"S-so you d-d-don't m-m-m-mind…?"
'Why would I…?"
The girl shuttered even worse than ever before, to which the Pigkin Orc tilted his head and asked in a concerned voice.
"...! N-no reason…! I-I-I will learn the s-skill, then!"
The girl's blush turned a few shades more intense, and she hurriedly turned right around to hide her expression, opening the skill book and burrowing her face in it.
Following that action, the book began to glow with a vibrant yellowish-white light before disintegrating into shining particles that sipped through Catherine's clothes and skin and fused with her body.
"Th-that was a weird feeling…"
Catherine muttered, fidgeting in slight unease, before moving back around and grabbing the control collar - in particular, the large silver buckle.
She held the collar close to her chest and closed her eyes, focusing on the flow of mana.
The item automatically triggered the activation of Cathereine's newly acquired taming skill and inscribed the informations about her within its core, becoming ready for taming the pure-instinct beast of her choosing.
"Ross, c-could you lean d-down so I c-could…"
"..."
Catherine asked while still focused on the collar, but then her heart skipped a beat as Ross listened immediately, and the hot breath from his snout mere inches away from her head rustled her hair.
"..."
For a moment, Catherine stayed completely motionless, and only after a couple of seconds and a repeated feeling of Ross's breath against her forehead she slowly looked up to meet him face to face up close.
The black-haired girl took a shallow breath and gulped down her saliva before raising her hands and carefully putting the blue collar around Ross's neck without breaking eye contact once.
"Heh. I knew we were kindred spirits~"
Melinda chuckled, glancing at the pair from over the bloody remains of the Armored Boar.
"Eh? In what context, my lady?"
"Hmhm~"
The maid flinched and turned to her immediately with a question, but the gold-haired girl merely smiled and returned to securing the worthwhile materials.
"My lady…!?"
The maid asked one more time in a more worried voice, but that didn't change Melinda's cheeky silence.
Meanwhile, Catherine secured the silver buckle but held onto it for a bit longer than was necessary before lowering her gaze and bashfully stepping away from Ross.
"H-how does it f-feel? It's not u-uncomfortable, is it…?"
The black-haired girl asked, nervously rubbing her arm before even taking a worried peek at the Pigkin orc.
"Nothing I can't get used to. Cat-rine…?"
"Y-yes…!?"
Ross rubbed his neck, sliding his fingers across the control collar, before shrugging his shoulders and calling out to the girl in front of him, to which she reacted without a moment of delay.
"I will do my best… to not get us in trouble."
The Pigkin Orc took a deep breath and declared, doing his best to put the stub of his right hand to his chest.
"So… I will be in your care."
"L-likewise!"
Ross finished saying and ended it with a polite bow, which made Catherine gasp and hurriedly bow back to him.
"Oh, hey! We're going on ahead! Just a reminder, Ross, but make sure to put on some trashy gear the first time you enter the city. It will help sell the image of you being just a low-level Pigkin driven by instinct!"
"...!"
The scene was interrupted by Melinda's call, as the gold-haired girl and her maid with sizable sacks full of monster parts waved at the pair as they were leaving them behind.
"Understood, my lady."
Ross hurriedly straightened his back and responded, while Catherine waved at Melinda as she left.
"...umm… R-Ross, I've been meaning t-to ask that e-earlier but… who w-was that maid…?"
As the human girl and the Pigkin Orc were the only ones at the scene, Catherine cleared her throat and asked with a troubled expression.
"..."
Ross looked back at her and furrowed his brows in silence.
"...what maid…?"
He asked with visible confusion on his beastly face.
"Eh? Wait… wh-why did I say th-that...?"
The black-haired girl blinked a few times and then gasped, putting one hand to her mouth.
"What I w-wanted to ask w-was… isn't it a b-bit strange th-that Melinda doesn't h-have a m-maid? Sh-she is a h-high noble a-and a-all…"
Catherine shook her head and corrected herself, blushing in embarrassment of a silly mistake like that.
"I don't know. She seems to be doing just fine without a servant."
"O-of course! I-I didn't m-mean it like th-that…! It's j-just that i-it feels like she h-had one at s-some point…!"
Ross responded while tilting his head, making Catherine hastily explain with a shameful expression.
—-----
Jack was an average Jade city adventurer in his mid-thirties, both age and level-wise. He sometimes joined parties and managed to keep a friendly relationship with most of the people with whom he fought alongside. Still, he liked thinking about himself as a lone wolf.
At least until he entered the adventurers' guild or a tavern - which often were combined in the first place.
It was just a normal day. After making some progress in his current active quest, he returned to the city's guild and joined a group of his colleagues by the table.
After a couple of drinks, a certain girl caught Jack's slightly hazy eye.
A cute black-haired girl with green eyes was supposedly a commoner attending the Jade Academy and was apparently working part-time or something at the guild.
She had a bit of a stutter and had a hard time keeping up eye contact with others, but she was quite the looker and had this aura of innocence around her that tickled Jack's fancy just the right way.
Oh, and she seemed to be quite a reliable worker, too, but that wasn't of much interest to Jack.
What was of his interest though, was that the girl usually taking the responsibilities of a receptionist was now helping with the tavern part of the facility as the rush hours at the counter had passed but the ones at the drink serving side had just begun.
That girl was on the petite side but had just enough roundness in the right places to make the men worked up over her, and the fact that she seemed not to be aware of it made it even better.
She also seemed like someone who wouldn't retaliate much... or at all...
"Hey, sweetie, another one here!"
So, after finishing his drink, Jack raised his empty tankard and called out to her.
"Y-yes!"
The black-haired girl called back and hurried over to the bar where the beer was poured. She then brought it to the table and put it in front of Jack before taking the empty tankard.
"Thank you, sweetie~!"
"..."
Jack laughed while oggling the girl, making her bit her lips with a troubled expression as she turned around to get away from the man's pervy gaze..
*slap*
"Wohoho~"
"...!"
But she didn't manage to be fast enough, and as she was walking to the other table to get the empty tankards and dishes from them, Jack casually slapped her butt - going as far as to let out an impressed voice at the nice and springy feeling as the girl flinched and froze up.
"Jack, what in the goddess's name are you doing?!"
"What of it? I'm just appreciating the good stuff!"
The guy sitting in font of Jack called out in disbelief, but the tipsy adventurer laughed it off while eaving the hand that he slapped the girl's butt with dismissively.