After Nepgear and I headed out of the Basilicom, we just wandered about Planeptune. It was kind of awkward, since she wasn't trying to start a conversation, and I wasn't that great at starting one myself.

This continued on for a while, after which I couldn't take it anymore.

"Nepgear."

"Y-Yes?"

She looked at me, a little frightened. I sighed and grabbed her shoulders, to which she squeaked.

"I. Am. Not. A. Pervert. These aren't my clothes; I was loaned them. I do not have a fetish for wearing girls' clothes." I'm pretty sure my face was becoming darker.

"Y-Y-Yes! Please let go of me!" She whimpered.

"Ah." Noticing the position we were in, I immediately let go of her. Nepgear, with a blushing face, turned away.

Ugh. Looks like this misunderstanding won't go away for a while. I decided to give up temporarily and try to actually find out what fun stuff Planeptune had in store.

"Hey Miss Nepgear. Can you show me around Planeptune? I'm really curious to see where the stores are." She turned back around to face me, but her face was still a bit red.

"O-O.K. But first you need to know where the Guild is. Is it alright if I show you there first?"

"Yeah. I wanna see where IF works too."

"You know IF?"

"Short, has a blue oversized jacket, 9 phones with a phone belt, and a tad too serious?

"Yes."

"I do know her. It'll be really interesting to see where she works."

"Then let's go."

"And this building is the Guild." We had walked a ways from the Basilicom, and just arrived at the Guild. On the way, there were numerous stores that Nepgear cheerfully pointed out. Even though it looks like she still believed I was a pervert, it looks like she could at least converse normally with me, seeing as that I know IF.

"Oh, is this where IF works. It looks pretty nice. Let's go in!" I walked inside, the automatic doors opening up.

"Ah, wait up!" Nepgear followed me through.

"Welcome." A receptionist greeted us warmly. "Ah, Nepgear-san. Are you back to complete some more quests? In that case there…"

"Sorry. I have to guide this person around." Nepgear pointed at me.

"Does she wish to join the Guild?"

"Sorry, I don't want to join right this instant. I'm just here to visit a friend. Do you know where Miss IF is?"

"Ah, IF-san? She's in the back. You're allowed to visit her as long as Nepgear-san is with you. Go through that door, and you'll see her."

"Ah, thank you." I waved my hand in thanks. The receptionist, looking a little confused, waved back.

Since I needed Nepgear to go in, I let her go first. She opened the door and I followed suit.

There, we saw IF lying on the couch, eyes closed and a dead expression on her face.

"U-Um, Iffy?" Nepgear moved in to take a closer look. I did as well. But we took a step back when we heard IF's mumbling.

"The new kids are so troublesome. They can't fight, they can't handle paperwork, they can't even buy items. The latter two are fine, but I need them to fight. I wish Ki was here to show them how to fight. He did take out an Ancient Dragon after all…" Her voice trailed off, but she remained mumbling.

"Excuse us, Miss IF." I said out loud.

IF's eyes opened and gazed at us two in shock. In a fluster, she tried to stand up, but tripped and started to fall forward. I caught her so that it looked as if we were in a lover's embrace.

Understandably, IF's face turned bright red as she stammered out "S-Sorry about that, Ki."

"It's alright. It's my fault for startling you." I let her go, and she stood up, not looking at my eyes.

"So Iffy, we came to visit you while you were working. Is this a bad time to come?" Nepgear sounded worried.

"No, it's alright. I finished teaching the recruits the ropes of Guild work." IF got over it quickly and replied.

"Well Miss IF, since it's near lunch time, mind if you come us to eat?"

"Sure. Actually, I was just about to head out. Guess I'll join you."

We exited the room to see everyone outside in a frenzy.

"Waah! What's going on!?" Nepgear seemed to have caught a bit of the panic.

"Hey! What's happening?" IF directed the question towards the receptionist who had welcomed us earlier.

"IF-san! It looks like a bunch of Fenrir Wolves just appeared in Virtua Forest!"

"What! They aren't supposed to spawn there! Is there anyone that can respond?"

"Everyone who can take them on are on other quests, so the only one who can respond is you!"

"I'll go, but it'll be hard going alone…" IF was looking pretty worried.

I sighed and said, "I'll help."

"I-If you're going, I'm going too!" Nepgear had an energetic face on.

"Wait, I can't have you come, Ki. Gear is fine, since she's a CPU Candidate, but you're not even a Guild member!" IF was trying to refute my joining, but I shushed her.

"Miss IF, you need help. I am here to give you help. You have no right to refuse. Besides, you saw my battle prowess. I can help."

"Ugh, fine." IF looked a bit frustrated, but nonetheless accepted my assistance.

"Now then." I turned towards the receptionist, who was looking confused about our banter. "Where exactly is Virtua Forest?"

"So this is Virtua Forest. Forgive me for saying so, but there are an awful lot of monsters around." Nepgear, IF, and I arrived at the place half an hour after we received the request to exterminate the Fenrir Wolves. I was leading with my arms behind my head, Nepgear was in the middle, and IF was in the back.

"Yep. This is a place for newbies to train, since the monsters here are usually weak." IF was cautiously looking around, making sure no monster was going to attack us.

"It's strange. I patrol around Planeptune, but I have never seen any signs of Fenrir Wolves." Nepgear wondered out loud.

"Well, I'm hungry, so let's get this over with quickly."

After an hour of searching there was still no Fenrir Wolf in sigh. This was beginning to irritate me, I still hadn't eaten for a while now.

{Anger Bar: 13%}

"IF, how exactly did the Guild come upon this information?" I directed at her. She still had that cautious vibe around her, so she flinched a little before answering my question.

"There are designated non-combatants stationed around every location in every landmass. If something irregular happens, the Guild will know." IF answered.

"Hmmm... where is this non-combatant? Maybe that person will know where the Wolves are."

"Non-combatants leave the area if there is something irregular. The most they could offer would be a map marking where they last saw the irregularity."

"Alright, can you show me the map?"

"Sure."

She showed me the map on one of her phones. On it, the map located where our positions where at currently, as well as a huge circle where the Fenrir Wolves were last spotted. Analyzing it, I noticed something.

"Hey, IF…"

"Yeah?"

"We're in the clearing, where the Fenrir Wolves were last spotted right?"

"Yeah…"

"And did you notice that the forest has gone quiet for some reason?"

"!"

"Nepgear! Get back here. Now!"

"W-What!"

Nepgear hadn't noticed our conversation, so I shouted at her so that she wouldn't get too far apart from us. The forest had gone eerily quiet, which was scary since we had been hearing insects and monster for the past hour or so.

Then I heard it.

"Growwwllll…" All around us, I could sense the bloodthirsty stares of monsters that were way more powerful than the fodder I saw previously. Then one jumped out of the trees and bushes into the clearing we were in.

"Howwll!" The Fenrir Wolf roared a great battle cry, and the air was filled with the howling of other wolves.

"...Hey IF, you said it was a wolf right?"

"Can't talk right now, getting ready for battle!" Looking over to her, I saw her get dual daggers out, as well as Nepgear somehow have a strange combination of sword and gun in her hands.

"This is important."

"What is it?"

"I'm pretty sure wolves aren't this size. Usually they're like a twelfth of the size."

"Ummm Kizoku-san?" Nepgear was addressing me, but her eyes were still on the Wolf. "I don't know where you live, but Wolves this size are pretty common. In fact, this is the normal size for Fenrir Wolves."

"Say what!" I was stunned. "That's huge!"

"Shut up! It's coming!" IF shouted at me. Looking at it, it was getting ready to pounce

"Damn." I muttered under my mouth. "I'm pretty sure a fight with an oversized wolf was not on today's itinerary."

I straightened my back, started to crack my knuckles and neck, and, with a loud shout, reached out with my hand and shouted "(Summon: Lance)!"

Once I said those words, an obsidian black lance with blood-red markings appeared in my hand. Swinging it around, I pointed it straight at the Fenrir Wolf and shouted "Come at me you oversized mutt!"