Ava moved closer to me, her body slowly pressing against mine. I could feel her warm breath brushing the base of my neck.
Being so close to her made me feel strange, and when I glanced into her eyes, it became even harder to control myself.
“Ava… can you move away, please?”
She shook her head with a little smirk. “Not until you tell me why you want to meet someone as dangerous as that man.”
“It’s really nothing special, I’m just curi—”
Before I could finish, she placed her hands on both sides of my face, forcing me to look at her.
Things were heating up, and I was doing my best to stay composed. Otherwise, it would make things awkward between us.
I tried gently pushing her away, but she resisted. She was determined to know the truth, which meant I either had to lie to her or tell her about the demons returning. Clearly, I had only one option, so I decided to lie.
But before I did, I thought I’d tease her a little—just for fun.
“What will you do if I don’t tell you?”
“Tsk… just tell me, okay?” she said in a cute tone.
Her shyness had disappeared as she pressed herself even closer to me. It seemed she really liked being this close.
“Do you like hugging me like this?” I asked with a smirk, expecting her to back off.
But she didn’t move at all. In fact, she stayed right there, her arms wrapped around me, not saying a word. I waited a few seconds, still no answer. The only change I noticed was the red hue spreading across her cheeks.
“Ava?”
“Mmmmh… what is it?”
“Do you like hugging me this tightly?”
She looked down, hiding her face in my chest as I asked the question again. I already knew the answer, but it was amusing to watch her act this way. So, I decided to push it a little further.
Before I could continue teasing her, she looked up at me with her face flushed red and whispered, “I-I…” She hesitated, tightening her hold around my waist. “I do!”
I was honestly surprised. She had just shouted her confession with such confidence.
“Oh… and what do you like about it?”
“I-I like… being close to you.”
I patted her head. “You’re cute.”
“W-What…?”
“I said, you’re cute. Is something wrong?”
“N-No, it’s fine. I just… wasn’t expecting that,” she said with a bright smile.
I couldn’t help but smile back. Her beautiful body pressed against mine was becoming harder to ignore, and I started feeling my third leg getting stiff. If this went on much longer, it was bound to poke her…
It’s a normal reaction for a guy’s body… it’s not like I can control it, okay?
As soon as it poked her, she jumped a little, clearly surprised.
“Is something wrong?”
For the first time in years, I felt genuinely embarrassed about what had just happened. I hoped she’d brush it off like nothing happened.
“I don’t know, I just felt something down there…” She glanced down, then quickly realized what it was. “Oh.”
Instantly, she pulled away. “I’m so sorry…”
I tried to say something, but before I could, she turned around and ran off. It seemed she didn’t want to talk about what had just happened.
Watching her run away, a small smile crept onto my face. ‘Could she be my first real girlfriend?’
I had been with a few women in the past, but none of it had ever turned into anything serious.
Still, I had a feeling that this time, things could go further.
“Ah… looks like I didn’t need to lie after all. Nice.”
I hadn’t wanted to lie to Ava in the first place—it was just to protect her from knowing too much.
After that brief interaction, I headed back to where I was staying with my students and wandered the streets for a while.
On my way back, I found myself once more on the main street, where a few fishmen were walking around like me. None of them seemed interested in me this time. In fact, most of them shot me side glances, as if I were some kind of monster.
I wanted to tell them I wasn’t the one who attacked them first, but I kept that to myself as I spotted a glowing sign on a store panel, swaying in the breeze. The store looked rundown, but I became curious when I saw a line of people waiting to get inside.
It was odd, given the state of the store, but it meant whatever they were selling had to be valuable.
In a few seconds, I reached the back of the line, and immediately, more glares were thrown in my direction, as if to ask what I was doing there.
They even began whispering right in front of me, as though I wasn’t there.
“Is that the human who attacked Finley?”
“I think so… he doesn’t look that strong though.”
“Yeah, he must’ve used a trick to beat him.”
Maybe they were stupid fishmen, but I was standing right beside them. I could literally hear every word they were saying.
I let them talk for a while, but eventually, I started getting irritated. So, I sighed heavily.
“Look… I just want to see what’s inside this store, so can you two move along?” I said with the biggest fake smile I could muster.
As soon as I said that, a path opened for me, and I didn’t hesitate for a moment. I walked in, and just as I stepped inside, I felt a soft tap on my right shoulder.
It was from a very short fishman with a long, white beard.
I know, right? What kind of fish has a beard…?
“Hello, Mister Human. What can I help you with?” the bearded fishman asked, smiling brightly.
‘Hm, what kind of weapon should I buy? I didn’t bring any with me, after all…’
I thought for a moment about the best weapon to intimidate the boss of the Ocean Outlaws, and then I smiled when I found the perfect answer.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a baseball bat, would you?”
