Chapter 712: A Proposal for an Alliance
Chapter 712: A Proposal for an Alliance
“N-No! It’s not like that! Whoa!”
“What are you doing? Here.”
Having been caught in such a perfectly timed, misleading scene, I was so flustered that, despite being a Seoul native, some bizarre dialect I didn't even know I knew came spilling out.
I tried to pull away from Alicia to clear up the misunderstanding, but unfortunately, I still hadn’t put on my crampons.
The moment I tried to let go of her from my unstable position, my body swayed violently. Seeing this, Alicia manfully wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me firmly against her.
My posture completely unstable, I reflexively threw my hands forward, and of all the places they could have landed, it was right on Alicia’s chest.
No, I really wasn’t aiming for it.
They were at the perfect height for my outstretched hands, and they were the part of her body that stuck out the furthest. It was just how the situation unfolded.
“Gah! Sorry! I didn’t mean to…!”
Her chest was covered in armor, so it wasn’t like I felt anything soft, but I was still startled and snatched my hands back.
“It’s fine. Stop acting like such a virgin. It’s not like they’ll wear out.”
Alicia’s face was slightly flushed, but she coolly forgave me. As I pulled my hands away and reflexively stumbled back, she tightened her grip on my waist to hold me steady.
“Th-Thanks.”
“…It’s nothing. Not worth thanking me for.”
Held in Alicia’s arms, all I could do was offer my thanks like a bashful young girl.
I mean, I’m overwhelmingly bigger than her, but damn, she’s so cool.
Was it because I’d heard the story from Rachel about how she defended me at the guild even after I rejected her?
“Hey! Do you really want to die?!”
And as if our behavior was deeply displeasing to her, our Hero, who was absolutely livid, hurled a threat from a distance. I couldn’t tell if it was aimed at me or Alicia.
Well, seeing as she was speaking so informally, it was 100% directed at me.
But Sara, I know it’s a situation ripe for misunderstanding, and I get that you’re angry, but when you say that while aiming your bow at me, it’s genuinely terrifying.
That’s a threat, right? You’re not actually going to shoot, are you? Your big bro is trusting you, okay?
Just as I was cornered and feeling the pressure of our Hero’s killing intent, the Emperor Penguin chose that moment to burst through the wall again.
Of course, I wasn’t about to miss this opportunity.
“No, I mean… Look! Over there! The Layer Boss is still…!”
CRASH! Fwish! Thud.
The bird missile that had appeared through the wall with a powerful roar was shot down to the ground by a single one of Sara’s mana-infused arrows.
I guess truly overwhelming attacks are the quietest.
Watching Sara take down the Emperor Penguin so silently, without any real noise, I felt a cold sweat run down my entire body.
That’s strange. This is an ice cave. It’s definitely cold. So why do I keep sweating?
Even as I stood in Alicia’s arms, drenched in a cold sweat, Sara never let up the murderous glare in her eyes as she stomped straight toward me.
The only silver lining, if you could call it that, was that she had lowered her bow.
It seemed her aiming it earlier wasn’t to threaten me, but to stay vigilant against the Emperor Penguin.
“Hmph!”
“Keuk!”
Sara reached me, grabbed my arm, and yanked me toward her with all her might.
The problem was, Alicia didn’t loosen the arm she had wrapped around my waist.
This is bad. I just heard a sound from my lower back that should never be heard. A distinct creeeak.
As the situation devolved, Sara, who had been glaring only at me without even glancing at Alicia, finally turned her gaze to her.
Of course, Alicia wasn’t the least bit intimidated by Sara’s stare. In fact, she met it with a mischievous expression of her own.
Hey, stop it! If you provoke her like that, Sara’s really going to explode!
“Ghk… Hnngh…”
Facing each other, neither of them showed any sign of releasing their grip, as if they were in a tug-of-war with me as the rope.
No, if anything, I felt the strength in their arms getting even tighter…
This is dangerous. For real. This is not the time for a battle of wills. Don’t you know a man’s life is in his back? And the Saint’s back is even more important than a normal man’s! The Saint’s back is about to give out! The dangerous noises aren’t stopping!
No, seriously. I’m not joking.
Just as my back was about to reach its absolute limit, Sara broke her gaze from Alicia and glared at me again.
It didn’t feel like she’d lost the staring contest.
How should I put it? It felt more like she was letting her win.
After all, Alicia was the one I’d rejected, so perhaps Sara was showing her a bit of pity.
“Tch!”
Needless to say, Alicia seemed quite displeased by Sara’s reaction.
She clicked her tongue and roughly unwrapped her arm from my waist.
As a result, my body was naturally pulled by Sara’s arm into her embrace.
“Sara. It’s a misunderstanding. It’s not what you think.”
“Shut up. I know. You idiot.”
I clung to Sara and hurriedly tried to explain myself, but she cut me off mid-sentence.
Still, from the way she said that, it seemed she didn’t suspect me of cheating on her.
Even though she’d just hurled abuse at me. And even though her eyes were still radiating killing intent.
Wait, if you know, why are your eyes still so murderous?
The words almost escaped my throat, but on second thought, I realized she had every right to be angry.
Let’s try to see it from her perspective.
Some punk confesses to Sara, and later, by some accident, Sara ends up touching that punk’s crotch.
Yep. He dies. Not Sara, of course, but the punk.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be quiet.”
Having perfectly understood Sara’s feelings, I immediately bowed my head and apologized.
I cautiously lifted my gaze to look at the others who had come down with Sara, and as expected, none of them looked particularly pleased.
They just weren’t the types to express their displeasure as openly as Sara, so they were keeping quiet.
Diana, too, only acted that way when it was just us; in front of others, she maintained an attitude befitting the Supreme Archmage.
Well, there was that time she was kidnapped by Felicia when she apparently raised hell, talking about a coup d’état and all that, but that was an exception.
“…Have you been well?”
“Oh. Uh, yes.”
Anyway, our party followed behind Sara, and Diana, acting as our representative, greeted Alicia.
It seemed even Alicia couldn’t maintain the same attitude with Diana as she had with Sara, because she awkwardly accepted the greeting with formal speech.
“Hmm. There is much I wish to hear from both you and this man… but first, let us go over there to talk.”
Then, to my surprise, Diana pointed to the hole the Emperor Penguin had just made and said that.
Of course, the hole she was pointing to led to the male penguin’s room.
“D-Diana?”
Don’t tell me she’s only pretending to be calm, but she’s actually lost her mind with jealousy?
“Tsk. I can see what you’re thinking written all over your face. I have my reasons.”
But that didn’t seem to be the case. Diana tapped me lightly on the head with the tip of her staff and handed me a pair of crampons.
“Ah, I’ll help you.”
As I sat on the floor to put on the crampons, my angel scurried over to help me with my right foot.
My angel’s expression hadn’t been great when she saw Alicia and me together earlier, but an angel is still an angel.
“Thanks.”
“Hehe. Not at all. You’ll need these here so you can stand on your own without having to lean on someone else.”
…M-My angel?
No, she was definitely smiling, and her voice was as warm as ever.
Warm, but… am I just imagining the thorns hidden in her words?
“She’s absolutely right.”
Matilda, too, approached me, knelt down, and lifted my left foot to put on the other crampon.
With both my feet in the air and nothing to do, my eyes caught Silvia subtly positioning herself to stand between me and Alicia.
…Hey. You guys are being way too wary of Alicia.
I turned her down, you know?
…Well, Alicia did act deliberately provocative just now, so I guess that’s why they’re being extra cautious.
“If you’re done, let’s go. If we delay too long, the hole we just made might close up. You all, follow us.”
“Huh?”
After confirming that the crampons were on both my feet, Diana urged us to move toward the male penguin’s room.
Moreover, it seemed she intended for Alicia’s party to come with us.
Oh, for the record, Alicia was with her usual trio.
It made sense, since there was no reason for her to be here alone.
And as for that trio, for some reason, they were all glaring at me with expressions of deep resentment.
It was like they wanted to curse me out but couldn’t bring themselves to open their mouths with Alicia so close.
Did I do something to them?
Hmm. Ah, now that I think about it, I did say I’d put in a good word for them last time, but then I just left.
…Judging by their haggard looks, Alicia must have really put them through the wringer. Yep. My bad.
In any case, following Diana’s instructions, we all moved toward the male penguin’s room.
Alicia seemed puzzled by Diana’s sudden suggestion to go into the hole, but it looked like she was going to follow along anyway.
“Here, you’re coming with me this time.”
Sara stuck to me like glue, as if to prevent a repeat of me and Alicia going down together.
Seriously, I have crampons now. Nothing like that is going to happen again.
Fwish. Gweeeck.
In the end, Sara and I went down through the hole first, stuck close together. Before the male penguin could even react to our presence, it was struck by one of Sara’s mana-filled arrows and died instantly.
Hey, Sara. Why are you looking at me like that right after killing it? Is this a show of force?
“Whoa! What is this place?!”
One by one, the others followed us down. Alicia’s group, who came last, looked around the room with wide eyes.
“Before we discuss that, there is something I must confirm.”
Looking at Alicia’s party, Diana spoke in a serious tone.
It seemed she was finally going to reveal her purpose for bringing them here.
To be honest, I’d been curious since earlier, so my attention was naturally focused on Diana’s lips.
“I was under the impression that my clan and yours maintained a rather close relationship. May I assume that is still the case?”
“…Of course… you can. Do I look like the kind of woman who’d be petty over something like that?”
Her opponent was the Supreme Archmage.
But at the same time, she was also the woman of the man who had rejected her.
Alicia, whose emotions were always plain to see, spoke with that subtle conflict written all over her face. Her speech was awkward at first, but she eventually seemed to decide to just push through with informal language.
“…Good. If my memory serves me correctly, you are an executive of the Arachne Clan, are you not?”
Diana offered no correction for Alicia’s informal tone.
However, I felt the air around Diana grow slightly heavier.
She wasn’t exuding mana or anything like that, but how should I put it? It felt like her presence had become more imposing.
In other words, this was the side of the Supreme Archmage I hadn’t seen in quite a long time.
“…That’s right… ma’am?”
Faced with that, it seemed even the great Alicia couldn’t continue speaking informally. She eventually reverted to using awkward, formal speech.
As soon as she did, the oppressive air around Diana immediately lightened.
Well, it was to be expected. Diana had also worn a very displeased expression when she saw me and Alicia together earlier.
She wasn’t so lenient as to forgive someone who had just annoyed her for suddenly speaking to her so casually.
“In that case, I have a proposal for you, an executive of the Arachne Clan. Are you interested in forming a more cooperative relationship with my clan?”