The sound of chis rang upon opening the door. We're greeted by Alexandra's thousand-watt smile.
"Hello, again~!" Alexandra greeted us.
"Hello." I greeted back.
"Steph and I already talked things out. No need to worry about it. Now, let's talk about paynt. I already discussed it with Steph, but as a business, I can't afford to give you two discounts. If you expected it because of Steph, sorry to disappoint you but I also need to make a living."
"Okay... What a strange way to start the conversation..."
"I just want to clarify things first because people always misunderstood my behavior all the ti. Being friendly with soone you knew, doesn't an I'll give you discounts okay?"
"Okay...?" Erik answered, instead of .
"Let her be," Stephanie interjected.
"I don't see anything wrong with it since she's making reasonable valid points," I said.
"See, Steph? There's nothing wrong with it. It's not disrespectful to custors since I'm being honest."
"I don't have any problem with it. The problem was how you say it. The tone of your voice makes you sound arrogant. It's been a complaint on you by my other classmates because you kept telling it to them every ti they buy sothing here."
"It's basically my catchphrase at this point." Alexandra flashed a smile.
"That doesn't make it better." Stephanie retorted.
"I know." Alexandra winked at Stephanie.
Stephanie expressed her dissatisfaction through her eyes, but Alexandra wasn't fazed by it. Alexandra ignored Stephanie completely, as her gaze shifted to . "Shall we talk about the paynt?"
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After paying for everything, Alexandra watched us with a huge smile. Sothing about her smile irks . She's not showing a condescending smile or being smug, yet it feels annoying to look at.
"Thank you again for choosing Aleco, I hope to hear from you again soon! It's my pleasure doing business with you!" Alexandra said with a big smile on her face.
"Thank you, Alexandra,"
"It's a pleasure doing business with you as always, Steph." Alexandra waves her right hand to us, as we leave her shop. Then she followed it up with. "If you're all free next ti, co and join for dinner next ti."
"We'll do," Stephanie replied with a bright smile on her face.
Stephanie's bright and genuine expression left a smile on my face too. Because of my face, Stephanie locked her gaze on . "Stop staring with that stupid face of yours."
"Am I not allowed?"
"Yes."
"Okay." I flashed a smile.
Stephanie's expression toward Alexandra reminded of Ms. Sheep back in the guild, her ntor. Ms. Sheep was a warm-hearted person that helped Stephanie grow as a person over the years.
I opened the pouch to check the contents; five bottles of unknown grade potions, stones with a runic letter engraved on them, an amulet, herbs, and lastly, the sa powder that I've seen last ti which has already been explained to . However, a strange wooden spherical item was inside of the pouch mixed along with the other contents.
"What's this?" I showed it to Stephanie.
"Do we throw this at soone's face?" Erik added.
"What?" I shifted my gaze to Erik, filled with confusion.
"I an, look at it, it's hard enough to be thrown at soone's face."
"Now that you ntion it... It probably is."
"No..." Stephanie interjected with her lukewarm expression. "That's an ergency item that you plant under the soil, in case of an ergency like getting lost because it's hard to navigate through the harsh environnt inside. This sends so sort of mana signal to the station, mostly used when in case a person accidentally entered a restricted area or when they're lost."
'Hm... Is that the Purple Zone?' I thought.
The restricted areas of the dungeon are known as the "Purple Zone". In the ga, it was called "Purple Zone" because that's the area where lies the "Minos Stone". It was ntioned in a dialogue between the protagonist and... Rona. She's the heroine who will join Shin in his first action inside the dungeon, a senior of Shin from his hotown that's also attending the academy.
"Master~" Suddenly, Tsuki erged on my shoulder in her cat form.
"Oh, Tsuki, hello. How's the nap?"
"The best~!" Tsuki's cheeks caressed against mine while replying.
I did the sa and also made forget the question that I wanted to ask Stephanie.
"Oh, you~" Seeing Tsuki's bright smile ward my heart.
"I missed Master, nyaa~"
" too." I flashed a smile.
Our warm interaction was abruptly disturbed by the gazes of people surrounding us. I don't know why they're looking at , but sothing about their warm gazes pisses off—for so reason, I can't describe. Then I saw Erik and Stephanie staring at . The corner of Stephanie's mouth was jerking up, slowly forming into a smile. I ignored it and continued petting Tsuki.
We're now back in the bustling street of the town, or should I say, the area where the liveliest part of the town is. Unlike the street where Erik and I wandered off earlier. There were children playing in the street. So of them had their glistening eyes fixated on Tsuki, yet not a single attempt to approach us. Those kids made recall the earlier events involving the blacksmith's son.
I wonder what happened to him?
Then a heavy sensation crawled on my back. It's a familiar feeling...
It's approaching at an alarming rate.
"You guys feel that?" I asked.
And before I could turn around it—
"Ha~ha♪ Honey~♥"
"Kuh!" I almost kissed the ground.
"Mou~ You left alone, yesterday~ Don't ever do that~ Now, you need to compensate for all the ti we're not together... every second of it... every second of our life is precious. Therefore, I'll stay with you for the entire month, not leaving your side~" Rosalyn said in a playful manner that could be treated as a joke; however, she was absolutely serious.
'Yo, all of her inner thoughts are slipping out!' I thought.
I coughed.
"How were you able to find ?"
"Intuition." Rosalyn delightfully replied.
'Liar, soone told you.' I thought.
Stephanie and I locked gazes with each other. Sympathy was reflected in Stephanie's eyes. Who can bla her? It's her friend that's currently in a state of... State of what? Turmoil? Craziness? Can I even call it that?
A hot, wet sensation tickled the back of my neck slithering down my entire body. A few seconds later, it beca hotter and hotter. It made my heart skip a beat. And next to us, Erik and the other passerby had their eyes on us. We're still in the center of the bustling street of the town, thus we have beco the main center of attention.
"Okay, that's going overboard," Stephanie said, suddenly, my back beca lighter. Looking behind, I saw Rosalyn sitting around my waist and having a staredown with Stephanie.
"Rosalyn. Stop acting like a little child. I'd like to help you as your friend, but first, please act rationally like a normal person." Stephanie said out of concern for her friend. She's looking at Rosalyn like a mother would to her child.
"Your friend? I don't need friends! I only have Claude in my life!" Rosalyn responded bluntly and tightened her clutch.
"That's sweet of you but—" I added.
Suddenly, I felt a cold shivering sensation slithering down my spine yet again, after I saw Stephanie's eyebrows furrowed for a split second.
"Let's go sowhere else. We're garnering too much unnecessary attention." Stephanie politely said.
Rosalyn ignored her, yet once I said it. "I, 100% agree with you. Let's go sowhere else, okay, Rosalyn?"
"Okay♥" Rosalyn flashed a smile that captivated the hearts of n.
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"I'll stay here and wait."
"Thanks, Erik." I thanked Erik.
We moved to a nearby quiet alley, slightly further away from everyone. Earlier, when we were walking, Rosalyn was clinging to my arm as if her life depended on it. Once we were in the clear, Stephanie folded her arms and sighed exasperatedly.
"Rosalyn," Stephanie called Rosalyn.
Rosalyn responded with a cold gaze.
The atmosphere between Stephanie and Rosalyn was sowhat conflicting because Rosalyn was showing animosity toward Stephanie, yet, Stephanie was showing the opposite. Then there's Erik, who just got caught by our dilemma, standing at the distance. He's giving us so privacy which is admiring of him. Lastly, there's , caught between the two.
Tsuki jumped on the top of my head. She made my head her resting place. Tsuki had beco too llow or too lax, lately, unlike what I've been used to seeing—she hasn't been acting childish lately, and I kind of miss that. Nevertheless, Tsuki is still the sa loving cat that I t the first ti. I continued petting her, forgetting my current situation.
"Where do I even start...? Today is not your day." Stephanie pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You're just trying to separate from Claude. I did a good job! I deserve to be rewarded today!" Rosalyn bit her lower lip and hid her face behind my back, refusing to respond nor listen anymore. Her attention quickly diverted and returned back to , as she flashed her usual bright smile at .
'Good job?' I thought.
I gave Stephanie a brief glance to check on her, needless to say, she was just shaking her head sideways in disappointnt. "Rosalyn..." she said.
At that mont, it hit . The more I tolerate Rosalyn's behavior toward , the more she'll be difficult to handle in the future. Her behavior stems from the day her ntal broke down. The day Shin accidentally groped her... And I beca the sowhat scapegoat of the situation...
She might've her brain lted that day from all the stress, especially when it was examination day. Obviously, I already had a discussion with the sly bird, but I don't believe him since he views the twins as vessels and nothing more. Vessels that will benefit him and his people. Therefore, I don't trust a single word that ca out of his twisted mouth.
"Can't you talk to Stephanie more gently?" I gently said.
"Do you love her more than ?!"
"Yeah." I blurted out my honest thoughts.
"Why? Why? Why? Was it because you t her first before ?! You kept denying my advances! It's like you don't want at all! Why?! I'm more beautiful than her and loved you more than her! You kept denying ... denying... Why? Why? Why?"
"Claude!" Stephanie yelled.
"Oh... My bad." I replied nonchalantly.
"Why can't you just look at ? I know that you wanted and loved from the first ti our eyes t. The world told that you're the one ant to . But now, why can't you...? I did my best to discipline my brother for you, so he wouldn't approach Stephanie anymore! But why?!"
Rosalyn glared at both Stephanie and . "I'm considerate enough to accept the woman around you... That I can't have you for myself because that's what makes you happy... But if they're the reason why you won't accept ..."
"Whoa, whoa whoa...!" Stephanie exclaid.
'Things escalated so quickly...'
Rosalyn's sharp amber eyes glead like the sun, burning with hostility toward Stephanie. Stephanie felt threatened by her glaring eyes, so her spirit also got alard and manifested in front of her. It was a small adorable beast with its fur and tail perking up, protecting its master against a monster. The situation escalated more quickly than I anticipated.
"R-Rosalyn?!" Stephanie exclaid.
"Krrrr—!" Rosalyn's body was drastically heating up.
Therefore, I cast twelve tiny magic circles around all pointing at and also, setting up a barrier trapping Rosalyn and inside. "Don't you dare," I said coldly.
Rosalyn's entire body jerked up, her quivering eyes were staring at .
I crossed my arms together and rested my back against the wall.
'Wait, her eyes are dilating... She's losing herself again. Sothing will happen, I need to de-escalate the situation... What if I do that? It's worth a try.' I thought.
Rosalyn didn't utter a word nor budged. The mana accumulating around Rosalyn was going out of control, adding the terrifying heat. Her unstable emotions are really a pain in the ass to deal with. I leaned forward, locking eyes with her. From the look on her face and dilated eyes, the state of her mind was in disarray. Therefore, no matter what I say, she won't be able to understand it.
I grabbed Tsuki by the neck, placing her on top of Rosalyn's head then I leaned closer to her ears and whispered. "Call upon my na... Call upon her na... Call upon our na... Rosalyn Mora... Heed our presence."
Then Tsuki released so sort of smoke around her which essentially cald Rosalyn down. Rosalyn's dilated amber fury eyes returned back to normal and the tense air surrounding her finally eased out. Stephanie's spirit also cald down, staring intently at Tsuki. In order to calm Rosalyn down or wake her up, Tsuki sent so sort of shockwave in the outer part of Rosalyn's soul that can montarily cut off the mana to Rosalyn's body. Tsuki carefully did that without affecting the "Thread of Life" of Rosalyn. Needless to say, everything has repercussions.
I montarily lost consciousness afterward...
Once I opened my eyes, I found myself floating in an empty space of nothingness. Next to , I also found Tsuki in her human form. "Master~"
"Thank you so much. This is enough, you can now go back. I'll be taking it from here." I said softly, patting her head.
"Okay, Master~!" Tsuki's body began crumbling like dry leaves until all that remained was my hand.
Following that, I looked up ahead in the emptiness and waited. Amidst the emptiness of the place, a shaft of light illuminated through the darkness, and a silhouette erged in the middle. The silhouette gradually approached forward.
"The Warden," I muttered solemnly.
The Warden, the protector of souls, the incorporeal being that maintains the order of the world. A supre being feared by many gods in Avalon. Why did it appear here? Simple. I violated Gaia's law by tampering with Rosalyn's soul. It's not a simple thing like obstructing the flow of mana from her soul to her body, but rather, temporarily obstructing the flow of Gaia's mana to Rosalyn's soul. I literally tampered with nature itself, thus the Warden's arrival.
Its arrival also answered a lot of Diana's conjecture. She thought we could disrupt the contract bond between the phoenix and the twins in order to separate the two by disconnecting Gaia's mana flow to their soul and replacing it with my quintessence to control the twin's soul, and also the phoenix. The situation was perfect for us to execute this plan since Rosalyn's unstableness disrupted the mana inside her soul. But to my dismay, another problem arises, the Warden's interference made it impossible since fighting it in my current state is only asking for death.
(It really did appear.)
(It's expected. So, as of right now, we will withdraw and think of another plan. With our current strength, we don't stand a chance.) Diana replied.
I stretched my palm to my right. The Warden raised its lance in the air, sending it to my location with a spiraling motion. Thereafter, I punctured into the emptiness with my fist and a spatial gateway manifested out of thin air. I promptly dragged myself into it, evading the Warden's attack and leaving the place completely. I'm confident enough that the Warden wouldn't be able to catch as I'm rely an outsider of this world, plus it can't intervene in any affairs in the material world
It's difficult to think of a way to deal with Rosalyn because from how feeble her ntal is right now, the outco will surely have a significant impact on her life.
Seeking salvation through the world of imagination.
Ignorant of reality to cope with unfortunate circumstances.
It's normal for people to have deluded fantasies, but there's a limit, or else, it will be too late.
So of them survive, but so of them don't.
The harsh reality of the conscious minds.
The harsh reality of what every individual needs to overco.
Accept reality for what it is, a radical acceptance.
The existence of the phoenix inside them was like a plague that was slowly eating their sanity. My groundless conjectures can be the detrint to the twin's life, yet doing nothing is worse. Of course, recklessness is not an option.
Lingering questions like...
What if I managed to successfully extract the phoenix or kill it?
Will the twins die from it? Are their souls rged like us?
How mighty is the phoenix?
Can I even take control?
Would it be easier to defeat the Warden or the Phoenix?
Can we even defeat them?
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