Outside the Dasman City. About a hundred of kilometers further north of the walled city. There’s a forest, and somewhere in that forest was a small pond with a waterfall about 3 meters high, surrounded by rocks and lilies like in indoor hot springs, being covered by the shades of tree branches. Akino and Lyka were taking a bath in that pond, accompanying Diana and Oliva whose bodies are tired from a long travel. They were dispatched by the guild on an expedition after some nobles sighted ruins north of the city during their journey. 7 groups of a total 24 adventurers: first is Akino, Lyka, and Alexa’s; second is the returning adventurers Olguk and his friends; third is Kal’s team of gold rank; and the other 4 which Akino’s group not yet acquainted with.

Akino scrubs Lyka’s back with a sponge, and Lyka carefully combs her wet tail. Diana and Oliva were on the side of the pond washing their hair from dusts and dirt they acquired from traversing a dusty road on their way to that forest.

Akino: Hey, Lyka.

Lyka: Yes?

Akino: Do you want me to shampoo your tail?

Lyka: Umm, I’ll just do it myself…

Akino: Okay.

Lyka suddenly jolts, making Akino and the other girls surprised.

Lyka: EEEKK!

Akino: Y-you alright?!

Lyka: I’m… a bit sensitive there…

Akino looks at her hands, already touching the side of her breast. She blushed and immediately removes her hand.

Akino: I didn’t know… sorry…

Lyka: It’s fine…

Alexa: Eh? But days ago, you guys were touching all over.

They saw Alexa hanging over a vine like a bat, startling the two upon seeing her.

Akino & Lyka: ALEXA!

Alexa: What?

Alexa jumps down the pond very hard, creating a huge splash of water and hitting everyone. This pisses off Akino, and they started chasing in circles. Lyka sighs, she went to the side of the pond where Diana and Oliva rinse their hair.

Oliva: They looked… happy.

Lyka: I guess…

Diana: You and Akino have a thing?

Lyka: Yes.

Diana: Oh… I thought she was just teasing you, but it’s real. What did you like about her?

Lyka: Everything, I guess. She’s good, knowledgeable, and many other things.

Oliva: What does Alexa mean?

Diana: Oh… OH! So, she’s also good in bed?!

Lyka blushes. The two girls were giggling as they tease the flustered demi-wolf. Meanwhile, the two were still chasing off while in the pond, splashing water everywhere and making the others more soaked. Lyka giggles and smiles as she watches the two non-stop chasing.

The sun starts to set. Good thing is that the full moon has turned into a waning gibbous, and this puts Lyka at relief. Tents were set up in that forest, bonfires were lit, a batch of supplies being prepared at an assembled wooden table, and many other things that the adventurers were busy with. In that small part of the forest the adventurers were to take a rest to continue their travel for tomorrow.

They finished up eating, fixed their mess, and a man in white shining armor stand in front of them, the expedition leader named Matias. He wears a necklace with a ruby like stone, an Alchemist’s stone ranking adventurer. He said an encouraging speech to boost the morale of the adventurers. After that, each one of them enters their respective tents to take a rest.

Kal and Olguk’s group greets goodnight, and they entered their tents. The only group who’s still awake that night is Akino’s and they decided to stay awake for that night. Earlier that day, Akino requested to Matias that she and the other two will take the night to patrol the surroundings. Matias insist them to take rest for tomorrow’s continuation of journey, but Akino told him it will be fine.

They stayed near on the still lit bonfire. Alexa played with her phone, Lyka reads another spell book she borrowed, and Akino reviews the map provided for them. She tried to look up their destination with her satellites, only to see ruins spanning 2 kilometers, no unusual stuff other than the abnormal mana energy readings in that area.

Alexa: Hey, Aki.

Akino: What is it?

Alexa: You’ve been looking up using satellites, right?

Akino: Yeah.

Alexa: What’s our destination?

Akino: Some kind of ruins, I guess.

Lyka: I heard there’s a dungeon underneath that.

Akino: Oh… I tried to look up the geographical structure underneath the ruins, nothing unusual or abnormal so far…

Alexa: That’s kind of lame…

Lyka: Well, we’re going to investigate that place. Don’t lose motivation, Alexa.

Alexa: Aye-aye, mom.

Lyka yawns, she closes her books and leans on Akino.

Lyka: I feel sleepy…

Akino: Can’t you go to our tent?

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Lyka: I feel like staying with you…

Alexa: Ooookay… you guys not gonna do it, right? I mean, you already did it during the full moon, and today’s no longer full moon, so…

Akino: NO! For Christ’s sake, Alexa!

Alexa: Good, coz that scene is stuck in my brain, FOREVER.

Alexa tried to tease the two. Akino hushed her instead and sees that Lyka has already fallen asleep while leaning on her.

Alexa: Welp, what now?

Akino: I’ve made some drones earlier, they’re scouting the whole place, 150 meters in radius.

Alexa: That’s… convenient…

Akino: Go and take some rest, kid.

Alexa: Nah, I’ll stay with you.

Akino: Okay.

Alexa: Hey…

Akino: Yeah?

Alexa: Say, we find another facility in that area… and somehow, we got some answers on what happened on our world… are we… going back?

Akino rolls the map she’s looking at and faces at Alexa who’s staring at her, waiting for an answer.

Akino: You know, Lyka asked about what will happen if we found what we want… and I said to her that I haven’t thought that far yet… but if you asked me if we’re going to stay here, I’ll say yes.

Alexa: Really?

Akino: Well, it still depends. If you insist on going back to our world… we can make a discussion on that. Lyka seems to be fine as long as we accompany her. She might be willing to come with us if we decided to go back…

Alexa: Okay.

Akino: What’s with the long face?

Alexa: Just missing out our old world, that’s all…

Akino sighs, and stares at Alexa now looking at the stars.

Alexa: Sometimes, I wished I was an astronaut in a space station…

Akino: You want me to build one?

Alexa: Your satellites are already breaking the fantasy-world-immersion, why add a space station? It’s like we’re on creative mode or something.

Akino: We’ve been in creative mode ever since we’ve been turned into quantum machines… even Lyka…

Alexa: I guess…

Akino: Kid, as long as we’re together, nothing bad happens. Got it?

Alexa: Yeah, yeah… I know…

Akino: Come on, cheer up!

Alexa: I told you already… I’m just missing out the old times… but –

Alexa stares at Lyka, sleeping soundly on Akino’s shoulders.

Alexa: I guess things right now is much better.

Akino: Yeah…

That silent night passes and sun shines in that forest, waking up the other adventurers.

Lyka wakes up, finding herself being leaned on by Akino who’s also asleep that time. She looks around and saw Alexa helping the other adventurers cook some morning food. She moves a little and kisses Akino’s forehead, waking her up.

Lyka: Good morning~

Akino: Oh…

Akino stretches and yawns.

Akino: Good morning too.

Alexa: Hey, lovebirds! Want some?

Alexa approaches them with two bowls of soup, a beef stew similar to the one that Akino cooked for Alexa when they first met.

Akino: W-wow… you know my recipe?

Alexa: Yeah. Like, every damn time you brought home some beef and vegetables you always cook the same stew, so how could I not memorize it?

Akino: Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Lyka: It smells good.

Alexa: Really?

Akino: The meat is also soft. You boiled it for 45 minutes in seasoned broth?

Alexa: Yup!

Akino: Thanks for the food.

They sipped the bowl and chew on the meat and veggies until it’s empty.

Alexa: How was it?

Lyka: It’s delicious!

Akino: A bit salty, but it’s good.

Alexa: Yeah… I accidentally placed a bit much when I was boiling the meat…

Akino: Bruh.

They stood up and helped the other adventurers tidy up the tents back to their carriage and prepare for carrying on their expedition.

After a few hours of travelling in that forest, they reached the end of the trees and saw a grassland with toppled ruins. At last, they’ve found themselves in their destination. The adventuring team composed of mages began setting runes in the area, the one whose made of mercenaries stand guard, and the scouts roamed the area.

Akino tried to detect any abnormalities with her sensors, but she couldn’t find any except for the mana fluctuations in the area.

Lyka: This place… it feels odd…

Oliva: Yeah.

Finn: The amount of flowing mana in this area is constantly changing. We’re here to investigate that and locate the cause if possible.

Kal: Sounds like a mages’ job, eh?

After the other adventurers finished their set-ups, Matias called everyone.

Matias: The scouts were able to find an entrance leading to an underground dungeon. We will take shifts in entering the dungeon, and each team will leave marks on the trail. Trying to map the whole underground dungeon will be risky since it’s the very first time we set foot in here, but we have to do it for the safety of other adventurers coming across this place in future expeditions. I hope everyone will be safe once we’re done here, that’s all.

Everyone agreed with Matias. The first team made up of only heavily armored people enters the dungeon entrance carrying torches and other supplies.

While waiting and guarding the entrance, Akino called in Lyka and Alexa for a stroll. She asked Matias if they could do some patrolling and he agreed.

Alexa: Say, when is our turn to enter?

Lyka: Third shift, I guess?

Akino: Yeah, we’re on the third shift, late night.

Alexa: Woah, late night?

Akino: I personally asked Matias about it. Since somehow, we can’t get tired, only we getting stuck in sightseeing every night, what about we do the investigation at night? It’s a bit more exciting, for me at least.

Lyka: And I can see fine at dark too, so no objections here.

Alexa: You just want a secluded place to do your private thing, like an abandoned dungeon or something.

Lyka: EH?!

Akino: You little - ! Argh!

The two began teasing each other. Lyka only looks at the two with a smile. The two stops and looks a bit worried.

Lyka: Umm… is there something wrong?

Alexa: You hear that?

Lyka: Yeah… must be some horses galloping… wait, galloping horses…

Akino: A battalion of men riding on horses… they are headed towards here!

Lyka & Alexa: What?

Akino: Yeah, I just confirmed it with my satellite.

Alexa: Convenient, very convenient.

Lyka: We should warn the others.

Akino: Yeah, let’s go back.

The three girls hurriedly went back to their campsite on the ruins. They alerted the others on the arrival of an unknown group of men.

Olguk: Must be reinforcements, right?

Kal: I doubt that, only the nobles who gave the location of this ruins know this place and we’re the only people they’ve entrusted for this expedition.

Matias: Hmm…

Diana: So, who are those people?

Alexa: Bandits of some kind?

Lyka: You mean, someone trailed us on our way here?

Akino: But we’ve checked it, no one is following us.

Matias: She’s right. No one is following us. Must be another group of adventurers who got the same intel of this place, but we can’t also deny the idea of them trailing us here. Be alert and stay sharp once they’ve reached this place.

Everyone: Got it!

They prepared themselves for the arrival of the unknown cavalry. They saw many men riding on horses, about 40 of them. They’re wearing silver armors, and some are carrying poles with a flag on it. An emblem of a white rose with a stalk designed like a spine or bone.

Matias: What in the world are the Church of Ravine doing here?

Akino: The church of what?

Kal: A nation governed by a religious sect calling themselves the Ravine… an ally to the Altruis.

The cavalry stops, being led by a beautiful woman wearing robes made of chains of precious metals. She wields a lance and rides a robust white horse. An elf attendant of the woman comes with her, holding a staff of silver and crystal.

Both comes down on their horses and walked towards the group of adventurers. Alexa slightly gnarls and Lyka seems to be somewhat agitated.

Akino: Hey, what’s with the both of you?

Lyka: I don’t know… I sense a very spiteful aura from them…

Alexa: It’s like they’re going to attack us at any moment!

Matias: Are they… sure about that, Miss Akino?

Akino: The only thing I know for sure is that their senses are accurate.

Matias: Then…

Matias faces towards the other adventurers.

Matias: Everyone, be ready…