Comet Dragon, breaking into the gravity field

"Be careful of catching a cold."

Not frightened by her "everything is under control" attitude, Ritsu Narose pulled the slightly tilted quilt on her body and covered her shoulders again.

As if she hadn't expected Naruse Ritsu to be completely indifferent, Chihaya Aine lay down on the bed in frustration. After a long while, she looked at Naruse Ritsu sourly: "You and Deng Deng were having a great time chatting~"

“Where did Aine start listening to it?”

"Hmm... I probably woke up when you were talking about the unconventional moves you made during the fight with Nergigante."

Didn’t it just take a few minutes to wake up?

"So you just lay there and eavesdropped?"

"Do you really want me to disturb the wonderful atmosphere between you two?" Chihaya Aine pouted and said dissatisfiedly, "I won't do anything that would make others dislike me."

“Hmm…Aine is such a good girl~ Do you want me to pat your head?”

"No way."

I nudged Naruse Ritsu with my head, and she slid back into the quilt, covering her head with it. "Naruse-kun, you think girls like Deng Deng are cute, right?"

"Of course." Ritsu Narose answered immediately, as if answering a math problem "1+1=?"

"Eh? You answered so quickly, you weren't planning on taking him down for a long time, were you?"

“In that case, it’s the same with Aine—I’ve wanted to take Aine down for a long time.”

"Eh? Is that another way to explain it?" Chihaya Aine pouted and reached out to poke Naruse Ritsu's cheek. "So, in your eyes, what kind of girl is 'Chihaya Aine'?"

"Dreamy pink hair, a cute and friendly smile, and a pleasant personality - 'Chihaya Aine' is undoubtedly a 'heroine' level girl."

"You're still clinging to that setting..." The pink-haired girl's face flushed slightly when she heard Naruse Ritsu talk about his impression of her when they first met. "Then what about a male protagonist like you who's not loyal to the heroine and now uses sweet words to coax her~"

However, she did not give Ritsu Narose a chance to speak, and before Ritsu Narose could open his mouth, she reached out and pressed her finger on her lover's lips.

She turned over and pressed half of her body on Ritsu Narushe.

Light grey eyes met his gaze quietly. Chihaya Aine leaned over to his ear again, breathing out warm breath as she whispered, "Look, you know exactly what I want to hear from you. Can't you just say those three words?"

Naruse Ritsu narrowed her eyes slightly, then turned away, not looking at Chihaya Aine: "This is too embarrassing..."

"Eh~ I can say it easily."

He spoke the three words of his love to Naruse Ritsu, each word clearly, and she blushed and said proudly, "Now you know how powerful I am, right?"

Holding the girl who had snuggled into his arms, Naruse Ritsu stroked her head and sighed, "The lamp is still nearby. It's better to be a little reserved at a time like this, right?"

"I just gave Deng Deng so much time. She won't mind me taking up a little while now."

"What if Qi Qiu Xia secretly keeps Ni and she finds out?"

"I'll just say that Naruse-kun forced me to do this."

"How cunning."

" + 囷爾咎球污衣(八奇（一）山Because Naruse-kun is more cunning than me."

Leaning on Naruse Ritsu, Chihaya Aine felt his breath and whispered, "How is it? Do you feel happy? Being sandwiched between two beautiful girls, this is a scene that can only appear in comics."

As she spoke, she moved her body upwards like a climber.

She pressed her entire body weight onto Ritsu Narose, letting her long pink hair hang down on both sides of her body, covering her and Ritsu Narose's faces like a curtain.

After a long silence, a particularly obvious separation sound was heard in the night.

Her fair face turned crimson due to lack of oxygen. Chihaya Aine gasped for breath and leaned her head on Naruse Ritsu's arms, as if listening to his heartbeat.

"Time for bed, huh?"

"Hey~ But I'm not sleepy yet?"

"If I don't sleep now, it will be hard to stick with the special training tomorrow."

"You're so stingy, Naruse-kun..."

Here, the room fell into silence again, with only the slight friction between the bedding flashing in the cool air.

Hearing that the blushing noises were no longer coming from the other side of the bed, Gao Songdeng's eyes, which had been closed, quietly opened a crack.

Without saying a word, she simply rested her forehead gently against Ritsu Narushe's back.

With a reassuring smile, she slowly closed her eyes.

35. Poisonous Bird Lurking in the Forest (Two-in-One)

"Oops..."

Just after leaving the [Weapons and Wildcat Pavilion], Chihaya Aine covered her stomach with a look of fear.

"What's wrong, Aine-chan?"

"Maybe you ate too much?"

Compared to the clueless Takamatsu Deng, Naruse Ritsu saw through Chihaya Aine's little thoughts at a glance.

At the dinner table just now, he watched the pink-haired girl change from being modest and waving her hands to decline at the beginning, to being a eager eater with her head down and showing off.

"Enough! This kind of thing is very embarrassing, okay!" The taste of roasted pineapple in her mouth had not completely subsided yet. Chihaya Aine stomped her feet and looked at Naruse Ritsu angrily.

"We have a long walk today, so eating a little more in the morning wouldn't be a bad idea, right?" Unable to understand why a girl would care so much about this, Naruse Ritsu tilted her head and said, "Besides, didn't you just eat bread and some fruits and vegetables?"

"Not everyone has a good appetite like Naruse-kun so early in the morning..." Thinking of the large pot of stew on the table, Chihaya Aine began to sweat. "Besides, a girl's behavior at the table can easily affect the impression she makes on her lover!"

"But I've always had a good impression of Aine and Deng?" Even more confused, Narose Ritsu turned to look at Takamatsu Deng.

Unexpectedly, the topic suddenly turned to himself. Gao Songdeng blinked and then nodded.

At this point, Chihaya Aine finally realized that her worries were purely unnecessary in the eyes of these two people.

Carrying the portable food specially developed by the head chef, Ritsu Narushe and the other two followed the map all the way to the outer area of ​​the ancient tree forest.

I originally planned to let Chihaya Aine run five kilometers to warm up, but before the special training started today, she said she was unwilling to train according to Naruse Ritsu's plan no matter what.

——"If you keep going like this, I'm going to turn into a Devil Kinnikuman! I don't want to become that!"

After hearing this reason, Ritsu Narose really couldn't find any reason to refute it.

After a long pause, he nodded and said, "Indeed."

Just thinking about it gave Ritsu Narushe a chill. While people often say inner beauty trumps outward beauty, this is another matter entirely. Compared to the muscled sister, Chihaya Aine is still cuter now.

"Then let's try another quick method."

In order to avoid summoning strange creatures like Mibolon and Trenbolone to perform the Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin, Ritsu Narose has his own way.

"Yeah! Naruse-kun love~"

Seeing that she had easily convinced Naruse Ritsu, Chihaya Aine was about to cheer, but suddenly stopped.

She dropped her arms and squinted at Naruse Ritsu: "You said you didn't agree before, but now you're so decisive... Could this be the only reason that can convince you?"

Without answering this question whose answer was obvious, Ritsu Narushe took out the crystal from his pocket, which he temporarily named [Brute Jaw Dragon-MK1].

"Eh~ So Naruse-kun likes pink gems like this?"

Just as she was about to tease, Chihaya Aine quickly closed her mouth and took the crystal that Naruse Ritsu threw to her.

"What is this? Could it be a Soul Gem or something?" After carefully examining it under the sun, Chihaya Aine looked at Naruse Ritsu with a wary expression. "Just so you know, I've heard of 'Magical Girl O', don't think I'll just fall for it."

"It's not that kind of thing, and I'm not Kyubey." After complaining, Naruse Ritsu asked Chihaya Aine if she felt any special changes.

"It feels warm to the touch... seems to be a little more energetic."

"I know!" She grasped the gem-like crystal in her palm, her eyes suddenly brightening. "This is something similar to the Pretty Cure transformation device, right?"

What kind of metaphor is this?

But surprisingly accurate.

"Hmm... more or less."

In Ritsu Narose's eyes, the entire new world has similar settings.

Within this energetic vein, any creature will be subtly strengthened—even the hunters here claim they are significantly stronger than before. And if the gems, silently absorbed by living things, are isolated, theoretically, it would be possible to replicate the way the vein's energy affects the creature itself.

As for how to draw out the energy in the gem, it involves the solution that Ryuse Naruse used to deal with the Crazy Dragon Virus.

Some of the theories were too complex for an outsider, and he had no plans to hold a small lecture on the spot. Therefore, he simply explained Chihaya Aine's "transformation device" a few words and let her go play with the [Brute Jaw Dragon-MK1]—and test the extent of its power for him.

Standing in front of a fallen tree trunk, Naruse Ritsu looked at Takamatsu Touma, who had been following him closely. "To make it easier to navigate the Ancient Tree Forest, I'll teach Touma how to use the wedgeworm first."

Pointing to an area several meters above them, he continued, "See that?"

"Twigs?"

“It’s a bug, actually.”

"?"

Looking up at the spiked object above her head, Gao Songdeng blinked. After staring at it for a long time, she finally noticed that the faint cracks between the body were glowing.

"Because the wedge beetle's shell is so hard, and it's often found in this kind of location, hunters in the New World often hook it with a rope to allow for quick movement."

As he spoke, Naruse Ritsu raised his left arm, which was equipped with a catapult. "Shoot like this—"

A sharp sound of breaking air rang in Takamatsu's ears, and she saw the claws grasping the bright spot on the branch—the place where the wedge worm was. Then, Takamatsu saw Naruse Ritsu being pulled into the air by the rope, and then the claws were released, swinging towards the treetop on the other side.

"Have you learned it?"

In a blink of an eye, Ritsu Narose, who had just been standing on the top of the tree, appeared next to him again.

She had never thought about how big the gap in physical fitness was between herself and Gu Long. Feeling Mingse Ritsu's expectations of her, Gao Songdeng looked at the wedge worm with a determined look.

Imitating Ritsu Narose's movements, she took a deep breath while trying to aim at the faintly glowing target.

Feeling the real feeling of the hook on the rope, Gao Songdeng's mouth opened slightly, and his joy was beyond words.

When she pressed the switch to retract the rope on the catapult, before she could react, her body was pulled towards the treetops diagonally above her head.

This feeling is similar to the bungee jumping machine I saw when I went to the amusement park with my parents...

The whistling sound of the wind was whistling in his ears, but Gao Songdeng was not at all panicked. Instead, he released the claws that were tightly gripping the wedge worm.

Thus, the original trajectory becomes an arc.

Seeing that he was getting closer and closer to the treetops on the other side, Gao Songdeng began to consider what posture he should use for landing.

Unlike the small animals who were particularly careless about such things, the main messenger's heart, which had been beating steadily, suddenly rose to his throat after seeing Takamatsu Deng turn into a flying man.

The acceleration was instantly maximized. Before Gao Songdeng could figure out how to land, he hurriedly caught the girl and let her achieve a soft landing on his body.

"Light, are you okay?"

"fine."

Back on the ground, Naruse Ritsu checked Takamatsu Deng for any injuries while apologizing repeatedly: "Sorry, I forgot that this method might be a little beyond your level..."

Takamatsu Deng shook her head, unconcerned. Glancing around, she suddenly asked, "Um...where's Aine?"

Tilting his head, Naruse Ritsu murmured, "Yeah, where is she?"

A minute later, Ritsu Naruse saw Chihaya Aine's figure on a huge tree root protruding from the ground not far away.

"Wow! Naruse-kun, why are you here just now?!"

Seeing Naruse Ritsu land in front of her, Chihaya Aine, who had been sitting on the tree roots with her hands hugged her knees, immediately cried and threw herself on him.

——"How could I be crying!"

The three of them gathered together, and Chihaya Aine kicked Naruse Ritsu's heel lightly with an indignant look on her face.

"So how did you end up in that place?" Ritsu Narose squinted his eyes, unable to figure out the problem.

“This…” Her face froze, and Chihaya Aine’s eyes suddenly became vague.

When Gao Songdeng also cast a curious look at her, she was unable to resist the combined strength of the two and could only suppress her embarrassment and honestly say, "I was chasing after him and accidentally climbed up..."

"So you don't dare to climb down?"

"Of course not! It's so high up, my legs are shaking just sitting there!"

Where are you from, cat?

Ritsu Narose couldn't help but complain in her heart, but Takamatsu Deng's focus was elsewhere.

"What is Aine chasing?"