'Hey, are you okay?’ I hopped onto the bed where a groggy Coffee with bedhead was yawning lazily. Her stomach had returned to its original size, and any evidence that she was a voracious beast yesterday was gone.

‘Mhm, I don’t know what happened,’ she sleepily replied, rubbing her eyes. 'I remember eating something really good, and then...'

She turned slightly green, no doubt recalling the tumble she had yesterday. It took a few seconds for her to recover from that memory. Clearing her throat, she asked, ‘What happened after I blacked out?’

I caught her up on the mission progress, and what the dungeon hive had said regarding her curse. She remained quiet and expressionless throughout my explanation, but I could tell by the stiffness of her shoulders that she was anxious. I did try to be positive.

'Don't worry. It'll be fine once we finish the mission and get that scroll,' I reassured her. 'We have 69 days left, if Liz was telling the truth about the time flux ratio. With your knowledge and my ingenuity, we'll crush those Moobs and complete the mission without a hitch.'

'I'm not worried,' Coffee denied. 'I'm more concerned with that ego of yours. It's inflating like a Mimic's stomach after a slime buffet.'

'More like a Vampire's stomach.'

'Ha~ Fuck you, it's back to normal now. You'll see once my curse is removed. I bet I was the bomb before I was turned into a washboard.'

'I'll believe it if you're talking about an explosive personality.'

'Very funny. Sigh, I don't understand though. Side effects of curses are usually physical, instead of behavioural, and I've never heard of a curse that targets the brain directly.'

'I think I have an idea,' I frowned, picturing the page in my biology textbook on homeostatic regulation on endocrine function. 'There are a number of hormones produced in your body that regulate satiety, like leptin, insulin, and cortisol. I bet those are synapsing with the receptors in your brain to stimulate psychological processes like hunger.'

'Right, I do remember that from my lectures. I guess I just didn't connect the dots. Geez, how many years of self-study did you do if you never went to school?'

'Uhh... my photographic memory allows me to recall images clearly, so I can memorize entire pages of textbooks pretty easily. I didn't have to study long,' I said, only giving her a half-truth. It wasn't that I didn't trust her with my story; I just wanted her to focus on the quests right now. As far as I knew, it was the only way to save her.

'I've been thinking, but that's pretty much a cheat ability, you know?' She scratched her head and stretched. ‘Anyway, where's Liz and Kalli?’ 

‘They’re outside doing the... laundry,’ I said, turning my head away and blushing. The entire time, I had been trying not to stare at Coffee, who was in an oversized plain white t-shirt, with her pink nipples showing through the thin fabric. Liz had changed her into that shirt while I was outside this morning.

‘…Wha--?’ Coffee looked down, turning beet red. ‘uuuu…. GET OUT! You pervert! Child harasser!’

She threw a pillow at me hard enough to knock me off the bed. I summoned my modified version of Air Space to catch me before I hit the ground.

Whoosh.

I zoomed outside, out of reach of the livid Coffee, who was looking for more things to throw at me. The sun was beginning to rise above the mountain behind the village where we had entered this subdungeon, casting a shadow over Cairne Village. Below me was Liz and Kalli, who were throwing washed clothes at each other and giggling instead of storing them in the void ring. The villagers were gathered at the square, some of whom were loading crates onto a caravan. Toto and Onnie were part of a small group of vegetables who were carrying old, rusty swords on their waists.

It was the first time in a long while that I felt like I had some time to relax, and I took this time to fly higher and enjoy the scenery. A cool breeze blew across the grassy plains, causing the colors of the landscape to look like schools of colorful fish swimming in a sea of green. The smell of nature reminded me of home, back at the village where my moms were surely looking for me. I missed them so much, and my heart ached to see them again.

Once we completed this mission, was I really willing to stall going home to try and do something outrageously crazy like stopping a war? With no real proof, as well. It was a thought I had in the spur of the moment, but the longer I thought about it, the stupider it seemed. Maybe Coffee was right, and I was an idealist. I really should take time to think about what comes out of my thick skull.

Anyway, the goal now was to complete this mission. Baby steps, right? That said, this was a good opportunity to study the terrain around the city we'd be protecting...

It was mostly flat, grassy plains, with very little cover. Projectile based defense seemed to be an obvious choice in the upcoming battle, particularly from a high vantage point. I didn't know much about magic-based warfare, though. Against kung fu cows, no less. Hmmm... Using trenches to separate the city from the battleground, it might even be possible to use a controlled fire to ambush the enemy from behind and create a two-pronged attack.

If I had to point out one weakness with the city, it would be its structural integrity. The city’s infrastructure was dependent on a series of ten stems that held up the vines and gave them sufficient tension for supporting weight. If even one stem was cut, an entire segment of the city would unravel and fall apart. I mean, each stem was as thick as a baseball stadium and it was unlikely that anyone would be able to cut through it, but it was just something to keep in the back of my mind.

Anything and everything would be vital to our survival.

‘Bell!’ Coffee called out from below, now wearing a simple black dress with frills on the ends. ‘Let’s get this show on the road! Liz, Kalli, c’mon.’

‘Aight,’ I said, lowering myself back to the ground. The four of us made our way to the village square.

Stolen novel; please report.

----------------------------------------

I was still pondering different battle tactics as we approached Toto and his men.

"You appear troubled, young hero," Toto observed. Behind him were two caravans that were packed and ready to go. Toto's group of amateur soldiers was standing by, and consisted of Onnie, the potato from before, a carrot, and a bellpepper.

'Not in particular,' I said. I didn't want to reveal my strategies until I knew that they would be viable and useful. Being prone to making decisions rashly, I was at least going to do things the right way this time. 'Just thinking about what to do if I have to shit on the trip.'

"Ah, it is wise to think ahead," Toto nodded. "I too was wondering the same thing."

'He's just joking,' Coffee smiled, smacking me on the back of the head. 'Nice to meet you, village elder. Liz and Bell have told me about you. My name is Coffee.'

"Ah, yes. The young vampire who lay with the slime hero last night. I humbly thank you for--"

'L-l-l-lay? No, never!' Coffee made an X with her arms. 'Who would want to sleep with someone who hasn't even hit puberty yet?'

That made me twitch, but I let it go.

'That's mean, Coffee. Bell's a fine young man,' Liz said, coming to my defense. Probably with ulterior motives.

'B-big brother is really cool! L-like when he made us go zoom through the air like a manafly!' Kalli added, not really understanding what was going on. At least he got the gist that Coffee was demeaning me in some way.

'Aweh, I appreciate it guys. Especially you, Kalli,' I smiled. Kalli blushed.

'Then tonight, maybe we could--' Liz started breathing heavily.

'Nope,' I responded, erecting a wall of air between us.

'Aww... so I guess you and Coffee really are exclusively--'

''NO!'' Coffee and I both exclaimed.

"Ahem. I apologize for my foolish assumptions," Toto bowed. "Please, let us be going now. It would be best to arrive before nightfall."

Sighing, I nodded, and we all filed onto our respective caravans, us 'heroes' on one and the rest in the other. Like the slime cart, these vehicles were apparently operated via mana application. With that, our entourage departed from Cairne Village towards Orbis City, the other villagers waving us goodbye and wishing us the best of luck on our fight against the Moobs.

----------------------------------------

We had been riding for about an hour, and I had been thinking about battle strategies. Funnily enough, I was able to create miniature figures with Manifestation mana and simulate simple battles using physical combat. While this was pretty useless on its own, it was a great way to kill time. Kalli joined in, and I was having fun playing with him until he got tired and fell asleep on Liz's lap.

Coffee, who had been looking into the distance in front of us all this time, directed her attention to Liz.

'I believe we need to address the elephant in the room,' she said. 'What's the relationship between you and Kalli, and why did you lie to us at the mansion? No more bullshit.'

'Getting right to the point, eh?' Liz muttered, scratching the back of her head. 'I was wondering when you'd ask me about this. Where to begin... Hmmm... Kalli, here, is the last living heir to the Deadwoods. The Deadwood Family once held great influence following the First Dungeon War as an intermediary for peace talks and trade relations between the four Kingdoms.

'My lineage, the Morningwoods, have served their family in secrecy since the founding of our Kingdom. However, on one terrifying night while we were sent on a mission to deliver a message to the noble families of the Vampire Kingdom, the Deadwoods were slaughtered by the current rulers of the Mimic Kingdom...'

'...All but one, I'm guessing?' I asked. Kalli was still here, after all.

'Well, two,' Liz spoke softly, looking down at the young mimic sleeping on her lap. 'Kalli, and his mother.'

'So, you and your... friend, manipulated us into helping you sneak into the mansion where he was held,' Coffee concluded.

'My friend, as you put it, would be my aunt Diane,' Liz shot back. 'We were both assigned to this rescue mission, ultimately to return him to his mother, who is currently residing at a Vampire refugee camp--'

'I don't give a flying fuck. You used us,' Coffee glared.

'Fuck you. DIANE'S PROBABLY DEAD!' Liz yelled. 'If Bell hadn't alerted the guards, then everything would have gone according to plan, and no one would've gotten hurt!'

'Don't you dare pin this one on Bell,' Coffee spat.

'Time out,' I whispered.

'It was your lie that got us into this mess,' Coffee continued.

'Time out,' I said.

'And who's the fat ass that almost ate their way to--' Liz began.

'TIME OUT!' I stood in between them, pseudopods stretched out on either side. I took a deep breath. 'Liz, I'm so sorry that I almost got us caught, and your aunt had to pay the price for it.'

'Bell, you don't have to apologize,' Coffee crossed her arms.

'I do,' I said sincerely. 'Even if Liz separated us on purpose, it was me who stupidly tried to break through a barrier inside a hostile area.'

'Still...' Coffee trailed off.

'You're too nice, Bell,' Liz sighed. 'What I said... it was uncalled for. I'm sorry. And both of you, I'm really sorry about withholding the truth from you. I didn't think you would help us if I did. Also, if you had gotten captured and tortured for information, everything we had been working towards would've been destroyed.'

'...' Coffee stayed silent, lips tightened into a thin line. For her, Liz's confession was probably a confirmation of the suspicions Coffee had about Liz. As for me, I felt guilty for tripping the alarms, but I also felt betrayed. Could we trust her in the future? Was it worth the risk? As much as I cared for Kalli, my priority was removing Coffee's curse right now, and I wondered whether Liz would ever risk her own life or Kalli's to save Coffee's or mine. It was highly unlikely.

'Is Kalli that important to you two, that you would sacrifice your lives for him?' I asked, trying to gauge how strong her motivations were.

'Yes,' Liz answered without hesitation. 'There are certain aspects of the political situation that I did not inform you about. The most critical one being that the current Vampire Queen is not happy with the Mimic Kings, and wants to begin an internal revolution using the Deadwood name. She has given us one year to bring the legitimate heir, Kallimore pir Deadwood.

'I believe this is the only way to achieving peace between all of the Kingdoms, which is what you want, right? Having Kalli take over the throne will absolve the Mimic-Goblin relations, improve Vampire-Mimic relations, and revert the tension between the Slime Kingdom and the other Kingdoms.'

It did sound like a better idea than simply trying to convince the Vampire Kingdom of goblin involvement. But...

'Why would you want to help the Vampire Queen? Wouldn't she be related to the one who sentenced your father to death after the First Dungeon War?' I recalled the conversation we had a few weeks ago.

'...' Liz paused. 'I still remember the day my father died. It was not the vampire queen who smiled that day. No. It was the Mimic Kings who were laughing. He took the fall for them in the name of peace. They deserve to have their genitals mutilated and left to rot in their filthy mouths.'

Sigh, so she was doing this out of loyalty for the Deadwoods, a desire for peace, and for revenge against the ruling Kings. Pretty strong motivations, if I had to say so myself. I liked both Liz and Kalli, but that didn't mean that I could fully trust them to be on our side when it counted the most. That said, there was something I needed to confirm.

'Will you help us complete the quest, Liz? I know you said the exit point is before the final mission, but I need your help to break Coffee's curse. As you know, it's probably going to be dangerous,' I said, staring into her eyes. They showed a hint of hesitation, and glanced down to look at Kalli.

'I'll... think about it,' Liz answered honestly.

Coffee didn't respond, and zoned out again. We fell into an uncomfortable silence, accompanied only by the rattling of the caravan. There was a long ass ride ahead of us.