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“Excuse me, Bid?”

“See! It’s you guys’ fault! Even the girl we just saved is calling me Bid…”

“Yeah?”

“Ah.. sorry… I was just wondering what monster this was…”

“Oh, this? This is a Giant Fogwolf. It’s actually a Demonic Beast rather than a Monster. It has no Monster Core, see.” Bid stopped skinning the wolf for a second, showing her it’s open carcass.

“Ah, thank you… It was so large I thought it was a monster…”

“Oh, this one is a high quality one. It’s very large and probably very close to evolving into a Storm Wolf. That one is a monster.”

“Hmmm… What’s the main difference between them?”

“The monster version has harder fur that can actually deflect iron blades to some extent, and since it has a core, it can also use magic.”

‘Ah… I was lucky to not find one of those…’

“Thank you for the information.”

“You’re welcome, I thought you didn’t talk like normal people like her over there…” He said, pointing at Ace.

“Shut up. I can speak.” (Ace)

“See?” He said, turning to Necro.

“Anyhow, It’s nice to see you are interested in monsters… Do you plan on becoming an Adventurer?”

“Father said I needed to join a guild so… Could be.”

“Oh… That’s interesting… But you shouldn’t become an adventurer just for that reason… You’d probably die very quickly” He said, resuming the skinning.

“My old party was made of newbies… They ignored me when I told them we shouldn’t go any further…”

“They died right?”

“Yeah… I think something along those lines happened to Ace too… That’s probably why she speaks so little.”

Necro looked at her worriedly… She hadn’t lost anyone like that but… It must’ve been hard…

“Ignore him. This is my first party, I fled home.” (Ace)

“Ah…”

“Phew…. this is done… Hal! Should we harvest the insides and whatnot?”

“Do you wanna eat that? I don’t. And its gonna rot before we reach the town anyways.”

“Okay then” Bid started to roll the fur into an easier to transport shape.

‘I should ask for the rest….’

“Excuse me…” Necro said.

“Yeah?”

“Can I have the rest if you don’t want it?”

“I mean… Sure… But what are you gonna do with it?”

“Ah… Sorry…” Necro walked towards the carcass and touched it, absorbing the whole wolf into her ring.

‘Oh… This ring has a very small capacity… It’s almost full…’

“OH! YOU HAVE A STORAGE RING!?” (Hal)

“Yeah… But it’s a small one.”

“Still… Those are very expensive.” (Bid)

The gorgeous small girl walked towards Necro as they spoke. Necro became a little anxious until the girl hugged her and stared at the men.

“Leave her!” (Ace)

Necro became tomato red.

“You can’t have her!” (Ace)

‘What is she saying? Why is she touching me? Why is her touch this soft?’ Necro felt dizzy as blood rushed through her head and her thoughts became a disorderly mess.

“Wa”

“… Sorry.” The girl, Ace, whispered in her ears. Necro’s body started feeling hotter from the whispering. ‘Maybe I’m getting sick…’ she thought. She was a man in her last life, and didn’t have that much experience regardless… She was a woman now… She was supposed to feel like this around men, right? Or so she thought.

“They want to use your ring.”

“Ah…” Necro’s head quickly came back to normal…

‘So that’s what she’s talking about.

“Thank you…”

“It’s nothing. You’re cute.”

Necro once again became very red. Why was this cute girl complimenting her?

“We got it, we got it. Let’s go find a safe place to camp, Bid.” (Hal)

“Y-Yes…” For some reason, Bid also became embarrassed and left with him, glancing backwards as the two.

Neither realized they were still hugging each other.

“I think you girls should let go of each other before the misunderstandings become irreversible” Mary said, as she turned away to follow the boys.

The girls let go of each other, looking embarrassed.

“Thank you for helping me.” (Necro)

“It was nothing. We should go.” The flustered Ace walked ahead while looking back, inviting Necro to come too.

“Yes.”

The group walked for over an hour through the forest, always heading towards the direction of the town they talked about earlier. They were in silence most of the time, aware in case any other monster appeared.

Ace and Necro kept exchanging

“Necro.” (Ace)

“You can call me Nec…”

“O-Okay…” Ace became a little red, maybe calling Necro by a nickname was a little too much.

“Nec… You are a dark magician right?”

“Huh!? How?” Necro became startled.

“I’m a magician as well. You have a different aura… It’s so dense. When you looked at Mary that way it felt like I was being strangled…” For some reason, Ace’s breath became a little ragged, and her cheeks blushed as she said it.

Necro could not avoid noticing it, and became a little flushed.

“Ah… Thank you…”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

Necro became very confused at her statement… ‘Why would she hide such an important thing from the others?’ She thought. Stopping walking for a second.

In this time, Ace overtook her and stood in front of her. She looked around only to see the others a little ways further ahead, looking the other direction.

She lost no time and approached Necro, holding her face and giving a quick peck on her lips before speaking to her ears.

“Because I liked you, dummy.”

Necro stood there, her brain froze for a second as it’s gears started turning the other way.

‘She said she likes me.’

Necro felt as if her mind was locked up. She felt very happy. But also very confused.

Why would that girl like her? Was it because of her looks? Or her magic? She didn’t know.

And she couldn’t avoid thinking about Lyara. Would she feel like this around her too?

Her memories from the time as Soleir gave her no clue at all.

She’d never felt like this around a woman, even when she was a man. There was no such thing.

What would her parents even think…

She then remembered a conversation:

“Sole… Are you never going to marry?”

“What are you asking Ly? Of course not, why would I? I already have you.

This conversation took place over two decades ago, back when he’d just been excommunicated.

“But still… You are such a great man… and with our magic you can live for centuries…”

“I’ve already told you no. I’m not letting you exchange your lifespan for increasing mine.”

“There’s gotta be a way around. You know it. And… I’ve heard that great humans have many wives and children…”

“I have no interest in such things.”

“But… You ought to want children right?”

This all took place while Soleir wrote a book about Essential Magic. A field of Non-Elemental magic that was deemed to be “Element-neutral based on God’s will”, which he used as a basis for his Non-Elemental Magic Thesis.

“I have no such leeway… I can’t have any more people to protect other than you right now… Maybe if we had one some day after getting rid of the church… But not now.”

“Okay… I wanted to imagine you one day surrounded by beautiful people who love you and many, many mini Soleirs running around us…”

He’d shoved that memory deep inside his memory but for some reason her current situation pulled it to the surface.

‘So she’d actually approve of it… Too bad I’m no longer a man… I wish she won’t feel bad we won’t be able to have any children… What am I thinking! I was supposed to have become a Lich. Those can’t have children either…’

“Are you okay?” (Ace)

“Kya! Ah! Yes! Sorry!” Necro got completely flushed as she stared at Ace embarrassed…

“Maybe I went too far…”

“No! That’s not it… It’s just… It was a first for me…”

“A.” Ace turned completely red realizing the implications… She didn’t think about it yet. But she lifted her hand to her mouth.

This had also been her first kiss.