"Ring, ring!"
  "Ring, ring!"

  "Just 5 more minutes..."

  "Ring, ring!"
  "Ring, ring!"
  ............
  "Ring, ring!"

   "Bang!"

   'Damn it, even though I managed to sleep for almost 6 hours, it's still very unpleasant to wake up so early...' Lucy thought after smashing the alarm clock she had just bought before going to bed.

   'Well, even if we leave a bit later, I think we'll have enough time to reach the mercenary campsite before sunrise, considering I've already created a path through the bushes when I arrived here. I guess it won't hurt if I sleep for another half an hour...'

   Unfortunately for Lucy, who had just opened the Ninja Shop interface to buy another alarm clock, her plans were ruined when Rina, accustomed to waking up early, entered the living room at the time they had agreed upon before going to sleep.

   "Good morning, Lucy. It seems that, even though it took nearly 10 minutes, you finally won the battle against the alarm clock..." Rina taunted, looking at the catgirl stretching on the mattress in various complicated positions as if she had no bones.

   "Yawn!..You talk, Rina... When I showed you last night how the alarm clock works, you stared at it as if it were the most fearsome creature...", Lucy said amidst yawns, after finally managing to get up from the mattress.

   "Well, I didn't expect such a small object to be so noisy. Besides, in our village, we don't have many of these magical devices since no one is capable of assembling them, so I'm not used to interacting with such complex things...", Rina said, a little embarrassed by her lack of knowledge.

   "Don't worry, Rina. There's a slim chance that such devices are very common in the rest of the world..." Lucy reassured Rina, after which she bought several portions of pancakes from the Ninja Shop and placed them on the table next to her, in Rina's admiring gaze, to serve as breakfast.

   "Mmm, it smells delicious. I think they must be very tasty..." Rina said as she immediately sat down at the table and intended to start eating, leaving Lucy a bit unsatisfied.

   'What does this girl think? That I've become her maid? Not only did she not give me a good morning kiss, but she also completely diverted her attention from me the moment the pancakes appeared...'

   Because Lucy wasn't the type to accept being mistreated, she decided to take immediate action to ensure that her girlfriend would behave better in the future, so before Rina could even reach for a fork, Lucy sat in Rina's lap, blocking her view of the table.

   "Huh, what's going on, Lucy? Aren't we going to eat?" Rina asked hesitantly, not knowing why Lucy was looking at her so upset.

   "Oh, so you still remember me? Seeing the way you were looking at the pancake in front of you, I thought you had started considering it your lover... Anyway, since you don't know how to value me, I think it stands to reason that I'm not going to give you free pancakes. Hmm, how should I charge you? I guess a minute of kissing for each pancake you plan to eat is a reasonable price..."

   "I'm sorry, Lucy. I thought we were in a hurry... As for kisses, I haven't washed my face yet, and I haven't chewed leaves... mmmnn..."

   However, Lucy, who wasn't interested in Rina's apologies, didn't let her finish what she was saying and immediately captured her lips to get her payment, her tongue swiftly entering Rina's mouth with the determination of a worker at a debt collection agency.

   Even though Rina wasn't particularly put together, as she had just woken up and was wearing only a nightshirt that couldn't be considered sexy in any way, resembling more of a sack with holes for her head and arms, her languid movements and her lazy gaze made her incredibly attractive in Lucy's eyes, and Lucy had a hard time stopping herself from kissing Rina after about 10 minutes.

   "I don't know... why were you worried, Rina... I think you're very... delicious...", Lucy told Rina as she licked her chin to clean it from the mixture of saliva that had escaped between their lips.

   "Haaa, Lucy... You're really good at this. Maybe a little too good... Tell me honestly, how many girls have you kissed before?", Rina asked Lucy as she took a deep breath to oxygenate her brain, which she felt was submerged in an ocean of vanilla.

   Hearing Rina's question, Lucy felt like she had shot herself in the foot.

   'Damn it. When I practiced with my clone to get better at kissing, I never imagined that my future girlfriend would be jealous because I've become too skilled... Although some say love is a battle, maybe, unlike a battle, it's better to enter a relationship a little less prepared, to be able to have new experiences with your loved one...'

   "Huh, why aren't you saying anything? Don't tell me you've kissed so many girls that you've lost count?" Rina asked again, a little upset, seeing that Lucy didn't offer any response.

   "No, it's not like that. You're my first girlfriend. It's true that I have a bit of kissing experience, but that can be considered just the result of training..." Lucy hurried to reply, not wanting Rina to form a wrong opinion of her.

   "Oh, I understand... Probably your former master taught you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring her up. I know this is a sensitive topic for you..."

   Hearing Rina's words, who seemed to think that there had been interactions between Lucy and her former master that violated the sacred student-teacher relationship, Lucy felt, for the second time, that she had shot herself in the foot. But because they didn't have much time left, Lucy decided to leave things as they were for now until she had the necessary time to confess the truth about her identity to Rina.

   "It's not quite how you think... anyway, I'll tell you later. First, let's finish the mission..." Lucy told Rina, and then she shoved into Rina's mouth one of the pancakes that had almost cooled down as they had been kissing.