In the wilderness, Kaede wasn't slaughtering monsters as she usually did, which was somewhat rare. After all, Kaede knew she seemed to have arrived a bit late; if she didn't work hard, she might really die.
Currently, Kaede was staying under a tree, looking at the figure before her with a bit of difficulty.
Their cloaks were the same, and their appearances were also the same. Thus, Kaede concluded that the character she had drawn was the person in front of her.
If it were anyone else, Kaede wouldn't bother, but she should probably look after the person in front of her, right? Moreover, with Kaede's experience, she could tell at a glance that this person had fainted from hunger. She also had the ability to help this fallen girl—uh, this girl who fainted from hunger.
So Kaede became a bit conflicted. "How many pieces of bread should I give her?"
"One piece?"
"One piece doesn't seem like enough..." Kaede scratched her head. "Two?"
"Forget it, let's go with one and a half." Finally, Kaede nodded and took two Buns out of her storage space. She handed one and a half to the semi-conscious girl, then Kaede sat beside her, holding the remaining half-Bun and eating it with squinted eyes.
The semi-conscious girl also seemed to sense something. In a few bites, she finished the one and a half Buns. After a while, the girl recovered, rubbing her eyes and stomach as she sat up.
She sat there in a daze for a moment. Suddenly, the girl noticed the person sitting next to her. Immediately becoming alert, she scrambled back a few steps.
"You're awake?" Kaede noticed the girl had woken up, turned around, and spoke to her.
"Eh? Have we met before?" The girl couldn't help but ask as she looked at Kaede. This familiar face seemed to be one she saw often. Then, the girl stared blankly at Kaede. Isn't this my own face? Am I dreaming? Am I? I must be!
Seeing the girl staring at her, Kaede's expression changed. She immediately retreated a few steps, clutching her empty arms to her chest as she said, "Don't even think about it! I won't share any more food with you!!"
"Uh." The girl was stunned. Seeing Kaede look at her with such hostility, and for such a reason, she couldn't help but let out a long breath. "Hah!!?"
"Ugh~" For some unknown reason, perhaps because of that drawing, Kaede subconsciously felt that the girl before her would be a companion, a friend—an almost extravagant existence. After hesitating for a while, Kaede held up one finger, her face full of pain. "At most, one more Bun! No more than that!"
The girl looked somewhat speechlessly at Kaede, who reluctantly took out a Bun. She began to calm her emotions. After pinching herself and feeling the pain, she understood she wasn't dreaming. She comforted herself: "Relax, there are many people in the world who look alike. Many."
After forcibly hypnotizing herself, the girl smiled and said, "I don't want your Bun."
"Really!" Kaede's eyes lit up. Then, ignoring the girl's presence, she held the Bun in both hands and ate it with squinted eyes, looking like her life was complete.
"Is it really that delicious?" The girl really wanted to ask Kaede. Seeing someone who looked exactly like her eating so happily felt very strange. However, looking at Kaede, the girl's eyes sparkled. Although looking at 'herself' was weird, she seemed quite cute.
"What is your name?" the girl asked.
"Kaede."
"I'm Asuna, Yuuki Asuna." Although Kaede's name was a bit unusual, Asuna still gave her own name.
"Mhm." By now, Kaede had finished the Bun that others might find hard to swallow, and she had eaten it very happily.
"Do you like eating Buns that much?" Asuna couldn't help but ask, finding it a bit strange.
"Not really. As long as it's food, it's delicious." Kaede's eyes were full of light. "In the past, I could only eat leftovers, and I never had enough to eat."
"Huh? How could that be?" Asuna looked at Kaede, recalling the glow of happiness she had radiated while eating just moments ago. So... that was the reason. A pang of sadness hit her heart, and she walked over to gently embrace Kaede.
"Huh?" Kaede widened her eyes and tilted her head, a bit confused as to why she was hugging her, not knowing where to put her hands.
"You won't go hungry from now on," Asuna said. However, these words didn't hold much persuasive power coming from her; after all, she had just fainted from hunger herself!
But Kaede didn't think about that; she simply listened to Asuna's words and nodded vigorously.
"Yeah! I won't go hungry anymore!"
After chatting for a while, Asuna and Kaede decided to form a party.
At that moment, neither of them noticed that when Kaede was with Asuna, she subconsciously let down all her defenses.
Asuna also felt that the girl before her was very kind, but she wondered, perhaps that was just because she had saved her life?
She was even startled by her own actions, having embraced someone she had just met for the first time—well, although this person looked exactly like her...
When they encountered the first monster, a wild wolf, Asuna had just prepared for battle when she discovered that Kaede beside her had already charged forward.
During the charge, a white light began to shimmer on Kaede's rapier, which was the sign of a skill being activated.
When Kaede reached the front of the monster, the skill activated perfectly.
"Precise Strike!"
Then came the upward strike and heavy blow; Kaede managed to use a rapier with the feel of a two-handed greatsword.
"Hah!"
However, Kaede's attack power was not enough at the moment. The wild wolf clearly still had nearly half of its health left, and most of Kaede's skills were still on cooldown.
The mindless wild wolf didn't know to run away and lunged directly at Kaede. Its sharp fangs seemed to emit an eerie glow, leaving no doubt that it could easily pierce through a human body.
Asuna, standing nearby, breathed a sigh of relief. Although Kaede's combat style was a bit strange, her agility was definitely enough to dodge, so there shouldn't be any major problems.
However, the next moment, the wild wolf's fangs sank into Kaede's arm. It wasn't that she couldn't dodge; she simply had no intention of dodging.
"Kaede!" Asuna exclaimed. Why didn't she dodge?
At that moment, Kaede couldn't care about Asuna's cry, because her right hand had already raised her sword, aiming directly at the wild wolf's eye and stabbing down fiercely—a one-hit kill.
Watching the wild wolf shatter into fragments, Kaede shook her arm. Her health had only decreased a little, and her arm was perfectly fine.
However, the next moment, Asuna rushed in front of Kaede and glared at her. "Why didn't you dodge?"
"Uh." Kaede rubbed her head. "Why would I need to dodge?"
"Normal people would dodge!!"
"But this is the simplest way, and, in the end, I was sure I would survive," Kaede said.
Asuna was speechless. She looked at Kaede and said, "Anyway, you can't do this in the future. If you can dodge, you must dodge!"
"But..." Kaede wanted to say something else.
"No buts! You must dodge!"
"Oh, okay." Kaede nodded. She seemed to have a natural trust in Asuna and didn't want to go against her words.
"Promise?"
"Yeah, promise!"
In truth, Asuna didn't know why she was so worried about Kaede. Perhaps it was because they looked alike, so she unconsciously started to care about Kaede's affairs.
"What... exactly has she been through?" The more she spent time with Kaede afterwards, the more Asuna felt her heart ache, and the more she cared for Kaede.
Since they didn't have much money, they stayed in the same room. Asuna discovered that when Kaede slept, she curled up into a ball, and when she had nothing to do, she liked to hide in the corner and curl up while looking outside.
There was also that strange level of vigilance. Even when they encountered other parties in the wild, Kaede never approached them. Sometimes, when they approached, Kaede would pull Asuna away directly.
That excessive vigilance made Asuna a bit puzzled. Why wasn't she excluded?
Actually, Kaede didn't know how to answer this question either. Perhaps it was a subconscious feeling from that image in her mind?
However, this was fine too. Asuna smiled; she must take good care of this child in front of her who looked exactly like her. Hmm, Asuna herself didn't notice that her care for Kaede had exceeded reasonable limits.
When sleeping, Asuna would accompany Kaede and help her correct her sleeping posture. When they had free time, Asuna would pull Kaede, who was hiding in the corner, out to go shopping. As for the vigilance, although it was a bit excessive, considering that Kaede had a bit of trouble distinguishing right from wrong, this level of caution could be considered a benefit, so Asuna didn't have any thoughts of changing it.
"By the way, Kaede, a meeting to discuss clearing the first-floor boss is happening in a few days. Why don't you come with me?" Asuna said while lying on the bed. The two of them were able to earn enough money to stay in an inn by grinding monsters.
"Yeah!" Kaede nodded. In fact, she wouldn't oppose anything Asuna decided. She could feel the care Asuna showed her. Although she was naive about the world, Kaede could still distinguish who was good to her. For example, that Klein from before was also very good to her, but it hadn't reached the level where it allowed Kaede to break free from her psychological shackles.
As for Asuna, she already had a huge advantage, plus that strange sense of familiarity that had existed from the start. Now, with such meticulous care, Kaede was completely won over.
She really wanted to live like this forever. If anyone dared to ruin it? At that moment, Kaede's eyes turned dark again. If anyone dared to ruin it... what should she do? Kaede didn't know, but her eyes grew increasingly dark.
"What's wrong?" Asuna felt that Kaede's expression was a bit off.
Kaede looked at Asuna, then darted directly into Asuna's arms and squirmed. "Big Sister Asuna, you won't leave me, right?"
"Stop fooling around." Asuna smiled as she looked at Kaede, and then, seeing her expectant gaze, nodded. "Of course not, you little silly."
"I'm not silly!" Kaede twisted her head in displeasure, then started to smile, and the dark look in her eyes vanished in an instant.
Asuna held Kaede. That strange feeling had long since vanished. Asuna was also quite happy, and a smile couldn't help but appear on her lips. Ever since she had this little one by her side, her desire to clear the game seemed to have faded quite a bit. Now, she just needed to take good care of this little one.
Holding Kaede, who had fallen asleep like a child, Asuna drifted off to sleep.
"So warm~" Kaede quietly opened her eyes, nuzzled into Asuna's embrace, and a thought surfaced in her mind.
"This must be what a mother feels like, right?"
Kaede had never experienced this feeling before. So, correspondingly, she must be the child. Yes, a child.
She must be a child. That would make sense, right?
Seemingly having found a satisfactory answer, Kaede happily drifted off to sleep.
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