Chương 431: Chapter 404. Throwing A Plan Out Of Whack

/ Knock. Knock. Knock. /" Are you sure we should do it like this?"" Yes, something tells me you shouldn't just walk in. It might be dangerous... In different ways..."" What do you mean?"" Don't worry about it." Charlotte didn't seem to want to explain what she was talking about. I guess I shouldn't push it, I mean, if I make her angry again, she might really try to walk hand in hand all the way to the mansion. I don't know how I'd explain that to Sarah and Anna... I don't think this counts as cheating?

I mean, I'm sure if it was, Charlotte, being a Princess and knowing she carried that Title, would put a stop to it, I mean, the last thing she would want is to cause some kind of incident between us that'd make Sarah and Anna want to send her back to Darkheim. No, I shouldn't be thinking about that right now... Anyways, we were currently at Alice's house in Paradise. At first it was temporary, but after we got back from Zana, Alice apparently really liked the house, so she asked if she could actually buy it.

I told her it was hers and that she didn't need to spend any money, she's a Friend after all. She really helped out in the battle against the God Of The Blackwoods, it didn't make sense to me to make her spend money on a house no one was using at the time. Granted, the price range of empty homes in Paradise has now skyrocketed with people wanting to move here, but that's an issue for a different time. Charlotte and I were waiting after my knocking on the door.

We could both hear footsteps approaching closer and closer." Look, Charlotte, I don't care who you've brought to try and stop us! It's not going to work!" / SWOOSH! / We could hear Alice's annoyed voice as she swung the door open. It actually hit us with a breeze from how strongly she opened it. She was glaring at Charlotte once she opened the door. However, her demeaner changed once she looked to Charlotte's right side. Her eyes went wide as we made eye contact." I heard you were looking for me, Alice." / Sniff...

Sniff... /" What are you-" / Squeeze! / At first, Alice sniffed me for some reason? Then, after it looked like she'd confirmed whatever it was she was trying to find out, she quickly hugged me after that. She launched herself at me so hard, I nearly fell down, but I was able to keep us on our feet." How?"" I waited for the right moment and got away. Granted, there was some resistance."" I know, I can smell the blood on your skin and clothes. It's how I know it's you... And there's the smell of burnt flesh."" Hm?

What do you mean?"" Back when we fought in Zana, you were bleeding. I remembered the smell, that's one of the ways how I know it's actually you and not some kind of trick to make us stay put."" Just curious, but what other ways are there?"" Quite a few for Beastmen, because of our Enhanced Senses compared to the other Races, but the biggest indicator is your heartbeat. I'll never forget the rhythm of the heartbeats of people who're Important to me."" Oh... Well... Thanks, Alice...

You're an Important Friend to me too." / Woosh! /" Huh!?" The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident." Huh!?"

"..." A red light came out of my chest again." What is going on?" I looked up as the light seemed to fade just as quickly as it arrived. Wait... What? Alice... She's... Blushing?" Are you okay, Alice?" Release!" Huh!? Uhm... Yes! I'm fine! Uhm.... Let's go show Ruby and Cyn that you're okay!"

"?"

"?" She quickly let me go. I looked at Charlotte and she shrugged her shoulders at me." Did either of you see that red light?"" What are you talking about, Matthew?"" Yeah, we didn't see anything?"" But Alice made a surprised sound just like I did!?"" What are you talking about? Oh, don't worry about it, it's late, you're just tired, aren't you? Come on, let's show Ruby and Cyn that you're okay!" Grip! Pull! Alice quickly let go of me and grabbed my hand.

I looked at Charlotte and she looked at me like I was crazy... I mean, I didn't really sleep well the past few days, but Paladin's Recovery has kept me going since then... It's not like I was pulling all-nighters... but I certainly wasn't getting even 4 hours of sleep a night. I tried reviewing my sleep the past week as I was dragged into Alice's house... Until a voice caught my attention." Well, if we cut through this forested area, it'll give us enough cover to push near the Alfheim Border.

From there, I can use my abilities to sneak us through either a checkpoint or from scaling the walls, from there it's a straight shot to the Capital City... Krystalbaum. From there, we just need to find someone willing to give us the location of their dungeon. We sneak in, have Alice's nose and ears lead us to him, we grab him and get out. Simple as that. Any problems with that, Ruby?"

"!" / Thump! Thump! Thump! /" RUBY!?" / THUMP! / GRIP! SQUEEZE! Fall! / BANG! / As we walked in, I could hear Cynthia going through the plan that they've made to find me. It sounded like an okay plan to me, but I don't think they're thinking about the people that might come after us once they grabbed me. Or the fact that 2 Princesses would be worthwhile hostages for Alfheim. I couldn't voice these complaints however, because Ruby stopped listening as soon as she saw me enter the room.

Once she did, she did everything but jump over the table between her and Cynthia as she ran to me and tackled me to the ground. Since Alice was holding me and I didn't want to rip my hand out of hers, I ended taking the full brunt of Ruby's gigantic frame smacking into me. Did I mention that Demons are stronger and faster than Humans? I hope I did, because those two elements made me feel like I was just tackled by a Lioness trying to protect her cubs.

Even with that though, Ruby still gently placed a hand around the back of my head to protect me as I hit the floor. Her hand felt really warm as she gently cupped the back of my head. Drip... Drip... Drip... / Sniff! /" Hic! You're back! You're back! You're okay!" Tighten! I felt warm tears land on my cheek as I looked up to see Ruby crying happy tears. She was shaking as well. She quickly buried her face into my chest as she held me as tightly as she could.

From there, all I could hear from her were the gasps from trying to catch her breath through her tears." Yeah, Ruby... I'm okay. I promise."" You're covered in blood!" Cynthia quickly called out to me at my answer to Ruby's question. Well... I guess that way to calm her down just flew out the window. Best to go with honesty here, I guess?" There were some Elves that hunted me, but I was able to escape. These wounds were all from one guy though. I couldn't beat him, but I was able to escape.

I was able to heal the wounds though. I just couldn't find a good spot to wash off... I mean I probably smell, don't I?"" You don't, you smell fine to me!" Grip! Alice happily corrected me. And I guess from what I said, Ruby felt even less secure with me being back. She tightened her grip even more... This is becoming a problem..." Ruby... Can't breathe..." Release." Haah... Haah..."" Sorry..." Ruby let me go and raised herself off of me for a moment. I was able to catch my breath thankfully." It's okay.

I'm okay, Ruby. Sure, I got caught a few times during the fights, but I'm okay."" Okay..." / Tap. Tap. Tap. / I heard Cynthia walking up next to me. I turned my head to see her feet right next to me. I didn't look up since I didn't know if she was wearing a skirt or not." Say, Matthew... You say that you got "caught a few times...", but your clothes and skin... They're singed. Why is that?" Pressure!" Oh... Uhm... I kind of... needed to do something to get away..."" And how did you get away?"" D...

Do I really need to tell you?"" Why would you not?"" You... Your kind of scaring me right now, Cynthia..."" There's no reason to be scared... What's done is done... Just tell me, please?" Why do I feel so much pressure from her? What happened to the girl that was scared of me when she first met me!? No, that doesn't help me now... Something tells me that if I say it, she's not going to let me go unscathed! Poke. Poke. Poke. Cynthia bent down and began to poke my cheek... What is this? I'm trapped as well!

Ruby isn't letting me go either! Why is everyone just sitting here! I need some help here! / Woosh! /" Again!?"" What!?" Just as I was thinking about some help, the red light came back!