Deep in the forest, the three of them watched Ninya's figure disappear among the trees before finally looking away.
"Looks like she's made up her mind. Then we should get going too."
Naohara turned to Herohero with a teasing grin.
He acted like he didn't care, yet he was the one who couldn't stop worrying.
How cute, Blackie-chan~
"Herohero, you can relax now, right?"
Momonga also glanced at his friend, who was still staring in the direction Ninya had gone, and couldn't resist snapping a photo.
So this was what people called gap moe. Momonga thought to himself. He hadn't expected Herohero to have this kind of side.
"I ate several hundred of her hearts and even devoured her brain. It's only natural I'd care a little."
Herohero sounded oddly sentimental. He wasn't sure if it was because he'd eaten too many hearts, or because her memories had influenced him, but he found himself paying unusual attention to that human girl.
"With the items we gave her, she should be fine."
"Come on. It's time for us to continue our adventure."
Naohara spoke, then turned and headed deeper into the forest. Momonga and Herohero followed right behind.
Just as Naohara said, with those items, she would have no problem protecting herself. There was no need to worry.
The three of them walked at an unhurried pace through the forest, making their way toward Aura and Mare.
They planned to regroup and challenge the legendary Wise King of the Forest together.
Perhaps because of the earlier commotion, they ran into quite a few Trolls and Goblins along the way, which delighted them.
Momonga immediately started his heart-squeezing game.
His two bony hands crushed the hearts of all kinds of monsters one after another, and he looked genuinely pleased.
The only problem was that the motion was too painful for the other two to watch.
How should they put it?
Those skeletal hands squeezing over and over, combined with Momonga's entranced expression… it looked way too much like he was groping someone's chest. It was downright eye-searing.
Naohara immediately took a rapid burst of photos, already imagining how fun it would be later to erase the hearts from the pictures and paste a certain dominatrix Torturer in their place.
Momonga grabbing the Dominatrix Torturer's chest with that same obsessed expression…
Heh. Just imagining Albedo's reaction made Naohara excited.
Along the way, Herohero caught on to what Naohara was thinking and was utterly amazed. He insisted on helping.
Naohara happily accepted.
After all, nothing was more fun than messing around with a fellow troublemaker. The two of them watched Momonga ahead, still immersed in his heart-squeezing, and couldn't help letting out the same sinister laugh.
"Heh… heh… heh…"
Momonga, still absorbed in crushing hearts, suddenly shuddered. He immediately turned around to look at Naohara and Herohero, a bad feeling creeping up his spine.
But all he saw was the two of them standing shoulder to shoulder, chatting normally as if nothing was wrong.
"…Weird. Was that just my imagination?"
Momonga was confused. He kept feeling like something unpleasant was about to happen.
Still, he didn't sense any real danger. After thinking for a moment, he decided to drop it.
Whatever. Probably just his imagination.
Thanks to Momonga's hard work, the three of them advanced without any trouble. Along the way, monster corpses of all sizes littered the ground.
And so, the trio continued steadily deeper into the forest…
...
"This is it."
After reaching the depths of the forest, Naohara turned toward a certain direction and spoke.
"Aura, Mare, you can come out now."
He could clearly sense the siblings' presence. They were close by.
"Heeey~~ I'm here, Father-sama!"
The moment his words fell, a small figure burst out from the shadows and rushed toward him at incredible speed, kicking up a cloud of dust along the way.
"S-Sis, slow down…"
Mare's voice followed right behind as he emerged from a nearby bush and hurried after her.
The two ran straight over and threw themselves into Naohara's arms, nuzzling against him. It was an undeniably adorable sight.
"You've been waiting a while, haven't you, Aura, Mare?"
Naohara instantly switched into father mode. His voice softened as he gently patted their little heads, his expression full of warmth.
Momonga and Herohero silently stepped aside. This was clearly a large-scale parent-child reunion. It had nothing to do with them, so they tactfully moved off to the side to watch.
Herohero even used magic to conjure two lounge chairs. He and Momonga lay back comfortably, observing the interaction. Even spectating, they refused to suffer.
"Hehe, Father-sama, is there any compensation for making us wait?"
Aura's eyes darted mischievously as she began to act spoiled. Ever since realizing that Father-sama didn't mind these little antics, she had grown increasingly bold.
Mare paused for a moment when he saw his sister like that, then quickly followed suit. As long as he copied Aura, he'd be fine.
"Compensation? Then how about this?"
At the mention of compensation, Naohara immediately thought of the Talent Seeds Herohero had given him. Perfect timing. He could give them away now.
Earlier, Herohero had condensed several hundred Talent Seeds and directly handed one hundred each to Naohara and Momonga, telling them to use them freely.
Reaching into his storage space, Naohara took out two faintly glowing seeds and held them out to the Dark Elf siblings.
"These are Talent Seeds. After eating them, they'll accelerate your magical learning. They're very useful."
He carefully explained their function.
Watching from the side, Momonga and Herohero both shook their heads.
There was no saving him. Naohara was completely wrapped around their fingers.
Poor Naohara. He didn't even realize he had already become a full-fledged doting father. The moment he heard "compensation," his first thought was what to give them—and he even found a perfectly reasonable excuse for himself.
What? You're saying Mare is a boy? Please. He's wearing white stockings. That makes him a girl.
"Sigh…"
The two exchanged a glance and sighed in unison.
Old friend, you've fallen hard.
"Were these specially prepared for us, Father-sama?"
Aura stared at the glowing seeds, her eyes sparkling like stars.
"Uh… yes. I prepared these just for you."
Naohara had originally planned to say they were from Herohero, but seeing Aura's delighted expression, he hesitated and chose to lie instead.
As long as she was happy, that was enough. Surely Herohero would understand his good intentions and not mind.
Herohero, who had just been about to step forward and show off a bit, froze when he heard that.
You've got to be kidding. You're even taking credit for this? I know you care about your daughter, but what about your brother?
Momonga simply shook his head, thoroughly entertained.
This was some premium drama. As long as it didn't involve him, it was all good.
Aura and Mare didn't hesitate. They immediately swallowed the Talent Seeds.
These were specially prepared by Father-sama. They couldn't let his effort go to waste.
"Doesn't taste bad."
Aura felt her body carefully, but didn't notice any obvious changes. Still, she didn't doubt it for a second. If Father-sama said it would speed up her magic learning, then it would.
"Alright, Aura, Mare. Take us to the Wise King of the Forest."
Seeing that they had eaten the seeds, Naohara smiled and patted their backs, signaling them to lead the way. Then he glanced at the two who were lounging nearby.
"Momonga, Blackie. Let's go."
The two stood up at last.
Not easy. He finally remembered we were here. We almost thought you forgot about us.
And so, under Aura's lead, the group eventually arrived at the entrance of a cave.