The right company

Part 1

"Graaahh!!! I'm going to eat you!!!"

Inside the middle right path, Auren and Ria were moving along the rocky terrain trying to reach the exit on the other side of the mountain.

"Beware the wrath of the dragon lady!! I'll reap your flesh and devour your bones!!!"

Ria was having the time of her life while role-playing as a dragon monster and teasing Auren who was now bearing the body of a minotaur.

"You!! Bull-man!! You shall now be my servant and obey my every command!! I demand you to hug me!!!"

Auren couldn't stop blushing and covering his face with both hands due to how cute his fiancée looked right now while trying to appear intimidating.

"Come on darling, play along!! It's fun!!"

"I- I better not... I don't think my heart can bear much more of this..."

"Ha!! I knew you couldn't handle my terrifying performance!! I was born to be a dragon!!"

"I'm glad you seem so calm about this..."

"Eh...? What do you mean...?"

"I mean... We are about to enter enemy territory... If we make any mistake we might lose our heads for real this time... On top of that, we are all being followed by a group of assassins... I'm just surprised you don't appear afraid at all. It's like you don't even care... I wish I was as brave as you..."

"..."

"...? Ria...?"

"Is that... What you think of me...?"

"Eh...?"

"You think I can just hear that someone is coming to take our lives and act like it wasn't a big deal...? Do you think I'm that cold of a person...?"

"B- But... But you always act like nothing ever bothers you..."

Ria extended her dragon tail and started to pat Auren on his head with it like he was a dog.

"Oh, man... I never noticed my darling was such a dummy..."

"W- What do you mean...?"

"..."

Ria used her tail to grab Auren's hands and started to lean on him.

"Carry me..."

"Huh...!?"

"I'm angry with you right now and want you to spoil me... Carry! Me!"

"Oh... Ok..."

Auren wasn't sure as to why Ria was angry but he thought it would be better not to make the situation worse. The idea of Ria being upset was something he would rather not think about.

He placed her on a princess carry position and started to walk deeper inside of the tunnel while feeling her light body on his arms.

She was so close to him that his heart started to beat at immense speed and his legs were about to start shaking.

After making the ceremony to become servants of the goddess of the west, Auren finally mustered the courage to propose to Ria, but she still would make him feel nervous from time to time.

"How do you feel?"

"W- What...?"

"Right now... As you carry me in this tunnel... How does it feel? What are you thinking...?"

"I- I-..."

"..."

"Honestly... Right now I'm so happy to be able to carry you like this that I feel like I might pass out at any minute..."

"I see..."

As she heard that, she started to blush and turned her eyes on another direction to hide her embarrassment.

"So you're not afraid right now, right?"

"Huh...?"

"That thing that Evlin said... About how we are going to be attacked by Marcus and his new friends... You weren't thinking about that right now were you...?"

"N- No... I wasn't..."

"... Do you think you would be feeling any better right now if you were...?"

"...?"

"I know we are in danger... And I know we need to take this seriously... But there is nothing that can be done about it right now... So instead of burning our brains with worries for no reason... Wouldn't you rather try to focus on something better...?"

She turned her head again to look at him and wrapped her arms around his body to hug him.

"Am I really such a cold person because I want the man I love to enjoy my company instead of thinking about a bunch a crazy people following us...?"

"... You were trying to make me relax..."

"..."

"Ugh... I really am a dummy..."

"You really are... I don't mind if everyone else thinks I'm just an airhead... But please, at least you... Could you please try a little harder to understand me...?"

Auren was filled with great shame right now. He always went on about how much he loved Ria and how he wanted to marry her and would dedicate the rest of his life for her, and yet he failed to completely miss the point in regards to her feelings.

He looked at the woman resting in his arms and began to talk to her.

"Tell me more..."

"Huh...?"

"Tell me more about you... I don't want to make the same mistake ever again... Tell me about how you feel, how you think, where you came from..."

She extended her hands towards his face and started to touch his cheeks.

"Auren..."

Followed by pinching them really hard with her strong dragon hands.

"That's something you say BEFORE you propose to the girl you idiot!!!"

"Ouch, ouch. ouch!! Sorry, sorry!! Please stop!! I might drop you!!"

She pushed him away and returned to walk on her own.

"God, you really are an idiot... I'm gonna have to work hard on you if we are going to spend the eternity together..."

"S- Sorry..."

"Ugh... What a pain... come here..."

Ria turned around and extended her hand towards him, much to his confusion.

"Huh...!?"

"This might be a dark scary cave and we both look like abominations of nature right now... But this is still our first date together, and I am planning to enjoy it!!"

"This is a date...?"

"Do you have anything against it??"

She started to blush again, but Auren didn't know if it was due to anger, embarrassment, or both.

"None at all!! Date, date! This is a date!"

He hurried to grab her hand and the two continued their way.

After walking for a little longer and chatting for a bit, they finally arrived at the place Ashley mentioned before.

"Ugh..."

"Guess this is it..."

The two encountered a huge area filled with webs scattered all around the floor. Inside of them, large pieces of bones could be found as if they were leftovers from an unfinished meal. They looked up and gazed upon a large number of cocoons stuck on parts of the wall and the ceiling. Around each of them, several spiders with different colors and the size of a small chariot could be seen devouring the creatures captured and stuck inside their webs.

Auren could feel Ria's hand slightly shaking and looked at her face.

"Auren... This might be a bad time to tell you..."

"Huh...?"

"But I'm terrified of bugs..."

"Huh... Spiders are not actually-"

Ria let out a glare towards him as if she wanted to dare him to finish that sentence.

"... Yeah, me too, I don't like bugs either..."

Auren was surprised to think Ria would accept Ashley's command and enter this path without complaining considering how much she looked like she was about to break apart right now, but he quickly realized that she was probably just keeping it to herself all along so she wouldn't be a bother to the mission.

Auren was ashamed for never realizing how much the woman he loved always put other's feelings before her own all this time. He was filled with a desire to repay her for all the effort she had put in all this time.

"A- Auren? What are you doing??"

He placed her into a princess carry position again and pushed her head against his chest.

"Close your eyes and leave it to me... I'll get you out of here in no time."

"Y- You plan to cross this cave with me like this??"

"Just stop thinking about the spiders and think about me. We will put out a defensive barrier so just try to stay calm."

"... Ok... OK..."

The two started to focus their energy to create an energy bubble around them and took a deep breath as they prepared to enter the spider's nest.

"Let's go!"

Part 2

[Why do you keep walking... You know you will all just die in the end right...?]

"Please shut up..."

Ashley continued her path towards the garden of dryads in hopes that she could hurry up and get out of that cave. Unfortunately, even after she was way past the pond and could no longer see the dryad's image, her voice would not stop talking inside her head.

[Oh, I'm sorry... Would you like me to go to another room so you can have some time alone? Oh wait! I can't! You stole my body!!]

"I didn't steal your body! I'm just borrowing it for a second..."

[That's even worse!! You just going to use me like I was some kind of object? What about my rights as a demon??]

"Would you just quiet down?? Stop acting like you are some kind of victim... I've seen your memories, you killed a lot of innocent people..."

[Oh, pardon me if I have to kill to survive... Don't act like you're some saint who never had to take a life to get food. Even your sister treats monsters better than you...]

"Ugh... You're so annoying... can't you see that I'm trying to concentrate?? If I die here, you die too you know?"

[Tch... Fine... I'll be quiet...]

"Thank you..."

[But your friends will still probably die thought...]

"They won't... They all have enough power to take on a monster five times their size... They will be fine even if they get attacked..."

[Well, yeah... They might be strong... But they're still just humans...They are weak when it comes to handling their emotions...]

"What are you talking about...?"

[I'm talking about your beloved sister who looks like she is about to crack that you just ignored a while ago...]

"Eh...? I didn't ignore her..."

[Yeah you did... She came to talk to you while looking like she was going to cry any second.]

"Oh, that... She was just worried about my safety..."

[Oh wow... Humans are really stupid... She wasn't trying to comfort you... She wanted you to comfort her...]

Ashley instantly halted as the dryad said that.

"... What...?"

[Are you blind or something... She was absolutely terrified and looking for someone to help her calm down... And when she came to you, you barely even looked at her...]

"No... I... I was just trying to help... I needed to focus on finding a way to keep us all safe!"

[Oh sure! She must be feeling veeeery safe right now... Oh, wait, my mistake... You want to keep her safe, not make her FEEL safe... Never mind then, you're doing a great job! keep at it! Five stars! Would recommend it!]

"..."

[...]

"My sister was afraid...? Oh my God, my sister was afraid!! How did I not realize that??"

[Good question... Why didn't you realize it...? Haven't you two been together the longest...?]

"I- I don't know!! She seemed fine when we were capturing monsters a while ago... I'm usually so good at picking up these things... How did I not notice that??"

[Who knows... Seemed to me like you were really interested in checking my memories...]

"Ugh...!! I'm such an idiot!! I was trying so hard to focus on the mission that I stopped focusing on her."

[Yeah... You kinda suck...]

"I can't believe I needed you to make me realize that... I need to get out of here soon and meet with her again..."

[Ok then... Have fun with that...]

"You're helping me!!"

[Eh...?]

"You... Ah! You're my prisoner right now! You gotta do what I say!"

[Yeah, right... Have fun in the cave. I'll go take a nap for a bit...]

"Wait, don't!! I need you!!"

[Huh!?]

"I said... I need you... I need your help to get out of here faster... You know this place better than I ever could..."

[Mmm... I don't know...]

"Just for a little bit!"

[... What's the magic word?]

"Ugh..."

[I'm waiting...]

"... Please..."

[Good girl! Now take five steps backwards. there is a small hole on the wall that you just passed by. It's a shortcut to the garden.]

"Ah, I see it!!"

[Don't you have anything to say?]

"... Thank you..."

[And...?]

"I'm sorry for stealing your body..."

[Good girl! Now come on! Let's go meet your dead sister.]

"... God, I hate you..."