The next day Aron found himself in bed with his 'girlfriend'. Looking at her cute face he was reminded of the sheer persistence of this girl. He had turned her proposal down, time after time but she kept coming back. Even though he might not love her but over the years she had become an integral part of his life just like Caleb.

He caressed her to soft cheeks for a few minutes, relishing in her beauty, before getting up. Sitting up he was going to get off the bed when he noticed a small scar on Kyla's chest. Due to her sleeping posture her top had revealed a generous portion of her bust.

Concerned, he touched it with his finger. "Hmm?" It was rather deep. The rash had been going inside her dress to end up in her right breast. His finger followed the imperfection into her dress. Yet, before he can move ahead a hand stopped her.

"If you want to do it then you should just say so. Don't go on molesting girls in their sleep haha.." Aron was abashed after being found with his hand on her bust, in her sleep. Trying to maneuver out of this situation, he explained his reasons. "What is that? Did something happen?"

Kyla saw him pointing to the small part of the mark that was visible on her chest. Hurriedly she pulled her top up, hiding it. "Haha... I love it when you are so concerned about me, Aron. It's nothing. Just I small injury that I got during my work."

Aron didn't think much about it, since getting injured was just part of their daily lives. "Ohh.. you want me to take a look?" Kyla beamed a smile and got up to lock her hands around his neck. "Hehe.. sure, I definitely want you to take a look but only when it's healed back."

Aron sighed as the girl was back to her usual personality of being a tease. Nevertheless, he liked her for what she was. "Let's go, we need to be ready. We were late once yesterday, if we keep going like this we might end up getting dumped." Saying that he broke away from Kyla's embrace much to the girl's reluctance.

***

"Be careful you guys!!" Aron waved back at Ms. Mary, shouting from the entrance of her tavern. "How much is the distance from this town to the forests, if I may ask my ladies?" Kyla questioned the girls as they walked their way out of the town.

Sophie was the one to answer her. "It will take around half a day. I hope both of you have rested well, we will have to stay in the wilderness for a while before we can return here." Kyla beamed a smile while holding Aron's arm between her bosom.

Aron was a bit shy. The images from yesterday kept flashing in his mind. He didn't know where he got the courage to flirt with Hestia yesterday. Because now the green-haired girl can't help but glance at him every 5 minutes with a wide grin on her face.

Hestia was not the only one with her eyes stuck to him, Hera too seems to be taking small glances at him from the corner of her eyes. But due to her meek personality, it was impossible for her to stare at the boy as wantonly as her friend. She would hurriedly pull her gaze away when her heart will begin to pound in her chest, reminding her of the large appendage with Hestia's lips around it. Throughout the way, her face was warm from the shame.

Compared to her Julia was in much better condition. She didn't mind it that much, yet it was not like she can completely get rid of the scenes from her mind. Especially when the sheer size of Aron's junk. Can a man be that big down there? She had never seen anything like that.

"Make sure you don't run off in the wild. Always remain in proximity to at least one of us. As you might be already aware the woods are not free from dangers, particularly for weaklings like us." Julia put out the words of caution.

"What types of dangers are we talking about, Ms. Julia? Should we be worried about anything other than wild beasts?" Julia stared at the handsome visage of the boy for a while before answering him.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Goblins, trolls, orcs, ogres, and many other species. All of them call the forest their home. That's the reason we won't be venturing too deep in the wild, lest we come across some goblin nest." Aron gave back a nod by his doubts were not yet satiated.

"Ohh.. then do we have some consistency plans, I mean what if we come across one anyway? How will we save ourselves?" Ava seemed to have been irked by his excessive questioning. "You are just a slave boy, kid. Why don't you leave that part to us?"

Since Ava had gotten involved, Hestia quickly jumped in, putting herself in between the parties involved. "Whoa.. whoa.. no one asked you, little lady. He was clearly talking to Julia. Try not to overestimate yourself." That was enough to start their usual bickering and Julia can only sigh in frustration.

She had tried to put an end to their head butting countless times in the past but now she had neither interest nor the energy to get involved anymore. The only conclusion she had drawn was that, it's just how those two were. She will only waste her time trying to mediate.

Sophie can only smile wryly and took to herself, to explain the matter to Aron and Kyla. "Don't worry much about it. We are not that week that we can't handle a few goblins here and there. It's just a conflict that will only delay us, that's why we would like to avoid a fight as much as possible." Aron thanked the tall girl, following in their footsteps that led him out of the town and towards the woods.

***

"Aron put up the tents here. Hera can help you out while we do a little surveying around." After a journey of full 6 hours, they had walked deep in the woods. This must not be the first time the girls had traversed these paths, finding a clear patch to set up their temporary base.

Hera helping him out was just a polite way for Julia to tell her to take a rest. She was the most fragile out of all 5 friends and she must be exhausted after such a long walk. She didn't fuss around and settled on the cool floor of the forest.

"Kyla, you come with us. We will show you the water source. You will need that to prepare our meals." Her words made sure Hera and Aron were the only ones left in the eerily silent place.

Aron realized that Hera was tired so he made sure that the girl had her rest while he hammered the tents to the ground. "Ahem.. you seem to be very close to Ms. Mary, lady Hera."

Since it was getting a bit awkward between both of them, Aron tried initiating small talk with the shy girl. She didn't look up at him but chose to reply after a minute. "Yes. Aunt Mary treats me the best. Why do you ask?"

"Haha... it's nothing. I just found you are at ease when you are with her. While you remain strained at all other times. That's the reason I was curious if you were related to her in some way." For the first time since they left the tavern, did Hera's face took on a smile.

"You got keen senses. Well, you are right. Aunt Mary always puts me to ease. I am not sure myself. Also, she is not related to me in any way." Saying that Hera got up and picked up the next tent and handed it over to Aron.

"You don't need to do that, Ms. Hera. I can handle it. Please take rest." But the girl smiled in response. "You are a good person, Aron. Anyhow, I am feeling better now."

The boy can only scratch the back of his head, sheepishly. "Haha.. you are too kind, Ms. Hera." Having no other choice he decided to accept the help from the fragile girl.

Working together they didn't take much time to set up all 3 tents. Resting together Hera had gotten rather familiar with the boy. "Please call me Hera. I don't like being called like that by a boy my age." Aron laughed out. "haha... Okay, if you don't mind. Hera feels better, anyway."

"Hmm? Why would you say that?" The girl in front of him tugged her bright orange hair behind her ears. Aron felt lost for a while in her absolute beauty. She was aware of what had happened and blushed heavily.

Only after watching the tinge of red cover her face, did Aron realized he had been staring at the girl for a while now. "Ahem.. sorry about that, Hera. But man you are truly a beautiful lady, I bet you must be from a high background even among the nobility."

Although she was still very embarrassed talking to a guy she met a few weeks back but somehow, he didn't seem to be faking his words. Whatever came from him, felt like it was coming from his heart. "Hmm. You are right about that. Beautiful or not, I do come from an important family in the capital."

Hera was surprised at herself. She might be able to count, the number of people she had talked this much with, on her hands. "What about you? You told us that you lost your parents. Have you accepted that fact or do you still want to look for them?" She knew that the authorities of the kingdom never found his parents. That leaves at least a glimmer of hope since the news can't be confirmed.

"Huh... I don't know." Aron's voice took on a melancholic tone as he looked at the spots of bright sky through the forest canopy. "I will never accept it unless I verify it myself. That is the whole motivation behind my life. And yet.. sometimes I begin to wonder if I am running behind a false hope. I mean, it's been around a decade now. Had they been well, they would have certainly come back for me."

Hera can feel a tug of pain for the boy. Although, her situation was not the best. But at the very least she had her parents who looked after her and she was not even born as a slave. She had all the advantages in her life that the boy can never have. Considering all that what right she had to complain about her life?

Finding the courage in her she took hold of his hand in hers. Putting on the best smile she possibly could, she tried to cheer up the boy. "You can't lose hope, Aron. How will you know if you don't even investigate it on your own? What if they might have gotten themselves trapped in some foreign dimensions? I have heard about these stories many times, most of the explorers end up committing a mistake and end up losing their way out of the pocket dimensions."

Aron can feel his hope returning to him once again. The girl was right. He can't give up just yet. What if they were alive somewhere, trapped and waiting for someone to find them? "Haha.. thanks Hera. I truly want to hug you right now, but I will choose to refrain from doing that." It was Hera's turn to get lost in his pretty face, unaware of how long she had been staring at his laughing face.