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Chapter 46 46 BANG!
Chapter 46 46 BANG!
Chapter 46 Chapter 46 BANG!
He was not wrong.
He straightened himself, and gazed upon his reflection. He almost did not recognize the figure staring back at him.
His virgin black hair had grown really long. It parted downwards on both sides of his face. His eyes were hardened, and his previously oval face now appeared somehow squared- with a much prominent chin. It was probably the effect of clenching his jaw too much.
Crystal came up from behind, and stared with him into the mirror;
"See, you look less like an alien now. You look like you're home- where you're meant to be."
Nexus said nothing.
She turned to the tailor; "We'll take two more of these. All in the same color."
"Three?" The tailor echoed hesitantly; "Ma'am I'm afraid it's gonna cost you."
Her eyes darkened; "Are you saying my master isn't good for it?"
"No, no, I'm just sayin-"
"Come on Crystal, don't sweat the poor guy. How much will everything cost?"
He shifted away from the intimidating girl, and answered him; "A gold coin, and nine silver pieces."
"Well, I don't happen to have any silver pieces. . ." a disappointed frown curved his lips upside down; ". . .will you take two gold coins instead?"
With a dramatic speed, a forward smile replaced his frown immediately;
"Of course sire! Here, let me help you off the stool!"
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After a couple of hours, Nexus was pretty much burned out.
But Crystal still had a ravaging fire in her eyes. As they snaked in and out of beauty shops, clothing stores, and footwear stalls, the succubus' enthusiastic energy somehow kept increasing. Her long neck, which resembled an ivory tower, kept stretching ahead as she tirelessly looked for the next stop.
In each hand, she had a bag full of beautiful clothes, footwears, and lotions. And yet, the eargerness for the 'next' was basically plastered all over her face.
Behind her, Nexus' feet dragged along the stony market grounds in slow motions. His eyes were sunk, and bloodshot. His movements lacked the fervent excitement that came with shopping for new stuff. Unlike Crystal, he had had a very eventful night before. He had barely registered two hours of sleep before dawn came a calling.
Again, Crystal's excited shriek blasted in his ear;
"My lord!"
Shit!
"That shop sells umbrellas! Oh look how pretty they are! We could use them on our journeys!"
Nexus decided he could not take it any more.
"I think I'm going to take a break for a while."
Concern in her eyes, she spun in his direction, pouring all her attention on him;
"Is everything okay my lord? Would you like to return home now?"
"Nah, you just run ahead and have fun. I'll just find a spot to light a cigarette or two."
"I can wait here with you. I don't want to leave your side."
"Crystal, it's okay. Don't let me slow you down. Here–" he covertly dropped a handful of gold coins in her shopping bag. "–go knock yourself out. Don't worry about me."
She lingered hesitantly, for a while;
"I'll be over there," she nodded in the direction up north; "Past those trolleys, in the perfume stall. Please call me if you need me."
"Sure, come find me when you're done. I'll definitely be somewhere around here."
He watched as she swantered away into the throng of pedestrians, wondering where she got this boundless energy from.
He sighed, and glanced around, taking note of his environment.
He appeared to be at some kind of crossroads- literally. Both his before and behind him, were rows and rows of stalls that seemed to go on forever. But to his right and left were two alley ways.
Grateful that there was no sun, Nexus delved into the right alley and sat his butt on a stack of abandoned crates.
Eagerly, he whipped out his cigarette case and brought out a single stick. Biting on the mouth of the stick, he struck a match with a flick of his wrist, and lowered it onto the flame.
Nexus pursed his lips, and dragged on the cigarette. The delicious scent of filtered, mentos-flavoured nicotene flowed back into his throat. Nexus exhaled, sending wisps of neat white smoke curling up in the air around him.
Yeahhh.
He reclined his head.
That's the suff.
Expertly holding the burning cigarette between his middle and forefinger, he brought it to his lips again and puffed on it vigorously. The familiar taste of the filtered smoke travelled all the way to his lungs this time, bringing with it a serenity that Nexus so desperately needed. Quickly, he burned through that one and was onto the second in a moment.
Halfway through his fourth stick, just when Nexus was starting to soak himself in the cigarette-induced calm, he heard the sound of angry voices.
At first, it sounded like some market squabble. Nexus did not even give it a thought. However, the voices down the alley began to grow louder, and more aggressive, infringing on Nexus' tranquility, and ultimately ruining his trip.
Clang.
Something metalic dropped to the ground a few meters down the alley. A male voice, probably a delinquent, raised his voice. He was so confidently loud, Nexus heard him clearly;
". . .you're a long way from home princess! You're on street turf now, that goody-goody shit shit don't fly on these streets!"
A much more feminine voice mumbled something Nexus couldn't catch. But whatever was said, invoked an avalanche of laughter from multiple males. They cackled like hyenas, laughing scornfully.
They were a band of bullies. Nexus did not need to have visual confirmation to know that.
'Damn, a guy can't catch a break around here. . .must be a douchebag pandemic in this isekai. . .'
He threw the half smoked joint under his feet, and crushed it. Then straightened himself and swaggered towards the alley.
He cocked his head in surprise.
'No fucking way. Is that–NORA?!'
She was the first person he saw as soon as he came around the corner.
The blonde aristocrat looked like she was in the wrong fucking place. All around her were half a dozen delinquents. Her back, literally against a wall, they completely surrounded her in a semi circle. Their eyes glistened with petty mischief, as they inched closer and closer towards their prey, toying with the idea of what they would do to her.
Nora still had on a confident front.
"This had better be a joke. You must not know who the fuck I am."
The big, bald headed dude, presumably the leader, was looking at her with perverse amusement in his eye;
"What, do we look stupid to you? You think we just randomly stumbled into you?"
"I don't care. Leave now, and I will not have you arrested."
Baldie's lips twisted into sneer. "Shut the fuck up princess, today you're going to learn that not everybody takes orders. . ."
He marched towards her, dangerously closing the gap.
But Nora was barely five foot five, and surrounded by six foot tall menacing thugs. It was not looking good at all- for her, or her future.
Nexus' chivalrous instincts kicked in. His fists reflexively balled up. Deep in his chest, he felt his annoyance begin to gather momentum as he looked at the vaguely familiar scene.
Just as he was about to take his first step forward in vengeful fury, a blur of reddish-orange caught his eye.
With the suddeness of a flash of lightning, the intruder suddenly appeared on the roof to the left. At first, Nexus was only able to briefly make out a bobbing head, crowned with red hair.
But it had only lasted a second.
The girl clasped her hands together, locked her fingers, and focued on the scene below. Nexus suddenly felt the urge to take a step back. It was instinct. Immediately, violent explosions, seemingly from above, bore down on the group.
BANG! BANG!! BANG!!!!
It sent the entire surrounding into an immediate state of pandemonium. It felt as though three powerful explosions erupted in the air, rocking the entire alley way. In the midst of the commotion and smoke, the tough guys dropped like flies. Nexus himself found himself ducking to avoid being thrown down.
For a minute, his ears rang, thistling like a locomotive engine. He crouched behind the wall, waiting for the smoke to clear finally, all the while thinking about that redhead and what she had done.
That was definitely Monica. There was no doubt about it.