Ayuna jolted. Her hands covering her mouth, she let out a silent gasp. Her eyes darted toward the door.

 

“Ayuna, are you alright in there? You’ve been in there for a long time now,” Liana’s voice came from the other side of the door.

 

A sense of panic hit Ayuna. 

 

W-What should she do? How should she respond? W-What should she tell her? That she was alright, feeling better than ever before from releasing the suppressing lewd desire for the first time? Ridiculous!

 

N-No way. S-She couldn’t tell her that. That would be extremely embarrassing…

 

She took a deep breath.

 

“I-I’m alright, Liana. Just having a bit of a stomach ache.” She tried her best to sound calm, but her stuttering betrayed her.

 

“Stomach ache? Are you sure you’re alright? Do you want me to check you u—”

 

“N-No!” Ayuna blurted. “No, no. I’m fine, really. Thanks for worrying about me, though. But... I’m fine. I’m feeling better now…”

 

Silence ensued for a while…

 

“Alright, then. Tell me immediately if there’s anything wrong, okay?”

 

“Okay. Thanks, Liana.”

 

What came after was the sound of footsteps walking away.

 

Ayuna sighed in relief.

 

That was so freakin close! She almost got caught m-m-masturbating!

 

All her desires to do it again were gone instantly, her mind clearer than ever. Thinking back to what she’d just done, she started flushing red and felt a complicated emotion inside.

 

What had she done? Now that she looked back at it, that was totally embarrassing! A-And she was supposed to be a grown man inside. Did she just get turned on by the little girl’s body?

 

N-No way. She’s not a pedophile! W-Well, but…

 

She pondered for a moment, trying to find an excuse.

 

R-Right, that was just a physical reaction. She was just touching herself in the moment of inspection and got turned on in the process. It was totally a natural physical reaction. Nothing more, nothing less. Yes, yes, that’s it…

 

Finally finding a suitable excuse, a sigh of relief escaped her mouth again.

 

She patted her chest and sat there quietly for a while. Then, she turned to look at the water basin and winced.

 

Oh, no…

 

In the water basin, there was a mix of yellow liquid in there. It mixed with the water and turned the water into a light shade of golden. It would have looked beautiful if it wasn’t for the fact that she knew what that was…

 

Fuck. She’d let out her piss in there! Why didn’t she use the toilet earlier!?

 

Her face turned completely red as she covered it with her hands. She wanted to scream out loud, to let out this embarrassment. Though, all she did was only letting out a silent and suppressed scream.

 

She stood up, let out a sigh, and shook her head. Turning to the water basin, she grabbed it, and poured all the water inside into the pit toilet, emptying it down to the bottom.

 

Looking at the water basin again, she suddenly had a grim expression on her face.

 

Now, she needed to clean it up and refill it. Where could she find the water, though? In the river she’d just crossed earlier? No, that was too far away. There must be a well around here, right? 

 

But… maybe not right now. Liana would be suspicious if she tried to sneak around.

 

She placed the water basin back to its place and let out another sigh, shaking her head.

 

She looked at the water basin again… 

 

Maybe she could do that later…

 

———

 

Opening the back door, Ayuna went inside the house. Liana was sitting on a chair by the table in the living space, sorting out some stuff on the table.

 

Ayuna approached her, a bit red in the face, tilting her head. “W-What’s that?”

 

Liana turned to look at her briefly. “You’re back.” She turned back to the stuff on the table again. “These are the herbs I’d gathered in the BloodHorn forest earlier.”

 

Ayuna slowly approached the table, looking at the herbs. They were red in color and shaped like leaves with three pointed tips on top.

 

“What can they do?” Ayuna asked.

 

“A lot of things. But mostly used for the moderate-healing effect. It can cure a moderate-sized wound almost immediately.”

 

Ayuna’s eyes sparkled. So it was the component of a healing potion! These were some stuff she might have seen in an RPG game.

 

Liana turned to Ayuna with a smile. “Are you interested?”

 

Ayuna nodded.

 

“These are called the BloodTri leaves. They commonly grow in the BloodHorn forest. Though I’ve heard that they also grow somewhere in the BloodCanyon as well.”

 

Ayuna tilted her head. “BloodCanyon?”

 

Liana smiled faintly, turning back to the herbs on the table. “I don’t know much about it, either. I’ve mostly heard stuff from the travelers I’ve stumbled across or maybe read in a book.”

 

“Travelers?” Ayuna said. “You travel a lot, Liana?”

 

“You could say that, but I don’t really wander off too far. Avaria is a vast world, Ayuna. There are still a lot of things I don’t know about. Both good and bad, harmless and extremely dangerous. I really want to go explore, but I still don’t think I’m good enough to take such risks, yet.”

 

“So you take your time here, preparing?” Ayuna started to understand Liana.

 

Liana nodded. “Yeah, something like that. Though, if you look at it carefully, those were the words of a coward, really.” She giggled faintly. “That’s right. I’m no more than a coward who don’t even have the gut to face the dangers without stalling for tim—“

 

“Not at all!” Ayuna shouted. 

 

Liana was startled. She looked at Ayuna, tilting her head. “Ayuna?”

 

“Liana, you’re not a coward at all!” Ayuna said with a sincere and serious expression. “You’re a very kind and brave person. You even rescued me when I was in danger a lot of times already. I’m truly grateful to you, so please don’t belittle yourself like that.”

 

Liana’s eyes went wide. 

 

Ayuna continued. “So what if you take your time to prepare before facing dangers? There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s what smart people do.” She paused. “It would be idiotic to run straight into dangers unprepared. It might looks brave that way, but it’s also idiotic and suicidal. So, there’s nothing wrong with what you do, Liana. Actually, I’d say you’re doing the right thing.”

 

After finishing her passionate speech, what followed right after was a total silence. Liana just sat there, wide-eyed, not moving a muscle. All she did was looking at Ayuna, stunned.

 

After a while, Liana’s eyes flickered a bit and a blush appeared on her face. Her eyes drooped into a gentle gaze, a bit watery. Her mouth crept into a faint and warm smile. Her expression was extremely beautiful.

 

“Thank you, Ayuna.”

 

Seeing such a beautiful expression, Ayuna’s heart skipped a beat. Her face began to flush red when she heard a notification sound.

 

[+ 50 AP]

 

Ayuna’s eyes widened. 

 

Fifty points! That’s the most she’d seen so far!

 

Ayuna was a bit surprised but tried her best to suppress it. She looked at Liana calmly and smiled at her, a very warm and beautiful smile.

 

[+ 10 AP]

 

A new notification sound rang out again as Liana went into a daze, her face flushing really red. 

 

On the other hand, Ayuna was beyond happy. 

 

That’s a total of sixty points! 

 

She was so excited when she thought about what that indicated. With these points added up, she and Liana would be…

 

Her heart started beating faster and faster, her eyes sparkling beautifully.

 

Though, she didn’t say all that just now to get more points. She just said it from what she truly felt. Liana was truly an amazing person, so when she found her belittling herself like that, she couldn’t help but voice out what she truly thought.

 

But… now that she thought back on it, that was kind of embarrassing, her speaking out like that so seriously. But well, it was what she truly thought, and she didn’t regret saying it…

 

Liana finally snapped out of her daze, though this time she kept smiling beautifully.

 

She looked at the herbs on the table and then turned to look at Ayuna. “I’m sorry, Ayuna. There’s only one chair in this house. I’ll make one for you later. For now…” She scooted her butt to the side, making a little room for Ayuna on the chair. “Just share it with me for now, okay?”

 

Seeing that little sitting space, Ayuna felt that it would be quite uncomfortable. She then looked at Liana, something flashing in her eyes.

 

“I got a better idea, Liana,” she said.

 

Liana tilted her head.

 

“Just sit normally. I’ll show you.”

 

Liana did as told and scooted back into the original position. Ayuna smiled, nodded, and then approached Liana.

 

She slid her way through the gap between the table and the chair, got in front of Liana, and then climbed up, sitting down on her laps!

 

Liana’s eyes widened. 

 

She didn’t expect this at all!

 

Ayuna leaned back on Liana’s chest, turned her head around slightly, and whispered with a faint smile. “This is more comfortable, don’t you agree?”

 

Liana blushed profusely! Her body went stiff but then softened again right after. 

 

[+ 15 AP]

 

Noticing the notification, Ayuna giggled softly and turned to the herbs on the table. “Well, how do we do this, Liana? How do you make medicine with these herbs?”

 

Liana snapped out of her daze. “W-Well, l-let’s me show you in a bit.”

 

Ayuna nodded with a smile. Her heart beat faster and faster. She was getting excited…