"What? Why?! Are you okay?" Yulie responded with a panicked question, rushing towards Albrecht's aid and grabbing him by the shoulders.
Albrecht was still in a daze after everything that's happened. Just that morning, he was banished from the Heroes of Relics, and then he heard voices of other Albrechts in other universes in his head. An existence that he called the System also appeared in his mind, giving him instructions and guiding him through his arsenal of skills that he only discovered a couple of minutes ago.
It was a crazy day.
All he ever wanted was wallow in self-pity while spending quiet time in the countryside. It's been six months since his transmigration to the future. With the help of advanced technology and the so-called Zecian Aura that the Great Meteor emitted, he was transported far into the future. He was then briefed about the Great Meteor Fall, and how he was part of the Heroes Of Relics who were summoned to defeat the Dark One.
It was all like a fever dream, and at first, Albrecht didn't believe a single word he heard. Even though it was King Albatross VII who spoke to him, he still didn't believe it.
For the past six months, many Heroes of Relics died, and no more had been brought from the past since it required a hefty amount of resources. (Every kingdom had summoned their own heroes, and it's a trade secret as to how they went about it).
Many Heroes of Relics had died, and at that time, they haven't even conquered the first outer layer of Ground Zero, the place where the Great Meteor had fallen. It had become the territory of the Dark One, and beasts guarded the territory with their lives.
Even Albrecht couldn't blame Sun Wu for banishing him from the party. He was aware of his own shortcomings, and he knew just how much he had been dragging the team down. However, he strove to do his best, and there was never a time when he was a burden to the party.
While he felt bad for being removed from the Heroes of Relics, he knew that it was for the best. It was painful since he lost his main purpose as a summoned hero, but he prodded himself that he would get over it.
"What is it?! Why aren't you speaking? HELLO?!" Yulie called out, to which Albrecht snapped back into reality.
'Right... for now, I should deal with this problem at hand. Once my back is healed, that's when I'll contemplate these changes.' Albrecht muttered in his mind before shaking his head.
"I'm fine," he responded in a delayed manner. "But I can't stand up. That damned Tri-Horn Minotaur broke my back."
At first, Yulie went with the assumption that Albrecht had lost his mind after his encounter with the Tri-Horn Minotaur. But upon hearing his coherent speech, she heaved a sigh of relief. "You'll be fine. I'll take you to the Caharsa City Clinic. Would it hurt if I carried you on my back?"
"I can handle it." Albrecht let out. Upon seeing her mesmerizing eyes and pleasantly gentle face befitting that of a goddess, Albrecht pretended to act cool.
"All right. I'll do what I can." Yulie exhaled. Before Albrecht could say anything else, she strapped her shield on his back. "This will act as a brace on your back, and the straps will hold your spine in place."
With a light grunt that sounded more like a moan, Yulie tightened the strap on Albrecht's entire body. She then activated her skills to further strengthen her entire body. "We have a kilometer to cover, so I'll be increasing the pace a bit. Just hang tight."
For the umpteenth time, Albrecht nodded along with Yulie's instructions.
"By the way, how did you do that? I've seen plenty of heroes as well as adventurers in all my years as the guild master. I've never seen anyone kill a Tri-Horn Minotaur with a single slash." She began.
"You're a guild master? That means... the old lady..." Albrecht felt like a fool since he forgot the name of the old lady. Even after she paid for his fare, it was an embarrassment to forget her name.
"Yup, I'm Yulie Rosethorn. And you are?"
[Kiss her! Kiss her right now!]
"My name is kiss her ri— what?!" Albrecht swiveled his head left and right upon hearing the voice of the system. Another window popped up in front of him. It had the words 'Kiss her' written on it. A couple more windows popped up, all with the same words written on them.
Heaving a sigh, Albrecht consciously brushed off the windows in front of him. He knew that doing so would close all the windows. Furthermore, if he thought of blocking the system's voice in his mind, it won't be able to speak to him... he didn't opt to do it though since the system might say something useful while he shut it off.
As his hand brushed past empty air in an attempt to cancel out the system windows, one of his fingers accidentally got stuck by the gap in Yulie's armor. It was the gap between her neck and her helmet. His action caused Yulie to impulsively fall on him as he 'accidentally' pulled her in.
And the deed was done.
For a couple of seconds, Albrecht and Yulie stared at each other as the kiss connected. Albrecht clearly saw the surprise in Yulie's eyes as her pupils dilated, and he inadvertently pushed her away.
"I'm Albrecht Stein, and that was a weird greeting you got there."
"W-w-wha—" Yulie's mind short-circuited. She badly wanted to scream that it was Albrecht who pulled her in. However, she couldn't really blame him, considering that she should've been strong enough to hold her own weight.
In the end, Yulie decided to shut her mouth. She then proceeded to prop Albrecht on her back. For all she knew, it would be an awkwardly long walk back to the city.
[You have fulfilled the requirements]
[The unique skill 'Blessing of the Divine Paladin' had been added to the Akashic Records of Space and Time]
[You have achieved a 'First Kiss']
[No rewards would be given in regard to the achievement]