"Would you look at that, your sword has evolved, Erika."
I pointed at Erika's sword, but she didn't seem to be paying attention, instead, she was simply looking at me while growing redder.
She quickly stood up straight and looked into the sword in the floor.
"Eh? It really changed! Is this evolution?"
Erika quickly grabbed her sword again. Instead of looking black and rusty, it now had several red decorations over its blade, and any rusty part was completely cleansed, the sword looked brand new now. It was shining with an eerie bright red aura.
"Indeed, my weapon has already evolved three times by now, every time they do, the weapon gains bonus Stats and also increase their Level Cap." I said.
"E-Eh? Weapons have stats?" She wondered.
"I guess you can't see them yourself, but yes, just like us. The more you feed these cursed items with blood or souls, the stronger they grow." I said. "Make sure to feed them the blood of what you hunt whenever you go into hunting by yourself."
"I see… I will!" Erika said happily. "M-More importantly…"
"It has been a while since I went to your house, Blake… Can I go take a visit?" She wondered.
"Sure, my parents are missing you. You can also meet Anna and Allan again." I said.
"Oh right! Your siblings!" She said. "I wonder how big they have grown… they were so cute the last time I saw them!"
"They're really cute." I said with a nod.
"And can I stay overnight too?" She wondered.
"And sleep in your bed too?" She asked again.
"Yaaay!" Erika began to celebrate by raising her arms happily.
The rest of our group was glaring at our conversation in silence, but I quickly noticed a rather deadly gaze coming from… Elizabeth.
In a second, as if she turned into a flash of light, she appeared right before us.
"Eh?! Elizabeth?" Erika asked in surprise.
Elizabeth, however, ignored Erika as she directed her gaze at me.
"Can I come to your house too? I've never had the chance! It is unfair that Erika can and I can't!" She pouted childishly.
"Elizabeth… Since when you have acted like a spoiled girl?" I wondered. "And sure you can come-"
"W-Wait a second! She can't come the same day I do!" Erika complained, crossing her arms.
"Hm? Why not?" I asked.
"B-Because it is our special time together!" Erika angrily answered.
"B-But I also want special time together with Blake…" Elizabeth asked.
These two little girls were like little sisters to me, but Erika has been someone I've known since I was a toddler, it is obvious that my bond with her is stronger than Elizabeth. However, Elizabeth seems rather reluctant to come to my house… It is rather obvious those two girls might like me, but… they're kids, I can't really have the same feelings towards them.
How can I deal with this situation without breaking their hearts? I don't really want to make this worse.
"Well, you can come the day after, Elizabeth." I said.
"R-Really Blake?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah." I said. "Erika, I hope that's okay."
"Ugh… y-yeah." Erika sighed.
I felt the obligation of petting both girls in their head to calm them down. Elizabeth's eyes seemed to be shining brightly, while Erika seemed slightly angered, but didn't voiced her opinion about it at the end.
"Huh, how nice…" Eleanora said behind me. "You're really a Casanova, aren't you, my lord?"
"Eleanora, stop this…" I sighed.
After trying to resolve Eleanora's jealously, which had evolved into some sort of teasing she does with me, the stew was ready. We quickly sat around the bonfire and began eating the delicious food to recover our stamina.
And while I ate, I noticed that Chris, Eric, and Erdrich were giving me looks of pity.
"It must be hard, isn't it?" Sighed Chris.
"Being popular with girls is surely a thing of Blake…" Eric said.
"I don't know if I should feel jealous or relieved." Said Erdrich.
"Look, it is not something I wanted, okay?" I said. "It just happened…"
"I-I think it is better that way to be honest." Eric sighed in relief.
"Yeah, I would hate to be in your place to be honest." Chris said.
"Sometimes people that are too powerful have to pay a price for what they have." Said Erdrich.
"You three are not really taking this seriously are you?!"
"We are!" Said Chris. "We are taking it seriously. It must be an arduous task, my friend." Chris processed to pat my shoulders. "But I'm sure that you can perseverate."
While the girls were talking by themselves, Eleanora included, the boys seemed to have circled me to talk about something as well…
"Hey, Blake, which one do you like?" Wondered Erdrich.
"Come on, you got three girls drooling for you man, who do you like?" Wondered Chris.
"You're too young to talk Chris, stop imitating your father's way of speech." I sighed.
"G-Geh… That's how I talk!" Chris complained.
"I-I am quite curious as well…" Eric said.
"So which one?" Wondered Erdrich.
"I don't want to talk about this…" I sighed, I felt like my soul was leaving my body as this trio of clowns were asking me something incredibly awkward.
I can't just tell them "I am actually a thousand-year-old reincarnated soul, so I feel no attraction to them", can't I?
"I believe they're all my friends." I said. "I am not good with romance or anything like that. I am… simply happy as long as we are all together and united. I hope whatever feelings they have for me are not something that will separate us one day."
"A-Ah… Blake…" Chris said.
"Of course not!" Eric said. "We'll be friends for as long as I live!"
"Y-Yeah, same." Erdrich said. "Sorry if it felt weird that we pressured you."
"I guess…" Chris said.
I sighed for a bit, as I gave them all a few pats in the back.
"Being young is sure hard, isn't it?" I sighed
"Here he goes talking like an old man again…"
"What does that even mean?"