Alex carried Alice back to his room at the inn where he was staying, and I was being vigilant again, seeing if anyone was following us.

When we got there, I was surprised by how nice the inn Alex was staying at was. It looks well-kept and new compared to the inn I was staying at.

He led me to his room, and I was again surprised by how big it was, especially the big bed he had.

“This place seems awfully expensive; you can afford a room like this?”

Alex scratched his head and said.

“Wasn’t my idea; it was the girls’ idea. Apparently, they didn’t want to sleep in separate beds anymore for some reason.”

“...”

How am I not surprised and surprised at the same time?

“Anyways, you want to know how I met her.”

“Ya.”

Alex told me that they came to Acton around a half-month ago after doing an escort quest to get here, with nothing really of note happening during the escort quest.

They did a couple of quests for the next few days, in which they managed to reach the second stratum in less than a week.

It led to people talking about them; with the rate they were going, they would become a top-ranking adventurer party in no time.

However, like in Farsbarow, people would talk about how Alex is a no-good bastard and playboy who stole the hearts of all the beautiful girls in his party.

Okay, going back on track, they met Alice two days ago. At first, they saw a skinny girl being chased, likely by the same people who were going after her.

Alex and everyone else stopped them and drove them away, thinking they were just thugs who were going to sell Alice to human traffickers. Alice thanked them, but when they asked if she needed help going back to her home or her parents, she said she didn’t know where they were, so they decided to take care of her in the meantime.

However, Alice suddenly became sick the next day, likely due to her frail body, so Maria asked Alex, Wendy, and Chelsie to gather some rare herbs. Coincidentally, it was the same herb in the quest I saw on the quest board.

“So you were looking for the herb to cure Alice.”

“Ya.”

“And after that?”

Alex looked like he was about to blush, and an ominous premonition filled my mind.

“I think I found a goddess.”

He has this enrapture that looks like someone in love.

Wait, he could mean someone else, right? Let's hope so.

“What did that person look like?”

He was eager to tell me.

“I can’t say much about other girls because Chelsie, Maria, Wendy, and Lucia would get angry when I do, but since we’re both guys, I guess I could tell.”

Alex had a grin like he was bragging.

“I saw her bathing by accident; she had this majestic silver hair that matches the white moon behind her, snow white skin, and an aura of divinity like she was untouchable like I was seeing a goddess.”

F***, God damnit, **** **** *** *** ***** *******

So he saw me. Of all people, why did it have to be Alex?

“Umm, Nyx, are you okay? You’re staring off into space.”

“No, I’m fine.”

Alex began talking about me when I was bathing, then talked about when I threw a knife when I noticed him, and when he tried to apologize for looking at me, I began throwing even more knives at him.

As he was saying all that, a little part of me was starting to die inside each time he spoke.

Where is the mind wipe drug from the intelligence division in my past life when you need it; it would be super useful just about now.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

As a little part of me was dying inside with each word he spoke, we heard Alice starting to wake up. Thank goodness, I don’t want to hear any more of this.

Alex ran up to her side and checked up on her.

“How are you feeling?”

Alice looked at Alex, then became scared when her eyes landed on me.

“Don’t worry, that is Nyx; he is a friend and helped me fight off the kidnappers.”

Alex tried to reassure her, and shyly, Alice said.

“Th-thank you for saving me.”

She looked a bit scared but seemed to trust him.

“So, what happens after you’ve gotten the herb?”

Alex didn’t want to stop praising me when he was peeping at me, so I tried to make him focus on what happened after.

“Well, we got the herb to Maria, and she made the medicine in no time, and Alice recovered really fast, so we decided to take her out for dinner together, but we lost her in a crowd, which is when the kidnappers kidnapped her.”

“I see.”

So that is what happened.

“How about everyone else? Where are they?”

“We split up to try and find her, and right about now they would be coming back.”

Not too long after, the door opens to reveal Chelsie, Maria, Wendy, and Lucia coming in. They were all surprised to see me, Wendy and Lucia, especially. Wendy curled up into a ball while Lucia scowled and said.

“What are you doing here?”

Alex told her that I helped with fighting off the kidnappers that kidnapped Alice, and she just humph.

“Are you going to tell them?”

I look at Alex, wondering if he is going to fill the rest of them in on why she was kidnapped.

“I think you should tell me since you know more than me.”

“Fine then.”

I turn and face them to tell them.

“Alice is in some ways related to the nobility, and those weren't normal criminals but people who do the dirty work directly under nobles.”

All of them were shocked when they heard what I said and turned to Alice. However, they weren't too shocked.

I ask Chelsie why they don’t look too surprised.

“Alex helped everyone get out of a similar amount of trouble, so we were kind of used to this.”

“I see.”

I forgot about that. Then I turn my head to Alice to ask a question.

“What family are you from?”

She had a troubled look as if she didn't want to say anything.

“You don’t have to answer; I don’t want to force you.”

If she doesn’t want to answer, it’s fine, because I too have my reasons for not answering those types of questions.

“Oh well, since you all are here, could you guard Alice? I’m going to look around the hotel to see if there are any places the kidnappers can use to kidnap Alice again.”

“Okay, I’ll come as well.”

Alex told me he would come, but since he made me go through hell, I want to get back at him.

“Don’t need, you got to explain to them how you peeked at a naked girl bathing when you were gathering herbs for Maria and how you began describing her with great detail.”

I turned my head to face Maria, Wendy, Lucia, and Chelsie and said

“Looks like you're going to have another girl join in because he seemed really passionate describing her.”

A little of me died saying it, but it was well worth it.

I closed the door because the room went dead quiet, replaced with a murderous aura.

Walking away from the room, I wanted to get out of the blast radius of the bomb that was about to explode because, not too long after, I heard a loud screaming of pain and something being thrown around the room, hopefully a dead body.

I looked around the inn Alex and his party were staying at, and I was still amazed by how much better it was than the inn I was staying at. Then I exited the inn and walked around the surrounding block.

When I got back to Alex’s room, I knocked on the door; surprisingly, Lucia opened it for me, and even more surprisingly, she thanked me for telling me about the girl Alex was peaking at in the most tsundere way possible, which made me want to die even more thinking about it, reminding me that it was me.

After I was done, I found several ways for potential kidnappers to sneak in to take Alice.

I found that Alex was tied up with rope and gagged, looking like a corpse if nothing else. That is what you deserved, you pervert.

Chelsie asked me how it went.

“I found several potential ways for the kidnapers to get Alice.”

One of them is hopping between buildings and using the rooftop to get in. Another is hiding among the guests and getting a room.

Once I listed the rest of my concerns and made a plan on who would watch over Alice on a constant basis, I walked over to Alex to get his thoughts on the matter.

I nudged Alex with my foot because I wasn’t too sure if he was a corpse or not. Unfortunately, he somehow is not dead and weakly groans in pain.

Untying the gag over Alex, he said how could I betray him for outing him, I turned to face all the girls again.

“Hey everyone, he is talking about that girl again; I think you should reeducate him again.”

Alex gave me a look of betrayal, but it hurt me a lot more than it was going to hurt him because another small part of me died saying it.

Immediately, Chelsie had a smile but her eyes didn’t; Lucia's red hair glowed and stood on end almost to the point it looked like it was on fire; Maria had a pained look while taking out a knife; and Wendy had her fangs bared and eyes glinting, looking like she was about to kill her prey.

As for Alice, she was cowering in a corner, feeling the murderous air in the room.

I make my way out the door and look back.

“Nyx, please close the door.”

Chelsie asked me to close the door, which I obliged because that smile gave me a shiver, just like those two yandere weirdos in my past life.

My sight glanced at Alice as I closed the door, looking at me to take her with me. I felt guilty, but nope, not my problem. I definitely did not cause this situation; it was Alex’s fault for bringing it up.