Reaching outside, I could see the vast amount of trees around us. After all, this was a clearing cut up by Miss Soma since she brute forced her way through everything. I was told by my parents that it only took one day to get to know a person if you observed them quietly for the entire duration, but for Miss Soma, well...

I kind of felt like she was that kind of woman at first sight.

Was it an instinct? Or was it some sort of physical memorization of her characteristics in a previous life?

Well, it just sort of clicked somehow.

I had long since adjusted to the dark after I went to sleep last night, so I could make out the dark outlines of the nearby 'guards' Miss Lestia had put up around our encampment.

They were apparently zombies of a monster called Rulfa, a gorilla-like monster with its cheeks bloated in green and blue. It moved more like a chameleon as it skittered around erratically, which really sold the deal about this place being another world.

...But since Miss Lestia had made them passive with her taming skills, I could be somewhat relieved that it wouldn't just attack me suddenly. Still, to control creatures that were no longer living... I had my doubts if Miss Lestia was really telling me complete truths or not. Even from this distance, I could still smell the faint displeasing stench of the Rulfas' rotten flesh. 

Be as it may, I still believed it was somehow okay to turn a blind eye to something like that. Although it was strange for me to even place a tiny bit of trust in someone I've just met, my mind still thought that it was the right thing to do. It really felt peculiar that some of these decisions that I've made ever since I've awoken to this world felt truly correct at the bottom of my heart.

...Since how long ago did I last trusted someone like this...

There was a campfire outside of the Earth Sphere, where there were two other people sitting near it.

These were a guy and a woman, both with blonde hair and long ears at the side.

They were elves.

"Ah, you're up. White."

The elf with a slightly more manlier voice than the other voiced out and raised their hand up to greet me. I couldn't distinguish their genders since they both had an androgynous face that seemed like that of a woman, but this person had a unique tone which I've come to associate with a male.

Physique-wise, he did indeed have some muscular parts bulging out firmly. Both of them were wearing some sort of outfit made out of leaves and glittering rainbow stones. Quite frankly, they looked like expensive minerals. 

This male elf's name was Arglav.

Hmm? Arglav? I think I remember that name...? ...Well whatever, it's probably not important if I've forgotten about it...

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"You still seem energetic hm~?"

Karna, the female counterpart of Arglav raised her eyebrows up and down while grinning playfully, as Miss Lestia and I approached the two who had been talking to each other a while ago.

I nodded back to the two with a wry smile. We didn't hold eye contact for more than 2 seconds. Mostly my fault. 

"It's time for a talk. Give us some space for now please~"

"Oh, a talk huh. Right, I got it."

As Karna scratched her head and nodded a few times, Arglav also seemed to come to a conclusion and moved away with her somewhere deeper into the forest.

Before long, it was just us two again outside of the tent.

"Are you sure... they're going to be all right?"

I voiced out in concern after they'd left. As far as I can tell with my Status Check Miss Lestia had taught me to use, they were only Level 5s. And the average level of a monster around here was about 8.

"Don't worry about it. They're elves after all, greenlands are their terrain especially with their night vision. I'll send some of my familiars over just to be sure~"

Miss Lestia really is so caring...

"I'm glad..."

I gave off a genuine smile at this moment.

Miss Lestia saw this and suddenly turned her head away in a hurry.

?

"I-is anything wrong?"

"N-no... nothing in particULAR."

Shaking her head intensely in denial, I got the sign and stopped asking further.

...Wa-was that a voice crack?! C-cute...

This is the first time I've ever seen her fluster... did something happen?

As I lamented in my mind, Miss Lestia had already sat down on the stump where the elves were sitting on.

"Sit down here."

Hearing acknowledgement, I cautiously took a seat on a stump beside Lestia's.

Those trees were cut down for the burning firewood in front of us. It seems like they were used to supply flammable material for a small stone called the Light Stone. Miss Lestia had a bunch of them she carried in a special pocket on her waist.

"Haahhh... it-it's so cold out here... Miss Lestia, d-do you need my shirt?"

Miss Lestia heard this and chuckled as softly as ever before shaking her head to reject my offer.

That's right... like she would take something as dirty as that...

But as if reading my thoughts again, she followed up on her silent gesture.

"Fufu, I'm a slime. I don't feel cold nor pain. Although... I must thank you for your offer."

"A-ah, I see... Miss Lestia... is a... slime."

Even I felt strange when those words left my mouth. It would have been inconceivable to think that I would ever say that to a girl.

Miss Lestia bent down to a wooden mug without a handle near the campfire and picked it up.

"A drink, here. Warm yourself up, it's clean water."

"A-ah, thank you..."

Receiving the mug, I took a small sip. There was a taste of wood in it, but a warm feeling gradually went down from my throat to my belly. I took another mouthful, and placed it down onto the ground beside me.

It was made by the two elves who were travelling with us. As expected, they really resembled elves in light novels. Their craftsmanship was impeccable. 

Rubbing my hands together to gather some more warmth, I looked down at the crackling firewood awkwardly as the discussion stopped there.

A few moments passed without us saying a word.

Then Miss Lestia broke the silence first.

"-So how was having sex with Soma?"

"Pffffff-!!!!"

I spat out a mouthful of water into the campfire in front of me, as it sizzled into the flame weakly.

You're going to start there?! Miss Lestia... are you really a sadist?

Beside me, I could see her looking at me with interested eyes.