Together with my kitsune overlord we proceeded deeper into the wild unknown.

Since she didn’t even bother explaining what we were searching for in the first place, I decided that she won’t answer anyway. For now, it wasn’t even the most important thing, after all what can we even find deep in a forest?

The loli was hopping around the terrain effortlessly, while I had to slowly climb everywhere, simply because I was not gifted with superpowers like teleportation and flight.

When we reached a hill, I finally decided to talk to Akagi-sama, and try to at least ask her to slow down.

‘RAAAAAA!’

I would’ve been successful, if not for a dragon appearing on the horizon, and clearly flying our way.

“Just in time, ha?!” I deployed the guns, but the goddess didn’t flinch.

“Hey, are you not going to help me? This thing doesn’t look like it’s going to fly by.”

“Good luck~.” She clapped, and shamelessly sat down, while looking at me and the approaching dragon.

Just as I was about to open up with the guns, the dragon changed its way and started flying further away from us.

‘Sigh’

“Well, thank you so much for your divine assistance…” I barely restrained myself from speaking out what I thought about her, and her ‘good luck~’.

‘Sigh’

“So, while we are sitting here, care to explain at least something?”

“Sure.” (A)

[Wait, you are going to explain it right away, without trying to hide it?]

“Why should I?” (A)

“Whatever. What are we looking for?”

“The closest artifact from here happens to be a clock.” I immediately asked her in my mind, about whether she is nuts, or is just fooling around.

“Silly kid. You never knew artifacts can be ANYTHING?” (A)

“Guess what? Not all RPGs can have a fork that cuts through time-space.”

“This overly optimistic Akagi-sama thought you had at least some imagination. You keep on bringing me surprises.” She sarcastically clapped, but continued.

“Speaking of your stupidity, I think giving you some kind of an appraisal skill would be of use.” With a flick of fingers, my body glowed and I felt like I received something.

“It’s just a stump of a system you may be imagining, but it has enough to give you an insight. ‘Not that it could help with you…’ (A)

When I started searching for the system she mentioned, I found not only a little RPG screen, but also found the settings list for my shipgirl self, which included the way to turn off the lighthouse on the back of my head.

The only RPG things I had were the screen and the ‘Appraisal Lv. Max’ skill, but I still used it.

First, on a nearby plant. I learnt that it is ‘Elymus repens’, and also could’ve learnt everything about its lifecycle, biology, uses, and even how many seeds it has. I just didn’t bother reading past the name.

Second, on a very peculiar goddess.

But after a smirk, the goddess took off a shoe, and then a sock.

Only after she waved a few times I understood that she wanted me to appraise it.

[Hey, can they be used as a sword…?]

Akagi-sama only smiled. But this smile had a slight aura of going-to-kill-me-if-I-try-to-find-out.

“So, we are searching for a clock? Like, it can control time, or warp the reality?”

“No. That clock can animate mechanisms. Should it fall in the wrong hands, it may cause a disaster. Thus, here we are.” (A)

“Then what stops you from teleporting right where it is and snatching it?”

“When you watch videos, do you immediately skip to the end of it?” She shrugged her shoulders and proceeded to walk.

“Do you even know where to search for it…?”

“Yes, I already found it beforehand.” (A)

[Who was talking about skipping the video…?]

She glanced back at me, and grinned, before hopping away and leaving me far behind.

We continued travelling through the forest for the next few days, until we found a road.

“Wow, usually it doesn’t take this long.”

“As impatient, as always. You know what? I don’t want to hurry.” After saying this, the loli kitsune started slowly walking. But after I started walking, I felt like there was a cow on my shoulders. Not literally, but it was really hard to walk.

“Seriously?!”

“This thoughtful Akagi-sama doesn’t want you to rush anywhere, so bear the weight of your responsibilities.” She waved her index finger, and continued slowly walking away.

Walking away, because I barely could make a step.