112 All the Ships have Sailed

4 hours later.

Alex and Asteria did not continue sleeping, as they decided to scan the SDOB for more info.

It was only when Alina, Queen Mother and the sobbing woman woke up that they stopped browsing.

Alex then has no choice but to cook their breakfast, as he saw the hungry glare that was being given to him by Alina.

"Nom nom nom."

Alina's chewing noises were the prominent sound in the apartment as all of them began to eat.

To Alex's confusion, he saw the sobbing woman and Queen Mother seating a little too close to each other.

Well, maybe Queen Mother was just feeling more sympathetic for the sobbing woman, and she was just sitting near her to comfort her….

But Alex does not care for that now as he decided to talk to the sobbing woman.

Right now, the sobbing woman was not wearing her face mask and glass anymore, which basically showed her face.

This had Alex somewhat touched, as he knew that secret identities were an important secret of any Hero.

For this woman to show her face to them just means that she trusted them a lot.

Naturally, Alex will not waste the trust given to them.

"Since all of us have seen each others' faces already, then I think it is fine for us to exchange our real names." Alex said as he watched the expression on the woman's face. "Are you ok with that?"

"Yes…" The woman replied as she looked straight at Alex. She then let out a cough as she said,

"My name is Lauren. Ummm… nice to meet you all."

"Lauren is a nice name. Its fitting for someone as picturesque as you." Queen Mother said as she ruffled Lauren's head.

Lauren could only blush as Queen Mother rubbed her head, with her doing nothing to push the World Tree off.

"I'm Alex, that glutton is Alina, and that woman patting your head is Queen Mother." Alex said as his fiinger panned all around the room. "Forgive Queen Mother if she is that clingy to you. She just wants to comfort you."

".…"

Alex then blinked his eyes as he saw both Alina and Queen Mother looking at him with blank expression on their faces.

It was as if they just heard Alex say something that they could not believe.

Their surprise was so great that Alina was forced to stop eating, which is a first for her.

"You… think Queen Mother is just comforting Lauren?" Alina asked as she and Queen Mother looked at Alex. "You think that's all?"

"Of course she is comforting Lauren." Alex replied as he shrugged his shoulders. "What else could that closeness mean?"

"...I thought you will be a sharp person in situations like these…" Alina replied as she let out a sigh. "It seems like there are still some things that I am wrong about you…"

She then gave a sympathetic look at Alex, as if she was feeling sorry for him.

Asteria's racuous laughter in the background just made everything worse, forcing Alex to scratch the back of his head.

A few second later, and his eyes widened.

He looked back at Queen Mother, then back to Lauren who was looking at Alex with a slight blush on her face.

"Oh. Oh. Oh." By this point, Alex realized what was happening.

"Took you this long huh." Queen Mother muttered as she and Alina let out some sighs of relief.

Now that Alex had been enlightened, there is no way for him to go back anymore. The only thing that he can do is to venture forward towards the truth.

"You.. swing that way?" Alex asked Queen Mother, who was now sitting a little too close with Lauren. "I thought you will be asexual or something, since you are a little… plant-like."

"Why are you asking Queen Mother that question?" Alina suddenly said as she glared at Alex. "If Queen Mother likes women, then don't be curious about it. Just accept it as it is and just move on."

"Oh right, I can do that." Alex mumbled in reply as he looked back at Queen Mother and Lauren. "So, are you two a thing now?"

"What? No, that's way too fast." Queen Mother was the one who answered that question as Lauren was too flustered to speak. "Right now, I am… doing what males of any animal species do to their female counterpart."

"Oh, you mean courting." Alex said as he decided to finish his food.

"Yes, that is the right term." Queen Mother replied as she looked at Lauren. "I decided to start courting Lauren earlier, and judging by her reception to my actions, I can say that there is a high chance of me having a relationship with her."

By this point, Lauren was unable to eat anymore as she just hunched over the table.

"If only someone in this table can do something similar to what Queen Mother did…" Alina mumbled to herself, perhaps a little too loud, making Asteria laugh harder again.

"Um… maybe I have to go now… I still have to attend my part-time work…" Lauren said as she stood up from the table, with her face looking all around her. "Um-um, if you want to collaborate with me, let's just do another patrol later night."

"Ye-yeah, a patrol later night would be good." Alex replied as he tried to ignore the glare being given to him by Alina. "Well see you later then."

"Ok…" Poor Lauren almost tripped on her way out, but she managed to stabilize herself. She then hastily opened the door as she left the apartment.

"She's really adorable. I just want to wrap her body inside my trunk. I am sure she will feel warm once she's inside me." Queen Mother muttered to herself as she gazed blankly at the distance.

Alex and Alina tried to not conjure a mental image from what Queen Mother said as they finished their food.

************************

"So, how long should we wait before we can get the Main Mission?" Alex asked as he and his Companions had finished eating.

Right now, all three of them were seated at the sala, with their eyes focused on Asteria.

The said fairy was busy slurping on her jar of honey as she lay down on the table.

"10 minutes yet."

"At last, I can buy something now." Alex muttered to himself as he and his Companions waited for the countdown to finish. "Not being able to buy Abyss Tomes before I get the Main Mission really sucks, you know."

"Don't glare at me like that, Alex." Asteria said as she let out a burp. "I just have to follow regulations, you know."

"....…."

******************

When Alex arrived in this World three days ago , the first thing that he wanted to do was to buy more Abyss Tomes for himself so that he can power up already.

But to his disappointment, Asteria told him that he can only buy the Items from the Endless Monarch once they receive the Main Mission, which is not yet shown to them until now.

Asteria said that the Endless Monarch wanted to only sell these Items and Abilities once the Main Mission was given, so Alex had no choice now but to wait.

Alex can understand that logic, but that does not reduce his irritation from that.

"Hey Asteria." Alex said as their wait reached the 8-minute mark. "Since the Main Mission is about to be given already, maybe you can explain to us on the reason why the Main Mission was delayed until now."

"Oh, don't worry about that question." Asteria replied as she licked the straw that she was sucking through. "You will understand the delay once I give you your Main Mission. So, be a good boy there and just wait. And if you are feeling bored, then maybe you can do what Queen Mother was doing earlier. Someone's waiting for you to take that initiative, you know…"

After hearing these words, Alex looked at Alina hesitantly, who was looking back at him with an expectant and disgruntled look on her face.

At this point, Alex knew that the only thing that he can do was to get on with it.

Delaying his desires any longer will not do good for him anymore.

"Well Alina…" Alex scratched the back of his head as he tried to let out the words that he wanted to say. "I found this excellent movie theater in the city… They will be showing a good movie there. Maybe.. you can join me in watching that movie?"

Alex did not have to wait for that long as Alina gave Alex a dazzling smile in reply. "I'll be happy to join you."

"Ah, finally!" Both Asteria and Queen Mother shouted as they looked at Alex and Alina. From the way that they looked at them, it was as if they just found the holy water that can grant anyone immortality.

"Well… with everything that happened in the Monster World, I was unable to find time to ask Alina out." Alex scratched the back of his head as he gave an apologetic gaze at Alina.

"Well, if it were not for what Queen Mother did earlier, I think you will be too much of a coward to ask Alina out in this World too." Asteria snorted as she shook her head. "Really, I still have to use my love expertise to help you out.."

"I don't sense any kind of love expertise from you." Alex replied as he looked at Asteria's diminutive form. "All that I can see was a dumb fairy with her face splattered with some kind of sticky liquid."

"Hey, you are bullying me again!" Asteria shouted as she waved her honey straw at Alex's direction. Alex then moved out of the way as he dodged the honey that splattered out of the straw. "This is what you repay to me after I helped you out? You really are a bully!"

Alex and Asteria then used the rest of the time to play tag with each other, if you can consider honey splashing as tag.

They only stopped when the symbols on Alex, Alina, and Queen Mother's foreheads started to glow.

"It's starting now." All of them thought to themselves as they settled down on the couch.

Asteria, who was still pouting and glaring at Alex, slowly approached him as she touched the symbol on his forehead.

She then stayed still for 10 seconds before withdrawing.

"So, what is our Main Mission then?" Alex asked as he saw the neutral expression on Alina's face.

Alex already had some suspicions on what their Main Mission will be, but he has to get his confirmation from Asteria's words.

After hearing Alex's query, Asteria threw away her honey straw back to her honey jar as she sat down on the table.

Asteria then looked at Alex with a slightly serious look on her face as she said,

[[[Main Mission: Intercept the other Traveler and its Companions that are in this World, and get the legacy of Tartaros before they could do so. Time limit is 1 Month. The group that gets the legacy will win the Main Mission, while the one who fails on getting it will lose the Main Mission. Failure on the Main Mission will mean death.]]]

Alex and his Companions froze after they heard what Asteria said.

If Alex's hearing was right, the words that Asteria said just meant that there was another Traveler in this World, and from the looks of it, Alex will have to compete against him or her!

To say that Alex was surprised was a massive understatement right now.

"What the hell…"