossible to get anywhere near to that agile what she once was, but to lose against a pampered child in food gathering and only be able to hide serval feet above to surprise the enemy, was kind of embarrassing. But never the less she was out of practice and this was not the right time to get back what she lost.

She reached the edge of the forest, the path that she followed continued on a meadow, but seeing the tower inside the camp discouraged her to walk forward without any cover. The palisade blocked a clear view of the camp, she had to walk alongside the meadow to get to a better position where it was missing.

Three smaller houses or rather sheds in a circle, a few handcarts here and there. For the first glance other than the short watchtower they lacked defences, there could be traps around, but if they stuck to the path they should avoid them most likely. The camp offered so little visually that even a mere headcount would have been enough for her.

Loren stood behind a tree and watched them for a while as the one who most likely was the bandit chief ordered angrily two guys around to reposition the carts to fill a few gaps around the wall. It was hard to tell from this far for sure, but a woman in tighter robes stood and cling to him... either that or the chief had some questionable taste...

Loren tried to figure out the robed one when the sun's rays were reflected for a brief moment from the tower. And before her eye could have focused on it and an arrow hit its mark. The arrow's shaft snapped as it took a piece out of her cheek. She touched the place of the impact. The once smooth stone skin became rough as a bigger flat piece was missing. Whoever made this shot was way over in levels than other guys.

The curious gargoyle got her message, they didn't like if someone was stalking them, and before she got another friendly reminder that she should leave. She left.

Isabel was not far from the previous fight scene where she left her, she sat beneath a tree and held her bag between her legs, she was still armed and wore more armour now. It looked like she finished her job as a pile of weathered leather and a pack of folded rugged clothes were next to her, alongside with a few battered swords. Even in their current state the swords worth a pretty money and a potion or two for them were still better than nothing.

It crossed Loren's mind to just out of fun scare Isabel, but she didn't have the heart as she saw her snoozing so peacefully. Instead, she sat down next to her and gently run her hand thought Isabel's hair while she called her name.

"Isabel... Isabel, wake up."

Loren tried her best as far being gentle went, but it didn't work. She was about to 'gently' shake her up when Isabel slid down toward her and landed on her lap.

"Alright... you get five more minutes."

They were in a hurry. They overslept, and nightfall already began. They had to at least reach the end of the forest before it became too dark to move around without a light source. Loren carried a mostly intact corpse and marched forward in hasty pace, while Isabel tried to keep up with her but unlike someone else, she had a finite stamina and with the extra armour's encumbrance it was a hard challenge. The distance between them grew steadily which made Isabel worried.

"Loren, slow down! You are moving too fast." Isabel panted heavily.

"Agh... First, you fell asleep then you ask me to give you even more time. We don't have this kind of luxury. If you want to sleep tonight, we have to deal with them first."

"Then why didn't you wake me up?"

Loren couldn't answer that, it was too embarrassing to tell Isabel that she fell asleep as well while she enjoyed the moment. She just kept marching forward instead.

"And why you are carrying that?"

"Shield against arrows."

"They have archers?" Isabel sounded worried and doubtfully looked at her battered shield.

"Only saw one, but he is high-level. I was careless, and he landed a shoot over a hundred yards without the arrow lost any of its strength. The fact that..."

"What? Are you hurt?"

"It not that bad, it's just my cheek itching a bit. But let me finish. So, the fact that I still have my head means that he doesn't have an enchanted arrow, nor he has [Power Shoot]. That drops out the [Archer] class, so he could be an [Assassin] with ranged weapon preference or a [Ranger] with [Snipe]... Or just a lucky bastard with an enchanted bow."

"Why is it, so important what kind of archer is he?"

Loren stopped and look Isabel in the eyes. She changed to a more serious tone, that gave the chill to Isabel.

"If he is a [Ranger] you still have a chance to survive a clear shot but if he is an [Assassin] with this skill, he might as well have [Vital vision] or [Deadly Aim]. The moment he releases the arrow, you just had your last thought."

Isabel swallowed one and before she realized Loren was far away again.

Back at the end of the forest path, they went through one last time the plan.

"Corpse in front and you stay as close to me as possible behind me. Once we reach their wall we follow it around until the tower. I climb up to take out the archer and then you can join the fight as well. Clear?"

Isabel just nodded, she still seemed to be still terrified after what Loren said back then. It wasn't Loren's real intention to scare her, she just wanted her to know how dangerous one skilled person could be. But she might have done too well on that. Never the less, the damage was done and dealing with the fear of death required more time to settle, which they didn't have.

The once peaceful green meadow where the breeze could dance botherless change its colour in the setting sun. Like the blaze in a forest fire, the bright orange colour swept through it. Creating an image of a razed country before the final siege.

Loren was disturbed and the farther they walk along the path the more her current position became unsettling. The picture that the meadow painted couldn't care her less, but the two soft overspreading orbs on her back was a different question. Isabel hugged her as hard as she could to stay as close to her as it was humanly possible. The constant pressure change that the walking caused was nothing compared to how much Isabel shivered in fear.

The knock of the meat shield’s head on the wall was a sigh of a god for Loren. The distance felt longer than it should have, and she remembered none of it as her focus was on other things. She even had to check her shield to see if they were targeted or not by the archer.

"No arrows." Stated Loren and tossed aside the body. She tried to carry on with their plan, but Isabel still clung to her.

"Isabel."

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Your eyes... Yes?" Loren was not sure why Isabel had her eyes closed, but she was relieved when she felt as the two pillows from her back disappeared. The two changed an awkward smile and followed the log-line until the tower. The logs weren't as tall as Loren thought they would be. Maybe 10 feet or so above the ground. She could reach the top of them easily if she wanted to.

Isabel stopped as Loren told her, she was a few feet away from the tower where it didn't have a line of sight on her as she crouched next to the wall. There was too big of a silence on the other side, but even if it was a trap, it was too late to turn back now.

Loren faced the tower, put her hands on top the logs and with a light jump she pulled herself up. The moment her feet got its grip on the log she leaned toward the tower in front of her and slowly peeked over it. It was empty. Loren's plan to deal with the archer right away, fall apart.

As She stood on top of the wall she thoughtfully observed the buildings, but there was nothing that gave away where the rest of the bandits could be as only two of them were outside guarding the single entrance on the other side of the camp.

But even with her plan just failed, Loren was once top in her trade, coming up with another one was part of her kit. 'Deal with the guards silently. Isabel takes the left, mine is the right. Once it's done, we barricade the entrances and set them on fire.' In her mind, she gave them no chance to respond in any way, the more it restricted them the better the plan was.

Now she only had to tell Isabel the plan and they finally could leave this valley in peace. Loren leaned and shifted her weight backwards to jump off the log she stood on, but history repeated itself as the heavier of the two demonstrated the destructive force of what almost 926 pounds of stone could do from that high.

The poorly buried log got out of the ground and with the gargoyle on top, it began to fall. The surprised Loren pushed herself away from the log as the grinding of wood could be heard, but it was too late. After she landed on her feet, the wood slammed on the ground. Their cover was blown.

"Loren?" Isabel asked worriedly, this wasn't part of the plan.

"Agh!... We attack, now. And I will find the archer during the fight." Loren snapped at her with fury. As there was now a new entrance to the camp, she grabbed the opportunity and stepped through the narrow space sideways, leaving Isabel outside.

"But?... What if he finds me first?" Isabel asked, but Loren was already gone.

Two guards with spears, she already faced bigger threats with her new body, the question was not who, but when will win. Loren charged towards them, with her sword in her right hand. Each step sounded like a war-hammer smitten the ground, leaving the dry dirt cracked behind her. The guards shouted for help while they prepared to halt the charge with their long weapon.

Loren aimed at the left one as the two bandits stood next to each other. It seemed like she would pass by them and not collide with them head-on. The closer one trusted his weapon towards the gargoyle's chest, he could fell the counterforce that the hit caused, but it shifted into friction as Loren turned herself around. The spear reached her and split open her leather, but it only scratched her stone-skin. She made a full turn with her sword arm stretched out. The sword drew a circle in the air around Loren and reached his target by the end of it. It would have required a skilled [Fighter], but in what Loren was missing she made up for it in weight and brute force. It wasn't a clean cut, it didn't need to be. The bandit collapsed in place as her skull leaked out its remains. Loren slid a few feet on the ground after her spin, and by the time she stopped the other one already back away with fear in his face.

She ran out of time, a door slammed open and two others seemed to be eager to join the fight. The chief with a tower-shield and with a mace, the other was the archer who stepped outside. Loren lost interest in the guard and her focus narrowed on the archer. It wasn't just personal, that he managed to land a shot on her, but her 'get out of the mad god's grasp card' was at stake as long as he was alive.

Speaking of which, thanks to her voluptuous top-heavy frame, Isabel was stuck in the gap between two logs.

Loren shouted to Isabel to take on the last guard while she dealt with the other two as she began to sprint toward them. The archer took the initiative, drawn his bow and in a rapid paste, he shot three times before Loren could reach the chief who stood with his shield. The arrows bounce off her, but each took a piece with itself. The chipping didn't slow her down, but the chief slammed down his shield which raised an alarm. [Shield wall], even if he was alone it could stop her.

A step and not before, Loren jumped, grabbed the top of the shield and aided herself over it. She passed the chief and it seemed she would land on the archer. But to her surprise, she passed through him and landed on the ground instead. Now she was sure, he was an [Assassin].

She gave her no time to move around, the moment she landed Loren used her long reach and swing her longsword around. Luck was on her side tonight, even so, he blocked most of her attack, the bow didn't survive the strike and his brief invisibility after [Miss Position] broke. But her wide move was a grave mistake, the chief slammed the tower-shield into her. Loren lost her balance and fallen on the ground, the follow up didn't late. His skill still lasted, and the shield was on its way to strike the earth. Loren rolled away, but it got her left arm. The crack shocked her out of her furry, a hand and bit of her forearm was the price of the recklessness.

The guard was on his way to deal with the easy prey, but Isabel managed to free herself from that evil narrow gap. She repeated Loren's teaching about fighting. 'Keep the distance advantage that came with her height and when the opportunity comes, use all her weight if she can.' The basics were simple, but there was a problem. An eight feet long pointy stick, to be precise.

Isabel eyed the error of Loren's teaching as it ran toward her. The solution was simple... Run and ask for support.

"Loren!" Isabel almost screamed her name, as she ran for her life.

"Busy." Loren just lost an arm and stood before two healthy foes.

"How to deal with a spear?" Isabel asked as they almost finished their first lap inside the camp.

"Parry, step in, smash." Loren couldn't take her eyes off the [Assassin] as he pulled out two daggers.

Isabel needed a little time to process what she just heard and before she could have put her new instruction into motion another door slowly open ahead of her. She finished the visualization just in time to notice the now open door. She had to stop either way why not do it with a little style she thought. She jumped a little, turned around in the air and gave away a good bit of her force with her rump. The door slammed shut and a loud knock could be heard way before it closed. Isabel felt a little proud as she managed to pull off her 'trick'. The bandit fell behind a bit and she only noticed it now as she faced him.

The bandit used his momentum and trusted toward the cowgirl. It was too quick for her to parry it. The spear hit her weakened shield and broke through its planks, her amour stopped the remaining force of the attack before it would have penetrated her shoulder. Isabel was baffled, for her, it was unthinkable to witness such act. Her shield was destroyed, which almost cost her life.

The spear was stuck in the remains of the shield. The bandit tried to pull it out a few times, but the frozen Isabel only made it harder as she held the shield in a weird angle for him. He was desperate to get out his only weapon, he braced his leg and tried to kick her away. The pain snapped her back as the little man struggled in front of her. She pulled him closer with the shield and introduced him, her mace. The men who tried to take her life grabbed her arm as the mace left a deep first impression on it, but not the last one.

Even with two arms, it would have been hard to deal with them. Loren waited and slowly back away. She had to keep the [Assassin] interested in herself, while the bigger threat had an iron curtain. She passed the first house and parried a few blows, but his shield didn't leave an opening for her to respond. It was only the matter of time before the other went for Isabel, they left her no choice, she had to gamble.

Loren quickly hid behind the corner and got ready to jump away from the wall. The chief was cautious, he turned his shield than with a side step he stood before her. Loren pushed herself away from the wall with all she got and swing at the chief from the side. With a wide move, the shield deflected her weapon with ease. A big smile was on his face as his hammer already risen to make the last smite on Loren. And there was the opening she sought.

Loren stepped forward and trusted her splintered arm into the chief's face, widening his smile even more. The chief's body limped, the shield fell over and she pulled back her bloody arm, now she could finish off the [Assassin] as well. Loren face distorted the fear, it was only a moment and now he was gone. She was aware of his trade, but he had to be more than a mere [Assassin] in the middle of nowhere. Loren saw no viable place to hide and Isabel sat peacefully next to a bloody puddle while she learned at the house wall. She couldn’t wait, she shouted for her.

"Isabel, come here. Now!"

Isabel dragged herself towards Loren without a shield, she looked fine, but something must have happened, that made her look so empty. The door behind Isabel open once more and that mysterious woman stepped out with a broken nose. Her face was an emotional rollercoaster. Anger, sorrow, then rage again.

"Noooo! You killed him. He loved me, and you killed him!" She shouted at them. A quick twist and an inviting gesture.

"[Seduction]!" She cast her spell.

Loren jaw dropped, she was a [Witch], but if she could think straight then it meant.

"You will feel my pain! Come to me." She commanded her.

Isabel let out a heavy sighed, turned around and walk up to her.

"Isabel. Isabel, wake up! Please!" She was not good with words, let alone with influence spells.

The witch just laughed as Loren desperately cried out for Isabel.

"You have to fight her! Isabel!" Loren didn’t give up, but her words didn’t seem to reach Isabel. A few steps and all her hope would turn into ash.

"You can eat anything. Please! Break free!"

Isabel stood before her. The witch eyes her new toy, but she still had a problem before she could play with her. Revenge.

"Kill her." She commanded Isabel.

Isabel didn't move.

"Are you deaf? I said, kill her for me!"

Her grip tightened around the mace's handle. All she wanted to call it a day and leave this place. Isabel looked down on the witch and risen her mace.

"What are you doing? [Seduction]."

Her eyes held no emotion, her face was blank. The mace came down with all of her might before the witch could have turned around to run. Loren was stunned, she had no idea how Isabel broke the spell, but the witch was twitching on the ground. Loren walked up to her by the time Isabel turned back.

"Are you alright?" Loren asked, something was not right with her, she felt it in her guts.

Isabel stared at the ground and just nodded. Loren was not convinced, but she didn't push it.

"How about I search the bodies and you look around in the building." It seemed like a good idea in Loren's opinion. She barely grasped what kind of word Isabel came from but fights and battles were never mentioned. It was a blood-filled day already, she didn't want to stretch it further for her.

Isabel just nodded again.

Loren started with the witch. Tight blueish robes with yellow embroidery at the edges. Rings on her fingers and a necklet around her neck. She removed her jewellery and before she knew it she already chewed on her jewels. She was about to eat a small garnet, but she couldn’t remove the gem with one hand. Other than that there was only a smaller potion of purple liquid in the witch position.

While Loren finished the witch, Isabel checked the first building of her choosing. A smaller house with no windows and with a flat chimney on top, it seemed it was built on ruins as part of the house was made of old mossy stone while the rest was just bland planks. She opened the door and her eyes started to shine, her mouth made a wide smile as she started to drool, just like she found some fabulous treasures inside the old ruins. A fireplace on it a cauldron within boiling soup, a table with full of bread, vegetables, fruits and cheeses, on the wall sausages hanged alongside with a few kitchen tools, under it a few full bags of grain or some sort. Only a part that she just saw but it made her shout out of joy and forget about the recent events.

"Haha! Yesss! Look at all these! No more hunger for me!" Isabel jumped up and down which caught Loren's attention as well. She walked over to the bag of joy and took a peek at what she found.

"You are really some kind of witch when it comes to finding food."

"Bon Appetite!" Isabel was about to dash toward the foods to dig in when Loren grabbed her arm.

"Sorry Isabel, it's not going to happen, you have to cut back on eating. Come, time to go." Loren tried to pull Isabel away from the house, but she found her resisting for the first time.

"Get your hand off me!" She snapped at her as she tried to pull away from Loren. Her grip was strong, and she didn't release her, Isabel turned back with overflown emotions.

"I almost died back there, Loren. That spear almost reached my head…” She hesitated, she couldn’t finish it. She fought against her tears and she opened another wound. ”Do you have any idea how much it hurts to feel this hunger or even to feel hunger at all? Since as far as I can tell you do not eat. It's like having a monster inside me who squeeze and twist my stomach every time he gets the space to do so and the more he has the stronger the pain became with it. I was almost in constant pain in the last few days, most of the time I sat down it wasn't because I was tired but because the pain cramped me, and yet I waited until my ration. And despite all that, I still haven't said anything about how much I suffered from your helpful ideas…“ There was a moment of silence, but it was not the end. Isabel lost, her tears began to fall. ”But the worst was… Snip… a part of wanted to end it all at that moment the spear came close to me.” Loren let go Isabel’s arm as she sought now way to calm her down. “Now if you may, just go and fuck yourself and let me eat as I'm already behind by two rations even by your standards." Her tone steadily changed toward anger, and Loren did not know how to answer. She had no idea what Isabel felt. After they left the village, she never talked about them, but neither did Loren asked about it. She just accepted that Isabel would do always as she told her to do so, but she was wrong, she wasn't a soldier, she was a child. She backed away and Isabel slammed the door. She could think of nothing to help her, and what is worse, up until this point, she thought that what she did helped her, but it wasn't the case.

She found solitude on the watchtower. Her arm and torso started to reform as she waited for the sweet relief that came with her motionlessness. But what she heard still haunted her.

She was right, she saw her before as she ate an inhuman amount of food, and Loren couldn't, nor dared to imagine what she felt that made her do this to herself. All she knew that Isabel needed her support and she failed to help her.

She crouched on top of the lonely tower. Her guilt slowly settled as she eyed the only thing that her body craved which helped her to understand a little of what Isabel felt all the time. A piece of gem.

[Nanny reached level 5, class fixed]

[Perk added: Boo-boo Healing]

“Fuck…”

Isabel stood before the closed the door until she dealt with her tears. She was still pissed at her, but she had other more urgent problems at hand. It felt like the hunger was killing her, but now that she was alone she could start her meal that would ease her pain.

She rarely cooked for herself but she knew about the basics and seeing all these ingredients all around her it just shouted for… burgers. After she checked on the cauldron and determined that whatever was it, it was ready and she pulled it away from the fire. She began to work on her project without knowing how much she would actually need.

She missed two meals already and she was around seven feet with a big appetite, so a healthy five burgers seemed reasonable. At first, everything went according to the plan but as she made progress on slicing things up, the ingredients started to mysteriously disappear one after and other. And by the time she finished making her first burger the parts of the other four were already eaten.

Making food felt like a chore and what it was worse it was a slow process. Her stomach still ached, but it was not so appealing to just eat raw ingredients when she had a better option. After that lonely burger, she needed something that would last longer than a few bites and she just had the perfect solution. She pulled the table closer to the cauldron, grabbed as many bowls as many she found and filled them with soup. She took her seat and like a machine, bowl after bowl she ate.

It was hard to tell the time around here without an actual clock. The pain disappeared without her notice, but she lost herself in the process long ago. The bowls she prepared were cold now and her thoughts were on what she just said to Loren as she gulped down one. She might have been too harsh with her, it didn't feel like she harmed her on purpose, nor she was the caused her current state. The bowls pilled on next to her and the clothing she had, felt tight around her waist. The more she thought about her the more she worried if Loren was alright. She didn't know for sure if they got every bandit, and if the sorrow she caused brought Loren into slumber she would stand no chance.

The contemplation came to an end as she finished one more and with it, a different pain shocked her. She overindulged. The pain forced her to lean forward, in response she rested her head on the table to submit to the demands and let her middle hang over the chair. With the little extra room, that she created the pain slowly faded, while she waited her eyes caught upon the leather armour she wore as it lied on the ground now. She didn't remember when she threw it away.

The realization hit her, it was not the armour she felt tight. She ran her hands on her sore belly and under her fingers, a large orb-like shape started to outline in her mind. She had to sit back up to confirm what she felt, but just as unreal it felt, it looked like one as well. Like she hid a balloon under the cheap fabric shirt that stretched around her waist. The scene was so cartoonish that out of curiosity she had to take a closer look at it. She pulled up her shirt with a childish giggle, but what she saw crushed her. A slightly pinkish drum tight large belly that's what greeted her. She was almost as big as a full-term pregnant woman, and it didn't matter how many times she ran her hand around it, it felt real. It was real. It was the undeniable truth, she lost control and it got out of hand quickly. No diet or self-restraint could compete against this. She felt trapped and her body was the prison. The only hope to escape this torture was to get rid of the curse before it was too late.

As she eyed the food demanding monster it awed her, while the words of Loren and the deity swirled in her mind. 'The bigger you get the more you will eat' Loren words became true in their own twisted way. Isabel saw herself over the days as she could fit in more and more each time she thought she reached her body’s limit. And it seemed that the continuous stretching resulted an undesired increase in her hunger as well. But on the other hand, what the deity said was tragicomically gave her hope. Hope that this won't kill her. Back then when she bagged to restore her body to its former glory, she said that she will reach her beauty. Now it made sense to her what she meant. Even so, her current state was still far away from the deity’s proportions, who was a blimp in her opinion. It still meant that for her that there was a desired goal which had to be before she stuffed herself to death or she wouldn't be able to 'grow her herd'.

Now that she was full and almost pain-free, she had to find Loren to at least apologize to her, but more importantly, she wanted to leave this torture chamber. She tried to stand up and leave as fast as possible but she had to fight to keep her balance since her centre of gravity shifted greatly in less than an hour. Eventually, she found the sweet spot. She only had to lean back a little to counter her front. The only problem was now that her belly stuck out more than enough to enter her vision, like a constant reminder of what she had done to herself, even if it relieved her from the hunger, it still embarrassed her.

Her walking became wobbly as her belly shifted side-to-side with each step, but what was worse, that she had to lean one side or turn her body away just to see what was in front of her hooves.

A few minutes passed by, but she got the hang of it. She left the kitchen and stepped outside into the night with a larger piece of cheese in hand. The darkness ruled over the camp and only the moonlit shined her way in it. Finding Loren was a piece of cake as the watchtower's bright top was out of place. But in front of the watchtower, Isabel met her new archenemy who stood in her way to reach Loren.

A ladder.

It became oblivious that climbing from frontwise was out of the question as she patted her middle. Isabel turned sideways and grabbed the ladder with both now empty hands. She put her hoof on the first spoke and set it between her two toes, it felt really uncomfortable, but with this technique, she climbed just high enough to be able to rest both of her arms on the top of the tower.

Loren held a gem between her fingers as she sat against the lantern. She seemed so focused that she didn't even notice her, but Isabel was eager to get off the ladder, she had to distract her.

"Loren." She called out for her, but she didn't move, and Isabel lost her patients.

"LOREN!" She shouted as loud as she could. It startled Loren so much she had to put her recently healed hand down to avoid falling over. Now that she had Loren attention, she jabbered her monologue.

"Loren, I want to apologize, please come down. The ladder hurts." She hadn't even finished the most of it she was already on her way down.

Loren needed a few seconds to understand what just happened, but Isabel wanted to talk and that was enough for her. She pocketed the gem, took the lantern and climb down by the side of the tower. She was about to turn around the tower, but she hesitated. She spent a good while thinking about what she should say to her, or how to tell her that it wasn’t her intentions to hurt her.

“Loren?”

“Coming.” Loren looked at the night sky, took a deep breath… which she needed to talk not to calm herself… and turned the corner.

“Isabel, I…” Loren eyed the flame in the lantern she couldn’t look at Isabel, her guilt didn’t let her.

“Please, stop.” Isabel kindly, but interrupted Loren.

“I want to apologize. It was by far the worst day of my life and what I said was the opposite I should have said. You save me back then in the village, bought me a proper meal, thought me so much about this world and you even work on it to remove the curse which I only can thank myself... Loren. I am very grateful that I met you, and I hope you can forgive me.”

Loren slowly turned her head towards Isabel. It was a moving moment even for an ex [Assassin]. But it quickly faded as Loren took a good look on the glutton. Isabel sat cross-legged and leaned at the tower’s pillar. Both of her hands embrace her middle, but they couldn't hide it and with a guilty childish smile, she giggled a bit out of embarrassment as their eyes met.

Loren needed a few moments, Isabel just apologized, and shouting would only send back the contestation to square one. She sat next to Isabel who was surprised by Loren’s act and put a hand on her belly. Isabel didn’t act on it, which Loren found odd, her hand just grew back, but Isabel said nothing on that matter. The situation started to become awkward as she felt Isabel’s tight middle rising and falling which each breath, she had to say something funny to break the moment.

“Even an ogre chieftain would be proud to see you this way after a month, but you made this in an hour. Your only luck, that the skin is not greenish, or I would have stabbed you in the gut.” Jokes were not her strong side.

“I guess ogres are bad.” Isabel expression very well represented an innocent child who reached too deep into the cookie jar and couldn’t tell if she was in trouble. Loren couldn’t hold back her emotions. She was happy that Isabel wasn’t mad at her and her face just gave her the last push. She busted out laughing.

“What so funny?” Isabel was confused, she expected much more radical things.

“Nothing… Nothing.” Loren stood up and dusted herself. “Isabel. I also owe you an apology. Is should have treated you more thoughtfully, but let’s talk about that later. I go and get our bags and call it a day.”

Isabel returned a friendly smile and without any other word, Loren left the camp with the lantern.

Loren was away for a good while, but Isabel couldn’t recall the trip’s length. She sat there and admired the alien stars on the sky. It was mesmerizing, it didn’t matter how many times she saw it, it still grabbed her attention. Like an endless jewellery box padded with the finest black silk, the stars like gemstones sparked as they tried to outshine the others. She wished she could have sat there longer. But her demon called for her again.

She ate all that food, yet she felt peckish. It made her clear that there were no loopholes in the curse. Most of what she consumed was just water, which filled her up, but it didn't give her much else in a long run just a bloated belly. What she needed was real food. She slowly got up with the help of the tower’s beams as she let out a heavy sigh, watered the plant in a nearby bush. then entered the kitchen, again.