The Next morning.
We were up and early just like the previous night, back on the road. Deina continued to carry the sleeping gorgan child in her arms, while she chatted with Avy. I was walking at the same pace as Lina, staying a couple paces behind the two women in front of us. This morning when I woke up, Avy was sleeping next to me, resting her head against my chest.
While I wasn't exactly flustered or embarrassed about it, it had been a while since the last time I had slept with someone that way – so it had taken me by surprise a bit. Arvalor had also been present, resting behind us, most likely there to protect me while I slept.
Which, while I appreciate the thoughtfulness of his, was a bit unnecessary, since I always ensured to keep 'Enlightened' at as high of a power as possible before falling asleep.
"It was a strange feeling… This body of mine, while it technically has all the senses of a normal human body, doesn't really feel heat or cold that much. But when I woke up, I could feel Avy's bodyheat…" I thought, looking down at my hands, before gently patting my chest. Lina whistled gently, laughing with a smirk across her face. "What's wrong? Reimagining how it felt when she slept with you～?"
I looked at her with an eyebrow raised, before sighing.
"If you're trying to tease me, that won't work out. I don't fall for teasing almost at all."
Lina's expression changed to a bored, unimpressed one before she let out a heavy exhale and looked away, crossing her arms. "How booring… It's no fun when someone doesn't get affected by teasing."
I shook my head lightly. Then, I let out a small fake cough, to try and change away from the awkward conversation. "Anyways, I was curious about something."
"Shoot it." Lina raised her arms above her head, then behind it.
"Whatcha got on mind?"
"It's about your clan. I was curious about how it operates. I remember you calling that gorgan child the 'Chiefs' daughter when you first…. Struck us."
Lina laughed awkwardly, looking away for a moment.
Then, she cleared her throat and looked back towards me. "Well, what's there really to know?"
"I mean, how is it run? Do you have some kind of ruler, leader, king or something else? Who runs the clan?"
Lina remained silent for a moment, thinking about an answer for a bit, before exhaling. "Well, for starters, we don't have anything as fancy as a 'King' per se. We have a clan elder who runs the clan. However, within the clan he is called 'Chief'."
I suppose it is simply their choice to call him that.
So their clan has an 'Elder' in charge – reminds me of fantasy villages, where a lot of the time, the eldest member is the one in charge of the village… Or something like that. "And is there anyone else beside him in the clan with power or…?"
Lina thought about it for a moment.
"Not really. There's not much in place of titles or ranks. The clan simply allows the smartest or strongest to lead it, and when it comes to military power, it's also always the strongest, smartest and most skilled in charge."
"Thus why you and your sister are captain and vice captain.."
"Bingo." Lina smiled and then laughed, before sighing, resting her arms onto her hips. "But as I said, there really isn't much of a ranking system. The weaker listen to the stronger ones."
The weak listen to the strong… A flawed philosophy if you ask me. It always evolves into a tyrannical rule, with oppression and discrimination. In theory, it isn't terrible, since the strong almost always have what it takes to ensure everyone's survival, so if the weak listens to the strong, everyone in theory benefits. But in execution…
Well, it usually goes about as well as any decision made by a government in my old world.
"Anywayyss… I was actually wondering about you. How are you as strong as you are?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"Strong? I haven't exactly done anything to showcase myself as strong…"
"True, but going off of your magical energy, I can tell you have quite the power in you. Plus, your reaction speed when I first attacked you was incredible – it felt like you had a third eye in the back of your head."
Well technically I do have one, it's just said 'third eye' is a subskill of 'Enlightened' which has a wide range three sixty effect, alerting me and making me aware of everything in a fixed radius – said radius being as big or small as I want or rather, as I can manage to upkeep.
However, ignoring that – she could sense my magical energy? I guess it isn't that surprising, since it seems to be a rather common ability here in this world.
I guess I was a bit careless.
"Well, I suppose I'm a bit strong, yeah. But I wouldn't call myself impressive in any way." Other than the Southern Beast, which I have no idea how I even managed to defeat, I haven't really done anything impressive. I mean, that knight we met in that secret hideout…
Him and Erwin both are good examples of how insignificant I am compared to some others in the world. I mean, they were far, far above anything I had encountered so far – with the exception of Arabor of course.
"Really? Well, maybe you could show off your power? I'm preetty good at judging how strong others are." Lina looked quite proud, crossing her arms and looking away - like someone expecting praise. I shook my head and looked away from her. "I'll pass." I do not want to be using my strength liberally like that. Besides, who knows if I could fully trust these two or that gorgan clan yet? If I was to show off what I can do now, it could result in some sort of backfire.
Lina looked disappointed, however didn't push it any further.
She simply fell silent and continued prodding next to me as we continued our move, occasionally bringing up a new topic to chat about.
Hours later, the sun was a bit past the half way point in the sky. We had arrived at a really thick thicket of trees, where I couldn't even see what was on the other side anymore. I doubt I would be able to make it through them even in my snake form. Deina stopped, turning to face me and Lina. "We're here. This is the border of the clans camp."
She stated, before asking her sister to come closer. Handing the gorgan child to Lina, she turned around before exhaling and placing her hands onto the thicket of trees. For a bit, it was silent. It almost looked like she was waiting for something. Then, she whispered a single word – so quietly, I wasn't able to make out what it was. The thicket rumbled.
Then, a horn was blown.
The thicket opened up, revealing an entrance into a long tunnel, at the end of which was a bright light – most likely, the other side of the thicket, aka, the clan camp itself.
"Come on, the entrance only stays open for a short time!" Deina stated, before her and her sister entered. After I exchanged a quick gaze with Avy, we too also moved after the two gorgan sisters, entering the tunnel. Once we were inside, the entrance behind us sealed – leaving the whole tunnel as an essentially one way dead end now. The tunnel was dark, with faint light breaking through some tiny holes in between the branches of the trees that made up the thicket.
As we approached the tunnel's exit, it became bright – bright enough that it was a bit painful to actually exit. Once we stepped out, I was met with a surprising view. An enormous open field, across which were many, many gorgans moving.
There were houses all over the camp, some built on an elevation from the ground and others built close to the thick tree wall that encased the entire camp. At the other side of the camp, all the way across the enormous field, was a large wooden building, with a thick leaf roof on it and what looked like three floors to it – most likely the clan's 'Chiefs' house.
Deina and Lina turned to look at me and Avy.
"Welcome to the Sothvern Clan settlement!" Deina announced, with a cheery smile across her face. I looked around a bit more carefully. I don't know what I had expected this place to look like… but it certainly wasn't this. It slightly reminded me of Ordial – with how lively and shockingly unchaotic it was. Maybe I was simply assuming a lot, but I had sort of expected the settlement to look a bit more like a fortress and what not..
But I suppose it is nice that it wasn't that.
It genuinely looked like a thriving community of a single species, simply isolated and hidden deep in a forest. Lina turned to her sister. "I'll get the Chief's daughter to the caretakers." Deina nodded. "Do so, she needs proper care as soon as possible." Lina looked at me and winked. "Let's share a drink at the fire tonight." Then, she turned away and walked off towards a different section of the settlement.
I gently waved her a goodbye, while Avy looked at her and then me with a slightly suspicious gaze, her eyes narrowed.
Deina then turned to look at us. "Let's head to the clan chief first. I'll have to do a bit of… explaining why we brought you two here. But don't worry, I'm sure he'll understand."
Y'know, usually when someone says something like that, you end up either in a dungeon, prison cell or potentially even at the death penalty. Without much time wasted, we followed after Deina, following her across the clan settlement. I could feel the entire time, eyes drifting onto us from the residents here.
People staring us down suspiciously, mothers pulling their children closer to themselves and gorgan males glaring at us with warning gazes, as if telling us to not try anything funny within the settlement grounds. It was a bit nerve-racking, having so many gazes onto us… But not unexpected I suppose. Me and Avy were technically outsiders who had just been brought into what is a pretty isolated clan.
I will take an educated guess that they did not take lightly to strangers around here.
When we moved up to the massive building on the other side of the settlement, a pair of guards stopped us, bowing towards Deina. "Welcome back captain. If you wish to meet the Chief, you'll have to first give a good reason for two strangers being brought into the clan's territory."
Ah… Stopped before even meeting the elder.
Makes sense. Deina eyed the guards. "I will give an official reasoning to the chief. Now if you'd please move aside, I'll take my guests inside to meet with the chief."
The two guards exchanged gazes, clearly hesitant to do so, however moved aside after a moment anyway. Guess what Lina said was true – the weaker ones do follow the stronger ones words. Normally I imagine it'd make more sense to not allow a captain or something to simply do as they please, but in a place with a philosophy as simple as 'weak listen to strong' that is thrown out the window.
We followed Deina inside the building, throwing a slight side eye at the guards, who were eyeing us as well. The distrust was very clearly on display.
Inside, the building looked about what I had expected based on its outside appearance – very primitive. Wooden walls, beams to support the ceiling and upper floors, shockingly logs below the thick leaf roof. I suppose the leaf on the roof is there to divert rain water or something, so that the wood that the house is made out of, doesn't get wet and start rotting or something? I don't know, I was just throwing an idea out there in the air for myself.
Moving through the building's halls, we passed by many guards inside, as well as a couple of gorgans dressed in robes similar to scholars. My only guess was that they were most likely a sort of 'parliament' or something of the clan. Deina brought us to a pair of large wooden doors, with a massive snake carving on them. Pushing them open she entered with a cheerful smile.
"Chief, I and Lina have returned! Your daughter is safely with Lina at the caretakers. I also brought some guests with us!" She announced loudly. I gotta say, I am a bit impressed by this woman's boldness..
I doubt many people would have the guts to make an entrance like that, especially in a clan with that simple philosophy. An elderly looking gorgan, with a large beard turned to look towards us, his eyes closed and strange looking tattoos covering his whole body. The man brushed his beard, slithering over towards us. As he got closer, I was able to examine his appearance a bit – thick robes which drooped over his body, lifted up slightly by his snake half of the body.
A pair of gauntlets on his arms and a necklace around his neck – shaped just like that large snake carving on the doors. "Welcome back Deina. Good to hear that you've managed to recover my daughter safely… I hope nothing has happened to her."
"Nope, not even a scratch on her. And you have these two to thank for that." She pointed at me and Avy. Avy gently bowed towards the elder, while I awkwardly followed her example, also gently bowing towards him. The elder examined us – opening his eyes a bit. After a bit of silence, he let out a sigh before slightering closer to us and bowing towards us himself.
"I extend my deepest gratitude, strangers, for saving my daughter. When those cloaked men first took her, I was certain she would be badly hurt and that we would only be able to recover her deceased body… However, hearing that she was brought back safely and without even a scratch puts my mind and heart at ease." He stated. I straightened out and rubbed the back of my neck. "It really wasn't anything big… We just did what was right."
"Indeed. I cannot believe those men were going to use a child as a sacrifice to connect to the underworld."
As Avy stated that, the elder and Deina looked at her surprised. "As a way to connect to the underworld…?" Deina repeated, while the elder sighed. "It makes sense… Us gorgans have naturally high magical energy, which have always made us a target for the immoral to use us as conduits for executing dangerous rituals."
Then, he turned around, brushing his beard gently. "Thank the Dragons that you were able to save her before they had done anything… If she had been used in such a ritual, there most likely wouldn't have been even a body to bring back."
It was that bad huh…
From what I understood so far, the underworld in general was already a dangerous and sketchy place, with the spirits that resided there being highly dangerous. Ritualistic sacrifice to establish a connection to it, where the one being used for that connection completely disappears, without even leaving a body behind… Sounds like the ultimate nightmare.
If someone used a loved one of yours for that purpose, you wouldn't ever find out.
The elder let out a small cough, before turning to face us once again. "Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Vridra Sothvern, the eldest gorgan of the clan, as well as its chief. And you two already know the clan's captain Deina." She smiled and waved towards us.
What stood out to me is that he said two words — the first one was definitely his name, but 'Sothvern'... Was that supposed to be his last name? Maybe the clan chief shared a name with the clan to establish some sort of deeper connection to it or something? Well, who knows… That was simply a bit of a standout.
I cleared my throat.
"Nice to meet you Chief Vridra. My name is Riyo Komeno, and this over here is—"
"Call me Avy."
Avy cut me off, introducing herself. I rolled my eyes and exhaled, before extending my right hand out for a handshake. After eyeing my hand for a moment, the chief smiled and took the handshake. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Riyo and Avy. I welcome you two to the Sothvern clan."
After introductions and everything was done, the chief left to the caretakers to see his daughter. There we got to witness a heart touching reunion – as the caretakers of the clan were able to help the child and she woke up almost immediately after she was treated. Then the chief called for a celebration of his daughter being safely returned back home to them.
Me and Avy were also invited to the celebration, with the chief wishing to use it as a way to honour and thank us both for saving his daughter from the cloaked men who had kidnapped her. At first, I wanted to decline, but Avy insisted that we stayed.
So, I accepted.
I don't know why I did so, however, I did – and it was too late to go back on it.
Me and Avy were given a temporary room to rest at the chief's home, while the preparations for the celebration in the evening began. Outside the window of mine and Avy's room, I was able to witness just how efficiently and fast the clan worked. Though evening was only a couple of hours away, with the amount of people preparing for it and at the pace that they did, it basically took no time at all before everything was looking ready for a proper celebration.
And before I knew it, it was evening.
Everyone was gathered in the clan settlements center, with a massive fire in the middle. There were baskets and tables set with food and drinks, a massive pot by the fire, where the caretakers of the clan were handing out warm stew to everyone and even several wooden barrels held together with ropes, where alcohol was being poured from.
Specifically, it was alcohol that the clan itself was producing — apparently a special recipe using the resources they could gather in the forest around.
At the start of the celebration, me and Avy were called by the chief's side, where he picked up a large wooden mug of the alcohol and called upon the clan. Once everyone's eyes were on him, he began his speech. "As we all know, some time ago, my dear daughter had been kidnapped by mysterious, cloaked men. I know how much dread and shock that had sent through the clan. And I had sent out our clan's best warriors to find her at any cost and bring her back to us." He then looked down, sighing.
"As time passed, I had even lost hope that she would return to us safely…" Then, he brimmed up with a smile, lifting his daughter up in the air with his tail, his daughter having a wide smile across her face. "However! She was returned to us safely! Those men didn't get a chance to do anything to her! And do you know why?" He placed her down, before placing his hand onto my shoulder, while pressing his tail against Avy's back a bit — pushing me and Avy forward a bit. "It's because these two bravely rescued her!"
The elder raised his voice. "They saved her! They are why she was able to return to us safely! So I ask you, take a drink with me, raise your mugs! A toast, to the brave strangers who saved my darling daughter!" The entire clan that had gathered raised their mugs, cheering loudly to the chief's words. Then, everyone chugged their drinks, with Avy sighing and following after their example, leaving me awkwardly standing there, with a mug in my hand. I wasn't exactly a huge alcohol drinker…
So chugging it like that didn't really appeal to me.
After finishing his mug, the elder lowered it. "Now then! Enjoy yourselves this evening and celebrate! To the return of my daughter!"
"Cheers!"
Once all the official speech things were up, me and Avy were allowed to slip away from the elders side. Avy was by the barrels of alcohol, having a drinking competition with some of the males and females of the clan, chugging as many mugs as they could without passing out or tumbling.
Deina was with the chief, chatting about something, while the chief's daughter was roaming about — playing with the other kids, a bright smile across her face. Seeing her like that put my heart at ease.
It fit a lot more for her to have a wide, bright smile, than a suffering expression that I saw when we found her in that hidden lair. I was sitting beside the massive fire, simply observing everything happening around me. Then, someone hit me on the back, startling me a bit, before Lina leapt over the log I was sitting on, sitting down next to me with a friendly smile. "Heya. Whatcha doing all alone here? This is a celebration, I would have assumed that an adventurer like you would be there with your girlfriend drinking."
I sighed.
"She's not my girlfriend, first of all… And second, I'm not really into drinking so heavily. I'm more of a light drinker." I replied, with Lina making a slight 'boo' sound. "Boooring～ What fun is it drinking if you don't do it heavily?" She laughed.
I rolled my eyes at her words. Lina then offered me a mug, looking at me with a confident expression. I raised an eyebrow. "Well, I did ask to share a drink with you at the fire tonight, didn't I?"
…Suppose she did do that.
Exhaling, I took the mug. "Cheers?" She extended her own mug. After a bit of silence, I hit my mug against hers and the two of us chugged the liquor. It was a strange mix of sweet and bitter, with a slight cherry aftertaste. It honestly tasted a lot like jam that had been mixed with spirit. After chugging her entire mug, Lina let out a satisfied exhale.
"That is the stuff! Always love our clan's liquor."
"I suppose it's not bad."
Taste aside, I didn't really taste the spirit – or rather, I didn't feel the usual 'burning' or 'irritation' that one feels, especially after drinking a glass of strong liquor. And well, the reason for that….
[ Notice ]
Due to your natural qualities, the poison entering your system has automatically been nullified.
[ Notice ]
Makes sense I suppose.
A lot of people do view alcohol as poison. And always wasn't a big fan of the state alcohol usually leaves you in, so not needing to worry about that while drinking it is actually rather nice.
"So, what do you plan on after this?" Lina asked.
I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what do you plan on doing after you leave? I mean, you were planning on bringing the child back here anyway… Gotta have some plans now that that's done."
What to do now… Honestly, I wasn't sure myself. Now that me and Avy know that the knight in Ordial isn't a problem and won't try anything with Avy, there wasn't any reason not to return to Ordial. Honestly, the two of us will probably go back to how I have been living in Ordial up until now – just doing quests for the Adventuring Guild. Not much else to do really…
I shrugged as a response to Lina.
"Don't really know."
Lina looked at me with a surprised gaze, before sighing and leaning back, staring at the evening sky above us. "How boring. Couldn't come up with some plans while we were traveling over here?"
"Who on earth thinks ahead like that…?" I shook my head while Lina laughed lightly. "Maybe… a proper adventurer?" I hit her on her shoulder, before drinking more of the liquor in my mug. Unlike almost everyone else, I wasn't chugging it in one go, which meant that one mug lasted longer.
After a light laugh, she looked at the fire in front of us.
For a bit it was dead silence between us, before she looked at me. "Y'know, if you've got nothing better to do, you can always try staying here for a bit. My sister and I could do with someone who is also strong to help around the clan. It gets tiring being one of the two strongest." I looked at her surprised. Was she simply drunk..?
While she had been quite distrustful the entire time before this, suddenly, she was suggesting me and Avy to hang around the clan? Sure, we had talked and maybe one could say even 'bonded' over conversation a bit, but I doubt it had been enough for her to flip around with her opinion of us both.
"I think you've had too much to drink." I laughed, sighing lightly.
Lina looked at me with a content, serious expression. Then, she exhaled. "I am serious, you know." Lina stated. I kept an unsurprised expression across my face, while Lina gazed at me with her amber eyes. I could tell by looking at them that she was definitely not joking with what she had said. I sighed, before looking at Avy. "...I don't think that's what we want to do."
Lina raised an eyebrow, however did not reply.
She simply propped her arms onto her knees, and listened to me.
"Avy is a free spirited woman and I would hate to keep her here, just because I decided to stay."
"That wouldn't be a problem. She can go on and you can stay, no?"
"Well, that wouldn't work out…" I rubbed the back of my neck. "Avy is quite adamant on staying by my side no matter what. Whatever I decide, she would most likely follow along. So if I did decide to stay here in this clan of yours, she would most certainly choose to stay together with me."
I looked up at the sky.
"I'd rather give her the opportunity to be free instead of keeping her cuddled up here, you know?" I looked at Lina. The woman stared at me with a wide grin, which caused me to shed a slightly cold sweat. "...Why are you looking at me like that…?" I laughed nervously.
Lina chuckled. "Oh nothing～ I just find it cute how you care about her. Are you certain she isn't your girlfriend?～" I sighed, before using some of the shadows behind her to form an appendage and knock her lightly across the back of her head, the two of us sharing a laugh afterwards. Then, Lina looked at the big fire in front of us. "Then, what will you do? Maybe you can come up with something while you're here?"
I thought about it carefully, staring at the crackling fire.
What could I and Avy do… I had no issue with simply going back to a usual routine in Ordial of just doing quests and living at an inn… However I feel like perhaps Avy would grow tired of such a redundant lifestyle.
My gaze went down at my hands.
Maybe…
Maybe we could try exploring beyond Ordial? I awoke in this world around a month and a half ago, close to two months probably by now, and yet, I've only seen what must be a tiny part of this world. Ordial and the Abyssal woods are definitely not everything it has to offer.
So maybe…
The two of us could go out on a journey? Sort of an 'adventure' – live up to the name of an 'adventurer'. In my previous life, I never got the chance to explore and see the world as I was too busy working myself into the ground, so getting a chance to explore a wide world… That'd be nice. Especially since I wouldn't be doing it alone.
I have Avy with me now — even if at times, she is rather… eccentric, so to say.
I smiled gently. Lina looked at me with a curious gaze, before chuckling, a wide smirk growing across her face. "Ooohoho?～ Come up with something?" I looked up at Lina, nodding gently.
"I did." Then I looked at the starry night sky above us.
"I think I want to go on a real journey across the world. To witness all that this world has to offer." Lina looked at me with a rather surprised look. "That's quite the plan…"
"I know that it probably sounds a bit…. Wild, but I think it'd be nice to see what I can find in this world. To see all the beauties spread across it." After all, I never got the chance to see the beauty of my previous world myself, only ever witnessing it through photos and videos on the internet or television. Lina looked away for a moment, seemingly thinking over my idea, before letting out a slight exhale of air and then chuckling, leaning back.
"You know what? That sounds like a great plan. I'm sure she would love to explore the world with you."
I smiled at Lina.
She was a good person. I can't remember the last time I had a conversation like this with someone… A conversation where I was actually able to make up some plans for myself that weren't work or lazing around my home. It felt… refreshing. It felt…. New. Like I had experienced something I hadn't experienced before.
Maybe reincarnating in this world was the push I needed, to finally be a bit selfish and do something for myself for once – to give myself some freedom to choose what I wanted to do. While I had chosen to do all that work in my previous life, it always felt like I was doing so because I wanted to appear selfless. Like I wanted others to see me as someone they could rely on.
Even if that was fake.
But now…? Not having to worry about any of that… Somehow, it made my chest feel a bit lighter and my head a bit… clearer.
"R～i～y～o～!" Suddenly a call happened, before Avy dropped onto me from the back, her arms around my neck — a mug of booze in hands. She reeked of alcohol and her face was redder than a tomato. It was clear she was drunk. Heavily drunk.
"Avy– you should maybe stop drinking—"
"Riyooo, don't be shuch a bhoreee…." Avy stated, stuttering a bit with her words, before nuzzling her faze in the back of my neck. I sighed, looking at Lina, who was snickering to herself. "Looks like you all are having fun!" Deina walked over, carrying a mug of booze herself. I looked at her with a pleading gaze, letting out a heavy breath while Avy continued to mumble away with things and nuzzle herself onto me.
"You won quite the lottery Riyo! To have someone gushing all over you like that, even if they are drunk — that's something many people dream of!" Deina laughed loudly, before chugging the booze she had in her hand. I did a slight mock laugh, before lifting Avy off of myself.
"Avy come on, you've had too much—"
"Nhoooo! Riyo, you mheanieee!" Avy immediately pushed herself back onto me, the booze in her hand spilling slightly as she now buried herself in the front of my neck, reaching up to try and nuzzle against my face. I was pushing her back, feeling slightly like my personal space was being invaded, however I also wasn't able to wipe a smile off of my face.
Something about witnessing this…
People I know, friends even, having fun and me being part of it…
It felt like I had finally put aside my false idea of selflessness and let myself go a bit loose for a moment. Avy poked my cheek. "Yhou're cheaatingg on meee, talkinngg with that whomaann while I'm right theeree..." She said, referring most likely to Lina, who was by now on the ground, laughing her ass off, while Deina just spectated from the side.
"I'm not cheating on anyone—" I stated, chuckling slightly, before Avy pushed her face basically into mine, with a negligible distance between them. "Then proovee itt!"
She tried to kiss me, however I was able to push her back, using a bit of shadow appendages to pull her back. While I did consider her a good and perhaps a close friend, I was still unsure if I was up for this whole 'together' thing she was insisting on with her mothers prophecy.
So stuff like kissing?
I think I was going to pass on that for now.
Deina laughed lightly, while Lina continued rolling around on the ground, dying of laughter. With the three women drinking and one of them drunker than a sailor, I was basically the only sober one from the four of us. Sighing, I pulled Avy off of myself before standing up, brushing off my clothes. "I'll head over to grab something to eat."
Avy squirmed a bit in the shadow appendages I used to pull her off of me, before somehow escaping. "Whaaitt! You didn't proovee ittt!" She tackled me to the ground from the back immediately afterwards, which surprised me for a second, before I simply let out a laugh.
Deina shook her head, resting her left arm onto her hip, while Lina watched us both from the side – finally having stopped her laughing and instead, replaced it with just sitting there, staring at us with a teasing grin across her face.
With the starry night sky above them, the clan's settlement was ignited in celebration for hours — with dances and games occurring and everyone having a ton of fun. Faofa also enjoyed his time there, for the first time in ages, having a genuine smile across his face and not trying to fake one.
That night, Faofa would remember for a long while.
A night, when he got to enjoy himself for the first time in ages.
Of course — he was unable to escape Avy's advances the whole time and though she didn't get what she wanted, Faofa did end up going to sleep that night, with a slight mark left behind on his cheek by Avy, something while he had tried to avoid from happening, he didn't mind in the end.