'Lupa won once again. Maybe that will teach Ester to join his harem.' Kazumi slyly thought. Ester had a hard time sleeping that night. The idea of Vincent opening his eyes haunted her mind. It kept echoing until the stress from embarrassment forced her to wake up every now and then. *Day 13 Vincent opened his eye. High above him was the cave ceiling, yet he felt trapped as if it held him down. His right arm felt mysteriously numb, but he didn't apply the numb paste on his arm. Vincent soon felt a warm yet wet feeling on his numb right arm. As he turned his head to check what was happening, a pair of fluffy white ears appeared in his view. [Morning sunny boy. Don't worry. You didn't do anything inappropriate while sleeping; in fact, any of you barely moved an inch. Man, that was anticlimactic.] "Huh?" Vincent noticed Lupa using his arm as her pillow. 'No wonder my arm is numb. Lupa likes to do what she wants. But... I can feel someone breathing against my back.' Vincent thought. Vincent noticed Ester sleeping curled on his left side. Her face rested next to his back as he could feel her every breath. He didn't know how he got into such a situation. [You slept like a log surrounded by three women. How does it feel? Are you excited enough, hehe.] -I don't want to talk about it.- Vincent turned back, facing Lupa. He tried to remove his arm without waking her. He wanted some time alone, away from the girls. To breathe the fresh air of nature was his current salvation. [How noble of you. But one day you can't stop the sailing ship.] Vincent didn't respond. He gently removed his arm, swiftly stood up, and sneaked outside. However, he could feel the disappointment Kazumi sent his way. [Heh... You still have a lot to learn about women.] "Whatever, just don't look at me. " Vincent said with a pair of red cheeks as he lowered his pants. [You shy boy. I have seen you do wee-wee for years. I've seen all of you, so don't worry, this cute wisp likes what she sees, hehe.] "Stop... this is too embarrassing for me!" Vincent couldn't win against the teasing expert Kazumi. Her words always hit the right spots like an archer that never misses. Vincent returned after a few minutes of calming down, but his face was still flushed red. Unfortunately, he could turn Kazumi's telepathic voice off. 'How can I make her stay quiet without using Soul Power? Will she become embarrassed if I tell her, "I like you?" and shut her mouth?' Vincent pondered while entering the cave. With a determined gaze, he decided to say it. -Hey, my cute wisp.- [Yes, dear, hehe.] -I don't know if you already know, but I like you.- Kazumi suddenly became unresponsive. She didn't say the usual comeback, leaving his mind quiet from her voice. Kazumi could feel a strange feeling from these words. Her green wisp body made of mana fluttered light waves around her. Under her white shining eyes appeared a white blush. 'What's happening to my body? Did I actually become embarrassed by his words? I have known him for so long that I should become immune to these words.' Kazumi pondered alone in his pitch-black Soul Domain. However, she didn't know that the more she knew Vincent and teased him, the more she wanted him to accept her. 'What if I also have the Soul Synch stat? Vincent didn't inspect me after I became his retainer. Will he find a high value of affection?' Kazumi became embarrassed as she thought about this fact. The plan to drag him inside his Soul Domain, talk face-to-face, and feel his touch became harder for her to do. Kazumi suddenly understood why Vincent didn't want Ester or Lupa to find about this. Knowing about a visible meter of affection would drive anyone mad or force them to do actions, unlike their usual self. Do I like him enough? Am I liked enough? Were questions best found instead through the action of receiving a constant update like a game. This is what Kazumi believed in. On the other hand, Vincent raised a smug smile feeling like a victor. Kazumi was quiet, stuck in long deep thought. In the meantime, he continued preparing the cart. After Vincent finished, he decided to play a small prank. He sneakily approached the two sleeping girls. He carefully removed the pelt covering them, lifted their hands, and made them hold each other's hand. Vincent nudged the two to wake up. When their eyes opened, he said with a bright smile, "This is a nice sight. You are like real sisters holding each other's hands while sleeping. I'm happy for both of you, hehe." Both Ester and Lupa gazed at their hands. They couldn't believe his words because his right sleeve was wet from drool for all to see. Both thought he tried to do something nice while raising a light smile. Lupa pulled herself up, approached Vincent with an alluring smile, and whispered in his ear, "It was a good night." "Ahem... We should prepare to leave, right?" Ester cleared her throat to stop their hug while feeling uneasy. Her heart unsteady beat as she gazed at the two. "Yes, yes. Ester is right." Vincent used the excuse to back away from Lupa. Lupa wagged her tail in happiness for leaving her mark on his dominant arm as she sniffed his sleeve with a smile before Vincent escaped from her. His heart could take so much before it would burst. Half an hour later, the cart was packed with everything they could place inside. Then the three thanked the cave one last time before leaving. Strangely, Vincent felt homely in the cave as it protected them from the rain, Ester getting healed, meeting Kazumi, and slept with a girl on each side. A dream he never thought would become real. Leaving the cave made him feel a bit sad. Vincent began pulling the cart alone. He didn't want any help from Ester or Lupa. His body appeared to become stronger. Not only that, but he also felt like the cart was more comfortable to pull. [Look at you. It's like spartan training where you pull the cart all day. Your strength returned from the long break, so why don't you give the girls a ride?] Vincent liked the idea, but he decided to wait a bit until he opens his services. Even though the cart was a bit lighter, it would become heavier to pull. Time slowly passed until half a day soon past them. Vincent felt strange. As if he became an expert cart puller. He wasn't as tired as before. Not even his muscles cried from half a day of pulling. "Ester, are you tired?" Vincent stopped. He looked behind and asked with a hint of worry. He wasn't sure she could walk that far since he knew she liked to hide her pain. Ester gently nodded. She tried to hide the fact of being tried, but her legs gave her situation away as both trembled from exhaustion. "Let me give both of you a ride. I need to become stronger, so think of it as helping me while helping yourselves." Vincent said with a bright smile. He rearranged the pelt to sit on. Then he patted the pelt to invite them to Vincent's transportation service. Lupa became happy. She swiftly climbed and sat on the cart while her tail wagged non stop. She was happy without a doubt. Ester sighed. She felt embarrassed for not being any help. However, her strength was still weak. She did her best to keep up with them, but it felt like a nightmare walking at their pace. "It doesn't look like it's going to rain soon. The temperature is also becoming warmer the farther we walk away from the mountains." Vincent raised his gaze at the cloudless sky. It felt like an empty blue canvas, yet it felt captivating at the same time. Ester decided to climb the cart, but it was hard to raise her exhausted legs. Lupa extended her hands to help while Vincent approached from behind, placed his hands on her waist, and lifted her inside. [How bold of you. I will give you ten points for this action.] Vincent didn't respond as he noticed where he touched. He averted his gaze, rushed to grab the handles, and resumed pulling the cart. "Are you ok, sister? Your face is red..." Lupa asked before Ester covered her mouth to stop talking. "Wh-what food do we have?" Ester tried to change the subject with a pair of blushed cheeks. "A few pork jerkies and the frozen spicy soup. I think we should take the soup at night since it can help you with the relaxation buff." Vincent said while pulling the cart. The idea of eating the spicy soup made the three frown at the idea. However, it was somewhat healthy for their long day. [Let me recap. We began this journey on the fourth day you arrived in this world. That means nine days have passed in the forest. But we didn't make much progress because of Ester's problem that this cute wisp fixed.] -Ester said it would take around three to four weeks. I hope we at least covered four to five days worth of traveling.- [Honestly, I don't know. But we won't have any problems if we find food. Ester can also freeze food, so our problems would disappear if we can find a river with fish.] Vincent nodded. He hoped a river would welcome them in the upcoming days as the pork jerkies weren't an infinite food source. Hours later, the sun left, and the moon welcomed them once again. They stopped to rest. Ester and Lupa lit a small campfire and heated the frozen spicy soup. Vincent touched his body, brimming with curiosity. He walked all day and gave the girls a ride for half a day. However, he wasn't exhausted or winded. He was only tired. [It feels a bit weird watching you touch yourself. But it's very unusual. Your hair grew by a centimeter, and your ABS have become more apparent. Even your biceps are forming a nice muscular curve.] -I thought you were about to joke like, "Do you like playing with yourself that much?"- [I was about to say that, but this cute wisp wanted to give you some time to rest. I'm very respectful after all.] Vincent momentarily froze in shock. 'She is very respectful? Then if she wasn't very respectful, what would she do?' He pondered in horror. "The soup is cooking. Do you feel exhausted from pulling us? You can rest, so leave everything to me." Ester approached when Vincent made a horrified face. She worried his body was aching from pulling the cart alone all day. Vincent shook his head to remove the horrifying thoughts of an unrespectful Kazumi. He then followed Ester and sat on the grass. The sound of the crackling campfire felt soothing. The sound of the wooden ladle banging in a rhythm against the pot made his eyes feel heavy. Vincent was about to fall asleep when Lupa said with a frown, "Food is ready." Vincent grabbed three spoons and placed a tiny amount of numb paste on each. It was a relieving medicine before they ate the very spicy snail soup of relaxation. Soon, the last of the spicy soup was in their bellies. Once again, the three spent a night of laughing at each other for their funny lisp. As the time to sleep approached, Lupa said with a funny lisp, "I want to stay up for a few, howers. You can sleep before mees." Vincent understood her intention. Lupa had her fists clenched with determination. She walked for half a day and sat in the cart pulled by Vincent for the remainder of the day. Watching Vincent trying to improve gave her the urge to improve herself.