"Well, well. You actually showed up.", One of the 5 people dressed in the academy's uniform said. He appeared to be the leader.
"Were you the one to send me that message?"
Fala asked. She took out a note from her pocket and presented it to them.
'Message?'¸ Alexi wondered. 'What are you up to, Lazy God?'
Alexi grumbled as he looked at the screen before him.
=====
YOU HAVE RECEIVED A NEW QUEST REQUEST
SIDE QUEST: HELP FALA (D grade)
=====
He tapped on the side quest, activating the next menu.
=====
SIDE QUEST: HELP FALA (D GRADE)
Description: The character Fala has been surrounded by 5 students in an empty street. Stop them before things get bad.
Rewards: +60 System Points
=====
'Ugh. This is all I get for stopping Fala?'
Alexi groaned, as he took another peek at the situation.
"Oh looks like the infernal knows how to read."
The leader mocked, garnering some laughter from his lackeys.
"What did you wish to talk about?"
Fala asked with her monotone voice. Her tired eyes were trained on the leader, as if the others didn't exist.
The leader snorted at her response to his mockery.
"Are you dense or something?", He asked, grinding his teeth. "We're coming to beat you up here. You infernals should know your place and stick to it."
"I shall take my leave then."
She turned around, completely uninterested in the conversation.
"H-Hey!", The boy shouted, but to no avail.
Fala had absolutely no time for their pointless fights. She passed by the alley where Alexi was hiding and stopped. Alexi could feel his heart sink.
'Did she catch me?'
"Wait!", The leader grabbed her by the arm. He turned her around to punch her in the face.
Somehow, both of them hadn't spotted Alexi yet.
Alexi's jaw went slack the moment the punch connected with his face.
Fala got punched? The Fala Alexi created got punched by an academy student? In what universe did that make any sense.
Lazy God could also nerf the characters? Just how weak did she make Fala to the point where she couldn't at the very least dodge that attack?
'Tch. I have to help… her?'
Alexi froze in his steps. Fala's vermillion eyes glowed as a sinister fang-filled smirk found its way onto her face. For the first time, Alexi could understand why an onlooker would be terrified at the sight of her.
She grabbed the student's arm.
"W-What is this?!"
He struggled against her intense grip as she slowly moved it away.
"Just remember. You attacked first."
She licked her lips as she applied more pressure.
It was in that moment that Alexi realised what the system meant. He wasn't there to save Fala from those guys. He was here to save them from Fala. He had to make sure Fala didn't accidentally kill them.
"Tch.", Alexi clicked his tongue.
There were too many negatives to Fala killing these students for him.
From what he'd seen, the rules of this world at the very least worked under common sense. If Fala randomly killed students, the prejudice against infernals would only get worse. Unfortunately for Alexi, he was one such infernal.
He could get expelled, he could be imprisoned wrongfully or even worse, he could be killed. He'd have to go on the run and the whole story would be derailed. He had to stop this now before things got bad.
Besides, it couldn't be bad to acquire some system points.
Although, Alexi did have one question about this whole development though. Why did Lazy God keep derailing the story and bringing up quests to revert it back to the original?
Her motives made absolutely no sense in this situation.
Well, that was for later.
He activated his mana punch skill, but utilising mana control, he only placed two units of mana into the punch.
His fist connected with the student's lower jaw, sending him flying a few feet. Alexi looked at his fist. It barely stinged, both from using mana and the impact. He waved his fist, a bit impressed by himself.
"Another enemy?"
His celebratory moment didn't last long as a cold voice scratched the back of his neck.
From the corner of his eye, he met burning vermillion. Fala's glare was intense.
'If looks could kill, huh?', Alexi found himself remembering a line from his novel.
"N-No!"
A pained groan echoed loudly in Alexi's ear. He looked at the student he just punched, and he was already standing back up with a bloody lip.
'A bloody lip?! That's all 2 mana points did?!'
"H-Hey, Cain. You good?"
The grunts in the back asked, approaching him.
He shrugged off the pain then glared at me. He was a robust student with a face that seemed all too familiar to Alexi. Alexi clicked his teeth the moment he recognised who it was. This was the boy that threatened him earlier for Amane Touka's recorder.
"You again?"
The student growled.
"Who?"
Alexi feigned ignorance.
"Don't play stupid here."
Cain walked up to Alexi and only stopped when he was about a foot away from him. The student was some inches taller than Alexi.
That wasn't enough to intimidate Alexi though. With 15 units of mana, he was able to knock Jules out cold. That was more than enough to knock Cain out. The only problem were the four others behind him. If he knocked out this guy, maybe he could scare the others away?
He looked past Cain to see the others. They were bringing out their weapons. Maybe Cain's quick recovery from his punch gave them a sense of relief.
Behind him, Fala was reaching her hand out to them.
This made Alexi change his plans completely.
It wasn't a matter of if he could scare them away. It all came down to if he could scare them away before Fala killed them.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that he couldn't.
"Sorry, not sorry for this."
With that set, he'd already made his next plan.
"What?"
He kicked Cain in the nuts, forcing the boy onto his knees. Cain squealed in pain as he grabbed his nether regions and keeled over.
Alexi turned around, grabbing Fala's outstretched arm and running as fast as he could.
"Wha-?"
He looked at the time.
7:13
They definitely weren't making it.
"Who are you?"
Fala asked, she still following after him.
Alexi looked down, and noticed she wasn't resisting his grip. If Fala wanted to, she would have easily freed herself, but she was observing first. If Alexi didn't give a response she liked, she would return to killing those boys.
He turned back to her and gave her a thumbs up, as well as the best smile he could possibly muster.
"I'm your number one fan."
"Creep."
She stared at him with a disgusted expression.
To Alexi it felt like a stab to the heart. Her words were almost as sharp as her fangs. However, she hadn't forced herself out of his grip. That meant at the very least, she didn't hate him.
=====
You have received +5 AP with the character Fala Amaia
=====
'Oh? Tsundere Fala? I completely forgot about this gimmick of hers from the earlier chapters.'
The story changed so much from the earlier chapters that the characters by the end were basically entirely new people. Alexi had honestly forgotten a lot of their original quirks.
After a few more minutes of running, they ended up at the gates. Security drones and guards stood at all corners, making sneaking in practically impossible.
"Damn… looks like there's no escaping this."
Alexi muttered. He looked at Fala. Her eyes were staring coldly at his hands. It was just then that he realised he still held her closely. He let go of her.
"Sorry. I forgot to let go."
He scratched the back of his neck.
'At least, it wasn't a complete waste.'
=====
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE SIDE QUEST: HELP FALA! (D GRADE)
YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE REWARD: +60 System points (SP)
=====
Fala pulled out a glowing stone from her pocket. She then grabbed Alexi's arm tightly.
"Eh?"
The stone glowed brightly and hummed. With a flash of bright blue light, the duo disappeared from the bushes.
*****
"Are you alright, Cain?"
One of the four students surrounding him asked.
"Y-Yeah. He just caught me off-guard is all."
Cain's face and ears were red. His nostrils flared with righteous fury. A mere infernal dare to sneak attack him? He'd make sure to kill him the next time they met.
"Cain."
Another student came, holding a smartphone.
"What is it?"
"A guy calling himself the boss wants to talk to you."
In that moment, Cain forgot all about the day's events. He swiped the phone from the student.
Cain: H-Hello, sir!
Boss: How did it go?
Cain: There was some interference. We weren't able to complete the mission.
Boss: What interference?
Saying Cain was scared was an understatement. This man had enough pull to empty out a street and shut down all cameras just to ensure that Cain could complete his mission. Cain wasn't sure who he was, but he knew for certain he didn't want to cross this man.
Cain: Another infernal. He's nothing but a bug. I promise to crush him.
Boss: Do you know this infernal? A name? Description? Anything.
Cain: I…
Boss: You…?
Cain tried his hardest to put a name to that face. In fact, he couldn't put a face to that face. It was like his memories of that infernal's face were all blurred out.
He couldn't tell the boss that though. He'd just look incompetent. He had to come up with something. Anything.
Cain: Ah… He called himself Fala's Number One fan!
Boss: I see. So another reader, huh?
Cain: You know that infernal?
The call cut off.