Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 34 Bad Hoomans

There was a flash of light, and Alex found himself back to the real world.

"…." Alex could only hear stunned silence around him, as if everyone decided to not make a sound.

"They must be in shock right now, since I defeated someone like Lord Gallius." Alex thought as he looked around him.

Just like what he thought, everyone in the room who watched the virtual match were all wearing surprised expressions on their faces, as if they could not believe what was happening.

The only exception was Lord Gallius, who looked unexpectedly calm, and Alina, who seemed to be pouting

"Hmph, you're lucky you won." Alina said as she tried to not look angry, although her slightly tensed body and clenched fists told Alex otherwise.

"Oh… it seems like you were really that worried for me…" Alex said as he adopted a 'touched' tone.

"Wha- what? I am not worried about you!" Alina said as her voice rose by some octaves. "I just don't want to see the person I brought here to be beaten up. My reputation is at stake, you know!"

"If you say so…" Alex said as he shook his head wryly.

"Hmph!" Alina could only stomp her foot in annoyance as she let out a sigh.

"Hehehe, this Alina is kinda cute…" Asteria muttered out of nowhere as she stared at Alina with an intense look.

Alex, who saw what was happening, narrowed his eyes as he felt that something was amiss.

"...…."

Since he was still at the vicinity of many people, Alex decided to excuse himself to the comfort room first.

From what Alex knew, the comfort room in this compound was safe from any kind of bugging, which should be done, since the comfort room was a place for private affairs.

It was only when he reached that place that he started talking.

"Hey Asteria…" Alex said as he glared at Asteria. "What is the matter between you and Alina?"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Even though Asteria sounded innocent, Alex could still hear a slight tremble in Asteria's voice.

Couple that with the slight twitch in Asteria's eyebrows, and Alex knew that Asteria was hiding something from him.

"....." Asteria could only stare at Alex as she waited for what Alex was about to say next.

"Do you like girls?" Alex muttered to himself as he gave Asteria a curious look.

"Hey! Where did that come from?" Asteria replied with a fluster as she looked at Alex with panic. "How could you think of that?"

"Well…" Alex tilted his head as he remembered Asteria's gaze at Alina earlier. "I have noticed that you have been looking at Alina intently since the first time that we met her."

"And you immediately assumed that I like girls just by that? I thought you are an intellectual person!" Asteria shouted as she bopped Alex's chest with her tiny fists.

Alex did not wince after what Asteria said, Instead, he raised his voice a little as he said,

"I also noticed that when Alina goes to the bathroom to either take a bath or for some private affairs, you always follow her towards the bathroom!"

"Wha-wha-wa…." What Alex said was the truth.

Everytime Alina goes to the bathroom, Asteria usually follows her.

But Asteria was doing that since the bathroom was the only place that she and Alina can talk without Alex overhearing them.

It was there at the bathroom that Alina and Asteria talk about Alex and other 'girl' stuff. It was also at the bathroom that Alina can pet the cute and beautiful Asteria.

But no matter how conclusive the real reason was, it seems like Alex has misinterpreted the entire situation.

"Since Alina could not see you, then you are free to ogle at her body everytime time she's in the bathroom!" Alex said as his gaze at Asteria turned wary. "You must have been enjoying every moment there, right?"

"Wuwuwu… I hate you! You hooman bully!" Asteria started to cry as she flew away from the comfort room. It seems like Alex's teasings have been too much for her.

Alex could still hear Asteria's bawls as she flew farther away from him.

"Hehehe…." Even though Alex felt slightly bad after making Asteria cry, he could not help but feel a strange sense of satisfaction after seeing Asteria's teary face.

"Hey Alex, you are not a sadist." Alex chided himself as he shook his head. "You just managed to one-up that fairy…"

Even though Alex sounded angry at Asteria earlier, the truth was that Alex was fine even if Asteria was interested in Alina.

After all, Alex is a proponent of girl-to-girl love.

Don't ask Alex why he feels this way, he is just fine and supportive of girl-to-girl love.

Even Alex's friends before, when they inquired about Alex's support of girl-to-girl love, Alex's only reply to them was,

[Well, seeing two beauties loving each other is a fine sight, right?]

Nobody tried to question Alex's beliefs after that time.

********************

After 1 minute of stay in the comfort room.

"It's too bad that Alina could not see Asteria. If it were, then it will be really interesting." Alex muttered as he let out a sigh.

Since he had already taken a long time inside the comfort room, Alex decided to leave. He still has to look for Asteria and apologize to her.

But before Alex could leave, the door to the comfort room swung open, and in came a person that Alex did not expect to come in.

The newcomer was Lord Gallius, and he was looking at Alex with a calm gaze.

"....."

"....."

Alex noticed that right now, Lord Gallius was not looking at him with animosity or anger.

In fact, Lord Gallius was looking at Alex as if he was a potential friend.

This weirded Alex out, as he remembered Lord Gallius' hostile attitude to him before.

"Excuse me, but are you the twin brother of Lord Gallius?" Since he found it hard to believe that an attitude change can happen, Alex just decided to create a more believable conclusion. "I did not know that you existed…"

"I am Lord Gallius, da**it!" Lord Gallius shouted as he glared at Alex. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Oh okay… Now I am really weirded out…" Alex muttered as he slowly backed away.

"Why are you looking so scared? I just want to talk to you right now." Lord Gallius said as he closed the door.

"Thud."

Alex jumped a little from the sound, as he started to feel more and more suspicious of the situation.

"What?" Lord Gallius seems to sound a little impatient as he saw Alex's wound-up body. "I am really just here to talk to you!"

"...…."

After seeing a possible girl-to-girl love earlier, Alex's creative mind cranked up as he tried to interpret Lord Gallius' attempt to talk to him.

"Are you interested in me as a potential partner?" Alex said as he shook his head quickly. "Sorry, but I am only into girls."

"You bastard!"

*************************

"Wuwuwu…" While Alina was waiting for Alex to come back, she suddenly heard crying noises which were growing louder and louder.

"Wuwuwu…" Before Alina could prepare herself, the source of these crying noises entered the room.

At the corner of her eyes, Alina could see a teary-eyed Asteria flying towards her.

With Asteria's invisibility state, Alina could not act like she can see her right now.

Because of that, Alina was unable to shoo Asteria, who decided to land on her right shoulder.

"...."

Alina has no choice but to stay quiet as she could only look on Asteria sitting on her right shoulder.

The current appearance of Asteria was so adorable and pitiful that Alina could barely stop herself from petting and comforting her.

"That Alex really is a big bully!" Asteria sniveled as she struggled to talk. "He had been always like this!"

"….." Everytime Alina and Asteria had the time to talk together, most of their conversation were usually Asteria complaining about Alex.

Alina of course wanted to talk about better things, but she knew that Asteria had some steam to let out, so she just let the fairy do her rant.

"And just earlier, that Alex asked me if I like you, in a romantic way!" Asteria bawled as she wiped her eyes angrily. "That dumb guy! He doesn't even know the feelings of other people for him, and yet he proceeds to ship me with you!"

"That's a low blow indeed." Alina thought to herself as she gave Asteria a sympathetic look.

"Hmph, even if that dumb guy apologizes to me right now, I will make it hard for him!" Just by looking at her face, Alina knew that Asteria was serious on what she was saying.

"Well, that's all up to you…" Alina thought to herself as she stayed quiet.

The pair stayed quiet for a minute before Asteria broke the silence.

"Hey hooman! Why are you not petting me!" Asteria said, with the tears on her face already gone. "I want you to comfort me!"

"Sigh." Alina knew that if she will not follow Asteria's demand, the small fairy will continue talking for hours until Alina was forced to do her bidding.

It had already happened before to her, and Alina was not willing for it to happen again.

At the corner of her eyes, Alina saw Lord Gallius leaving the room, with a sense of urgency that she had never seen before.

"Whatever, I need to calm Asteria first." Alina said, as she decided to head to the female comfort room.

But before she could leave, someone blocked her path.

The person's bushy afro blocked most of Alina's vision, prompting Alina to take a pause.

"Hey Miss Alina, I need to talk to you about something." The person blocking her path was the afro guy.

He still looked just as crazy as he was before, but Alina knew that this afro guy is the President of the WEO.

There is not much known about him, except for the fact that he rose to become the President of the WEO in just a single week.

Such kind of ascension should have been rocky, yet even until now, the afro guy still retained his position.

"Um, President, what is it that you want to talk about to me?" Alina said as she ignored Asteria's exasperated sigh.

"Oh, I am here to tell you about the secret of our world. The real reason for the appearance of Esper Abilities." The afro guy said as he deftly led Alina out of the room.

"!!!" Both Alina and Asteria perked up, as they knew what the afro guy will say next will be juicy.

"Wait, why are you telling it to me right now?" Alina forcefully stopped in her tracks as she glared at the afro guy.

"Forgive me if I am rude, but from what I know, only Star Espers are authorized to know about the truth of the Esper Abilities." With Alina's connection to her sister before, Alina knew that once an Esper became a Star Esper, they will be entitled to know the truth about the creation of Esper Abilities.

Not only that, but those Star Espers will also know the real purpose of the World Diagram.

With Alina still not reaching the Star Esper level, she was still not allowed to know anything.

Yet right now, the afro guy is offering to tell her the truth!

"Well, you are close to becoming a Star Esper already, so I figure that its fine if I tell you about the truth already." The afro guy said as he resumed on walking. Alina has no choice but to follow him.

"That is not the only reason, right?" Alina said, not bothering to make her voice weak.

"Well, you can say that I am still suspicious of you and Alex." The afro guy said as his voice suddenly turned deep. "If I tell you the truth, I am sure that your plan with Alex, whatever that plan is, will be scrapped by you."

"Hmph, I do not have any ulterior motives right now, and so do is Alex." Asteria replied as she made her voice as stable as possible.

But inwardly, Alina was feeling nervous, as she tried to imagine what kind of truth could stop her and Alex from what they were about to do.

"Hehehe, we shall see..." The afro guy said as he tried to not laugh. He then took a deep, shuddering breath as he said,

"Do you know what happened to your sister when I told her the truth? She became extremely despondent and depressed for a month, and it was only because of you that she was able to recover. If someone like her was affected that deeply, what do you think would happen to you?"

"...…."