Project: Socialize

"Is something the matter?" Loriana asked upon hearing a prolonged period of silence from me.

"Nothing."

I hastily closed out of the app screen and locked the my phone. I held the device in my hands, palm sweating somewhat as I stared at the unlit screen of my phone. The screen of the device acted like a mirror, reflecting my nervous facial expression on it and making it visible for me to see.

I peeked over in the direction of Loriana and seeing that she was now refocused on driving, I unlocked my phone and confirmed the mission objective once again. I noticed the SP award for this mission was more than my current SP balance, meaning that Ralus is forcing me to complete this mission unless I want to face a severe punishment.

I opened up the messaging app in order to contact Emilia, but just when I was about to message her, I received a message from Ralus.

Ralus: I wouldn't do that if I were you. Trust me.

Me: Are you threatening me?

Ralus: I wouldn't count that as threatening.

Me: What is wrong with you? I thought you're an angel?

Ralus: And? Who said that an angel must be moral and everything? Is it because I am created by God? Does that automatically make me supposed to represent all the moral correctness in life? Besides, why do we have to adhere to the code of moral righteousness of you humans?

Me: Well...

Ralus: As for me...I dislike all that moral righteousness that is preached in your religions. The only reason it is in your religious texts is so that humanity would govern themselves to be peaceful creatures so God would not have to spend much time tending to this world. Do you get it? You're a prisoner bound in this world by such rules of moral righteousness. There exists no freedom for you.

I read what he had sent, thinking in my head and deciphering the meaning behind the words. After reading it for a bit and catching the meaning of it, I realized that Ralus was correct as to that extent. As a human, I do not know what it was like at the time of creation of this world, but if what he said was correct and the religious texts were all influenced by God's decisions, then it is highly likely that the deity would create a system that would call for little involvement on his end. I think he would rather spend his time playing video games than tending to this world he had created.

Me: So...what does this have to do with you sending these absurd missions?

Ralus: That's a good question.

Ralus: Sadly, you have yet to see my intent even after all the hints and clues I had revealed to you. Maybe one day, you will be able to see what I'm after. That day...if it ever comes...you might hate me, or you might thank me.

Me: I mean that's way more reasonable. Thanks.

Ralus: Well, just remember that I am the side of humanity, unlike that God.

Me: I hope saying that won't land you into trouble...

Ralus: You're worried about me? How cute. But I gotta say I am a heterosexual and have a girlfriend already.

Me: I've always wondered.

Ralus: Yeah?

Me: If you and Emilia are created by God, then aren't you two technically siblings? So aren't you technically dating your sister?

Ralus:...The weather is quite nice, isn't it?????????????

Me: Um...

Ralus: Talk to you later.

I locked the screen of my phone as I realized that that was the end to our conversation then. I bitterly smiled as I stared at the dark screen of my phone, realizing that Ralus is no different from humans. He has the same traits as a human, which further confirmed my suspicion that angels aren't that different from humans.

"You're texting a friend?" Loriana asked after having noticed me typing on my phone earlier.

"Sort of," I slipped my phone into my pocket. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"Nothing," Loriana smiled. "It's just that you don't usually socialize with people. Good thing you're slowly changing because I was starting to get worried about you."

I looked out the window from embarrassment and it was only then that I realized that we were off of the highway and proceeding on the regular streets of Palisia. From the looks of it, we were quite far from Lumina and Nocsinis. Instead, we were Azavak, which was pass the Imperial District. From here, I could see the Palace Tower in the horizon, although it was somewhat concealed by the rain clouds above.

"So what're we eating?" I asked as we pulled up to a red light and waited with the sound of the rhythmic movement of the windshield wiper and the soft radio music playing the background. "We drove all the way out here..."

"We're gonna find somewhere to eat now," Loriana responded to me. "Look around. You see anything you want to try?"

"Wait...what?" I stared at her in disbelief. "We drove all the way of Azavak and it's not for anything special?"

"The main purpose of this ride was to talk with you..." Loriana said with a straight face, and according to my understanding of her, it might be true.

"Fine..." I sighed as I allowed myself to sink back down into my seat.

After looking around for a bit, we settled for a regular restaurant that was on the side of a major road. The reason why I chose this place was because it had its own parking lot which was quite packed. Therefore, I reasoned that this place must be good if so many people are here eating.

Once Loriana had the car parked, the two of us walked into the restaurant and was immediately greeted by a cheerful looking waitress.

"Welcome," she said. "Is it for two?"

Loriana nodded in response.

"Alright. Please follow me to your seat."

The waitress then led us past the already filled tables near the front of the restaurant towards the back. As we walked by, I noticed that all the males in the room stared at Loriana as we walked by. I didn't blame them since she is truly attractive. However, it did make me quite uncomfortable to say the least.

Once we were seated, we ordered food and ate in relative silence. Like usual, we didn't speak much while eating, which made the atmosphere extremely awkward. Therefore, to alleviate this awkwardness, I tried to strike up a conversation.

"So how's work been so far?"

"It's fine," she replied. "The project has been going on well. A major part of it is due to the help of Markus."

"Because of him huh?" I muttered as I poked at my food with my fork.

"How about you," she then asked. "How is school for you?"

"Like the usual..." I responded. "Grades are still the same, classes are still the same, life is still the same...Basically the same for everything."

"That's nice to hear," she relaxed and smiled, displaying an almost ethereal beauty to me. "It's nice that things are going fine for you."

It was at that moment that I realized that the awkwardness I had felt when speaking to her had vanished. It had probably started while in the car when she first asked me if something was bothering me. We had lived together for long enough to know when something is bothering either one of us so it was no surprise that my obvious troubles were noticed by her sharp eyes. However, it was her kindness, that unconditional concern and care that had melted away my troubles and slowly bringing me back to who I used to be prior to that Ralus incident. Maybe it was because of this, I could not bring myself to hate on Ralus completely. I feel like he has his own concerns and troubles that he was going through, which is kinda similar to me. Maybe Ralus and I aren't that different after all, because if I was in his shoes and faced with whatever problem he faced that was still unknown to me, I would've probably done the same thing. Ralus is a smart person, so I am sure that he has thought everything out already.

However, what I don't understand is the purpose of these missions. I recalled the mission, which was for Loriana to stay a night with me in a lover's hotel. Even though he said he won't have me do anything extra, it is still quite difficult to complete such a mission. First off, it's not night time yet. Plus why would she go to a lover's hotel with me if we need to stay the night outside when there are plenty of hotels in Palisia? Slowly, I'm beginning to think that this mission is downright impossible with it's low chances.

I began to panic as I recalled the penalties of not completing a mission. This time, along with that punishment will be a punishment for having a negative SP balance. This means that if I fail at it this time, things will be bad. Like real bad.

My palms started sweating and my hands started trembling as I reached for my phone in order to message someone to ask about the punishments. I wanted to message Emilia, but Ralus warned me not to. Therefore, he thus became my only source of information.

Me: So what happens if I don't complete the objective?

Not too long later, Ralus replied.

Ralus: Well, first off, there will be a penalty for not completing it, which is scaled with how much SP the mission rewards when completed. Last time yours was eating hot sauce, but that was for a mission with low SP rewards. This time, it might be something real serious like cutting off a finger or something. And as for having a negative SP balance, the lightest punishment is instant death I believe. The more negative it is, the more brutal the death becomes.

Oh my god...Why doesn't the lord have mercy anymore?

I stared at the message, reading it over and over again to confirm the possible results. They are bad results, none that I want to experience. Therefore, at that second, I made up my mind. I will take her to a lover's hotel. It will have to be done.