Chapter 52 - Anne's gift

A total of 3 days had passed since Shinji and the others started to go to the second floor. Every time they went, their expressions became somber. On the second day, some people from the group came back injured, but from where I was looking, I could confirm that it was nothing serious. In these 3 days, if I had to say one thing that changed, it was my relationship with Ana. Every day, I went to the lake to get water, and I ended up meeting her since she is always sleeping in the same tree. Whenever the two of us meet, she and I end up eating rabbit meat together. She has also been getting more and more comfortable around me. I guess at this point, I can say that she and I have become friends.

Also, Shinji was getting more and more impatient. Looking at his expressions, it was very easy to know what he was thinking. At this point, I am sure that Shinji is starting to wonder why he can't get past this easy floor as he did with the first one, since he is the chosen one.

(Unfortunately for him, there are no chosen ones, we are simply parts, and he is being wonderfully controlled)

I thought as I looked at him from afar.

"Hey, slave"

As I looked at Shinji, I heard a voice coming from behind me. As soon as I turned around, I saw Fuyuki looking at me.

"I need you to go get water from the lake. If I don't see you here in 2 minutes, you already know what I'm going to do, don't you?"

Fuyuki said as he held up the tie of my uniform. As he did this, I just stared at him for a few seconds before saying.

"Sure"

As soon as I said that, I felt Fuyuki let go of my tie. As soon as I looked at him, I saw that he was going near Shinji.

(Right...)

I thought with a sigh as I started walking towards the lake. While walking to the lake, once again I started to feel that the air was getting colder, but I decided to ignore this and move on. After walking for a few more minutes, I finally reached the lake. As soon as I arrived, I saw several ice statues of some monsters like rabbits and goblins, and in the middle of them was Ana taking a nap. As I approached Ana, I looked at all the frozen monsters, noticing that they had all turned to ice. Probably they weren't even alive anymore.

As soon as I got close to Ana, I took a rabbit from my stash and placed it in front of Ana. In a few seconds, Ana's little nose started twitching as she started to stand up with her eyes still closed and walked towards the meat. Just before Ana could get the meat, I gave Ana a weak slap on the forehead, causing her to wake up.

"There... Evil Ma-kun"

Ana said while rubbing her forehead.

"Hahaha, sorry about that, Ana. You're so cute sleeping that I couldn't hold myself to make a joke"

I said with a soft smile. After that, I looked around again and then turned my gaze to Ana.

"What happened here?"

I asked as I looked at her. Hearing my words, Ana seemed to be confused for a few seconds but soon remembered what I was talking about when she saw a statue of a Goblin.

"They were making noise... I was sleepy, so I shut them up"

Ana said nonchalantly.

(Did she freeze them all just because she wanted to sleep?)

I thought as I sighed.

"All right... let's eat anyway"

I said as I showed her the rabbit I had taken from my storage. As soon as she saw the rabbit in my hands, she cracked a huge smile.

"Yes"

Ana said. After that, Ana and I started cooking the rabbit over a fire. That was basically what she and I did every time we met. If I had to say anything else, it would definitely be the closeness Ana is having with me, like now, for example.

"Ana... I know I've already asked this, but I'll ask again... why are you sitting on my lap?"

I asked as I looked at the silver strands of Ana's hair. As soon as she heard this, Ana turned to me, and our eyes met. Ana turned her head slightly and replied.

"Because Ma-kun is hot?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

I said, even more confused than before. Sighing, I picked up one of the skewers with the rabbit meat on it to eat. Before I could make any movement on the meat, Ana turned to me with expectant eyes. I stared for a few seconds between the meat and Ana and soon gave up.

"All right"

As soon as I said this, Ana's eyes sparkled, and she slowly opened her cute little mouth. With that, I kept giving Ana little pieces of rabbit meat. This started yesterday, for some reason, Ana seems to enjoy being fed a lot. When I asked her the reason, she simply replied.

"Because it is less tiring"

That's what she said. Ana and I ate all the rabbit meat until there was nothing left. All this action didn't even last 5 minutes. In case you are wondering about Fuyuki, I really don't give a shit. It's not like he is going to kill me, besides, his blows don't even hurt anymore.

"I have to go back, Ana"

I said to Ana, who still remained on my lap. Hearing my words, Ana looked at me sadly with a face like an abandoned puppy.

"I promise I will come back tomorrow"

I said with a soft smile on my face. Hearing my words, Ana nodded, although she still looked sad. With that, I started to get up as Ana got off my lap. As I stood up, I felt something touching the tip of my uniform. As I looked at Ana, I saw her staring at me, looking like she wanted to say something, as she gestured for me to put my ear to her mouth. Doing as Ana asked, I brought my ear closer to Ana, but what happened was something I was not expecting: a wet sensation landed on my cheek, causing me to look at Ana, who was looking at me with a smile.

"This is Ma-kun's prize for always feeding Ana"

Ana said with a smile.