Companionship (2)

Jenny pinched Ariel's cheek and shuddered.

This was because Ariel's cheek was softer and more squishy than expected.

'Like a slime...'

Jenny made a blissful expression and stretched Ariel's cheeks sideways.

It was an action she did without realizing it herself.

"Hey, what are you doing! Don't bully my sister!"

Lu pushed away Jenny's hand, and when that didn't work,even bit Jenny's wrist, but Jenny didn't stop.

"Jenny, please stop..."

Finally, even Mitchel tried to stop Jenny from the side.

"Her cheeks might tear at this rate."

Indeed, Ariel's cheeks were stretched to the limit.

Jenny was startled and let go of Ariel's cheeks.

"Ah, I didn't mean to..."

"See, her cheeks are all red now. Plus, she's really scared."Mitchel said, looking at Ariel.

Ariel just had her usual expressionless face, but dependingon how you looked at her, she looked scared and stiff.

"I-I'm sorry, Ariel, I didn't mean to bully you. Don't be scared."

Jenny flustered and gently stroked Ariel's cheek.

"So Ariel, come with big sis. I'll keep you safe."

Jenny's expression as she said it again was so earnest it was almost servile.

Seeing Jenny like that, Ariel slowly nodded.

After all, Ariel's goal was adventure.

Meeting new connections on the road could be consideredpart of the adventure. Moreover, if they were headed the same direction anyway,

it wouldn't be bad to travel together.

*

Jenny and Mitchel were not lovers after all.

Nor were they just colleagues.

To be precise, Mitchel had hired Jenny as a guard.

Mitchel was a priest, Jenny was an adventurer.

Currently, Mitchel was on a mission to investigate an abandoned temple.

He hired Jenny as a guard because he needed one.

The abandoned temple Mitchel aims to investigate is in thewestern direction, and they are expected to arrive by tomorrow evening.

"So don't leave big sis until tomorrow evening~"

Jenny did not hesitate to show obsessive affection by hugging Ariel tightly or rubbing her face against her.

For Ariel, it was a bit annoying and burdensome, but she just let it go, knowing there was no ill intent behind Jenny'sactions.

Of course, that was only possible because Jenny was beautiful. If the same actions were done by a rugged old man instead, even Ariel would have felt uncomfortable and used force to stop him.

"This is the first time I've seen Jenny like this."

Mitchel said with a quiet laugh. Lu then looked at Mitchel.

"What is she usually like?"

"Well, how to put it. Jenny gives off this strong yet cold image."

Mitchel put it as mildly as he could.

If it was someone else, they might have bluntly called Jennya crazy woman without hesitation.

"Jenny is brave to the point of never retreating in front of an enemy."

Put differently, one could say she was a crazy woman who drew her sword the moment she faced an enemy.Of course, such words would never come out of the priestMitchel's mouth.

"But now she just looks like an ordinary woman who loves children. Haha, it's refreshing. I'm a bit envious too."

"Of Ariel, of course."

Mitchel's gaze was towards the front.

And in front, Jenny was tightly hugging Ariel.

Ariel was flailing her arms, seemingly unable to breathe.

"..."

At Mitchel's words, Lu quietly moved closer to Ghost. As darkness fell, they slowly prepared to camp for the night.

Since they had the fairy Lu with them, there was no worry of getting lost in the dim forest.

But they still had to be wary of monster ambushes.

If surrounded by a pack of monsters in the darkness, they could suffer heavy casualties,

No matter how skilled Jenny was at easily taking down theMinokaon.

They couldn't let their guard down.

"Hmm, this spot looks good."

Mitchel surveyed the surrounding terrain as he spoke.Although a young and capable priest, Mitchel actually spent more time outside temple than inside due to his abilities.

He often went on missions to investigate things like this time. As such, Mitchel had an excellent eye for choosing campsites.

The campsite he chose had an open view all around, with arock face behind. Such a spot made it easy to keep watch.

"Let's have dinner first."

Jenny gathered fallen branches nearby to start a fire, whileMitchel took out meat, spices and the like from his bag to cook.

Soon a stew began bubbling over the campfire, filling the air with a savory aroma.

"Come here, Ariel."

Jenny patted her lap, meaning for Ariel to sit on it.

"Big sis will feed you."

Ariel ignored Jenny's words and sat next to Mitchel instead.Jenny let out a small laugh at that."Shy, aren't you?"

In fact, Ariel was embarrassed.

Even though her body had become smaller, the thought ofsitting on someone's lap was embarrassing.

The stew that Mitchel cooked was quite tasty. Even Ariel,who usually insisted on desserts or meat skewers, could eat it quite satisfactorily.

Ghost completely emptied her bowl, and Lu wheedled some fruit wine from Ariel, then drank the stew as a side dish.

"Hoo, excellent fruit wine."

Mitchel also sipped the fruit wine.

"It's good enough to not pale in comparison to the top grade grape wine at the Main Temple."

"Is that so? I'd like to try the top-grade grape wine at the Main Temple sometime."

While Mitchel and Lu were drinking the fruit wine, Jenny sidled up close to Ariel.

"Shall we go wash up?"

"...?"

Ariel's pupils shook greatly. Go wash up? Surely she didn'tmean wash together?

"I-I'm okay..."

"Let's go, Ariel, there's a stream nearby. Big sis will wash you nice and clean."

Jenny grabbed Ariel's hand and started walking, forcing Ariel to be dragged along.

Of course, if Ariel exerted just a bit of force, she could fling Jenny far away, but she couldn't bring herself to do that.

Ariel could only be dragged along.

Ghost trailed closely behind, leaving only Mitchel and Lu remaining.

*

Ariel was completely cowed.

Anyone seeing her might think she had been bullied.

'Heheh, she's really quite shy

Ariel was quietly looking towards Ghost, who shook her body to get the water off.

When Jenny and Ariel returned to the campsite, Lu and Mitchel were completely drunk.

"Big Sisss! I missed you!"

"Ugh, Jenny, you're back?"

Jenny frowned and lightly slapped Mitchel's shoulder

.

"Mitchel, how much did you drink? Sober up quickly, you need to stand guard."

"Yeahh."

Mitchel nodded, then tried to cast a spell.

Just as fairies could eat healing powder to dispel

drunkenness, priests could use holy magic to sober up.

"What guard are you talking about?"

Lu asked, swaying unsteadily.

"Why do we need to stand guard?"

"Monsters could ambush us, so we take turns standing guard. It's my turn tonight."

At Mitchel's words, Lu snickered.

"You fools. We have magic for that. Our big sis will deploy ashield and we'll sleep."

"?"

Mitchel and Jenny looked dumbfounded.

Deploy a shield and sleep? That sounded utterly ridiculous."Ariel, you know magic?"

At Jenny's question, Ariel nodded her head.

"Wow, amazing? Well, the ratio of mages is high among elves. Still, impressive!"

Jenny prompting Mitchel to interject.

"But that's not the important part right now. Deploy a shield and sleep, what kind of..."

Mitchel looked unconvinced.

For a mage to deploy a shield consumed a huge amount ofmana. Maintaining it briefly was one thing, but outright deploying it and sleeping was impossible even for a great mage.

For the same reason, it was impossible for a priest as well.While quite capable for his age and with considerable divine power, the thought of Mitchel deploying a Holy Barrier and sleeping was unimaginable

.

Even a short time would drain his divine power completely,causing the shield to collapse.

"Haha."

Thinking Lu's words were just a boast, Mitchel let out a laugh.

"Deploy a shield and sleep? If that were possible, who would bother standing guard? Well, it's an amusing idea at least. If it were possible, it would certainly be convenient."Aside from the duration issue, to sleep safely they would need to deploy an extremely wide shield.

Wide enough to encompass their entire group.

That was no easy feat except for skilled mages or priests. Mitchel could barely manage covering just his own body, let alone their whole group.

"But my big sis can do it..."

Lu said while scratching his neck, and Jenny looked at Arielwith a serious expression.

"Is what Lu said true, Ariel?"

"Yes."

"Then can you show us?"

"Hahah! That's enough, Jenny."

Mitchel stood up.

"I'll just stand guard. Ariel, you don't need to force yourself..."

"Shield"

As Ariel murmured softly, a blue veil unfurled around them