The Hero Yulia left the battlefield. Alex and Anna just stood at their spot, observing the Hero's back as it became smaller and smaller. As soon as Hero Yulia was out of their sight, Alex immediately crumpled to the ground. "Sir Alex?!" He laid himself on his back and stared at the clear blue morning sky.
"Damn... I'm tired..." he complained to the world, as if it would hear him. Then he closed his eyes, as if he were sleeping. Anna initially looked at him with disbelief, but soon softened. She sighed at his antics and crouched next to him.
"Good job, Mr. Producer," Anna said to the pretending-to-sleep Alex, showing him a genuine smile.
"Yeah... you too, Anna-chan..." Alex replied to Anna, who unfortunately didn't see Anna's smile. Though he still gave her a thumbs up while still lying bare on the ground, which earned a giggle from Anna.
"Your Majesty!" A shout came from the west side of the battlefield. Anna looked at the source of the shouting and saw General Bella running towards her and Alex. Tagging along behind the General was Roxane, flying nonchalantly. As they got closer, Anna noticed that General Bella was also holding something in her right hand. Or, to be precise, 'someone'. This someone was Mira. The General brought Mira along by holding the neck of her mage robe, as if she were a cat. Mira herself seemed to be in a sort of dazed state.
When the General finally reached Anna, she put Mira down on the ground, standing, while the cat beastkin mage herself was still in a dazed state.
"My Queen! Are you alright?! Do you feel anything weird?!" General Bella frantically asked about Anna's well-being.
Anna could only stare back at Genera Bella's worries, but then she showed a small smile towards the General. "I am well, General Bella. Your concern is greatly appreciated." She answered the General's concern.
"Are you sure, my Queen? Sir Alex's Job might have a weird influence on you, so we should definitely go check your health!" The General tried to reason to Anna, as she was worried that Alex's odd job, 'Idol Producer', had a weird effect on the Demon Queen, considering that she had just seen Anna singing in that Arcana Realm of his. The General had never once imagined that she would see her Demon Queen singing, let alone performing in front of a huge crowd consisting not just of demons like her, but also of humans and heroes. Anna just stared at the General with a blank expression over her worrisome.
"Hey! You know I can hear you, right? I had at least expected some 'thank you' or 'are you okay, Sir Alex?' from you, you know?" Alex who was still on laid on the ground interjected into their conversation, with him at the end jokingly mimicking a feminine voice.
A tick mark appeared on the General's forehead. She then picked him up from his pretend-slumber and shook his body quite violently. "You bastard! How dare you do something so reckless to the Demon Queen!? What if something unexpected happened to her Majesty!?" She yelled at Alex while still shaking his body violently.
"Okaayokaay! Imsoooorrrryyyy!" Alex tried to apologize to General Bella, but the General's shaking slurred his speech.
"General?! please don't be so rough with-!"
"Anna-chan~~~!" Before Anna could say anything more to General Bella, Roxane ambushed Anna from behind and hugged her tightly.
"Ah! Roxane!? Please do not hug me so suddenly...!" Anna complained through Roxane's tight hug. She had a slight blush from receiving such affection from Roxane.
"Aaaah~, but you were so precious back then~. Your singing was so beautiful too, Anna-chan~!" Roxane complimented Anna while still hugging her tightly, which intensified Anna's blushing.
General Bella stopped shaking Alex's almost unconscious body as she noticed that Roxane had been forcing herself onto Anna. She then let go of Alex's almost lifeless body to go assist the Demon Queen. "Hey, Roxane! Don't inconvenience her Majesty like that!" She reprimanded Roxane for her forceful affection.
"Eeehh~? Why not~? Anna-chan deserves all the love and attention for that brilliant performance she just did!" Roxane replied back in defense. Her eyes then turned into a glint as she showed a playful smile toward General Bella, "Wouldn't you agree as well, Bella-chan? I was quite sure that you were also cheering quite passionately for Anna-chan's singing back then too~." She fired back at Bella by teasing her as well, which earned a blush from the Minotaur lady.
"What-?! I mean, yes! I do find our Queen's singing spectacular...! But that's beside the point!" The blushing Bella tried to defend herself from Roxane's teasing. They then kept bickering with each other, with one teasing and the other defending her honor & pride.
Anna was still immobilized by Roxane's tight hug. But, she noticed that Alex was laid unconscious on the ground after General Bella's violent shaking. "Both of you! Please contain yourselves! Sir Alex needs help there!" She pried herself off from Roxane's intense affectionate hugging and quickly went back to Alex's side to attend to him. "Sir Alex! Are you okay?" She asked Alex with concern.
"Huhwat? Oh, Anna-chan, good morning..." Alex woke up from his unconscious slumber from the General's not-so-gentle shaking. He slowly stood up again, but was wobbling while doing so. Anna was carefully helping him stand up.
"Oh my..." Roxane muttered quietly; her eyes turned into a glint again with a tiny playful smile on her. She sensed something interesting from how Anna was interacting with Alex.
"Please be careful, Sir Alex. You must be quite exhausted from all of these ordeals," she said to Alex, once again, in concern.
"Yeah... I guess...?" Alex replied to Anna's concern, although he himself wasn't quite sure what she was talking about due to how dizzy his head felt.
"My, my, allow me to help you, Sir Alex~," said a sultry voice belonging to Roxane. Although Alex didn't know who the source of the voice was, he felt her raising her right hand towards his head. Her hand was covered with light green magic as she then touched his head with her glowing hand, and in an instant... Alex's dizziness disappeared quickly.
"Oh hey! I don't feel sick-!" He was about to comment on his well-being, but something "extraordinary" caught his eye.
The first thing that caught his non-dizzy eyes was the pair of "assets" belonging to the seductress lady knight, Roxane. "Holy...!" He was taken aback by them and finally took in her full appearance.
With her fair white skin and delicate features adorning her face, she was undeniably beautiful. Her long, flowing pink hair cascaded down her back, adding to her allure. Her playful smile had captured his attention, radiating warmth and mischief in equal measure. She was... quite well-endowed. Not as large as General Bella's, but enough to be considered destructive. In fact, her seductive physical appearance alone might even incite war between nations. What made it worse was her choice of attire: a suit of knight's armor that only covered the important parts—her neck, shoulders, dainty arms, long luscious legs, and then... a pair of armored bikini bottoms, barely concealing her most alluring "features". She also had a pair of black bat or devil wings on her back, as well as a black tail with a heart-shaped tip, playfully waving around.
"Hmm? Oh my...! Do you like what you see, Sir Alex~?" She noticed right away that Alex had just been "observing" her physical appearance and teased him for it by "emphasizing" them a bit.
Alex was quite taken aback by the lady knight's teasing, "Eh... Uhm!" but he immediately cleared his throat and greeted Roxane with a gentlemanly smile and attitude, "Why, of course, my Lady, I was quite intrigued by your-OW!!!" Before he could finish his gentlemanly courting, Alex felt someone pinch his side. Hard. He looked for the culprit of the pinching and found Anna, with a slight glare and a tiny pout.
"Uhm... are you mad, Anna? OW!" Anna responded to his question with another hard pinch, which might leave a mark on him.
Roxane was giggling at Anna's jealousy. She might have just found another fun activity for her own enjoyment.
General Bella was watching the whole thing with disbelief, unsure whether she should involve herself or not.
Mira was still in a dazed state.
Suddenly, a loud roar was heard from the sky. Everyone looked at the source of the roar and found a flock of wyverns heading their way. The one leading the flock was a wyvern with a familiar lizard lady riding on it. "Everyone! Are you guys okay?" Shouted Casey while waving at the group on the ground. Alex waved back at the lizard lady and then gave a thumbs up to her as well, to which she responded with a grin.
Alex then directed his attention back to Anna, who was still pouting a little. They stared at each other for a while... then she closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She faced Alex once again. But this time... she showed a tiny smile at him. "Sir Alex, let's go back for now..."
"... yeah..." Alex replied to Anna, with a smile of his own.
< | X | >
The Hero Yulia stood on the hill near the forest, overlooking the devastated battlefield. She had been observing the whole comedic scene between Alex and the demon gals, showing no reaction other than watching them like a hawk. But...
"To think I would find 'Idols' in this world..." she muttered to herself as she focused her gaze on Alex. With a final glance, she turned her back and left the hill, but not before casting a lingering "glare" at one spot in the forest.
As soon as her figure vanished from sight, a shadow leaped down from one of the trees in the forest. This shadow was petite and held a snack in one hand.
"She noticed me, huh...? Well... She is The HERO after all..." The petite figure muttered to herself before continuing to enjoy her snack. Now she sat on the hill where Hero Yulia had been standing before, observing Alex's group and the wyvern squadron as they met.