It was hard for a crowd to not gather at the beach of Nameless when the island came into view. Practically everybody who was in-game, whether they were players or NPCs, had gathered on the beach to watch as the island drew closer. And just as Fenrir expected, several cannons and other long-range weapons were brought out to the beach just to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Fortunately, Eva was able to fly, and she flew over to the beach to explain the situation. It also helped that Fenrir, Cassiel, and Rock were all visible on the island’s beach when looking through telescopes.

Of course, the island couldn’t get so close to the beach that it was possible to easily swim from beach to beach, and there was no The Shoebill to sail over… so Astika ended up carrying the three left behind on the beach in her hands over to Nameless’s beach.

And as soon as they reached the shore and were set down on it… Fenrir noticed that Nell wasn’t anywhere near as happy about the incoming reunion as he expected her to be.

“A…stika? Is that really you?” Nell asked, taking a few more steps across the beach toward the towering woman.

As for Astika, she smiled and nodded before proudly placing one hand over her chest while holding her other arm out past her side. “It is I, sister! How are you? Are you well? Are you safe here and being treated well?”

“I—I am.” At that point, Nell sounded more confused than anything else. “But… how are you here?”

“I swam!”

“Yes, but… were you not bound to Manasa’s side?”

“I was, but then… I never really thought about how sudden it seemed, but I was given an island to protect and… felt this intense need to protect it? Like it was my true purpose all along. But that feeling is gone now… and this man,” she paused to point at Fenrir, “gave me the idea of coming over here to see you. That being said, I am glad to you are unharmed and well! I have worried about you ever since you were taken from us.”

“I… I see! Yes, and I am glad to see you are just as well! But before we continue this, please, allow me a moment to talk with my hero here.”

“Hero?”

“Yes, the same man you just pointed at.”

“If you are calling him your hero… then he must be an impressive man indeed! I was foolish to ever doubt his worth.”

Nell offered Astika a polite smile before beckoning for Fenrir to come with her, which he was perfectly happy to do.

And once the two of them had some distance from the beach where they could talk in private… Nell grabbed Fenrir by his shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. “My hero,” she said, her voice disturbingly calm and not at all matching the silent rage in her eyes, “why… did you bring her here?”

Fenrir could not help but to gulp as he became witness to Nell’s rage once again. Though, this time, it was nowhere near as arousing. Well, maybe just a little. Or more than a little. “I—uh… well, she said she knew you… and was talking like you’re her sister… so I figured… you’re probably on good terms? And she was worried about you because you were taken away from them? I thought this would be a happy reunion?”

“Ah… I see, I see.” Nell, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them as she ordered, “Kneel.”

Fenrir immediately knelt down when he heard that order.

“Good boy. Yes. Such a good, good boy you are.” Nell’s hands found their way to the top of his head where she gently, lovingly stroked one hand through his hair as her other hand played with one of his canid ears. “Yes. I know, you are just being a kind, good, wonderful, thoughtful boyfriend who is trying to make me happy. Is that not right?”

“Ri-right? I—I’m kind of scared.”

“Worry not, my hero. You have done nothing wrong… when taking your intent into consideration. No, instead, you are such a good, good boy.”

“I’ve never been pampered in such a terrifying way before.”

With the gentlest smile possible, Nell wrapped her arms around Fenrir’s head and hugged him against her breasts, patting the back of his head while continuing to whisper how good he was into his ear. “Have I ever mentioned how much I love you, my wonderful, incredible, perfect hero?”

“I… I did something wrong, didn’t I?”

“My hero, I have told you multiple times now that you have done nothing wrong. I mean it. Truly. I love you, from the very bottom of my heart, and I genuinely believe that you have not done anything wrong. After all, you are not only my hero, but my boyfriend—my lover, who I have every intention of spending the rest of my life with. I love you.”

“Then—then why do you feel like you’re trying to crush my head like it’s a watermelon?” Fenrir asked, struggling to speak as Nell’s arms around his head formed a tighter and tighter hug.

“Because I am reminding myself of how much I love you so that I do not kill you.”

“I did do something wrong!”

Following a sigh, Nell let go of Fenrir’s head, sat down next to him, and then carefully brought his head down onto her lap to give him a lap pillow. Fortunately, after that, she genuinely did express gentleness as she lightly stroked her hand across the side of his head. “I am sorry, my hero. I am just… a bit frustrated at the moment. You did not deserve that.”

“I mean, it was kind of hot, but I also felt like my brain was about to get squeezed out through my eyes.”

“I promise to make it up to you later, I truly do feel bad beneath the frustration currently overwhelming me. Would wearing a sweater while I service you make it up to you?”

“You don’t need to make anything up to me, but also, yes.”

“Very well. Then later this evening, I shall give you all the sweater service you could possibly ask for to make up for it. But be warned, I may be crying during it.”

“Why would you be crying?”

“Because I can tell I will feel horrible for how I just treated you. I should have never allowed my frustration to get to you like that. Yet, I allowed it to overwhelm me, and I fear that I have now engaged in physical abuse of the one I love most.”

“That… that wasn’t really abusive.”

“It was! I was physically rough with you as a result of failing to handle my own emotions! I even implied, despite not being serious, that I wanted to kill you! That is spousal abuse! I am not exaggerating when I say that I will regret that for the rest of my life!”

“Nell, seriously, relax. It’s fine. And I appreciate that you’re worried about it, but you don’t need to be, so please don’t add more stress on top of whatever it is you might be frustrated about. Just give me some sweater service later and then forget about it, alright?”

Nell grumbled a little bit before lifting Fenrir’s head up to place a kiss against his lips, placing him back down on her lap afterward. “Thank you, my hero. I do not deserve such kindness.”

Fenrir laughed a little when he heard that. “Have I mentioned how much I love getting to be praised for being the bare minimum of a good boyfriend?”

“Call yourself the ‘bare minimum of a good boyfriend’ around me again and I will have to drown you in praise and admiration for everything you do, and for everything you are to me.”

“Threatening me with a good time? But before I trick you into pampering me even more, tell me what’s got you so worked up.”

“I… feel a bit silly for getting so worked up now that I have calmed down a bit, but… to put it simply… Manasa, the Western Serpent, is wonderful. I enjoyed the time I spent with her even if it was short. That being said… there is a reason for why our time together was so short… and it was Astika. My ‘sister.’”

“Ah. Sibling drama.”

“Yes, you could say that. You see… she was… overjoyed to have me. Suffocatingly so. It was impossible for me to come into the game at any point without being clung to at all times by her. The fact that she seems to think I was ‘taken’ from them serves as proof of her obsession seeing as how I willingly left and made no effort to hide my departure from them.”

“So, what you’re telling me is that she’s basically an obsessed, clingy, older sister?”

“Yes. She is… a good person. Her intent is pure, but her personality is… extreme. Objectively, it would be… very, very,” Nell couldn’t hide the annoyance in her voice, “beneficial for her to be our ally. I would likely have a headache every time I am around her… but I would not turn down a capable ally for such a selfish reason. But that does not change that… if anything, she is more of an annoying, little sister who would not stop clinging to my leg at all times than a ‘big sister.’ I am a very difficult woman to bother, yet she drove me insane to the point of even making me rethink ever wanting children.”

“Then I’ll tell her to go away myself. If we can’t improve your relationship with her, I don’t want her around. Besides, with how things are now with the NPCs… it’s probably way more likely now that she’s capable of changing. I’m not going to keep anybody around who causes you a headache just by existing.”

“Yet you dare call yourself the bare minimum of a good boyfriend. Hmph. Clearly, I do not praise you anywhere near as much as you deserve if you believe such a thing.”

Fenrir yawned and shrugged. “Maybe I just like to fish for compliments?”

“Then compliments you shall receive. Are you tired, my hero?”

“A bit, yeah. But there’s things to take care of before I can rest.”

“Very well. Once we have dealt with my ‘sister,’ would you like to take a nap in the real world with me? I will even wear a sweater for our cuddling.”

“That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Can I grope you until I fall asleep?”

“That will make it difficult for me to fall asleep, but yes, I would never object to anything your hands may wish to do to my body. So please, be as rough and as cruel with me as you desire.”

“I just want to fondle your boobs a little.”

“That is also fine.”

“You’re the best, Nell.”

“As Serra would say, ‘no you.’”

“You know, there’s something nice about a proper princess type like you saying old memes.”

“Oh! I recently learned of this one. Are you ready, my hero?”

“I’m both excited and scared.”

Nell cleared her throat, wore a serious, concentrated face, and said, “I guess you are my little… ‘pogchamp!’ I think that was how it went, anyways? Ah… I probably did it wrong, but you get the point! I also learned that ‘pog’ and ‘poggers’ used to be quite popular back in the day! Oh! And ‘based!’ As the old-school ‘memers’ would say, my dearest Fenrir, you are very ‘based’ and ‘poggers!’”

“I don’t know whether to die from happiness or cringe.”

With a smile on her face, Nell lifted Fenrir’s head once more to place another kiss against his lips. Then, rather than lower his head back down to her lap, she kept his head held up so that she could hover over his face and look directly into his eyes with an intimate closeness. “Are you ready to return, my hero? I worry about leaving Astika alone with the others for long.”

“As long as you’re ready. You’re the one with the history with her.”

“Very well. Then—wait. I just remembered something. What was that about her doubting your worth? She said something along those lines, yes?”

“Ah. Yeah. She was… worried that I was worthy of you. She even wanted to fight me to test me, but I talked her out of it.”

That calm, silent rage from before returned as soon as Nell heard Fenrir’s response. “Is that so? That troublesome sister of mine dared to question my hero’s value?”

“Ye-yeah…”

“I see, I see. Interesting. Oh, one more question, now that my mind has returned to this place. I do not see The Shoebill anywhere. Please, my hero, would you tell me why I did not see the vessel that is so dearest to us anywhere within sight? Where is our beloved ship that has faithfully served us for so long? Surely, nothing ill has happened to it, correct?”

“W-well… about that… you see…”

“Is Astika responsible?”

“I mean…”

“Is. Astika. Responsible?”

Fenrir gulped, his ears flattened against the top of his head, and nodded. “Ye-yeah.”

Nell’s smile curled upward even more before bringing her lips to Fenrir’s yet again, this time going so far as to even slip some tongue into his mouth for a much more intense kiss than before. It was also the most forceful, dominant kiss he’d ever felt from her. And once she pulled her tongue and lips away from him, she said, “Let us go deal with that troublesome woman, yes? And say nothing of what we discussed. If she so chooses to make me the object of her obsession, then she shall work for it. After all, I am sure that such a loving, obsessive sister would be willing to do anything for her obsession, and there is just so much that needs done.”

“Have I ever mentioned how hot you can be when you get like this?”

“Oh, if you think that I am ‘hot’ now, just wait until I speak with her! How silly of me. I fled the beach to get away from her, but now I simply cannot wait to discuss things with her!”

“I’m horny.”

“Then I will take care of that before we have our nap. But first, let us put that woman to work.”

Fenrir calmed his arousal down enough to stand up, reaching a hand down to Nell to help her up afterward. “Very well, my queen.”

Every single ounce of rage left Nell’s soul when she heard that, instead switching into total fangirl mode as she swooned and lovingly took his hand into her own. “Ah, my hero! You cannot just say that all of a sudden! Goodness, how am I to get anything done when you are so sweet?”

“Have I mentioned that your sister is also the reason why Rock got so hurt?”

Nell’s rage came back… even stronger than before. It was no longer a calm rage, either. As great as Nell was at keeping a proper appearance about her at all times… she finally failed to do so and was visibly furious.

Once more, Fenrir found himself both scared and incredibly aroused.