Chapter 62: Careful

A young woman walked through the city of Zerzura, looking at her surroundings.

Her steps were quiet, and her gaze was serious, but...

“I think I got lost,” Aurora muttered in a weak voice.

Since she had drunk too much, she thought about going outside to get some air, and then she had the idea of walking a bit to get away from the drunken state she was in, but...

“Yeah... I’m lost,” she muttered again.

She was lost.

The fresh air outside didn’t help her wake up and walking didn’t help her either... What’s more, she felt as if the effects of the drink had increased.

Now she was lost without knowing how far she had walked.

She was in that state of drunkenness in which her mind was quite affected to the point that, if she wandered around the streets, she could end up getting lost, just like now.

She was an A-Rank fighter with a strong body, however, dwarven beer was a drink that could affect the mind of an S-Rank or someone of greater strength.

And worst of all, that drink was a delicious nectar that she ended up drinking fast.

—You shouldn’t have drunk too much. You’ve strayed too far from the restaurant.

Reading those words in her mind, Aurora’s expression changed.

“Hey, instead of blaming me. You should have warned me about wandering away,” Aurora grumbled as she continued walking.

Despite her words, she had a pleasant, amused smile on her face.

The only way one could tell she was drunk was by her voice, which sounded slightly abnormal... Her steps were quite coordinated despite her state.

“I’m hungry,” Aurora muttered as her stomach growled.

Aurora looked at her surroundings, trying to find any nice place to eat, however, with a simple glance she realized that she had moved away from the restaurants and was in a hotel area.

It was nighttime and the streets next to the buildings serenely lit up the area with a few passersby enjoying a walk.

“Isn’t there a food cart?” Aurora asked, looking at her surroundings with a bright gaze.

Maybe because of her condition, but her bright and eager look made her look very different from her normal performance.

It wasn’t a lie when she said she was a bad drinker.

Aurora was someone who got drunk fast, despite her stamina, and her acting was very different.

If when she was sober and working she looked like a serious woman, now she looked like a charming young woman.

—I have already informed Alice.

Her system gave her that report as her holographic clock activated itself and sent the message.

Nevertheless, Aurora rummaged through her surroundings and mumbled. “I’m hungry.”

Maybe it was because she’d had too much to drink or because she hadn’t eaten enough?

She was hungry enough and the worst part was that this street was all luxury hotels that she apparently had to check in to eat at their internal restaurants.

—There’s a food cart on the other street.

Aurora heard the warning from her system and moved immediately.

Although it was a text in her mind, she could feel as if her system was sighing and that made her amused.

Quickening her steps in the direction her system had pointed her, she reached the street, and in front of one of the best hotels in town, she saw a food cart, which she approached.

“Sir, give me three skewers of meat. Please,” Aurora asked without decorum to the old man, who was attending to other people.

The old man took one look at her and immediately realized she was drunk just by her voice.

“You can pay with the holographic watch,” the old man reported as he noticed Aurora checking her wallet.

“Oh, this is convenient,” Aurora muttered and after the transaction, she took a skewer of meat.

Aurora enjoyed her skewer muttering about how delicious it was.

—The three men standing nearby are watching you. They seem to be drunk, be careful.

Hearing that report of her system, Aurora eating her skewer turned back to the three men she hadn’t seen and...

“Hello,” she greeted by blinking simply.

Such blinking made her look innocent... And a rather weak, drunken prey.

—...

Her system gave consecutive stitches, most likely because of her initiating the conversation with the people she was supposed to ignore.

The three men who were eating and drinking a few beers looked at each other and gave an ambiguous smile.

“Are you alone? Don’t you want company?” asked the leader, who looked like someone who just got out of some nightclub.

“Tch... Don’t disturb her,” the old man warned tending the cart and Aurora nodded, eating her skewer.

How could they give up on ‘easy prey’? Guided by the alcohol and Aurora’s appearance, they approached, grinning cheekily.

“We’re just having fun, right?” Commented the leader.

“Sure, sure. It’s just fun.”

“Yeah, just having fun...”

The responses of the man’s companions caused those watching to begin to tense up and not want to intervene.

Aurora, who finished her skewer, was not bothered that no one intervened and even less so when those men were muscular.

Maybe that reaction made her seem rather shy, but in reality...

—They’re Rank D. If I hit them, I’ll at least break some ribs and maybe end up damaging their internal organs. Oh, this is bad. —Aurora thought in her mind.

Shyness?

It didn’t matter if Aurora was drunk; she was someone who could take on an enemy in this state and win.

The problem was that she couldn’t contain her strength, unlike when sober, so she might end up causing unnecessary trouble.

The news of three men beaten to death by a mercenary came to Aurora’s mind and the main issue was that such news was one of many possibilities that could happen.

“I don’t want to have fun,” Aurora replied in a serious tone to steer them away.

To what extent could it be considered self-defense?

Aurora who tried to remember the laws of the city as she backed away with her skewer of meat still in her hands.

Her appearance didn’t help her at all and her attitude even less.

To the eyes of others, she looked like a shy young woman was putting up a brave front, which hid her nervousness.

That she held her skewer of meat so close to her, as if she was hugging it, didn’t help.

“Come on, get out of here before you get beaten up.”

A voice Aurora recognized came from behind her back and she turning around, made no attempt to hide the amused smile she sketched.

“Oh, a shining prince came to save me! How bright and majestic!” Aurora joked with a rather faux grateful and awed tone.

The handsome young man who had just spoken could not hide his quivering lips and instead of answering her, he looked at the three men.

“I’m sorry!” The three individuals exclaimed and fled as quickly as possible.

“What a great and mighty prince,” Aurora muttered with an amused look.

She ignored the fact that behind the young man stood two bodyguards whose expressions and presence would intimidate a pair of A-ranks, let alone the D-ranks from before.

Kairos just turned his gaze to Aurora and sighed as he watched her eat her skewer, as if nothing had happened.

Her flattery did not embarrass him.

Aurora, realizing that the young man was keeping up an appearance of someone important, cold and aloof, gave a wicked grin.

Did he want to keep up the appearance for those strong bodyguards or for the onlookers who were watching?

Aurora had the desire to see if she could break through that facade of someone important.

If she had been sober, she wouldn’t be encouraged to blatantly flirt with the young man in front of other people, but today she was drunk enough to be brave.

“We met by coincidence, then there was another coincidence and we bumped into each other at the temple, but today we meet here. Don’t you think it’s strange?” Aurora asked, after thinking about her attack.

The young man looked at her, realizing what she would say, and Aurora continued before he stopped her.

“Today we met for the third time... Sir, do you think it’s a coincidence?” Aurora asked, looking at the old man tending to his cart.

Her question was in such a way that made the onlookers assume that this time, it was not a coincidence.

“A stalker?” Murmured a young girl who was eating nearby.

“From his appearance, I’d say he’s a stalker prince,” said the other young woman next to her with a smile.

Aurora was about to give a thumbs up to those onlookers for their timely words, but kept her gaze on the old man tending the food cart.

“Actually...” The old man hesitated for a moment and, looking at the young man, reported. “The young man is staying at the hotel across the street. I know because he came to eat earlier.”

Aurora stiffened at that answer and glanced at the well-dressed young man, then at the food cart and finally at the five-star hotel that seemed to have all the amenities.

How was it possible for him to come here to eat?

That was the question she was letting on and...

“The skewers are delicious,” Kairos replied with a shrug, then gave a rather sly smile and commented. “You, on the other hand, seem like someone to be suspicious of.”

Without waiting for Aurora to recover, he continued.

“Saving me from a monster may be coincidental, but the second time you followed me to the temple. And now you were outside my hotel,” Kairos said with a tone that hinted at something else and, giving a sly smile that only Aurora could see, he asked. “Maybe the stalker is you?”

“...” Everyone present looked at Aurora immediately.

Even in her drunken state, Aurora felt extremely embarrassed, as it certainly seemed to be something weird.

But there was nothing!

Although maybe she followed him when he was in Greece, he just went to the temple... That’s all!

Kairos gave a smile and his sapphire-colored eyes sparkled victoriously.

It was blatant revenge for the last time at the temple that she had won.

With a fake cough, Aurora regained her calm and commented. “I haven’t gone to that extreme yet...”

Her tone was teasing, clearly to evade her embarrassment and the gaze of the onlookers who had found this situation entertaining.

Kairos was about to press on when a car parked nearby and a young woman got out.

Long black hair with an equally black dress, her gaze went to the guards following the young man and then to Kairos himself.

“Has he been bothering you? Or has he been trying to take advantage of you?” Alice asked with a serious expression to Aurora, who was in the center of it all.

Her black eyes looked at Kairos with a cold stare, as if he was an enemy.

Kairos was surprised for a moment to be looked at that way, but he pulled himself together and answered. “I, I was just...”

“Yes. He was stalking me.” Aurora interrupted quickly and hid behind Alice’s back as if she wished to be protected.

From behind her friend’s back, Aurora gave a wicked look and a proud smile as she saw Kairos surprised.

Alice’s gaze became more aggressive, and in the middle of the night, her eyes turned out to be quite sinister.

“She...”

“Hmph!” Alice snorted and, taking Aurora in her arms, she added. “Pervert.”

Kairos went blank for a moment, opening and closing his mouth, but Aurora could tell his embarrassment and how his image of an important figure shattered.

Alice just took Aurora as if she was protecting her and they both headed to their car.

While Alice wasn’t looking, Aurora gave Kairos a proud smile and waved her hand subtly, with a wicked expression.

She then entered the back seat of the car following her friend and when the driver started up knowing that Kairos was staring at her, still dazed, Aurora giggled amused in her friend’s arms.

“You’re quite the troublemaker,” Alice muttered, patting her inebriated friend and looking at Aurora, who was letting out silly grins in her lap, she added. “You have to be careful next time. Perverts are bad.”

Aurora burst out laughing as she lay back.