"By the way, Elliot..."

A scent of broth lingered in the room as Alex and Elliot ate on their dinner, it's a soup and several pieces of bread, a fit consumption right before bed.

"What is the current state of Lionheart Kingdom?"

Elliot gulped on the bread and wiped his mouth, the young man's body might no different than Alex, but his appetite sure deep resembled a well, this was already his second.

"Hmm... you can say it's not very peaceful at the moment, the war with Knightwalker causes unrest among the people and most knights are shifted onto the battlefield, many places became less protected or didn't have protection at all, the monsters and bandits wreaked havoc."

Just like what happened with the people who were attacked by the goblins, suffered due to the conflict between the kingdom.

"Wasn't this going to affect the trade route of the merchant? If people like them couldn't work properly, how's the kingdom sustain their economy?"

"The merchants indeed contribute in the kingdom's economy, but they just one of the factors, the mercenaries play bigger role; the Lionheart Kingdom had the largest community of mercenary guilds, not only they could provide manpower for the war, their tax was also heavy, but considering the merchants need a protection, their earning was also not small."

"I see, so the Lionheart Kingdom was a warrior-practiced country..."

"Yes, the kingdom valued strength greatly, especially individual strength, all of its method to conquer land back in the past was through defeat and conquer, unlike Knightwalker with a little variant."

Then Elliot sighed, revealed a little bit of sour in his lips.

"Thus you see why I said before that I couldn't give anything to you... I... I am not the same like other Lionheart people, I can't fight... for that they despise me greatly, including my own father, he thought someone who can't swing a sword and kill people don't deserve to be a king, in his eyes someone weak like me is worthless... and Lionheart never have a woman as their king, thus Alexis was less appreciate, even when she's a skilled combatant, also the reason why she's being handed Lionel Sidonis."

Alex frowned, turned out Lionel Sidonis wasn't just some heirloom weapons, but also had a specific reason.

"The bearer of Lionel Sidonis must give part of their soul into the sword before they died, their sole existence is to become the fuel to boost the power of Lionel Sidonis, such purpose of living, people think it's an honor, in truth, it was an insult, also why do you think no one had used the sword except Alexis today?"

"Because it required long incantation and great focus?"

"Bullshit, at most it took only 5 minutes to activate the blade, you think those people before my sister can't afford that duration?"

Elliot gulped on his drink, his face turned red, and eyes seemed intoxicated.

"Using the power of Lionel Sidonis meant an insult, it's because those using it same as admitting weaknesses, their strength cannot solve the problem and must resort to external power, for people who valued individual strength greatly, how this is not an insult?"

Alex hesitantly nodded, although he generally didn't agree, some people indeed preceded pride over life, for example; an underhanded tactic greatly despised by some knights because it insulted their code of honor, they rather die on war than resort to such method.

In their mind, being a knight was seeking glory as much as they could on the battlefield, therefore, these people most famous for being fearless of death.

"Alexis never sought any strength, she didn't desire power, as long I am safe and sound, she would have content with her life..."

Elliot tilted his head upward, body lightly swayed.

"If she just a little bit selfish, perhaps she wouldn't have to suffer..."

"..."

Elliot eventually passed out due to being drunk, Alex tucked him to the bed, coating his body with the blanket, he stared at Elliot's face for a while, then stood up and walked toward in front of the window, through the small curtain he saw beyond the translucent, the desolate street of the night with some people occasionally passed by.

Elliot's suffering... he understood how painful it was, powerless people like them, either physically or financially, would always be tormented, by the so-called family, friend, girlfriend, or even life...

Perhaps that's just how the world's work? if you not succeed, people regarded you like second-hand garbage, and you couldn't do anything to it except work to the last bone, desperately hunted for that power yourself.

But... such a long and arduous process... Alex was honestly tired... he's so damn exhausted.

(***)

Momo returned to her room and met with Shizuka and Alexis, her expression was a bit despondent.

"What happened?"

Shizuka noticed her lack of spirit, Momo shifted her gaze toward the kunoichi.

"Nyantaa's wound is deep... and people said talking could only do so much..."

Alexis was also curious, Momo told them what just transpired back then with Nyantaa and Mary, the she-knight sighed while shaking her head.

"If he got to leave her, then he should just leave her, there was no need went overboard like that."

"Maybe he thought she wouldn't survive," Momo said.

"That makes the matter worse; if she ought to die, those words shouldn't be her last," Alexis knitted her eyebrows.

Shizuka leaned her head on the room's wall, a hint of helplessness flashed through her eyes.

"In some other places who had people like me, a mission takes priority over comrades, should they fall to predicament and saving them meant risking the whole mission, then they would sacrifice their comrades."

Momo looked at Shizuka, hesitated a bit.

"Have you... ever done it?"

Shizuka declined her face and smiled at Momo.

"No, but my master taught me the same way... when it came to the life of my comrades and the mission, I should pick the latter..."

She looked at her own delicate feet, her face pasted on her knees, she said, "Because failing the mission could mean the loss of many lives, therefore sacrifice one to save the many... it's a trade that one should not consider."

Momo looked gloomy, slightly clenched her hands.

"I don't believe that... if you can't save a friend, then how do you have the confident to save others?"

"I don't need confident..." Shizuka's eyes half-shut, she hugged her knees tighter, "all I need is to make sure the mission is completed, even if it is at the cost of my life... because if I failed after their sacrifice... then my life has no meaning."

"Shizuka..."

Momo bit on her lips, Alexis looked at Shizuka, couldn't help but got a sense of familiarity from her, as a knight herself, the task had been given by the kingdom should be prioritized, even if that meant several people would get injured or hurt, perhaps even died along the way.

Being a knight wasn't a wishy-washy, all good and well occupation, she knew the risk of it, and what future that might await for her...

"At least, if it was me, I would kill Nyantaa myself when it comes to that situation... I can't save her, but I won't let her suffer..."

Momo became more depressed, she understood their idea but hard to accept it, if one should ready to sacrifice others for the sake of a task or mission, then how trust and teamwork should be built between them?

Shizuka's mission now was to protect Alex, which meant if it was between Alex and herself, or maybe the three soldiers, Shizuka wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice us as long Alex was secured.

Her heart tightened a bit, as Alex's figure came into her mind, she wondered what Alex might do in that kind of situation?

Would he abandon her as long he could save himself?

The atmosphere in the room became awkward and gloomy, Momo thought this not how they should fall asleep, otherwise, tomorrow was just going to be bad.

She glanced at Alexis, couldn't help but eyeing the she-knight figure.

Due to her wearing a breastplate, Momo hadn't got a chance to see her bust, but now since she's only wearing a buttoned pajama, and a bit tighter one, she just realized how big Alexis' breast was.

It's not humongous, but compared to Shizuka, she seemed to win several points.

Her waist was rather straight, her hip and ass were small.

Momo wickedly smiled, she strutted toward Alexis, a pair of imaginary devil horns manifested on the devilukian's head.

"Ms. Alexis, don't your back feel ever sore?"

"Hm? My back?"

Alexis wrinkled her eyebrows, unable to understand the meaning behind Momo's words.

"Yeah, I mean, your pair of girls in front must be quite heavy, don't they hurt your back?"

"My pair of what?"

Alexis became more confused, meanwhile, Shizuka already rolled her eyes, the naughty alien once again strike!

"I mean... this!"

Momo leaped into Alexis' behind and started groping the she-knight's chest, the latter was shocked before she began to moan.

"Ah... no, stop, stop, ahn... don't!!!"

Alexis trembled and tried to push Momo away, but the latter's strength was unbelievable, she such held her breast powerfully.

"Hmm? Ooh?"

Momo molded Alexis' twin mounds into many shapes, the mass overflowed between the gap of her fingers and always returned to its original condition once she let them go.

"Let... let me go... Momo... don't... huff..."

Hearing her moan, the devilukian became more crazed, her hands went all around the globes, sometimes heaving them to feel the weight, then rolled them around rapidly.

Alexis' tight became agitated, clasping her hand along with her nether region, she bit on one finger to suppress her moan.

"Ufufu you seemed sensitive here..."

Shizuka shook her head while the ladies at the other side was getting busy, she laid on the bed, facing a different direction and tried to get some sleep herself.

This was going to be a long night for Alexis...

(***)

The next day, the sun just began to shine, Mary awoke at the first chance in the morning, she looked at Nyantaa who still fast asleep and Olivia's bed that had no one on the top of it.

She stood up from the ground, despite the soft mattress and pillows, Mary still felt a bit dizzy, she stretched to get rid of the laziness and went out of the room to boil some tea.

But then she stopped, right at the gate, thinking something was amiss in the room, she turned her face and looked at Nyantaa again, then glanced at Olivia, who supposedly right there on the top of her bed.

"... ... ..."

A few moments of silence...

"OH NO, OLIVIA WAS MISSING!!!"

Then she turned around and went to the room of Momo and the others, she quickly gave the door many knocks.

"Guys, guys, Olivia is not on her bed, she-"

Mary shuddered at the sudden breeze of cold, she glanced toward her side and saw the window at the end corner of the hall had been fully opened, she remembered clearly last night it was shut.

"Guys, Olivia had escaped the house!"

...

*Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!*

"Hm?"

Alex felt a vibration in his pocket, reaching out into it and put his phone on the ear, his both eyes still shut, and his gesture was lazy...

"What is it, Mom?"

"Who's your mother?! Alex, Olivia went missing!"

"What?!"

Alex abruptly rose from the bed and immediately went alert, his loud tone also stirred Elliot awake.

"How could that happen?"

"We didn't know, she had gone when Mary awoke, apparently escaped the house through the window!"

Momo's voice at the other end had a hint of panic, Alex went out from the bed, paced back and forth while knitting his forehead.

"Alright, maybe she just returns to her home? Does anyone know where she lived?"

Momo glanced at Mary and asked her Olivia's house.

"She said Olivia lived outside of the town, but she didn't know precisely where."

"Well, how about Nyantaa, they are parties, she should have known..."

After a brief moment of silence, Momo's voice once again came through the speaker.

"No, Nyantaa also had no idea, they only had been parties for a couple of months, but she said if anyone knew where Olivia lived, it should be Caeth, Nyantaa said Caeth and Olivia were engaged."

"Alright, this Caeth, does she knew where he lived?"

"Mary also knew, she's been friend with Caeth for a long time, she can escort us to his house."

"Let's meet up at the center of the town."

"Ok."

Alex put down his phone, Elliot weirdly looked at him and wondered what's going on, not because of Olivia's missing, but Alex's action that seemed as if he talked with someone from afar through using that 'Phone' of his.

What sort of magic was this? Telepathy?

"Elliot, you stay here alright? I'll be going to search for Olivia."

"Well, can I help?"

"No, it's fine, we already have a clue, Alexis will come here to accompany you, and if we haven't come back yet when the soldiers awake, just tell them the situation."

"Alright, but... can you leave your phone behind?"

"Eh?"

Alex glanced at the young man and found his eyes were glistening with curiosity, ah yes, he just made a call with Momo, of course, it attracted Elliot's attention.

He took out his phone, encrypting all the important files inside before giving it to Elliot, the latter was excited and held it carefully like it was a piece of glass.

After making sure everything's fine, Alex opened the door and went out of the room.

He shivered when got out of the Cottage, a bit downhearted as he didn't have any warm clothes to wear, bearing the biting frost, Alex traversed the street, he saw people who swept the area in front of their building, some just walked around, perhaps doing morning walk or few mothers already gathered in front of a grocery.

Alex arrived at the center of the town, soon from the same direction, Momo and Mary came, Shizuka was left behind to take care Nyantaa while Alexis went into the Cottage to accompany Elliot.

He could see Mary's sharp slanted eyebrows and cold expression, she said that Caeth mostly lied to Nyantaa, there was no way he and Olivia were in any sort of engagement, Mary knew Caeth since very little, he or his family barely even contacted with Olivia or her father.

Besides, Caeth and this girl named Jewel was in a relationship, why would Caeth still take Jewel if he was engaged with Olivia?

Alex and Momo could sense a foul play here, this young man named Caeth likely a player, now they were curious how the young man appearance was for daring to poach two women.

They entered a pedestrian area, the houses here had a small yard, making them less crowded and dense than their other district counterpart.

Looking at the chimney above those houses, and soils ground below their feet, Alex felt like he was more inside a village than a town, back on Earth, he had visited several villages with more or less had a resemblance with this area.

Mary led them into a house with yellow fences, several short trees on the right side of the yard, they stepped into a small porch.

After a couple of knocking, a middle-aged woman opened the door with doubtful eyes, she still graced them with a smile though.

"Mary, why do you come to visit this early in the morning, and... who are these people with you?"

"Hello, Madam, I am Alex, Mary's uncle, and this is Momo, my daughter, we have something to talk about with your son, Caeth?"

Alex put down his hat and politely bent his head toward the woman, Momo gave Alex quite a glare but then sweetly smiling toward her.

"Caeth? What's this all about?"

"Nothing serious, Ms. Raven, also I heard Caeth had been injured by Jorey, I was worried about his condition."

The woman sighed, a bit melancholy inside her eyes, then she smiled while presenting them to go inside.

"Your care is very touching, Caeth will be happy, please come in..."

She led Alex and the others into the living room, they met a middle-aged man who was Caeth's father, Alex told the same story to him, said that he wished to talk with Caeth, but eventually, the one who came into Caeth's room was Momo and Mary, he accompanied Caeth's father instead.

To be honest, Alex had a sense of loneliness for quite a while, since arriving into this world, he was either had younger people as companions or Nuon who clearly far older than him, therefore, meeting someone at his age made him quite happy.

"So, I heard from Mary you work as Assistant Manager at an Auction?"

Alex sat on the couch, Caeth's father on the opposite, his wife came bringing tea.

"Haha, yes, it's not a very great job, but can provide a living for the family, I am satisfied."

"That's what important in a job, as long one satisfied, no matter what kind the wage was, they will feel happy."

"What about you, Mr. Alex, what did you do for a living?"

"Oh, I am an inventor, I create something to sell."

"Really? What kind of product? Maybe we have one of it..."

"Oh, I doubt that; my product didn't sell well outside my town, but if you curious..."

Alex put his hand inside his pocket, then he took out something rounded, it had strange markings with two needles ticking.

Caeth's father grabbed it and turned the stuff left and right, Caeth's mother also curiously stared at the item.

"This is called an Alarm, its function is to wake up someone or alerting someone through a loud noise came from it, here let me demonstrate but may I borrow one of the pillows?"

Alex took back the alarm and set the time, he placed it on the couch and toppled two pillows on the top of it, after five seconds, the alarm immediately ringing, but the sound was muffled.

"That is very handy; if I have one, I can sleep a while longer without afraid of getting later to work, haha!!"

Caeth's father let out a bellowing roar, then he received a pinch on the waist, the roar of laughter became the sheepish smile.

"I think it's the contrary, that item can make people lazier, waking early in the morning is a good practice..."

Alex smiled, he said, "Both of you are right, with this, people can buy some more time to rest before they appropriately wake up for the daily activity, but it also not good as they can become too much depended on it, therefore, unable to manage their schedule quite proper."

"Why don't you try to sell it to the auction? I believe some people might found this alarm quite interesting."

That's actually a good idea, in fact, he had some products to sell through the auction, for example; a poisonous sword which Alexis' currently wield, or maybe the sensor motion bomb.

Meanwhile, Mary and Momo entered Caeth's room, Mary knocked her knuckles on it.

"Who?!"

She could hear a grumpy voice from behind, she exchanged glances with Momo before replying.

"It's me, Mary."

"Mary? What are you doing in my house?"

"I am worried about your condition..."

"Well, fuck, I am bedridden now, you satisfied?! Now, get lost!"

Mary was shocked after hearing Caeth's answer, as far as she knew, Caeth was a good boy who didn't even curse at all.

"Caeth, can I come in? I need to talk with you."

"No, just get the fuck out, I don't want to meet anyone!"

"Caeth, Nyantaa and Olivia... both are still alive..."

"..."

The sound as if disappeared from the other side of the room, it's like no one inside.

"Impossible... that's impossible... Mary, this is not funny..."

"No, no I am not joking, Nyantaa is in my house now, but Olivia... Olivia is missing, we... Caeth, do you know where she lived?"

There was another silence, but then both Mary and Momo were surprised by a sudden scream.

"AAAAAA NO NO, That's a fucking lie!!!! There is no way they survive!!! NO FUCKING WAY!!! Get out, Mary, Get the fuck out!!!"

"No, Caeth, I didn't..."

"Get lost, you're a fucking slut, you try to make feel guilty for their death, aren't you?!

Momo wrinkled her eyebrows, she pressed the door and found it was not locked at all, it swayed open easily.

On the small room with loitered stuff on the ground, a young man with several bandages laid to rest on the bed, his face twisted in a hideous manner, both eyes went red as if he hadn't slept for the entire night.

The man gasped heavily, but the moment he saw Momo, he quickly startled, the entire face went panic and eyes became horrified.

"Oliv... Olivia?!"

Momo and Mary widened their eyes, the former looked up to her own hair, thinking they did resemble Olivia's, though she's brighter.

"NO, it's impossible, are you... are you try to haunt me?! No, no, someone helps me, help me!!!"

The young man scooted into the wall beside the bed, then tried to open the window.

At this moment, Caeth's parents and Alex had arrived on the second floor, the mother darted forward and tried to calm down her son, Caeth's father only sighed, signaled the rest of them to leave the room.

"It's not my fault, I don't have a choice, it's not my fault..."

Caeth mother could only endure her tears from flowing, holding tight Caeth's head onto her bosom.

When Alex about to get down, he caught a glimpse of a boy peeked through the small gap of a door, he was chubby, perhaps 4-5 years old, the boy had an afraid look on his face.

After they arrived at the first floor, Caeth's father explained that since yesterday, Caeth was a bit peculiar and strange since he came back from his hunt, then after he received a letter from Jewel's parents, Caeth immediately went manic and dashed out to search for Jorey, by the time his parents arrived, Caeth had been beaten up by Jorey's men, Jorey himself had a nosebleed at that time.

He was howling and crying since last night, cursing anyone who tried to enter the room, even a little Abel, who was his brother.

After a while, Caeth's mother returned from the upstair, she told them to return later as Caeth now was sleeping.

In the end, the trio couldn't only go back without a result, but Alex did gain a connection to Auction in the town.