Katsumi could feel something soft pressing on his left cheek. It felt kind of nice. He didn't really want to wake up yet. What was this texture? It felt nice and squishy. Kind of moist to the touch. It felt kind of good as he squeezed it slightly. What was that sound? It sounded like a muffled moan? He squeezed again. That sound came out, a little louder this time.
"Hirai-kun, please don't…"
Katsumi opened his eyes. A pair of plump thighs entered his field of vision.
This was too much for Katsumi, who was still a virgin. With a yelp, he scrambled backwards away from Mari, who had just been giving him a lap pillow.
"I'M SORRY!"
"C-Calm down, Hirai-kun! You're going to reopen your wounds!"
It took a moment for Katsumi to collect himself.
"Um, I'm sorry for groping your thigh! That wasn't intentional at all, okay?"
"I know! Just don't worry about it, okay?!"
Both of them were blushing to the ears.
After a while, both of them finally managed to calm down enough to have a normal conversation. They were in a small clearing, and it appeared to be early morning.
"Hirai-kun, I've been meaning to ask, but what was that ability that you used? Aren't you a Tamer? How are you able to use magic?"
"Um, that's actually not magic. I tamed, uh, a slime and a wraith."
Suddenly, Katsumi froze. Sensing the reason for his distress, Mari immediately reached for her bag and pulled out a small black orb: Pocket's core.
"I picked this up, because it seemed important…"
Katsumi sighed in relief. Accepting the core as Mari handed it to him, he willed it to float and emit a bit of mist.
"This is Pocket, a wraith."
He willed Pocket to release a small slime sub-unit.
"And this is Purple."
Katsumi noticed that Mari seemed like she found Purple cute, so he made the small slime jump into Mari's lap. At that moment, Katsumi suddenly realized that he could feel the same sensations as Purple. Silently, he thanked the gods for giving him another chance to experience that heavenly softness.
After a brief moment of silence, Mari spoke up.
"Hirai-kun, so… how have you been for the past month?"
Katsumi sighed, and began explaining.
He talked about waking up after being abandoned, and entering the Western Forest. He recounted his experiences fighting all sorts of monsters, and his capture of Purple and Pocket. He talked about his fight with the Shock Hog, and his return so he could take his revenge on the emperor and the "chosen" heroes.
"So, Kimoto-san, what about you? Why were you running? Also, where are we right now?"
It turned out that Mari had carried Katsumi further into the forest. There, she had nursed him back to health for a day by feeding him the rest of the meat chunk imbued with regenerative properties.
During the month of Katsumi's absence, Mari had been approached by an organization known simply as "The Shield". It was an organization of spies and saboteurs sent in by the southern nations to gather intelligence on the empire's fighting forces and cull attempts to start a south-bound invasion. Mari, having read about the world's history, agreed to help, and had provided information about the summoned "heroes". Then, the local branch had been exposed, and Mari had been told to flee and carry an intelligence notebook to another branch with her. She had been in trouble until Katsumi appeared and saved her.
"Kimoto-san? I have a request."
"Y-yes?"
"Let me travel with you."
"Huh? B-but don't you want to take revenge?"
Katsumi shrugged.
"I do, but I realized I can't. Yet. Yamamura is definitely much stronger than that guard captain that gave me so much trouble. I, uh, honestly don't stand much of a chance as I am. So let me travel with you for now."
"I-I see. So I'll be in your care."
Mari did a little bow, and Katsumi bowed back. An awkward silence filled the clearing. Neither Katsumi or Mari knew whether they should say something next.
Fortunately, a timely sound broke the stalemate. The sound of a growling stomach, from Mari.
"Ah! S-sorry…"
"Oh, uh, yeah, you probably haven't eaten in a while, huh?"
Katsumi pulled another chunk of meat out of Pocket.
Mari's hands glowed slightly orange, then in a flurry of motions there was a small fire, and Mari was already heating the piece of meat over it.
"Don't m-mind that. It's just my [Food Preparation] ability. I can speed up the setup and cooking process as long as I have all the materials required. I had to feed you the meat raw last time since I couldn't make a fire with how urgent the situation was. S-sorry."
"I should be, uh, thanking you instead, you know. You saved my life back there. Thanks."
Maybe it was just the fire, but Katsumi swore he saw Mari's cheeks redden for a split second.
They sat in silence for a few moments as the meat slowly cooked.
"Hirai-kun, I'll be h-heading southwest to a town called Navport. I'll probably be wanted, s-so we should stay together pretty much at all times. I'll seem less suspicious that way."
"I see."
The smell of cooked pork filled the air. It was time to eat.
---
The sun was setting on the horizon.
"A-are you really sure you want to come with me, Hirai-kun?"
"Yeah, it's not like I'm strong enough to get my revenge yet. Also, I'm not heartless enough to completely abandon a classmate in need. I'll keep you safe."
After their meal, Mari had quickly taken inventory of what she had on her. A of the continent, a star chart of this world, a compass, some rations, and a small knife, all packed in a small leather bag. Katsumi had taken the time to check out how much meat he had left in Pocket, and asked Mari to process some with [Imbued Food]. It would be useful considering they were likely to get into a lot of fights from then on.
Finally, with everything in place, it was time to set out.
A young girl turned to face her destiny, and at her side, a monster followed suit.