Ch.33 Shame Comes Late

Vester's POV

[You have received an invitation to a party from Explorer : Sakidori Midori. Would you like to accept?]

I touched the Yes button on the window that appeared. When it disappeared, another window appeared, listing my party members. They were listed in the order of Sakidori Midori, Takemaru, and myself.

"Huh? Vester's HP isn't showing up... is this a bug?"

"You're right. The only thing that got displayed is her MP."

"Ah, that's normal. My HP is combined to my MP... just think of it that way."

"Combined, you say... So stuff like this can also happen, huh."

"Weird, but I understand. As long as it doesn't interfere with the fight, then it's fine."

I don't mind if I explain in detail about my magical body and such, but if they're too interested, it'll just make the explanation more troublesome.

As long as I said clearly that my HP and MP are combined, there shouldn't be any problems in battle.

"Are you two ready? Feel like we can go now?"

"I'm ready."

Everyone's fully prepared. I'm fine too. Just like always. It would be better if I had some kind of magic recovery potion, but I barely use them all this time, so I think I'll be fine this time too.

"I'm ready too."

"Well then, let's go and hunt the bear."

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Five minutes had passed since we left the starting town of Marathos. We were now in the grasslands of Area 1. We walked, chatting lightly while remaining cautious of our surroundings.

"No enemies have come out."

"Isn't that a good thing? We can get to our destination safely."

I think it's better to conserve our energy and stamina than to challenge the bear with both of them drained from fighting along the way.

When I spoke with that thought in mind, Takemaru-san glanced my way for some reason.

"Is there something bothering you?"

Surely it wasn't because he was aroused. I don't know what kind of person Takemaru-san is inside, but I can't imagine that he could get aroused with such a small body. It's also possible that he's a woman in real life.

I probably had something on my face. If you could tell me, that would be helpful.

"...Did you notice? Sorry for glancing at you. I was just wondering why you smell like fish, Vester."

"Oh, I thought the same thing. Why do you smell like blood?"

"Oh, I see... Maybe it's because I gutted a fish before coming here."

I see, so that's why they were looking. It's annoying when someone smells bad, right? I thought I'd washed it off, but does it still smell?

Curious, I grabbed the clothes made of magic and sniffed them.

Hmm, it certainly does smell a bit... Maybe my nose has gotten used to the smell and it doesn't bother me that much. I should have made another clone before coming back.

"Ah, wait a moment. Takemaru, don't look!"

"Wha- gaah!?"

A strange voice came out, so I took my hands off my clothes and looked in their direction. Takemaru-san, what are you doing holding your face?

As I tilted my head, Sakidori Midori-san came over and whispered a warning in my ear.

"What are you doing? Your underwear is almost visible! Be careful!"

"Huh...huh? Ah, yesh... I will be careful."

"You're being too carefree. You're so cute, all the perverts will have a festival if you do stuff like that."

"...Yesh."

This may seem odd to say, but I certainly didn't think much of it. My new body was quite unusual and it attracted a lot of attention, but taking into account my appearance as a girl, I certainly wasn't aware of it enough.

Because I'm almost always flying, there is the problem that it can be seen by someone looking up from below, but since I'm always flying at about the same eye level as an adult, the only people who would look up at it are children.

However, I now have a female body. I need to be careful and fix the things that need attention.

♢♢♢♢♢

Sakidori Midori's POV

Seeing the drooping fairy, Sakidori Midori thought she understood and clapped Takemaru on the shoulder.

"Sorry for hitting you. Takemaru was on the verge of turning into a pervert."

"Huh? What's that, turning into a pervert?...I don't really understand, but thank you?"

"You're welcome"

Takemaru didn't look at her reactively. I'm glad I was able to protect her.

Still, I wonder why Vester-san is so defenseless. To shamelessly grabs her chest part of her clothese and lifts it up...

We did say she smelled fishy and bloody, so maybe she wanted to smell it? Even so, surely she'd realize that if she lifted her clothes up like that, her underwear would be visible, right? Is she an airhead?

♢♢♢♢♢

Takemaru's POV

I had no idea why she had suddenly slapped me, or what had brought me to the brink of becoming a pervert, but at least she had stopped me from becoming one, so I thanked her.

The slap, or should I say hand, was really gentle and didn't sting, so I wasn't particularly angry.

"So...um, does it smell really bad...?"

"No, not really. Right, Takemaru?"

It seems that Vester-san is worried about whether or not it stinks. But when I say it smells, it's more like the smell you get at a fishmonger's. It's not a smell she should be worried about.

"It smells like being near fishmonger's, so it's fine."

"Hey, delicacy!"

Apparently I didn't communicate well, and Midori got angry at me.

"Ah, well, we'll be sweating while defeating monsters later, so I guess you don't have to worry about it."

The great thing about this game is that it tries to be as realistic as possible.

When you move, you sweat, when you cry, you cry, you get hungry, and menstrual cycles occur. Of course, it doesn't seem to replicate the menstrual cycles of women or men's that.

But you can still have a child. The fact that you committed the act is what's important. I saw that written on a message board.

And the conversation went off track.

This means that food, toilets, and baths aren't just decorations.

Just because you do all of this in the real world doesn't mean it carries over to the game world. If you don't take a bath, you'll get a dirty effect and flies will start buzzing around.

Fortunately, time stops for your avatar while you're logged out, so you won't smell bad no matter how many days pass.

It's only natural that you'll smell if you're on the move all day. It can't be helped, so it's not something to worry about too much. Unless you have a bad smell that makes you want to point it out, that's a different story. Vester-san isn't like that.

Maybe she was worried because I said she smelled like a fishmonger's? I was just concerned... Was I being insensitive?

"...I see. It does bother me, but I'll try not to worry about it."

"I'm sorry Takemaru was so insensitive."

"My bad."

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〘Step-up System〙

A system for progressing through your profession to the next level.

In order to progress from the initial job of Explorer to the next primary job, you must clear the conditions imposed on each job.

As an explorer, your initial job, you can only learn basics. As you level up, you can learn more, but you can only remember the basics.

Primary jobs allow you to learn specialized skills for each job. As you level up, you will also be able to learn more.

The content is the same as for secondary, tertiary, and quaternary jobs.

In addition, some quest rewards can allow players to take up special jobs or learn magic.

〘Effect: Unsanitary Smell〙

This effect occurs when you don't wash your body for several days or remain unclean.

Light brown smoke appears around the body, attracting flies. The smell is so strong that even NPCs avoid it.

To remove the effect, take a bath or do something to clean yourself.

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