On the day of their departure from Brooke town Alex entered the guild with Hajime, Rias, Grayfia, Yue, and Shia, Anne, and Kuroka. Their next destination was the city of Furhen, then immediately after that the lakeside town of Ul near the mountain ranges. Normally Alex would just skip the stop in Furhen and go straight to Ul for the event that would happen there, but he knew that he'd miss possible advantages if he did that. It was for that same reason he came to say goodbye to Catherine before leaving as well. As their entire group approached the plump woman there was a small twinkle in her eye, as she figured there was a reason Alex appeared with their whole group this morning.
"Morning Catherine!" Alex said as they walked over. All the adventurers that were present looked towards his group at his voice, wondering what he was going to do now. What Alex noticed was that many of their gazes were drawn to the two new members of his group, Hajime who they had seen before but not with Alex, and Shia, a demihuman walking around without a slave collar. A quick glare was all it took to get them to look away, but they were still curious what he was doing. Catherine didn't react to their actions and smiled back at Alex's greeting, and said,
"Good morning Alex, what's the occasion since you're here with the whole group this time?"
"We're heading out to the next place, I'm thinking of going to Furhen city." As Alex's words spread through the guild there was a lot of murmuring at the news. Catherine on the other hand didn't react to it, and instead said after a moment,
"Let me write you a letter of introduction before you leave, just pass it along to the guild master of Furhen if you get into trouble or something." Alex smiled and said,
"Then I'll have to thank you for the consideration." Catherine said not to mind it, as she pulled out some items and swiftly wrote the letter of introduction to the branch head of Furhens guild. Only a couple minutes later she sealed the letter in an envelope and handed it over to Alex, with a smile on her face as she said,
"Here you go, and would you like a job that's in that direction as well?" Alex shook his head, and said,
"No thank you, I'd like to do our own trekking at our own speed." Catherine nodded and said,
"It'll be a shame to lose such great adventurers, but I can't tie you down here. Be safe out there."
"Don't worry we will." Alex said as they turned to walk away. As they left the guild headquarters Kuroka asked,
"So how are we getting there?~Nya Please don't say we're driving!" The last part of her sentence was said while looking at Anne, who wanted to glare back but couldn't deny Kuroka's concerns. Alex however shook his head and said,
"We're pretty much going to be walking the entire way off-road, then like I told Catherine we'll get a chance to move at our own pace as we make our way to Furhen." Kuroka grimaced when Alex said they were walking the entire way to the next city, but didn't say anything since they weren't having to stay in a labyrinth again. In fact if she really wanted to, since Alex planned to stay off of the roads while traveling Kuroka could just fly the whole time or even stay in Asora, but she chose not to. After all, she had to maximize her time with Alex to try and catch up to her sister, who stole the lead suddenly from her.
Once the group walked out of town a ways they all took after Alex's lead, and shot forward like a series of bullets into the forest at the towns edge. Alex, Anne, Kuroka, Grayfia, Shia, and Hajime were all people with high physical capabilities that were either running or jumping through the trees at high speeds; while Rias and Yue opted to fly with their wings as their bodies weren't as suited for running at high speeds. After a while of running Alex picked out a distant landmark to stop at for a quick lunch break, prompting an impromptu race among the group. Without him knowing the girls had secretly decided that the first one to arrive would be able to spend their lunch break with him, igniting all of their competitive spirits.
"I'll be going ahead then~Nyan!" Kuroka shouted as she surged forward with a sudden burst of speed. Grayfia frowned at her actions and, rather than wanting to win the competition, simply didn't want to be out done by Kuroka. She then silently promoted to her knight piece, and shot forward as well to swiftly pass up the nekomata. It was quite the sight for those watching the two race, one in a kimono and the other in a maid outfit. What neither expected however was that a pair of rabbit ears suddenly caught up and managed to keep pace with them.
"I won't lose either! Witness the strength of my loveeeeee!" Everyone watched dumbfoundedly as Shia kept pace with the two girls, not by running, but by using her extreme strength to launch herself forward in sudden bursts of speed to keep up, just like a bouncing rabbit. Of course all three girls had their attentions drawn to the skies a moment later, as Rias and Yue tried to keep ahead by flying instead of running.
"Perhaps I'll take this chance Yue, to show you our difference when it comes to experience while flying!" Rias declared, as she intended to use the years she had her ability to fly to outdo Yue. The vampire princess frowned at Rias's words, and said,
"...Then I'll show you our other difference... In magic control..." As she spoke the winds around Rias suddenly picked up, before turning into a miniature tornado that threw the Crimson haired woman away while Yue flew ahead with a smirk, before crashing into a barrier created by Kuroka.
"Don't get ahead of yourself~Nya! We won't let you win either!" The words were no sooner out of her mouth before a sword was swung at her head.
"HEY~NYAN! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME YOU CRAZY MAID!?" Kuroka shouted as she dodged the attack. Grayfia simply said,
"Don't worry, it's the blunt one I use for practice. The worst you'd get is a few broken bones until Asia could look at you." Kuroka narrowed her eyes at Grayfia's words, ready to cast some magic before another voice interrupted them,
"I'm that case I'll use this! Hyaaaaaaa!" As a giant hammer came swinging at them from the side, courtesy of Shia. In this way the entire group used magic and weapons to hold each other in check as they made their way to the landmark, while Alex, Anne, and Hajime watched in amazement from behind.
***
A little over an hour later the girls were trying to catch their breaths at the landmark as they waited for Alex and the other two to catch up.
"Haa, haa, I can't believe I lost!" Shia cried out, as the other losers silently agreed with her. The victor of their race however, Yue, looked smug as she was already thinking about how she would utilize her victory. As the group of women were waiting however, Alex arrived with Hajime right behind him, and while carrying Anne in his arms in the form of a princess carry. As they gapped at the woman in Alex's arms he explained,
"Anne doesn't have the same endurance or abilities we do, she's stronger than a normal human, but not to the same extent we are." As Alex explained his justification, the rest of the girls however weren't sure they imagined a small smirk on the side of Anne's mouth, as she cuddled closer to Alex while he continued holding her. Though Yue enjoyed the fruits of her labor, she still felt as if it was a hollow victory.