AN HOUR LATER

ALEXANDER

The first thing I heard when I woke up was arguing, again. Honestly, I was starting to think it was a natural law.

"I should have carried him."I heard Rosalia’s voice.

"You lost."Noa spoke next.

"That is not how medical treatment works."Iris said and smirked.

"I disagree."Scarled added.

I opened one eye, big mistake. Immediately, I found myself staring at Aiko, who was sitting beside the bed holding a bowl of steaming broth and a spoon.

"Oh." I blinked.

"Master is awake." Aiko nodded.

Before I could respond, he calmly lifted a spoon toward my mouth.

"..."

"..."

"Aiko."I whispered.

"Yes, Master?"He asked.

"I have hands."I groaned.

"Currently recovering."Aiko said.

"I can still use them."I said again.

"That remains under investigation."Aiko said.

Then he fed me anyway, the broth was actually amazing.

"Damn it."I groaned.

"Thank you."Aiko nodded.

"I was complimenting the soup."I said.

"I prepared it."Aiko nodded.

"Then I was complimenting you."I said and she smiled.

Aiko looked strangely pleased. Across the room, Scarlet, Noa, Rosalia, and Iris immediately stopped arguing.

"Master!"Iris said.

"Alexander."Rosalia said.

"Finally awake."Noa said.

"You slept for six hours."I groaned.

"Master requires more rest."Iris somehow appeared beside the bed instantly.

"No." I sat up.

The room immediately spun.

"Perhaps a little more rest." I corrected.

Aiko offered another spoonful, I accepted defeat. Then the door exploded open. Everyone turned as a familiar older man stood there wearing academy robes. Behind him were over a dozen students, it was the royal adventurer academy director, Reynold. For several seconds nobody moved, then Reynold blinked. Once, twice, three times.

"Alexander?"He asked.

"Oh."I swallowed my soup.

Then Reynold looked toward Isabella.

"Isabella?!"His eyes widened.

The students behind him immediately started whispering.

"Wait."One said.

"That really is Isabella."Another added.

"Why is she here?"Third one said.

"Isn’t that Alexander Blackwood?"A fourth one asked.

The room became noisy instantly, Reynold looked at me, then at Scarlet, then Noa, then Rosalia, then Iris and Aiko then back at me. His expression slowly transformed into pure confusion.

"Why?" Reynold asked carefully. "Do you appear to have assembled a national disaster?"

Silence, even Aiko paused. Then Michael walked past the doorway carrying paperwork.

"Good question."He said.

"Guild master Michael!"Reynold pointed immediately.

"Director Reynold."Michael said.

"Explain."Reynold ordered.

"No."Michael stared at him.

"What do you mean no?"He asked.

"I have attempted to explain Alexander for months." Michael replied. "It can not be done."The students looked horrified. That was when one familiar voice suddenly shouted.

"VICTOR!"Reynold shouted.

Everyone turned as Victor was standing in the back of the student group. He had frozen completely because Noa was staring directly at him. Victor immediately stood straighter as Noa looked unimpressed.

"I came here because I heard ten wyverns were defeated."Reynold slowly rubbed his forehead.

"Correct." Michael nodded.

"I expected veteran adventurers."He said.

"Reasonable."Michael nodded again.

"I did not expect expelled students, former students, a vampire queen, a legendary blacksmith, a butler, and whatever Alexander has become."Reynold groaned.

"Also reasonable." Michael nodded again.

The entire room fell silent, then Aiko offered me another spoonful.

"Master should continue eating."Aiko said.

"Shouldn’t we deal with that?"I pointed toward the growing chaos.

Aiko glanced at the room, Victor was staring at Noa, the students were staring at Iris, Reynold looked one step away from fainting. Michael was already filling out paperwork as Aiko calmly returned the spoon to my mouth.

"That appears normal."He said.

Honestly, he might have been right, but things somehow became even stranger, which was impressive. Because ten minutes earlier, a Royal academy director had walked into a room containing an SSS rank vampire queen, a legendary blacksmith, a talking sword, and me being force fed soup by a butler. Yet reality still found a way.

"Alexander."Michael suddenly appeared carrying a heavy leather pouch.

"That tone worries me."I said.

"It should."Michael nodded.

He tossed the pouch and I barely caught it. CLINK. The sound alone was enough to make everyone look.

"Quest reward." Michael said.

I opened the pouch and saw gold. A lot of gold, very shiny and heavy gold.

"How much is this?"My eyes widened.

"Ten gold coins for the emergency wyvern mission."Michael said.

"Ten?!"I nearly dropped the bag.

Several academy students gasped, one almost fainted. Ten gold coins was not a small amount. That was enough money to make normal adventurers celebrate for weeks.

"The village also added a bonus reward." Michael continued. "I told you reward was ten, but you got extra."

"Why?" Michael looked at me. "Because you prevented them from being eaten."

"Fair."I said and immediately hugged the money pouch.

Meanwhile, outside the building, another problem was developing, Victor. Specifically Victor’s pride. The academy’s top student had spent the last ten minutes staring at Noa. Noa noticed, unfortunately for us.

"Why are you staring?"She asked.

"Because you’re strong."Victor immediately stood straighter.

"Correct."Noa said.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Victor clearly had not expected agreement. Several students covered their mouths, Reynold looked worried, Iris looked entertained and then Victor did something incredibly stupid.

"I challenge you."Victor said.

"Why?"Noa blinked.

Victor opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

"Honor?"He said or asked, with was weird.

"That was not convincing."Noa said.

"No."Victor said.

"It was not." Reynold agreed.

Unfortunately, Victor had already committed. A training area was quickly cleared, the entire village gathered to watch. Noa stepped forward, Victor drew his sword dramatically. Three seconds later, the duel began. Victor charged, move one as Noa sidestepped. Move two was when she grabbed his wrist, and on move three Victor was suddenly face down in the dirt. Pinned and completely defeated. The entire crowd became silent.

"What happened?" One student whispered.

"It lasted three moves."Another one said.

"Was that even a duel?"Third one asked.

Victor slowly looked up as Noa looked down.

"You’re predictable."She said.

Something happened, because everyone saw it. Victor’s face turned red, very red. The kind of red that immediately made people nervous.

"Oh no." Scarlet said.

"What?" Isabella asked.

"Oh no." Rosalia repeated.

Victor continued staring at Noa.

"Why are you making that face?"Noa frowned.

Nobody answered, because everyone knew, everyone except Noa. Reynold covered his face, Michael covered his face, and I covered my face. Even Aiko looked concerned.

"Master."Aiko said.

"Yes?"I asked.

"I believe the academy’s top student has developed a severe condition."Aiko nodded.

"What condition?"I asked.

"Love at first sight."Aiko adjusted his glasses.

"WHAT?!" Victor nearly fell over. "No!"

"That sounded like yes." Rosalia commented.

"Noa literally defeated him in three moves!" Isabella laughed.

"Perhaps that was the appeal." Aiko replied.

"That explains absolutely nothing."I groaned.

"It explains everything."Aiko nodded.

Victor looked mortified, Noa looked confused, Scarlet looked amused, Rosalia was openly laughing, and Iris looked ready to start taking notes. Reynold stared into the distance like a man reconsidering every educational decision he had ever made.

"Alexander."Michael sighed.

"Yeah?"I asked.

"Why does every mission become a disaster?"Michael asked.

I looked around. A top student had fallen in love after being pinned into the dirt, and an academy director looked spiritually defeated. A vampire queen was eating snacks while watching the drama. My party was laughing, and I was holding a bag full of gold.

"I think this is a normal Tuesday now."I thought about it, then shrugged.

Nobody could argue with that, and it seems it’s only going to get worse.