Stalker

"We sure walked a lot, huh."

Said Lyrica to Rona as they sit around the fountain in the middle of the town square, taking a break.

"Yeah! That was great fun!" Rona cheerfully replied.

'How can she emit that much energy after walking all that long?' Lyrica mumbled to herself in wonder. 'If not for my stamina stat, I'd be dead way before we reached half of what we walked through.'

From the streets made vibrant by the sound of kids playing around, to the busy town square full of people going left and right, either buying something or simply taking a walk. Lyrica and Rona have explored half of Takkot town in less than two hours.

As Lyrica expected, they did a lot of stops due to Rona always finding something that piques her interest like the fragrant smell of bread leaking out from the bakery they come across, or the birds flying around, or the mountains surrounding the town.

'If bribing her with that mango didn't work, she'd probably be throwing a tantrum right now. Good thing she likes the yellow mango as much as I do.'

While the town is indeed big, exploring half of it without taking any sudden breaks wouldn't take less than two hours.

'Whatever the case, I'm glad I went out with Rona.' Said Lyrica to herself while staring at Rona whose eyes keep wandering around the town square. 'Otherwise, It'd be too embarrassing meeting and greeting people I don't know about but recognize me for helping Riko and the others.'

Putting that aside, Lyrica's exploration allowed her to gain results. First of all, she finished the ten-kilometer walk/run requirement for her daily quest—Body proportioning. Resulting in her receiving 1,000 EXP as well as +1 stat point.

While Lyrica prefers getting more dB as it allows her to use powerful music safely, she is pleased to get rewarded by a stat point. The more SP she has, the more she can increase her statistics, ultimately making her more formidable.

The second result she gained after exploring the town which is probably the most important out of them all is...

'The people of Takkot.'

It's not all too impossible that the residents in any town or cities share the same generosity and hospitality.

'However, the one thing that's impossible, or rather strange, is that I can't read them at all.'

Thanks to her parents who tried to keep hiding things from her, Lyrica learned how to read people. From their body language, to how they talk and react to certain things. She can tell if someone is feeling down or vice versa. And on top of that, she can tell exactly whether they are faking it or not.

But, similar to Riko's family, she can't read every single person in Takkot at all, even Rona. And she doesn't know why.

'Perhaps they are real or maybe not, I can't tell... Maybe...' Lyrica looks down to the surface, her eyes narrowed. "Maybe... they are both."

"Huh? Both?"

"Ah!"

Lyrica jolted after realizing that she blurted her thoughts out loud.

"What do you mean both?" Rona asked in wonder. "Did you mean bothy? A cottage?"

"N-No, no! It's nothing!"

She replied frantically as she tries to divert the topic by giving Rona a yellow mango which she gladly accepted. And while watching the little girl peel off the mango like a banana, Lyrica once again remembered what the old lady told her last night.

"Or maybe it's because they have no choice but to accept it whether they like it or not?"

'Whatever is happening here... Whatever is the reason behind it all, the old lady must know about it.'

Lyrica made up her mind—She'll have the old lady spill the beans once she and Rona return home. And she will not let anyone or anything stop her from doing so.

'First and foremost...'

She mumbled as she watches Rona sip the last bit of yellow mango sticking from its bone.

"Oh, are you done?" She asked the little girl.

"Yeah! It was delicious!"

Following her reply, Lyrica suggested that they move on and head back home. Right as she held Rona's hand and starts walking forward, Lyrica's head slightly turns right, gazing behind them from the corner of her right eye.

'Let's get rid of this troublesome stalker.'

Lyrica and Rona could have gone back home long ago. However, because of what she felt while they were exploring the town, Lyrica decided to stay in an area that is safe which is the town square, where people are gathered. The feeling that Lyrica felt is the feeling of someone stalking her and Rona.

There are a lot of times where Lyrica and Rona are in a spot that is best suited to ambush a target without any of the townspeople knowing or witnessing. However, this certain stalker had not made a move despite coming across many opportunities.

Either the stalker is someone whose only task is to watch over and give intel to others, or the stalker is smart enough not to confront her without knowing her abilities. After all, she is known as the one who helped Riko and the others escape from the Guardian Snake—Meaning she is capable. It's the only two reasons she could think of.

'Whatever the case, I can't let it drag any further. I must get rid of them before we go back home. If these guys are only after me, then I can't let Rona and the others get involved with this.'

With that being said, Lyrica and Rona find themselves walking through a street devoid of people but them.

"Ate Lyrica, this is not the way home." Said Rona as she tugged Lyrica's sleeveless baro. "The way home is behind us."

Lyrica looks at Rona while making a fake, lovely smile. "Don't worry, we're just taking a little detour."

"Oh, is that so? I knew you'd enjoy walking around town." Rona giggled.

The same feeling remains, which indicates to Lyrica that whoever is following them is still on their tail.

'I need to do something...'

While she's in the middle of contemplating her move, Lyrica sees an alleyway on the right side of the street.

Before stealing a glance behind her, Lyrica picks up the pace as she leads Rona towards the alleyway. As the two disappear on the street after turning right, a silhouette of someone appears, seemingly following their tracks.

The silhouette appears to be smaller than Lyrica's figure but is a little bigger than Rona's. That said, whoever this stalker is, is still a minor—A kid.

The stalker slowly creeps from the corner of the alleyway, not knowing that Lyrica have her back on the other corner with her fist ready to hit someone hard.

The stalker tries to take a peek through the corner, only to see Lyrica's up close and her fist flying straight on its target.

"Waahh!"