Not straying far from the Heim family farm house, Bethany brought Ren with her to her uncle's peach orchard. Under the guise of going out for a walk within her family's property to "clear her head", the jovial redhead brought her best friend deep enough within the orchard to seclude themselves.

Sitting down cross-legged, with her back and head resting against the trunk of the tree they chose to take refuge under, Bethany had Ren laying down with the back of head resting between her thighs— her fingers gently running through his thick lockers of gray hair, while she let out a muffled hum while her eyelids were gently closed.

For an hour, Ren laid with his head resting on Bethany's soft lap; telling her all about his adventure, he started from how he chased Amerika into the outer rim of the Equipoise Forest. When the eleven year-old boy got to the point of his journey where he was ambushed by wolves in the dark, it was during his herculean tale of survival did he notice Bethany protectively wrapping her arms around his head— unsure whether or not she was even aware of her actions, but nonetheless felt comforted by her endearing presence.

When Ren began going over his firearms training with Amerika, he made sure to unholster his revolver from his hip to show Bethany what each component was, before going into detail about the shooting techniques he had used while retaking the goblin girl's underground bunker.

Making sure to empty the .357 rounds from his revolver's chamber first, Ren handed Bethany his sidearm while beginning to tell her all about what he had learnt of the Old-World from Amerika— specifically, about the gold-plated device that he wanted to help her search for.

"So, before I explain to you what a "Sternengesang" is-"

"-Wait, what did you just say?!" Bethany interrupted with a bewildered smirk across her face— finding the foreign word to be silly, as she tried quietly repeating it back to herself. "Scht-hurn-gkin-zungk…?!"

"It's more like, "Sch-turn-gng-e-zugng"," Ren clarified, and paused briefly before somewhat embarrassingly muttering, "Or… At least that's how I've been saying it… You can just say "Star Singer" too; that's what it translates to."

"Translates from what?"

"It translates from this old language that's called "Doitsch"," Ren incorrectly replied with confidence in his low, gentle voice. "The peculiar thing about that though, is that it wasn't even the native language spoken here back then."

"Oh? So what DID people speak; back in the day?" Bethany asked, with an intrigued, yet carefree voice.

"They spoke "I'talyen-en-ush", is what Amerika told me," Ren answered, and immediately widened his eyes the moment he heard Bethany chortle loudly. "Why'd you laugh at "I'talyen-en-ush"?"

Snickering ever harder at Ren's incorrect pronunciation of "Italienisch"," Bethany had an immature grin across her lips, as she looked down into the boy's confused gaze before telling him, "Heh, haha, ah~…! I-It sort of sounds like you just said "In-Talion's Anus"~!"

Reinforced by Amerika's vulgarity and shared crudeness with Bethany's usual sense of humor, Ren was able to share the laughter with the redhead— albeit, he was far quieter about it than she was.

Once their shared moment of jovial laughter had passed, Bethany asked Ren about what the Sternengesang was.

"From what Amerika told me, it's sort of like a crystal ball; except instead of seeing the possible outcome by looking into— like how most mediums do— you have to place it into a specific slot, in a specific room called a "mainframe"," Ren explained, while recalling the empty docking station where the gold-plated device was once inserted into.

"Anyway… Basically, what it does is hold a bunch of archived records inside of it that date back all the way to the Old-World; back when it was first placed into the underground mainframe— and it's been recording information around the world since then,"

"Sounds really cool and all, buuuut… I still don't get why she wants it back bad enough to willingly go on some wild goose chase for it," Bethany remarked, while fanning the hammer of Ren's revolver to repeatedly click it, each time she pulled its trigger in tandem.

"Amerika told me that she and her clan have been safeguarding it from humanity for a few centuries now; it might be out of a sense of duty to her family, especially now that they're gone," Ren hypothesized, as he gazed up at the bottom of the gun. "It's how they made that firearm— they learned it from the Star Singer."

Narrowing her eyelids slightly, while staring thoughtfully at the nickel-plated revolver, Bethany frowned a bit as she said in a cautious tone, "If that thing, or whatever, is capable of showing goblins how to make something as deadly as this thing supposedly is, then… It's probably best that it doesn't get in the wrong hands, huh?"

Nodding his head in between her thighs, Ren took the gun back from Bethany politely, and began reloading the .357 rounds back into its chamber. "I thought the same exact thing too, Beth; that's why I have to go."

Finding that somewhat difficult to believe completely, Bethany let out a throaty chuckle as she smirked knowingly at her puzzled best friend. "What?"

"Come on Ren: you and I both know that's not the reason you're leaving," Bethany challenged with a raised brow, and saw a glimmer of sheepish guilt twinkling behind his dusty rose eyes as she elaborated, "I mean… Don't get me wrong: that's a very good reason, I'm of itself! But… We both know it's not your real reason— it's just easier to tell yourself that instead of admitting the truth, isn't it?"

Opening his mouth to speak, Ren paused as he noticed the way Bethany's smug grin suddenly became supportive— her pink eyes lacking any semblance of judgment, while he felt her hands reaching down to rest against his chest. Unable to look her in the eye, Ren averted his gaze away from hers, as an ashamed look crossed his face.

"It's… It's not that I… That I want to be away from you, or from Vivi-"

"-Oh, I knew that already; kind like of how I've always known you were going to runaway to join the Adventurer's Guild when you turned thirteen," Bethany interrupted with a positive tone in her voice, before suddenly curling inward to hover her face inches away from Ren's— causing him to look back up at her, as her long strands of hair draped over his shoulders

"Y… Y-You think I would have…?" Ren asked in a quiet, trailing voice— growing quiet while reflecting, before breaking the silence by muttering under his breath, "I… I mean, I always wanted to be an adventurer, but… To run away like…"

"… L-Like how I am," Ren mused with a soft, rueful grin forming across his pale lips— a sigh escaping from his lips, as Bethany continued to stare longfully at him with nothing but support and affection in her pink starry-eyed gaze. "I… I'm sor-"

"-Don't be," Bethany interjected with sincerity in her soft voice. Brushing her fingertips slowly against the hardened surface of his reinforced leather chest-piece, the redhead sheepishly reached her right hand underneath his chin.

Hitching his breath as he felt her soft hand reaching up to cusp his left cheek, Ren felt a spark of warmth ignite in his thumping heart the moment Bethany leaned down to plant a soft kiss against his parted lips— holding her mouth against his, while rubbing her thumb against his pale skin in a circular, slow motion.

Time itself seemed to bend to their will in that fleeting moment, as the shared and unspoken stress of having to pretend she didn't know he was alive dissipated. Slowly, Ren reached up nervously with his left hand to grab a hold of Bethany's own right hand— interlacing their fingers together, while never breaking their kiss, as they breathed through their nostrils.

Once the initial shock had worn off, Ren found himself practically melting into Bethany's lap while squeezing down gently on her hand. Beginning to experiment with one another, Ren slid his tongue slowly into Bethany's mouth, as she began moving her lips against his.

Welcoming his tongue, the invigorated and sexually curious redheaded quickly gave into the sudden urge to slide her own tongue underneath his— twirling hers around his, and chuckling nervously as she felt herself drooling into his mouth.

Responding to her embarrassment with reassurance, Ren reached up with his free hand to grab a handful of her long hair from behind her head— pulling her lips even closer to his, and making muffled slurping sounds as he started to suck the excess saliva from her mouth.

When it finally came time for their lips to part, they both took in a sharp breath to fill their lungs— a thick wad of saliva bridging the gap between their bottom lips, that Ren felt fall onto his chin as he reluctantly let go of Bethany's long, silky hair.

Already missing the intimacy behind how firm and possessive his hand was, Bethany straightened her back and neck up against the trunk of the tree; her pink eyes never leaving his loving gaze, as they continued to interlock their fingers together, while he laid his free arm back across his chest.

Time seemed to resume, as the two began nervously laughing at their sudden burst of affectionate passion. "Where'd you learn to kiss like that— heh, haha ah~…?!" Bethany asked with a bashful grin across her blushing face, as she slowly traced her fingers up where she had been cusping his left cheek.

Feeling her right hand going back to playing with his lockers of gray hair, Ren let out a nervous deep breath, and had a wide smile across his saliva-coated lips as he replied sheepishly, "I've read a bunch of scenes that I probably shouldn't have, but~…! It sure paid off, didn't it~?"

"Kehehe, haha ah~! Y-Yeah, it really did," Bethany giddily replied in an amused voice, before growing silent. With a content expression across her bright-pink face, the redhead gently closed her eyelids.

Listening in to the sounds of Ren breathing while the birds high up in the branches of the peach trees sang them their tunes, Bethany did her best to mentally soak in everything about that moment; from the aroma of sweet fruit in the humid air, to the way Ren's warm hand felt in hers, everything in that moment seemed perfect to not only, but to him as well.

"So… You know I'll be expecting letters from you while you're gone, right?" Bethany asked half-playfully, while still closing her eyelids in a relaxing manner. "After all, I still have to keep tabs on ya~!"

"Yeah, I figured you would," Ren replied with a calm voice, as he nestled his head between her thighs to get even more comfortable. "Which works out fine; we'll be making stops along the way to Patheon, so I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities for me to send you some postcards, and whatnot."

"Hmmm~! Yeah, but just remember not to use your actual name; the last thing either of us want is my parents getting involved in this," Bethany mused cautiously, before furrowing her eyebrows softly as she asked, "What was that name you were going to use again? "Goblin Slayer", right?"

Chortling softly at how puzzled she sounded while saying that, Ren smirked a bit while joining Bethany in closing his eyelids, along with her. "Yeah, that's the one."

"I see… What about Amerika? I can't imagine she's a fan of the name."

"She isn't, but she's already made peace with it," Ren answered while sounding mildly distracted— shrugging his shoulders, while finding himself reflecting on how sweet his best friend's lips tasted on his. "Besides, it's just until I'm old enough to get my own actual Adventurer's Guild alias— it's not like I'm going to keep it forever."

"Yeah, uh… Speaking of the future…" Bethany segued with an smitten tone behind her words— sparking Ren's curiosity enough to get him to open an eyelid up towards her. "Since you're probably going to come back home once this is all said and done with, I was thinkiiiiiinngggg~…!"

"Thinking what~…?" Ren asked rhetorically, so as to prompt her to continue where she trailed off.

"Well, since you asked~," Bethany remarked playfully with some sass in her voice, before beginning to sound anxious, yet excited, as she said, "I-I was thinking that you and I could… Could be boyfriend and girlfriend, and… And start planning on building a life together, because…"

"… Because I love you, Ren; I-I've always have— j-just like how I've always known you loved me too," Bethany admitted with butterflies swarming around in her stomach, and felt her anxiety wash away the moment she felt the eleven year-old squeezing her hand jovially in his.

"T-Took the words right out my mouth, did you— heh, haha…?!" Ren remarked with a nervous, soft laugh, to which Bethany responded with an excited laugh of her own.

"Tch, hehe, hah~! Yeah, but that's what I do best," she stated playfully, and let out a happy sigh before lovingly saying in a quiet voice; "It's like I said, Ren: I've always known you more than you've ever known yourself."