[LU-EL@LIVESTREAM – GODDESS'S VESSEL]
"Sorry to interrupt, but I'll be taking Ms. Kaori for myself."
Poru@Knight: That's a good one-liner—only if you aren't butt naked. Hahaha!
Poru@Sage: With that massive erection, it sounds like you're the one who's gonna RP her.
"Thanks for the distraction, pervert flasher."
Poru@Beast: Savage—this girl can fight!
"Stop your assault, or your leader will die!"
Poru@Knight: Wait... That's Stark's Battle Axe!
Poru@Ghost: That's a bandit's ass—HAHAHA!
"UGH—!"
Poru@Astronaut: Did your avatar really throw up?—EWW!
"Fireball!"
BOOM!
Poru@Sage: Did she get a power-up after SX?
"Well, Croc was bigger and better than Reiji could ever be. I actually considered taking him as my lover, but not anymore after you broke him. So how about I take your lover in exchange?"
Poru@Beast: Just how small is Reiji's rod—Hahaha!
"Let's go, pervert flasher."
"One hour! I'm giving you one hour to run and hide! After that, the huntress will be the one to be hunted."
Poru@Sage: Why?—They could have just fought and ended this opening arc right there.
Poru@Astronaut: NO! They need to build up the tension first—until the romantic smut scene.
Poru@Ghost: Let's just wait and see where the story is going.
Luvira@Goddess: SERIOUSLY?—No one is gonna ask about the Isekai Livestreamer System?
***
"Damn it—that bitch wasn't lying at all," Kaori grumbled before stepping off a branch at the top of an almost 30-meter-tall tree, quickly descending by skillfully jumping from branch to branch until she safely landed on the ground where Lu-el and Reiji were waiting at the base.
"How's the situation, Ms. Kaori?" Lu-el said, turning around to face her—only for Kaori to become flustered, her face blushing as she awkwardly looked away. After all, she was still crouching down and now facing Lu-el's manhood.
"At least find something to cover yourself, pervert flasher." she said as she abruptly stood and frantically distanced herself.
Although the tension from their earlier fight with the bandits—and the exhaustion from running and escaping—had calmed his excitement and arousal, Lu-el's rod was still noticeably large.
Even if he felt awkward with Reiji staring at him, yet delighted each time he noticed Kaori glancing downward, it wasn't like he could find anything in the forest to fully cover himself.
Kaori also realized it herself as she looked at Lu-el, her eyes instinctively trailing downward.
She then walked toward Reiji, who was sitting on the ground and still catching his breath.
"Kaori..." Reiji murmured, feeling delighted that she came to talk to him again after being ignored the entire time they were running.
Thud!
Kaori, however, kicked Reiji to the ground, causing him to fall backward.
"Ouch!"
Another kick landed, making Reiji groan in pain as he rolled over.
Kaori grabbed Reiji's cape, then drew her knife and cut it from his armor.
"Here! Use this and cover yourself, pervert flasher," Kaori said, handing the red cape to Lu-el while resisting taking one more glance.
She's really mad at him, isn't she? Lu-el thought, growing curious about the circumstances between Kaori and Reiji.
"Thank you, Ms. Kaori," Lu-el said before accepting the cape and wrapping it around his waist—finally obtaining his first clothes after his first weapon, and graduating from being butt naked.
"What about our situation?" he added, repeating his earlier question and causing Kaori to glare daggers at Reiji again.
"This is all your fault," Kaori said, blaming him.
"Please, Kaori, I really have no part in Sera's plan—Ouch!"
Reiji continued to reason and plead with Kaori, but she once again responded with violence, kicking him repeatedly until Lu-el decided to step in.
"Beating him further will only drag us down, Ms. Kaori."
"Then I'd rather leave him behind!"
Nope, at least not until we do it in front of him, Lu-el thought, staying true to his priorities and desires.
***
With the sky at dusk and night approaching faster than the one-hour countdown Sera gave them, Lu-el and Kaori—with Reiji barely keeping up—continued their escape through the dimming forest.
"That bitch wasn't lying. The entire forest is surrounded by bandits, and they're already closing in," Kaori said, basing her conclusion on what she had scouted earlier atop the tree.
"You saw that far, Ms. Kaori?" Lu-el replied, his tone more surprised and impressed than doubtful.
"I'm a Huntress. I can enhance all my physical abilities and senses with Mana. Scouting a few kilometers away is child's play for me."
Although he wasn't doubting her confidence, Lu-el still wondered about something else.
"And you should know, those bandits earlier were probably hidden by that bitch's skills—that's why I didn't sense them," Kaori added, addressing his thoughts.
"But you only scouted in one location, right?" Reiji interrupted. "What if we escape in a different location out of the forest instead of going deeper?"
"You're more than welcome to stop following us, moron," Kaori retorted, bluntly shutting him down.
Still, Reiji made a good point.
"Why are we heading deeper into the forest, Ms. Kaori?" Lu-el asked, earning a look of disbelief from her, as if he were missing something obvious, before she sighed heavily and explained.
"Those bastards are the infamous Croc Bandits. Rumor says they have at least a thousand members. If their leader Croc is here, then it's probably true the entire gang is here. That's enough to surround the whole area and still have reserves to call for backup if we try to break through by force."
"Then how is going deeper into the forest going to help us?"
With Reiji complaining again, Kaori abruptly stopped running.
Lu-el halted as well, thinking she had finally had enough of Reiji and was about to beat him to death.
"GAHHH—!"
But upon hearing Reiji scream in panic after running past them into the bushes, Lu-el realized what lay ahead—a cliff, or rather, a river.
Though the drop was only two meters, the river was wide with deep water and a fast current. Crossing it would be dangerous, just like falling into it—which was exactly Reiji's current situation as he clung to the edge for his life.
"There's no need to help him up, pervert," Kaori said, stopping Lu-el as he moved forward.
She then walked toward Reiji and, to Lu-el's surprise, kicked him in the face, sending him off the cliff and into the river below.
The quest will fail now that Reiji is gone.
The same goes for the reward.
But Lu-el had already made up his mind, heart, body, and rod—he would do it with Kaori.
Well... Lu-el sighed. Who says I can't do it with Kaori without Reiji watching?
Or so he thought.
"Are you waiting for me to kick you as well, or are you going to jump on your own?" Kaori asked as they stood at the edge.
"Huh?"
Seeing his confusion, Kaori grabbed his left hand and pulled him along as she jumped.
"Don't let go of your weapon," she said, prompting him to grip his axe tightly.
Losing the weapon he had just taken from the bandit leader was second only to his concern about staying alive.
The current carried them for several minutes until they reached a waterfall, just as night fell and darkness engulfed the forest—except for a cave hidden behind the falls, illuminated by a faint glowing lantern.
***
"Is this your hideout, Ms. Kaori?" Lu-el asked, dragging Reiji—who had nearly drowned due to his armor—while Kaori lit the lantern attached to the cave wall.
"Something like that," she replied, rummaging through a chest.
Looking around, Lu-el saw various weapons—knives, daggers, swords, spears, bows, and a large supply of arrows. There were even fur blankets.
What surprised him most was that the cave was dry and warm despite them being drenched.
"Peek and I will gouge out your eyes," Kaori said, covering his face with a towel she tossed at him, and another at Reiji, who was gasping for air on the gravel floor.
"This place has a barrier cast on it—that's why it stays dry and warm. We'll hide here until morning, or until that bitch and those bastards find us."
Despite her voice echoing through the cave, Lu-el could clearly hear Kaori removing her wet clothes, which instantly reignited his arousal.
"You really are a pervert, aren't you?" Kaori grumbled, noticing his erection beneath the cape.
"It would be rude to you if I wasn't this excited in this situation, right?" Lu-el said, removing the towel from his face.
Although she was already wrapped in a towel, Kaori instinctively covered her chest and crotch, glaring at him with a flustered yet threatening expression.
"Enough with your nonsense and tell me who you are, pervert."