“Phew, I really pigged out…” I leaned back in my chair and admired the pile of empty wooden plates piled on the little table between me and my house guest. Not a scrap of purple tentacle remained.
“Yeah,” said Filia, rubbing her belly, “I couldn’t take another bite.”
“You thought it would taste awful,” I mused, “but look at you now!”
Filia’s cheeks flushed red. “W-well, that’s because those tentacles let out that weird whistling sound while you were frying them!”
“Yeah, that happens.”
“And then after biting into them, they let out that horrid death cry and started casting wind magic!”
“Yep, kinda what they do.”
“So,” she said, very slowly, “anyone with common sense would think that it definitely wouldn’t qualify as a tasty experience then, wouldn’t you agree?”
I mean, I got where she was coming from, I guess. “But, how was it, really? Was it gross?”
Given how close we both were to food-coma territory, I didn’t even need to hear her answer.
Filia responded in a quiet voice, as if admitting defeat herself. “It was…delicious. Positively delectable. Thank you so very much for the meal.”
“Welp, hey, no problem. My pleasure, matter-of-fact.”
“Ugh…” She gave me an odd look. “This feels somewhat humiliating, for some reason.…”
Filia was glaring at me now, embarrassed, but I didn’t pay it any mind. Honestly, I was kind of stuck on the amount of food she’d stuffed down her gullet. As full as she said she was, she’d eaten barely a tenth of what I had.
“I sorta thought you were gonna be the kind of glutton who eats like a horse,” I admitted. “But you didn’t actually eat that much at all.”
Even though she kept going on about how delicious the food was, how much she couldn’t get enough of it, all of that stuff—it seemed like she was at an impasse with her tiny elf stomach.
“I do want to eat more, but I get full really quickly.” Filia sighed. “I’m jealous of people like you who can eat as much as their heart desires, Yuri.”
“You know, you do look really thin. Wouldn’t it be better if you put on a few pounds?” I asked, examining Filia’s body once more.
Even though she said her belly was packed, her slender figure remained unchanged. When I stared at Filia like that though, she crossed her arms as if to hide herself from view.
“The humanity! The insensitivity! Taking advantage of the lull after a meal to defile me in your mind! Horrid.”
“Don’t just accuse me of being a creep!”
“What? Am I wrong? Oh, well, that’s nice, then,” she replied with a light, teasing laugh. Then she stood, stretched, and let out a satisfied post-meal grunt. “Thank you ever-so-much for the meal, Yuri. It really was marvelous, I hope you know, and certainly I should know. That being said, it seems about time for me to go. The road goes ever on or whatever.”
“Wait.” I called out to Filia just as she set foot outside my door.
She tilted her head to the side as if to say “What’s the matter?”
“Honestly?” I scratched the back of my head. “I want to leave the forest, too. Is it okay if I go with you? It doesn’t have to be any farther than the outskirts.”
I’d never felt lonely living on my own…not until that moment. Unnameable dissatisfaction didn’t haunt me or anything like that. There was even a sense of achievement in being able to eat what I hunted with my own two hands. But now…now I knew somebody. I knew Filia. And yeah, she was strange, but she didn’t seem bad. She was, I don’t know, likeable.
I hadn’t even thought about leaving the forest before. Maybe I had been unconsciously avoiding entertaining the thought. But after just a few hours with Filia, my suppressed interest in the outside world was overflowing.
I wanted to know more about all kinds of things.
I wanted to go to all kinds of places.
I wanted to meet all kinds of people.
And, above all else, I wanted to become stronger. For the sake of Muscle Itself.
In an instant, those feelings filled my heart and spilled out into my enormous and totally ripped pecs. How ripped was I, really? What dangerous wonders could this body—this positively shredded body with its tree-trunk limbs and glistening rock-hard abs—withstand? The burning desire of this totally cut bod could not, would not be quenched!
So, uh, also to note, I’d apparently been saying most of this out loud. Filia, after listening to me wax on for a bit, looked up for a moment, like she was hesitating.
“Well, then,” she said, “yes, how about we go together? I just left my home village too, so I’m feeling a little anxious. In fact, I believe I find your…bigness reassuring, Yuri.”
“Whoo! Thanks for having me along! You will not regret it!”
And just like that, I decided to leave my forest home. I’d spent nearly my entire life in the trees, so I was feeling a bit emotional. But the other rush of emotion was so much better: excitement and joy and hot-blooded anticipation! We were going out to see a world filled to bursting with new adventures!