Chapter 44: Myu

Next day morning

Everyone gathered at the restaurant which was on the top floor of this luxurious hotel, where many types of dishes were prepared for breakfast and many of the guests were enjoying the food. There we took a table for six and started to enjoy the food.

While eating I kept feeling like I was forgetting something, something very important. But to my distress, I can't remember at all. So, the whole time I was eating I had a frown on my face.

Shea sitting beside Rihito seeing his continued frown thought to cheer him up. Thinking of an idea she asked, "Rihito~ today we are also free right, then how about we go on a date~."

"..."

Proposing the date, she saw Rihito's frown was replaced with a shock and realization. Shea saw Rihito's previous frowning look was gone, now he was pondering something. She wondered what he was thinking.

But then Shea suddenly felt a chill down her spine, a threatening gaze. As she looked for the origin of the gaze, she noticed Tohru seated on the other side of Rihito, smiling, but for some reason, the smile didn't reach her eyes. Shea got chills when she met Tohru's eyes, not understanding what should she do she looked at Rihito for help. Unfortunately, Rihito was too engrossed in his thoughts to notice her distress.

Shea looked again at a Tohru and again looked away. She didn't understand what did she do to make her angry. Shea felt like if she didn't do something about it, she would be roasted quite literally. She then instinctively spoke her next word, "Umm…Tohru how about you…also join in our date as well."

"..."

"..."

Hajime and others who were eating and enjoying this event were shocked to hear what Shea said. As for Tohru her sinking mood instantly vanished and her smile became a genuine one, "Really~, then I will join as well~," Tohru said in a happy mood.

Shea, finally feeling out of danger sighed in relief, [I am safe.] She thought. However, she felt a little sour, about sharing Rihito with other girls. But she already knew she couldn't monopolize Rihito for herself. He already liked that Shizuku girl even before we met. So, it can't be helped and now, [She as well.] Shea thought while looking at Tohru who was eating her food happily.

…

Rihito, before he knew it his normal date with Shea suddenly turned into a double date with Shea and Tohru, he was very confused about what happened.

[What the hell happened while I was pondering for a bit?]

Not understanding what happened, I looked at Hajime for answers. But, instead of answering he completely avoided my stare, [Bastard.] I cursed him in my heart.

After finishing our breakfast both Shea and Tohru looked at me with anticipation. Clearly, very excited about the date, [Well, I am kinda excited as well, this is my first date after all and on top of that with two beautiful girls. Who would have thought I would get the chance to date two girls at the same time.]

"..."

On a side note, seeing us going on a date, Hajime also made plans to go on a date with Yue and an extra tag along. Seeing him go, [I could only hope he found that girl or I had to hunt down the underground gangs on my own.]

[Sigh]

Inwardly sighing we were currently going through a plethora of food stalls Tohru and Shea wanted to try, which I was happy to join in. We then one after one ate many things both familiar and unfamiliar. I have to really give my props to the skill <Iron Stomach>, because of it I can eat as much as I want.

"..."

After eating a variety of food in this city we headed towards the places this city is famous for. From the locals, we found there are casinos, an entertainment district, a fighting arena, Theaters, and they also an aquarium.

Shea and Tohru's interest was piqued when they heard about the aquarium, Shea because she had never seen an aquarium before, and Tohru because she thought she could get more fish there, so I had to shut down that thought immediately.

We then headed towards the aquarium. Shea eagerly walked ahead to see the aquarium. On our way there many unsavory guys tried to pick up Shea and Tohru. It was kinda amusing to see, some fragile-looking guy try to pick up a girl who could literally slap them to death.

So, before something like that really happened, I used a minuscule amount of <Bloodlust > to scare them away. Which in turn kinda saved their life, I mean, if mistakenly someone other than me touched Tohru. She would probably burn the person to death. She only acted cordially with the people whom I am acquainted with. Other people might as well be bugs to her. As for Shea, she might be a caring girl, but if you push her buttons, she might break a bone or two.

While I was saving some moron's life, Tohru noticed that some people were following them, so she called out to Rihito, "Master, I am sensing someone watching us. Should I take care of them?" She asked as she conjured fire in her hands.

"No!" I hurriedly used Illusion Magic to camouflage her arm and fire, so as not to alert the passersby. I then used <Mana Sense> to check whether those guys had noticed anything or not.

Confirming they hadn't I replied to her, "I know, don't worry about it, I have noticed them for a while now," Tohru, after confirming Rihito knew about this situation. She went back to look around.

"..."

[Sigh]

[I was on the verge of seeing my entire plan to find Myu and take down this organisation fall apart. If the slave traders discovered that we were a powerful adventurer party, they might stop trying to capture us. This would make it harder for me to locate Myu. My plan was straightforward: I intended to let them attack us, much like in the cannon. I believed that sooner or later they would make a move, and that would be the spark for me to dismantle their entire organization.]

…

After walking for a bit, we reached the aquarium. Shea saw it and exclaimed, "Rihito~ That's the aquarium right, let's go~." Shea excitedly jumped as we joined the line, waiting for our turn.

While we were standing there, Tohru was eyeing the wooden carvings of the fish, that were attached to the top of the entrance and drooling.

"Tohru!" I called out to her with a stern voice.

Tohru hearing my stern voice straightened up, "Yes."

"You are not to touch any fish here no matter how delicious they look to you, understand."

"Yes!" she saluted.

"..."

Seeing Tohru Salute I wondered where did she learn that. After waiting there for a few minutes our turn finally came. But before I could buy the tickets, an explosion occurred from the top of the Aquarium.

"Boom!"

 From there, a cross-shaped thing with glowing red circuits flew out carrying a human-faced fish with it.

"..."

"..."

Shea saw the cross-shaped thing and whispered to my ears, "Rihito is that…"

"Yeah, that's… 'Cross bits' one of Hajime's weapons." I said in a low voice only Shea and Tohru could hear.

Tohru seeing the fish fly away asked, "Master can I eat that fish, it is outside of the aquarium now."

"..."

"No! Tohru if you want to eat fish, just ask I will buy you." Tohru hearing that exclaimed, "Really, you are the best master~," she said happily.

Just as the 'human face, fish was taken away by the 'Cross bit,' all the pedestrians inside hurriedly came out screaming, "Someone help us, there's a monster!" The guards outside rushed to the scene upon hearing the commotion. From the ticket counter, the employee announced, "I'm sorry, but due to an unexpected event, the aquarium will be closed."

Upon hearing this Shea's excitement vanished, and her ears plopped down in disappointment and sadness. To get a better picture I checked with my <Mana Sense> and found Hajime, Yue and Tio escaped from a different path on the other side. So, it's not likely they are coming here again after causing this mess.

Seeing Shea's disappointed look, I bought 3 ice creams from a nearby stall and handed one to her, "Shea, no need to be sad. You know after we are done with Crimson Desert. We will be heading to the Andika which is a floating island in the middle of the sea, I am pretty sure there will be an aquarium."

"Really," she asked with upturned eyes.

"Yah!" I affirmed.

After getting my confirmation Shea's dejected mood was gone. "Then that time for sure, I will see the aquarium with my eyes," she says with strange determination.

While I handed the other ice cream to Tohru. "Yummy~," Tohru exclaimed tasting the ice cream.

"Let's go and check out the theatres." Hearing my suggestion both of them exclaimed, "Yah~."

…

As we were walking to the theatres the bustling area started to thin out of people, which I noticed but didn't voice. We walked further, [It looks like they are about to make their move.]

As we reached a corner, Shea suddenly stopped and looked below at the ground. Right at that time, Rihito also sensed movement from those people who were stalking. He then promptly gave out the order, [Take them out cleanly.]

Just as I gave the order, several smoke explosions occurred in our surroundings, hindering our sight. I muttered to myself, "So much preparation just to kidnap someone. It's too bad for them that they have to choose us from among so many people present in this city." I observed them through my magic sense and counted about 10 people here, with one probably hiding and observing. The other 9 divided themselves into 3 groups to capture us.

From my right one of the three threw a knife at my shoulder, sensing the knife coming at me I caught it in midair and used my <Fire Manipulation> to heat the blade, and readied myself of the guy in my left, sensing the second guy coming from my left. I twisted my body clockwise and drove the hot knife at the guy's neck stopping the kick aimed at my shoulder.

Right that instant like it was planned the last of three appeared behind me and tried to slice at my shoulder with a bastard sword. If it was anyone other than Shea, Tohru, Hajime and others, I am pretty sure they would be severely wounded or most likely dead, even Shizuku most skilled in swordsmanship after me, wouldn't be able to survive this ambush.

Smiling, I disappeared in front of my assailant and appeared behind him. I then grabbed his neck and snapped it; the assailant didn't even get the chance to process how he died.

"..."

Tohru, sensing someone touching her from her back immediately turned around and punched, the impact of the punch tour through her assailant's chest instantly killing him. The other two saw this and froze up facing Tohru's angry gaze. Tohru using <Shapeshifting > turned her hands that of a dragon, she then conjured her flames in her hands and charged at the remaining two assailants.

"..."

Shea, seeing this sudden attack didn't hold back at all. She had something important to report to Rihito. So, she didn't wait for her assailant to make their move. The moment she sensed something coming at her she charged forward and swung her 'Drucken,' an impact, if her assailant didn't die in one shot, he/she Would likely be in a coma.

"..."

As the smoke settled everything started to be visible again. There I saw Shea and Tohru standing unharmed, but as for their assailant not so much. Tohru's victims had human-sized claw marks and burns on them, one of them even had a big hole in their chest.

As for Shea, her victim looks fine on the surface but they body is bent at weird angles, which is impossible to do even for a Yoga master.

Shaking my head I was about to focus on the last surviving guy. As for the other guy in hiding, let's say some angry adventurer pinned him to the wall with their sword.

"Rihito," Shea urgently called out.

I looked at her raising my eyes, she continued saying, "Beneath us, I sense someone's presence, it's very weak. If we don't move now, it will be too late."

Hearing the familiar lines from the anime, I cursed, [Shit, of all things it has to follow the plot, and this sudden attack. Are things mixing up now?]

I looked at Tohru and said in a serious tone, "Tohru, keep him alive, I have some questions for him." she nodded at me.

I looked at Shea, "Let's go."

Shea and I dashed to the direction where she felt the presence was heading, scanning the sewers I found a few monsters around. At this stage, I could only hope the kid was alive, right then I sensed a weak presence below us.

"Stop!" I exclaimed.

I then used my <Earth Manipulation> to create a passage that connects to the sewers below, it only took about a second, and we then jumped inside.

The moment we entered the hole in the middle of the road, it vanished as if it was never there. The locals who witnessed this looked shocked and bewildered.

…

Inside the sewers, it didn't take too long to find the girl, "There," Shea exclaimed seeing the sky-blue-haired girl floating in the dirty water.

I then used <Water Manipulation> to stop the drifting water and took the girl in my arms. The moment I took her in my arms she opened her eyes and muttered, "Pap…," and fainted.

"..."

"Is she alright," Shea asked.

"She is fine, I have used my healing magic on her, she is just exhausted?"

"I see," she said seeing me gently caring for the little girl.

"Let's go find the exit."

…

"Chapter end"

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Author note:

I wanted to let you know that I've made some edits to the first 16 chapters. I didn't make any major changes, just added a few extra lines. However, when I made these edits, all the paragraph comments that were previously there were deleted. So I like to ask If it's not too much trouble, could you please like the character images that I posted? Of course, if you don't want to do so, that's completely fine.

(If you like my story, give me power stones. If you don't have power stones. Then please comment, and Rate my FanFiction. It will motivate me plenty to write more. Thank you.)