Demonic System: Harem in Medieval World

17. Bear Attack

“There you are, I’ve been looking for you,” spoke Devon while munching raspberries. His left hand was full of other fruits too. “Here, stop crying and have some of these.”

Devon offered his harvest to Francesca, to which the latter responded by shaking his head wilder than she did before. As her mood was swinging thanks to the sentimental episode provoked by Arwen’s harsh interrogation session, Francesca wasn’t as fierce as last night. She just pouted and turned her face away from Devon, making her look cuter instead.

“What? Aren’t you hungry? You’ve had your breakfast already?” asked Devon while putting a mulberry inside his mouth. “We can’t keep eating meat forever, Fran. You need to understand.”

“Ah, I get it! You’re still upset from our accident last night, I reckon,” concluded Devon. “How many times I need to tell you? It wasn’t on purpose. I was just running from that crazy elf’s seduction, and by the time I knew it, I was already on the river and coincidentally you also happened to be there, naked on top of that!”

Francesca’s face blushed red due to embarassment and slight anger. She glared at Devon furiously, ready to pounce on him at any time possible. But she wasn’t the only one affected by Devon’s argument.

“Excuse me? I am crazy?” mentioned Arwen, approaching Devon with growing fury in each of her steps. “And why were you running away from me? Am I too ugly for you or are you gay?”

“Uh, you must’ve misheard me, Arwen. Maybe because your ear was too pointy it picked up a false signal,” evaded Devon. “Anyway, it’s none of the things you mentioned about. It’s not about you, it’s about me.”

“Before I was just a slave, now I’m even worse, a fugitive slave. No matter how you look at it, it’s impossible to picture us together. Elves have been considered as the embodiment of dignity and wisdom for so many lifetimes. What will your people say if they see you hanging out with a lowly peasant like me?” continued Devon before the elf maiden realized that he just dissed her on a broad daylight. “Another thing, actually I am quite comfortable with the chemistry we have around us and I wish to keep it this way, at least for now.”

“Let’s just suppose what you said was true, but I still can’t wrap my head about how you look so infatuated with Sis Fran, Bro,” chased Arwen. “Don’t make me think that you just used this talk about chemistry stuff solely as a ruse so later you could advance on her!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, lassie. Instead of infatuation, let’s just call it like, hmm, I don’t know, something like a sense of duty? Moral obligation? Something along those lines,” answered Devon brilliantly. “Fran, sorry for taking this out of your mouth, but let me explain this in your stead.”

“Francesca became an orphan thanks to me. Her father was a heroic man, trading his life for the sake of his daughter and a random boy he just met,” narrated Devon while turning his gaze at Francesca who was still sobbing on the ground. “Judging from that incident, Fran should have hated me and she had all the rights in the world to do so, but her father’s final wish was something she wanted to respect.”

“Oooh, what was his last will?” questioned Arwen who seemed engrossed with the captivating story of Devon. “To marry you?”

“No, you dumbass! Gosh, you watched too much drama!” retorted Devon. “To be honest, I couldn’t exactly remember it, though.”

Francesca scowled at Devon for soiling her late father’s memories.

“But it was greatly etched in my mind that his gallant act inspired us to keep on living with our heads up!” corrected Devon quickly before the huntress sent him to follow her father. “Yeah, that must be it!”

“Sis Fran!” bawled Arwen while hugging Francesca tightly. “I never knew you had such a harsh backstory! Please forgive my bitchy treatment before, huaaaaa!!”

“Phew, people don’t call me peacemaker for nothing,” boasted Devon proudly. “One problem solved, you’re welcome!”

“I still haven’t forgiven you for calling my body plain, I’ll have you know,” threatened Francesca.

“Really? That’s what you’ve been upset about?” chuckled Devon who knew that her threat was just a playful banter.

“Not quite, Dev. There’s another thing that I really despise, like, right now,” told Francesca, this time with even more tense expression. “Don’t make any sudden move.”

“Trust me, I won’t, Fran. I’m a gentleman, so I will take things slowly to approach any relationship,” argued Devon while puffing his chest.

“You dum-dum, not that kind of move!” scolded Francesca with her repressed tone. In her embrace, Arwen who started to finish her sentimental moment, turned her head around to Devon’s direction.

“HUAAA, A SEA BEAR!”

“Huh?” Devon was confused. “But we’re in the forest?”

Francesca pointed at something behind Devon, forcing him to look back, only to be greeted with a furry giant with both paws trying to grab him.

ROAARR!!

Devon ducked just in time to evade the grizzly swipe. But now he laid on the ground face down without any proper defense, like a sitting duck.

“Dev, take my hand!” ordered Francesca while reaching out to Devon. Immediately he took that arm so Francesca could pull him towards her direction. Another second late, and the claw mark on the ground would be on Devon’s back.

“That was a close one, Sis! But he’s still at it!” warned Arwen who rose up and led Devon and Francesca to regroup and organize their formation. “He seems agitated because we crossed over his territory. Let’s just pull back slowly and avoid provoking him even further.”

[NEW MISSION]

[SLAY THE SEA BEAR]

[REWARD: 100 DC]

Seeing the system on the screen in front of him, Devon was trapped in the dilemma. He was as afraid as the other two, but he couldn’t afford to walk away just like that. Devon knew better the penalty of failing the mission given by this foul system which would pose more danger than the one he was facing currently.

“You ladies go on ahead! I will hold him here!” declared Devon heroically to disguise his true intention of defeating the bear all the while sending Arwen and Francesca away from him for the sake of their safety.