n

n

n

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?

" John asked.

nThere was no reply, so he was starting to get worried, and wondered if he had made her mad.

nJohn looked over, and what he saw surprised him. Her usual emotionless poker face looked rather gloomy, although one wouldn't be able to tell unless they saw her usual face every day.

n

"S-Sorry... Since master is pretty, I thought that you'd have plenty of guys after you,

" John muttered before getting into the push-up position.

nBy light training, John assumed she meant doing a small amount of each training he had been doing recently, so he started with 50.

nWithout wasting any time, John started.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-

"

nHe stopped counting when he heard his master suddenly say,

"1...

"

n

"1...? You had a boyfriend?

" John asked while continuing the pushups.

nJohn looked over at his master and she nodded.

n'That means she has experience... So she should be able to help me…' John thought.

n

"So how did you two meet?

" He suddenly asked.

n

"He joined my party,

" She replied.

n

"Oh, how did it feel like spending time with him?

" John asked.

n

"It was good...

" She replied.

n'Oh, so master was in love... I need to find out why they drifted apart.' John decided.

n

"So why did you two break up?

" He asked.

n

"He died.

" She replied.

n…

n

"S-Sorry...

" John apologized.

nHe looked over at her again, and she seemed even gloomier than before. The mood between them had turned awkward.

nAnd John had also lost track of how many pushups he had done, but his arms were starting to feel very sore and numb, so he decided to end it.

nNext was sit-ups.

n

"Um... Master... You see, there are these girls I'm traveling with, and we're really close, almost like a couple...

" John spoke.

nHe then got into the sit-up position and began to do sit-ups.

n

"And you see... This whole time I felt like one of them didn't like me, yet she always helps me, I just don't know what to do...

" John uttered.

n'God I can't even organize my own thoughts properly... Why am I so nervous?' John wondered.

n

"Was it those girls that were with you?

" She asked.

n

"Yes! Thank you for helping them. Honestly, I'm always putting them in danger, so sometimes I wonder if they hate me, and yet they never leave, so... I don't know...

" John answered.

n

"They don't hate you. Otherwise they would have left.

" She replied.

n

"M-Master...

"

n

"Do you like one of them?

" Master questioned.

nFor some reason, John was so startled by his master's sudden question that he ended up hitting his head too hard on the ground while doing sit-ups.

n

"Oww...

" John muttered as he rolled around in pain.

nHe didn't have magic reinforcement active, so it really hurt him.

n'I guess that's enough sit-ups... let's do crunches now…' John thought.

n

"No, we're training your technique today, warm-up.

" His master ordered.

n'Technique? Finally!' John thought, feeling excited.

n

"Awesome! I'll start warming up right away!

" He replied.

nWithout wasting any time John started jogging around the field, contrary to what he had expected, his master did the same.

n

"She's warming up...? I wonder what we're going to be learning.

" Muttered John.

nWhile he said that, his master suddenly caught up and while she was right beside him, she asked,

"Do you like one of them or not?

"

n'Like, huh... Honestly, when I first met Ariel, I thought she would be hard to take care of, I had no choice, no one would party with a kid adventurer, and training someone homeless from scratch would suck.' John remembered.

nJohn could have probably bought a slave, but he would have hated himself for it. However, Ariel surpassed his expectations. She had the gift of being able to use magic, and had a caring personality, which made it easy for him to trust her.

nAs they got closer and closer, John started to think of them as something like siblings, but recently, he was not sure.

nAs for Serena, the way that they met to the way she acted, was almost contrary to Ariel's. She was feisty, can be aggressive, and fought for what she believed in. She also really hated it when someone called her short.

nAt the time, John accepted her request to join the party since he lacked members, but now, he was glad that he did. Spending time with her was pretty fun to him, even though they were always arguing,

nTo John, she was more like a close friend who's always nagging at him, but for his own good. He was not sure how he felt about her either.

n'If they were to suddenly leave, and I were to be left on my own, then... Huh? Why does my chest hurt, when I think about it… ?' John wondered.

n

"Like, huh... I'm not sure, I never had a girlfriend before after all... But what I do know is that they're both very important to me, and if I choose one, then it might change the feeling of the party, and I wouldn't want that...

" John answered.

n

"Then why not go for both?

" Master suddenly asked

n'Eh? I can do that? I Guess polygamy is allowed... And I mean I went on a date with both of them... But am I really allowed to? Am I really allowed to be spoiled by two cute angels? Well, I wouldn't really consider Serena an angel but…' John pondered.

n

"Hm... master, if the guy you were a couple with suddenly got another girl at the same time, would you-

"

nJohn suddenly stopped when he felt an increased amount of pressure in the air. His master's expression looked the same, but for some reason, it was scary.

n

"U-Um... Master... Your bloodlust...

" John spoke.

n

"S-Sorry

" She said before calming down.

nThat was the first time he had ever seen his master get mad.

n'W-Well... M-Maybe, I shouldn't jump to conclusions, I don't know how they'll react, and they may end up really hating me for it... and I wouldn't like that…' John decided.

n

"Master, thank you for the talk. I'll be honest, you made me think about things I didn't consider...

" John spoke.

nFor a moment, just a moment, it looked like his master had smiled as she said,

"No problem.

"

n

"So master, what are we doing today? If it's not training the muscles?

" John questioned.

n

"We're working on your form, you... You don't have a proper dagger stance.

" She answered.

n'S-She didn't even need to ask.... Was it that easy to tell?' John wondered.

n