After our encounter with those two Elves, which had ruined our love-making session, we continued walking along the edge of the forest beside the dirt road; though now that I think about it, we had no idea where we were going, I just really wanted to leave the port-city, though I should've gotten a map or something.
'Welp, I'm damn sure not turning around now, so we press onward!' Thought Alexander as he folded his arms before nodding to himself, nearly walking into a tree in the process.
"It's getting a little late. Do you want to continue or rest for the night, Lazuli? We can continue where we left off from before if you want." Asked Alexander as he raised his head, looking at the night sky, only to glance at Lazuli, who took a moment to respond.
"We should continue through the night; it would be best if we further distanced ourselves from the crime scene; since we're humans, I'm sure we'd be given no mercy if what happened were to somehow come to light." Replied Lazuli lightly as she opened her eyes and looked at Alexander, who softly sighed before nodding.
"Haa, yeah, you're right. Welp, at least give me a few kisses." Said Alexander with a nod as he groaned in annoyance, only to lean down, stealing Lazuli's lips with a passionate kiss.
Enjoying Lazuli's delicious and plump lips, we reluctantly continued onward through the night, and although we happened to spot some Elves walking along the dirt road, we would always conceal ourselves deeper within the forest as neither of us felt like dealing with them. Throughout the rest of the night, it was pretty calm, with a few groups of Elves every here and there, and while we did come across a beast, he happened to be pretty docile despite how intimidating he looked.
By the time the first rays of morning peeked from beyond the horizon after several hours, everything was pretty much the same; the only difference was that we were now further away from where I had killed those Elves.
"This is… Not what I had in mind when I thought of visiting Asckbon. First, we're forced to deal with racist Elves; now we're spending our time walking through the forest… I guess Yuki was smart not to come." Muttered Alexander lightly as he walked in a funny manner, doing whatever he could think of to relieve his boredom.
Again, the next few hours of the morning were nothing special, and just when noon began to roll around, although faint, I heard yelling in the distance.
"Eh, Lazuli, do you hear that?" Asked Alexander lightly with furrowed brows as he stopped walking, his words causing Lazuli to do the same.
"No." Replied Lazuli with a shake of her head as she strained her ears, yet her natural senses were inferior to Alexander's.
Closing my eyes, I focused on my ears, trying to listen, but I was too far away; all I could make out were the sounds of faint yelling; however, thankfully, if I could hear something, that meant it was close enough to where I should be able to see it.
Exiting the forest, I stepped out onto the dirt path and squinted as I looked far into the distance, only to see what looked like a carriage and several people protecting it from what seemed to be a single attacker.
"Did you figure it out, Alex?" Asked Lazuli as she turned and glanced at Alex, who nodded with a slight frown.
"Yeah, looks like a bandit or just someone, but they're attacking a carriage." Said Alexander as he quickly reentered the forest before picking up speed, dashing through the forest's vegetation while summoning Trina from his body.
I didn't really like these Elves, but at the same time, I couldn't just ignore people in such a plight; I had to at least get a closer look before deciding anything.
"Are you intending to help them? They will most likely be racist like the previous Elves." Stated Lazuli as she followed right behind Alexander, who nodded with a sigh.
"Don't know yet, but yeah, you're probably right." Replied Alexander softly with a wry expression as he shook his head, only to slow down until he stopped.
Nearing the battle, I could clearly hear and see what was going on, and from the looks of things, the people protecting the carriage seemed to be Adventurers or something of the sort, yet they had little coordination with each other, causing a lot of their attacks to either fail or backfire which resulted in arguing, and well, it was apparent they were merely delaying the inevitable.
The person attacking was an Elven woman, and although most of her face was covered by a golden helmet, leaving only her mouth visible, I had this feeling she was exceptionally beautiful, even by Elven standards; following her face, she had long, red hair, reaching down to her butt, which was something I'd never seen on an Elf till now, as their hair color is blonde primarily or brown.
She wore a red cape around her neck, though, upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn't red, at least initially red, but actually white, which took me aback as I understood the implications.
'How many people has she killed?' Thought Alexander with an astonished expression as he gazed at the elven woman, finding it hard to avert his eyes.
She wore two layers of clothes, with her second one being a somewhat tight-fitting, brownish dress, though from the waist down, it was cut, allowing for ease of movement; her first layer was most likely just regular pants and a long-sleeved shirt, given how most of her skin was hidden from view.
However, I did notice her lack of armor; except for her sword-wielding arm, helmet, and two legs, she had no armor whatsoever, though I suppose I couldn't say anything else about it given how she'd yet to be touched by any of her opponents.
"Alex, you're blushing." Said Lazuli lightly as she eyed Alexander, who was finally snapped out of his daze.
"Eh, I-I was? My heart as well." Remarked Alexander in surprise as he touched his blushing cheeks, only to touch his chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart.
I knew this feeling all too well, and I didn't even need to question why my heart was beating so fiercely despite me doing nothing; even an idiot would be able to figure out it was because of that woman.
'I-I mean, she is sort of hot.' Thought Alexander as he stared at the woman in fascination, causing Lazuli to frown subtly.
Shaking my head at such thoughts, I had already checked the carriage, and it was filled with numerous people, most likely just normal citizens trying to get between cities, and while they were most likely racist, as Lazuli said, I wasn't so cruel enough to as ignore them when they needed help. So, with a sigh, I prepared to exit the first and assist them, yet before I could, the woman suddenly leaped high in the air, with her sword overhead behind her back, and what happened next was terrifying.
She practically flew through the air while attacking her enemies with such explosive speed it left them unable to defend her relentless onslaught; she maneuvered through her opponents without any difficulty as she struck each and every one of them down with such precision I was left awestruck. Even when one of them tried to distance themselves from her, she covered numerous meters in the blink of an eye as she reached her fleeing opponent, leaving gashes all over his back.
With a flick of her long blade, she finally landed on the ground again, with no opponent left standing; within the span of five, maybe six seconds, she had defeated her nine opponents.
Slapping my face, I shook myself out of yet another daze and summoned Zartha with my other hand as I exited the forest; though it was no longer with the sole purpose of helping the people in the carriage, part of it was because of her.
"Hey, Lazuli, can you stay here for now?" Asked Alexander while emerging from the forest and approaching the woman, causing Lazuli to squint before nodding.
The closer I reached the woman, the more rapid my heart became; it almost felt like it was about to jump out of my chest, but before I could even approach her, one of the adventurers grabbed my ankle, stopping me.
"H-Help me!" Said the man weakly, coughing blood while holding Alexander's leg.
Inwardly cursing at the man, I ripped my leg away from his grip, only to be met with the tip of a blade a few inches away from my head, prompting me to instantly use [Heroes Gaze] as my reaction speed greatly increased.
Still, even so, I was barely given what felt like a second as I used [Blink], teleporting a few feet behind the woman.
"Um, I-I know my words don't sound trustworthy, given I'm wielding two massive swords, but can we talk things out? I don't really want you to harm the people inside the carriage." Asked Alexander lightly as he glanced at the woman, who didn't hesitate to push off her foot while slashing behind her.
Thanks to her extra-long sword, which was even longer than mine, I was forced to back away as I further distanced myself while raising my hands into the air, trying to seem as harmless as possible since I didn't really want to fight her.
"A human?" Muttered the woman softly in confusion as she stared at Alexander, causing him to sigh inwardly.
'Damn, even her voice is pleasant!' Thought Alexander as he stared at the women with a faint blush, something Lazuli noticed.
(Note: A picture of her is on my discord)