Chapter 149: Preparing

"Do you feel better now?" Asked Alexander softly as he looked at Michelle, who was wrapped in a towel and sitting on her bed while rubbing her hip.

"A little. Did you have to yell, Alexander?" Replied Michelle softly with a nod before looking at Alexander in annoyance, who sighed before awkwardly rubbing his head.

"Haa, no, probably not, but I was in a hurry to tell you something, and I still am, so can we push this matter to the side for now?" Stated Alexander lightly with a shake of his head before tenderly grabbing Michelle's hand and sitting beside her, causing her to frown and nod.

"Haa, yes, but you owe me another date." Said Michelle lightly as she rested her head on Alexander's shoulder, causing him to wry smile while nodding before suddenly clearing his throat.

"Of course, now then. Where should I start? I'll make it brief for now, and if you wish to know more, I'll tell you about the details in the future. So, anyway, it happened when Yuki and I were within the dungeon…" Remarked Alexander as he softly squeezed Michelle's hand, only to tap his chin with a thoughtful expression before giving a summary of yesterday's events.

I didn't tell Michelle everything, making sure to leave out the things regarding how we encountered a monster within the legendary ranked dungeon and how I literally was required to die for Yuki and I to escape safely; however, I didn't try to downplay the severity of the matter, I ensured Michelle understood the impending dangers. This was a little hard to do given that, from my understanding, Michelle has been mostly sheltered her whole life, not as if she hasn't experienced the real world, but more along the lines she doesn't fully comprehend the dangers the real world can pose.

Being a farmer and having the occasional encounters with small animals like coyotes, foxes, wolves, and wild dogs is completely different from facing monsters that have no resemblance to sentience whatsoever; beasts can be warded off relatively easily, but monsters… They will either kill you or you'll kill them.

"… That's why I came practically running in here, so I could warn you to pack your things since, while I hope I'm wrong, we're most likely going to need to flee Hyphen." Stated Alexander solemnly as he looked at Michelle, who wore a frightened and ugly expression.

"I-Is it really that bad, Alexander?" Asked Michelle gently as she stared into Alexander's crystal-like purple eyes, only for him to nod sternly, causing her to bite her lip while losing her head.

"Haa, I-I see. How long do I have to pack?" Added Michelle softly in a depressed tone while leaning against Alexander, who wrapped his arm around her and gently comforted her.

"Not long, only a few days. I don't know much about rampages, and it's too late to do research on them, but I'm completely confident Hyphen will be wiped off the map; hell, probably even the areas beyond the city limits will still be within the Monster's limits. We need to be out of Hyphen within six days; I'll help load all the stuff onto carriages, so don't worry about that. Just pack all the essentials and necessary items first." Declared Alexander seriously as he rubbed Michelle's arm, transferring his calming emotions to her, which greatly helped in soothing her, causing her to reluctantly nod while she rubbed her face.

"So I've only got about five days to pack? That should… Be more than enough; it's just that everything seems to be happening so quickly. One second, life has just taken a turn for the better, and suddenly, Hyphen is mere days away from being destroyed by a dungeon rampage." Exclaimed Michelle with a frown as she sighed while standing up, only to remove her towel, revealing her stark body before approaching her wardrobe in the distance.

"I feel the same, but things happen that are outside of our control, though, with this one, I feel partially at fault." Said Alexander lightly as he nodded in agreement before standing up and nearing Michelle, who was already beginning to pack.

"Anyways, I'm sorry, but I've got to go, Michelle; I need to acquire one, preferably two carriages so we can move all of our stuff, and I need to still take care of Yuki, not to mention I've got to somehow warn the city about the impending doom. Haa, I've got a lot to do in such a short amount of time." Added Alexander as he gently kissed Michelle's cheek before groaning in annoyance shortly afterward, only to her place her hand on his chest.

"Just take it easy, Alexander, one step at a time; also, if you need any help, I can't do much about the other two, but I should at least be able to take care of Yuki while you're out doing other stuff." Remarked Michelle lightly with a faint smile as she looked up at Alexander, who reached down and grabbed her hand before passionately kissing her, taking her by surprise.

"Thank you, Michelle, but it's fine; I've already got someone helping me with Yuki. Besides, you still need to take care of Chloe and tell her everything." Said Alexander lightly with a seemingly reinvigorated smile as he looked down at Michelle while holding her face, brushing her wet hair out of the way, causing her to subtly blush before looking away.

"Y-Your welcome; n-now go Alexander, you have things to do." Stated Michelle bashfully as she forcefully pushed Alexander out of her room, causing him to faintly chuckle while looking at her.

"T-Though, o-once this is all over, and we've found a place to settle down, I-I'd like another n-night together." Added Michelle softly as she hung her head down slightly while standing in front of Alexander, who smirked and nodded.

"Of course, my Mistress. Now, then, I must really get going. Bye." Remarked Alexander with a smile as he gave Michelle a peck on the lips before quickly heading down the stairs and exiting the house, leaving an eager Elven woman behind.

Stepping out of Michelle's house, I closed the door behind me and leaped over the fences, landing right in Yuki's front yard before quickly opening the door, though I made sure to gently close it lest she was sleeping, which seemed unnecessary.

"A-Alex?" Asked Yuki weakly as she slightly lifted her head, looking at Alexander while Talis was standing on the table, constantly flapping her wings at her, hoping to cool her off.

"Yes, it's me, Yuki Ho–what happened? Why are you sweating so much? Are you okay? Talis, why didn't you remove the blankets?" Asked Alexander lightly as he glanced at Yuki, using [Heroes Gaze] on her, only to see her profusely sweating underneath the multiple blankets before eyeing Talis with a frown.

"Tsk, I've been trying! But she only woke up a few minutes ago and do you know how hard it is for me to try and remove the blankets?" Said Talis in annoyance as she clicked her tongue while lowering her wings and eyeing Alexander, who opened his mouth before closing it and sighing.

Ignoring Talis's sound argument, I carefully picked up Yuki before tossing the blankets off her, only to summon a constant gust of wind to cool her down, though from the looks of things, she's going to first need a towel, she's been seriously sweating; it was like a small puddle on the couch.

"I'll be right back, Yuki." Said Alexander softly as he quickly left the room before heading upstairs and grabbing a random towel from the closet.

Entering the kitchen, I grabbed a random pot and quickly filled it with water before heading back towards the living room; kneeling on the ground in front of the couch Yuki was on, I lifted the pot of water and gently poured it into her mouth as she must've lost a lot of water from all that sweating.

'My goodness, Yuki, I didn't realize you were this thirsty.' Thought Alexander with a wry expression as he looked into the empty pot that was previously filled with roughly two liters of water.

"T-That's better." Muttered Yuki softly as she rested her head back on the pillow while closing her eyes, only for Alexander to wipe her down with a towel.

Lifting Yuki's shirt, I cleaned her moistened abdomen before reaching into her cleavage, which was like a swamp, and that made me realize that drying her was a waste of time; she needed another shower.

'If her cleavage is this bad, what about her groin?' Mused Alexander lightly as he removed the soaking wet towel from Yuki's cleavage before slightly lifting her pants, only to get hit with the womanly musk that overwhelmed his nose.

Swiftly closing Yuki's pants, I took a few seconds to breathe in the fresh air and not that gas chamber inside her pants.

'Woah, that was… Something.' Thought Alexander lightly as he glanced at Yuki's groin with a weird glint, only to drop the towel into the pot before carefully picking her up in his arms.

"So, what happened, Yuki? You looked relatively fine two and a half hours ago, so why are you suddenly sweating so much?" Questioned Alexander in concern as he carefully walked upstairs with Yuki in his arms.

"I-I don't know; i-it just happened a few m-minutes a-after you l-left. I-I started to f-feel h-hot, s-so I decided to sleep b-but when I woke up, I-I was i-in a pool o-of my own s-sweat." Replied Yuki weakly as she breathed irregularly, causing Alexander to frown.