"Wh-what do you mean... how was... it..."

"Literally what it means though~?"

I gave a 'why' face towards Miss Lestia, but she just continued staring at me with bewitching eyes.

...It-it's not fair...

Caving in to the pressure, I stammered out my honest thoughts.

"It... it was... surreal? Or amazing in a sense... I-I'm a guy too... It's impossible to feel nothing when my pa-partner is that beautiful..."

Even now, I could still picture Miss Soma's figure in my head. That vivid image of her seductive moaning couldn't leave my head for the longest time.

"Fuu~ Is that so..."

Contrary to my expectations, Miss Lestia just replied as if she didn't hold any interest to my experience.

"Th-there is one thing though... can you promise me you won't tell her?"

Miss Lestia narrowed her eyes while bending her body forward towards me.

"Oh? ...Mn, sure. I'll keep it a secret, don't worry about it. Fufu, dont be shy~ You can tell me honestly if it's something like you've grown tired of her body~"'

"Ah... no... it isn't that... quite the opposite... I don't know why, but I keep having this feeling that I've done this with Miss Soma before... that our compability with each other is pretty high... Even though she's forcing me to do it... it often seems like I'm the one actually in control..."

Ah... what am I even saying... It's not like I hold any romantic feelings towards Miss Soma... and Miss Lestia is right in front of me... Aahhh...

...But she's not saying anything?

...?

There was a weird silence suddenly, so I returned my gaze from the campfire near my feet to Miss Lestia sitting beside me.

Her eyes were cold like ice.

She wasn't smiling anymore. 

When I saw that, I felt a chill run down my spine. 

"Fufufufufufu... I see... high compatibility... is it... Fufufufufufu..."

She was muttering her words under her breath with an emotionless voice. Swaying her body left and right unsteadily as Miss Lestia stood up from her seat, a thick purple fog started forming around her body.

Wh-what did I say?! 

But of course... I wasn't too dense to realise that it might have been something that I've said. It might not have been too probable, but Miss Lestia... is probably jealous that I was talking about another woman so fondly.

The chances are pretty slim though.

"..."

Gulping a mouthful of saliva, I opened my mouth again to salvage the situation.

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"B-but... it's not like I feel anything for Miss Soma anyway! Y'know, it's that! Like pleasure from sex? That kind of thing... hahaha... ahahaha..."

As I forced out a laugh, I placed my palms outwards in a posture akin to pushing something in front of me.

Miss Lestia stopped moving as she heard that.

...W-was it too forced...?

Turns out I had worried too much, as Miss Lestia sat back down abruptly and flashed a smile towards me.

"I see~ It was that after all~ You didn't really hold any feeling of love in particular right? You just treated Soma as a sex tool right? I understand... I understand completely~ After all, Soma looks the part of a third-rate prostitute right~? You just needed a hole to vent your sexual frustrations as a guy right~? Fufu, silly me. I was thinking it might have been something else~ Dear me, I'm so silly... Fufufufufu..."

...Th-this Lestia is weird...

I had completely understood now.

Miss Lestia was a possessive woman. And it wasn't far enough a stretch to say that she holds some sort of affection for me currently... although I have no idea why...

It seems like there was some kind of invisible animosity between the two.

Just laughing on with her for a while, I wiped the cold sweat off my face.

"Well... we've gone too far off topic anyway~ I'm in a good mood now, so go ahead and ask me whatever you want to know~"

She switches gears too fast...!

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"...Yeah... so let's review whatever you've told me so far before we began to travel towards the nearest city. ...Hiomi was it?"

"That's right. Hiomi City. Although I'm not the one you should ask about this. Soma's the one navigating us through, since I've been living in the elves' village for the longest time now."

"I see..."

My face turned a little more serious at the thought of understanding my current situation more.

"And we're going there to turn in a subjugation request by a place called the Adventurer's Guild."

"That's what I've been told too, yes."

...Hmm... looks like the setting feels the same like a light novel... but is there a catch?

"-And Miss Soma and Miss Lesti-"

"-Lestia."

A finger was placed on my lips.

Blushing a little, I moved slightly backwards and corrected myself.

"...L-Lestia, found me unconscious nearby the elves' village while you two were escaping from a sudden forest fire that started to burn the village down. Miss Soma had been there to complete her quest and had chanced upon Lestia, and the other two survivors of that village. Namely, Arglav and Karna."

"That is correct~"

"Then the question I want to ask is, can I use that appraisal skill on myself?"

The appraisal skill called Status Check. I've started to use it every time we've encountered a monster so far, so I've gotten pretty used to it. It didn't seem to have any costs either, so I kept using it.

"Status Check? Ah, yes of course."

"Wait, really?! C-can you teach me?"

Miss Lestia's answer was a godsend. I could finally see my own status now.

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

Status Check huh... I wonder if he's figured it out already...

No... probably not...? If he does, all our efforts will be for naught... we're doing this under orders after all.

It's pretty fortunate that Soma's Vampire form has retracted somehow. She says she can't take her wings and tail out again though... Not sure if I'm going to consider her as a monster or a human at this point... 

Well, all things considered~ I guess it's no harm teaching him something like that, since he's covered his own status already before changing personalities~

I was about to tell him how to do it, but I stopped my mouth as I saw the glittering eyes of Master's. They were full of innocent hope.

S-seeing this kind of Master... I really can't help taking advantage of him...

A brilliant idea came to mind.

"Mn... I can do that, but White... are you sure you can handle it~?"

To my sudden reply, White was surprised.

Fufu~ of course he would be~ Knowing how calculative and cautious he is, if I mentioned something like a drawback or a prerequisite to it, he would definitely flinch...

I loved looking at the face of Master with a troubled expression.

I couldn't get enough of it.

"Are... there conditions to do it?"

He took the bait~

"Yeah... the thing is, to view your own status, you need to do something before activating the skill."

"An...and... that thing is...?"

My lips curved upwards into a crescent as he answered me without doubting my words.

"You need to lie down on the ground naked for a full minute without moving."

"Wh-wh-why naked?!"

"It's you know, that. It seems like your body needs to absorb the energy from the earth to regain your spiritual force. That way, your body will be fully charged and you can see your status properly~"

"...Uuu... ..."

"So? Are you up for it~?"

"...I... ... ...I understand... I just have to do it right?! ...Haahhh..."

... Fufu~