Rupegia Novel Chapter 46: The Encounter – Part 2

Chapter 46: The Encounter – Part 2

Ciel starts talking to one of the soldiers about his wound. He took a spear to the belly and there's still so side-effects from the [Heal] going on. Hana joins in and soon they're having a casual conversation about their adventures.

Aoi plays around with her [Item Box], trying to fit in random pebbles and increase its capacity. Gify observes her with amusent because what Aoi is doing is not the right way to expand your [Item Box].

"You are uncharacteristically quiet," I say to Gify.

"Gih."

"I agree," Lina says.

"Hm, I don't think this place is that bad," Roxanne says.

"How ironic that a nature's spirit dislikes a forest, of all things," I say with a cheeky smile.

"Gih!" He clicks his beak near my ear lobe, threateningly.

"Well, there's still 'nature' inside a town, so Gify is very far from his preferred landscape right now," Alissa says and Gify nods.

I chuckle and things beco quiet again.

"Wolfy, hug ," Alissa says inside my head.

"How…?"

"I don't know, just find a way to do it. You managed to 'poke' sohow, right?"

"Right…"

I pull on Alissa's string and her mind floods inside my "mind space." I remind myself of our boundaries and differences, then I envelop her with myself and squeeze until I feel so resistance.

"Ah… that feels good," Alissa says.

The desire to "rge" with her grows stronger the more relaxed she feels.

"Help

out with this, try to, uh, not rge with ," I say.

"What?"

"It feels like our minds want to mix and beco one. Try to not wish for that, otherwise, I can't maintain this for long."

"Hm…"

I do not love myself. I love Alissa and Alissa loves . I do not love myself.

I want her to be happy, but I do not want to feel her happiness.

Her presence inside my mind becos odd, "foreign," separate. The desire to "rge" decreases and becos "unpleasant," although it's still a desire.

"That helped," I say.

"Reduced my pleasure, though," I feel Alissa's pout inside my mind.

"Can't have everything."

"But I'm sure you would bring

the sun if I asked," she says with a cheeky tone.

"If there was a possibility… and it wouldn't kill us from being too close…"

Alissa giggles inside my head and I see her tail wag.

Our morning is quiet and calm. We are still close enough to the town that there are hardly any monsters and there aren't any here that can bypass our anti-monster crystals.

Lunch cos and we get to eat roasted cow ribs and sirloin again. This ti we also have so veggies, so it isn't too heavy of a al. We might want energy-rich food so that we can fight, but we must still be careful to not overeat.

Klein sits at our corner of the table. Due to the size of our group, we take up a large part of it by ourselves. The cute monkey-girl hand-feeds Aoi and hums quite happily. The tails of both of them sway happily like a cat's.

"Ask Oura what kinds of books she likes to read," I tell Alissa.

"Why?"

"For Lina."

"Hmm! How thoughtful!"

Klein tosses a piece of at up in the air and Aoi catches it with a snap.

"What books do you read, Oura?" Alissa asks.

Oura smiles warmly and says, "Ah, I love mysteries. Always trying to guess who's the enemy and who's the ally, trying to read between the lines of every conversation." Her voice sounds excited, for once.

"That doesn't an that she's actually a shrewd person. She's fairly absentminded, most of the ti," Osaria says with a wry smile.

"Well…" -Roxanne pouts angrily- "maybe she just doesn't want to play those kinds of gas."

Oura chuckles and nods.

"Could soone truly be considered 'wise' if they refuse to think about their actions?" Osaria sends a questioning stare to Roxanne.

"Could soone truly be considered 'wise' if they keep wasting their ti with petty gas?" Roxanne sends back her own questioning stare with an over-the-top pretentious tone.

"Wouldn't a 'wise' person make the most of their life and achieve all that they can?" Osaria continues and her tone remains serious.

"Wouldn't a 'wise' person live the way they prefer and accept the consequences?" Roxanne's tone turns serious.

"Do you consider a beggar to be wise?" Osaria raises an eyebrow.

"Well, if I need knowledge about how to live on the streets, then asking a beggar would be helpful, wouldn't it?" Roxanne shrugs.

Klein's tail sneaks around Hana and finds my waist. She rubs my belly affectionately and giggles girlishly while playing with Aoi. I pat her tail in return and apply a little bit of [Massage].

"But surely you don't approve of their lifestyle?" Osaria narrows her eyes disapprovingly.

"A beggar is a person who didn't receive fortune through the Threads of Fate. He is neither good nor bad," Roxanne states matter-of-factly.

"But a beggar who is not trying to improve their situation is soone who's denying the wishes of the God of Creation."

Roxanne pouts slightly, unconvinced. "Do we really need to search for riches to follow Gods' Wish?"

"We have to search for sothing."

"If we benefit others with our actions, aren't we still following the Wish?"

"Depends on how efficient that may be. Aiding a farr to make him richer won't make him a good rchant or business owner. Soone who knows how to make riches is more likely to have the skill to properly handle those riches."

Both of them turn to Ciel, who gives a strained smile and says, "The Gods do not get involved in petty matters, but you will be judged by the result of all of your contributions."

"That didn't go as planned," I say to Alissa through [Bind] and hear a chuckle in response.

The two continue arguing for a little while longer but neither gives up their position.

We continue our trip and I notice that the number of monsters is starting to sharply rise.

The faint crying of the Weepers increases again and becos perceptible when there's nobody talking. This ans that the elves start talking about anything just to help with our "Sanity." The cries sound humanoid, but they vary with ti, both the sex and age of the supposed crying person slowly morphing at random. The chatter of the elves turns their cries into just background noise.

Eventually, I see that a Holly finds a thick fog in the way. Through her sense, I know it slls sweet like a flower and has a calming effect. A Watchman Ton is coming. A cute, squishy green monster with yellow glowing balls for eyes. It wears a robe and holds a lantern that jingles as it walks. Its stubby little legs contribute to its slow walking speed, but the monster itself isn't that dangerous, the fog is. It has a strong soporific effect, which allows the Ton to leisurely cast a spell to finish off its prey.

"I think only , Alissa, and Ciel should go," I say.

"I won't be of much use there," Hana says with a wry smile.

"Stay safe," Lina says and Roxanne nods.

"Kweh!" Aoi agrees.

We reach the border of the fog and dismount from our horses. There's a very clear border where the fog starts, like a fog wall from a certain ga. The sll reminds

of hibiscus with a hint of Cinnamon.

I summon an Arachne. "Can you dissipate this fog?" I ask the monster and it nods in response, so I summon four more.

We now have Ciel's Holy Spirit, one light elental, and the Arachnes. The power of the spider monster is in manipulating poisons in the air and ambushing its prey. This thick fog should be easily unwoven by the number of Arachnes that I have.

The Arachnes whisper an odd and chilling chant and I don't recognize the language it's in. They pull their silk up to their hands and "crochet" a spell while chanting. The silk turns into a small piece of cloth that disperses into smoke and mixes with the Ton's fog.

The fog fades the more it mixes with the Arachne's "smoke web."

"You know, they look really cute," Alissa says while staring deeply at the Arachnes. "Their faces, I an. Not the spider body," she adds.

"I kind of agree. If they brushed their hair they would look like normal girls, kind of," Ciel says.

I have read far too much monster girl hentai to have an unbiased opinion about this.

"The question is, would Wolfy have sex with one?"

I shrug. "If she looks cute enough, I guess it could work out."

"Where's their vagina even located?" Ciel asks and squints her eyes.

"Above the spider eyes, hidden in the fur," Alissa says.

Ciel leans back and chuckles. "Okay, that's weird."

"I think the humanoid Arachnes don't have extra eyes there," I say.

"Much better," Ciel says with a nod.

"Why do you care? It would be Wolfy that would have sex with her," Alissa says.

"Or would it…?" I add.

"We are supposed to be sharing, right…?" Ciel asks a little shy.

"Everything."

The Arachnes pick up the pace and they start to carve a tunnel into the fog.

"I'll periodically cast [Purify Body] with my [Holy Spirit]," Ciel says.

We enter the odd, milky tunnel and I feel the horses are amused at the sight. They get bored of the forest easily and not much scares them, so they seem to enjoy the occasional break from the routine.

Soon, we see a faint yellow light coming out of the fog. The light is oddly alluring, like a moth seeing a fla.

Alissa draws her warbow and fires an arrow towards the light. We hear a cute, comical "QUEH!" and the jingle of tal clacking and glass breaking. Monts later, the yellow light fades and we move on.

I start to feel fatigued due to the fog and instead of casting another [Purify Body], this ti I sink my nails into Alissa's [Bind] and feel her whole body shiver. She suddenly becos very aware and alert, and I allow that to bleed over through the [Bind] to , making

alert again, too.

"Hah, good idea," Alissa says.

"This spell is so useful."

Suddenly, I feel mana coming from the front and we raise our shields. An Arachne yells a warning as a [Wind Blade] opens a wound in her shoulder. Ciel casts a [Wind Wall] in front of the wounded Arachne, preventing any further spells from reaching us.

The [Holy Spirit] jumps onto the Arachne's spider body and starts tap dancing. While it dances, mana leaves its body and heals the Arachne.

"Does it have to dance?" I ask Ciel.

"No, but the dancing helps ease the mind and it's good practice for ," she answers with a shrug.

Alissa fires a few arrows into the fog but doesn't look satisfied. "They are hard to sense," she says.

We start to see a faint yellow light and Alissa smiles evilly. She fires an arrow and a "QUEH!" from a dying Ton is heard, then the pale yellow light dissipates.

Suddenly, we feel mana coming from our flank. Alissa reflexively fires an arrow, I cast a [Lightning Bolt] at the source, and Ciel moves her [Wind Wall] to protect us from that direction. A faint yellow light suddenly appears from where the mana ca from and sothing tries to pierce Ciel's [Wind Wall].

"I missed?" Alissa thinks out loud and tilts her head cutely.

She fires another arrow and we finally hear the "QUEH!" of a dying Ton again.

"Not dead yet," she says and fires another arrow.

The monster yells another "QUEH!" of an, apparently, not-dying Ton and I feel mana co from his direction again.

Spears made of fog extend out from the fog and beco "solid."

I cast [Telekinesis] on a spear that is aiming for Alissa, making it fall on the ground like a noodle, and block another with my shield. Their tips are as sharp as a needle, but they carry little montum, making them very easy to block. Ciel moves her [Wind Wall] and the spear dissipates as it touches the spell. The Arachnes aim their "webs" at the spears and they beco fog again.

The Arachnes create a wider tunnel to give us more breathing room and change direction towards the annoying Ton. They manage to dissipate any further "fog spears" before they can threaten us.

Ciel casts a [Wind Blade] into the fog wall and frowns. "My spell dissipated," she says.

As we make our way towards the Ton, we hear the pitter-patter of the monster trying to run away.

"Put the [Holy Spirit] on

and I'll go get it," Alissa says.

With a cute, feminine "Hup!