Chapter 53 – Spirit Feed (2/2)

”Ah, yes!”

The girl quickly turned back to face me, her expression immediately clearing up now that the strange impression on my clothes was gone. Though in reality it simply moved from my belly and lower chest to my upper chest, it was much less noticeable and strange looking.

At least I was hoping so.

”Mary, did you wake Miss Scarlet up?”

Mint voice rang out before revealing himself from the wagon's side.

”Ah, you are. We've arrived at Littleton Village. We'll be staying here for a day then we'll continue on in the morning. I've already rented some rooms in an inn. Are you fine with sharing one with Mary?”

”Oh, yea, sure.”

The girl's face lit up to my casual agreement. I felt a bit bad since I had a bunch of work to do and wouldn't be able to accommodate whatever she was thinking of. Hopefully I wouldn't have to spend all the time we had in this village handling Claret.

”The innkeeper is preparing dinner. The dining hall is this way.”

”Ah, no, is it fine if I take a walk around instead?”

Mint and the girl stopped in their tracks and turned back to me.

”That's fine, but if you don't hurry, the freshly made meal will be cold by the time you get to eat.”

”That's fine. I just want to have a look around.”

”This late at night? The sun's almost down.”

”Ah, erm. Just in case, you know? I'll feel better if I knew the lay of the land, if you know what I mean.”

”It's perfectly safe inside the village, but if you insist, I won't force the issue. Don't push yourself too hard Miss Scarlet. We still have a long journey ahead of us so you should rest when you can.”

”I'll remember that.”

With those words, I headed in the opposite direction. On the other side of the wagon, I saw the other two adventurers on the ground. The cat boi was on the ground and in an arm bind with the other sitting on his back. He took one glance at me and tears started to run down his face as his expression immediately changed from determination to pure frustration. The other guy just gave me a relieved smile before letting go of the other's arm and gave me a wave as I passed.

Those guys weren't worth expending any energy to understand. The little time I had spent watching them made me understand that quite well.

I made my way around the village until I found a small space between two large buildings that did a good job of hiding me. Disengaging [Materialize], I activated [Float] and pushed myself into the air with [Tempest Magic].

As I had made an excuse regarding it, I took a few minutes to casually memorize the layout of the village from above. There weren't many roads or significant landmarks, so it wasn't difficult at all to do.

In the time it took for me to do so though, the sun had made it's escape and the purple skies were quickly being vanquished by the beautiful stars and black curtains of the night sky. I took a moment to admire the stars along with the three moons before I turned my mind to what I needed to do immediately.

”Hold tight.”

Without the slightest bit of hesitation despite her not knowing what I was about to do next, she strengthened her grip on me, firmly pressing her chest against my back. Thinking about it, Claret was the first person to do that to me between both of my lives. I've had quite a lot of time to experience and get used to breasts now that I had a pair of my own, yet despite that, the second I was touching someone else's, even if it was through several layers of thick cloth and a bag, it felt completely refreshing.

”Is something the matter my master?”

”Ah, no. Ahem It's nothing.”

Hoping that Claret didn't notice anything, I made to get my next bit of business done quickly. Activating [Alter Silhouette], I grew wings from my back and passed them through the slits in my robes and out from underneath the dark spirit's body.

”Waaaaoooowww! You can grow wings now? That's wonderful! It's incredible!”

A grin leaked out from my mouth right before I raised my wings and flapped down as hard as I could.

”Waaahhhh! Hahahaha! This is unbelievable! It's so fast!”

It was a little disappointing that she didn't freak out at the sudden acceleration, but I couldn't hate such a response, so I started to flap again, diverting my flight from straight up to forward.

As quickly as I could, I flew in every manoeuvre I could think of, doing loops and rolling scissors, barrel rolls and Immelmanns, all the while Claret screaming in joy a little painfully into my ear. But I really enjoyed sharing this experience. I hoped that someday I could share it with Alicia as well.

”Wow, that's so amazing. Did you use the same skill to change your eyes and fangs as well?”

”Huh? Oh, yea.”

I didn't think she would've noticed the fangs, but maybe she was more observative than I thought?

”Well, now then...”

Checking my surroundings, I quickly found what I was looking for and with a single flap of my wings, dove for it. A single light slap on the back of it's neck and the charge boar I was aiming for had it's head bent to an impossible angle. For a moment, it stood there frozen in that strange pose mid-stride, before it toppled over to its side without any resistance.

With a few light flaps, I came around and landed beside the dead boar.

”Oh, before I do this, do you want some more food?”

”Huh? Umm...is it alright?”

Rather than answer with words, I simply produced an apple-sized mana treat and held it over my shoulder. Letting go of me, I turned around to see Claret's eyes sparkles as she stared at her food, holding it up reverently.

(Seriously, don't worship your food.)

She took a bite out of it and beamed in delight as she chewed. Everything about her was so cute and innocent despite her mature appearance. It was so difficult to reconcile with the fact that she was hundreds of years old.

Shaking that awkward thought out of my head, I just basked in the aura of pure joy she emitted as she ate.

Suddenly, the aura grew even stronger as her smile widened even further. Before I knew it, my hand was on her head and I was already petting her as she ate. My other hand was itching to touch her as well.

(Ahh, what the hell is with this cute thing? I wanna hug it so bad!)

My expression got a bit screwed up as I held back from interrupting Claret's meal, though I continued to stroke her head.

”Thanks for the meal!”

Suddenly my reverie was broken and I came back to reality.

”Ah, um, as long as you enjoyed it.”

”It was amazing! Your mana treats are always the best Master!”

”Ah, I see. Thanks.”

Claret pounced onto me and buried her face into my chest as she wrapped her arms around my back. I put one hand on her back and stroked her hair with the other.

(...wait a sec.)

”Did you just call it a mana treat?”

”Yes?”

The dark spirit's face appeared in the valley of my chest and she tilted her head.

”Where did you hear that name?”

”From you.”

”I never said it out loud.”

Scanning through my memories, I was sure that I had never actually said those words out loud in front of Claret. There shouldn't have been any ways for her to have learned what I called those meals I gave the spirits.

”You did. You've always called those mana clusters mana treats. Even back before you died.”

I froze.

(The other Scarlet called them that too? Is it just a coincidence?)

The very thought gave me a bad feeling. It was fine if it was just a coincidence, but things kept popping up trying to convince me things like this weren't just a coincidence. I didn't like it at all, but there wasn't much I could say at the moment.

”I...see...”

”Was it...bad of me to call it that?”

Claret shirked back as my boobs filled in the gaps left by her receding face.

”No, it's fine. It's not wrong.”

The dark spirit gave an audible sigh in relief as she tightened her grip on me and buried her face in my chest while shivering slightly.

All I could do was pet her until she calmed down.

Ninetailed_Furball

Hi everybody! It's everyone's tardy furball! (≧∇≦)/

I did manage to get this one a bit less late than last week, but it's still a bit late, so sorry about that! m(_ _)m

Well, I can't help but feel like I've really outdone myself with Claret so far! She's so cute and precious!

I'm only a bit worried about one thing. If this continues, how could I even top Claret's cuteness when Alicia returns? Is it even possible? Well, I do have some plans for it, but it might take a bit of time.

Please look forward to it! (^o^)丿