With a huge part of her daily schedule now freed up, Diona found herself on more than one occasion tangled in the mess Bennett dragged her into.

She knew adventuring was a difficult job, life-threatening even, but with him around about half of the safe commisions turned suicidal!

"I'm okay…" Bennett croaked, raising a shaky thumbs up. Considering the height he fell from, he was lucky to even be conscious.

"I'm coming down!" Diona yelled from the cliff. Swiftly, she spread her glider and jumped, landing next to him. She made sure to heal him first before punching him for worrying her, then healed him again.

He just laughed. The audacity.

Over the few days Diona spent as his tag-along, she gradually learned to translate Bennett-speak into normal human language.

"I don't mind," he had said when he talked about his teammates leaving one by one. "We're all better on our own anyway. Who knows, we might become a team again once we make a name for ourselves."

Translated, that would be: "I'm sad but what can I do? I'm just a burden to them. There's no way I can even become a decent adventurer, much less someone they'd consider good enough to join them."

Sure, she took some liberty with the meaning, but the core message was there: Bennett was lonely, and she'd be a darn bad friend if she let him sulk around like this. And somebody seriously needed to look after him if he wanted to live past adulthood.

"You're joining the guild?" He asked with a tell-tale of a smile when she filled out the application form and handed it to Katheryn.

Prince crawled from his basket onto the counter and jumped into the boy's arms. The cat rubbed his head against his favorite person after a day away from each other.

"Haha, come on, Prince! That tickles," he chided despite his face saying he enjoyed it.

Diona crossed her arms, looking up at the two. "Don't think this have got anything to do with you. I'm just looking for a stable income until Margaret comes back."

Prince gave her an impressed stare. That darn cat.

But Bennett smiled, seeing through her. He scratched his reddening cheek. "Thanks," he muttered loud enough for her cat ear to catch.

"Keep flattering yourself." She huffed, turning away to hide her own blush. "But you're welcome."

"Mrooow."

"Oh shut up, you."


Adventuring is a risky occupation. A seasoned adventurer could go out one day only to return home with a missing limb, which was why they were recommended to form groups as a safety measure. Bennett being Bennett was an odd case where he was a one-man team before she came along.

Or at least she thought so.

Diona had been under the impression that Bennett was a social outcast with minimal human contacts. Meeting his friends however proved her wrong.

But to be fair, calling his friends normal by society's standard would be a stretch too. So it made some sense they'd stick together.

"Diona, meet the Prinzessin der Verurteilung. Or Fischl for short," Bennett said, introducing her to a scantily clad not-exhibitionist girl that would supposedly join them for a commision today. Next to her was a strange floating bird made out of pure electro.

"How is Fischl short for Prin–" She raised a finger to ask but said Prinzessin cut her off before she could finish.

The girl… greeted while striking a weird and uncomfortable pose.

"As fate had foretold, our glorious crossing of path came to be under the ever-watchful gaze of the Immnernachtreich. Bask in mine magnificence, o, mortal, for it is the greatest honor I, Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort, bestow upon thee." Fischl Vine Love Lost what?

Diona stared at her in concern.

Fischl stared back with a smile.

Diona stared more as the girl's smile began to falter the longer she tried to maintain her posture.

Bennett coughed to break the awkward silence.

"Uh… nice to meet you," Diona finally said. "Really nice to meet you. Really."

Never let it be said that Diona was good with words, because this situation was all the proof that she wasn't.

They went on to complete their commision after that, Diona and Fischl not meeting each other's eyes throughout.

Diona sent a look to the electro bird, Os Baldy Vine Her Rough Naveen, who would snicker every now and then at his owner when she wasn't looking.

While her introduction to Fischl could have gone better, Diona could certainly say she enjoyed her first meeting with Razor during their commision to Wolvendom. Never had she thought playing catch would be this fun.

"This one next, Razor!" She shouted as she hurled a long stick into the trees and bushes, an action that prompted the boy to leap into them. He ran back to her soon after, proudly presenting the stick he just caught. She praised him. "Who's a good boy, who's a good boy? That's right. You."

Razor grinned as she patted him on the head and gave him some of her lunch. It was just smoked fish, but he seemed to love it.

"Razor good boy! More food!"

Diona bounced on her feet and pointed at him, making the cutest face she could towards Bennett.

"Can we keep him please? I promise I'll take good care of him. Pleeeeeeeease?"

Bennett pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly having trouble fighting the blush that rose up to his face. He somehow won, which was impressive. Dad or Margaret would just melt.

"Diona, Razor isn't a dog," he finally said after his cheeks' color returned to normal.

Following him, Razor nodded profusely, though he kept on munching on his treat.

"Bennett right. Razor wolf. Not dog," the self-proclaimed wolf said through muffled voice.

Diona took the stick that was lying down by her feet.

"You're right. He isn't a dog." Stretching her arm as far back as she could, she launched the stick into the air. Not a second later Razor ran towards it, happily jumping and grabbing it before it fell to the ground. She gave a smug grin. "He's obviously a puppy."

Bennett facepalmed.


"Blegh!" Diona spit out the stew she was taste-testing. She coughed the remnants of the offending cuisine stuck on her throat, glaring at the culprit who brought it into existence.

"From now on, I cook. You stay away from the food," she threatened as she wiped her mouth off the disgusting taste.

Bennett chuckled nervously in response.

Due to their two-day commision, they had to stop for the night somewhere around Stormbearer Mountains, the campfire being their only source of heat. Well, for Diona at least. Bennett had his own pyro to stave off the cold. Too bad she couldn't use other people's vision.

The commision was actually a simple one; collect fresh valberries from the mountain. The request itself was ridiculous since the commisioner could just buy some from Chloris for cheap, but the similarly ridiculous and luxurious payment convinced them to accept it.

The commisioner was insistent on having freshly plucked valberries, and who was Diona to refuse when she was offered such a huge amount of Mora?

And now here they were, sitting under the stars with edible dinner, finally, and exchanging small talks with each other for company.

"I'm surprised. I didn't take you for someone cut out for this kind of job," Bennett said, spoon clattering on his bowl as he took another scoop.

Diona stopped eating and raised a brow at him, slightly offended even though she knew that wasn't what he meant.

"I'm not a hunting clan's heir for nothing, you know. The forest is my home."

Bennett shook his head, chuckling. His obliviousness at her feelings offended her more for some reason. It must have shown on her face because he immediately elaborated.

"No. I mean, when I watched you working at Cat's Tail, you always looked like a refined lady you know?" He scratched his head, clearly embarrassed. "It's Like you're supposed to belong in a castle or something, so I kinda forgot." His voice quited down to a mutter when he finished.

She stammered. "R-refined? Me?"

She gave him an incredulous look and pointed at herself to show who exactly he was talking about.

The fire's light did well to hide his blush, but Diona knew it was there even when he hid his face behind his bowl.

She honestly didn't know how to response as nobody ever complimented her like this before, only her "talent".

"Well." He chuckled, now playing with his stew using his spoon. "Your people skill definitely needs some tweaks, but when you get into your work, you just lose all your… um… flaws you could say. You look pr–Perfect! You look perfect. Hehe..."

Pretty. She was certain he meant to say pretty. But she didn't dare tease him because she herself was a blushing mess.

"I... I'm going to sleep," Diona said and quickly downed her bowl free of its content. "Good night!"

She pulled out her blanket and wrapped herself inside it, making sure to face away from the boy. If she made him feel like he said something wrong, she put it in the back of her mind to deal with later.

It was dead into the night when Bennett too pulled out his blanket and fell fast asleep. Diona took that chance to turn around and stare at his sleeping form, only a single line of thought in her mind: hormones.

Dad warned her about it when she first bled not long ago. That she'd get certain feelings from boys around her. That she might get overwhelmed by it. That she'd need to control herself from doing things she'd regret… which she honestly didn't know what.

Dad never specified. Only said to never sleep with boys under the same blanket. Weird advice but eh, what would she know?

Regardless, Bennett made her feel these things. And it was unfair.

He hadn't have his voice crack yet. Girls bled while boys had their voice grow deeper as per dad's explanation. And since Bennet's voice was still as high as ever, that meant only she was experiencing these feelings right now!

It was totally unfair.

Sighing, Diona sat up from her lying position to look at him better.

Flakes from burnt wood fell on his face, making him shift a bit in his sleep. She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and formed a thin cryo wall to shield him from the fire. From where she sat, she saw his shoulders sag as he fell deeper into his sleep.

"You're helpless," she muttered, looking at the remaining stew she had to make because a certain someone couldn't cook to save his life. She chuckled, but then frowned as her smile flattened into a thin line. "I wonder how you'll manage when I'm not around anymore..."

She sighed, flopping down back to the grass and staring at the stars above.

Diona didn't know when but soon she too was consumed by the darkness. She dreamed herself standing victorius over the destruction of the wine industry, Bennett by her side.


"Thou art late."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Got held up a bit."

"The Immernachtreich shall see to no such transgression, thus judged shalt thy be."

"Alright, alright. I'm really sorry. But why are you talking like the Prinzessin?"

"If forgiveness thou wantst, prove thy repentence and worthiness by kissing the sole of mine shoe."

"…I think you're enjoying this too much, Diona."

"Just play along, Bennett."

"Fine, but do I need to kiss your shoes?"

"Hm, you're right. That's just gross."

"So you do know what gross means."


And there we go. All off the friendship train, because the romance train will only go faster from here onwards! (ʘᴗʘ *)

(Well, if you ignore the death flag but eh)

This chapter actually hits a bit close to home for me. That scene with Diona contemplating her growing fondness for Bennett, that was all me when I went through puberty, except I didn't have anyone to tell me what to do when I had those feelings. Thankfully I never did anything I'd regret, but I was a bit lost about what to do and turned to fanfics instead to deal with it.

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next one may come a bit later though. :v