[Fire Ant Lvl 8]

[Skeleton Lvl 8]

[Shadow Cat Lvl 8]

"S-so many!"

'Delia's confidence is fluctuating… the market sometimes goes up and sometimes goes down.'

After the initial Snow Wolf, I searched the map for only groups of 2 monsters. In all those battles, Delia defeated monsters severely damaged, but with their life still flourishing. Very similar to what we did with the first Snow Wolf.

This time it will be the same, with the exception that one more is added to the list.

"Take a deep breath and stay calm. It's just one more monster, that's all."

"Y-Yes, you're right. It could have been worse."

Emir: "..."

When a Saint says "it could have been worse" it gives me chills. In the stories, whenever a Saint says something like that, later in that chapter, a zombie dragon appears as the final boss.

More cautious than ever, I shot the arrows as fast as possible to leave free space to escape if the zombie dragon appeared.

The first arrow destroyed the skeleton's knee, making its bony leg unable to reattach to its body. A large hole in the ant's abdomen was left by the second. The last one pierced the shadow cat's stomach, preventing it from being able to move nimbly.

"Go, Delia. I recommend you assassinate the ant first."

"G- Good!"

She quickly approached the suffering ant and attacked it. Of course, the monster wouldn't stand patiently waiting for death, so it also attacked with its enormous jaws at Delia.

Delia: "!!!!"

Due to her proximity to the ant's pincers, Delia jumped backward to get away. Rather than a strategy, it must have been her reflexes that made her back away.

Taking another deep breath, again she approached and pierced with the spear. This time, her attack was faster than the enemy's and managed to penetrate through the hard exoskeleton of the ant's head. With golden particles surrounding it, the monster's body disappeared into thin air.

Then, Delia looked at me. Her expression said 'What's next?'

Smiling I said, "The skeleton is still not used to walking on one foot, so the answer is...?"

'- The Shadow Cat!'

Understanding my words, Delia immediately moved towards the Shadow Cat. This one would normally prepare to attack at any moment, as its main attacks are based on surprise. But now, with its damaged stomach, it gave up and attacked head-on.

At the same time as this one leaped in the direction of Delia's neck with its claws protruding, I kept it in my sights. If she didn't react, I would unhesitatingly shoot to stop the monster.

"Waaa!!!" She panicked and swung the spear.

*Boom*

And so, the monster was successfully knocked unconscious.

Emir: "..."

Seeing her movement really makes me wonder whether to exchange her spear for a club.

With teary eyes, she looked at me. I could only nod in response, hinting to her that she has done a great job. To which she also nodded and, after giving the final blow to the shadow cat, she walked in the direction of the skeleton.

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"... Great Healing!" She magically attacked the enemy.

And so, the skeleton died with the undeclared injustice.

Emir: "..."

No matter the way you look at it, a 'small healing' would have been more than enough.

But I still nodded, hinting to her that she's done a great job.

"Mn!" she nodded adorably.

And so, her confidence went up... Again.

***

Anyone would think that eating two rabbits is more than enough to not want to eat again for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, that's not the case. While one of us is a fox girl who can eat more than the average person, the other is a perverted guy who spends extra energy on night chores. That's me, by the way.

Anyway… what I wanted to say is that we're both hungry again.

"Do you know how to cook a deer?"

"No... But I can try!" She rolled up her sleeves to show professionalism.

'I've changed my mind. I want to eat Delia for dinner.'

After handing her the deer, she headed for the kitchen cheerfully. Not realizing that now she could lift that weight like it was nothing.

Minutes later, she returned with a sad expression.

"First, I have to bleed it and then marinate the meat... It will take hours before I can cook it." Her three tails bowed, indicating that they were also sad.'

'At her misfortune, I couldn't help but smile. She looks too adorable.'

"How about we eat something simpler? I have rice and some vegetables."

"Alright, then tomorrow I'll experiment with the deer."

'I'll pretend I didn't hear the word 'experiment' in your sentence.'

'From my inventory, I removed some vegetables and the rice I bought once with Alessia at the market. And then I gave them to Delia. What will Alessia think when she finds out that I'm spending with another woman everything we bought together?'

'I'm sure she'll be very happy. She's a masochist after all.'

'While Delia cooks, I spent my time cleaning the Solitary temple. Even when she does it every day, the holes in the temple are so many that the dust somehow manages to get in.'

'If I spend some money repairing the temple, will I earn a lot of Delia points?'

'Haa... It would be so easy if everything could be fixed with money.'

'Sometime later, Delia arrived with the food ready and we started dinner. I itched to increase my luck and have the food get a taste of the gods, but I restrained myself.'

'If I get used to such food, then I won't be able to go back.'

'At the end of dinner, she takes my hand.'

"Come on," She said blushing.'

'Emir: "!!!!"

'Are my eyes seeing right?'

'A Saint is taking me to her room willingly?'

'Easy, easy, easy. This must have a logical explanation.'

'While the upper part of my body began to reason logically, my lower part immediately got an answer. Human beings always look for the simplest answer, as the brain likes anything easy to remember, so I listened to my lower body...'

'Strip first, think later.'

'Fine, I'll listen to it.'

'That's what a man does!'

'When we got to the bedroom, Delia turned her back on me and took off her clothes. Piece by piece, until she was completely undressed. Now that her back is turned to me, I can see perfectly where her three tails are born.'

'A few centimeters from her soft buttocks, the three tails are connected to her body. Since until now, she didn't even like me stroking her head, let alone her ears, I arduously restrained myself from touching her tails. But today she showed joy when I stroked her head, so I think it's about time to touch her fluffy tails.'

'I carefully approached them in such a way to show them that I come in peace. The three tails seemed to look at me curiously as if they had never seen a hand so close to them.'

'Once the mood was right, I touched them.'

'Delia: "!!!!"

'Ah. They are too soft and also very fluffy. Their fur is so warm that, if I put my head on them, they would become the perfect pillow. I was about to rub my cheeks on them when, suddenly, they start moving fiercely, hitting me more than once in the face to push me away.'

'No, no, no, quiet, quiet, quiet.'

'This big brother doesn't want to hurt you.'

"Um... Emir...."

'Ah, right. She's been all this time naked.'

'Well, another day I'll make peace with the triplets.'

"Sorry, I was too curious and got distracted."

"It's okay, you can touch them when-... I don't mean you can do it right now. Just let me know before you do it. I feel weird when someone other than me touches them."

'I see you're telling me your weakness. Our relationship has progressed to that point. I'll remember.'

After taking off my clothes, I gently hugged her waist and looked into her eyes. At that very moment, a word appeared in my mind… one that explains why she brought me to her room willingly and that is... 'ceremony'.

As a Saint who regained her kind through love, for her all this has become a ceremony on the same level as praying towards the God Solus or even greater. Religious people always perform their duties devoutly and unquestioningly.

"I love you, Delia"

At my words, she averted her gaze from mine, not knowing how to respond.

"I know you don't feel the same way about me, but I also know that someday you will. So, don't worry about responding. I simply want to express my love for you."

'It would be foolish of me to think that love would come overnight. I'm the perfect example of this since... I don't love any woman.'

"Thank you for feeling that way about me," She smiled.

"You're welcome."

Bringing our faces a little closer, we kissed.

Perhaps it was because my words left her relieved, but her kiss was more loving than usual. Her tongue flicked proactively a few times, leaving me breathless.

When we parted, a thin thread connected our mouths.

Seeing this, we both smiled.