Leaving the gate, Natsuki gave the guards the universal sign for 'fuck you', as they attempted once again to extort money from him, alongside trying to cop a feel of Vylara (who, despite being one cantankerous bitch, is also one heck of a stunner– I mean, look at those long, daisy-white legs, those soft calf muscles shining against the– ahem, sorry for digressing, let's continue on with the story...). By the time they left the guards' sight, he was just an inch short of pelting them with rocks at their lewd eyes.
"Kid, it's better if you don't, otherwise there'd be trouble for us..."
Unable to believe what he's hearing, Natsuki turned his head slowly to the stern Elf. "What'd you mean we can't!? Aren't we from the Bureau of Reincarnation? Even if we're not supposed to get caught or whatever can't we just erase their memories like a certain organisation that deals with aliens!?"
Slap!
"DESTROY THAT TRAIN OF THOUGHT RIGHT NOW!!"
Stumbling back, Natsuki couldn't believe that Vylana had slapped him just now. "W-why?"
"The last time anyone did this sort of thing, they destroyed their entire world. To this day, those who have survived that war still refuse to talk about it..."
Shadow falling across her face, Vylana turned her head towards the forest, unwilling to talk more about it...
Heart heavy, Natsuki quietly followed the belligerent Elf(?) into the woods, cheek still burning from the slap. I mean, we're not killing them are we...
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Picking up the blue mushroom, Natsuki giddily put it inside the leather bag that he bought in the market early in the morning. Taking a picture alongside the tree that seemed to be shaped just like a heart, Natsuki peeked from the corner of his eyes at the so-called Elf. Seeing her still acting nonchalant made him all the more tense– heck, even outright ignoring him would have made him feel better!
Just as he was about to go and take the bright polka-dotted fruit from the levitating tree, he heard some ruffling coming from the bushes behind him. Thinking that it would be another monster coming his way, he ignored it...
I mean, behind him stood a Tier-6 (sealed to Tier-5) bombastic chick!
"Hmph, just you see, the great hero Natsuki shall go and defeat this mongrel, paving his future path to glo– HOLY SHIT!!!"
Leaping from the bushes was a four-legged beast, clad in shadows. Though it had no visible mouth, Natsuki swore that on its two beady eyes it saw hunger in them, eager to consume his very soul.
"HELP ME VY!!!"
At first, Vylana felt that he was exaggerating. But after feeling the sticky feeling coming from the front of her, she could no longer ignore it. Gazing up, she saw the shadow beast, and realising that its tier was much higher than Natsuki's, she hesitated no more before unleashing her spell against it.
"Bloody Vines!"
From the ground, thick blood-red vines emerged, lifting the quadruped into the air, before slicing it into two at the waist. Seeing that Natsuki was safe, she quickly dragged Natsuki away. "You could have been killed right now! How on Aeronia could you have lowered your guard so much–"
"Uh, Vy, it's stitching itself back together again..."
Her stomach dropped at his words. Turning around, true to his words, the shadow beast began recombining itself, before turning its head towards them. Anger clearly visible, it began running their way, hunger burning brighter than ever...
"AWWOOO!!!"