For better or worse, everyone was well-rested after the several minutes Belphegor and Murmur spent flirting, so they were ready to start moving again once the couple finally finished.
“My apologies for the wait, shall we to get back to the hunt?” Belphegor asked.
Fenris’s mental damage still seemed to linger, however, as his face scrunched up again at the idea of fighting again.
“Ah, right. I suppose hunting is off the table for the time being…”
They would have to wait until the alerts were fixed before they could convince Fenris to keep leveling.
“If we're not hunting… How about we go play at the lake instead?” Murmur suggested.
“Yes!” Ami instantly sprang up. “C’mon, let's go! Hurry!”
Belphegor chuckled as Ami ran off, dragging along Murmur.
“She wanted to play in the lake as soon as she saw it,” he whispered to Fenris. “We managed to convince her to wait by saying it’d be more fun if we waited to meet up with you. Do your best to meet her expectations, yes?”
“Nn. Got it.”
The lake was only a few minutes further down the trail that they were already on. It was comfortably uneventful, aside from Fenris finding out that he really enjoyed the feeling of stepping on fallen pinecones. Fenris and Belphegor had taken a much more leisurely pace than Ami, who was pouting by the time the two had arrived.
“Geez, what took you so long?!”
“Pinecones… are crunchy.” Fenris wagged his tail.
“I… see…?” Ami was dumbfounded.
The others were impressed by how easily Fenris took the wind out of Ami’s sails.
“A-anyways!” Ami shouted, quickly recovering. “Let's go already!”
She grabbed Fenris by the hand and pulled him out to the lake’s pier, practically sprinting the whole way. Once she got to the edge, she jumped into the water with a “Yahoo~!”
Unfortunately, she was still holding onto Fenris’s arm when she did, dragging him face-first into the water.
“Bwah—!” Ami resurfaced, taking in a breath of fresh air. “How’s the water, Fen?”
… He was still underwater.
“Ah.”
…
[Please wait a moment]
…
“I’m sowwy…” Ami sniffled, hugging the involuntarily-wet Fenris, who was now safely sitting on the grassy shore. “I didn't know you couldn't swim…”
“Nn, it's fine.” Fenris gently patted Ami’s head.
Murmur huffed.
“I’m not going to scold Ami, since she apologized properly,” she said while starting a fire to help them dry off. “But you, Wolfie—you need to be more firm with her as the older sibling! Why didn't you say anything to her?”
“I didn't know that I couldn't swim, either…”
“What does that mean?” The glowing red ‘eyes’ inside of Murmur’s visor narrowed. Fenris simply tilted his head.
“I felt like I could do it at the time, so I thought it’d be fine…”
Murmur squinted harder at him.
“... You’re very special, Wolfie,” she sighed after a few moments, having seemingly given up on something.
Fenris vaguely remembered the vice guildmaster saying something to him earlier in the exact same tone; although the phrasing was completely different, Fenris had a strange hunch that Reynald and Murmur were both trying to tell him the same thing.
“You might not understand it yet, m’boy,” Belphegor leaned in close to Fenris. “But that's actually a secret way of showing endearment to very special people like us.”
“Oh, shut it, you.” Murmur was either facepalming or trying to hide her blushing face (being made of metal, she could not actually physically blush).
“See? She adores me!”
“I see…!” An enlightened (?) spark glimmered in Fenris’s eyes, his tail starting to gently wag back and forth. “I like you too, Murmur…!”
She double-facepalmed.
“... I like you two as well.”
““Yaaay.””
For better or worse, everyone was well-rested after the several minutes Belphegor and Murmur spent flirting, so they were ready to start moving again once the couple finally finished.
“My apologies for the wait, shall we to get back to the hunt?” Belphegor asked.
Fenris’s mental damage still seemed to linger, however, as his face scrunched up again at the idea of fighting again.
“Ah, right. I suppose hunting is off the table for the time being…”
They would have to wait until the alerts were fixed before they could convince Fenris to keep leveling.
“If we're not hunting… How about we go play at the lake instead?” Murmur suggested.
“Yes!” Ami instantly sprang up. “C’mon, let's go! Hurry!”
Belphegor chuckled as Ami ran off, dragging along Murmur.
“She wanted to play in the lake as soon as she saw it,” he whispered to Fenris. “We managed to convince her to wait by saying it’d be more fun if we waited to meet up with you. Do your best to meet her expectations, yes?”
“Nn. Got it.”
The lake was only a few minutes further down the trail that they were already on. It was comfortably uneventful, aside from Fenris finding out that he really enjoyed the feeling of stepping on fallen pinecones. Fenris and Belphegor had taken a much more leisurely pace than Ami, who was pouting by the time the two had arrived.
“Geez, what took you so long?!”
“Pinecones… are crunchy.” Fenris wagged his tail.
“I… see…?” Ami was dumbfounded.
The others were impressed by how easily Fenris took the wind out of Ami’s sails.
“A-anyways!” Ami shouted, quickly recovering. “Let's go already!”
She grabbed Fenris by the hand and pulled him out to the lake’s pier, practically sprinting the whole way. Once she got to the edge, she jumped into the water with a “Yahoo~!”
Unfortunately, she was still holding onto Fenris’s arm when she did, dragging him face-first into the water.
“Bwah—!” Ami resurfaced, taking in a breath of fresh air. “How’s the water, Fen?”
… He was still underwater.
“Ah.”
…
[Please wait a moment]
…
“I’m sowwy…” Ami sniffled, hugging the involuntarily-wet Fenris, who was now safely sitting on the grassy shore. “I didn't know you couldn't swim…”
“Nn, it's fine.” Fenris gently patted Ami’s head.
Murmur huffed.
“I’m not going to scold Ami, since she apologized properly,” she said while starting a fire to help them dry off. “But you, Wolfie—you need to be more firm with her as the older sibling! Why didn't you say anything to her?”
“I didn't know that I couldn't swim, either…”
“What does that mean?” The glowing red ‘eyes’ inside of Murmur’s visor narrowed. Fenris simply tilted his head.
“I felt like I could do it at the time, so I thought it’d be fine…”
Murmur squinted harder at him.
“... You’re very special, Wolfie,” she sighed after a few moments, having seemingly given up on something.
Fenris vaguely remembered the vice guildmaster saying something to him earlier in the exact same tone; although the phrasing was completely different, Fenris had a strange hunch that Reynald and Murmur were both trying to tell him the same thing.
“You might not understand it yet, m’boy,” Belphegor leaned in close to Fenris. “But that's actually a secret way of showing endearment to very special people like us.”
“Oh, shut it, you.” Murmur was either facepalming or trying to hide her blushing face (being made of metal, she could not actually physically blush).
“See? She adores me!”
“I see…!” An enlightened (?) spark glimmered in Fenris’s eyes, his tail starting to gently wag back and forth. “I like you too, Murmur…!”
She double-facepalmed.
“... I like you two as well.”
““Yaaay.””
