When the fish were cooked, Mareona plucked some leaves and wrapped them. The others followed, pulling some leaves and wrapping the fish which they could eat immediately.
Aldred sat on Mary's lap as she caressed his head. Sophia was giving his legs a massage while Mira used her water magic to clean his feet.
"Open your mouth, Aldred." Mareona gently put a red fruit into his mouth. It looked like strawberry, but not really, and it tasted sweet without the acid part.
The other male soldiers looking at the boy could only eat their food in loneliness and jealousy.
"Why did he get all the girls?"
"Is it because he's a boy?"
"Most likely."
"If only I was as cute as him."
On the other hand, there were some soldiers who were close to the female soldiers and were eating together on their own mats. Jeffery was one of them. He was blushing and looking down as the girl smiled and fed him food.
Joseph sat with a nonchalant expression as he ate his fish. He did not care about girls. All he cared about were strength and skills. Nothing else mattered. 'I live by the swords and will die by the swords. No woman shall distract me.'
Tears trickled from his eyes. He wiped his face and violently bit onto his fish. 'Jeffery, you bastard. Why'd you leave me alone after everything we have been through.'
And that was their current life. Some got girls, some got none, and one even got it all, but overall their little picnic was very fun.
Night time came.
As the campfire died and everyone was sleeping in their tents, a small, tiny, short, dumb creature peeked out of the grass. It was Pongo. His eyes were currently locked onto one particular tent. He looked left and right, making sure no backstabbing spy was there to disrupt his operation.
Quickly, he slid onto the ground with his belly. His movement was quick. And in the blink of an eye, he was inside the tent. Mareona was sleeping along with the other girls. Pongo approached her. He had done this a few times before so he wasn't worried. With supreme precision and speed, his right flipper snapped at the target, and suddenly the pink object was in his hand.
Pongo smiled and was about to leave until he had a second thought. That was when he decided to steal all the girl's underwear and kept it for safekeeping.
He entered Aldred's tent to deliver the object. A spy must keep his promise after all. Pongo watched the boy sleeping with saliva trickling from his mouth.
Aldred was sleeping on Sophia's belly with Mary and Mira beside him.
Aldred laughed in his sleep. "No, sister. Don't touch me down there. No. What are you doing? Hehehe. What if mother sees us?"
Pongo slapped his face which alerted Aldred.
"Earthquake!" He paused and stared at Pongo. "Ahh, it's just you."
Pongo handed him a soft and smooth object. After rubbing his eyes, Aldred realized it was underwear.
"Shit! You really did it? I thought you were joking."
"Hey, don't argue with me now. I did the deed and my debt is cleared," Pongo said.
"Been a while since I heard you talk." Aldred laughed. "Why do you pretend you cannot speak in front of others?"
"Humph. You wouldn't understand." Pongo crossed his flipper
Aldred rolled his eyes and glanced at the divine object in his hand. "There's something in it. I wonder what it is."
Aldred opened the pink divine object and what he saw was simply a bunch of colorful flowers. "She really did keep flowers in her underwear… I don't know what to say."
"Ohh, but you don't have to say anything."
Aldred looked up and realized Mareona was at the entrance of his tent, staring at him with murderous eyes. Lightning flashed and the sky thundered. Mareona cracked her fist which made Aldred back off in fear.
"Mareona, it's not what it looks like."
"Yeah?" She approached. "We lost our panties a bunch of times before, now I know who did it."
"It's not me. It's the penguin."
Mareona looked at the penguin who was looking at her with big, pitiful, innocent eyes.
"Pongo."
"He's innocent," Mareona said.
'Damnit! Now I know why Pongo pretended to be dumb in front of others! He's tricking them all!'
A powerful Gold Rank aura permeated her body. "Prepare yourself for a world of pain."
"Mother, help!"
Mareona closed his mouth. "Try not to make any noise." Her hand reached out to him.
The sun rose and the chirping of birds came from outside.
Mary woke up then she saw a pile of beaten meat in front of her. Rubbing her eyes, she realized the beaten meat was actually Aldred who was black and blue from all over.
"What happened?"
"I have a terrible nightmare," Aldred said. "A really terrible nightmare."
"That doesn't explain the bruises."
"Pitiful, child," Mira said. "Let me heal your wound." Golden water washed Aldred's body and the bruises disappeared.
"Thank you, Mira."
Mira smiled and ruffled his hair. "Be a good boy and stop doing naughty stuff."
Aldred blinked innocently. "Okay."
Sophia woke up as well and greeted him. "Good morning mas—Aldred." She almost called him master again. The habit stuck to her because of Pharder.
Aldred smiled. "Good morning."
"Do you want breakfast or coffee? Or maybe both? Or do you want to take a bath first?"
"I… uhh… I usually train first before any of those things."
"Physical training?"
"Yep. I usually train with Mary, Bartrem, and the others."
Sophia thought it was weird that Aldred trained his body since he was a magician. A powerful one at that. "I will prepare a towel and a mat. After your training, I will wipe the sweat off your body."
"I don't really need that."
"Oh, so would you like to take a bath after training instead?"
"I guess it depends on my mood. What's wrong?"
Sophia shook his head. "I am just trying to make you comfortable and have a good day."
"You don't have to do that, really. Just have fun. Look at me. I take baths whenever I want, and no one gets mad if I don't take it for more than a week. Hahaha."
Mary flicked his forehead. "You should take a bath at least once every three days."
Aldred rubbed his forehead. "Yes, Mary."
Mary smiled and hugged him. Aldred embraced the hug with a smile, but then he noticed Sophia's troubled expression.
"What's wrong, Sophia?"
Sophia looked down, hesitating. "I don't know what to do."
"To do what?"
"To please you."
"Why do you have to please me?"
Sophia looked down. "I don't know."
Aldred sighed. "I am happy that you want to make me happy. I appreciate it, but your happiness is my happiness as well, so tell me. What do you want?"
Sophia widened her eyes. "My happiness is your happiness?"
"Of course. I am happy if Mary is happy, I am happy if Mira, Mareona, Bartrem, Joseph, and Jeffery are happy. If everyone is happy, I will be happy."
"Pongo."
"Except you, Pongo."
Pongo pouted and crossed his arms in anger. "Pongo!"
"You're just a bloody penguin. I don't care about your happiness. Besides, it was because of you that Mareona beat me up."
"Pongo pongo!"
"I am not listening to you."
As Aldred and the penguin battled in a heated argument, Sophia was still staring at the boy, wondering if what he said was true or not. 'My happiness is his happiness…' No one ever said that to her.
Tears flowed from her eyes which shocked everyone.
"Why are you crying?" Aldred said with worry. He approached and held her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Sophia looked at his worried face up close. Those gentle black eyes with honest and genuine feelings made her heart warm. She couldn't hold it anymore and broke into tears as she hugged him.
"Sophia, what's wrong?" Aldred caressed her back, becoming more worried. "Are you sick? Did someone bully you? Is it your time of the month? Are you maybe pregnant?"
Mary hit his head and signaled for him to be quiet.
Aldred nodded and stayed silent as he hugged her and caressed her back. Sophia kept sobbing and crying uncontrollably. He did not know what made her so sad.
After a few minutes, Sophia stopped crying but kept on hugging Aldred. She calmed down eventually, still with a little bit of tears in her eyes.
"Are you going to tell me what is going on?" Aldred asked.
"All this time," Sophia started. "It was always me who kept trying to make others feel happy. I did whatever they asked, did whatever they wanted, but it never worked out. They always kick and shove me away." She broke into tears again. "I don't know why they did it. I truly don't know."
Aldred, Mira, and Mary looked at each other. It seemed like Sophia's craziness came from her terrible experience with life.
"Sophia," Mira said in a soft voice. "Love is something to fight for, but that fight must never be done alone. If you ever find yourself fighting alone, then it is not love."
Sophia looked at her with widened eyes. "All this time, it wasn't love?"
Mira nodded. "Many make the same mistake as you. Love is a comfortable home, Sophia. Sometimes it gets messy and you have to clean and tidy it, but it's a place where you can relax and be yourself."
Sophia hugged her. "Thank you, sister."
Mira smiled and hugged her back.
Mary hugged her from the side.
Aldred followed. "You can consider us your home, Sophia."
Sophia nodded. "I will." She ruffled Aldred's hair and kissed him on the lips. "I guess you are my love now." She smiled sweetly.
Aldred blushed. Her demeanor changed so quick that he was caught off guard. Sophia loved his reaction and kissed him a bunch of times.
Mary smiled. Sophia did not seem like a bad person. Yes, she tried to enslave Aldred before, but she was probably ordered by Pharder. 'Now that she's one of us, there's no use in holding a grudge.'
"Aldred," Bartrem called as he peeked inside. "We're ready to move."
Aldred nodded and exited the tent. He then ordered the system to put all the tents inside the divine dimension. He also stored other things such as supplies and tools.
Aldred and Bartrem had thought about how to use the dimension even more efficiently and effectively. They tried to put everyone within the divine dimension, and have Aldred fly to the destination. There was a problem with that method. Apparently, they could only stay inside for three hours in real-time of which they were kicked into the real dimension after the time ran out. Then they had to wait for a 24-hour cooldown before they could enter the divine dimension again.
Bartrem thought it wasn't very efficient, and that ability better be saved for a possible disaster instead. Imagine they were ambushed from all sides. Outnumbered and outwitted. They could enter the divine dimension and stay there. Although only for three hours, at least the element of surprise disappeared, and they could think of a plan to survive. The problem was the usual difference in time did not apply when Aldred was outside the divine dimension. So if they wanted to hide, he had to enter the dimension along with them.
Aldred was glad that he shared his ability with Bartrem and the others. It was really good to have others think of a way on how to use his ability more effectively. Although they still couldn't tell all of their comrades about the leveling system.
They did not need to know though. In fact, they didn't even know their own levels and attributes. When their levels increased, their attributes automatically increased according to their specialization.
This ability was truly a blessing from the gods. Aldred could pick up a dumb ass from the street and he could turn him into a Gold Rank in a few years.
Aldred sat on Mary's lap on the carriage. The caravan set off with the soldiers urging the horses to move.
In the carriage, Mareona, Sophia, Mira, and Pongo were with him.
"Aldred, you said you have a new ability," Mareona said. "What is it?"
"Well, basically, I can transform into things."
"Show us."
Aldred transformed himself into a kitten.
Mareona's eyes lit up. "So cute. Can you talk?"
"I can."
"Whoa! The cat spoke!" Mareona was exhilarated. "Try turning into something else."
Aldred transformed into a penguin which angered Pongo.
'You dare stealing my style?' Pongo glared at him.
Aldred transformed into a baby.
Mareona laughed. "You're a baby. Aldred, you're a baby!"
Mary thought it was cute as well.
Aldred then turned into a baby, but with wrinkled skin and a white beard. He even brought a small stick and hunched his back to play the role.
Sophia laughed. "How is this possible? You're an old baby."
"Hehehe. You have not seen my final form yet."
Aldred turned into a vibrator.
