The Grand Duelist

Joseph saw Alice staring at him with a cold look on her face.

"Oh, you're finally awake?" 

Why are you saying that like you don't want me to wake up... Joseph inwardly criticized. But his pupils constricted when he realized something strange in the world around him.

Everything had a shade of blue on them!

What is going on? It seems like my eyes adjusted, but am I in total darkness? But wait, that doesn't make sense. If I am in total darkness, then why can I clearly see Alice in front of me? 

Alice guessed what Joseph was thinking about when she saw her shocked expression.

"Pretty shocking, right? But you're actually quite lucky. When I woke up, I panicked when I found myself in the middle of total darkness which worsened some of the remaining wounds on my body."

Alice looked as indifferent as ever as she said these words, but then she suddenly raised an eyebrow as she continued.

"Now that I remember it... I found myself covered in bandages when I woke up. It couldn't possibly be from those two sisters since the bandages were quite old and dirty. And since the bandages were wrapped around every nook and cranny of my body... Does this mean that you stripped me naked?" 

Joseph wryly smiled.

How else can I make sure that I covered every wound that you have if I didn't strip you naked?

And are you seriously blaming me right now, when I was just trying to help at that time? I don't have any ill intentions, you know? Joseph wanted to say these words out loud, but he didn't have the drive to do so.

As to why?

Well, Joseph thought that it was unnecessary for him to explain what could easily be understood through the use of common sense. 

But still, going along Alice's character from what I have seen... I can only hope that she's not as angry as I think that she would be.

Joseph inwardly prepared himself for a beating as he squinted his eyes and awaited the arrival of Alice's attacks...

"Why are you closing your eyes?"

But what he got in return was a question from Alice.

Joseph turned to look at her and said, "Wait, you are not going to beat me up?"

Alice stared at him in amusement, "Why should I do that? It's not like what you did was wrong."

It was Joseph's turn to frown as he replied, "But I did strip you naked. You also seemed pretty angry when you asked me about it."

Alice raised an eyebrow in response.

She thought for a moment before she replied, "I am not really angry. If I must describe it, I can say that I am somewhat irritated or annoyed."

"Annoyed? By what?" Joseph also raised an eyebrow as he asked.

Alice's indifferent expression shattered and she turned to look at Joseph with a doubtful frown.

"Are girls that like manual labor unattractive to you?"

"What's the connection of this question to my question?"

"Just answer."

Alice didn't give him any time to criticize as she harshly cut him off from speaking any further.

"I don't really find them unattractive. In fact, I find them inspirational."

"Inspirational? What do you mean?"

"I mean, aren't women frequently stereotyped that they should only remain in the house, take care of the kids, and chores in the house? Men may have a physical advantage against women, but we are still of the same species in the end. That is why I advocate equality." 

The Kingdom of Nether had a patriarchal society. Joseph described the stereotype about women within the Kingdom of Nether so that Alice could understand his point.

Alice's interest was piqued as she asked, "So you're not like those chivalrous knights from the Kingdom who always act like a gentleman on the surface, but is actually a huge perverted bastard in the inside?"

Joseph frowned at Alice's description.

"I guess, you can say that. But I am not so shameless to say that I am not like them."

"So you are admitting that you are like them?"

"No, I am saying that I will lose face if I blatantly advertise to you that I am not a pervert." Joseph retorted.

Alice scoffed, "Losing face again? I really hate that stupid concept. I don't understand why those nobles like to hold on their dignity so much as if their dignity can keep them alive."

Well maybe not everyone is as shameless as you, Alice-chyan. Joseph inwardly criticized.

He could still remember that breathtaking scene back at Reinhardt. Such a brilliant move from Alice was really something that he didn't expect, it was like the Spanish's Inquisition. Something that arrived when you least expect it.

Joseph couldn't find a suitable reply to what Alice had said.

"Uh... To each their own, I guess?"

Alice merely stared at him and didn't say anything anymore.

An awkward silence lingered in the air. Joseph's lips repeatedly twitched as his mind quickly spun so that he could dispel this strange atmosphere. Thankfully, after about half an hour of waiting.

A bunch of footsteps suddenly echoed behind the door in front of them as two figures nervously went inside the room where Alice and Joseph were located.

"Ah! Both of you are already awake?"

Julie was taken aback when she saw Alice and Joseph staring at her in curiosity.

"Julie, I'm scared..." Hulie went close to her sister and hugged her tight.

"From the looks of it, both of you are our benefactors. I give you our thanks, and may the God of Order and Justice bless you." Alice revealed a smile.

She crossed both of her hands in front of her chest and placed her open palms on her chest as she deeply bowed.

Hey, what is this difference in treatment? Also, the God of Order and Justice?

Joseph inwardly criticized, but on the outside...

He revealed the same kind of look as Alice.

He also bowed his head towards Julie and Hulie as a sign of respect towards his benefactors.

Julie stepped forward and received their gratitude with an indifferent look on her face.

"I am sorry to ask this from you, but may I know where we are right now?" Joseph spoke up when Julie raised her head after receiving their gratitude. 

Julie nodded her head and said, "The two of you are in the territory of the place that is perpetually hidden from the sun."

"Perpetually hidden from the sun?" Alice raised an eyebrow and Joseph also stared at Julie in confusion.

"Yes." Julie nodded quite seriously, "This place has never received even an inkling of sunlight ever since it was established. All sorts of Mutated Monsters of the Darkness roam this place, and they serve as our food whenever we hunt them."

"And speaking of food..." Julie revealed a smile at the end of her sentence as she placed a bag made out of woven tree leaves on top of the small stone table in front of Alice and Joseph. When she opened the bag, a slight smile could be seen on her face as she explained.

"We are quite lucky this time. I managed to hunt a Mutated Monster with a lot of Mana in its body. If we ate it, then I am pretty sure that we will not grow hungry within the next few days." Julie took out an object wrapped with banana leaves from the bag.

Afterwards, she unwrapped that object and what Joseph saw almost made him retch.

What came out from the bag was a slab of meat that looked purple and greenish. But that wasn't the reason why Joseph looked so disturbed when he saw the chunk of meat.

It was because he realized that the meat had a lot of eyeballs on its surface! Making it look like it came out straight from a horror movie.

Ah... Shit, I'm weak... I can't look at that... Joseph turned his gaze away.

He glanced at Alice and found that the latter also looked shaken. 

Uh... Yeah, there's no way that a human being can eat something like that... Is that even edible? 

"Are you guys not going to eat?" Julie asked in confusion. 

"W-We'll think about it." Joseph awkwardly scratched his head in reply as he glanced at Alice with a wry smile.

"In that case then we'll go and eat first. But don't worry, we will be sure to leave you both enough portions so the two of you can satisfy your hunger..." Julie retrieved the slab of meat from the table and she directly bit on it, causing bloody juices from the meat to drip down the ground, further astonishing both Alice and Joseph.

She's eating it raw? Holy shit, is there no concept of cooking in this unknown place? Joseph reeled in shock. He glanced at Alice and found that the latter wore a bitter smile on her face.

"Are you okay? You look quite pale." Joseph asked in concern.

Alice waved and replied, "I am fine. I am just hungry. After all, I am not like you who is cursed and blessed by the laws of causality at the same time. If I didn't eat then I will die. Especially since I'm particularly vulnerable when it comes to hunger as a Swordswoman."

Joseph frowned, "What's the connection of hunger and being a Swordswoman? And also, I cannot let you die. I secretly swore to Senior Krid that I will bring you to him completely safe and sound." 

Alice raised an eyebrow, her expression turned into a teasing one as she said: "Completely safe and sound?"

She then turned to look at her bruised body before saying: "I wonder what Grandpa will say if he saw me in this state?"

Horror flashed on Joseph's face. He could imagine Krid's anger when he found out that his beloved granddaughter actually got injured to the extent that she needed bandages around her entire body.

"Wh-What do I have to do so that you wouldn't say anything to senior Krid?" Joseph slowly uttered. 

His voice became pleasing to the ears which made Alice smile from ear to ear.

"Bring me some food."

Oh? That simple? Joseph was delighted by the answer that he heard.

But there was a particular issue.

"I don't know any other food in this place other than that slab of meat presented to us by the two sisters," Joseph replied in a manner that made him look like the victim.

"Yeah, go to them and ask them for a slab of meat. Afterwards, we'll cook it."

"We will cook it? We're going to eat it?"

"Yes, don't tell me that you do not know how to cook?" Alice stared at him.

"Of course, I know how to cook!" Joseph retorted and then Alice chuckled.

"Good, in that case then you can go and ask them for a portion of that slab of meat now. Remember, beggars, can't be choosers so we've got to eat what we can eat so we can conserve energy in preparation for our return to Nether!"

Alice even advised him, but it was evident that Joseph wasn't listening to her for he was thinking about something else.

She wants me to cook?

I don't know what will happen if I cooked such a terrifying peace of meat.

But I guess there's no harm on trying...

However, in order to cook a delicious meal, I need something more than the meat itself...

That's right, spices!

I need spices so I can make a decent meal.

But where can I get the spices that I need?

Joseph's eyes narrowed into slits when an idea suddenly came to his mind. 

The Cash Shop! 

I can go and buy spices from the cash shop!

Joseph excitedly opened his Main Menu and opened the Cash Shop that everyone liked.