2-4. 「Ruckus inside the forest 2」

「…*stares*…」

「……」

「……」

「…how about letting us know who you are…?」

After a few minutes of a staring festival, no, staring competition against the woman I just saved, I broke the silence. Damn, I think I’m a sore loser, she just won against me in a staring contest despite being a complete stranger, and I can’t say I don’t feel upset about that.

Well, I’ll blame her beauty. It’s your fault to be beautiful that made me lose, so when I take my revenge on you, you can just blame your beauty. Yup, that sounds like a fine excuse.

「A-Ah! I-I’m sorry…」

「Are you not hurt anywhere?」

「Y-Yes, I am healthy…」

「Good. I’m Ya—」

Mid-way through my introduction, I stopped myself from using my real name. This name 「Yami」 sounds like a completely chuunibyou name. I have no idea what my parents were thinking, but this name brought me miseries. Kids in middle school, and even high school, would make fun of my name all the time.

Well, I’m not saying that I hold any grudge against my parents or anything of such. But until now, I’ve developed a sense of discontent regarding my real name.

「—um, I mean, my name’s Cromwell」

Uwaaa.

How the hell did I come up with that name? Wait, I think I know, it was from a novel I read online last year. The protagonist was some kind of Count in a fantasy world, so I thought his name sounds kind of cool…probably.

「C-Cromwell-san, is it…y-yes, I’m Serene…my tribe is inside this forest…」

「Oh? Human tribes actually manage to live inside this forest?!」

「U-Umm, err, I-I’m not human…」

In contrast to her timid voice, the contents of her words seemed to slam into our ears. Me and Yui stared at the beautiful violet-haired woman without being able to utter a single word.

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「Shit…how close are we?」

「U-Um, it should be right ahead soon!」

Carrying Serene on my back, I ran with all my might. Due to me being 「Level 178」 after defeating that big wolf, my speed increased again, and by no means my original speed at Level 175 was anywhere near to be slow. I’ve always been able to run as fast as a car.

Right now we’re heading straight to Serene’s tribe. What’s more surprising is that, it’s a demon tribe, of all things.

We were utterly surprised at first, to the point we became wary. But according to Serene, her tribe is unrelated to the demon lord. If one were to compare this piece of information with what was written in books, he’d find it plausible. I spent some time reading in the public library of Kriste Kingdom and found out that, the Demon Lord doesn’t have any share in what’s outside of his territories.

Originally, demon-race live in the Underworld. But then old generations of demon lords moved to the ground and claimed lands, creating their own settlements. In addition to that, there were demons who came to the mortal world just because of the overpopulation depression down at the Underworld. Those demons later on formed independent tribes where other races can’t really reach them on a daily basis.

I compared those information to Serene’s words and concluded that she wasn’t the enemy that Kriste Kingdom was trying to fight, simply because the Demon Lord’s territory is at the far north.

Plus, my guts told me that she wasn’t lying or trying to deceive us. It wasn’t officially confirmed or anything, but I just felt that she wasn’t our enemy. Heck, even Yui, who has quite good eyes for people, is relaxed around Serene. So I guess that’s all well and good.

As for why are we heading for Serene’s tribe deep inside the dangerous forest, according to her:

「I beg you!!! Please help my tribe!!! We were attacked by the Elder Shadow Wolves out of nowhere!!! There isn’t anyone who can fight them like you did. P-Please, I’ll do anything!!!」

I was seriously troubled, because I want none of this hassle. It’s more of a headache than something like an honor to help a beautiful woman. I mean, my life’s already miserable enough that God even somehow miraculously gave me a cheat ability to get by. Dipping my butt into more troubles is the last thing I want.

Argh…but I guess I’m Japanese after all…the typical type of modern people who feel difficult to say no. I don’t think I should just completely get rid of the 「good guy」 inside me, but I need to say no more from now on. Going out of my way to hit my head into problems isn’t my way of living my life at all.

Sounding hypocritical as it may, coming from a guy who hangs out with gangs and troublesome people from the back alleys for some kind of pseudo 「part-time job」, I genuinely don’t like hogging troubles to myself.

「You people better have fish balls ready to compensate me after this…」

「F-Fish balls? W-What is it…?」

Catching my murmur, Serene asked with a confused voice while squeezing me tightly from behind, closing her eyes due to the speed I was running with. Yui, on the other hand, was sending some balls-freezing glances at us with a perfectly cute smile.

Hey! At least understand that if she didn’t cling to me she would’ve fallen off the track!

That reminds me, we’ve been doing some pretty bold things these past few months. By we, I meant me and Yui, we’ve been getting all sticky and intimate in a quite…sexual way lately. Though I can proudly puff out my chest and say that I’m seriously some kind of fucked up human being that came to enjoy sexual experiences with my blood-sibling, I can’t help but wonder why and how.

I’m not too sure, but for some strange reasons, we haven’t crossed that line yet. Meaning that Yui’s only been using her hands, or sometimes mouth, to play with me. I also did touch her here and there, but none of us ever initiated to go all the way yet. Is it because we’re not quite that messed up yet, I wonder?

No, I’m sure we’ll arrive there soon. We both knew that day would come, because it’s been harder and harder for me to endure not pushing Yui down. I’m quite sure it’s the same for Yui who endured not to ride me forcefully. It was pretty clearly shown on her facial expressions.

「T-There! We can barely see my tribe!」

「Ah…so that’s a demon tribe huh…」

For some reasons, I’m quite excited to find out what’s a demon tribe’s like. I guess I’m just another curious teenage boy who’s addicted to the thrills of exploring the unknowns.

「Onii-chan, there are a lot of those wolves around…」

「Yeah, I felt their presences, too. Serene, what was the condition of the tribe before you ran?」

「U-Umm, we somehow managed to barricade in the central hut and not get ourselves killed, but it was turning worse and worse, so I decided to sneak out and run to seek help from other tribes…but then that one wolf discovered me and chased me all the way」

I see. I don’t know if this can be called God’s bless, since Serene’s a demon-race, but she was extremely lucky to run into me in the middle of this vast forest. If I wasn’t there, she would’ve been lunch for that wolf.

After less than a minute, we finally arrived at the tribe we were looking for. The situation was quite terrible, their huts were crushed, dead bodies were found everywhere in half-eaten state. I could feel Serene trembling on my back. She was probably holding her screams and tears in, too. Quite a strong-willed woman, I’d say. Otherwise, she would have cried and shrieked out loud by now.

Not showing any signs of stopping, I jumped and kicked the ruins that used to be fences and the gate. With my kick, the path was cleared, so we advanced straight into the settlement.

Indeed, in the center of the tribe was a pack of gigantic black wolves. They were surrounding a single hut, easily the biggest one around. That must be the barricade Serene talked about.

Without wasting any more time, I pulled out my sword with one hand while supporting Serene’s butt with the other so she wouldn’t fall off my back. I must say though, she has quite a sexy and plump butt. Yui can’t quite be compared to her…not just yet. Obviously because Serene is older, she’s a grown onee-san, not a 16 year old teenage girl like my little sister.

Shaking the lewd thoughts aside, I jumped into the party at the middle of Seren’s demon tribe, marking the beginning of a troublesome festival.

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Author's Note: I'd say a Level 65+ person can smash a stone wall barehanded. If one is Level 175 like Yami, they'll be close to Superman in terms of pure physical strength, but not that close.

Then why are humans are still alive when those wolves in the forest are too strong? Simply because the wolves live way deep in the center of the forest where no humans can reach. The reason why they appear at the demon tribe instead of where they live? That's spoilers so I won't tell.

Also, about the reason behind why the King kicked Yami out right away, sometimes you might have underestimated a cliché idea. :D

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