Volume 3 Chapter 1 (2/2)

[We managed to get the Magic Egg in Greenwood. And right now, in order to hatch the eggs we are taking turns to warm the egg every night. Since I had also taken a turn in hatching the egg, the girls call the Magic Pet that is supposed to come out our child. There is no way in hell I would lay a hand on those children. They are still children you know.] (Youya)

Phil stared directly at me with laser eyes as if she was staring into my soul. And heaved a sigh of relief.

[I’m glad. I thought that Youya was indulging himself with Luna-chan and Til in a place I couldn’t see.] (Phil)

[I’m not a lolicon. I’m your boyfriend aren’t I? It’s fine to trust me you know.] (Youya)

[I’ve loved you ever since I was the same age as those girls you know. I didn’t say it back then, but if those girls were capable of speaking it out loud, they might even pressure you to answer back. Then, since it’s Youya, you might even give in and accept them.] (Phil)

Phil turned away with a sad face as she said those words and I flicked her forehead.

[Ouch, what are you doing?] (Phil)

Phil was rubbing her forehead while staring at me begrudgingly.

[Trust your boyfriend a little more. I won’t do anything that would make my lover sad.] (Youya)

[Sorry for doubting you.. Although I’ve already heard about it, is there really nothing between you and Princess Lutra? Ever since back then, hasn’t she always been clinging onto you. Plus she has always been glaring at me. It isn’t wrong of me to think that she has been trying something when I’m not around.] (Phil)

[There isn’t anything happening between us. Right now she is my disciple. In the first place the other party is a princess, there is absolutely no way I would lay a hand on her.] (Youya)

Phil finally muttered a word of relief

[Now I can finally relax on our journey. Youya, you must be hungry right? I’ll introduce you to the delicious stores here.] (Phil)

[That sounds delicious. However more than that, I want to eat Phil’s cooking. To me that is the most delicious dish in the world.] (Youya)

[Mou.. Even though I went to the trouble of storing them, I’ll have to bring them out again. I’ll have to go and get ingredients now too, since Youya is so selfish.] (Phil)

Contrary to her words, Phil appeared happy to cook, and watching her delighted face makes me happy too.

[For ingredients we could use some of my things too, I have some basic seasoning for camping out and eel meat.] (Youya)

Although having seasoning takes up space in the Magic Bag, it’s better to carry some with you wherever you go since food can always be secured by killing monsters. However it will be bad if there wasn’t any seasoning since no one would be happy with bland and tasteless meals when you are in a dungeon for multiple days.

[Eel meat you say?! Uwah, it’s been a while since I’ve eaten it. I’m looking forward to eating it. I’ll finish it quickly.] (Phil)

Phil received the ingredients from me and heads to the kitchen. The figure of Phil cooking in an apron gave me a sudden urge.. However, I’ll resist the urge to attack her from behind since I won’t be able to eat her cooking if I disrupted her preparations.

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I enjoyed Phil’s home cooked eel dish. After chopping it into pieces and boiled, it was sauteed with lots of special sauce. I have always been a sucker for sweet and salty foods. On the other hand, Phil kept chuckling in embarrassment whenever she saw me enjoying her cooking. Then, we ended the meal with idle talk. Just by being together I feel happy with her. I’ll like to indulge in this atmosphere a little longer but there are some things we have to talk about.

[There is something I wish to apologize for. I’ve been lying to you this entire time.] (Youya)

[A lie..? Could it be that this entire time about loving me..?] (Phil)

[I’m not so trashy to lie about a thing like that.] (Youya)

By nature, Phil has always been a pessimist thinking negatively about herself. As an adventurer, although she is capable of surviving on her own for a long time, she is still extremely vulnerable to trivial things in her daily life.

[The lie is about my level reset. I mentioned previously that my level was reset due to encountering a monster with Level Drain. However, truth is that there is a dungeon with a hidden room that can only be opened by a max-levelled adventurer. In that room it is possible to reset your level to level 1 and have an additional 20 skill points and 10 bonus points to all stats.] (Youya)

Phil recoiled in shock as she was a first-rate adventurer. She knew how amazing having those bonuses would be as an adventurer.

[Isn’t that a huge cheat? Wouldn’t every adventurer gather for that room?] (Phil)

[It isn’t just that. One of the dungeons in Rumberg has a hidden room which fixes your status gain every level to the maximum. Using those two rooms, I managed to reset my level back to 1 and increase my status by the maximum values every level.] (Youya)

[Indeed, I thought that Youya was always too strong for your level. So that was that case. It was god’s reward for Youya who has always been suffering, a reward for all your hard work.] (Phil)

Phil was holding her chin in her hand and digesting the information I just told her. She must be thinking of things.

[Sorry for keeping silent about this.] (Youya)

[Don’t be. That is how important this information is. This isn’t something you can talk about unless it is someone that you have travelled for awhile. And? Why are you suddenly talking about this now.] (Phil)

[I want Phil to reset your level as well. Although it’ll erase all the levels you have obtained up until now, but if we are aiming to become the strongest then I think you should do it. However it is your decision and I’ll leave the final decision to you.] (Youya)

[I’ll do it.] (Phil)

It was an immediate reply. I always knew that if it was the strong Phil who always looked forward, that she would choose so.

[Tomorrow, we will head to the hidden dungeon.] (Youya)

Actually, the dungeon is somewhere between Rumberg and the village that I used to stay in. If we are to leave early in the morning, we should be able to arrive before sunset.

[I understand. I’ll have to do several preparations for the journey as I have not put on my adventurer equipment in a long time.] (Phil)

Phil took out her adventurer equipment from her magic bag. They were all top-class items as Phil hadn’t sold any of them.

[As expected today is too early, we’ll leave tomorrow morning.] (Youya)

[I agree, I don’t feel very energetic now.] (Phil)

Although Raptor was capable of travelling at night, I wouldn’t be awake to control him. Aside from the dangers, Raptor has already been running for two days and it’ll be better to let him rest. Above all, is my situation.

[Well, there is time before morning comes. You’ll have to vacate this room by today right? If it’s fine with you, let’s head over to a good inn for the night. I’ve been hungry for Phil’s cooking, but I am still hungry for something else.] (Youya)

Listening to my words, Phil’s ears became red as far as the tip of her elven ears. With a completely red face, she nodded.

Afterwards, we cleaned Phil’s apartment, returned her key and received the swords I sent for maintenance before heading to the inn and made love to each other.

It’s been a while and it was extremely passionate. After we had loved each other plenty, we discussed about the future.

[Youya.] (Phil)

Phil who was sleeping naked next to me called out my name. I stroke that Phil’s head.

If Phil were to reset her level tomorrow, then temporarily she becomes extremely weaker than me. Then she wouldn’t be able to protect herself, and only I would be able to protect her. I have to work hard in the future so as to not lose this warmth I feel in my hand.