Inside a sealed cave, a man, a raven, and a young girl were resting peacefully without a care in the world.
Covering the cave ground with tree leaves, Aron gave his cloak to Pethra to use as a cover. The little witch found it hard to fall asleep at first, as there were so many things running through her head. She was thinking about everything that had happened to her and how her life had turned upside down in just one day.
'Don't think too much about it, Pethra. That life wasn't worth living,' she pressured herself, believing that her life would be far better now. She could feel it. The man behind her had completely flipped her life. Pethra kept pondering over these thoughts until she finally surrendered herself to sleep.
Raum, on the other hand, felt sleepy at the first opportunity, without a care in the world. Seriously, the raven had an easy and simple mind.
However, Aron remained awake and refused to sleep until he discussed a serious matter with the system.
'Hey system, there's something important that needs fixing.'
[What do you need maste-....*YES! YES! There is something important, but first, HOW the hell did you manage to get a woman so quickly?*....]
'Huh? What do you mean?'
[....*DON'T play dumb. You seduced an innocent maiden and made her fall for you. I swear I saw a hint of obsession in her eyes for a moment. Should I expect a child in the near future?... Damn it! You have fun while I'm stuck inside your stupid head. I won't accept-*...]
Slap. Slap.
[Sorry about that, Master.]
'Did you slap yourself? And more importantly, can you?'
[No, it's just your imagination, Master.] He denied it instantly.
Aron raised an eyebrow as he swore he heard the sound of slapping, but the system insisted it was just his imagination. He decided to let it go for now and focus on the important matter at hand.
'System, can you disable those messages that appear when I kill something? They distracted me in the last fight.'
The sudden appearance of the kill notification drew Aron's attention for a moment, causing him to take a powerful hit from the troll. Aron was lucky; if he had been fighting a more dangerous creature, that split second of distraction could have cost him his life.
[Of course, Master. I have full control. I can hide or disable them, and I can also change anything in the status window if you like. After all, they are just visual displays.]
'What do you mean?'
[When the system created me, 'the user assistance,' it gave me a set of blueprints. I used them to come up with the status window and everything else along those lines.]
[Every window that appears in front of you is just a visual representation of what's happening inside you. And it's much easier for me to show you powers in numbers than to explain them with words.]
'Hmm? That actually makes sense,' Aron agreed with the system's explanation.
'Okay, then just prevent everything that you deem unimportant from appearing when I fight. I don't want to lose focus. Just keep them hidden. After the fight, I'll check them out.'
[Affirmative, Master. I'll keep everything in the background except crucial information.]
'Thank you. Oh! One more thing. Show me the new skill that I got.'
[Affirmative]
…
[Skill: Dragon Breath: "The ancient Flame will consume all"
Unleash a fiery stream from your mouth, scorching enemies in front of you. The longer you channel the skill, the more damage it deals
Caution: Your flames can burn anything, even souls]
…
'Even souls? Hmm!...This is a really great skill. I saw with my own eyes how devastating my flames are,' Aron was proud, remembering when he used this skill and how nothing remained of the rogue and the fighter. His flames even defeated the trolls' well-known regeneration.
Closing everything, Aron decided to go to sleep. He glanced at the sealed entrance, checking it, then shifted his eyes to Pethra, who was sleeping some distance away from him with her back facing him, and to Raum, who was sleeping close to the fire.
….
Early in the morning.
BAAM!
Aron woke up to something hitting his face. He turned to the side and saw a small, soft fist close to his face.
"Hmm?"
The owner of the fist was Pethra, who had rolled over close to him until her upper half was on top of him. Pethra was using Aron as a body pillow, her head resting on his chest and her arm wrapped around him.
Aron's heart skipped a beat as he looked down at Pethra's peaceful face, her hair falling across her face like a golden waterfall. He could feel her warm breath against his chest, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of protectiveness toward her.
Aron smiled, then he began playing with her hair gently as he kept staring at her sleepy face.
"Hehehe~ Niiice,....Mmm,.... Hey, give it back, my.... Candy,"
Aron chuckled softly at Pethra's murmurs, realizing she was having a good dream.
Time passed as Aron continued enjoying stroking Pethra's hair. Pethra started waking up, raising her head and staring at Aron with her sleepy face, her eyes still half-closed.
Before Aron could say a word, Pethra jumped on him and hugged him tightly by his neck as she mumbled, "Mine, you're mine now. I won't let you go. Take responsibility for my innocent young heart."
Aron chuckled softly. "Oh! Aren't you a little bold this morning?"
Pethra raised her head and held Aron's face with both hands, saying, "This is a dream, and in my dream, I can do whatever I want. Got that?"
Aron laughed softly at Pethra's playful behavior and pinched her cheek with a little force.
"Ouch! That hurts! Why did yo-" As if struck by lightning, Pethra widened her eyes as she realized her position on top of Aron and what she thought she had said in her dream wasn't actually a dream. Pethra was paralyzed; she couldn't move, and all she could do was keep staring at Aron's face without blinking
"Well, well, it looks like someone is feeling quite possessive this morning," he said with a soft laugh.
His voice snapped her out of her daze, and Pethra's face turned bright red. She quickly got off Aron, looking down at the ground in embarrassment.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" she stuttered.
"I must say, I like your bold attitude. You even gave me a punch in the face," Aron said with a smirk.
Pethra's embarrassment only deepened at Aron's words. She didn't know what to say, so she just kept looking at the ground, her face still red.
'Kyya! This is bad! Why do I keep embarrassing myself in front of him?'
Aron laughed lightly, then gently stroked her blonde hair, messing it up even more.
"Don't apologize. Being yourself is nothing wrong, and I want you to show more of what's inside you. People shine best when they act their nature and show their true selves."
Then he lifted her chin gently, "Don't hold back anymore. If you want something, go get it, and I'll support you no matter what."
Pethra looked up at Aron, her eyes wide with surprise at his words. She had never expected him to be so understanding and supportive of her. She felt a warm feeling spread throughout her body, and a smile slowly formed on her lips.
"Thank you, Aron," she said softly, feeling grateful for his words.
Aron smiled and nodded slightly. "Now, it's time we head back... Wake up, Raum. We have children to rescue, people to kill, and buildings to destroy... Damn, this is exciting."
….
The journey back to Larton Town was surprisingly peaceful and without any problems. On the way back, Aron passed by the place where he left Josh's corpse; however, he didn't find his body or Archer's corpse. While scanning the area, Aron noted that some wild beasts had taken their corpses.
'From the trails, I guess wolves? Or maybe something similar?'
But no matter what, this was good news for Aron. Now the evidence of him killing those mercenaries lay in the belly of some beast. No one could link him to it, and no one would know who survived and who died, which was a bonus point for Pethra.
Approaching the town, Aron decided to enter from a different gate to avoid unwanted 'eyes'. He also gave his cloak to Pethra so she could cover herself with it.
After successfully entering the town and avoiding unwanted attention, Aron made his way to the mercenary guild. He asked Pethra and Raum to head to the Drunken Chef Inn and wait for him there.
Unfortunately, he didn't find Cila at the guild. Instead, he found her elf friend. He gave her the troll cores as proof of the kills, as Aron was too lazy at that time to cut a piece of the trolls.
After confirming that the cores were from trolls, Aron received his reward of 200 silver coins and his cores back.
Since it was early in the morning, the guild was empty, with just a few mercenaries here and there. Aron didn't want to linger there any longer than necessary. He quickly left the guild and headed to the Drunken Chef Inn to meet up with Pethra and Raum.
As he entered the inn, he saw Pethra and Raum sitting at a table in the corner, waiting for him. They looked up and smiled as he approached.
"Hey, did everything go well?" Pethra asked.
Aron nodded and sat down with them. "Yeah, I got the reward for the troll quest. And it seems like no one knows about the incident with the mercenaries."
Then he brought out a small bag containing the 200 silver coins and split it into four, with 50 coins each. He pushed 50 coins to Pethra and 50 coins to Raum, leaving 50 coins in the middle of the table, and kept the last coins for himself.
"Everything we earn, we split equally. Use it for whatever you like. We must also leave a share stored away and use it for the needs of the group, like gear, repairs, and upgrades. Anything that benefits our group," Aron explained.
Raum and Pethra continued to stare at the coins in front of them. For the little Raven, he had never used money in his life. Why? Well, first, he's a raven, and second, it's much easier to look for or steal food than to work, earn coins, and buy it.
"I don't actually need money, Aron. You can keep it and just buy me good food with it," he said.
Aron nodded. "Fine, I'll keep them, and if you need to buy something, just let me know."
The sound of metal scratching against the wood came from the side. Aron and Raum turned and saw Pethra pushing the coins towards Aron.
"This is your reward. I can't accept it. That was your quest in the first place, and I didn't help you with it," Pethra insisted.
"..."
Aron stared at her blankly for a whole minute.
"Are you pretending to be stupid or what?"
"What?"
"Listen, Pethra," Aron began, his tone serious. "I was naive. I underestimated that quest. After fighting that troll, I can clearly see that fighting one isn't a problem, but facing multiple trolls with their regeneration, I can guarantee that they will outlast me."
Pethra nodded slightly. She imagined that scenario happening.
"But with your help, I was able to eliminate five of them with ease."
He then placed his hand on Pethra's head and started stroking her hair.
"Pethra, don't underestimate your abilities. I can clearly see that you have great potential; you just need a slight push."
"!!!" Pethra's body visibly shuddered at Aron's sudden approach, not that she complained. She didn't mind him playing with her hair. However, she preferred it to be in private, not in the middle of an inn with people around. Her face turned red when she noticed two women from the corner of her eye whispering to each other, looking at her, and smiling.
Aron didn't care the slightest about the people around him. "Little witch, this is your reward for helping me. Use it at least to buy new clothes. I can clearly see that your robe is old, and this is unacceptable for a pretty young girl like you."
Pethra blushed even more at Aron's compliment and the attention from the other customers. ""Th-thank you, Aron. I'll make sure to use it wisely," she said softly, trying to avoid eye contact with him.
"Can you please not do that in public?" Raum interjected with visible anger in his voice.
"Oh! Is that jealousy, Raum?" A smile of amusement on Aron's face.
"Humf! Why would I feel jealous of 'number 2'?"
Pethra's eyebrow twitched a little, and her smile disappeared instantly.
"Who do you call 'number 2,' you black chicken?"
"Black what!... Ughhh… I'll cut your tongue for that."
"I'll pluck all your feathers one by one."
"Bring it on!"
"Pfft HAHAHAHA!"
"!!!" The sudden laughter from Aron made the two stop fighting and stare at him in confusion.
"Haaa! It's so good to see you getting along with each other like good friends."
""Who would want to be friends with him/her?"" they spoke in Union
""Stop that!""
""Ughhh!""
"See? Like good friends," Aron teases them even more.
"Anyway, eat and rest well. Tonight will be a long night."