Chapter 7: Helping Maple with her Quest

"Hiroto-san, it taste like pop candy, right?"

Maple said with a cute smile on her face as they walked towards the next town. Holding a large ladybug monster in their hands as Hiroto was forced to eat it by Maple. Making him look extremely pale as he never once expected that he would eat bugs in his life, a live one at that.

"Y-Yeahh..."

Hiroto said as he resisted the urge to vomit. Making Maple smile brightly hearing how he liked it.

'I really can't say no to that kind of face...'

[You have acquired [Bomb Eater]]

[You have acquired [Foul Feeding]]

The notification rang as they arrived in front of the town. Making Maple marvel on the high stone walls that built the infrastructures of the town.

"Have you been here before, Hiroto-san?"

She asked as they entered the city. Making her excitedly look around the shops, causing Hiroto to gently smile at her direction.

"Does this count as a date?"

He muttered to himself but immediately shook his head to the side. Denying his own thoughts, causing Maple who was walking beside him to glance at him with slightly flushed cheeks.

"Date..."

She whispered as she glanced at his arm. Resisting the urge to warp her arms to his to make them, causing her to lower her head with a pout.

"What's wrong?"

Hiroto asked as she noticed that she suddenly remained silent, causing Maple to shyly blush before moving closer to him.

"C-Can we... hold... hands..."

She said but whispered towards the end of her sentence.

"You want to hold hands?"

He asked with a teasing smile on his face, causing Maple to blush red down to her neck. Looking away in shyness. Making Hiroto nervously look at her. Hesitating for a bit before he reached out his right hand towards her left.

Maple who felt the warmth of his hand, flinched as she felt Hiroto intertwine his fingers with hers. Making her peak at Akihiro who had the same shy expression on his face as it was his first time holding a girl's hand that was not his sister.

"..."

They both shyly averted her eyes from one another as they both created a cute scene of an innocent couple on their first date.

"Is this your first date?"

"How cute~"

"Ojou-chan, want me to recommend a restaurant for the both of you?"

The crowd said as they teased both of them, causing their blush to increase in a deeper shade.

"T-They're a lot of people here, aren't there?"

He asked as he felt his own hand sweat. Making him nervously gulp, hoping that Maple wouldn't notice.

"Mn..."

She said as her hand sweated buckets from her own nervousness, causing her to look at Hiroto in a panic. Hoping that he wouldn't find it weird or disgusting.

[Host... You should get used to dealing with women, since... you'll be dealing with them a lot more often than you think...]

'You're making it sound really fucking easy, don't you?'

He thought with an exasperated expression on his face before he heard the coughing of a woman on his right. Making him quickly look at the direction of the sound, leading to a narrow alley with a small entrace and dusty walls.

"Found it..."

He said before he glanced at Maple who was stiffly walking beside him while holding his hand. Making him smile before pulling her inside the narrow alley.

"H-Hiroto-san? Where are you... t-taking me..."

She asked as her mind filtered out everything except for his voice. Preventing her from hearing the coughing girl inside building.

"Maple... I want you to do something from me..."

He said, causing Maple to lower her head as her heartbeat quicken and grew louder. Nervously fidgeting her feet on the ground.

"W-What is it..."

"I hope... it doesn't bother you or anything..."

"... I-It won't..."

She said as she looked at Hiroto who was inching closer. Making her nervously gulp before she closed her eyes and tiptoed to reach his chin. Puckering her lips towards his direction as she waited for him to kiss her.

"That's great!"

Hiroto said with a smile on his face as he seperated himself from her and point at the entrance of the building. Making Maple who was waiting for him to make a move to peak at him with a trace of confusion in her eyes.

"There's a quest that the NPC inside that would be very beneficial to you. I want you to go and clear that quest"

"..."

Maple looked at him with a slight frown on her face before following his hand pointed at an old door. Making her sulk before glancing at Hiroto who had a smile on his face.

"... Idiot..."

She whispered to herself as she leaned her head against his chest. Making him look at her in confusion before she hit his chest with her hands.

"Hmph!"

She then immediately walked towards the door in a slightly angry mood. Having the urge to just slap him in the face, but stopped as that could make him hate her. So she just sulked while going towards the door in hopes that he would notice something.

[You're pathetic. I'm dissapointed that I have you as my host]

"Huh? What the fuck is it so suddenly?"

He whispered with a trace anger in his eyes.

[Nothing... You just missed a great opportunity to take a step forward to graduate from your virgin self but you just blew it. It makes me want to deduct system points from you, host]

"... What are you talking about?"

He said before two notifications appeared in front of him.

[Continuous Quest complete]

[Reward: 10 System Points, 1x character ticket]

"Eh?"

He muttered in surprise as he read the notification over and over again. Making his eyes buldge out of its sockets before he looked at the direction of the door in disbelief.

[She was anticipating a kiss from you but you blew it]

"Eh..."

Hiroto muttered as he held his head with his arms. Kneeling on the ground before started to smash his own head to the wall.

"SHIT!!!!"

He shouted as he resisted the urge to punch himself in the face from regret. He was too focused on making her stronger that he didn't noticed that it was the perfect mood to solidify their relationship. Making him roughly scratch his own hair.

"MOTHERFUCKER!! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?!?"

[I didn't want to ruin the mood. That's why I delayed the notification so that you can take a step further with her]

"I-I need to talk-"

[Don't even dare do that. It would make you look desperate and creepy. She would only feel threatened around if you do something like that]

"ARGHHH!!"

He shouted as Maple walked out of the door together with a woman. Seeing him writhing on the ground, causing the woman to look at him with a strange expression on her face while Maple run towards him in worry.

"W-What's wrong?"

She asked, causing him to freeze before blushing in embarrassment. Not expecting for her to see his pitiful appearance right now.

"N-Nothing... I-I just remembered something that I need to take care of... I-I'll meet you again later, Maple"

He said with a cough, causing the woman to look at him suspiciously. Making him awkwardly scratch his head in response.

"S-So did you accept her quest?"

"Yes... It requires me to bring her to a location without letting her die, c-can you come with me please? I-I'm not good with this kind of quest since I'm slow..."

She said, causing Hiroto to path her head in response. Remembering how she completed this quest in the anime by flying towards their location using her turtle that she obtained from the second event. Since he rushed the plot, this means that she would now partake in this quest on foot.

"Let's go"

Timeskip

"This is really convenient, isn't it..."

Maple said while looking at the large wall of rocks in front of them as the 3 of them were lifted up in the air using a earth pillar. Making Maple look at the ground in awe.

"Lead the way"

He said towards Maple who nodded her head and looked at her Map. Pointing to the direction of the spring in the quest.

"Let's see... [Earth Wall]!"

He casted, causing another wall to appear in front of them as they continued their journey towards the spring. Making the woman to look on the ground with a frown on her face.

"There are many fearsome monsters in the forest. Please be careful"

"... Well... They really can't reach us so it doesn't really matter..."

Maple said as Hiroto continued to create walls in front of them.

"It's a good thing that they can't see us very well to point their aggression towards us... or else we'll might have started to climb this wall"

He whispered before the woman pointed towards the left where a large pond surrounded by a beautiful scenery was found. Making Hiroto create a wall pointed at its direction before he create a set of pillar on the edge of the last wall to act as stairs for them.

"We're here..."

He said. Making the woman run towards the pond together with Maple. Holding a vial in her hands as she scooped water from the pond. Making her smile in joy as she held the vial dearly in her arms.

"Thank you very much! With this my daughter can be saved!"

She said as she wiped her tears at the corner of her eyes. Making Maple smile at her before she held her hand.

"Let's go back"

She said as Hiroto hit the butt of his spear on the ground. Creating a large pillar of soil beneath them that lifted them up from the ground.

"This was an easy quest..."

Maple said as they started to walk on top of the walls that Hiroto created leading to the town. Creating a peaceful atmosphere around them as Maple happily skipped on top of the walls.

"Ugh!"

The woman suddenly grunted as she fell on the ground. Making Maple hurriedly hold her in worry.

"Thank you for protecting me..."

She said as she placed her hand on her own chest. Looking at them with a grateful expression on her face.

"If you hadn't done so, I would've died back there..."

"Huh?"

Both Hiroto and Maple said in confusion. Confused on why she suddenly acted like that.

"Thanks to you, we managed to escape those monsters! I don't know how can I thank you enough..."

"... Hiroto-san... Why is she speaking like that?"

Maple asked as she walked closer to Hiroto who had an awkward smile on his face.

'... She's following the script of the developers...'

He said. Making him hide his smile in response. Even though he expected that they will bug the game. It was still a bit weird and funny seeing her acting like that when they haven't even done any fighting.

"You risked your life for us, total strangers! You are really kind..."

She said. Making Maple look back at the forest of monsters as she understood what was happening.

"Hiroto-san..."

She called, causing Hiroto to scratch his hair with an awkward expression on his face. Since she technically did the same in the anime.

".... How to say this... Sorry for breaking the game..."