"Thank you for sharing this information with me, Yuna-san. Thanks to you, I realized my own feeling."

"Well, I’m glad that I could be of help. More importantly, what do you mean by realizing your own feeling?"

"Umm… how do I say it? The person who I stayed with last night seemed to be a former member of the Thieves' Guild, and she had lost one of her arms. Because of various things you told me, I came to realize that she is someone important to me and I want to protect her."

Let’s be honest with Yuna-san here.

The enemy is the Thief Guild. I don’t know how big this organization is, but obviously, I can’t do anything if I’m alone. I need an ally. It'd be great if Yuna-san had the same feeling as I do.

"That’s… for something like that happened to NPC is…"

"Is it that unusual?"

"That's right. At least I've never heard of it. All the information I just gave you was from the bulletin board. In other words, it's information for the player. I’ve never imagined it applies to NPCs too."

Umu… Bulletin board, is it? There’s also such a thing.

Let’s take a peek if there's an opportunity in the future.

"Anyway, does Yuna-san belong to any guild or clan?"

"Me? I was in the cook's guild for a while, but I quit."

Yuna-san told me that she started to play this game because she wanted to learn how to cook.

I think that it’s not necessary to join the game if you want to cook, but considering the risk of failure and the price of ingredients, doing it in the game might be a good choice.

And what is amusing is the reason why Yuna-san wanted to cook.

She is someone who rarely does cooking, but recently she starts thinking about marriage and somehow feels the necessity to be better in that field.

Umm… I can’t sympathise with how Yuna-san feels because I’ve never thought about something like that before.

I’m a real futanari, after all.

Well, let's go back to the previous topic.

Yuna-san wanted to learn to cook, so she joined the Cook's Guild, but the activity in the Cook's Guild is heavily reliant on [Cooking] skill.

For Yuna, who wanted to hone her skill so it could also apply to real life, using the [Cooking] skill is like cheating, and she wouldn’t get any experience that way.

Also, it seems that just learning that skill requires a long period of time to accumulate EXP, so she didn’t feel that she could get any benefit whatsoever and decisively left the guild.

That’s why she opened a yakitori stall to kill time.

"In that case, would you like me to teach you how to cook? I live alone and cook for myself on a daily basis, so I can teach you at least the basic."

"Are you sure?! No, no, please help me, Eve-chan!"

She suddenly grabs my hand and hugs me.

I can feel softness pressing against my body and a pleasant smell wafting through my nose.

As expected, skinship between women is great.

"Yeah, compared to what Yuna-san told me, it’s cheap in comparison."

"No, no, as I expected, I can't ask you to teach me how to cook just by talking to you for a while. That’s why let's form a party with me. In return, I will help Eve-chan with her hunting."

I don’t have any reason to refuse her offer.

It might be better to do various activities together anyway.

I'd like to earn money more than anything else, so if she wants to help me, that would be great.

"Yes. Please take care of me in the future."

"Likewise, Eve-chan. Gufufufu~"

Thus, Yuna-san and I decide to form a non-temporary party.

***

I’m about to go hunting right away, but Yuna-san stops me.

"Eve-chan, let's go get some equipment before we start hunting. It'll be more efficient that way."

"Equipment? Unfortunately, I don't have much money..."

"Don’t worry, it’ll be on me this time. Besides, the quality of the equipment is directly linked to the efficiency of the hunt in the early stages. If you are concerned about it, you can always pay me back later."

"Is that so? In that case, let’s go take a look..."

Although Yuna-san is quite pushy, I know she does it in my best interest, so I end up nodding in acquiescence.

I did think that I would not be able to keep this initial equipment, so it seems just right.

Even if I don't buy it, just finding the equipment I want will change my motivation.

We come to the shopping district on South Avenue.

Here, there are stores selling a comprehensive range of equipment, so it is possible to kill some time while window shopping.

Yuna-san grabs my hand, and we head straight for the store we are looking for.

However, the shop was not on the main street but in the back alley.

"This is a dagger shop that only those in the know know. Come on, let’s go in."

She pushes my back, and we go inside.

The shop is dimly lit. If I have a choice, I don’t really want to go in…

"Iris! I brought a customer!"

Yuna-san calls out to the back of the shop where the other side is covered with a curtain, so we can’t see what’s behind it.

Even so, the shop has a scary atmosphere.

The shop’s wall is painted black, and on top of it, various patterns can be seen.

"Who are you... At this hour..."

The person who appears is a person whom I can only describe as pitch black.

She is a petite girl, wearing pitch-black clothes and having pitch-black hair.

Her white skin is covered with tattoos all over her visible body parts except for her right cheek.

"Hiiii!!"

I subconsciously yell out of surprise.

Damn it! I do something rude, don't I?

"I’m sorry! I was rude!"

I bow my head sincerely and apologize.

This is her store, after all.

Aside from the fact that it’s common sense to apologize if you do something wrong, thinking about the future, it’s natural not to have a bad impression in front of this person.

"...it's boring"

"Eve-chan, you weren't as surprised as I thought."

As I lowered my head, I heard those two voices.

……Isn’t that a bit cruel?

When I turn my accusing eyes on Yuna-san, she says jokingly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Usually, people who see Iris for the first time have a more over-the-top reaction."

Geez…

Well, I guess I’ll forgive you this time.

"So, what do you want?" Iris asks.

"Yeah, Iris, let’s form a party with us!"

---

Character Introduction:

Iris - Player. She is a girl who secretly runs a dagger shop. She gives a mysterious vibe and likes wearing all-black clothes. Her body is covered with tattoos except for her right cheek. A magician.