Chapter 49: The girls' bonding

"It was hard to fall asleep, right?" Louise yawned and stretched her arms, still half-asleep.

For the first time since their adventure started, everyone had a bed for themselves. They also took long baths, enjoyed much better food, and interacted with others.

It was a taste of civilization that was much better than wilderness.

But adventuring also had its good points.

"Yeah, it was." Leon agreed with his fox partner. "I guess it's the environment change."

If Celes wasn't sleepy, she would've stifled a laugh upon hearing those words. But the vampiress still managed to lazily turn her eyes to Leon, peculiarly gazing at him.

Louise also squinted her eyes at her master.

Everyone, including her, knew it wasn't a change of environment that made their night harder.

During their adventures, the carriage forced them to sleep together in one place. Even Celes had to agree to sleep together with Leon despite not having any romantic feelings. But now, even the vampiress missed someone's else warmth and the piercing gaze of someone who woke up a few times during his sleep.

Louise had similar but slightly different reasons for missing her master.

Leon couldn't misunderstand their eyes, so he laughed and switched the topic. "We'll prepare a lot of stuff today. I'll get ready first since you two still seem asleep."

After Leon closed himself in the bathroom, Celes lazily parted her lips and showered Louise with understanding. "A good point of adventuring is that there's no need for excuses. If you want, I can get really drunk and break your bed, so you two get to cuddle tonight."

"T-That's not a bad idea." Louise's face turned tomato, utterly awakening her.

Celes continued in a lazy tone, "Then you'll burn mine."

"No way! Master will realize the ploy!" Louise shook her head, then oddly looked at the vampiress.

The black-haired girl simply turned around, showing her bare back to the fox girl. "Forget it."

Realizing that Celes had taken a genuine liking to her master, Louise developed mixed emotions. A part of her liked that since it meant that her master would never be alone should something happen to her. Another part of her disliked that and wanted to take her master's whole heart for herself.But then, the name Louise couldn't shake off rang out in her heart.

"Celes. I have a question." Louise left her bed and silently walked to Celes' side. She took a seat on her bed while keeping a moderate, friendly distance. "Master's world produces many talented people, right?"

Celes replied without turning around and opening her eyes. "Yes."

"Because it's a world without mana, most talents are either locked or partially awakened…." Louise carried on with the talk, receiving silent 'yes' from the vampiress. "And… people with talents rarely get attracted to those without any, right?"

"Even if they get attracted, such a relationship seldom lasts for a long time, let alone produces deep and genuine feelings. Those with talent will inevitably attract the attention of their peers and move forth. In our world, if it's a girl, she either becomes a concubine or someone forgotten." Celes explained without knowing what exactly went into Louise's mind. "You don't have to worry about your talent — just memories. But for that, you already have an answer. It might hurt you and separate you from Master, but I don't think he's the type to easily let you go should your personality take a flip."

"That's not it…" Louise blushed, clenched the blanket, then went on without explaining everything. "Someone with a high talent should become attracted to someone with the same potential. Even if her talent might be sealed, he ought to instinctively feel her worth and lose his mind for her should she be a good person, right?"

Celes turned around, gazed at the fox girl with narrowed eyes, then parted her lips. "Your words are so complicated… But I think you're right. Now, care to explain what has started this conversation?" Celes wasn't in a good mood for a talk for mainly two reasons. "I'm sober, and it's too early."

"I can't share it with you!" Louise hopped off the bed and escaped to hers.

She decided to not talk about it with anyone, for that was just a theory that sprouted in her mind. However, Louise now believed there was a high chance of Athena living in the Freya World, too.

It was just a theory, so she couldn't share it with Leon.

Celes also didn't know about that girl, for Leon hadn't shared it with her.

To not betray her master and run her tongue like a worst gossip girl, Louise kept those thoughts locked deep in her heart.

On the other hand, Celes could no longer fall asleep. 'Their secrets…'

It wasn't like she had gone through the same stuff as Louise had done with Leon, so Celes knew she wasn't in a position to open his heart and learn more about him. She herself hadn't shared about her defeat against The Human Emperor, how she'd lost her strength, and her precious sisters.

Celes felt like taking out her liquor and stuffing her lips with a bottle to drink all of it in one go.

But then, Leon's words to not drink without any eating reverberated through her mind.

Though Celes didn't think she'd ever get drunk, those words stopped her from tippling her throat.

But she still didn't feel like lying on her bed. "You remind me of my little sister."

"Me?" Louise turned around and adorably blinked at the vampiress.

"You see someone else in this room?" Celes spoke in a more familiar and sweeter tone, shocking Louise as those words would usually make her pout, yet she couldn't help but look at the black-haired girl with big eyes. "She had been locked in her family's castle for thirty years because of her bloodline's purity. But in the end, she's been revealed to the vampire world because her family struggled, and she became one of the generals under Her Highness. Just that fixed her family's situation. As for us, it was chaos, for she kept asking questions.""I don't ask many questions." Louise pouted at last.

Celes tilted her head and peculiarly gazed at the fox girl. "You do. It's not like I mind."

Knowing why she didn't mind, Louise's ears twitched, her baby face lit up, and her lips parted, starting a barrage of questions. "Does she drink like you?"

"She can't drink. Only one time, she forced herself to drink a whole glass. Then, she'd vomit and curse at us whenever we toasted." Celes unknowingly curved her lips up, reminiscing good times.

She appeared so beautiful that Louise didn't blink. "Do we also look similar?"

"Ah, yes, both of you are shorties with big tits."

After saying those words, Celes smirked and lifted her upper body. She then sat on the rim of her bed and put her right leg on another, showing off her long and slender legs.

She even moved her toes up and down, laughing.

Louise harrumphed, feeling jealous even though she didn't hate her height, and crossed her arms. "You see-" A memory she had forgotten after returning to Leon's side during a battle against the black skeleton flashed in her mind… "I think… I'll match your height when I get back my memories!"

It felt awesome to remember that. Moreover, Louise's heart flared as she looked forward to remembering her past!

"Is that how memory loss works?" Celes pondered aloud.

She couldn't exclude the possibility of The Human Emperor using a way more complicated technique on a legendary-grade fox girl. He was one of the rare people who could use various disgusting techniques… However, that made Celes think more about Louise.

What kind of power dwelled within her that it could alter her body?

Celes hid her thoughts and theories behind her smile, which was, in a way, her payback. But she also didn't want to talk about her thoughts that might be wrong, just like Louise.

The fox girl also lacked the experienced memories to see through the vampiress' smile. "When did you paint your toes?"

"When you were combing your hair and tails, struggling." Celes pointed at the mirror, sneering.

Louise remembered how tangled her hair became yesterday and how she had pushed Leon away, for it was too embarrassing.

Dispelling those memories, Louise promptly switched the topic. "I want red nails, too."

"Oh," Leon left the bathroom, all clean and fresh. His appearance and smell drew the girls' attention. "In this case, I want black nails. Don't exclude me from some bonding, girls."

Louse covertly glanced at Celes' expression, then keeping their talk to herself, she nodded and offered help to her master. "Ok!"

Celes faintly smiled, too. "Should we compete for a little before leaving for a guild?"

"Hehe, I don't mind!" Louise's expression brightened.

​ Leon looked at her worriedly, knowing she'd lose, for Celes simply had experience.

Little did he know that Celes would go easy against Louise, for she no longer could shake off that familiar, sisterly image of her.