“Why are you smiling?”

Mia asked Eren with a look of suspicion. She had appeared a few steps away from him, keeping a safe distance from a seemingly clueless chance-grabber. Her casual presence indicated that she had secured the area and there were no signs of danger.

Eren smiling to himself was one thing. Mia also saw him clenching his fist as if he was trying to grab something. At least that’s what she interpreted his actions as.

Eren, who was lost in thought, was a bit startled when he heard Mia’s voice. He looked at her and saw her looking at him funny. He returned her gaze with puzzled expressions before responding.

“Can’t I smile about something?”

After hearing Eren, Mia stared with suspicion in her eyes and scrunched her nose. She took a seat in front of him on the wooden log set around the campfire before raising another question.

“Alright, Mr. Smarty Pants. Let me rephrase that. What were you smiling about?”

Mia asked as she inhaled the aroma of the pot stew Eren was cooking for both of them. She had come to realize that his minimal approach to cooking had made him a better cook than her.

Eren didn’t understand why Mia was grilling him so much about something so trivial. But since he was not an airhead, he soon connected the dots and figured out what Mia thought he thought about.

Eren chuckled and decided to play along.

“Oh, I was thinking about how I was able to take advantage of a rare opportunity. It was truly a life-changing experience for me.”

Eren tried to maintain a straight face while he said what he said. But his playful eyes gave him away. Mia knew he was trying to pull her legs. Her part suspicious and part angry expressions melted into a burst of laughter before she commented.

“I see that you liked what you grabbed. Do you want to have that experience again? Hold onto it with everything you got?”

Mia asked with a playful voice and a smirk on her face. He didn’t expect the lowkey timid elf to pull a 180-degree turn on him and meet his verbal trap head-on. As such, he was caught off guard for a moment.

‘Ask and ye shall be given you. Is that it?’

Eren thought to himself before answering, “yes! Why not? I’d like me some elf buns.”

In the next moment, he regretted answering honestly instead of playing around with words. A wind-element dagger was thrown his way that could have grazed his right cheek if he didn’t have his mana defense.

“Hmph! You haven’t earned that opportunity yet. You’d have to work hard to get it back.”

Mia stuck out her tongue and looked keenly at Eren. Both of them looked at each other for a bit before bursting out into a peal of laughter at the same time.

Eren and Mia started talking like normal after that. They had already killed two more Slaadi after their first encounter with them. They just needed a few more kills before this mission became more lucrative than just the mission reward.

Mia had asked how Eren was able to pull off such feats despite it was her who had more experience than him as a ranker. Eren’s performance in this mission was miles apart from the previous mission they were part of.

Mia had seen Eren trying to kite a single Iron Trunk Honey Iron Mammoth with all that he had. She had thought that the guy was impressive for showing such a performance on his first mission. But apparently, she had still underestimated him and his growth potential.

Eren smiled before giving Mia some generic answers. The latter knew when to stop digging and changed the subject.

Eren and Mia both found it easy to talk to each other. Contrary to what his first impressions of Mia were, she wasn’t shy or an introvert who liked to embark on solo missions.

It was just that she preferred a closely knit group that always stayed together. She didn’t like being part of a huge party that may or may not stay the same depending upon the next mission its leader took.

The talks carried on for a while until the aroma that eventually wafted through the air told them that dinner was ready. Eren then got up from his seat and held the flaming hot pot with his bare hands.

The battlemage approached the ranger’s position before placing the pot onto the wooden log she was seated on. He placed it beside her before sitting on the log with his legs to either side as if he were riding a colt.

Mia followed Eren’s lead and adjusted herself in the same manner. The stew pot was now placed right between both of them. Eren took out two big spoons from his storage before offering one to his elf teammate.

“Dig in, miss mushy butt.”

Eren said while removing the lid over the pot. As both rankers gazed at each other, the hot steam blurred their vision. The stew’s aroma hit their nostrils, making them salivate.

Mia was stumped for a bit when she heard Eren’s way of addressing her. The rascal had made it a point to let her know that he really liked his unintentional advances on her. He now wanted to turn them into intentional advances.

Mia couldn’t say she didn’t like where things were heading between her and Eren. She just wished he wouldn’t call her that when they were on their missions or in public.

As such, she pinched Eren’s left hand that was holding the lead, invoking a sudden and sharp yelp from him. After seeing Eren’s “I’ve been wronged” expression, she dipped the spoon in the pot with a giggle accompanying her actions.

“Ummm! This is really good, Eren!”

Mia said after having a spoonful of the stew. Eren was used to using spices and herbs thanks to the habits he picked up from Tory. Now, they were helping him close the distance between himself and the otherworldly elf.

***

“When should we attack, vice-captain?”

One of the shadows asked another in a deep voice. These shadows were outside the perimeter set by Mia. They were seeing Eren and Mia interacting with each other on a spectral screen projected by an array disk, which was a spying device.

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