Chapter Eighty: The Boisterous Night

“Let’s give it a try. Hardly anyone comes to this restaurant.” The raid had already broken through the fiftieth floor, yet nearly a third of the players remained on the first. There were few people to begin with, so each floor, once conquered, still hid many treasures. This restaurant was a hidden gem Lancer had stumbled upon while handing in a quest. Usually, he would bring his team members along and felt awkward coming here alone; originally he could have dined with someone else, but lately things seemed to be progressing, and that person had decisively abandoned Lancer to stay by Xing’s side. Not even Agil, Klein, or the others knew that Lancer had found this wonderful spot.

“Thank you.” Silica quietly cradled the cup of milk tea before her.

A strange silence settled in once again. Lancer, naturally incapable of tolerating such quiet, opened his mouth, “Go on, ask whatever you want.”

“Um… Why are you helping me?” Silica finally summoned the courage to ask.

“Why help you? Of course, because you’re a cute girl.” Lancer’s reply was innocent enough, at worst he’d be considered a flirt. Unfortunately, the person before him had misunderstood Lancer’s “identity” altogether.

“What…!” Silica had imagined countless possibilities, but never expected this answer. “Um… well… we’re both girls, so dating is out of the question!” She shouted, gathering her courage.

“Jeez!” Lancer, who had been calmly savoring his cake, suddenly heard something unexpected and slowly lowered his head—Silica couldn’t see his expression at all.

“Remember—next time call me Big Brother!” Though Lancer forced a smile, Silica distinctly felt a dark aura emanating.

“All right, eat first. I need to take care of something.” With those words, Lancer left the table, heading toward his lodgings for the night. He didn’t want to deceive Silica, nor risk the mission by revealing too much too soon. Though he had temporarily diverted her attention, he remained troubled.

“Bang!” The door slammed shut, and Lancer crouched silently in a corner.

“Mistaken again… mistaken again…” As an excellent undercover agent, to be completely mistaken for the opposite gender was a powerful skill, yet Lancer couldn’t help but feel a faint melancholy.

After venting in the room for half an hour, Lancer appeared downstairs once more. Silica had already finished her milk tea and the cake in front of her had also vanished, but she now sat uneasily in her original seat.

“Um, Big Sis… Brother, where are we going now? If we’re heading out tomorrow, don’t we need to prepare?” Silica rarely acted on her own, usually relying on Pina who had been recruited to the team; her role was simply to command Pina to heal others and serve as a mascot. Still, she knew supplies were needed before starting to level up, especially after today’s dangerous incident with the missing crystals.

“You’re right!” Only then did Lancer remember that the journey to the Hill of Memories wasn’t just for himself. If he were alone, rest would be unnecessary, but there was a clearly unsuitable-for-combat girl with him.

“All right, we should get some supplies.” With that, he led the way toward the teleportation point.

“Wait for me…” Silica saw Lancer heading out and hurried to catch up, only to encounter others she hadn’t expected.

“Hey, Silica!” Two of Silica’s former companions were standing near the teleportation point, discussing something.

“Mm…” Though she was displeased by their recent behavior, they were once teammates, so Silica didn’t reject them outright and responded quietly.

“Um…” Having just announced her departure from their party, things felt a little awkward. Still, realizing the benefit of bringing her back, one spoke up, “Silica, we discussed it and you still need crystals. We’re really sorry for earlier.” He even bowed to show his sincerity.

“Mm…” Silica was so flustered by their approach she didn’t know how to respond.

“Hey, are you ignoring me? Don’t you see I’m her current companion?” Lancer emphasized the word “current.”

“Huh?” Only then did they notice the person beside Silica. They had come to the teleportation point to wait for her, and in their excitement hadn’t noticed she was accompanied.

“Let me introduce myself—Lancer, a front-line player. I’m here to help Silica with a quest.” Lancer declared his name and status to avoid being entangled, but unexpectedly…

“Oh, Silica, you’d better be careful! Don’t let yourself get tricked, who knows if he’s telling the truth. By the way—where’s your little lizard?” The woman knew several of the raid group players, but had never heard the name Lancer. To her, he was likely just an ordinary player who had participated a few times, so she didn’t pay him much mind, choosing instead to continue provoking Silica.

“Pina isn’t—” Silica was about to defend herself when Lancer stopped her, glaring at the woman with contempt. “Pina sacrificed herself to protect Silica, who lacked healing crystals. We’re going to revive her.”

Lancer didn’t want to show hostility too soon, in case the woman became cautious, so he planned to deal with her properly once he caught the others.

“Let’s go. There’s nothing more to say to someone who can’t even recognize simple words. To confuse ‘winged dragon’ for something else—how regrettable.” With an exaggerated look of disappointment, Lancer grabbed Silica and left, not giving the others a chance to retort.

“Damn it!” Though she wanted to take Lancer down now, all she knew was they were headed to the Hill of Memories; other details were missing. She resolved, after this job, not to eliminate Lancer outright, but to torment him thoroughly.

“That damned woman!” She cursed under her breath, deciding to contact friends in the raid group to inquire about Lancer. Caution was best. Unfortunately, the usual contact was Asuna, the vice commander of the Blood Alliance, and final statistics were handled by the highest-level players—the Black Swordsman, Flash Asuna, or the man known as the strongest, Heathcliff, who possessed the full roster and data. Her own friends only knew about their party, and Lancer belonged to the small group of the Inquisition, so apart from his friends and guild members, no one knew his name. Her so-called reconnaissance was wasted.

Sorry—last night I fell asleep playing games, so I’m posting this now! Also, a reminder: a friend’s birthday is on the 28th. If I have drafts these days, I’ll post them at midnight; if not, there’ll be a delay.