The Most Unexpected Offer

Adonis' discussion with his classmates was pretty brief.

This was because they all had to meet up with their Party Members immediately after, and they probably weren't going to see each other until the day of the Conquest.

Even then, with an expected turnout of almost ten thousand members, it was possible that they wouldn't even see each other until much later.

He understood all of this, so while he tried to be as concise as possible, he also did his best to carefully observe the emotions of everyone present.

Thankfully, everyone seemed to be present in the room—physically and mentally.

So far, they had reiterated the strategies they would employ, and afterwards Adonis allowed each student to talk about the Parties they ended up with.

Some seemed fun, others seemed a bit iffy. It didn't matter how strong or weak the members were, though.

Their personalities were also not really important.

The goal was to train everyone on how to properly handle being in a team filled the strangers.

People were different, so it was perhaps even better for those who had more diverse members in their Parties.

'Even weak Parties will serve a good purpose and will depict a proper account of what the battlefield is really like.'

Adonis truly felt like everyone was on the path of growth for this Conquest.

'The event will probably last a couple of days, even if we hurry. After all, we have no idea how the interior works.'

Worst case scenario, they could be in there for a week.

'The goal is to stick together and leave once the time limit has been reached—whether or not the Boss is defeated or not.'

No one knew what happened to those who remained within a Dungeon once it vanished, and they certainly weren't willing to find out.

At the very least, Adonis wasn't.

"Thank you all for your time, everyone." He smiled at the audience in front of him, nodding with pride and personal resolve.

"Let's all do our best!"

**********

'Haaa… it's finally over!' Rey smiled to himself.

He had left a pretty engaging conversation with Esme to arrive on time. Thankfully, he didn't miss anything important.

'I think Esme was saying something before I had to connect here.' It could have been his imagination, but he had to make sure just in case.

He didn't want to be rude, after all.

'I think I'll head back now and find out for su—'

Before he could finish, though, a hand waved in front of him. It instantly broke him out of his thoughts.

"Rey, you there?" Alicia's familiar and warm voice echoed in his ears, causing him to look in her direction, almost in surprise.

"Yeah! Why would you even ask that?"

He made a slight laugh, and she shrugged slightly. "I don't know. I guess you just seem absent lately. Are you fine?"

He felt a little guilty once he heard those words.

The truth was that he indeed was absent—literally. His clone was the one who was present, so she wasn't particularly wrong.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He responded, hiding his nervous smile. "I'm probably just thinking a lot about this city and different it is from what we're used to."

"Yeah! I know, right?"

Alicia's bright smile warmed his heart so much. He had almost forgotten how fun it was to just sit beside the girl and converse with her.

The suppressed guilt he hid away began to eat at him even more.

"What about you, Alicia? Are you fine?"

Alicia's face clouded a little upon hearing the question.

Thankfully, it didn't last for too long.

"I'll be fine. The meeting with my Party Members isn't for another hour or so. What of yours?"

Rey felt like there was a lot that Alicia was glossing over, and he intended on getting to the root of it, but first… he decided to answer her question.

"Same here."

"Really? That's perfect then!" She bounced to her feet, beaming with some unknown energy whose origin remained a mystery to him.

"Since we won't be doing anything until then, why don't we explore the city together?"

"… Eh?"

The surprise on Rey's face was indescribable.

He never saw it coming—Alicia's offer, that is. The truth was, he had been so busy with his plans and double lives that he hadn't really thought about leisurely activities.

'I already scouted the whole city in my free time in my search for Adrien too, so I am pretty familiar with everything here.'

There was no real reason for him to desire going through another tour again. Just like the meeting earlier, wouldn't it be another boring repeat of an experience he already had?

Well… Rey's heart didn't seem to be thinking that at all.

His cheeks would have flushed in embarrassment if this was his body, but thankfully his sensory connection only went so far.

"What do you think? You said it yourself, didn't you? It's a lot different from what we're used to." Alicia's smile widened. "Wanna check it out?"

Rey didn't even believe she had to ask him that question.

"T-that sounds like a wonderful idea!" He jumped to his feet before even realizing it.

'I'm such an idiot…' His thoughts trailed as he looked at the face of the girl he loved with his heart.

—The one who saved him from crippling loneliness.

'I've not been paying her enough attention. '

Rey's smile deepened as he arced his arms, inviting her to grab a hold of them. He saw it in a show once, and he felt it was a pretty gentlemanly gesture, and to be honest, he just did it for jokes.

Much to his surprise, Alicia grabbed a hold of his arm and drew her body close to him.

'Ahh…' Rey instantly felt a wave of her nice scent occupy his senses as her hair brushed upon his skin.

It felt good.

"Alright then, Sir Rey…"

Alicia's giggles filled the room as she blushed slightly.

"Please lead the way."