As we continued our trek back to Iliasburg, Alice seemed rather happy, unusually so, with a bright smile on her face. She wasn't exactly the type to go skipping along the path, especially considering her snake half, but right now, it didn't seem as impossibly far off as usual. It was somewhat sad but, at the same time, genuinely heartwarming to think that simply making a friend—making me her friend—was the cause of such cheer.

...Even if her thinking she finally got one over Ilias by doing so was likely also part of it.

Seeing her in such a good mood only made it more concerning when she suddenly halted and disappeared, leaving only the words "Hmm, be careful."

I didn't recall there being any encounters on the way back to Iliasburg, especially ones that would still warrant caution, considering the average level of monsters around here.

I looked ahead, wary of anything that may be approaching.

"Buhihihi." A chorus of vulgar giggles resounded from behind, making me turn around hastily. Before I could finish chastizing myself for getting too used to monsters approaching from the front, I stiffened when I saw what I was actually up against.

She had fully exposed pinkish skin, along with very generous proportions and short, hot pink hair. There were floppy ears on top of her head and no doubt a small, curled tail on her backside. The stone club held in one hand promised violence, and the look in her eyes did the same, albeit a more sexual variety. The former was likely purely for intimidation purposes, the latter... not so much.

It was an orc girl... and her friends.

One would have been easy, two a challenge, and three would have been pushing it. But six? Yeah, no. If it came to a battle, I would not win this.

"Hand over all your gold and clothes, and I promise we won't be too rough when we take your body as well," called out one of them with a self-assured smirk, causing another burst of laughter from the others.

Ilias damn it, I thought rumors of the Four Bandits were keeping others in check, but it seemed that still wasn't enough. Just my luck to run into what was likely the only actively marauding group of orc girls on the entire damn continent.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline... Any chance you would be willing to go one by one to give me at least a small fighting chance?" I replied with an uneasy smile. If I could just keep the illusion of growing exhaustion up long enough to cull their number into something more manageable...

"Sorry, but we prefer gangbangs." I had to suppress a groan at that response, even if it was hardly a surprise because, of course they did. I couldn't come up with anything to convince them to let me go on such short notice, either.

This called for more... extreme measures.

Before they could think of dogpiling me and then dragging me home, I heaved a heavy sigh. "A shame. I did not wish to use this, but you leave me no choice." With those words, Angel Halo appeared in my hands. "Your numbers won't help you against this. Behold the special technique of the great monk Hakunen!"

I then proceeded to make a very deliberate show of 'charging' my attack, causing the orc girls, now wary, to adopt a defensive stance. This was, of course, solely due to my phenomenal acting skills. It was clearly unrelated to my sword being pure nightmare fuel, or that tanking the first hit would fulfill Alice's decree of self-defense, allowing them to retaliate however they wanted without fear of repercussion. Regardless, joke's on them.

I swung my sword, using the momentum to turn myself around, then immediately removed it again and ran; ran like Black Alice herself was out for my ass. The terrifying realization of that being a thing that may actually happen down the line only served to further boost my speed.

There were several seconds of blissful silence before the first of them recovered from their surprise. "Wha— Get him!" And thus, the chase began in earnest.

It didn't take long for the calls for me to stop to grow fainter and more out of breath until they ceased entirely, but I still didn't stop. It could have simply been a trick, so I kept going until I could run no longer. Then, heaving for air, and with the faint taste of iron in my mouth, I ground to a halt. Surely, by now, I'd gotten rid of them. After taking some deep breaths, I turned around—

"Boo."

—only to let out a startled yelp and fall on my butt as Alice was right behind me.

"Hah, still as funny as the first time," she said, grinning. By Ilias... I created a monster. "By the way, you could have stopped running about ten minutes ago. Orc girls are hardly known for their speed or stamina."

This time, I couldn't keep the groan from slipping out. "You tell that to me now!?"

She actually looked a bit sheepish in response. "I was curious to see how long you would keep going." She then offered a hand to help me up. An unnecessary gesture, but one I could appreciate nonetheless.

I wasn't really mad at her either, just exasperated. There was no actual harm done, and with the absurdity that was Meditation, I was already back in peak shape physically. Theoretically, I could keep running all day as long as I interspersed it with sufficient breaks. Faster progress would be nice, but seeming like I was in too much of a hurry was liable to attract even more negative attention, which I couldn't afford.

"So... I guess you're still unwilling to fight as a party, huh?" I asked after I was back on my feet.

She nodded. "If you ever want to be able to deal with higher-level monsters, you will need as much experience and... Experience as you can possibly get. My participation would drastically cut into both. Also, it would be rather unseemly for the Monster Lord to go around beating up her own subordinates when they have technically not even broken any rules. I do not wish to go down in history as a tyrant. But... don't worry, even if they did get you, I would have pulled you out eventually." She smirked. "If you know what I mean."

"Thanks, but... any chance you could intervene, you know, before that happens?" I asked, though, for all the chance it had of working, it may as well have been a rhetorical question. Even this much was far more than I'd have ever expected out of Alice at this point.

She shrugged. "I would feel bad for completely depriving them of their spoils. Besides, considering how tense you seem all the time, I think getting laid would do you some good. I can tell you are not entirely opposed to the idea, even if you have some reservations." She paused for a moment. "And before you get any stupid ideas, if you lose to someone on purpose, I may very well leave you with them. You should just ask me for help if you ever get that desperate. I am still curious what you taste like, you know." She accentuated her last point by licking her lips.

"Right, I'll... keep that in mind." In a far-off corner where it can't bother anyone, that is. It wasn't like I disliked Alice or found her unattractive, but the prospect of doing something with her was possibly even more uncomfortable than with a random monster on the road. Taking over Luka's body was one thing; it wasn't like I had a choice in the matter, and I felt like I was making it up to him, in a way, by perpetuating his ideals. Starting something with who I considered his would-be wife, however, felt wrong on so many levels I didn't even know where to start.

Hmm, I wonder what happened to him anyway. Was he just gone?

It didn't feel like we'd fused, but I couldn't fully discount the possibility either. Hell, the poor bastard could even be stuck in my original body and desperately trying to cope with the modern world for all I knew. But, ultimately, it was pointless wondering about it. The only one who could likely give me an actual answer to that question was Ilias, and I was not about to take the initiative in approaching her.

"So... what about those orc girls?" I asked as we resumed our way back to Iliasburg. We made good time with that escape sequence, so we'd likely get there within the hour.

She shrugged. "They are more a minor nuisance than any actual threat. For all they tend to talk about pillage and rape, they don't have the numbers or strength to actually assault any human settlements... unless the humans were to just roll over, which apparently is less unlikely than I would have thought. Also, for all that they come off as savages, they are actually fairly soft, and I don't just mean their squishy bodies. They likely would not treat any men they capture badly."

She paused a moment to consider her words before continuing. "I probably insinuated as much before, but I won't punish any monsters for rape, certainly not the nonlethal kind, at least. Considering the overall state of human-monster relations and that self-proclaimed goddess' rules, there is pretty much no other way for most monsters to get a man. If I recall correctly, the rule to not have intercourse with monsters is the second most severe one to break within the Ilias Cult. Right after... what was it, 'Don't even dare think about rebelling against me, slaves,' or something?"

"I think you mean, 'Point your sword at the Goddess, and thou shalt cry.'" I replied, trying not to show any amusement at her butchering of the commandment.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Same thing. Anyway, even the humans that actually want it would likely deny their desires. After all, who could blame them if they were 'forced against their will' by a physically stronger monster?"

"You're... probably right about that," I eventually conceded.

"Glad you see it my way," she smiled before adopting a slightly more serious look again. "That said, even if I won't act against them directly, they are still effectively acting like bandits, so I made sure to inform Queen Harpy about them. She will likely deal with them in the coming days since they are close to her territory... Honestly, if I were alone, I might stick around in secret, maybe steal some ideas. But you probably wouldn't want to delay that long."

I nodded. If we were to wait for several days, the only real way to get off this continent might slip through our fingers, which, suffice to say, would be rather bad.

We continued in silence for several minutes before Alice spoke again.

"Hey, Luka, what do you think is the purpose of the Monster Lord?"

I barely kept myself from missing a step as the heavy question slammed into me. Why was she suddenly asking this? She might simply be looking for confirmation, or she might be feeling lost. I ended up lost in thought, considering how to answer for several minutes, yet Alice did not push her question even once.

"I think... the position of Monster Lord is ultimately not much different than any other leader. Ensuring your subjects' safety, prosperity, and happiness should be the highest priority."

She sighed. "I once thought the same, but..." She trailed off for a moment before catching herself. "It has been three years now since I ascended the throne, yet the actual amount of work I have done in my capacity as the Monster Lord is... minuscule." Her eyes narrowed for a moment. "And before you accuse me of lazing around, it wasn't exactly my fault. I was taught to expect and how to deal with petitioners, but few ever came. Monsters are used to dealing with problems on their own, and the days of several factions being present at the Monster Lord's Castle that would need someone to act as an intermediary are long gone. Beyond that, the teleportation circle used to welcome human dignitaries has lain silent ever since the Slaughter of Remina thirty years ago."

She let out another sigh. "I can count the matters reaching beyond Hellgondo I have been involved in on a single hand. To take a recent example, Queen Harpy and most of the other surviving harpies wanting to move to Harpy Village to form a unified refuge for their species would have likely landed on my desk for approval had it not been before my time." She scowled. "That damn fox did not even bother informing me after the fact. I had no idea Queen Harpy was there until yesterday."

I blinked. "Fox?" I had to assume she meant Tamamo, but how was this her fault?

Alice's scowl shifted into a more somber expression. "When the previous Monster Lord... my mother died, I was only a child. Usually, preparations for the next Monster Lord selection would start immediately, but as a benefit of being the heir of the previous ruler, it was postponed until my eighteenth birthday. In the interim, Tamamo, as the advisor of the late Monster Lord... and who knows how many generations before that, took over as regent, in addition to overseeing my education. Actually, I suppose it is entirely possible nobody told her either since many monsters don't bother announcing their actions even with an official ruler around, never mind a substitute. But for simplicity's sake, I will blame her anyway."

I sweatdropped. Man, Alice could be a real brat. Still... "Sorry for making you remember that kind of thing," I apologized.

"It's fine," she waved off my apology. "Anyway, I started to think, and kept the belief until recently, that, perhaps, the true purpose of the Monster Lord was not to act as a leader but as a symbol. A symbol of fear to ensure peace—to ensure that neither humans nor monsters would step out of line. And to also serve as a counterweight to the otherwise skewed power balance between humans and monsters."

"The... what?" I asked, confusion evident in my voice. She couldn't possibly be insinuating what I thought she was.

"It is no surprise you wouldn't think of it that way, considering what you have seen in your journey thus far. Nonetheless, it is true that in the absence of beings on the level of a Monster Lord, humans could crush the remaining monsters. And before you ask, the Heavenly Knights count as the former since they were my contenders for the throne. An irregularity considering that historically there were at most one or two contenders other than the heir, but I digress. Monsters may be stronger individually, but we are fewer and more fragmented to boot. Even Queens would eventually be forced to either flee or perish in the face of an army," she explained.

Her gaze then grew more severe. "But no army could hope to defeat a Monster Lord; we could kill thousands before retreating only to do the same the next day. It would be even worse against more defensively oriented opponents like Tamamo or Erubetie; they could run roughshod over an army without fear of reprisal since hitting them with conventional weapons would be no different than lightly prodding them with a particularly blunt stick."

She paused to frown. "Coincidentally, that is likely one of the primary reasons why that stupid Hero culture exists, aside from the legends of Heinrich popularizing it further and Ilias pushing for it."

I took a moment to digest her words. "So... in other words, while humans could easily handle most monsters, a Monster Lord or their equal could eradicate us on a whim if it wasn't for Ilias' protection?" Granted, Ilias was more likely to do so herself than monsters were.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"That is..." Alice looked like she desperately wanted to retort but couldn't find a fitting argument. "...really not what I wanted you to take away from all this," she ended up grumbling before putting a hand to her chin in thought. "Actually, we diverged from the original point quite a bit, did we not? Well, to put a long story short, I eventually grew frustrated with the lack of anything to do and decided to try something drastic." She grimaced. "You saw how that ended. And right now, I'm at a bit of a loss about where to go from here. I probably would have decided to travel the world even without your prompt so I could broaden my horizons, but... I am glad I went with you, to be honest."

She clapped her hands, slightly startling me. "Enough of this. Let us move on to more pleasant topics." Pleasant? If this was about sex again, I swear I'd— "What's your favorite food?" ...Fair enough, food would have been my second guess.

I took a moment to think about it. It'd been a while since I considered food in terms of favorites. It was recently more about what was available, discounted, or cheap to begin with, but if I said something like that, it was more likely to gain me pity than lift the mood as Alice intended. And while what little I'd eaten from my small stache of the original Luka's home cooking was likely the best food I'd ever eaten, that was more because of the quality than my preferences.

"I suppose if I had to choose, it would be... Sushi," I answered.

"Yamatai cuisine, huh? Certainly not what I expected, considering the distance, but not a bad choice," Alice mused.

"So, how about you?" I returned the question.

"I am... undecided. I feel it would be unfair to pick a favorite before I had the chance to sample all the delicacies the world has to offer," she explained solemnly.

"Are you sure that's not the real reason you decided to travel?" I asked with a small chuckle.

She shrugged. "It is possible to have more than one reason."

And so, for the first time since we started traveling together, we actually managed to keep some small talk going, at least for what little distance was still left until Iliasburg.

We arrived shortly before noon, more than enough time to go around buying all that we needed and then some. But just after stepping into the city proper, a voice with a slight hiss called out to us. "Ah, finally! Don't you know it's rude to make a lady wait?"

I wrenched my eyes shut. I didn't need to see her to know who I was dealing with. The tone of her voice, aggravating enough to be considered supernatural, was a dead giveaway. It took considerable self-restraint to not bash my head against the nearest stone wall repeatedly in hopes of knocking myself out so I wouldn't have to talk to her. Instead, I took a deep breath to gather my courage and then opened my eyes to behold the hideous creature.

She had the lower half of a human, covered only by panties, and a massive green snake head. She moved towards us in a bizarre mockery of a crab walk as her head dragged along the ground, too heavy to lift for extended periods of time. It was Amira, the Unfortunate Lamia, and, in the absence of the White Rabbit, the undisputed most annoying individual on this plane of existence. And while she may not be the most disturbing-looking being around—that dubious honor likely went to one of this world's attempts at biblically accurate angels—she was definitely on the list of candidates.

"Who are you?" Asked Alice, trying to maintain a neutral expression.

"I am Amira," she said, rolling the R. "The one true heroine. For many sleepless nights, I awaited the man who stole my maiden heart."

Alice turned to me, looking concerned. "Luka... When you said you had someone in mind, surely you didn't..."

"NO!" I shouted immediately. "How could you possibly even consider that!?"

She let out a breath of relief. "That is... good. Honestly, the only thing that would have been more unsettling would have been if you were a fox lover."

For the briefest of instants, I was relieved when Amira opened her mouth before an awkward silence could ensue.

...this was still Amira we were talking about; I really should have known better.

"But alas," she lamented, seemingly uncaring of our byplay. "My love was swept away by the raging tides of time, leaving naught in his place but a husk and an imposter— a fraud."

The blood in my veins turned to ice as I turned to her in horror. "How much do you know?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

"Oh, I would dare say quite a lot; after all, I do specialize in information gathering."

"What do you want with me?" I inquired, speaking past the lump in my throat threatening to suffocate me.

"With you?" She snorted, which then turned into full-blown mocking laughter. "I might have considered writing about your adventures since I don't have much to do, but I'm afraid I don't go for sloppy seconds."

Her mockery and words caused an inexplicably intense feeling of outrage to sprout within me. "Wha— What the hell do you mean sloppy seconds!? I'm still a virgin!"

My expression then changed into an entirely different variant of horror when I realized just what she made me shout at the top of my lungs in the middle of the city.

"Not in the way that matters," she said, shaking her head, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she affectionately nuzzled the pavement.

I then felt a hand fall onto my shoulder and turned to see Alice looking at me with reassurance. "No need to worry; it was fairly obvious anyway." One of my eyes twitched, and I felt what might have been a blood vessel bursting.

I quickly closed my eyes and fumbled for Meditation, suppressing the futile urge to stab a snake or two. If emotional whiplash dealt actual damage, this conversation would have likely disintegrated me into individual atoms by now. I reopened my eyes to glare at Amira, unable to fully conceal or subdue my desire to murder her. She might be effectively immortal, but with some luck, it would take long enough for her to respawn that she wouldn't bother me for a while.

"What do you want then?" I hissed, ironic, considering I was the only one here without snake parts, even if Alice had transformed hers to avoid drawing attention.

"Oh, I would certainly like my darling back, but that doesn't seem likely to happen, does it? As for why I'm here, just playing my part in the story, I suppose. So here we go, ahem, Irina Mountain Range, Bandits, including a Vampire and Dragon. Already knew that? Well, then this has been a waste of time for us both." While it was difficult to read her facial expressions, I got the faint impression that my dislike for her was reciprocated.

"The people here seem awfully nonchalant about having a monster just standing in the middle of their city," came a sudden interjection from Alice.

Amira's face morphed into something that could have possibly been sadness. "I befriended them as the setup of a joke that will now never come." She then quickly perked back up. "No matter; since I'm already here, I may as well do the world a favor and bestow a taste of actual literature upon you." She reached her head back and... please tell me that book came out of her Inventory, and she wasn't actually somehow storing it in her panties.

As I was recovering from disgust-induced paralysis, Alice gave the book a single glance and immediately grabbed my arm. The next moment, I felt a strong pull, and my surroundings blurred.

Seeing the pair disappear, Amira carefully removed the most recent 'masterpiece' she'd written from her mouth. "They're gone, huh? What a rude bunch." She then scoffed. "Wouldn't know good prose if it smacked them in the head. And that update schedule, sheesh. Oh well, since I'm still in the scene, I may as well get some choice words off."

She shifted, seemingly staring at nothing. "Truly, you have my condolences for reading this tripe, only elevated to third rate by this appearance of I, the great Amira. I would also like to apologize to all my fans, as this will be the only time you see me here, for I shall be taking a well-deserved vacation. I need to be ready for the return of the true hero and our resulting honeymoon. Now, If you'll excuse me—"

She was about to waddle off before noticing an oddity in the sky. "Are those... flying letters? And they seem to be getting bigger—no, closer! Wait, is this a transi— KYAAA!"

----------------------------------------

-Back to our main characters-

I stumbled as the rapid movement wore off. "Where are we?" I asked, the houses around us unfamiliar.

"A few blocks down," Alice answered. "Sorry for the rough treatment, but I wanted to get far away from that book as quickly as possible."

"That bad?" A stupid question, to be honest, but I was still slightly dizzy.

She shuddered. "Growing up, I met many 'high-class' monsters, more than one believing themselves the First's gift to literature. I have read enough terribly written smut disguised as poorly written romance novels to last several lifetimes, enough to recognize one in an instant. That thing reeked of it, both figuratively and literally."

I winced in sympathy. I usually believed in 'Don't judge a book by its cover,' but reading something written by Amira might actually cause aneurysms. Apparently, I'd also have to be careful if I ever found myself in Alice's library, lest I find myself in need of brain bleach.

After taking a moment to suppress unpleasant memories, Alice looked at me again. "What was all that about anyway?"

"It's... nothing you need to worry about, really." I'd be doing more than enough of that for the both of us after all.

"Is that so? I suppose I'll have to take your word for it." She didn't look convinced but probably also didn't want to dwell on the encounter longer than strictly necessary. "Anyway, let's get lunch... maybe some water beforehand, too; I could certainly use a palate cleanser."

"Sure," I agreed readily, even as I imagined a primordial scream of fear originating from the currency section of my Inventory.

After spending more money than was strictly reasonable on food stalls, our next stops were Blacksmith shops. It took three attempts until I finally found the shop selling Enrikan clothing, although, in retrospect, I probably should have tried the one closest to the city square first. Metal was weaved directly into the fabric, considerably raising its defensive power compared to regular clothing. It wasn't as good as proper armor, but it was very light, allowing for better mobility, and it was also the only thing available in my size. If I wanted anything stronger, I would likely need to commission a custom-built armor, which was not really viable since I didn't intend to stick around anywhere long enough for that to work.

In the same vein, we learned of the hidden village Enrika from the merchant. Going there was... certainly an option. I also bought a heavy-duty belt, and... that was it. I'd wanted to buy more, so much more, but I didn't have the money. I was somehow able to maintain a slightly more sizeable nest egg than the measly 500 gold Luka had at the start of his journey, but it was nowhere near enough to last. The remainder would need to go towards food, lest I become naturally replenishing emergency rations myself.

Coincidentally, stocking up on food was next on the list. Before, we'd just gotten a quick meal; this time, we went through the merchants hawking their fresh produce, meat, or bread. Alice was surprisingly helpful, being able to point out the highest-quality ingredients with nothing more than a quick sniff. It was somewhat ironic that she basically had everything necessary to be an excellent chef besides the skill at cooking itself.

Ultimately, I was left with just enough to cover inn expenses for two nights. I would need to acquire more funds soon; unfortunately, my current attempt was not going well.

"What do you mean you're overstocked on Healing Herbs!?" I asked the shopkeeper in disbelief.

"Just that. Sorry lad, got 'undreds of them things lying 'round." He responded, sounding genuinely apologetic, taking the wind out of my sails.

"But... this city was attacked literally two days ago; how is that even possible?"

He shrugged. "Been sittin' on 'em since last year. No pilgrims from Sentora comin' to take 'em off me hands. Not a lot of people 'urt either."

I groaned in frustration. He had a point; Granberia was lenient enough that even the soldiers who fought her could get up on their own afterward. I wouldn't get anywhere with this.

"Right... sorry to bother you," were the words I left with, sounding thoroughly put out. With some luck, the Bandits had some gold stashed away; otherwise, I might need to make the things I had last until we went treasure hunting.

"Told you nobody would want those things," came Alice's smug reminder. Her smile then dropped in favor of curiosity. "Is money really that much of an issue?"

I merely nodded with a pained expression.

"I see... I did not take anything with me, but a trip to my treasury would not take much time if I teleported. I will handle the food expenses from here on. That way, you cannot cheap out on me either," She declared.

I blinked. "Wait, really? That would be great, actually. Thanks, Alice."

"Making you foot all the bills would be in bad taste if you are that poor; think nothing of it." She waved it off. I winced slightly; being called poor stung, if only because of how accurate it was.

The final shop we visited before retiring to the Sutherland Inn for the night was mostly due to curiosity, considering I'd already exhausted my funds. It was a potion shop, a novelty given that potions tended to be bundled among the other wares of item or tool shops. It seemed rather fancy too, judging from the exterior. I wasn't big on consumables outside of healing items anyway, but who knows, they might even have permanent stat boosters.

As we entered the building, we were met with a rather heated discussion, one that seemed strangely familiar for some reason.

"You don't understand!" yelled a knight. "I am going into battle, and I need your strongest potions!"

"You are the one who doesn't understand," retorted the potion seller, voice brimming with scorn. "My strongest potions would kill a dragon girl, let alone a wimp like you."

The knight paused. "If that's true, why didn't you do anything when one of the Heavenly Knights attacked us?"

"And do what!? Walk up to her and say, 'Here you go, ma'am, please take this drink; you must be thirsty, making sure not to hit hard enough to immediately kill these weaklings.'? Get out of my shop, you imbecile!" the potion seller roared.

But the knight, perhaps foolishly, stood his ground. "No, I am going into battle, and I will not leave before I receive a suitable potion."

The merchant's eyes narrowed. "Very well... I do have one potion fit for the likes of you." He snapped his fingers, causing the liquid of one of the bottles on a nearby shelf to burst out and coagulate into a viscous goo enveloping the knight. The combined mass then promptly bounced up and shot out of an open window.

I gaped in the direction where the knight was ejected. Coming to think of it, this day had been weird from the beginning. Was there any chance I was actually still asleep and just dreaming all this nonsense? I hung my head as a small sigh pushed past my lips. No, this was just my life now.

I turned back around when I heard Alice speak. "Kill a dragon girl, huh?" she asked while stepping forward.

The potion seller's eyes lit up, and his lips formed into a smile when he beheld Alice, possibly excited to find an individual 'worthy' of his potions. "Ah yes," he began, taking a vial from a shelf behind himself. "You may have a sample if you wish, but be careful; my potions are very potent."

She made a noncommittal sound before taking the vial out of his hands and then letting a few drops of mixture fall on her tongue. For a few moments, her hair became a resplendent rainbow of colors before returning to her regular silvery tone.

She pressed it back into the merchant's hand. "Interesting, but..." She smirked. "A bit weak for my tastes."

The smile slowly dropped off his face, leaving only a blank stare. His expression was now showing about as much emotion as Erubetie's did, except unlike her feeling of stoicism, his was just... hollow. The vial slid out of his grasp, shattering against the floor. The man was next to drop, fainting with his eyes still open.

I looked at the unconscious form of the merchant, then the hole where the potion had eaten through the wooden flooring... and the building's foundation. I didn't see a bottom; I wasn't sure there was one.

I turned to look at Alice, who'd drunk some of what, for all I knew, may have been liquid chaos. "I think... I'm about ready to check into the inn," I said, feeling about as empty inside as the merchant looked.

"Fine with me," she agreed before licking her lips. "Hmm, I wonder if they already received a new shipment of Happiness Honey." Unlikely, even if a flying harpy could easily outpace our travel speed. But the matron would likely still be more than happy to prepare a sumptuous meal as thanks for our contribution to fixing her supply.

We were leaving the store, intent to head to the Sutherland Inn when I heard quiet sobbing from around the corner. I got a few more steps in before turning whilst grumbling to myself. I had to figure out what he meant by 'battle' anyway.

"If you take too long, I'll go ahead," Alice called after me.

Sitting in the alley was the knight from before, covered by orange goo and his face buried in his arms, though the sobbing had stopped. His head slowly went up when he heard me approaching.

"So, what kind of battle did you need a potion for?" I asked immediately, too tired to beat around the bush.

He chuckled bitterly. "Heard that, did you? Calling it a battle might have been a bit much. See, when the chief noticed I wasn't part of the pile the other day, he ordered me to scope out that infamous bandit group as punishment. I figured if they found me, I'd need something like an invincibility potion... or at least an invisibility potion, so it didn't come to that in the first place."

I quickly shook my head, any worry I may have had for him replaced by something more urgent—I couldn't let this guy steal my sidequest! "Orders or not, that's way too dangerous. They supposedly even have a vampire and a dragon; you wouldn't stand a chance. So tell you what, just leave it to me."

"You would do that? But... I couldn't let you put yourself in danger like that for my sake," he said, looking torn.

I gave him what I hoped to be a reassuring smile and put a thumb to my chest. "Hey, I may not look the part, but you don't need to worry. I am actually the one who defeated Granberia." In a very loose definition of the word, anyway.

He gaped at me. "I'd heard the rumors, but to think..." He then shot up on his feet and wrapped me in a hug, which was so unexpected I didn't manage to dodge in time. "Oh, thank you so much, Hero! I have no idea what I would have done without you!"

I screwed my eyes shut, trying to not vocalize my disgust. Suddenly being hugged by a male stranger would have already been uncomfortable on its own, even if they weren't armored and exceedingly sticky. I desperately tried to find a silver lining to the situation—Oh wait, there it was; I hadn't put on the Enrikan clothing yet. At least those weren't the ones that got dirty.

...For some reason, that didn't cheer me up nearly as much as I'd hoped.

Eventually, he let me go after what felt far longer than should have been socially acceptable, looking like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders. I waved him goodbye with a strained smile. It seemed like I made a fan today, though he might change his tone once he saw the true nature of those bandits.

Once he was gone, I exited the alley, returning to Alice. "Not one word." I glowered at her when she was about to open her mouth; instead, she settled for silently grinning at me as we made our way to the inn.

Man, I really needed a bath right now.