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While trying to figure out how he should deal with the situation with the cleric Kazuya had suspected would be the main culprit of one of the biggest tragedies in Maynira, he had suddenly encountered another unexpected developnt.
"(What the hell is this chick up to?)" Kazuya glanced at the frail-looking beauty who was reading in front of him.
The girl was none other than the proud princess of the Zweifel kingdom. She had suddenly started showing up in the library and appeared to be a few books. Though Kazuya was distracted by thinking about the various reasons on why she had appeared here, he knew that she must have arrived after he had started imrsing himself in reading.
Initially, she had started off reading in one of the parts of the library. With each day that passed, the position she would take would be closer to Kazuya. At first, Kazuya didn't mind her presence but today, the princess rolled her magical wheelchair and positioned herself right in front of him.
Unlike the previous images of the prideful princess in his mories, the Alicia in front of him appeared sowhat frail and peaceful. This was unlike the haughty princess that always tried to push him around. There were no signs of the energetic princess who would hit him, if he didn't know any better, he would have assud that the person in front of him had been more of the sickly type.
"(I have to hand it to this girl. With her looks and these acting skills, she would have been a very popular actress back on Earth.)" he couldn't help but praise her for that. As long as she didn't speak, her deanor would have been able to fool him.
"Is there sothing on my face?" Alicia took her eyes off from the book she was reading and looked at Kazuya who was slightly startled by her sudden question.
"(So, you've been paying attention to as I thought.)" Kazuya didn't try to hide his observation of her. He already assud that she was up to sothing and seeing that she was in front of him at this mont, it would have sothing to do with him.
"Kazuya-sama?" she tilted her head in a cute manner. Little did she know that this action only helped trigger the negative emotions that were bottled up inside the young man in front of her.
"Is there sothing that you need from ?" he asked.
"Why do you ask that?" she acted innocently.
"You have been visiting the royal library for a few days straight now. The old librarian says that the number of people that co here would usually take books with them rather than spending ti in this place. You've been staying here at the sa ti as and now you are sitting in front of despite how very few people are here. What would you think?"
"(So, you have been paying attention to after all.)" resisting the urge to smirk, Alicia smiled at him. "Does being here necessarily an that I need sothing from you? Aren't you being a little too self-conscious?" she curiously asked.
Kazuya held back the urge to spit after seeing her act this way. Even the old him would have goosebumps after seeing this girl act this way in front of him.
"I would not have said anything if you hadn't sat in front of . It is not that is being self-conscious but you are obviously making your presence known." He replied coldly.
"Are you worried that I may have a grudge against you for what you did to ? If so then you shouldn't worry. I am not that small-minded and understand why you did such a thing. I would have probably done sothing similar if I were in your position."
"You still haven't ntioned why you are here." Kazuya didn't comnt on her declaration as he already knew that this woman would have held on to that grudge until she had revenge.
"I really don't need anything from you but…" she hesitated and tried to hide her expression with the book on her hand. "I just wanted to get to know you a little better." She continued in a soft voice.
Kazuya almost dropped the book he was holding. He finally understood why this girl has been buzzing around him for the past couple of days.
"(This bitch is trying to seduce !?)" This was sothing that he didn't expect.
Though the old him had indeed fallen for this poisonous princess, it was not as if she had acted like she did right now. The Alicia that he knew acted very like the proud princess that he knew and had declared that her father wanted the two of them to be engaged. From there, the naïve version of himself had slowly fallen for the beautiful princess that shared hardships with him as they went against the demon army.
"You had been called by us so suddenly that we indeed did not think about the circumstances you were in before you were summoned. I feel regretful about this as we currently have no way to send you back to your world. We have been desperate and that caused us to be negligent and from your eyes, most likely selfish." She continued after noticing the shock the hero tried to hold back.
Unaware of the things that are going through Kazuya's mind, Alicia continued her sweet-sounding words. She narrated about how she entered the library in hopes to converse with him but ended up paying attention to what he had been focused on reading in the library.
"That is why if you don't mind, I would like to talk ab—" she stopped as Kazuya abruptly stood up.
"Please excuse , I don't think I can stop myself from vomiting." Kazuya covered his mouth and left the royal library with a pale face.
"…" Alicia never expected this kind of reaction from him as she froze in place with her mind drawing nothing but blanks.
Never had she been treated this way. Even if there were so people that had been able to resist her charm, none of them had ever looked at her in the sa way the hero just did. His reaction towards her was disgust. It may not even be the full extent of it as he was clearly trying to hold back.
"(Why!?)" with the people around, the princess could only scream in her mind.
She was even able to break off engagents of couples who were engaged for years just by sharing a few conversations with males so what made this hero so different? Alicia questioned if the beauty in the hero's world was vastly different from the beauty in Edea.
"(That shouldn't be it… considering the forr heroes had taken wives whose beauties were renowned….)" Alicia shook her head and tried to think about things rationally. "(Maybe… he's just trying to avoid ?)" this thought ca to mind as she fell into deep silence unaware that the people that saw what happened just now had begun talking about it without her knowledge.
Unaware of what was going on in the princess' mind, Kazuya hurried himself out of the castle and went towards the slums. He didn't want anyone to notice his current state as no one knew how much he tried to hold back the urge to take Alicia's life back in the royal library.
"(That was utterly disgusting!)" he leaned on the wall in one of the alleyways and vomited after making sure that no one had followed him.
He couldn't figure out why Alicia was pulling such a stunt after what he did to her. He had assud that Alicia would have stayed in the dark while planning her revenge against him. Contrary to his expectations, the princess not only showed herself in front of him, she even had the audacity to try and seduce him.
"(Crazy bitch…)" he cursed the princess in his mind as he wiped his mouth. This had been the first ti that soone had sickened him enough to induce a physical reaction.
He closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm himself. The alleyways that were usually filled with rats had gone away from the dirty slums completely because of the danger that they had felt from Kazuya who was barely able to hold back the urge from taking Alicia's life.
"Hey, isn't that…" one of the children who were running by after seeing the familiar figure.
"Ah! It's the kind onii-san!"
"Oh! you're right!"
"He looks like he's sick!"
The curious children gathered around him looking concerned.
"Huh…?" Kazuya noticed the children surrounding him and slowly opened his eyes.
"Onii-san, are you okay?" one of them asked.
"Sorry for making you worry. It looks like fatigue has finally caught up with ." He smiled at them.
This was not a lie, ever since he arrived in Edea, he had forgone most of his sleep ti to train and think about his situation and preparation. His ntal strength took a big hit after the earlier incident with Alicia and he suffered from a nauseating headache.
"That's not good! My mom overworked herself and got herself sick! Didn't you tell her that always checking your own status is important?"
"Yeah…" Kazuya felt a little embarrassed after being told his own words. He didn't want to refute the concerned words of a child since they were indeed true. "What I was doing a while ago ended earlier so I guess I can take a break."
"Do you want to co with us to the nearby park? We already finished helping out today so we were going to go play. You will be able to rest there better than sitting around in this dirty place."
"Sure." Kazuya accepted their kind gesture as he activated his recovery magic. Though resting would let him recover faster, after the lesson he gave Sodina earlier, he would probably be able to skip their training once he returned to the Eberbach residence.
He took a seat in one of the benches at the park and watched the children play. Since they were from the slums of the western district, they would be the first to fall victim to the wrath of the Necromancer that was unexpectedly discovered in that area.
"Hmm?" he noticed a strange presence that was approaching.
Turning towards the direction of the strange presence, the children also noticed a person who was heading their way. It was a man carrying luggage that was bigger than him on his back. It was relatively surprising to see so white-haired old man carry such a large thing but it wasn't really a rare thing in Edea. From how he looked, he appeared to be a rchant.
"Oh! It's old man Gazardy!"
"He ca today!"
"Candy! Candy!"
"Did you kids finish your work early today?" the white-haired elderly man smiled at the children.
The children gathered around him as Kazuya observed. They seed to be familiar with him but unlike the children who weren't able to feel the aura he had radiated earlier, Kazuya found the man's presence very strange. It was as if his senses were telling him that this person was soone who he shouldn't notice.
"Old man Gazardy! Do you have any candy that can make people feel better?" one of the children asked.
"Why? Is soone sick?" the old man smiled as he asked.
"The kind onii-san that helped everyone back in our neighborhood looks like he has a big headache so I wanted to ask for so candy to make him feel better."
"Oh? Was there such a person who appeared recently?"
"Yeah!" she pointed towards Kazuya who was sitting on the bench. "He's the kind onii-san who helped everyone who was feeling sick feel a lot better! The pats he gives also makes feel energetic so I want to give him sothing that will make him feel better!"
"Oh?" the old man was intrigued. He turned towards the bench and t the young man's gaze. He was slightly startled as he didn't expect that there was a young man really sitting at the bench looking directly at him.
"(This old man…)" It was only for a split second but Kazuya was able to sense so hostility coming from him.
"(This young man… can perceive ?)" he turned back to the children and smiled. "I will give everyone so treats later, for now, I want to talk to this kind onii-san of yours and see if I can do anything to help with his ailnt."
He approached Kazuya after the children went back to playing and stood in front of him.
"Hello young friend, are you soone from the eastern lands?" he smiled at Kazuya.
"Old man," Kazuya looked into his eyes. "Are you the one that put dark energy inside those kids' bodies?"
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