In a very gloomy, dirty, yet noisy street, Alice walks.
The slums - this is where she lives. The ground beneath her feet is either dry or muddy; the houses that surround her are messy, and the people she encounters are not in the least clean nor healthy. This place is at the edge of the city, where the sun is blocked out by the tall walls and where the lowest class of people are living.
And in this place - stood foundation is Alice's home: a somewhat dirty and run-down house with many holes.
She enters inside and was immediately greeted by the sight of her older sister, which unlike her - who has orange bright hair, has a complete set of long and messy long hair. Her name is Karen, an adventurer who works for the guild.
She's sitting crossed-feet on the floor as she repairs what seems to be her weapon awhile eating food that can never be considered as 'fresh'. Maybe like what they eat most of the days, what's she's eating is a leftover from the previous day or even the day that came before it.
[ I-I'm back, Onee-sama... ] she greeted in a very quiet voice, trying not to disturb her, and most likely, also avoiding getting her attention too much.
[ Oh, Alice... There're still leftovers in the table; you can eat them if you want. I've already spent most of my money repairing and replacing my equipment so I wasn't able to buy anything. ]
[ It's fine, Onee-sama... ]
She knows her sister more than anyone. She doesn't rely on her, and she almost always the one to buy their meals every single day - that was why she doesn't expect in the least that she will give or feed her something.
So she heads for the ran-down kitchen, which is her most favorite part of their house, carrying all of her valuables with her as she did so. She searches the very small space of the kitchen for the supposedly 'leftover meal' that her sister was talking about, but only to see nothing but empty, dirty plates and cups with glances of alcohol on them.
Realizing that she won't find anything in the place, she decided to go into her room: a small, personalized wooden room that needs to be climbed to be able to go inside.
She didn't mind that she wasn't able to find anything to eat as she has already eaten outside - buying a single piece of 'meat stick' from the streets, which she already considers a feast.
[ Ca-Carefully... ] whispering the word, she places her now emptied bag on the floor and took a small pouch inside. Opening it, she was shown the bright reflections of the gold coins inside. Wiping and blinking her eyes many times, she tries to verify again if what she's seeing is real and not a dream at all.
Very slowly, she places the coins on the ground, doing her best to count them. Totalling of 25 gold coins, it was undeniably the highest amount she had ever earned before, and most probably, even if she works for months or even a year, she won't be able to earn this much.
Excitingly, she piles them up together, trying to permanently store the sight in her mind.
But as she does this, she was reminded of the person who had given these coins in the first place: Zero. There were no questions needed to be asked anymore, he was the kindest person she had met, in fact, in her own words 'the best'.
No one had treated her like how he had treated her ever before, not even her sister or her long-gone parents. And as she was reminded of him, she caresses her head which he had touched, still with baffled thoughts lingering in her head.
Why would he do that? She asks.
Nevertheless, she knows that he doesn't mean anything bad with it. Probably, he just likes touching kids' heads just as he did with hers.
She looks at the coins in front of her and a small smile appeared on her face. With this amount of coins, one would most likely look at it with greed, but that isn't the case for Alice - she only looks at it with a satisfied and genuine smile as if it was the most important gift she had received.
She knows that she earned something more than these coins, she knows that her meeting with Zero and his group was the most important and valuable thing she experienced. She just can't wait to see them again, to work for them for a second and third time, and compared to that, these coins seem to lose in importance.
[ Hey, Alice... I have something to tell you. ] but then as she continues to stare at the pile of coins, her sister called and came over, startling her in the process. And because of this, she accidentally made one of the coins fall.
Falling slowly onto the ground, it made a clattering sound as it meets the floor - only to be picked up by her sister as soon as it was finally over spinning.
[ Alice... This is... ] she stood up after she bent over, and then stares to Alice after.
[ Onee-sama...! Tha-That's! ] she tries to plead, but before she could even add another word...
[ A-Alice... Don't tell me... ] with her head bent down, she continues...
[ Don't tell me you finally gave up and sold your body! ]
***
The Knights' Company is a very large base consisting of many structures of many floors and uncountable numbers of rooms.
One of these structures, in particular, is a large bathhouse that is exclusive for female knights.
And in this particular place - can be seen are the silhouettes of two women; the outlining shadows of Alex and Will.
The steaming, seemingly refreshing smoke that is coming from the surface of the clear, hot water slightly blurs their images, making it hard for any on-lookers to see and peek their views. But for Alex and Will, that was not the case, they can clearly see each others' face and body without minding the foggy smoke.
Alex's bare, toned, and voluptuous body is out in the open. Even only the outline and curves of her body are already enough to attract any kind of man, but with her white, glowing skin also exposed like this, they will surely fall on their knees and will immediately revere her as their goddess.
Will, on the other hand, with her usual tomboyish personality, has her bottom and top completely covered with a tower - hiding away her non-existent curves. But nevertheless, one aspect of her that stands out more than Alex's was her pale, moonlight-reflecting skin that seems so fragile, like glass that would break with a touch. And also adding to her beautiful sight was her silver hair that blends perfectly with her untouched skin - that was why, despite the difference in their physical appearance, they're still even, competing against' each other.
[ Haah... ] Alex sinks her body low in the water as she leaves a refreshing breath of sigh which blends with the visible white smoke of the bath.
[ So, how was it? ] she asks ever so casually to her friend, Will, who was just quiet this whole time. She expected her to reply immediately, but to no avail, she tried to be more specific -
[ I'm talking about Zero-san. ] hearing his name, she was finally able to get the response she wanted.
[ It's okay... He is very interesting... ]
[ How so? ]
[ Well... He's clearly strong, but I never really see him go all out yet... He seems to be hiding something, but it doesn't matter, he's a very good companion. It would really be great if we could get him to join the knights. ]
[ Well, Guro and I already tried to, but he's really adamant to his position as an adventurer... I can't really see the reason why, but he just won't give up... ]
[ U-un... I can see that... ] experiencing being together with Zero for a short, but productive time, she kind of understand how he works even if it's just a little.
[ A-Anyway... Zero really did save you, right? And from a wyvern at that... you haven't told me how he saved you yet; did he fight with the wyvern or what? ]
[ Tha-That's...! ] suddenly, she turns red and began to shook a little from her words.
[ He-Hey! You're acting suspicious! ] being able to notice the weird change on her friend, she became suspicious.
[ I-I was unconscious when it happened so I don't really remember... ] she stutters as she turns her head away from her, only furthering Will's suspicion on her more.
[ Unconscious... Wait... Don't tell me!? ]
Not being able to hide it anymore, and trying to prevent any more suspicions and assumptions, Alex came out clean to tell what really happened; leaving Will staring into nothingness like a ghost inside the bath.
[ S-So lewd... ] she could only whisper as she tries to comprehend what she just heard.
[ Haah... He only did it because he needed to... It's nothing like what you're thinking. ]
[ That bastard, Zero...! Doing something like that behind my back...! That two-timing idiot...! ]
[ He doesn't even know you yet at that time... ] Alex could only mutter as she stares at her friend who is now releasing a massive amount of mana, covering her in a fiendish aura as if she's ready to kill a person.
Seeing that she won't be able to turn her back to normal just by just talking with her and trying to calm her down, she made her move that only she is allowed to do to her friend.
[ Ahh...! Mnh...! ] going behind Will's back, she gently touched and caress her bosom that is covered with a thick towel. And turning bright red, Will moans in both shock and pleasure.
[ What are you... ]
[ If you're so jealous, why don't you get him first before I do? ] she teases her with words, and there seems to be no end to it as she started.
[ You have these weapons, don't you? ] she whispers close to her ears, and Will was able to feel her cold breath as she does - sending a cold shiver in her spine. And as her moan continues to grow louder, Alex took the opportunity to take her towel off to reveal the pale skin of her shoulder, but only to see that her chest is still also covered with a long cloth that hides its true size.
[ Oh...? Did they grow even larger? ] she breathes cold wind again on her ear, sending another kind of pleasure in her body, making her unable to resist as she also takes off the cloth that's covering the entirety of her upper body to reveal her humble, jiggly apples.
[ Ohho~! They sure got bigger! ]
She immediately compares her's to Will and sees that it really did get bigger. Alex is confident that she knows Will's body more than anyone, even her own self, that is why she can immediately notice the changes in her body. But she doesn't do this because she has some kind of 'affection' to her, she just really like to put Will in this kind of situation to witness the chance of Will revealing her 'hidden innocent side'. And so she continues her torment over Will.
[ S-Stop...! ]
Will tries to resist as Alex ogles over her, but was ceased by Alex's gentle tongue testing her ear and her hands that start to fondle her breast ever so slowly.
[ Mnh! ] and Will was not able to do anything but to moan in pleasure and finally give up to Alex's relentless assault over her body, going even further as to message her sides, waists, and back with her traveling, soft hands.
[ You're still as sensitive as ever, Ayla. ]
[ Don't call me that... ]
They continue their erotic behavior, and soon, Alex was not able to stop herself anymore, wanting Will to show her hidden side to her more.
[ With this lewd body of yours, I'm sure even Zero-san won't be able to resist... You don't need to hide it. ] she again tries to tease her, but it was different this time, she had said the wrong words. And she did not receive the reaction she was expecting to get.
[ A-As if I'll do something like that! Especially... especially to Zero! ] she stood up with a bright, steaming face and shouted those words as if she just said the most embarrassing thing ever.
[ Wa-Wait, Will! ] and Alex could only try to apologize for going too far as Will rushes out as she carries her towel with her.
[ I... I guess I went too far... ]