"So those things can distort one's senses?"

"Yeah, pretty much..."

"Interesting..."

Valon could do nothing as he reluctantly answered another question from the overly curious disguised lamia. He was already in a really bad mood after the realization of the things he did during his battle with the Heavenly Knight of Fire; the catalyst being the issues that might arise from interfering in a significant event in the game.

Suffering the consequences of 'game intervention' was the last thing he needed in finding his brother and now he couldn't even do anything to avoid the curious lamia-now-turned-human to stop gathering more dangerously unnecessary information about his belongings.

And it's really not helping that she's really interested to know how each of my stuff work...

"How does it stun someone exactly? What's inside that small device that enables it to disrupt one's senses once it explodes?"

"Just some pyrotechnic metal oxidant mix of magnesium and potassium perchlorate, alongside some circuit power and sensor switches for the activation."

Valon glanced at his companions realizing they were looking at him with brows raised. The technician sighed as he silently contemplated whether he was actually doing a good job indirectly avoiding the questions with his slightly meticulous answers or not.

"Look, it's just some chemicals that happen to make a blinding light reaction, alright?"

"Hmm... incredible. To think that a miniature device such as that can be used to incapacitate someone in a convenient method of just throwing it near their vicinity... very impressive."

It's really not that impressive...

The compliments that came from Alice did not ease Valon's expression one bit, in fact, it just made it worse. The more he gave out information about himself, which included the things he knew and the things he could do, the more it posed a risk of exposing his true identity to his companions. He could technically just ignore the bombarding questions and make the excuse that he still wasn't in the mood to answer any of their inquiries.

But he knew that answering the questions was inevitable; he knew that they were bound to ask him about his gear and their functionalities sooner or later as long as he was traveling with them. And he figured that he might as well start telling his companions about himself to avoid further suspicion of his intentions. He already admitted that he omitted some of the truths to them by making false claims, he couldn't afford to be suspected by another contradicting claim or action.

"Oh yeah, by the way, I think this is yours," Luka uttered, pulling out a pair of broken goggles from his pocket as he handed it to the technician.

"My goggles!" Valon exclaimed as he grabbed the headwear, saddened by its current state.

"Yeah, sorry... I kinda found it like that already."

"Nah, it's fine... it's my fault that it's like this now," Valon sighed as he silently scolded himself for foolishly letting one of his important gadgets break.

"Goggles, hmm? I noticed that you were wearing it the day we met and you never really took it off," Alice remarked. "What is that for anyway? Why do you always wear it?"

"Yeah, I kinda want to know what that was for as well," Luka concurred. "Must be something important to you if you never took it off."

"Well... it is important because I need it whenever I build, weld, or assemble stuff," Valon casually answered before sighing. "But then because of my foolishness, it's now broken."

"But you can get another one, right?" Luka asked with a smile, trying to lighten the depressed man's mood.

"I don't know about trying to get one of these out there but I can just build another one if I want to. I just currently lack the resources to make a new one right now."

"Huh, that's cool!" Luka happily exclaimed before turning to a corner of the hall. "Oh, we're at the lobby now!"

The group then stopped temporarily once they reached the lobby of the inn. They saw the innkeeper by the counter, greeting them as she took the room key from the group. She gave a light smirk when she saw the familiar appearances of the young boy and the scantily clad lady.

"It sounded like you had fun last night."

"W-what?! Were we that loud?" Luka immediately blushed in embarrassment.

"Hmm... I don't know, were you?" the innkeeper teased, her smirk not leaving her face. "I didn't exactly hear anything but I did hear from one of the nurses that she could hear... certain noises in the next room. And also the report on the stained mattress, I'm guessing that was you?"

Huh, guess they went at it while I was out like a light. Not sure how I feel about it specifically, but at least it's still technically following the plot of the story so I don't really care.

"Agughh..." Luka groaned from further embarrassment. "S-sorry about the rented mattress..."

"It's alright, it happens all the time anyway."

Luka felt like he was having the worst time of his life, his cheeks intensely reddening like a tomato as the innkeeper chuckled in amusement from last night's events. Alice seemed unfazed by the spectacle while Valon didn't really know how to react. The innkeeper was about to give them a proper sendoff when she saw the third member of the group, her eyes widening in visible shock.

"Y-you... you're already well?" the innkeeper approached the man as she inspected him.

"Huh? Uhhh... what do you mean?" Valon asked, equally surprised.

"Please don't take offense from my confusion, I'm genuinely relieved that you already look alright but the injuries you sustained yesterday were severe," the innkeeper explained. "You suffered multiple bone fractures throughout your entire body and one of the nurses informed me that you wouldn't be able to stand for a week! But here you are now!"

Valon felt the same surprise as the innkeeper after learning this information. He knew that he suffered major injuries after losing his fight against Granberia but he never really contemplated how he only felt the occasional backaches after just a day. It would be more logical to think that he'd at least won't be able to use his legs to stand, let alone move. It would also make more sense to feel immense muscle pain to the point that he'd scream every time he tried to move but he felt fine.

It didn't take long for him to figure out why that was the case as the moment he turned around to his companions, he could see Luka taking glances at Alice and the latter had her eyes closed while her arms were crossed. Valon felt slightly surprised that the Monster Lord was the one who healed his injuries, how she did it exactly, he didn't know. But before he was able to say anything back, a maidservant entered the lobby and called the innkeeper about an important meeting.

"Oh, excuse me, I'm very sorry but I'm currently needed in the trading post. I had a group of talented merchants bargain something for me and this is just something I can't miss. Well, I have to get going now and thank you all for your efforts in saving our city. Be sure to come again! Reika, take over for now, will you?"

The innkeeper requested the maidservant before hastily walking out of the inn. The three adventurers shortly left the building as they exited through the entrance doors. The group was then greeted by the bustling city that was now filled with people, a proper description for the largest city in the Ilias Continent compared to the situation yesterday.

There were people selling goods in stalls, deliveries from carriages, and other people visiting different buildings for certain services. Valon then noticed that his two companions were unsurprisingly once again in another argument. He couldn't hear them completely but he could've sworn he heard Luka saying "Ilias is always watching us" and it made the technician shudder in pain.

Valon followed his companions as they made their way to different stalls talking to other people and buying the necessities for their journey. But he wasn't in the mood to visit places or take a tour around the city. No, he was, once again, bombarded by his bothersome thoughts that just never seemed to give up on distracting him. Subconsciously, he was starting to get tired of always thinking and worrying about his thoughts.

He didn't know if his mental state was starting to destabilize but it wasn't that he had an idea how to do a self-health assessment nor would he have the time and money to visit a doctor in this world, not to mention if they could even help him in his current state. Going through his thoughts, the first thing that troubled him greatly was his most recent dream.

Why did it have to be that memory specifically?

Valon was contemplating the dream he had before he woke up. It was a distant memory of his past, one that he never wanted to relive again. But here he was, pondering the meaning behind the issue. For any other day, he'd just shrug it off as one of the many nightmares he always had back when he was at Omicron. It was unavoidable but it wasn't like he could do something about it. But this time, it didn't help that the sensation he felt from what he did before felt awfully similar to when he realized that he could've gotten Luka killed because of his actions.

Valon despised that memory. It was at that time when he learned about the gruesome truth of the world and how easily it was to cause irreversible damage to something if one wasn't careful. He could still recall the events that took place when he was younger, the time when he confronted his younger brother's bullies—Locke's gang.

Truthfully, he didn't care if the toy broke by any means. He could technically either just give him a new one or if he had the time, assemble another toy for him from scratch. But he could no longer tolerate the insolent and highly-condescending bully who intentionally broke his brother's toy just to see his devastated reaction and then told him that he was worthless.

His brother did nothing wrong and he was never ill-mannered to them, despite how they should be treated because of their unwanted behavior. His brother did not deserve the ruthless treatment that he always received from them. And despite the fact that they always bully him, he still saw them as good people and his past self just never understood why his brother saw them that way and why he insisted on making friends with them. He was too kind for his own right and now his kindness was being repaid with toxic behavior.

His brotherly instincts kicked in; causing him to aggressively confront the group. He was by no means a fighter at that time, but he sure as hell would fight to the death after everything the delinquents did to his brother. The results were as expected but with a much darker conclusion, and everything at that moment changed Valon's perspective in life.

Life's too fragile, and if one isn't careful, they'd either lose theirs or be responsible for the loss of others.

Valon could faintly hear his father's words as he continued to follow his present companions. He didn't grow up in an altruistic environment, but at a young age, he knew what killing someone meant. Self-defense was a natural thing of course, and in a post-apocalyptic setting filled with people that are untrustworthy, conflict was inevitable. People will obviously get hurt, and in some cases, die. Yet, he never really understood before what it meant for someone as young as him to be responsible for the death of someone who of was the same age.

Whether it was intentional or not, or whether he did it to save his brother or not; Valon's present self can't help but feel guilty and he felt mad at himself for committing a heinous act. Was it an excuse that he only wanted to protect his brother so that he can go and kill one of the delinquents in the most brutal way possible? Did the kid deserve to die that way for being one of those who mistreated an innocent person? Could Valon justify his actions? Could he have done something that would make the situation end differently? Would his temptation of rage justify what he did?

Would his inability to control his rage kill Luka the way it did with Lode?

Valon vigorously shook his head from the last thought. He was already having trouble looking at the hero who was still currently arguing with the Monster Lord after realizing the negative consequences of his previous actions. He was still angry at himself for considering the horrible possibilities. The more he thought about his mistakes from yesterday, the more he felt that he was being a parasite to the group and that someone like him did not deserve the kindness from someone who he almost killed.

The technician could just be overcomplicating his thoughts, but he was having a hard time believing that his most recent dream was merely a coincidence. It was almost the same; foolishly charging in a fight, losing his mind from anger, and accidentally hurting the one he was trying to protect. The actions he performed were terrifyingly similar. The only element that wasn't in his fight against Granberia was him mindlessly killing someone in the most ruthless way possible, and Valon didn't want to think who the unlucky victim was if the events ended the way they did in the past.

Whatever his excuse was, he couldn't get over the thought that he could've been the very reason behind the young hero's demise. The first case of him losing himself to his rage caused the death of someone who was still young and lacked the experience of living life, and knowing that he could've done it to someone who was noble, kindhearted, and always ready to help someone in need was like a painful sting directly to his chest.

Just merely thinking of the idea that Luka might die at any time, especially from his own doing, caused his chest to tighten. And the realization of the dream about his past and how it reminded him of how easily he could've taken someone's life by simply being reckless made it more difficult for him to breathe. He was inwardly panicking from his thoughts and he needed to calm himself down.

With monumental effort, Valon gritted his teeth to force him to stop pondering more negative thoughts. Right now, he had more important problems to worry about, and if he lost himself to his rage again, who knows what other devastating things he could do?

"Hey, uhh... Valon?"

"Huh?" Valon's thoughts temporarily faded away when he heard someone near him call his name. "Oh, Luka? Heh, sorry I was... distracted in my thoughts again. But anyways, what is it?"

"I just wanted to thank you, you know, for saving me back there."

Valon's chest tightened once again after hearing Luka's heartfelt statement.

"Uhh... it's really nothing man, I just... couldn't leave you like that..."

"Still, I'm really grateful. Not that I think you're weak or anything but I was just really surprised by the things you did yesterday. And if I'm being honest, I didn't think you'd be able to fight someone like Granberia but you did, and it was really awesome!"

Why are you thanking me? You could've died because of me!

Valon fought back the pain that he was feeling from the irony of his current situation. Not too long ago, he was angry at himself for almost getting Luka killed, and now he was being thanked by him. He also could've sworn that he saw Luka frown sadly for a second as if he was also feeling guilty about something, but he quickly changed his facial expression to his usual smile.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to thank you immediately because of... well... Alice kinda beat me to it with her interrogation and I couldn't really find the right time to tell you when she started asking questions. Honestly, she scares me sometimes but most of the time she's REALLY annoying..."

"Hehe... uhh... well you two do argue a lot..."

"She always starts it!" Luka exclaimed. "But despite that, though, I'm surprised by what she did as well. Even if she was harsh with her words, she did make Granberia leave the city alone, so... ughhh... guess she's the one who actually saved the city, huh?"

"Yeah... hehe... well good for her, right?"

"But what really surprised me was what she did last night," Luka remarked before shaking his head in dismissal. "NOT WHAT WE DID IN THE MATTRESS... ERR... WHAT SHE DID TO ME, ERR... I MEAN—"

"She was the one who healed my injuries, right?"

"Y-yeah! I was pertaining to that."

"I already suspected it was her doing."

"I didn't think she had healing powers, but I mean she's a lamia, so, I guess she's a very powerful one who has a lot of knowledge about fighting and stuff."

"I guess so."

Hmm... it is strange that she'd try to heal me so that I can quickly recover. But then again, it's probably because she couldn't afford to wait for me to get healed, and knowing her hunger for curiosity due to my recent performance, she just took matters into her own hands to heal me so I wouldn't delay time that would've been better spent in traveling and asking me questions. Yeah, that's probably the most logical explanation for that. But I guess, it wouldn't hurt to at least thank her.

"And the fact that she was able to make Granberia, who is a Heavenly Knight, kneel to her and even badmouthed her to leave, must mean that she's really really powerful. Just who is she and what else can she do? And if she's really strong and capable of fighting, why does she always hide whenever I encounter a monster?"

You're gonna figure out who she really is sooner or later, or actually, you'll never figure it out because she's gonna tell you about it anyway. Man, I forgot how dense Luka was.

"I don't know either, man. But I will give her a proper thank you soon," Valon remarked. "Now, why don't you finish talking to these people and buying our necessities so we can continue on our journey? Knowing Alice, she'd probably get cranky if she found out you didn't buy any salt for 'seasoning' our food."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

Luka then spotted Alice near the condiment stall and rushed towards her. Valon quickly followed suit as he saw the two chattering about what to buy. It appeared that Alice was pointing to every single condiment on stock while Luka kept reminding her about their limited budget. The technician lightly shook his head, amused by his companions' antics before he heard a familiar noise.

It didn't take long for him to realize where the noise was coming from and he was surprised by what he saw. An interface in his M.A.D. displayed a blinking red dot that appeared to be on the far edge of the screen. Whatever the cause of the sudden signal pickup, Valon knew that it was finally within range from where he was standing. He was more surprised that the signal was moving and it was heading near his location.

Acting quickly, he ran in the direction of the signal until he realized that it went stationary just a few feet away from him. Following the signal, he found himself a bit deeper in the marketplace, noticing that he was already at the pinpointed location. Valon initially thought that since the target was moving, the signal belonged to a living Cosmoknight. That was until he saw beside him that there was a man in one of the market stalls who was carrying a box that contained familiar pieces of machinery.

"Huh, seems that they were able to salvage some of those weird-looking machines again."

"Excuse me, sir, may I take a look at those?" Valon asked as he quickly approached the man who was grabbing various pieces of equipment out of the box.

"Uhh... sure!" the man answered as he took out the contents of the box and placed them all on the table. "Knock yourself out!"

Valon started to dig through the pile of scrap, realizing that every single piece of the scrap he was holding was indeed parts and devices owned by C.O.S.M.O.

"If I may ask, where did you find all of these?"

"Oh, these things? They came from the forge. The other ones were already turned into bars while these ones remained intact. And we do the usual routine where we just organize these things for salvage instead of what we usually do which is to sell these to that one buyer."

This is not good. If the remains from the equipment of the Delta Cosmoknights were really scattered around this world where the inhabitants can just find them is a recipe for disaster. Who knows what they'll do with these things?

"You look familiar..." the man suddenly interrupted, catching the technician's attention.

"I do?"

"Oh! It's you!"

Huh, h-he knows who I am?

"I know you! I couldn't see your face properly because of this shade but I recognize your face now!"

"Recognize my face?"

"Who would forget the face of the man who bravely tried to take down that Heavenly Knight by himself? Of course, I wouldn't because I was watching through my window. And it also helped that you still wore the same clothes."

Oh... that's what he meant when he said he recognized my face. But... just... why? Why?! Why are people recognizing me as some sort of a hero?

Valon tried to shut himself up from further degrading himself, slowly composing himself before replying to the man.

"Look, sir, it's really nothing, I don't think I helped as much compared to my companions."

"You kidding? You did a lot to help the people of this city! What you did back there was incredibly heroic, unlike those wannabe heroes who only brag about themselves being a hero only to get pardons, discounts, and other advantages they could get; and most of the time, people can just pretend they're heroes so they can get respect while in reality, they only want attention and the best things that can be offered to them. I've grown tired of those who claim they're heroes and then when a monster shows up, they run like a bunch of cowardly crybabies. But you and your companions are different! You stood up against that monster regardless if she was a Heavenly Knight. Even if you lost in the end and destroyed some of the city property in the process, you still never gave up fighting, and that's a real hero in my book. And here I thought that people like you don't exist anymore, man was I fortunate to be wrong!"

It seemed as though that Valon consistently felt more uncomfortable every time people compliment him about his deeds related to his battle against Granberia. It was already bad enough that he was reminded of the collateral damage he caused in the city; the thought that he couldn't pay for the damages he did and the people he could've hurt while he was being a reckless rage freak was really stressing him out.

Why does it feel even worse thinking that I might be infected with the Arevirus?

As much as that thought scared him to death, he needed to inspect the equipment on the table as soon as possible. And the less he talked to the people in Iliasburg and avoid more encounters with the other inhabitants that would no doubt thank him for what he did even though he felt like he didn't truly deserve their praises, the better. Finally, Valon was able to find what he was looking for. It was another broken M.A.D.

Delta User 261...

It didn't belong to his brother but it pained him to see that another M.A.D. appeared before him without its owner. It was possible that the user probably discarded the device since it broke or if the user was separated from it. But the negativity in his mind was more inclined to believe that the users of the missing M.A.D.s were already dead; devoured or eaten alive by different hostile monsters with only the traces of their equipment and M.A.D.s left behind, probably spitted out by the monsters once they realize they couldn't eat the devices or they were found in wastes produced by the monsters.

They probably would have a nasty case of indigestion swallowing these things...

"Wait, you said you were selling these?" Valon inquired.

"I used to. You see, my men and I are the ones who usually supply the metal and minerals for the forgers here in the city. We transport our stuff to other villages here in the Ilias Continent and sometimes in Sentora if the shipment could make it there safely without damage. We're also responsible for salvaging leftover materials for other service providers and merchants, which don't really yield a huge profit but it's still profit. Lately, however, my men and I frequently find these 'strange' materials and thought that maybe we'd sell it."

"Strange materials?"

"Yeah like the ones in front of you right now. At first, no one really bought them because no one even knew what they were nor what they do until we met this strange person. He's always wearing dark blue robes for some reason and I don't think I even got to see his face. But the first time he saw the materials we were salvaging, he was really eager to get them that he convinced us to buy them from us. We didn't know why and he seemed really suspicious because of his clothing and the fact that he hides his face all the time but we decided that if he was gonna buy them from us, who were we to stop someone interested in helping us gain profit? Later on, he continued to buy these strange materials from us for a fair price. It's like our second business alongside our main business involving metal supplies."

A strange man in dark blue robes? I recall someone wearing beige-colored robes, are they the same person? And what's up with random people showing up wearing robes? Is this still part of the game?

"But then, he eventually stopped showing up and since then, no one else bought these materials from us. After that, we decided that we'll just throw these things away. Not sure what happened to that guy though. Sure he wore the same robes as if he didn't want anyone to know what he looked like but it's not like he did anything bad to us. He was just really interested in buying these things and he pays for all the stuff anyway."

"Oh, well, umm... is there a chance I can take them? I don't have any money with me right now, but if there's anything I can do to—"

"Ehh... why not. I may not be an expert on whatever the hell these things are, but it feels wrong to just throw them away like that, you know? And if no one's gonna buy them while they probably would've benefited someone else, why not just give them away? In my opinion, it's better than just throwing them away than waiting for a potential buyer that wouldn't have any guarantee of showing up anytime soon. And even if you could make some kind of deadly weapon with these parts, at least from what I heard, it's a good thing I'm giving them to a hero like you."

He seems to trust people pretty easily. Not that he's technically doing me a favor right now considering I really need the extra parts, but he needs to know when to draw the line even if the person seems trustworthy, especially to strangers.

"Thanks! But again, I'm really sorry that I don't have anything to pay you with."

"That's fine! If anything, saving our city is already a huge payment!"

"B-but... the damages..."

"Don't worry about it. If you're concerned about that, it's fine. You didn't really cause that much damage anyway, and I'm pretty sure that the city would be better off without that arch. I don't even know what that thing's purpose was but it didn't really change anything in our city now that it's gone. The other stuff you destroyed can all be replaced easily and without that much money to spend. I mean, I'd sure prefer having my stall broken than surrendering our city to that Heavenly Knight. We'd all be out of business when that happens! So really, you've got nothing to worry about, and everyone in this city practically owes you now for your heroic deed."

Valon still didn't feel better from the praises. He still believed that he could've planned something better that did not involve causing damage to the city and all the other unpleasant events that were caused by his poor decisions. To make matters worst, he could already see the changes happening around him and it would only be a matter of time before the game's storyline completely deviated from the original.

"I gotta say, though, more people suddenly have their hands on weird and crazy-looking machines that can do a bunch of different things that I never thought was possible. I'm not one for the science stuff, but they look really advanced and they're all intelligently designed if I'm even making any sense here."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Valon felt surprised, suddenly intrigued by the provided information.

"From what I've heard, some people say that our technology has been vastly improving in the last couple months, and alongside the sudden abundance of these 'strange' materials appearing everywhere, it can't be a coincidence. Of course, I'd be luckier if I sold these things in a city like Grangold but... I kinda don't want to leave my home. I'm already quite contented with my life to even consider finding a new one. And hey, at least I was able to help a hero like you by giving you these materials, am I right?"

Please stop calling me a 'hero.'

"Although seeing you out there with my very eyes, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Besides the fact that you're probably the most agile person I've met, I've never seen anyone use odd-looking objects for combat before. They look like small weapons but they were really effective, at least, from what I saw. What do you call those things?"

Ah crap...

"Uhh... just, you know... miniature boomerangs. Yes, they're like modified but really small boomerangs!"

"Boomerangs? Aren't those things supposed to return to you when thrown?"

This guy seems really nice so far but I don't think it's a good idea to just flatly tell him that I use bombs, even if I explain that they aren't the lethal kind. And besides, I really don't plan to give that much information about my stuff.

"Actually, not all boomerangs are designed to return. But yeah, I can see why people sometimes misinterpret what boomerangs do in general."

"Huh, didn't know that, but thanks for letting me know. Still, those things seem... uhhh... what do people call them nowadays? High-tech?"

Great... now they're learning those words...

"I guess so?"

"That's what most people call those advanced machines these days. Makinas? I think that's the term? But yeah, I've heard that you can find a lot of people using these types of materials in Grangold. A blacksmith friend of mine once told me that apparently, their scientists developed backpacks that allow you to fly. I know, crazy, am I right?"

What. In. The. World. Jetpacks? There are freaking jetpacks... in Grangold?!

People suspecting his high-tech gear and curiously asking about them was one thing, but realizing that other people in the game he hasn't met yet were using advanced technological objects was insanely mind-boggling.

"Not that I'm doubting you or anything, but are you sure that these backpacks can really make someone fly?"

"Not sure, my friend only told me about it and it's not like I've even been to Grangold. If you've lived your whole life thinking that it was normal but then you realize that monsters can teleport and shoot fireballs in their mouths, it just got to the point that even stuff like 'flying backpacks' become believable."

He's got a point, but wait... what? Why? How? How the hell did they get access to something high-tech like a freaking jetpack? Is this one of the adverse effects of my interference?! Oh god, how long did they have jetpacks? I've only been here for three days and you're telling me that Grangold, a city that's like at the far end of the Sentora Continent, has jetpacks?!

The technician's mind was on fire, literally, almost. The thought of the people in Monster Girl Quest using and mastering advanced technological equipment developed by C.O.S.M.O. was immensely terrifying. In hindsight, he already knew that the world of Monster Girl Quest wasn't really new with the concept of using advanced technology. It was just that they weren't widely used around the world and only certain cities, groups, and individuals use them for various purposes.

Maybe I'm just overthinking this and that maybe they don't really have jetpacks. Not that this kind man talking to me is a liar but he only claimed that he heard that information from a friend of his and it wasn't that he actually saw it. Maybe they didn't really see what these flying backpacks were and what they actually do. Or maybe, Grangold actually has jetpacks and the game just didn't mention every single piece of advanced equipment in it. There's no way that they got their hands on C.O.S.M.O. technology. What if Promestein just decided to yeet every single knowledge to everyone there? Yeah, that's probably it...

"Uhh... you alright there, sir?"

"Huh? Uhh... yeah... yeah... I uhh... was just thinking about something... don't mind me, hehe..." Valon awkwardly replied. "Anyways, that was certainly an insightful conversation. But I'm afraid I gotta go, my companions are probably waiting for me."

"Oh sure, don't want to keep them waiting."

"Yeah of course. Thanks again for this wonderful chat and I'm really grateful for you allowing me to keep all of these. See you later, and good luck!"

"You too, great hero!"

The man watched as Valon left the stall. He smiled, thinking of the conversation he had when he realized he forgot something important.

"Ah shit, I forgot to ask his name," the man frowned as he organized the various supplies in his stall while staring at the spot where his interlocutor once stood. "All I can say now is, may you be successful in your journey."


Alice was currently sitting on a bench. She was still in her human form, not concerned with the various people looking at her, most probably because her revealing clothing was attracting attention. She was munching on a sandwich while waiting for Luka who was busy buying various items in the marketplace. She could see him from a distance not too far from her as he talked with the vendor who was helping him put certain seasonings in his bag.

Earlier, she told the fake hero that she was still hungry and the hero quickly agreed to give her some of his money as he claimed that it'd probably be better if he could buy the things they need on their trip without a hungry monster helplessly begging him for food, despite his current lack of budget. She ignored his sarcastic remark, however, as she delightfully grabbed the money and dashed to a nearby food stall that she had her eyes on while they were passing by the town square.

Looking at him, she couldn't help but give a small smile. She was aware of how much she was bothering the hero and while she sometimes intend to mock him because of his incompetence and foolish mindset, most of the time, she admitted that it felt satisfying to tease him. It was always amusing to see his reactions and the way he talks back at her, even if he loses in their arguments most of the time.

Recently, she had her first taste of the irresistibly delectable hero. By his scent alone from the day they first met, he already smelled incredibly appealing and with their situation last night, she could no longer hold her monstrous urges. She initially planned to get their own rooms in the inn but Luka was insistent to stay with Valon in the medical ward to keep watch over him. She could understand his worries and eventually agreed to stay in the medical ward as well.

The room obviously had only one bed but the innkeeper was kind enough to lend them a spare mattress, telling them that it was the least she could do to repay them for saving their city from the hands of the Heavenly Knight of Fire. Luka placed the mattress in a comfortable spot in the room and decided to call it a night. It didn't take long for him, however, to realize that they only have one mattress to sleep on and Luka didn't feel like asking the innkeeper for another mattress as he didn't want to impose.

Figuring out why the hero was worried, the lamia convinced him that they could just sleep on the mattress together. Luka then remembered that he brought sleeping bags with him but before he could grab them from his bag, Alice had already switched to her lamia form and grabbed the poor hero with her tail as she swiftly coiled around him, pulling him to the mattress.

She had a salacious smirk on her face, getting more excited as her next meal gulped loudly while slightly trying to beg her for mercy. Unfortunately, the hero was too tired to struggle and with the lewd scent suddenly filling his nostrils, he surrendered to the immense pleasure from the lamia's playful hands, passing out unconscious.

Fufu... oh, I'd definitely have another taste of him~

It wasn't that she thought of him as more than an acquaintance, but she acknowledged that the boy had potential and was interested to see where this journey will take them. On the other hand, the disguised lamia was reminded that there was another person accompanying them on their journey. She would lie if she said that she wasn't curious what he tasted like as he and Luka both carried the scent of an unbaptized individual, except it was mixed with a much weirder scent. It wasn't bad per se, but her senses couldn't really determine if it was good or bad, it just felt alien to her.

The man in question, Valon Wakers, was unconscious throughout the night. He was severely injured from his battle against Granberia and the only reason Luka insisted on staying with him was because of his unfortunate predicament. The young boy was incredibly worried for their companion. Granberia had no intentions of killing him, but it was safe to say that with his condition, he wouldn't be able to stand up nor accompany them on their journey.

Seeing how worried and concerned the hero was, she took it upon herself to tell him that she will take care of the man's wounds. It felt slightly uncharacteristic of her but she thought that she was partly to blame for the man's unfavorable state. She honestly didn't know why one of her direct subordinates was this far down in the Ilias Continent and what drove her to take control of the city without any explicit orders from her.

But while the unexpected presence of one of her knights was surprising, it paled in comparison to what Valon did when he suddenly had the incentive of fighting Granberia. It wasn't really why he decided to challenge the knight in a fight but it was what he did while confronting the dragonkin. For all she knew, she always thought that he was someone who wouldn't even dare physically touch a monster out of curiosity or even consider getting relatively close to one. It wasn't entirely her fault for having such a mindset, however, as it was mostly Valon who always kept himself silent and distracted in their journey so far and it wasn't that he was willing to initiate a conversation either.

The man initially brought her the impression of an individual who was trying to fit in the group but his fear of monsters was holding him back to be more open to the people around him; thus, only showing signs of discomfort more often than normal. The lamia initially acknowledged that despite his taciturn demeanor, there was more to the man than meets the eye and she knew that she had plenty of time to get to know him anyway; that is if he managed to live that long or if he could even start a proper conversation without stuttering or looking like he wasn't always in the mood to talk to anyone.

But then the same individual, who claimed that he was terrified of monsters and also claimed to have no combat experience, was able to fight back against one of the most powerful monsters known. Given that he barely fought back physically and lost to the Heavenly Knight in the end, his performance in their battle left a lot of impressions that he definitely had experience in combat, whatever type of combat he was familiar with.

He didn't completely lie, as the fight wouldn't exactly be what one would mostly expect out of a fight where two opposing forces clash against each other giving everything they got but it was more of a cat and mouse chase but the mouse doesn't just merely run away to focus in escaping and actually fights the cat back—at least, that's what the entire fight looked like to her.

Satirical as it may be, the lamia couldn't deny that the man displayed a lot of skill; both in evasion and obstruction of attacks, not to mention that he was also incredibly agile, for a human no less. She didn't have that much firsthand experience of observing what an agile human should be and how they fit the criteria, but she had read a lot of books in her castle to identify and accurately describe an agile human being.

There was no denying that the man wasn't someone who can easily be subdued or captured. His lack of physical prowess also made it up for his ability to quickly think on his feet as there were times when he was able to counteract the attacks that would've severely injured him. He was also adaptive and was able to utilize his environment and the things around him to use against the dragonkin, despite them only slightly hindering his opponent.

Ultimately, however, she didn't really care that much that the man technically lied about what he can truly do on the battlefield, and though impressive, Alice didn't acknowledge him as a threat due to his lack of combat strength and overall raw power. She understood that the man had his own reasons to omit the complete truth, whatever they may be.

So far, he answered all of her questions involving his strange and foreign equipment without showing the usual discomfort he always expressed and she knew his downcast mood was because the man was angry at himself for making poor decisions when he decided to confront the dragonkin. It was somehow a slightly pleasant change of pace considering he was showing more of his emotional character but it just further piqued her interest, specifically about his odd ability of drastic changes in his demeanor. Her thoughts then brought her back to the interrogation about Valon's false claims not too long ago.

Truth be told, she already knew why the man acted the way he did when he saw Granberia lowering her sword on Luka's chest. She knew that Granberia wasn't actually going to kill him of course, and she would've presented herself to the dragonkin regardless; is what she would've done afterwards if it weren't for the Heavenly Knight suddenly flying in the air right after an explosion generating from where she once was.

She observed the battle carefully and throughout the entire battle, the man held a cold expression that had no hesitation in executing his actions. He was silent, relentless, and determined to hurt the Heavenly Knight as much as he could; contrary to the usual demeanor he expressed when Luka was fighting monsters. It was as if a hidden switch activated inside the man's mind as he went from a cowardly idiot who kept giving foolish ways to help to a cold-blooded and calculated assassin.

Alice knew that he acted that way because he thought that Luka's life was in grave danger, as he explicitly said himself a while ago when he was mindlessly rambling out what he felt about the whole thing, and she felt that she didn't have the right to judge his reasoning. His sudden expression of uncontrolled rage wasn't new to her, in fact, she recognized that feeling well—a little too well. She merely wanted to hear the reason from him for the sake of satisfying her conclusion. But she definitely did not expect a sudden outburst from someone who barely displayed any emotions besides fear and discomfort.

It felt like he was finally showing his true character. Alice had the sneaking suspicion that there was indeed more to Valon's personality and the more they progressed in their journey, the more Alice believed that there was something that was keeping him from revealing his true self. From his slightly conflicting expressions and false claims, she was aware that the man was hiding something. The fact that he was always daydreaming was another strong factor and it became slightly clearer that the reason behind it was more than his worries for his brother.

Maybe it's not entirely monsters that he's afraid of... but something else?

Alice contemplated whether it was a good idea to forcefully try to find out for herself why the man was acting that way. She wasn't completely concerned, rather, she was just extremely curious about his problematic behavior. But she knew that the man's problems weren't her concern and it wasn't that he had some super secret knowledge that would ultimately change the world and he was afraid of people knowing about it because it would cause irreversible effects that might put everyone in great jeopardy...

Or does he?

The disguised lamia quickly shook her head, attempting to remove any unwanted and unnecessary thoughts that were slowly forming in her mind. There was no way that the man was hiding something as scary as that. Maybe it was just an embarrassing secret that he didn't want anyone to know and despite him being able to confront Granberia, he was under the control of his emotions at that time.

And he didn't completely lie about his claim that he was uncomfortable around monsters. Not to a high degree as before but Alice could still perfectly see the signs of his discomfort like the time they first met and when he was about to be violated by the Mandragora Girl.

Presently, she was now more curious than ever to know more about him; especially that he finally revealed some information about himself, admitted his false claims and why he lied to them, and that he apparently had some knowledge of the more advanced side of human technology that highly intrigued her.

She was genuinely surprised with the way the man responded to her questions regarding the foreign equipment he used in his battle against Granberia and the ones he wore regularly, but she still had more questions about them that she would ask him later on.

And even if she didn't want to admit it openly, it seemed that the man possessed a high level of intellect, even more so than her as he was able to give out scientific terms that she didn't completely know about. With the terms he used, she surmised that most of his gear contained special chemicals due to her being familiar with how a few substances were named but how they worked and functioned were unknown to her.

He also seemed to have adequate knowledge about 'machines,' which was something she only heard a few times from the more advanced cities from the books she read back at the castle. She only knew that extremely intelligent humans and even a few highly intelligent monsters know exactly what machines were, why they're called that way, and how they worked.

The reason she was currently exploring the world for herself was to learn and gain as much knowledge as she could from both humans and monsters and how they interact with the world. At first, she was only ever interested in the boy named Luka because of his ridiculous ideal, which she didn't want to admit was something she also liked to have, and his determination to fulfill it. She wanted to know how the fake hero would achieve his dream of taking down the Monster Lord and spreading coexistence around the world so she decided to entertain herself and joined him in his adventure.

But now, she was also accompanied by someone who she always thought was just some coward who could only give foolish advice and barely interacted with anyone, was the same person who had knowledge of technological advancements and was also decently agile. He was also in possession of peculiar-looking devices that she had never seen before so it was only natural that she'd be interested to know what they were and what the man knew about them. She could also sense that he had more knowledge about these things and was barely scratching the surface of his possibly vast intellect. Of course, she also wanted to know if he really was hiding something and if he did, she wanted to know why.

Even if he admitted his false claims, it doesn't change the fact that he lied. Either he just really doesn't want people to know more about him because of personal reasons or he's afraid of something more sinister, and I'm now getting more inclined to believe the latter, taking the things that happened so far into consideration.

I don't have much proof to back up my thoughts and if it just turned out that he's just some awkward fool that only lies to people about himself because he's afraid of what people might think of him, then I'd probably waste a lot of time solving a puzzle that's already been solved.

Despite her numerous thoughts, however, she decided that she'd just continue observing him. She wasn't particularly concerned with the man, it was just that because they were all traveling together, it would make sense that they knew each other's personalities.

But she was patient and she had a lot of time to satisfy a few itches of curiosity that might appear here and there, and there was technically nothing that can stop her from directly asking him anyway, even if the man insisted on not giving a straightforward answer. Unless of course, he was able to find his brother and finally leave the group, as it was the main reason why he joined them in the first place. But even so, she knew she would get answers sooner or later.


"And that's about everything!" Luka declared, catching the attention of his two companions.

"So we're finally leaving this city. Shame, since I won't be able to have any of their delicious Ama-Ama Dangos that they sell here. But once we take care of that problem in Happiness Village, I'd be able to get a taste of their signature honey."

It wouldn't be Alice if she wasn't talking about food.

Luka rolled his eyes over his companion's apparent gluttony. He grabbed the map from his bag, checking for the location of the next place they were heading.

"So, we're heading to the Irina Mountains now, right?"

"We're actually heading to Happiness Village next," Luka corrected, still looking at the map.

Wait... but Irina Mountains should be our next destination! Because the four bandits were causing a small commotion in Iliasburg with all the stealing they kept doing. And also because I can recall that Luka can really only go to the Irina Mountains because the other locations require a certain level to be accessible in the game. But then again, this isn't a game... but still. Taking care of the bandits would be more practical to do considering we'd go back to the city anyway to report that we have dealt with them. That way, we won't have to go back to the city when we're really far off in the Ilias Continent.

Not to mention that taking care of the four bandits is technically Luka's first successful mission of spreading coexistence because he'd convince the four bandits to apologize for their misdeeds and that in return, the people of the city will take care of them, instead of them just living in the mountain range where they had to keep stealing people's stuff in order to live.

"Oh so, we're heading to Happiness Village first?"

"Yes, there's apparently some trouble arising in that village that's stopping the production of their famous Happiness Honey.

"Oh okay, and then we'll head to the Irina Mountains next, right?"

"The Irina Mountains?" Luka inquired.

"Yeah, the Irina Mountains. To take care of the bandits."

"Bandits? What bandits?"

Valon's mind went amazingly still that he thought he could hear a pin drop from a mile away. The two subsequent questions caught him like a deer in the headlights. He refused to believe he heard what he thought he heard as his brain desperately tried to mitigate the situation.

"The Four Bandits? A group of monster delinquents that the people of this city are complaining about?"

"They were complaining about a group of monster delinquents? I didn't know..."

The words 'I didn't know' continued to ring in Valon's mind painfully like a broken record. He felt like he could collapse any minute from the overwhelming sensations of both shock and anxiety invading him. Struggling to process his current situation, he quickly tried to think of a way to get answers.

"W-w-wait... no one told you about these bandits? Any information? Anything?"

"Uhh... no, sorry," Luka replied apologetically. "How about you, Alice? Do you know anything about these four bandits?"

"You were the one talking to people. But to answer your question, no, I don't."

What?! Why? HOW?! What, are they suddenly nonexistent now? This doesn't make any sense! They should know about the four bandits! How the hell do they not know and how the hell did no one in this city tell them about these bandits? Wait, hold on, oh no... please no...

Valon was silently praying to any deity out there merciful enough to answer his pleas to be proven wrong with the suspicion currently lingering in his mind. He wanted to ask them about it but he didn't want to give out anything that might make him more suspicious than he had already been. If they really had no idea what the four bandits were then he figured that it'd be safer for him to find what the problem was by himself than insisting his companions about the issue.

"Well, I swear I thought I heard some of the people in this city saying something about the four bandits. But on the other note, I really need to pee," Valon said as he shook his entire body in place, pretending that he was on the verge of peeing. "Umm... can you wait for me here? I need to find a restroom. I'll be back!"

Valon hurriedly ran across the city street as he tried to make sure he was far away from his companions. He took a left turn and continued running until he knew that he was far enough. He quickly tried to look for people to talk to and when he spotted a woman who was sweeping near a building, he hastily approached her.

"Umm... excuse me, ma'am? Is it okay if I ask you a question?"

"Hmm?" the woman turned to look at the man, but the moment she saw his face, she gasped. "Oh my, why if it isn't our dear hero!"

"H-huh? You can... recognize me?"

"Of course! I was watching you through my window while you bravely tackled that fiendish monster that tried to take control of our city!"

Seriously, how many people were watching me!? Didn't they board their windows?

"And I wouldn't forget your strange style of fashion. I happen to know my way around designing ensembles though I'm more skilled in baking and even if I haven't seen anything like yours before, it really suits you!"

Ah yes, of course, my clothes...

"Hmm... and you look quite the looker, darling," the woman chuckled, giving a seductive smirk. "You wouldn't happen to be single now would you?"

I DID NOT COME HERE FOR THIS!

"Hyacinth, please, don't tell me you're flirting with someone again..."

Valon turned around to look for the source of the voice. It was from a man who was pulling a cart containing boxes that were filled with brown sacks that had white spots surrounding them, Valon assumed they contained flour. He seemed young and looked like he was almost the same age as Valon.

"Oh quiet, Eugene!" the woman, apparently named Hyacinth, chided. "Can't you see that I'm talking to one of the brave heroes who fought that dragon yesterday?"

When the man heard who the woman was talking to, he quickly approached Valon and shook his hand with vehemence.

"Oh my goodness, it is an honor to see you personally, sir!"

"Uhh... y-yeah, no problem..."

"Don't shake his hands like a brute you uncouth barbarian!" the woman carefully took the man's hands away from the bewildered technician. "I deeply apologize, dear hero. My brother is not known for civil manners!"

"At least I don't try to seduce every 'attractive' man that I see, you overgrown slut!"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

Valon watched in horror as the two siblings suddenly knew how professional wrestling was performed. He didn't know what to do and was afraid that the noisy commotion might attract other people's attention. And if he assumed that majority of the people in the city knew about his 'heroism,' it meant that he'd have to deal with crowd control and that was not something that he wanted right now.

"Alright, you two, that's enough!"

Valon along with the arguing siblings turned to the new voice that was heard a few feet away from them. The audible voice came from a bald man who was approaching the group, carrying wooden planks over his shoulders. He looked older than the siblings and Valon assumed that he was around his mid-thirties.

"You guys do nothing but argue! I won't always be around here to look out for you two, you know? You're both grown-ups, right? Then act like one!" the man firmly reprimanded.

The two siblings looked at each other in shame, realizing that not only did they get scolded out in the street but they were showing their reckless behavior in front of the man who they adored greatly from saving their city. They then apologized to each other and to Valon, who raised his hands defensively and told them that it was alright and that he wasn't really bothered by the commotion they caused.

"Now, why don't you two go get all of these bags of flour inside, huh? Eugene, go help Hyacinth with the organization."

"I'll be on it."

Eugene pulled the cart to the side of the building where Hyacinth could be seen opening a sliding wooden door, unlocking it with a latch. She then pulled the sliding door as Eugene positioned the cart to fit inside the building. Afterwards, the two siblings went inside the building, with no traces of their presence found anywhere from Valon's line of sight.

"I swear, they're gonna be the death of me someday," the man, who was now beside Valon, sighed exasperatedly.

"I'm assuming you're the eldest among them?"

"What gave you the idea?"

"You look a bit too young to be their father in my opinion. But do correct me if I'm wrong."

"Heh, well you're right," the man lightly chuckled, placing down the wooden planks on the ground. "Some people thought I was their father when they first saw me. It was... weird. But anyways, what does the 'brave hero' doing around my younger sister's bakeshop? You dating her or something?"

Valon suddenly felt the pressure from the man's menacing voice. He watched too many shows on television during his downtime back at Omicron to easily identify the intimidating aura of a protective older brother.

"What? N-no! I wasn't—"

Before Valon was able to finish his statement, the man laughed as he patted his shoulders a little too strong for his liking.

"I'm just messing with you! It would take a miracle for Hyacinth to even get a boyfriend. Sure she's pretty and all but with her bad luck around men, I doubt she'd be able to find someone who'll say 'yes' to her! And by bad luck I meant like when there's a man who likes her, she rejects him but when she likes the man, she's the one who ends up getting rejected."

"Oh, uhh... that's too bad... for her."

"I know right? But we three are all single, well... Eugene seemed to have a mutual understanding with the girl next door and I don't plan to be in a relationship anytime soon. The fact that she gives the most effort in finding someone just makes it funnier," the man laughed. "Oh yeah, the name's Kiefer. And you are?"

Valon contemplated whether it was a good idea to give his name to strangers that he probably won't meet ever again. He was already talking to a lot of strangers more than he should have, and it was even worse that he was personally seeing the lives of the NPCs that weren't even mentioned or shown in the game. It was as if his whole situation went from the adventure genre to a slice-of-life scenario. Eventually, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to only give his name and a few things about himself that wouldn't make a big deal of his current existence in this world.

"Valon, sir."

"Remove the sir, it makes me sound old. But anyway, I actually overheard your conversation with my sister and that you wanted to ask her something."

"Yeah, I do."

"Alright, I'll answer your question, what is it?"

"Have you seen a green lamia around?"

"Green lamia?" Kiefer asked for confirmation before quickly realizing what the technician was pertaining to. "Green snake head, human torso and legs, only wears black underwear, and is always in an awkwardly unappealing pose even when moving around?"

"Y-yes! That one!"

"Oh, you're talking about Amira! Yeah, I know her. In fact, everyone in this city does and even likes her, despite her being a monster."

Okay so at least people know who Amira is and that confirms that she still exists here.

"I was wondering if you know where she is."

"Hmmm... she usually hangs around the town square, but now that you mention it, I don't think I've seen her in a long while now."

Crap...

"Yeah, that's weird. She always hangs around our city and leaves sometimes, but she'll always be back in a couple days or so, like maybe four to five days? But now, I don't think I have seen her at all and the last time I saw her was probably a month ago."

A MONTH AGO?!

"Did something bad happen to her?"

"I don't know and I hope that's not the case. I don't like most monsters in general because of their perverted nature but Amira's decently likable at least, kinda. But I recall that she travels to different human settlements from time to time, maybe she decided to stay in one of them longer than usual."

But she would at least appear at the right time to encounter the hero, right? She is the only character in the game that can break the fourth wall and has notably been around a city where Luka is as plot convenience to help Luka by providing him information that he needs at that exact moment, though not always giving the most accurate information.

"Why? Is there something you need from her?"

"I've... heard that Amira is known for being really good at gathering information."

"Yes, she's surprisingly good with that... most of the time."

"I just wanted to confirm something to her but since she's not here, I guess anyone in this city would be good enough for insight, no offense of course!"

"None taken, she does frequently travel to different places so it is logical to assume that she'd know about a lot of things and gather information from various sources," Kiefer concurred. "But what is it you want to confirm?"

Here goes nothing.

"Whether there really are bandits that have been causing trouble in this city."

"Bandits? Huh, I have heard of reports of a band of thieves once."

"You did?"

"Yes, I've heard that they occasionally attack people and even steal their belongings."

Okay, so they still exist! That's goo—

"But that was a long time ago. After a few weeks, we heard that they had suddenly stopped, and since then, our city was in a state of peace. Until Granberia showed up of course. And speaking of that, I never got to thank you by the way!" Kiefer was about to express his gratitude when he saw the technician's panicked look. "You okay there, Valon?"

"H-huh? Yeah... I'm... fine..." Valon tried his best to sound alright.

"You sure? It's just that your right eye is twitching..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm totally fine! Just a bit exhausted from yesterday. Anyways, what were you gonna say?"

"That I wanted to express my gratitude for what you did. Even if you lost, you fought that Heavenly Knight with everything, coming from a visitor no less. And yes, I know you're not from around here. I know pretty much everyone in here and your style of clothing pretty much gave it away."

"But I wasn't... by myself... I had my companions..."

"Yes, that purple-haired boy and that lady with barely any decency. Hey, I'm not one to judge since she was the one who drove the monster away. But I've known how much of an expert my sister is at fashion and even rubbed off on her tastes in clothing in some way, and I can comfortably criticize that her clothes are FAR from decent. But if you do meet with them again, give them my thanks! You all did this city and its people a huge favor! But next time, don't make me do my work when I'm supposed to be taking a vacation, alright?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"The arch near my workshop collapsed and it damaged the roof. I have these planks here so that I can repair it but I still need a lot more. And unless my younger brother's done using the cart, I won't be able to bring a large amount with me anytime soon."

Valon's thoughts shifted from the panic he felt from what he heard about the bandits back to the guilt he felt after causing unnecessary damage to the city. Noticing the change in his expression, Kiefer patted his shoulder lightly.

"Hey don't worry about it! I may have missed my chance on taking a break but just imagine if I never had to take a break because a powerful monster has control of the city. So cheer up, and be proud of your actions. Not a lot of people or even warriors can do what you did. The Iliasburg soldiers never even put up a decent fight and the so-called heroes I saw just ran away in fear and hid with the rest of us. Only you three visitors mustered the courage to confront that powerful monster. And I would dare say that I'm kinda grateful that the arch is gone. Now I can finally expand my workshop and I couldn't do it before because the whole thing was in the way."

These people are way too nice. Didn't they consider that I probably could've hurt or even killed someone when that thing collapsed?

Despite receiving positive feedback from everyone he talked with, the guilt never left him.

"Oh, I uhh... forgot that I was in a hurry. Seems that I lost track of time from this conversation, hehe..."

"You gotta leave soon? That's unfortunate, but I understand. You and your companions are on a journey, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Then I won't keep you any longer," Kiefer replied as he lifted the wooden planks over his shoulder once more. "I gotta finish my work too. Thanks for the chat and good luck with your journey!"

"Thanks, you too!"

Wait, what if, Amira now showed up to Luka and Alice? I gotta get back to them to confirm it myself!

Valon ran back to where he left his companions, silently hoping that his companions had already encountered the unfortunate lamia in his temporary absence. Once he got back, he was slightly relieved that his companions were at the same exact spot he left them.

"Sorry guys, the trip to the restroom was long, but I'm good now," Valon replied as he prepared to ask them the long-awaited question. "So uhh... did you happen to meet a green lamia by any chance? Just curious because I've heard that the monster was actually popular amongst the people in this city."

"Green lamia? No, I haven't seen any," Luka answered.

"A green lamia? In a city like this?" Alice inquired, curious about the information.

GODDAMMIT, NOW WHAT?!

"Yeah, crazy, right? Guess the world's full of surprises..."

Really, Valon, that's the best you can think of?

"Surprising, indeed. I didn't know there was a lamia in this city and considering this place is in the Ilias Continent too," Alice remarked. "Where does she live here specifically? You said she was popular here, so she must either have a high position or she's a role model for the people. Unless by 'popular,' you meant that she's popular for causing chaos."

"That one dude I talked to said that she's liked by a lot of people here actually. But to a more important issue, I tried to confirm to one of the people here that there really are four bandits that have been disturbing the city."

Right now, I have to do everything to not interfere while making sure everything follows the intended storyline. So if Amira isn't here to do it, then I'll do it. I have a fairly large amount of knowledge of the game and I can kinda substitute for her. And even if the four bandits are not there, which I'm really hoping that they are, it doesn't hurt to double-check.

I'm also still looking for my brother as well and I have to check every location I can visit to find him. I just hope he's somewhere on the map and when I'm ready, I might consider just traveling alone. That way, I can also make sure that Luka's adventure would no longer be disturbed, I hope...

"Four bandits? Are they really monster girls like you said?"

"Yeah, that's what they said. But, they weren't sure if they are still in the mountains though because someone also said that they're known to travel to different places but that they mostly stay in the mountains. I know it sounds a bit sketchy with the lack of valid information but it doesn't hurt to check, right? And if my brother's there, then it's a win-win."

Luka and Alice both stared at each other from their companion's proposal.

"We're supposed to go to Happiness Village..." Alice grunted.

"But you heard what Valon said, there are apparently bandits that are currently disturbing the peace of the city. We must deal with them first!"

"But he also said that the people of this city weren't sure if they are still in the mountains. If we went there and the bandits aren't there, we'll end up wasting our time; time that would've been better spent on going to a place that we know has valid information about their issues."

Valon didn't want to do it but he was left with no other choice.

"W-wait, I think we should really go to the Irina Mountains. My device is currently picking up a signal."

"Picking up a signal?" Alice inquired, wondering what the man was talking about.

With a few adjustments in his M.A.D.'s interface, he decided to show what was displayed on his screen to his companions.

"This thing strapped on my left arm is called the M.A.D. and it stands for 'Multipurpose Armband Device.' And it's the tool that I currently use to track certain pieces of machinery; important machines that give off a certain signal that can only be tracked with the device's radar feature. The signal is this blinking red dot on the screen as you can see here. It just so happens that my brother is also wearing one of these and I'm using this device's radar to track him down. But it also tracks down certain equipment and machines with the same signal, though they are still useful for other things. Right now, my exoshield module is broken because of the amount of damage it sustained from my fight with Granberia. I'm heavily reliant on my exoshield as it provides external protection and right now I need more special scraps and pieces of machinery to fix it."

Luka and Alice both had surprised looks in their eyes from the man's detailed explanation. Valon, however, ignored this and took their silence to continue his explanation.

"What I'm trying to say is, I'm limited in my weapons right now and currently defenseless. The exoshield module will at least allow me to have decent protection against certain attacks. I'm not sure if the one being marked on my radar right now would be enough to fix it but I need all the scraps I can get. Also because I can use the spare scrap to build more weapons. Look, I'm sorry that I'm telling you all of this just now but it was glitching a while ago and I wasn't sure whether the signal would remain where it was or not but now it really looks like it's there. And if you were wondering, yes, the signal is in the vicinity of the Irina Mountains. I just figured that since we'd be going to the Irina Mountains that we'd be accomplishing multiple tasks; dealing with the bandits, getting those scraps, and possibly finding my brother. This is just my suggestion, of course, if you think I didn't give a reasonable argument, I won't argue back... I guess..."

Alice was the first to get out of her stupor as she narrowed her eyes to see whether the man was being genuine or not. Eventually, she relented and decided to give way to the man's request.

"Ugh, fine, but now you just gave yourself more questions to be answered and I demand a detail and comprehensive explanation to each one of them," Alice scoffed.

Maybe I could've figured out another way to convince them to go to the Irina Mountains without compromising myself. Ughh... whatever I'm too tired to think right now...

"I... Alright..."

"Guess, we're going to the Irina Mountains then," Luka awkwardly replied, still trying to figure out how to react to the amount of information that Valon provided with his explanation. "Hey, what do you know, it's at least closer to Iliasburg than Happiness Village is according to the map."

Luka and Alice walked out of the walls of the city, with Valon uncomfortably trailing behind the duo. He realized that he now had even more problems to deal with: the thought of the people in Monster Girl Quest suddenly getting their hands on machines developed by C.O.S.M.O., Amira's absence, the unknown condition of the four bandits, and his sudden decision to explicitly explain how his most important device worked and why they should all go to the Irina Mountains first.

Damn it! Let's just hope that Alice doesn't find it suspicious that I suddenly became more vocal and the fact that I pretty much gave her an essay for an explanation...

The thought about Luka's possible demise and his guilt from the after-effects of his decision to fight Granberia were also making it worse for him. He knew firsthand that getting involved in the hero's journey, especially in an event that holds significance in the game, would change the hero's journey in a variety of ways. Now, he's experiencing what might be the first of the adverse effects caused by his interference and he would have to find a way to counteract the effects and make sure that everything was still following the game's intended storyline.

This, however, was just the beginning of the worst things to come.