(Nero)
Not so long after leaving the Gray town, I met the third Heroine on the way. Her name was Maya, and she is a demi-human with a brown Fox ears and tail.
Back on Earth, Maya was the second top favourite Heroines between the ten. The reason why she is in the second place, as you can guess, it's because she is a Fox girl. And has a fluffy tail and ears. Not gonna lie, but if Eilania wasn't created in the Forever Land, and I had to choose which Heroine I like the most, I would choose Maya.
I am not saying I am into females that has fox ears or something like that. I mean I do like them, but I am not Crazy into them. In my eyes, Maya is more like a... cute... girl...
Pet...?
Anyway, what I am trying to say is, she is a likable character. That's all.
So, I met her in the forest where she was fighting some monsters with her familia. Maya's role is a supporter, and she is a tamer who can tame some beast. Beast are strong animals that doesn't eat human, while monster can be a wild animals or an isekai monsters like goblin that eats human.
In the game, the Hero helps her defeat the orcs and goblins that was surrounding her and her familia. The familia she has was a white tiger with black lines. Unfortunately for her, after the Hero saved both of them, the tiger was in bad condition because of the deep wounds and the injuries that it received when it was protecting her.
So, after I saved her and her Cat from the monsters, I unlocked the 3rd Heroine's quest.
[Heroine Quest: Help Maya in saving her familia
[Rewards:....Exp...Skill...Artifact....]
Just so you know, I don't care about the Heroine quest, neither I want to help them. My only reason why I didn't ignore the 1st and the 2nd and even the 3rd Heroine is because of the rewards. In the game, you can't continue your journey before completing the Heroine's Quest. Because they are all connected to the Main Story Quest. But here, in this world, I can skip them and ignore them, if I want to.
Maya was crying at her injured familia with teary eyes. I then asked her if there is a way to save it.
"There is one way. The Aerial Flower. It can heal any beast's injuries. If I get that flower, then I would be able to save her" (Maya's Familia is a female tiger)
"Unfortunately, that flower only existed on the top mountain of the Upper mountain."
The Upper mountain. It is known for being the highest mountain in the world.
"Then let me help you find it." I said to her, and my word triggered the quest.
[Heroine Quest Accepted!]
Maya thanked me for helping her, and she even said she would pay me for saving her and helping her. I told her it was fine, and that there was no need for paying, but she keep arguing against me that she will. In the end, I gave up.
She placed her tiger familia inside her magic ring which is a place for the familia to rest. Like the pokemon ball. And after that we both began our journey to the top of the Upper mountain.
In the game, the journey to reach there is very long, because you do alot of climbing, and sometimes you get attacked by monsters out of nowhere.
Because I wanted to finish this quest fast and continue my journey, I decided to carry Maya on my Back. And then used my high agility and speed to run fast and jump, while dodging and by passing every monsters we encounter.
After we finally reach the top, Maya had to take a little break because of the dizziness. She was even vomiting some Rainbows.
"*vomiting rainbows*~"
"Are you okay?"
"...I-I am fine. Just give me some momen- *vomit*~"
After she recovered her stamina and mind, we began looking for the flower. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find it.
"That's it"
Maya screamed in happy and began running towards it. But I grabbed her arm to stop her.
"What's wrong?" She asked with a frown, and I pointed above the flower.
When she saw where I was pointing at, her eyes widened in shock. A large Eagle monster was landing to the ground, next to the flower.
"Kraaaaaaaa!"
It screamed at us, and Maya's face turn pale.
I told her to step aside and stay hidden behind the big rocks, while I take care of it. But then she grabbed me by the arm.
"B-but it's dangerous!" She looked at me worriedly with her foxy ears down.
I couldn't help but get distracted by her ears, so I patted her on the head.
"It's okay. It will be over soon"
*pat* *pat*
"Now go there behind the rocks and hide. Come on" (gesturing her by hand to Shwoo-shwoo, like a pet)
Surprisingly, she listened to what I said and went to hide like an obedient fox.
Next I unsheathed my sword and ran towards the monster and used magic to pull it down to the ground before cutting off its wing so it doesn't fly again. After that, I finish it with multiple slashes.
I then took out the flower from the ground, and then went to where Maya was. When I found her, she was staring at me with a sparkling eyes, and her tail was swinging left and right.
I gave her the flower, and she then began using it to create a potion before feeding it to her tiger. It's wounds started to heal fast before opening its eyes. Seeing her familia completely healed and alive, she then hugged its body while crying outloud.
After one hour of crying, Maya bowed her head as a thanks for saving Ay. (Her familia's name.)
[Heroine Quest: Help Maya in saving her familia!]
[Quest Completed. Result: S]
[Rewards:....Exp...Skill...Artifact....]
After receiving the rewards, I said my goodbyes to her, and was about to leave. But Maya stopped me.
"W-wait! I still need to pay you" she stretched her hand that was holding a bag of gold coins.
"I said I don't need it"
But she still kept arguing with me. And in the end, I took the money and accepted it. You may wondering why I took it. It's because of her Ears! That damn ears are so annoying. Everytime she looks sad, or wants to cry, her ears lowers down, making her look so Pity and adorable. Tsk! I can't say no to that face.
"Okay. With that, your debt to me is over"
"But I still have to pay you for helping me save Ay." Her ears got lower again.
".... But didn't you Already Gave me the Money?"
"That was for saving us from those goblins and orcs back then. This time, I want to repay you for helping me save my familia." She pouted.
Again, my mind is getting bewitched by her adorable cute foxy look. But my eyes is twitching from impatient.
'She reminds me more like my Older Sister' (MC was force to help his sister multiple times)
"So how do you want to pay me?" I asked while holding back myself from exploding.
She then placed her index finger on her chin while thinking, in adorable way, like those cute anime girls.
"How about I join you in your Jo-"
"No"
"... but I didn't finished my Sen-"
"No. I won't Take you With Me."
"B-but I-I..." Again, she is using her adorable sad foxy ears to make me feel pity. But it didn't work.
".....I have another suggestion. Let me Touch your Ears. And with that, we are even"
Her face turn red when I told her that, but then she accepted it. I placed my hand on top of her head and patted.
*pat* *pat*
Then I moved my hand to her ears and began playing with it, like what I always do to my cat back on Earth.
*pet* *pet*
Maya's tail was swinging around, and she was blushing while her eyes was close. She even let out some Weird noises from her mouth.
'She is enjoying it'
I then used water magic to drop some water drops inside her ears for teasing.
"Ekkkkkk-!"
"Now we are even"
Maya was rubbing her ears while pouting. As I was about to leave, she stopped me again. I turned around and looked at her without hiding my annoyance.
"What" I said in a cold tone.
"I... before you leave, can you help me get down from the mountain... I don't think Ay and I are able to go down safe"
She was avoiding my cold gaze while blushing, and I turned my head to look at her Liking rate.
[Liking Rate: 62%]
Then with my stoic face, I walked to her, carried her on my back like a sack of potato, then used wind magic to Jump off the mountain.
"KYAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....!"
....
What happened next?
Nothing.
After I landed down on the ground, I found her passing out on my back. So I took her to a near village that has an Inn, and then placed her in one of the inn's rooms before leaving.
_______
(3rd POV)
The next day. Maya woke up and asked the inn keeper about the guy who brought her here. The inn keeper told her he has left. When she heard that, she felt sad and went back to her room.
*sitting on the bed*
She then activated her ring to summon her familia out. Maya hugged her little friend while thinking about Nero, with her ears lowering.
"What a Baka. All I want is to help him and be of a use to him."
*Pouting cute~*
'I even didn't get to know his Name'
_________
====Back to the Present====
In the 3rd area. After Nero and Eilania left the Forbidden island in the west, they took about four months to reach the 3rd area in the east.
"Yaaaaaaawn~" Nero let out a long yawn.
Right now he was staying at an inn in a village, with Eilania.
"Good morning Nero"
"Hm?... oh, yeah. Good morning Eilan".
Nero and Eilania were both staying in the same Room that has two bed. Last night, when they came here to sleep, the inn keeper offered them one room with one bed. Because she thought they were couples.
When Eilania heard that, she began to panic and get blush, but then Nero asked the inn keeper for one room with two bed. Despite he wanted so badly to sleep next to her, but Nero kept saying in his mind that they are both are not ready.
Nero stood up from the bed and did some stretching. Just then, he heard Eilania's voice.
"Um... Nero?"
"Hm? Yes?"
"Did you... have a nightmare last night?"
Nero looked very confused.
"Why is that?"
"Well. You were kinda mumbling some weird stuff when you were sleeping"
"Like what?"
"Like 'Your are so Annoying'. Or 'leave me Alone'"
Nero eyes widened when he heard that. He then remembered that he had a flashback dream of those three Heroines.
Eilania then spoke, but with a weak voice.
"Nero... am I... annoying to you?" She lowered her head, trying to hide her worried face.
"What?!"
Nero was completely shock that Eilania was thinking like that. The reason was because Eilania thought that the person who Nero was talking about was her.
'Every time when I see something new and ask Nero about it, he always tells me what it is. And when we are camping together or sleep in an inn, it always him who cooks the food and pays for the money. Am I... A burden to him?'
Nero asked her why she was thinking like that, so Eilania explained that she feels like burden to him, and that Nero was doing everything while she wasn't. She even thought that he had a dream about her, that's why she felt terrible and sad.
After hearing her explanation, Nero walked to her and hugged her tightly.
"Eh?!"
"Stupid girl. You were never a burden to me"
It was true that Nero was doing all the extra hard work like cleaning, paying money for staying in an inn or eat in a restaurant, and making the foods, while the only thing Eilania can do is fighting monsters.
Nero increased his hug and explained to her that he was having a bad dream about three women, and not about Eilania. Eilania was surprised when she heard that. Her heart felt happy and relief that Nero didn't feel burden by her, but she did get a bad sensation when Nero mentioned about the three women.
Nero then released her from the hug and looked at her who was blushing.
"Tell you what. How about I teach you how to cook?"
The moment she heard him say that, her eyes sparkled in interest.
"Really?!"
"Ofcourse" he patted her on the head while smiling.
"I will ask the inn keeper for borrowing the kitchen. But before that, you need to take a bath"
"Huh? Oh, right!" Eilania then left the room with an excitement look on her face.
Nero looked at the open door where she left.
"Huh...." He let out a sigh.
'Just how long it will take'
He then opened the game system.
[Eilania's Liking Rate: 77%]
'Still far away.'
In the game, normally the Liking rate of the Heroines would reach 90% when the Hero's party reach the 6th area in the north. But Eilania's Liking rate is increasing much faster than the other. If the other players heard him complaining about how slow is Eilania's Liking rate. Then they would want to strangle him to death. Because he has Eilania, and he complains about the liking rate, despite it was moving much faster.
"That's okay. No need to be impatient. There is still more time left"
He closed the interface before heading to the inn's kitchen.
Meanwhile, inside the bathroom where Eilania was taking a warm bath. Her thoughts were wondering about what Nero told her.
"You were never a burden to me"
She let out a cute chuckle when she remembered that. She felt very happy in her heart. And she even promised to work hard to be the best companion and the best friend to him.
[Liking Rate: 78%]
.....