Cain slowly rose from his slumber, disturbing the resting fluff ball who laid beside him. Sinclair groggily drifted into his home dimension, his body swaying back and forth. Dresil retracted the walls of the cavern once the portal to Sinclair’s dimension closed.

[I’m surprised you woke up without my assistance.] Her voice entered Cain’s head as he let out a yawn. Her tone was off; longing and unwillingness present, yet acceptance and understanding remained prevalent. ‘Same… Guess I’m getting used to waking up this early.’ Cain thought to himself, too lazy to transmit it to Dresil knowing she’d read his memories at some point, at least, that was the reason Cain’s subconscious filter allowed to surface.

The rising sun illuminated the party’s way as they made breakfast and quickly ate. Those who did not cook, took down the tents and cleaned up the campsite as much as possible. They were the ones to eat first, but also the ones to wash the dishes while the cooks ate. Cain helped here and there, ensuring a smooth and fast departure.

“Let’s pack up the rest soon so we can make it to the next spot before sunset.” Victoria instructed the party once everyone neared the point of finishing their meals. “This will be our last ride before we start the quest, so make sure you rest well.” Victoria and Jared cleaned everyone’s dishes, since Veronica and Jacob were on breakfast duty. Veronica ate silently next to Cain, her nervousness gone, but her shyness remained due to last night’s events.

“Finally…” Jared muttered under his breath, eager to get his muscles moving after spending the past couple of weeks idling around with light physical activity. He quickly cleaned their dishes, unaware of Victoria’s subtle advances.

Dresil cleaned and tossed the dishes used to make Cain’s breakfast, occasionally stealing a few glances at him and Veronica. A green tint permeated her iris, yet not enough to act on.

The party departed shortly after and arrived at their destination about 9 hours later. The sun hid beneath the treeline, signaling Veronica to steer the carriage into a nearby clearing and get the camp set up.

The members speedily set up their tents, unconsciously racing against Dresil. They panted and looked over to Cain’s area to see his usual root cavern aboveground, the dirt around its base long settled. A clear sign of defeat.

Cain stretched near the carriage with his eyes closed, taking a deep breath of the wild air. He estimated the number of hostiles within a hundred meter radius, purely based on his instincts out of curiosity. Shortly after, a wave of his mana tagged every being within said radius and presented the hostile count to him in a disguised mana-text: 62.

‘Huh… I was eight off this time…’ He contemplated while plopping down on a log around the campfire. Victoria lit the fire while Jacob and Veronica put the finishing touches on their tents. Shadows scurried away from the light; their darkness sharply increasing moments after. Victoria looked up to see a cube of portals that isolated the campsite from its surroundings.

“You guys can rest easy tonight. Rest well since you’ll need to be in top shape for this quest.” Cain stated, drawing everyone’s attention to himself while he pointed towards the portal cube. ‘I can’t have their exhaustion interfere with the battle tomorrow… I’d like to see them fight for a while in their top state to study their techniques some.’ Cain reasoned for Rex, whom he predicted would question his actions.

Jacob and Jared heaved a sigh of relief, they were getting particularly exhausted and dreaded the night before quests, since the lack of security reached its peak. Whether it was because the journey exhausted the members, or because they were closest to the quest zone at this point in time, if they weren’t in an inn, the chances of getting injured before starting were high.

“Well… you heard him. Relax, talk, do whatever I guess…” Victoria was at a loss of words. Although she did predict Cain would do something to retain their peak states so he could observe them, she wasn’t expecting this.

Although he did something similar in the ruins, there were no prying eyes at that time. The longer Cain remained in their party, the more confused Victoria got about his personality. Some moments he seemed reserved and calculated, others were impulsive and fluid, lacking the forceful or reckless nature that usually accompanied implusiveness.

“Oh, we haven’t done this yet. Cain, would you like to participate in an introduction kind of game? We already know each other's answers, but we could share them all again.” The ambiguity behind Cain’s personality reminded Victoria of an ice-breaker type game that they had forgotten to do earlier.

Everyone gathered around the campfire, with Victoria and Jared making dinner, anticipating his response. Cain munched on some skewers with anticipation as well, until he realized they were waiting for him. “Oh… sure, why not?” Cain quickly stated before the awkward silence set in to stay.

“What are your 7 Deadly Sins?” Everyone leaned forward once Victoria asked the golden question, eagerly awaiting Cain’s answer. ‘Huh…?’ Cain too leaned forward, returning their steadfast gazes with a confused one of his own. Each second increased their anticipation but furthered Cain’s confusion.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (3237ms)

Cain: …what are they talking about?

Dresil: Sec…

Dresil: It appears Draven established the 7 Deadly Sins as the Zodiac Signs were established in Earth to gain popularity and traction.

Dresil: The theory of the deadly sins was proposed by another priest, but Draven’s actions and information that filled its holes allowed the idea to gain acceptance in the church. He used this to further himself among their ranks.

Dresil: It’s now used as a common method for finding out about someone’s personality like the Zodiac Signs are.

Dresil: Just reply with the sin name, the intensity, and the frequency.

Cain: …Draven is that bishop that got turned into an answer machine right?

Dresil: Yep.

Cain: Sweet, thanks.

--------------------------

“Hmmm… let’s see…” Cain leaned back, resting his left leg over his right knee. “I guess gluttony would be constant and out of 10, a 1. Envy would be a 1 or a 2 and rarely, lust would be constant and at 10, greed would be—what? What’s with those looks for?” Cain paused mid speech due to the sudden strange looks he received when he mentioned lust.

A sigh interrupted a skewer from being consumed, with a straight poker face, Cain asked the party, “You know lust isn’t all about sexual desire right?”

“Oh my.” Victoria muttered, Veronica’s instantly averted her gaze, her cheeks heated up some due to the embarrassing moment. Jared and Jacob looked around the forest, pretending they heard nothing.

‘Pffft, their reactions are pretty childish despite their age. Is talk about sex really that shunned? It’s just two opposite genders mating…’ Cain held himself back from laughing, the party’s reactions to his teasing simply priceless. [You’re probably the only one with that train of thought…] Dresil’s voice snapped him out of his playful mood.

‘Eh… I guess you’re right. Anyways…’ Cain cleared his throat, and with it the uncomfortable atmosphere that lingered. “To lust means to desire, whether you desire food, money, or intercourse, it doesn’t matter.” Before the party could get caught up on the last item Cain mentioned, he continued his Sinful Layout.

“Let’s see… I believe I left off with greed. That’s at a 10 and constant. Pride is eh… I don’t really understand this one so I’m not entirely sure. Sloth would be a 10 and constant. Wrath would be… I guess an 11 but rarely occur.” The party nodded here and there once Cain finished, sometimes accompanied with a hum of understanding.

“Wait… why is wrath an 11? What do you do to those who trigger it?” Victoria’s keen ears picked up a peculiarity. Usually a sin with a high rating came with a high frequency. Her question also piqued the interest of the other party members; the air was once again filled with anticipation.

Cain chugged a glass of soda then sated their curiosity. “Before my wrath is actually triggered, it’s predated by a warning then a threat. Most people aren’t dumb enough to even get past the threat, let alone the severity of the deed to even get warned.

“If someone walks into my room and steals a book, I’m not going to warn them or get mad. That doesn’t mean I’ll accept what they did. I’ll either get them to pay for it or return the book. As you can see, I don’t get angry that easy, I even have a hard time holding a grudge.” Cain rubbed the back of his neck as he paused to devour a skewer.

“Anyways… If they get past my threat, then I’d show them hell. They’ll watch as everything before them crumbles until a light of hope is given. Once they grasp that light, one that I would’ve offered behind the scenes, I’ll take it away once more.

“When they try to commit suicide, I’ll stop them. My wrath ends once they realize that not even their life is controlled by them anymore.” Cain’s revelation stunned the party. These were methods beyond what the tyrants they knew of used.

“Relax… The only way someone could possibly go that far is if they harm someone or something I care about. If it’s anything solely related to me, for some reason I have a hard time getting mad about it.” Cain attempted to lighten the mood some, yet it only brought more questions.

Cain answered their questions for a bit then redirected them to their earlier promise of stating their Sinful Layout. The night continued on with some miniscule conversations after they were done. Victoria naturally shuffled closer and closer to Cain with every refill of dinner until she finally sat next to him.

“You know you could’ve just walked over here right? There’s no need to stuff yourself like a turkey to make it seem natural.” Cain greeted Victoria as she sat down with her 5th bowl of soup.

“Bruh… You should’ve told me that earlier. I feel like I’ve gained a few pounds just from this.” Victoria sighed as she complained about the woes of maintaining her figure for a few minutes. “So… what do I do with this bowl?” She suddenly asked, realizing she won’t be able to eat it yet not wanting to waste food.

“Just sneak it to Sinclair.” Cain replied, the pup in question shuffled his head near Victoria once he realized he was getting more food. Victoria casually slid the bowl behind her, allowing Cain to drift it to the forest floor for Sinclair to eat.

“So, what brings you here?” Cain asked, staring into the campfire. Victoria observed Veronica and Jared, ensuring they weren’t able to hear their following conversation. She only relaxed when she saw the two and Jacob start playing a card game.

“How do you like your dumplings? You know… the ones the wife offers her husband at night?” Victoria meekly asked, trying her best to hide her awkwardness with the subject while portraying the hidden meaning.

“Ah… I didn’t know you were a woman of culture.” Cain replied, instantly understanding Victoria hinted to the breasts of the wife. “Yeah… There were some… interesting… comics locked away in my clan.” Victoria’s cheek flushed with a pink hue remembering those graphic images.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (8ms)

Cain: They have comics here?

Dresil: Nah, the term she used was a generic term for “picture book” but she was talking about a doujin so I just used “comic.”

Cain: Ah, I see.

--------------------------

“The bigger the better for me. Although my final decision on who I marry doesn’t take into account their body. Meaning if a woman’s body matched all of my preferences, but her personality didn’t match up to another whose body was the complete opposite, I’d choose the second woman.” Cain revealed his marriage selection process to Victoria, who merely nodded after getting more than she bargained for.

“...that was payback for my earlier rant, wasn’t it?” Realization dawned upon her as she recalled how long she talked about trying to maintain her skinny figure a few minutes ago. Cain merely shrugged, awaiting for the real reason Victoria sat next to him.

“Anyways… Veronica’s dumplings are slightly bigger than Catherine’s. She just has them wrapped against her chest to prevent them from getting in the way.” Victoria’s revelation slightly surprised Cain. He quickly used his Mana Zone to inspect the areas below her armpits, looking for a level difference in the surface that’d indicate the bandages’ existence.

“Huh… She really did wrap them…” Cain muttered upon confirming Victoria’s piece of priceless information. “But why are they still so big?” His unbridled confusion plastered upon his face. Normally big breasts and breasts pressed against the body could not coexist since the latter would prevent them from growing.

“I don’t know… I know she hasn’t been with another man though, let alone had an interest in anyone.” Victoria answered, the two of them quickly looked away when Veronica noticed they were staring at her.

“Ah, I wasn’t worried about that. Even a child could tell the poor girl has little romantic experience.” Victoria chuckled from Cain’s remark. As her chuckle slowly faded off, the atmosphere got increasingly awkward.

“Can… I ask you for some advice?” Cain answered Victoria’s request with a nod, and a skewer that he devoured mid nod. “Do you think… Jared hates me?” Victoria bit her lip, unwilling to accept what she stated as a possibility.

“Pffft, if he hates you even after he finds out about everything you did for him, then I’d slap him myself. And I’m talking about after the period in which he wants distance to process the revelation.

“Ah, that’s right. During that time period, just let him be. And it’d be best if you allowed Jared to achieve something completely on his own. So he’s not questioning whether or not everything was handed to him and goes off to do something stupid while he’s confused.”

Cain’s words reassured Victoria, who was increasingly worried about the moment Jared came to know everything. That is, until she realized Cain knew about such things.

“Wait, that’s not what I—” She attempted to speak up, yet was cut off by an “I know” that Cain mumbled while tossing an empty skewer into the Mana Trash dimension.

“You were wondering why Jared tries to flirt with every girl he sees other than you right? Well, let me ask you this. How does Jared see Veronica?” Cain’s questions stunned Victoria for a short moment. She had always forgotten how much insight and knowledge he had due to his aloofness and focus on food.

‘Is that merely a facade to get others to lower his guard? No… that can’t be. That’d mean every action, even his laziness, is calculated… Wouldn’t that contradict his slothful nature?’ Victoria struggled to put two and two together, finally resigning not to do so after about a minute passed. “He sees her as a sister, right?” Victoria shifted her focus to her conversation with Cain instead.

“Exactly. He sees you guys as family so he’s probably chasing after women to get his mind off you. He has feelings for you, but doesn’t want to act on them because he’s scared that it’d make things awkward in the party.

“So he decided it’d be best to chase you away by showing you he’s an unreliable player. It’s a defense mechanism to prevent change. Although it’s a horrible and childish method to go about it… Anyways, that’s just what I think after watching you two over the past two weeks.” Victoria spent the next few minutes thinking over Cain’s words.

“Does that mean… he’s noticed all of my signs?” She finally broke the silence with a pressing question.

“Eh, maybe a quarter or half of them. He’s not absurdly dense, but he’s still pretty dense. If you want anything to change you’ll probably have to tell him upfront.” Veronica and Jacob called it a night and went into their tents.

“Anything else?” Cain asked once he saw the two depart for their tents. “No… thanks.” Victoria absent-mindedly stated, pondering over everything he said.

“Anytime. Remember not to set up the situation for Jared to do something on his own, that’d defeat the purpose. Just trust him.” And with those words, Cain disappeared into his cavern of roots for the night.

Victoria helped Jared clean up the utensils and the campsite, yet did not make a move during this time. The two of them retreated to their tents shortly after to get a peaceful night of rest thanks to Cain’s isolation of the campsite.