Now back home, Ethan could only sigh. During their way, it had happened more than once that people turned to look at Maple, without saying anything after they recognized the collar she wore on her neck, and the thing - completely ignored by Maple - annoyed Ethan.
'I guess I'll have to inform Loki at this point...'
He knew that normally, tamed monsters had to be registered with the guild, but Ethan out of respect for Maple, wanted to first ask her if that was fine for her...
'I don't even know if she should be considered an animal rather than a monster...'
Asking that kind of question was inevitable since he had in mind to record her anyway so that when he could finally enter the Dungeon again, he could help her to level up and then become progressively stronger...
But the many doubts, plus the lack of a communication tool that didn't cost all his SP just to be the only one able to communicate made this still 'impossible' to do...
As these thoughts continued to distract him, Lefiya found herself a little lost in being back in Ethan's room. Nothing had changed from the usual, but her feelings, plus her difference in status, had made her quite nervous, but she was completely surprised as Ais, without any hesitation, went to sit on the bed as she looked at her to make her understand she had to 'follow' her..
Without getting lost in further thoughts however, Lefiya moved toward her before sitting next to where Ais was sitting.
This scene brought Ethan to sigh again before focusing on the explanation he was supposed to give to the two girls...
"Now that we're all here, I can start explaining with something fundamental that I've never said until now.."
By saying this to capture their attention, Ethan could see how he had succeeded. With a little hesitation, he moved the chair close to the bed enough so that he didn't need to talk loudly for them to hear him before sitting on it as he began to explain everything he knew about his ability to enter the dungeon, and then gradually deepened his explanation until he reached the point where he had to talk about Maple, and what he knew about her.
Although he himself had rather general information and lacked details, Ethan also expressed his doubts and concerns, but also that given her intelligence, Maple would be considered very similar to a demi-human...with the only obvious difference being the appearance.
"And this.. is the story of how I found myself with this fox.. I apologize if I lied to you before, but I wanted to tell you the truth precisely because I trust you.."
At his words, Lefiya immediately shook her head. By the time Ethan claimed to be able to access a Dungeon simply by thinking of it, Lefiya was shocked, but thankful that Ethan could be trust her enough to reveal such information.
It wasn't difficult to understand that if this ability had been made known to everyone, Ethan couldn't only become a living fortune capable of overthrowing the entire economic system, but he would also be targeted by any organization powerful enough to have high-level adventurers, and even if there were no high-level participants in them, there would be created by the time this information was revealed, since the value of a Dungeon was so high that Orario was born entirely from it.
So Lefiya could very well understand why Ethan had decided to hide such information, and in fact, she would almost have wanted not to know, But this feeling immediately faded away when she realized that Ethan needed some kind of support in his life..
"Don't worry...I can understand why you chose to not tell us.."
While Lefiya said this and Ethan answered with a little smile, Ais replied
"No need to worry about that. Mostly I'm curious about her, since you don't know much about her either, I wonder how she ended up being there..."
To this question, Ethan's smile that he had addressed to Lefiya faded a little while he could only add
"To reconstruct the events.. I think some sort of mass destruction happened just before the Dungeon could be created, or maybe that was the condition of the Dungeon, given the kind of monsters that seem to inhabit it.. When I will be able to speak her language, I have several things to ask her. Another of the things I didn't mention, she is able to speak already, just not in our language..."
Casually saying these words, Ethan could remember hearing some words from Maple, which he assumed were some sort of response to his first message.
Lefiya was again surprised, she was also curious to know the identity of the fox, so the fact that she could speak had shocked her for a moment...
But as Lefiya focused more on Maple, Ais had other thoughts in her mind.
"Can you bring me with you..in that Dungeon?"
Asking this question, Ais' eyes immediately assumed all the determination and d.e.s.i.r.e to decimate new monsters as she didn't care if the Dungeon was the one in Orario or Ethan's, her final goal remained to become stronger, so she was curious to try this 'new' Dungeon.
Bringing his attention to her and looking at the way she was staring at him, Ethan sighed again before analysing the possibilities for a moment.
'Is It possible to bring her to the dungeon? I confirmed I can bring entities from the dungeon out in our World..but I don't want to confirm this theory..'
While his thoughts were trying to find a solution, Ethan saw as a panel appeared in front of him
[It's possible]
'I think I understand the differences between the two right now, but the system is still far too weak. It doesn't specify whether there are doubts, risks or other things, it is only able to confirm a theory...'
Seeing that no other panel appeared, Ethan decided it was better to specify what he knew, plus his opinion of it..
"Yes, it's possible to bring you with me in the Dungeon, but there are far too many questions, since I have never tried something like this before, I can only assume there could be risks, and this alone makes it far too risky..If there is a chance to confirm the safety of the Dungeon then I have no problem in taking you with me since you can easily defend yourself.. but another problem is her.."
Towards the end of his words, Ethan laid his hand on Maple's head to make it clear who he meant with 'her' even if it was obvious. This was because he understood that she probably wouldn't trust many people, and this would distract him from the Dungeon itself, which he didn't like at all since - even if he was too busy saving Maple to focus too much on the 'environment' - he could clearly feel as if a terrifying monster would soon appear against him, even before entering the dungeon.
While Ethan had laid his hand on her head, Maple closed her eyes as she rearranged her thoughts. From the shocked way Lefiya had pointed at her during the conversation, and from her expressions, she could understand that now Ethan was explaining what had happened and - probably - the way he had found her. So, she just decided to sit on Ethan's l.a.p and do nothing. Since he trusted these two people enough to reveal information, Maple could only decide to try to trust them both equally from now on, even though it was rather difficult for her...
But, these thoughts were interrupted by her rumbling stomach. This was because Maple hadn't touched food for days, which had now been clearly heard by everyone in the room.
With her clearly visible embarrassment on her face for interrupting such a serious conversation, Maple covered herself desperately while Ethan, stopping his speech, was surprised again, but this time by his own stupidity for not thinking of something so obvious...
'By the way the city looked in ruins, it didn't seem to have collapsed from a long time, but still Yowaka must have held out for a long time before I arrived...'
Recalling the way he had found her again, Ethan could only swallow as he lightly tightened the grip that held Maple close to him. Although he wasn't traumatized at the very moment he found her, Ethan now felt very uncomfortable remembering her in that state...
Hearing him tighten his grip as if to try to protect her, Maple was confused for a moment as there was no danger in the room, but although she didn't come to understand the reason for his concern, Maple began to lick Ethan's arm as he held her while Ais and Lefiya realized that something was wrong, but before they could ask, Ethan sighed before he removed that thought from his mind...
"Sorry, In reality there's something more I didn't tell you.."
He didn't specify how he found her, he just said he found her in the rubble, but Ethan knew he had to share it with them before he could really move on..
During his explanation, Lefiya assumed several expressions from worry, to anger, to shock while Ais looked only at her without saying anything...
But, Ethan didn't want the situation to become tragic, nor did he want the two to feel compelled to familiarize themselves with Maple for her story...
"I had never seen a situation like that before, and although I was able to react in time to save her, I think I'm a bit scared that this situation would happen again, not only with her, but also with you two, or anyone I might have dear to me."
He also remembered the way Lefiya had been hit by the Minotaur, and though not comparable to Maple's dying state, he could only pause to look at her as he didn't want a situation like these to happen again, and the only way to get this kind of tranquillity was to become stronger, and to make the surrounding people stronger...
His words, led the determination to become stronger in both to amplify, although much more for Lefiya than Ais, who had this objective from the beginning...
"The only thing I can guarantee...i-is that I will become much much stronger! so that such a situation won't be repeated..!"
Saying so after standing up, Lefiya raised her arm towards the ceiling as if to give herself even more determination as she stared at him while her words, led his earlier gaze directed towards the floor to move to look into her eyes... and being able to find a determination he didn't know Lefiya could have, he only nodded slightly as Ais, next to her, was still sat on the bed as she nodded too, to make it clear that she would try her best to become stronger as well...
(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8. You may ask me: "Why should I enter the server?". Well, I'm replying to every interesting question you readers are asking in my chapters, so, you should absolutely enter if you want to read my answers. Ah, and you can find some image reference of items in the story such as Light..! (Soon even Qienta).. so it's recommended to join, I frequently post polls as well, regarding things that(most likely) will be present in the story. One last thing, I post chapter updates in my discord right after I posted on , so I guess you can join to be able to know when I post chapters faster.)
(Poll going on in the discord: Who do you prefer? Qienta or Light? | Cat-girl or Renard(Fox) | Are you liking the interactions between Maple and Ethan?)
(Do you enjoy reading my novel? If the answer is yes, then thanks. I'll leave my ******* here. w ww.pat reon.com/watashiwavdesu)
(Alternate Titles: "Lefiya do be determinated xD", "OwO that stomatch in the middle of the conversation was the best part of the chapter", "Ethan has no experience with losing someone in front of him, so even though he can act on the moment, that doesn't mean he will just adapt to the situation...")