My Ex-Girlfriend is the Strongest Guild Master and I'm the Weakest! Chapter 44: The Beginning of a stress-filled life

"We better get going, guys; the sun is starting to set," Alia hurried, marching back to the caves. A moody Alan and a silent Ashley followed closely.

"You can visit us anyti you like, Alan Warden," Smudock, the leader of the Slis, said as he escorted the group. "Just give us so notice if you decide to bring any new User."

"S-Sorry, chief. It won't happen again, I promise."

"It's okay. I didn't detect any ill will from your new partner," the sli humanoid said in a neutral voice, though his wary glances at Alia lingered. "By the way, since we're already acquaintances, why don't we add each other to our Friend Lists? That might co in handy in the future."

"Is that even possible? Aren't you a... what was the word again?"

"A NU," Ashley interjected, staring at Alan with empty eyes. "Non User. And yes, it is possible. They have regular System Interfaces, and we have been experinting with them a lot while I was here."

"Cool!" Alan grinned as Alia urged them from the town's entrance. "Ignore her. Add , please."

After a short mont, Alan received a new Friend Request, from 'Char_W1_021'.

Is this his original na? It's okay. I think I can add a surna to it... 'Smudock'... That's it.

"Neat." Alan smiled, before glancing at Ashley. "Wait, if you knew how to use the Friend List, why haven't you sent a Friend Request? We could have ssaged us all this ti."

"I did," she replied, making him frown. "I could do it by just writing your na, but every ti I tried, I got a 'Failed to send' ssage."

That reminds of the Error ssage she and I have in our User Interfaces, Alan thought, glancing at the impatient Alia. But I've been able to receive ssages and calls just fine. It's as if our accounts have been restricted for so reason.

After noting that on his ntal list of pending mysteries, he watched a small sli dashing toward Alia. Isn't that the sa sli that attacked her before?

"Don't even try it, buddy!" he warned, but this ti, the sli jumped into her arms and cuddled.

"Alan?" Alia called while consulting sothing in her User Interface. "It seems that I got the Monster Tar skill while interacting with it. So..." She then grinned widely, hugging it protectively. "That ans I can keep it, right? Is no one against KEEPING IT?! Right?!"

Alan hid his face in embarrassnt. It's as if she was asking for permission to kidnap a child!

He turned to Smudock, who seed to remain calm. For so reason.

"What do you say, chief?"

"If the system allowed it, I don't have a reason to object," Smudock said, exhaling. "Take good care of Slomiack, Alia Laflam."

"Yay!" She held the sli aloft, beaming. "But that's a hideous na for such a cute thing! So I'll na you Sloochie from now on! Do you like it?" she asked, and the sli squeaked, seemingly happy.

"Farewell, to one of our finest warriors..." Smudock said, adopting a solemn silence.

"You will not be forgotten," the rest of the village said, making a slow bow in the sli's direction.

"A-Alia? Try not to say inappropriate things while we're still here," Alan whispered, watching the suddenly awkward scene.

Night fell in the Beginner's Area, where stars looked brighter compared to Londoru's sky. While Smaio drove the cart to Unus Town, with a vigilant Ashley by his side in case the Weasenox attacked, Alan and Ashley rested in the back.

"I wonder if you could change your elent to fire, hmm?" Alia whispered to Sloochie while caressing it. "I could teach you all my fire spells once you level up. Would you like that?"

The little sli only squeaked back as a reply, making Alan wonder if it understood human language. Well, I suppose it does, since it'll evolve into an Advanced Sli soday. He then stared at Alia, who was absently looking in the distance, looking relaxed for the first ti since they t.

She can be cute too, huh? She was not lying when she ntioned that she needed a vacation.

Alan grinned as he folded his arms and leaned back to take a little nap, but an image flashed before his eyes. His brain stubbornly repeated mories of Alia impaling him, decapitating him, burning him. All while she maintained a nasty glare in her eyes.

Why? Why am I rembering that right now?! He put a hand on his forehead and started sweating cold.

"Dammit..." he muttered with shut eyes, getting her attention.

"Is sothing wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

He looked at her, as his brain superimposed a furious expression over her worried face. For Alan, she looked preoccupied and furious at the sa ti.

"I'm low in sugar, okay? I just noticed that I haven't eaten since I woke up today."

"Now that you ntion it, I only had beer for breakfast, too," she said, opening her User Interface. Seconds later, she threw sothing in his lap.

It was the first ti Alan saw that brand logo, but he imdiately knew it was a chocolate bar.

"Aweso!"

When the sound of aluminum foil getting unwrapped reached the front of the cart, Ashley glanced back, curious.

Alia sighed at the sight of her puppy eyes. "You can have one too, I guess..." she said, throwing two more chocolate bars in Ashley's direction.

"Thanks, Alia."

"Thanks, User!" Smaio said.

Only crunch noises were heard in that cart for a couple of minutes before Alia decided to give the rest of her chocolate to Sloochie and sit next to Alan.

It was the first ti he could admire her amber-colored eyes up close.

"You seem to know these sli people quite well, so tell , do you have any idea why they were saying, 'That the Goddess Viola blesses you'? What does that even an? We have no gods in the Novus."

So not everyone knows the nas of the Administrators. That reminds of The Dragon's Belly and the guy that implied that getting in contact with one of them was difficult.

"Viola Lang is the na of the Monster Administrator," he whispered in her ear, so Smaio could not overhear him. "She's in charge of everything related to the monsters and creatures inhabiting the Novus. Their respawning rate, their habitat, the damage they deal, to na a few examples."

"So even the monsters know their 'boss'. That Viola gal must love herself so much to program them with that knowledge." She sneered while curling a strand of hair with her finger. "Now that you've reunited with your... partner, what are you going to do?"

"Well... I heard what you said about starting a new guild..." he replied while carefully folding the candy's wrapping paper and putting it in his jacket pocket. She observed the scene silently, noticing little marks around his thumbs and index fingers. "And I don't know where you got that idea. This is supposed to be a secret mission, you know? We can't go around announcing we're part of a guild and try to be discreet at the sa ti." He then jerked his head to the side, grimacing. "Besides, who would want to join the guild of the weakest User in all of The Novus?"

"But, Alan," she called softly. "I don't think your secret is safe anymore. Look at what happened today."

"The Weasenox!" Smaio cried, looking back at the cart. "It's coming from behind!"

"Understood," Ashley said, readying her bow and arrow, but Alia was faster. Flas burst from her palm like a flathrower, while she kept locking her eyes with Alan's. "And I'm the one that suggested starting a guild, didn't I? So I'd obviously join you."

Alan looked at the charred beast's corpse illuminating the road behind as if it were an improvised campfire. Just two days ago, I looked just like it...

He could not find his words for several seconds, which prompted Alia to sigh and fold her arms. "You don't have to answer right now, but I'll give you a piece of free advice anyway, okay? Being a mber of an official registered guild cos with all sorts of bonuses. Gold, equipnt, XP... All of that stuff will be less of a pain in the ass if you gather it as a team." She paused, looking for his gaze, but he stubbornly looked the other way. "I thought you were taking this seriously. So much so that you even asked Marco Souza for help."

"And that worked so well..."

Annoyed, Alia grabbed him by the cheeks and forced him to look her directly in the eyes. "Listen! You won't be able to have an impact in this world if you don't have the power and the resources! Or are you still feeling guilty about the fall of your ex-girlfriend's guild to even start a new one and try to move on?!"

"And who helped ruin Shooting Stars, huh?! Oh, right! If I rember correctly, just 24 hours ago you and your 'lord boyfriend' were toasting to Astrid's downfall! So let say it straight out! If all of you hadn't played around and stayed, you could have stopped that albino woman and her pet dragon!"

Alia's eyes glowed intensely. "That man is not my boyfriend..."

"Well, you seed to enjoy doing his bidding, didn't you? So what's with this sudden change of heart, huh?!" He got closer to her face, glaring. "Do you want to know what I'm thinking? That maybe Marco ordered you to follow as the ultimate mockery. To give false hopes and make think that I may finally overturn this streak of bad luck! So once he snaps his fingers, you'll rejoin him and tell him all about how I fell into your ga! A level 100 helping a puny five like ? Yeah, nothing suspicious about it!"

"Guys?" An anxious Smaio called quietly. "We've arrived."

Alan ignored Ashley's gaze and got out of the cart first while Alia decided to stay a couple of seconds longer to collect herself.

"Let's go," Alan said, stretching out a hand to her, but Alia refused to glance at him. He exhaled. "This... has been a very frantic day. We're both tired and hungry, so let's talk about this tomorrow morning. All right?"

"Whatever," she replied, jumping off the cart without aid and striding toward the woods without looking back.

"Should we go after her?" Ashley asked as the little sli cried and rushed to catch her.

"No," Alan replied dryly, walking in the opposite direction.

After what felt like an eternity, both returned to the sa place where their mission was supposed to start, this ti without any possible allies left.

Alan and Ashley walked through the main street, reaching Downtown in a couple of minutes. Having briefly visited the enormous Londorus and having seen the surrounding area from the sky, gave Alan a good idea of how vast the Novus was.

And Unus Town is nothing but a tiny dot on the map.

"Are we going to stay in an inn?" Ashley asked, getting a bitter sneer from him.

Yes, we've literally returned to our last checkpoint...

"I don't have any money. If I knew things would go south with Alia, you and I should have stayed with the slis. I bet their huts are cozy."

"I have so gold," she blurted out, making him halt. "618 gold, to be precise."

So you appeared in this world with silver gear, a higher level than mine, and now you have money? Alan shut his eyes montarily, trying to clear his mind of suspicion. If I can't even trust Ashley, then who can I trust?

"Thanks, Ashley. Let's go to the inn. I know the way."

To Alan's surprise, despite being a place for new adventurers in the Eurola region to rest, the Moonlight Inn was bustling with activity. After speaking with the NPC receptionist, he learned that most of Unus's citizens also stayed there.

Rooms were reasonably priced at 30 gold a night, which was cheaper than renting.

Dinner was also affordable—10 gold for a loaf of bread and a bowl of tomato soup. However, since it was prepared by NPCs, known for their bland cooking, most residents preferred to order from User-run local restaurants instead.

Alan's mouth watered as he watched a man pull a juicy burger from a box stamped with the Dragon's Belly logo. The man caught Alan's gaze and scowled slightly, focusing on the number displayed above Alan's head.

Annoyed, Alan looked away.

"Alan?" Ashley's voice was soft and hesitant as she sipped her strawberry milkshake. "Could you tell about your trip to Londorus? How did it go? Were you able to speak with Astrid Bradford?"

"Sorry, Ashley. I'll give you a full report tomorrow morning, okay? I... don't feel like talking much right now."

"Of course."

"Actually, I'd like to rest now, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. We'll talk tomorrow. Your room's number is 36, and mine is 37, if you need . Good night, Alan."

At that mont, Alan wished nothing more than to be invisible. He wanted to sneak to his room without people staring at his level.

He wanted to tell them to mind their own business, but he knew better than to anger the wrong person.

I'll save in this place's downtown first thing in the morning, but right now, I just want to turn my brain off and have a dreamless sleep. No nightmares, no funny thoughts this ti.

He easily found his room, and the door unlocked automatically for him. I just...

"You look pale. Are you feeling alright?" a man asked as soon as Alan turned on the lights. After what had transpired that day, Alan's first instinct was to return to the hallway, warn Ashley, and run as fast as they could, but the doorknob would not turn. "Ah, sorry! I locked the room so no one would interrupt us. I also made it soundproof as an extra precaution. Is this a good ti to talk? I could co back tomorrow if you want."

Alan slowly turned around, finding a lanky black man with curly black hair, sitting on the bed. The bags under his eyes reminded him of his own.

A system window popped up on the wall to his right.

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NOTICE: You have exceeded the Maximum number of people allowed in a single room. If you would like to proceed, you will have to pay an additional fee.

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"Oh, crap. I forgot to disable that," the man said, opening his User Interface, which Alan noted to be much larger than the standard. "I don't mind paying, but I'd rather not have my visit registered in this place's log."

Alan saw the system's ssage get erased until only a blinking dash symbol remained, as if it had been 'hacked.'

"Who are you?"

"Nice to et you, Alan Warden. I'm Ricardo Silva, the Glitch Administrator."