It was a strange situation.

Usually it would be the meek Emily following the tail of the ball of confidence called Eel yet things were completely reversed in this situation. The usual personification of smug had an unsure & confused expression on her face. Not only that but she was literally following the tail of the cow who had her nose in the air and eyes closed. Her arms were crossed in front of her tiny mounds while she remained in absolute silence.

Not that both of them were in silence as Eel occasionally ran in front to try to desperately get Emily’s attention like an abandoned puppy.

“H-hey did you know Fuka once accidentally slipped backwards and took some guys bulge whole?” <Ee>

“Lisa once was caught by little K whipping Kee, it’s that funny!” <Eel>

“D-do you remember how much gold I have saved up?” <Eel>

And such other topics were constantly coming up as they walked down the muddy trail into a lightly forested area the north of the village. Yet, no matter what the little dragon said, she was completely ignored by the succubus who usually fed off her attention (somewhat literally in this regard since she was a succubus). It made her feel not only uncomfortable but also guilty! She wasn’t even completely sure why Emily was so mad at her since this was the first time. Alicia had been angry at her plenty of times for not behaving like a ‘regular person’ but Emily always just accepted her.

She was completely blindsided by being passively aggressively ignored - like when a mortal does to another mortal when they fart - from her own girlfriend. Nobody ever ignores her when she speaks; she’s Elizabeth Jr Bloodleaf! Thinking this she continued doing everything she could think of to fix the situation but decided just to go with the simplest now that they were arriving.

“Listen, I’m sorry that I used a new pow-” <Eel>

“What are you two doing out here, are you trying to be eaten?!” <D-Rank Adventurer>

As she was about to beg on her paws & claws she was quickly denied.

A man pushed open the bushes only to whisper-shout toward the two pint-sized adventuring royalty. He wasn’t in good shape though as the sheath for his sword was gone and the small target shield upon his muscular wrist had vicious claw marks. It was clear he had met with a beast he couldn’t handle as it seemed the flesh between his right hands and fingers was bleeding. His left arm holding the shield was in worse shape as it appeared badly bruised at least with how he was avoiding moving it.

Eel obviously recognised it as a bear claw doing that damage so she was at least happy she was getting close to her target with little effort. She wasn’t very happy with the man interrupting her, causing her to growl softly while glaring at him. A bunch of kids ducked crouched behind him - shivering in fear as they looked around nervously while seemingly about to break if even a branch broke. One of them even attempted to drag Emily into the bushes to hide her from the supposed ‘monster’ only to receive a Giant Green Lizard leather boot in the face.

The kids had slightly better leather equipment and proper gear so they were probably making a living from hunting animals instead of hunting weeds. As for the man - his gear wasn’t metal but even higher quality leather than what the kids were wearing. Of course, it didn’t even match up to the quality of materials or craft from Eel’s panties let alone Emily’s… Clothes?

Was hard to say if what Emily wore could really be called clothes or underwear since ‘succubus fashion’ and all that.

“What are you doing out here?! I’ve never seen you two again and she’s not even wearing armour of any kind while you have your midriff exposed - hunting is no joke girls. Just one bite from a random animal-!” <Mr Whisper-Shout>

“If anyone will be biting it’ll be me. Last thing I need is any random D-rank teaching ME about hunting… Ah how I wish this country wasn’t so ignorant! Any other country and I would be famous as a literal {Hero} but no, I’m born in the one dumbass country that is guibly backward enough to believe any old properander…” <Eel>

“It is rather unlucky for us; I could’ve even been a famous young crafter with a harem of beautiful men and women waiting on me hand and foot…” <Emily>

“Yea… Wait, you spoke!” <Eel>

“What are you-” <Mr Whisper-Shout>

“GRRRROAR!” <Bear>

Suddenly the thing Eel was here for popped out the bush - the job was easy enough as all she needed to do was push some bear family out of the villages borders. However, just as she assumed, their new hunter friends had previously been acquainted as the kids instantly screamed in fear while the man gritted his teeth and stumbled away from the bear.

“Shit / Sweet it’s here!” <Mr Whisper-Shout / Eel>

The bear approached from behind the hunting party - raising it’s two fore-claws up in the air as it let out another powerful roar. It was quite obvious that the bear wanted to party and Eel saw no reason to invite the filler. She rushed past the party to lift her own hands up as the bear took the challenge and slammed it’s weight down.

“Get out of the way!” <Mr Whisper-Shout>

Slamming it’s body down… Eel just held it up by it’s wrists while jokingly lifting it’s paws up and down casually. She was far physically stronger than the bear was heavy - it would be more surprising if she wasn’t considering she was a dragon fully focused on hunting for the last couple of years. Never mind scaring the bear; she had gifted Lisa a rug for her last birthday!

“Aw, who’s a good girl who knows how to shake hands? Yes you are, yes you are~!” <Eel>

“Who’s a bad girl who can’t admit when she’s hurt…” <Emily>

“Urgh…” <Eel>

“What the hell is going on.” <Mr Whisper-Shout>

Before he could compute what was happening Eel just kicked the bear in its gut while letting go of it’s furry wrists. Not only did she  end up sending it flying backwards but additionally through a tree. This all despite a casual kick without any buffing. If she actually was trying her kick wouldn’t have even sent it backwards; instead she would’ve punctured right through to it’s furry caboose.

“Now that’s ought to scare them away when she either wakes up or gets found after her mate gets worried and finds her.” <Eel>

“W-what are-” <Mr Whisper-Shout>

“It was a fun walk and all but we should go back, my… Wait up?!” <Eel>

Eel ironically was ignoring the other adventurers with her chest proudly puffed out only to turn around. Finding that Emily had begun to leave her behind once again. Her cocky facade instantly vanished as she instead scrambled on all fours to catch up to the succubus - probably the first hero to actively hunt down a succubus to try to get back into their good book!

“W-wait! I’m sorry I used a new power without consulting you about it! I’m weally weally owwie pwease on’t ignore me!” <Eel>

At some point she dove at the waist of the pint sized pint maker. It didn’t take a Munzumira to figure out that Elizabeth Jr Bloodleaf was slightly superior in physical stats than Emily Succubus; nor did it take a Mother to realise that the pair would quickly form a ball. The tiny pair of estranged lovers rolled down the trail before eventually reaching a rolling bank where they would finally stop at the bottom. The entire time a teary hero rubbed her face along the back of the dizzy succubus.

What could Emily say? Shaking off her confused status effect she gently patted Eel’s head while letting out a long sigh.

“Do you know why I follow you?” <Emily>

“I'm a badass and it’s best to see it in person fufufu~?” <Eel>

“I mean… Kind off.” <Emily>

Emily blushed a little but continued on.

“But it’s because I’m worried you’ll get hurt when I’m not there to look after you… You’re easy to take advantage of if they figure out you aren’t like other girls.

Maybe someone will take advantage of your simple minded nature to poison some fresh meat when you're out hunting, maybe a villain will take advantage of your lack of care to make you sniff an infected steak of some sort or perhaps you meet someone who promised to give you a nice pint of fresh blood… More so now that you’ve unlocked your Bloodleaf side…” <Emily>

“See, I’m seeing a pattern then and I don’t know whether or not to feel insu-” <Eel>

“Would you fall for that?” <Emily>

“I mean… It’s not like they would be able to stop me and I ain’t gonna run away just because some humans are a little prepared!” <Eel>

“That’s why I’m worried. We just ran away from ‘some human’ and barely escaped alive. I don’t mind seeing you fight or even if you get hurt… I’m worried you won’t let me help you…” <Emily>

The cow pulled away from Eel to sit on her own - her droopy ears even more droopy as her head also fell. Seeing this made Eel open her mouth for a second without knowing what to say - she’s smart but not exactly an emotional thinker. She’s always just done what she feels so how do you cheer up a crying girl without seduction…

Right, seduction!