"So, how will we make it to the Asckbon continent? I can fly, but what about you two?" Asked Talis curiously as she glanced at Alexander and Lazuli, prompting him to scratch underneath his beak.

"We'll be using the Mage Guild's network of teleporting devices that they have across the world; however, we'll only use it to get us close to the shore; unfortunately, we can't just enter Asckbon that way." Replied Alexander lightly as he glanced between Talis and Lazuli, prompting them to both nod.

"Will we be taking a ship to Asckbon?" Asked Lazuli as she lifted her head to look at Alexander, who faintly nodded before leaning down and kissing her forehead.

"Yeah, we're on two different continents, after all. We're using the Mage Guild because we're also pretty far away from Asckbon; we're far up North, but we should be on the eastern side of the Mezcla continent if we wish to take any ships to Asckbon." Remarked Alexander with a nod while walking through the streets of Cassandra while Talis perched herself onto his shoulder.

"Do you know how long the trip shall be?" Asked Lazuli curiously, causing Alexander to rub his chin with a thoughtful expression.

"No, not really; even though I've done some research, there is very little information about the ports and ships on the eastern side of Mezcla, considering we're far up North. We should stay in a port city for some days just so we learn about the ships and the paths they take through the sea to get between their destinations; the Captain who commands the vessel will also be very important." Stated Alexander wryly with a shake of his head before furrowing his brows and clicking his tongue.

Almost everything about the ocean was unknown to me, and the unknown was always associated with dangers, even if that wasn't the case; in my past life, the weather was the most dangerous thing about the ocean. However, here, in this life, where magic floated about in the atmosphere and fantasy-like creatures lived, who knows what kind of monstrous beasts live in the ocean? So, I wanted to be extra careful when picking our ship and Captain, though I will say, essentially putting your life in another's hand, one you don't even personally know, doesn't exactly sit well with me.

'Well, first things first, I should try to learn to speak fish tongue or whatever; maybe I'll be able to reason with some massive creature and stop it from killing us.' Thought Alexander lightly, though even he didn't believe in such wishful thinking.

Shaking my head, we quietly walked through the streets while making our way towards the Mage Guild in the distance, though when I passed the Adventure Guild, I couldn't help but stop as I slapped myself in the face.

"Hmm, is something wrong?" Asked Lazuli as she glanced at Alexander before looking at the Adventurer Guild.

"Eh, n-nothing is wrong; I just forgot I had a date. Can you wait here, you two? I'll be right back." Replied Alexander lightly, only for him to sigh as he lifted Talis off his shoulder and handed her to Lazuli while approaching the building.

Entering the building only to get hit with a potent stench like always, I scanned the lounge where most of the Adventurers hung out, yet I didn't see Lulu anywhere. Scratching my head on what to do, I used [Heroes Gaze] to see through the many walls, hoping to spot her, and thankfully, after being tortured by the view of the numerous naked men, I spotted Lulu in the bathroom getting it on with her fingers.

'The month of Chloe is still a little more than a month away; is it already starting to affect her?' Thought Alexander with a raised eyebrow as his eyes returned to normal while he walked down the hallway leading to the bathroom.

Not knowing how long it would take Lulu to finish, I knocked on the door.

"S-Someones u-using the ~Ahh~ b-bathroom." Said Lulu faintly, her voice highly muffled from beyond the door.

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"Um, it's me, Lulu. I know this is a bad time, but can we speak really quickly? It is long, so you can continue doing your… Whatever you're doing." Stated Alexander lightly with an awkward expression as he leaned against the wall, only to hear the sound of scrambling coming from beyond the door.

After a few seconds, the door to the bathroom was promptly opened as a blushed Lulu was seen peeking her head from behind the wall; I could even see that her hand was still wet, covered in her juices.

"S-Sorry, but it'll only take a minute at most." Said Alexander with a cough as he avoided making eye contact with Lulu, who nodded in embarrassment before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him in.

"W-What is you need, Alex?" Asked Lulu curiously while blushing as she glanced at Alexander with her hands behind her back and her clothes ruffled.

"I just wanted to say that I was leaving for some time; I was visiting Asckbon, and since we had a planned date, I figured I should inform you beforehand." Replied Alexander softly as he gazed at Lulu, whose eyes lightly widened at his words.

"A-Asckbon? Y-You mean the Asckbon continent? F-For how long?" Asked Lulu with widened eyes while staring at Alexander, who awkwardly nodded before looking away.

"Um, I don't know exactly how long, but I'd estimate a month… Maybe Longer. I should've told you earlier, but I had a lot going on. I'm sorry." Stated Alexader softly as he glanced at Lulu, who bit her lip while gazing at him with a look of slight betrayal.

Seeing that look in her eyes felt far worse for me since I was rather acute to people's emotions thanks to me knowing the language of trees; even without touching them, I could still feel them; it just wasn't as potent.

"I-I know we hadn't planned this, b-but, the month of Chloe is right around the corner. I-I was barely able to endure that hell last year… T-Thats sort of cruel, Alex." Said Lulu softly as she gazed at Alexander with slight tears in her eyes, causing him to inwardly wince before sighing.

I didn't really have anything to say to Lulu about that; while it's true I held no romantic obligation towards her, she was still a friend; besides, she was right; the fact I hadn't told her earlier was an ass move.

"Lulu, I–" "I-I've got things to do, Alex. S-So I'll get going, excuse me." Said Alexander and Lulu, respectively, as he was cut off by her while she wiped her face and promptly exited the bathroom, leaving him all alone.

Watching her leave, I rubbed my face and sighed; I wasn't feeling all that great anymore, a little shitty if I'm being honest.

'You can't please everyone, Master.' Said Zartha lightly as she did stretches with her eyes closed while glancing upwards towards the sky, prompting Alexander to sigh once more.

'Yeah… I know.' Said Alexander in slight reluctance as he left the bathroom while walking towards the building's exit.

Exiting the Adventurer Guild, I spotted Lazuli feeding Talis, which helped improve my mood as I approached them.

"Hmm, is everything all right?" Asked Lazuli softly as she gazed at Alexander, who didn't respond and only wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his embrace.

With Talis perching herself back onto my shoulder, we continued walking toward the Mage Guild in silence, though this silence was fundamentally different from the one before. After a few minutes, we arrived at the Mage Guild, and since I'd gone here several times before, I didn't even need to show my, or I should say, Master's, Guild license; of course, I still kept it on me.

Stepping onto the crystal-like pad, I brought out another license, which signified I was Kurama's disciple, even though I wasn't but it was mainly so I could teleport to her office.

"Try not to move around too much." Said Alexander lightly as he glanced at Talis and Lazuli while the pad they were standing on released a bright glow, enveloping them.

Once the glow died down, we were standing in a slightly different room; walking forward, I opened the door only to see Kana looking down the hallways, checking to see who it was.

"Oh, it's just you, Alex. Did you finally agree to be my muse?" Asked Kana with a faint smile as he pushed her glasses up, causing Alexander to stare blankly at her.

"No, I will not be your muse, I've already told you. Also, mind not wearing those glasses?" Said Alexander firmly as he narrowed his eyes at Kana, who faintly chuckled while dismissively waving her hand.

"These are just normal glasses; I can't really see without them; you know that, Alex." Said Kana lightly as she gazed at Alexander, though her gaze had never met his eyes since she was too busy staring at his lower body.

"Kana? Is she the pervert you always mention, Alex?" Asked Lazuli lightly as she entered the hallway, standing in front of Alex before looking at Kana, whose expression soured.

"Tsk, can you please move? I can't see Alex." Asked Kana softly as she looked at Lazuli, only for the glasses she was wearing to suddenly explode.

"Alex doesn't like it." Stated Lazuli emotionlessly as she lowered her finger while it returned to normal, causing Alex to faintly smirk.

"N-NO! M-My glasses!" Yelled Kana with a teary-eyed expression as she collapsed to her knees while scavenging the pieces of her glasses.