However, Karen had no direct way of finding out.
How could she look at him in the face and ask, "do you have a girlfriend?"
She could never let such a horrible thing escape her lips!
If she were to ask such a question and he replied with a, "yes, I happen to be dating someone now," then she would faint!!
Karen thought for a long time about what she could do. When an idea did come to her, she put it into action immediately.
If she followed it, she could reduce the possibility of being subjected to great damage…
When he returned home, Rhea was limp again.
"Rheeeaaaa!?"
What happened?
The reality was too cruel. Tears welled up in Haruki"s eyes.
He frantically ran up to Rhea and touched the leaves.
Rhea"s leaves were dehydrated and wrinkled.
"But, why…"
Perhaps Haruki"s voice had wakened it because Rhea moved weakly and pointed one of its leaves towards the soil.
"…Water?"
Rhea nodded.
Indeed, the soil had been quite moist in the morning. But it was all dried up now.
It was the beginning of summer.
While it wasn"t too hot yet, the sunlight was starting to get stronger.
The planter was not able to hold much water. And so the sunlight that entered the room had quickly evaporated all of the moisture.
d.a.m.n it.
He had not thought that far ahead.
Haruki quickly pulled out a water bottle from his bag and poured the water on the soil.
After he did this, the plant finally seemed to come back to life.
Rhea"s body slow rose as if taking a deep breath.
Once the water was absorbed into all of the leaves, they began to smack Haruki"s cheeks over and over again.
"I"m sorry. I"ll be more careful next time. Really, I"m so sorry."
Seriously! Rhea said as she folded her arms and pointed her nose away.
…That was close.
He had nearly lost Rhea just after he had decided to protect her. It made a chill go down his spine.
Haruki got some water from the well and put it in a bucket which he placed next to the planter.
Then he put a measuring cup inside and showed it to Rhea.
"Next time you"re thirsty…soil is dry, use this to add more water."
I see. Rhea nodded slowly.
Now she wouldn"t collapse from dehydration.
"Is there anything else that you want? Though, I don"t know what it is that you eat."
Hmm. Rhea twisted around and pointed a leaf at Haruki"s bag.
"The potato stone?"
Rhea"s body shook.
Then it moved its leaves towards the garage and swayed.
"Hmm. Hmm. So you want items like the potato stone that can be found in the dungeon?"
Rhea nodded.
Rhea was quite advanced in terms of body language, and it was because of this that Haruki was able to understand her many demands. Or so he thought.
Perhaps he was able to understand so much because of the Tame skill.
Still, this was quite impressive for level 0.
Maybe he would actually be able to hear her voice if he maxed it out.
"I know. Rhea. I have some fertilizer I haven"t used yet. Want to try it out?"
Uhhh.
Rhea did not seem enthusiastic.
It pained him to see the fertilizer go to waste since he had bought it with his own money(it was expensive).
And so Haruki took out the bag and showed it to Rhea. Then he started his presentation.
After separating from Haruki, Karen had invaded his house.
Maybe Haruki was now living with his new girlfriend.
However, she just could not ask him directly.
In that case, the solution was simple.
She just needed to sneak in and watch.
Yes, it was a bad thing.
However, it would mean that she"d take less damage.
Karen wanted to avoid the total collapse of her mental health.
And once she got the idea, she could not stop.
She took off her shoes and walked quietly on the floor.
She could hear voices coming from the floor above her.
It was Haruki"s voice.
She slowly climbed up the stairs and arrived at the room where Haruki"s voice was coming from.
Then she took in one deep breath.
No matter what happened, she could not lose her cool.
She would give up and leave quietly…
Karen made this decision as she put her ear on the door.
But…
"Just a little?"
"Just a little bit. Okay?"
Karen was so shaken by the words that she was hearing, and she could bear it no longer.
"N-n-n-no. Don"t do it, Karaboshi!"
Just as Haruki had picked up the fertilizer, Karen stormed into the room with a red face.
Oh, no.
He"d been discovered!
What should he do!?
Haruki began to panic.
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
She was going to start yelling at him!
He tried to prepare for her outburst, but Karen just looked at him dumbly.
What was happening?
He couldn"t tell what Karen was thinking.
Haruki held the fertilizer, unable to move. Next to him, Rhea was furious.
Who was this woman? She was saying.
Rhea directed her thickest stem towards Karen and…
"Wait! Rhea, she is a team member. Don"t attack her."
Haruki frantically moved between them.
There must have still been some inside of the ground. He could see the swell of the potatoes underneath.
Had he been a split-second late, a potato would have fired at her.
But they were very wrinkled, so she probably wouldn"t have been hurt…
"Karaboshi. Who is Rhea?"
"Oh, it"s her name."