Miyu's Grief

"Please forget that just now…"

Luna hid behind Kio as her face turned beet red from embarrassment.

"Ahaha. You two pretty much showed off in front of us. Maybe I should thank you for giving my little girl an example of how to kiss someone in the future."

Since Mary had been sheltered by Dan her whole life, she had never been exposed to such a romantic scene before.

Even though she had her hands over her eyes, with how wide her fingers were spread out, she could see everything clearly.

Her face blushed as she saw them share an intimate kiss, which quickly turned into disappointment when her father interrupted them.

"Ugh… Anyways, how do you normally get a class? Kaori and Miyu still need to get one."

"It costs a minimum of 1 gold for the cheapest Class Orbs, which are sold at the adventurer's guild. Another way to get it would be to find them in the Dungeon.

"I see. Thanks for leaving a few gold coins in the Item Box earlier."

"No problem, I told you that you would need it. Getting a class is expensive, because not everybody can afford it."

"Do you know what kind of classes are available?"

"I'll leave that as a surprise for you and your girls to find out."

Kio could only give up and hope for some good classes to be available at the next guild they go to.

A few minutes after they finished their meal, Fae walked up to them.

"We're going north from here first thing in the morning. Are you guys still going to follow us, or will you go with the other humans?"

"Hmm… We'll let you know tomorrow? We need to discuss it first."

"Sure."

Fae left as soon as her business here was finished.

"Well, you guys heard what she asked earlier, what's your opinion?"

"Anywhere is fine as long as we stay away from that lecherous scumbag."

Kaori quickly gave her opinion, as she didn't want to travel a second longer with Ren.

"Same…"

"I also don't want to be anywhere close to that human."

The girl's responses were reasonable, especially after how disgusting Ren acted earlier.

"Hahaha. I have no problems travelling with that elf girl. I wouldn't want my daughter to be targeted by that guy as well."

"I don't think Ren would fall so low as to target your daughter…"

"You're thinking too highly of him, big brother. I wouldn't put it past him to lust after younger girls. He would've been convicted as a rapist and murderer back in our world."

"I guess it's decided then. We'll split off from them tomorrow and follow Fae."

Kio took out a few more cans of beer to spend the night drinking with Dan.

"Girls, why don't you drink with us tonight?"

"I don't think that's a good idea-"

"Don't be such a killjoy, big brother. I can handle my alcohol."

"Miyu, Luna, are you two fine with drinking?"

"Mhmm…"

"I don't see any problems with drinking this."

"But Luna… are you even old enough to drink?"

"Big brother, we aren't on Earth anymore. Who cares about the age limit, just let her drink."

After they each drank a few cans of beer, Dan took out something from his Item Box.

"These cans of beer aren't enough. Why don't you guys try some of my favorite wine as well?"

Kio only drank a moderate amount, since they weren't exactly in a safe environment.

Kaori and Luna had fallen asleep early on, so he brought them into the tent to sleep on the mattress.

As he went outside, he noticed Dan was sitting by himself, silently drinking his liquor.

"Where are Mary and Miyu?"

"Mary went to bed, and I think Miyu went to take a piss somewhere."

Dan replied as he pointed towards a direction behind the tents.

"Got it, thanks. I'm gonna go look for her."

"Alright."

As Kio walked towards the direction that Dan pointed out, he had also been glancing at his [Minimap].

There were around 6 or 7 dots in the screen, but his mind couldn't focus properly to count the exact number.

Since one of the dots were a bit further ahead, he knew he was going in the right direction.

*Sniff*

"Sob…"

"Miyu, what's wrong?"

With one knee on the ground, Kio lowered his body to her height and gently placed a hand on her head.

"Sob… I miss big sister… I miss Mom and Dad…"

"Miyu…"

Pulling her into his embrace, he gently patted her back.

"You know, your family is more than just a family of four. Aren't Kaori and I part of your family too?"

"Sob…"

"I know what happened is tragic, but you don't have to hold back your tears in front of us. Kaori and I would gladly do anything to help you, as long as you confide in us."

"Kio…"

Miyu finally opened her arms and hugged him back.

"Silly girl, your eyes are going to get swollen tomorrow."

He took out a handkerchief and wiped the remaining tears in her eyes.

"Even though we can't do anything about our parents anymore, at least we can still save Riko. I don't care how long it takes, I promise you that I will revive her no matter what."

"Mmm… I trust you, Kio."

"When we first met, I loved how cheerful and happy you looked. It's not like you to be so depressed all the time."

"I didn't know you paid any attention to me. I thought you only had big sister in your eyes."

"Haha. Well, I do admit that I like Riko. However, you're also irreplaceable inside my heart."

"..."

Although Miyu wasn't completely satisfied with his answer, she was fine with it for now.

"Miyu, I want you to take this for now."

Kio told her as he placed something onto her palm.

"What is it?"

"It's a Teleportation Crystal. Do you remember how Riko brought you to this world? It's the exact same item that she used, except I stole this one from Ren."

"But… shouldn't you be the one to hold it?"

"Listen. If you ever get into a dangerous situation by yourself, I want you to use it to teleport to safety. If that doesn't work, you must teleport me to you."

"But…"

"Miyu. I don't want anything to happen to you. It's not about the promise I made to Riko to keep you safe. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you died, too."

"Mmm… okay then."

Miyu felt touched by his words, so she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks, Kio. I feel a bit better now."

"I'm relieved to finally see your smile again."

"Hehe. If you treat me so nice, I might fall for you."

"Well, I'll at always be there for you, until you find someone better than me."

"There's no way I'll find somebody better…"

Miyu's previous words were uttered quietly, causing him to miss it.

As they walked back to their tent, they quickly washed their faces and went to sleep.

Dan had told them that he would keep watch over the night, so they didn't need to worry.

***

"Kio… Thanks for what you did for Miyu."

"..."

"I saw how much you treasure her, and I really appreciate it."

"..."

"I wish I could be there too."

"...Riko?"

***

"Riko!"

Kio loudly yelled as soon as he woke up.

When he opened his eyes, what greeted him wasn't Riko. Instead, it was the sight of Luna's naked body.

"Not again… Luna, why do you always sleep like this?"

"Mmm…"

"Sigh… Good thing nobody else saw this."

As he looked around him, he noticed Kaori is still sleeping.

"Hmm? Where did Miyu go?"

He gently moved Luna onto the bed and stood up. After he got changed and did his morning routine, he went outside to look for Miyu.

With the [Minimap] skill, Kio quickly found her since he could guess her general direction.

*Woosh*

An arrow hit the side of a tree, nearly missing it entirely.

"Morning, Miyu. What are you up to?"

"You finally woke up! I just felt like I needed to stretch my body, so I decided to practice my archery with this bow and arrow Dan lent me. Although I'm still pretty bad at it."

"I thought you had given up on it a few years ago?"

"Yea. But for some reason, I just felt like trying it again. Can you teach me?"

"Haha, I can't. I haven't touched a bow in years, so I'm probably worse than you."

"There's no way you would be worse than me. You were the reason I…"

"Hm? What did you say?"

"N-nothing. Kio, sorry about yesterday. You must think I'm a crybaby now…"

"There's no way I would think that. You've still the cute Miyu I have always known."

"Hehe. Thanks."

Standing on her toes, she quickly gave him another kiss on the cheek.

"Hey! You're gonna cause a misunderstanding if Kaori sees it."

"Hehe. That's fine."

"???"

"Kio, will you spoil me as much as Kaori and Luna?"

"Hm? Sure, if that's what you want."

"Mmm…"

Giving him a hug, Miyu was glad that she had a chance to talk with him last night.

Similarly, Kio was glad that she became cheerful again. He had always loved to see her bright smile every day in the past.

"Let's go get some food! The others should be awake by now."

Miyu held onto his hand and pulled him, smiling happily along the way.