Since Trish had been moody today, I forced her to wear the dresses too. And as expected from the owner of these dresses, it fits her perfectly, even more than me.

Though the faces that she makes are quite 'cute'. As I thought, I'd like to do this again, purely just to see those embarrassed expressions again.

It's not like I enjoy teasing her, it's definitely not that. It's purely for the faces.

Needless to say that Trish got angry at me. Was I worried that she'll suddenly shout at me? Of course but thankfully, Trish only pouted.

Has she calmed down now? Looking closely, she became more lively than a few minutes before.

I mentally took note that embarrassment is a sort of solution as well.

Reya, Trish's mother, saw us off when we went outside. Why are we going outside, you ask? It's because it's time I get back and she's here with me to come with me on the way.

I don't see the need but she insisted so I gave in and accepted her offer.

The sun was on the other side of the sky before I realized. It was still bright out but you could tell that night is coming.

"Thanks for playing with me today. I'll walk you home."

Trish said to me as we were walking towards the house where we are currently staying.

"Okay."

Trish was slightly confused as to what I just said to her but she didn't ask anything about it. I was about to say 'Your welcome' but I didn't see anything that would warrant me for being thanked.

A little later, we finally arrived at the house and I saw the village chief talking with Sun and Night.

I wonder what's it about.

And there's also someone familiar with him.

It's Chris.

Why is he here?

"Oh Snow, welcome back!"

Sun greeted me when she noticed I was there while Night waved at me with a smile.

As for the village chief and Chris, they looked towards my direction. But Chris in particular, upon seeing Trish, averted his eyes. Trish averted her eyes as well.

Their relationship is quite strained still.

I do hope they get along soon.

Seems like I'm the only one who noticed this as the three continued their conversation.

"I'm sure that you all have something important to do so we'll be taking our leave."

"Yes, thank you for letting us stay here again."

The chief nodded and left.

Chris glanced at me and Trish before following the village chief. Shortly after that, Trish left as well, refusing Night's invitation for an afternoon snack.

I frowned while staring at her shrinking back as she walked away back to where we came from.

My first impressions of Trish is that she likes to argue with Chris in every single moment and now seeing that they aren't doing that, feels like I ate a couple of sharp-edged rocks.

"Is something the matter, Snow?"

Sun asked me in concern while I was looking at Trish.

I don't know if there is or if there isn't. In particular, the feelings that I have now, I don't know if it's a problem or not. If it's something to be concerned about or something natural.

It's a strange unease.

"No. I'm fine."

I decided not to tell her.

It didn't look like Sun is convinced but really, I don't think it's anything concerning. It's akin to uneasiness but it's not something extreme. A little sad, maybe? But definitely not something urgent feeling.

That's what I feel about seeing them.

•••

"Fuwaaaah~!"

As planned, I took my fill of Sun's blood.

The amazing taste, and coupled with Sun's slightly higher body heat than usual had put my mind at ease.

It also made me think a bit more clearly about Trish and Chris.

I'm sure that they'll get along again. It's only a matter of time so I shouldn't get too concerned about it. And convincing my mind with that thought, I feel relaxed already.

After finishing, I rubbed my head against her cheeks just because.

And Sun giggled at my unusual behavior.

"Are you fine now?"

"?… yeah, I'm fine now."

Really, Sun somehow always understands what I'm troubled with. Could this also be a trait of a mother?

Is this also how Trish's mother act towards her? She seems kind like this so I'm sure she's a proper mother to Trish.

I stayed there, sitting on Sun's lap while I rested my body weight on Sun's pillow-like breasts until Night finished cooking 'dinner', as she would call it.

This time, our meal isn't stew but instead, a piece of meat cooked in a slightly less burned way with vegetables on the side, placed on a plate.

Mine has a red liquid smeared on top of the meat. Most likely, it's Night's blood.

After letting me lick her wound, we started to eat. This time around, it didn't feel like I was eating a dusty piece of wood but instead a slice of proper meat. Though the only thing that I could compare this to is the soft meat that Night cooked in a stew.

The difference that this meat has with the stew one is that it contains a lot of strange flavors that I've only tasted just now, and of course, amplified by the taste of Night's fragrant blood that made its way into the innermost part of the meat.

It's also as soft as the stew one somehow so it made it all the easier to eat. This is enjoyable as well. It's a bummer that my portion is smaller than them though.

I can't help but think that it has something to do about me being more younger looking than them. It's unfair but I didn't voice that out.

But there is something I'm curious about.

"Where did you get the meat? I didn't hunt any rabbits or birds?"

So I asked Night.

Hearing my question, she has a proud expression on her face.

"It's something I caught using some [traps] that I learned to make from one of the villagers while I was helping them out in their chores."

I tilted my head at the certain word in her explanation.

Traps? I know the word but I think she's referring to an object. Is it another human-made thing again?

Chuckling a bit, Night explained to me that it really is human-made. The traps that she mentioned is actually named as snares. Something to catch small creatures that either got lured in by the bait or just got too close to it.

All I can say is ingenious. A method to hunt without doing anything, I'd like to learn how to make one myself.

But…

Did she just say in the forest? Didn't the goblins become abundant in the forest? Chris hideout was stolen from by goblins just today.

Isn't what she did dangerously?

"Don't worry, Snow. I asked around and they told me that for some reason, the goblins only appear and attack at night so I was relatively safe."

Woah... did she just read my mind?

"You're expressions are easy to read, Snow."

Night giggle mischievously.

Is my expression really easy to read?

"But talking about goblins, it's actually what the village chief had talked to us about. There's were no goblin attacks last night I heard and that he had guessed that the goblins are preparing for a big all in attack on the village."

No, it was actually me that intercepted the goblins before they could reach the village…

"And I'm sure that you heard and saw this yourself but the place where the village chief's grandson's secret base inside the shallower parts of the forest was actually stolen from by goblins. Please be careful for when you enter the forest, Snow. Can you promise me that?"

I nodded at her request.

"Good girl."

Night smiled at me, satisfied at my simple nod as an answer, and rubbed my head.

It's not like I'll get suddenly attacked by goblins. Since they're so smelly, both their blood and their body, I could tell if any are nearby reliably enough.

But I didn't tell them that. I feel that that would ruin something precious going on here.

It feels nice to have someone worry about you, especially someone as warm as Night. Surely this must be the feeling that Chris should have felt when Trish warned him.

This is what he was supposed to feel but he felt something different.

It really is how it was said.

I should suggest to Trish tomorrow that she should say it again but this time, in a nicer way. I'm sure it'll turn out differently.

•••

The day ended with nothing to note off. Other than Night requesting that I should suck her blood as well, we slept off soundly on the same bed so it was cramped.

Yes, I also slept as well. I was tired after all but it only took about 4 hours of sleep to keep me going.

But did I actually do anything when I woke up? Of course not! I would spend this time savoring the gentle embrace of these two humans.

At least that was the plan.

Those annoying goblins have returned once again, with a thicker smell of blood accompanying them. That just means they've increased in numbers from yesterday.

Really, there's so much of them that it's unreal.

I guess I'll have to go and kill them off or else those guards will definitely die.

Stealthily slipping my way out of their arms, I went ahead and grabbed the usual cloth that i wear every time I go outside.

Only just that. I left the grey one-piece dress that I always wear back at the house.

After a moment, I arrived at the place where those goblins should be in a few minutes. I could see them a distance away, scurrying towards here in a hurry.

Are they being chased?

Sniffing the air once again, I can't detect anything different or larger than the goblins.

But that could be because it's either the goblin's smell has masked the smell of who or whatever is chasing them or there isn't anything there in the first place.

And as they got closer, it seems the latter is right.

They're simply running away from nothing, I guess.

Nothingness could be scary but it shouldn't scare them like that, right?

After they finally noticed me, they switched direction and headed for me truly.

I removed the cloth and placed it on somewhere where blood shouldn't be able to reach.

With that, I'm ready to fight. It feels lighter to fight naked after all.

When they're that close, I could see that there's maybe more than 20 of them there, and almost all of them naked as well. There's two that have that cloth thing covering their groin area but that's about it.

As the first goblin finally reached me, I kicked it off towards the others, this time not holding back so it was more powerful than I expected.

At least 3 of them died from just that.

Another pounced at my face and upon looking closely, they have this expression that they badly want to eat me up.

The same goes for the group yesterday as well.

If I just get my face a little bit too close, they'll most likely lick my face until it's covered in their saliva.

Not something I want.

Anyway, I crushed that particular goblin's skull and threw it to the others still catching up. Then came another than tried to pounce at me. I did the same to it and threw it to the others as well.

But some had other ideas and settled with pouncing towards my legs. I kicked some away but still, some got through and cling on my legs which obstructed my movement for quite a bit.

Of course, not all of them did that and some just started hitting me with torn off branches.

And thus, I started kicking them all without care, even if some are still clinging on my legs using their sharp fingers.

When any one of them got too close, I caught their heads with my palm and used their body to any other who got too close as well.

It's such a sloppy way of fighting. I know that if I were fighting humans, I wouldn't stand much of a chance. With or without arrows.

Now that I think about it, this might be a good practice.

I can't possibly die from these goblins because the damage that they do to me, although it's quite painful, are simply insignificant since I could heal it a matter of seconds.

Eventually, I managed to defeat all of the goblins that came this time.

I have a feeling that this should be really easy but it took longer than expected. I should focus on improving my fighting capabilities.

If I ever encounter something the same or stronger than me, no matter how great my regeneration is, I would simply die if I receive a mortal wound.

And even if that didn't happen, if I can't fight properly then I wouldn't be able to defeat that enemy and it'll come down to who can last the longest.

I'd like to avoid that if possible.

And there's also the problem if how painful it is to use my own body parts as a weapon. When I constantly do it, it starts to get really painful. I'd like something to use as a weapon other than my own limbs. Like a sword.

"Phew…"

I let out a sigh as I look at the devastated portion of the forest.

Bodies were thrown about and not a single one of them are intact. I resorted to cutting their heads at some point but due to how small goblin necks are, it's not really easy so I sometimes end up smashing their skulls open instead, which made even more mess.

Just thinking about the dealing with all this mess is making me feel tired. It looks more troublesome last time because there are more bodies to dispose of.

This part of the forest is far off from the village.

Knowing that fact, can I just leave this be?

It shouldn't bother the village if ever this place attracts something.

And if the goblins were to see this, they might stop whatever they're trying to achieve.

I'd say the good thing about leaving this be is that it could potentially ward off other goblins, free food for the forest residents, and doesn't involve cleaning.

As for the bad thing, this should spawn is basically nonexistent.

Yup! Let's leave this be. Now off to go and wash myself.

After that, I put on the cloth over my still damp body and made my way back to the house.

Since it's still in the middle of the night, Sun and Night should still be asleep.

Perfect.

I could still very well enjoy the warm space between them for a while longer.

I navigated through the dark forest with no problem and quickly arrived at the house.

But when I arrived there, I saw two villagers standing at the front of the house.

It seems they're talking about something.

For now, let's listen in.

"Are you sure it isn't just your imagination, Connor?"

"Like I was tellin' you, Dave! I saw it clearly! Somethin' came out from this house. It was wearing a cloak or somethin' and it's dark so I couldn't make it out."

Ah… That must be me.

I think I also didn't lock the door when I left…

Oops. I was careless.