Chapter 268 - Vol. 4 - 67

"When was the last time we fought together?" Yumi asked. With the sun on Ash's skin for the second time that day, she felt a bit of sweat roll down the back of her neck. 

"Uhm, against monsters?" Keiko replied. 

"Yes." 

"I can't remember," Keiko answered. "If we ever did, it was a long time ago." 

"Possibly. In any case, I'm excited to share a dance or two with you," Yumi replied. Ash watched as Keiko blushed a little. 

"I'd rather you didn't watch me, honestly," Keiko said. "I'm probably going to be a little rusty." 

"I'm sure you'll do just fine," Yumi shrugged. "But, if it matters that much, do let me know and I will try my best to look away. I can't promise anything, though." 

It was just half an hour after Ash's group had walked out of Amber. The five of them, as Sinneah had agreed to come along, were currently chatting a little as they waited to run into monsters, while they walked with no particular destination in mind. 

Knowing that Ash was going to have to protect them if anything too strong appeared, the half-demon asked: 

"Hey, everyone," she called out, interrupting a couple of conversations. "Can you show me your statuses?" 

"Hm? Sure," Kasumi replied as the others all did the same, and soon, they all appeared over their heads. 

Keiko: 

Level 29

MP: 150/150

EXP: 10/290

---

STR: 25

DEX: 50

CON: 10

INT: 10

WIS: 15

L: 5

---

Kasumi: 

Level 27

MP: 340/340

EXP: 0/270

---

STR: 9

DEX: 13

CON: 10

INT: 30

WIS: 34

L: 100

---

Yumi: 

Level 44

MP: 100/100

EXP: 200/440

---

STR: 24

DEX: 100

CON: 19

INT: 10

WIS: 10

L: 5

---

Sinneah:

Level 65

MP: 500/500

EXP: 400/650

---

STR: 40

DEX: 70

CON: 20

INT: 20

WIS: 50

L: 5

Taking all of this information in, Ash nodded to herself. 

Sinneah doesn't need any help, from what I can see. I'm pretty sure her overall stats pretty much match mine. Same goes for Yumi. That level 44 of hers is a lie considering how much she trained her Dex for. So, us three, we're pretty much around the same level of power. Keiko and Kasumi, though,  Ash thought, as she gave them both a couple of quick glances,  yeah, if I see anything too tough, I definitely need to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't get hurt. 

Ahead, Ash caught Sinneah staring down at Kasumi. The dragon-girl stood a full head taller than everyone except for Ash herself. Kasumi looked up at her, slightly uncomfortable. 

"Yes?" Kasumi asked. 

Sinneah paused. 

"Your chest is massive." 

"... Thank you?"

Kasumi raised a brow at her, as Sinneah just turned away casually, looking down at herself and cupping her own boobs, before looking back at Kasumi again. With that said, the redhead looked back, spotting Ash, and moving over to join her side. 

"So," Kasumi said, "where are we headed?" 

As Ash heard that, she looked over at the woman, and her eyes were tugged down automatically. She pulled them back up, cursing her  Lust  in her mind.  Yeah,  she thought.  I need to deal with that as soon as I get back to the Manor. 

"I didn't really have any place in mind," Ash admitted. "You normally just look around for long enough and something will come out to try to kill you. But, if we don't find anything," she said, reaching for her bag and pulling that map of hers out. By now, it was severely worn out and wrinkly from having been thrown around so much. "We can just head to some mountain, and there are normally more monsters around those parts." 

"I see..." Kasumi took a deep breath. "Between the heat here and the cold of Sapphire, I think I'd prefer the north. I feel like my skin is melting off." 

"I can agree with that," Ash replied. "So, what weapon did you bring with you?" 

"Just a dagger." 

"That's it?" Ash asked, confused. "Where's your Savior's Weapon?" 

"Collecting dust, as it should be," Kasumi shrugged. "I don't really care to receive any help from the gods. I'm good." 

Don't you still have your Quick Learner trait? I'd say that counts,  Ash replied in her mind, but she didn't say it out loud. 

"Actually," Yumi told Keiko, and Ash looked over at them. "Now, that you aren't pregnant anymore, we can pick back up where we left off with the Zayama techniques I had wanted to teach you." 

"Ohhh, you're right!" Keiko replied, smiling widely as her excitement made itself clear to see. Ash felt a little better when she saw that. 

Kasumi, however, asked: 

"She was pregnant?" 

At that, everyone turned toward her. 

"I-I'll explain," Ash said to the other three women before pulling Kasumi away. 

"Wait, she  was pregnant? As in, she isn't anymore? What the hell?" Kasumi asked, lowering her voice. 

Okay, how the fuck do I explain this? Eh, fuck it. She doesn't need to know every single detail. 

"After you left Onyx," Ash explained. "Yeah, we found out that Keiko was... yeah." 

"... Hm. I'm not gonna lie," Kasumi replied, "I didn't really take her as the cheating type. Sorry." 

"..." Ash was initially confused, but then she got what the woman meant. "Oh. Uh, no... She didn't cheat." 

At that, Kasumi narrowed her eyes at her. 

"What?" 

"I got her pregnant," Ash stated. She figured it was best to just come out and say it, since everything she said was just going to wind its way down to that. 

"You?" Kasumi asked, and instantly, her eyes went between Ash's legs, and then she snapped them back up. "You, uh, have a..." 

"No," Ash answered firmly. "It's complicated." 

"I can tell," Kasumi answered, scoffing. "And, since we are speaking in past-tense, did she, well..." A sad look came over her face. "Did she miscarry?" 

"... No," Ash said, taking a deep breath. "We found out that there was this potion and, long story short, no. She chose to, uh, not be pregnant anymore." 

At that, Kasumi stopped. 

She gave Ash a weird look, before sighing and looking away. 

"It's none of my business, I suppose," she said, and she didn't add anything else to that. 

Thank fuck you aren't the curious type, Ash thought as they continued their walk. 

Eventually, they all stood still, as no monsters approached and Ash finally gave up on finding them out in the open, deciding to look for any nearby mountains. One was clearly in view, just a short walk west, from the looks of it, so, Ash pointed toward it. 

"Let's head there. Maybe we'll find something, I dunno." 

"Was everything always this empty?" Sinneah asked her. 

"... Not really," Ash replied. 

"Mm. They are probably hiding then," Sinneah stated. "When I would roam through forests with my father, monsters would always clear out when they saw him. It is likely our group is causing the same sort of effect." 

"I can see that," Ash nodded. "If it's like that, then, what we could do," she pointed ahead again, "is that, when we get to the mountain, we go in two at a time or something. The others can stay back while two of us grind out some levels, and then we switch." 

"Sounds good," Kasumi shrugged. "Who would go with who, though?" 

Ash looked away. 

"... Yumi and Sinneah can pair up, Keiko can come with me. And, either Sin or I can go with you," she told Kasumi. 

The crimson-haired woman eyed Sinneah up and down for a second, before turning toward Ash. 

"I'll head in with you, then, when it's my turn." 

"Alright." 

With that said, they soon arrived at the mountain in question. It was fairly sizable, holding many tall trees that obscured the group's vision of what hid inside. Here, at the base, Ash turned toward them. 

"How long do we want to be here for?" 

"We should probably head back once the night comes," Yumi pitched in. "I imagine accidents could happen in the darkness." 

"Okay. We'll see how much we can get done in that time. Keiko," Ash looked over at her girlfriend. "How about we start?" 

When the short girl heard that, she smiled and Ash saw her eyes gleam before she nodded firmly. 

Keiko jogged over to her side, with her sword by her waist. Ash dropped her things there and looked back at the others. 

"Be right back, I guess." 

With that, the two of them walked into the mountain, with Ash trying her hardest to remain focused. Keiko's wide grin, however, prevented that from happening. 

"Keep an eye out. Everything around here can be pretty quick to jump on top of..." She stopped when she noticed Keiko smiling at her. "Hm?" Ash asked. "Do I have something on my face?" 

"Nope," Keiko grinned at her, before walking in front and taking up most of her vision. "I'm just very excited. Very happy. And, I just really, really love you." 

"You, Keiko, you keep catching me off-guard with that," Ash said, looking away. 

"I know," Keiko answered. "I quite enjoy it," Keiko smirked. "But... Seriously, I understand that doing this for me messed you up. But, to me, I think, I-I believe this is the start of something beautiful. And I want to share that with you. Maybe one of these days, I will get the chance to show you how much you mean to me. Not just because of this, but, just, in general, because you're you." 

Then, she walked ahead a few steps, as Ash stood there, stunned. 

"Now, we have some monsters to fight, don't we?"