After hesitating for a while, she leaned back slightly, hands behind her for support.
Under his puzzled gaze, she shyly turned her face aside and spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito, "If it's just a light touch, then it's not… completely unacceptable…"
"What are you saying?"
"Y-You've always… always wanted to touch my stomach, right? S-So…"
"Huh? Really?"
Although it was indeed something he had brought up at noon, after all, rubbing a pet's belly while teasing it was completely normal.
He had never imagined that Kanne would actually agree. Just moments ago, she had still been protesting about being treated like a pet.
Now she was not only willing to show her belly as an apology, but even let him touch it?
"W-Well… didn't you save me? So… I should repay that favor quickly… otherwise who knows if you'll come up with some weird request later…"
Ash stood there in the wind, completely stunned. Kanne, on the other hand, had her eyes tightly shut, heart pounding like a drum, nervous.
Her cheeks were already flushed red, and in that shyness was a pure, innocent charm that was hard to resist.
Under the moonlight, her blushing face looked even more delicate.
It was precisely that unexpected cuteness that made Ash's hand, which had intended to refuse, reach out almost on its own.
One of his hands gently rested on her flat, warm abdomen. His fingertips felt the smooth, delicate texture. His other hand instinctively slid along her soft orange hair, lightly stroking her head.
Although he felt happy and curious, almost like he was about to open the door to a new world, and could even feel her body trembling slightly, the girl whose stomach was being touched had her breathing grow quick and shallow.
Kanne tried hard to suppress the waves in her heart, attempting to look calm.
Yet behind those tightly closed eyes was an intense sense of embarrassment that could not be described.
She could feel the warmth of Ash's palm. That warmth seemed to seep through her skin and reach her heart, making it beat even faster.
Honestly, although she was the one who proposed it, it was more out of courtesy. She had assumed they would politely decline back and forth and then laugh it off.
She truly had not expected that Ash would actually go through with it. He did not even pretend to refuse out of politeness. Now she felt like she was riding a tiger she could not get off.
As time passed, the air around them grew increasingly subtle.
Kanne felt so embarrassed she wanted to dig a hole and hide in it. Ash also realized that he might have gone just a bit too far without noticing.
'She invited me, I should not bear responsibility, right? Probably. Is this how it works? Honestly, I am not that confident.'
Just as Ash was thinking about how to peacefully end this awkward situation, a sudden voice shattered the delicate balance.
"I say, doing this in the middle of the night is kind of strange. Shouldn't you be going to sleep?"
"?"
They both jumped and turned around.
Frieren had appeared behind them at some point. She was squatting not far away, hugging her knees, expressionless as she observed them.
The way she looked was just like when she had watched Sein sink into the swamp. Only this time, compared to that day's indifference, the corner of her lips seemed to hold a faint, almost malicious smile.
Kanne's face instantly flushed to her ears. She shot upright and hurriedly grabbed the hem of her clothes, trying to hide her embarrassment.
Ash quickly withdrew his hand and stood up, forcing a slightly awkward smile to ease the strange atmosphere.
"Ah! Ahem! Frieren, the weather's nice tonight. Tomorrow will definitely be sunny."
But Kanne, instinctively hiding behind him, tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Uncle, it's raining outside the barrier…"
"Reality doesn't matter right now. What matters is changing the topic!", Ash turned back with a look of frustration and muttered that before looking at Frieren, who was still sitting there unmoving.
Before he could say more, Frieren spoke first, looking tired, "Don't you think you should guess how many times I've heard that line from you?"
"Really? That many?"
"My ears have grown calluses."
"Sorry, I'll think of something better next time. But it's late, so we should go back and sleep."
Think of something better? Why think of something better? The topic had already changed. As long as she complained, it counted as success. He thought so silently and tried to walk past her into the forest.
Kanne kept her head down, not daring to meet Frieren's eyes, hiding behind Ash to avoid that burning gaze.
However—
"Normally at this point, shouldn't you ask me when I started watching?" [T/N: Lmao!]
They had not gone far when Frieren's voice came from behind.
Ash stopped, "So it didn't work? Then… when did you show up?"
"From the beginning."
"H-Huh?"
"Don't get it? I mean I watched everything from start to finish."
"Then you should have said something sooner!"
He finally spun around and glared at her.
Frieren tilted her head slightly, the corners of her lips lifting as if silently asking, 'Is it really wise to talk to me like that now?'
Understanding her meaning, his momentum deflated instantly. He let out a long sigh.
"What do you want? Just say it."
"After the exam, I want to eat something good. You have to treat me to a big meal. And three Merkur Puddings."
"Fine, I'll treat…"
"Good. Then...", Frieren finally stood up, dusted herself off, and looked seriously at Kanne, "Usually, showing your belly is a sign of submission. Or an invitation for interaction. If you do that, Ash will definitely treat you like an interesting pet later."
"No, no, that won't happen. Kanne is Fern's friend. I won't mess around!"
"So you played with the stomach of the friend of a girl we watched grow up and took care of all the way here, and that doesn't count as messing around?"
"That prefix is a bit long."
"Anything you want to say in defense? Any thoughts?"
"Hmm… thinking about it, it's kind of thrilling?"
The complicated relationship made Kanne's identity special. He unconsciously rubbed his chin and said what he was thinking.
Frieren turned and walked into the forest, "I'll tell Fern that when we get back."
"Wait! Don't go tattling for no reason. I was joking. I'm not some weird guy!"
Afraid of ruining his reputation, he hurried to grab Frieren's shoulder and explained desperately. In the end, he had to add three more desserts to the deal to bribe her into keeping quiet.
Watching this, Kanne could not help but burst out laughing.
"Uncle… you're unexpectedly interesting~"
"In what way?"
"In a weird way… maybe?"
She played with a strand of hair near her ear, smiling ambiguously, then hurried ahead through the forest back to camp.
Frieren looked at him oddly.
"I say…"
"What now?"
"She secretly hates you and just can't say it, right? Maybe she's forcing a smile."
"Kanne's words were strange, but…" Ash rubbed his aching temple, looking incredulous, "How did you reach that conclusion?"
"Normally, no one would like having their belly touched by an uncle. She must be holding in a lot of grievance. You should apologize properly later."
After saying that matter-of-factly, she frowned in thought.
"But she didn't seem that unwilling either. Not that miserable. That's not logical."
"May I ask what your logic is?"
"Just normal logic. What else would it be?"
Frieren looked at him as if he were slow, and continued walking back to camp with him.
It was obvious that because they had spent so long together, and neither felt much tension about the exam, she subconsciously still treated him as someone on her side.
Ash did not bother to argue about her grasp of human nature.
Even he understood that it was probably just embarrassment.
If he truly were an old uncle, maybe the situation would be like Frieren described. But outwardly, he looked like a young man.
Humans always subconsciously believe what they see and ignore the actual situation.
Just like how he liked patting Sense.
Even though he was not human, he once had been. That part should be the same.
———
Back at the campsite, Kanne could not help thinking about Ash's relationship with her friend Fern. All sorts of strange emotions kept her from sleeping.
After all, her friend's guardian looked about the same age as her. Normally, that kind of thing should not happen. She should not have made that suggestion either.
But…
'I still did! And I was the one who suggested it! What have I done? How am I supposed to face Fern in the future?'
In her chaotic thoughts, she accidentally headbutted Lawine's stomach, waking her up.
"Kanne! What are you doing?"
Lawine jolted upright, angry and confused.
When Ash and Frieren returned, the two were already wrestling on the ground.
"...", Frieren wore a numb expression, said nothing, lay down, turned her back, and went to sleep.
Ash just shook his head and, under the moonlight, opened a book, ignoring the two girls who had fought since childhood yet somehow grown closer through it.
.
.
.
The noisy night gradually passed.
The next morning—
The girls washed up, ate grilled fish caught from the river, and began discussing how to catch the Meteoric Iron Bird.
Lawine, who had been frowning since waking, finally could not hold it in. She pointed at Ash.
"I felt something was strange the moment I woke up! Why are you here too? Acting like nothing happened and mixing in with us? And why are none of you reacting? Why are you all just accepting someone from another team eavesdropping on our plans?"
"C-Calm down, Lawine. Uncle's not that bad. Just listening a bit isn't a big problem… probably?", Kanne tried to defend him, then uncertainly looked at Ash for confirmation.
"Why are you asking him?", Frieren sighed, "But he really doesn't need to do that."
"Fine, leave that aside…", Lawine looked suspiciously at Kanne, "Did something happen between you two yesterday? Why is your attitude so different?"
"S-Something happened? No!", Kanne jumped up, face red, waving her hands frantically, "Really! Nothing at all!"
"So something did happen?", Lawine turned to glare at Ash, "You! What did you do?"
"Speaking of which, I should go look for a bird. You guys chat. I'll get going."
Ash stood up and left quickly under the girls' gazes.
Even if he had been invited, it was hard to admit he had rubbed Kanne's belly. And Kanne could not say it either.
Under Lawine's stare, she could only lower her head and pretend to think deeply.
———
After leaving, Ash did not regret touching Kanne's belly for even a second. He walked through the forest absentmindedly flipping through his book, muttering,
"Should I catch one myself or steal one? Without a cage it's troublesome. Maybe…"
"Ah!"
A somewhat familiar gasp sounded nearby.
He turned and saw Ubel standing at a cave entrance, holding a cage with a Meteoric Iron Bird inside.
He could not help muttering, "It's like meat delivered to my mouth."
"H-Haha!", Ubel forced a smile, "Can you… pretend you didn't see me?"
"I think that's a bit difficult. Or give me a reason not to take it."
"Don't you have one? Did someone steal it? Just steal it back."
"No. You might not believe this, but while I was playing, I forgot to close the door and it ran away."
"Huh?", Ubel blinked, "Playing?"
She could not imagine what was so fun about that thing that someone would take it out of the cage to play with.
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