When Geral opened his eyes, it was five days later. A young girl's voice greeted him:

"He's awake!"

She spoke in a sweet way, lengthening the e every time.

He slowly turned his head to the left and saw Zera's smiling face jumping up and down. He was surprised to see how beautiful the girl really was.

Noviel entered the room. She was dressed in a simple bathrobe. He was happy to see her beautiful and smiling face. Did he dream about her again?

"How are you feeling?" - she asked as soon as their eyes met

He moaned. “I could feel better. What is wrong with me?"

He lifted the sheet that covered him to look at his naked body.

Noviel explained expertly: “Pustules. You're covered in pustules all over!”

He moaned again, greatly displeased. She shrugged:

“I had the same problem for two days. I'm almost fine now."

Lifting the robe, she allowed him a more than generous look at her legs.

"See? Hardly a trace. Anabella said it would be completely gone in a week. Oh wait, I want to show you something!"

She left. Zera shrugged and looked at him. "Are you hungry?"

He nodded and watched as she hurried off to get him some food from the kitchen. Noviel appeared shortly after, wearing only a mini skirt, covering her breasts with her hands.

"So what do you say?"

His eyes were bulging in his head. Was this another trick of his overheated imagination? "Ahem?" She sighed, dropping her hands unceremoniously.

“Can I go out dressed like this? Say something! Is it too short?”

He swallowed hard, trying to make sense of it. He realized that she was in no way flirting with him. She just didn't consider it in the realm of the possible. She really wanted his advice and that, oddly enough, made him feel better.

"I assume you'll be wearing a blouse on the way out?"

She rolled her eyes, laughing, “You're worse than Anabella! Sure I'll have a blouse on, but can't you imagine it now? I'm not sure which one would fit; I'm asking about the skirt now, not the blouse!? Is that okay?”

“Maybe a little too bold? Does anyone want to introduce mini skirts here? Plus, it's best to wait until your skin is completely healed to reveal it. It would look better."

She pouted. “What's wrong with mini skirts here? You're no fun!” - she left.

He sighed. Yes, he had earned the right to see her bare skin, but it wasn't quite what he had imagined. She looked at him like at a .. brother? No...worse...a sister? Yeah, something like that. A parent? A father? Worse? What could be worse than that?

What did she ask?

"Where do you want to go?" - he shouted to be heard.

"It's a party tonight!" – replied Noviel from the other room.

He swallowed. A party? He sighed. Well, she's a young girl, and she should be going to parties.

She came back with a set of dresses, pants and blouses.

“This is all I have. I want to be well dressed for the party, so I rely on your expert opinion. I mean, I want to look good, please!”

“My expert opinion? Party? And who are you going with?”

"I'm going with some friends! Anabella knows them and has already allowed me to go!” – Noviel hastily explained to avoid that conversation as she undressed and put on her next set.

He gulped down the food Zera had put into his mouth, forgetting to chew. "Wait, I can do that!" – he protested, taking the spoon in his hand.

He shook his head at Noviel - "No, that dress is too revealing!"

"That's the point! You're worse than Anabella!” - Noviel tried to protest but still threw the dress away with a sigh.

They finally agreed on a blue dress to match her blue eyes and straw-blonde hair.

“These colours match perfectly, and the cut is great. You look gorgeous in it!” he said as she took a few steps.

"Yay!" - she admired herself in the mirror, doing a pirouette and then came to his bed and gave him a kiss on the cheek - "Thank you, Geral!"

He smiled, looking a little worried and proud at her.

"More Soup?" Zera asked, taking the empty bowl from his hands. He nodded and watched as she hurried to the kitchen.

He sighed and put his hands under his head.

"Where's Awa?" - he asked, realizing she was missing.

"She still hasn't returned from today's round!" - shouted Noviel from the other room.

"What round?"

"She's working with a monster cleaning team. Imagine she's a level twelve mage now!"

"What the fuck? How come? Impossible!"

"Yeah, everyone says that. You know I'm level twenty-one? I was with her team today, but I came back early to get ready for the party!"

"But… but… How come…"

He sighed. He was still level nineteen. Noviel answered from the other room:

"Anabella says the high magical density around the city helps!"

“But it's still not normal what Awa did. Such rapid levelling is impossible!”

"Who are you telling this to! And yet she did it; she must have some secrets. She had told me that she can use ambient mana, and thus she can spell more often than others, but I don't know if that's all. Does this make sense to you?”

She returned to his room. She was wrapping her hair with a hot iron rod.

"Where did you learn that?" - he asked.

“The girls in town use hot rods like this. You can make your hair stay the way you want it to be!” - she explained expertly.

"Awa taught me a spell!" - said Zera proudly, handing him the bowl of soup.

"A spell?" - Geral asked, turning his eyes to the little girl.

"From her spells book! Look!" – said Zera showing a small electrical discharge between her thumb and forefinger.

"Cool!” - he nodded appreciatively.

"Am I looking good like this?" Noviel asked, turning to look at him. Her eyes, with long eyelashes, smiled at him lovingly. There was nothing boyish about her now; the dress beautifully emphasized her perfect body. His heart beatings accelerated. He was feeling proud of her beauty. He had never seen her in a dress.

"Wow!" - he exclaimed sincerely - “You look gorgeous! Where did you get those shoes?”

“Anabella bought them! Thanks! I love you! Bye! Bye Zera! Bye!"

He sighed, watching her as she left. He knew she hadn't lied. He tried to digest what had just happened. It felt good and right. He took a deep breath.

Zera shrugged, then grinned.

"Do you want to tell me a story?"

That took him by surprise. "A story?"

"Yes. I listened when you told Awa a story last week. I have good ears!" - she tapped her ear proudly - "but I missed part of it... You know when you entered the cave and Cornelia broke her leg?"

He chuckled. “Oh… OK… It was just the two of us and….”

After a while, she fell asleep on his side. He sighed and covered her with a blanket he found on his bed.

Family life. Is this what family life is like? He hadn't been prepared for this, but here he was.

He sighed again. He had realized that he had no chance with Noviel, but absolutely no chance of getting romantically involved with her, but curiously, he wasn't sad about it. The relationship they had now was... simply beautiful. She trusted him, and he could trust her.

But that was an oversimplification; their relationship was much more profound. He cared about her to the level that he did not hesitate to risk his life, and she loved him back in her own way. Yes, he was sure she cared about him. Didn't she say I love you?

There was no way he was going to risk destroying this relationship. For what?

Same with Awa. He was worried about her. Let's hope everything will be alright with her. He was concerned and proud. Why was he proud of her? He shrugged. He simply was.

His thoughts returned to Noviel. Party! Damn, this is a players' town, and he didn't tell her to be careful! Will the bloody players respect her or abuse the NPC?

He tried to stand up and groaned. No, he wasn't ready to go yet. Let's hope it goes well. He must speak to Anabella as soon as she returns; maybe she could check on Noviel.

He wondered where she could be. He took a deep breath, and his eyes fell on Zera.

How Anabella had managed to transform this girl so quickly was a miracle! Not only bodily, but she must have suffered some soul damage before. And now she slept happily as if this had always been her world.

He swallowed again.

He wondered where Sarah was. Not that he wanted her services, he was too battered for that. She was probably with Anabella somewhere.

He fell asleep again.