Chapter 184: Calm Before the Storm!

A few hours after that.

"Why am I doing this?"

"Now, now, let's just enjoy it, shall we?"

"How could I?!"

Isabelle shouted as she tried to run away from me while wearing a dark blue bikini with frills. She couldn't, however, as I used <Blink> to appear in front of her and stopped her.

"No one besides us is here. It's just like..."

"A date?" I finished her sentence, and she glared at me.

This girl was really scary and cold. A deep frown was etched on her face even though she was the one who willingly changed into the swimsuit, and it looked perfect on her.

'But her tongue is so sharp.' I smiled wryly, looking at her.

"Why suddenly, though?" She asked, crossing her arms. "Don't tell me that you invited me here without a reason?"

"I do, though?" I replied with a playful smile. "I want to spend time together with you."

"Hah?"

Isabelle raised her eyebrows in disbelief as her jaw fell.

"Are you serious now, Arthur? If so, then I am leaving."

Saying so, she tried to stride away again, but I held her shoulders to stop her.

"Let's just relax, okay? I even sent Garcia away on a task because I want to have a talk with you and relax on the beach."

Turning around, Isabelle looked at me with a suspicious gaze. She observed me carefully while I smiled softly at her, appearing genuine.

"Apologize," she said shortly with a chill-filled tone that could even freeze the hell as she looked at me with a blank gaze. "You have yet to say sorry for what happened on that ship."

"Ah..." A soft voice escaped my lips as I remembered what had happened yesterday.

"Hahaha..." I laughed softly as I took a step back, scratching my cheek. "Sorry, okay? But I already explained it in that letter."

"You mean that wall of text?" Isabelle sighed in exasperation. "Did you think I would read something filled with such nonsense?"

"I thought you would." I nodded at her and smirked. "And I also thought you would forgive me after replying with that wall of curses."

"You deserved it." She replied.

The atmosphere turned friendly as we exchanged banter with each other. I quite liked this kind of thing, and we eventually walked side by side alongside the beach with my feet submerged under shallow water.

Isabelle was still cold and didn't really want to smile in front of me. She was also walking on the beach side, trying her best to avoid getting into the water for some reason.

Was she afraid? That shouldn't be the case, as she could swim back to safety after getting blasted by Cecil yesterday.

Then was she still wary of getting near the water unconsciously due to the trauma she experienced? Her unconscious mind must've realized that getting near open water that could hide monsters was scary, so she avoided it.

That could also be just my imagination, but then we stopped when we reached the end of the beach. We had walked a bit long, reaching the wall surrounding the city, a bit away from the last building near the shore.

"Should we go back?" Isabelle asked, her tone becoming calmer and friendlier after talking for a while. "We talked enough, right?"

"Hmm..." I hummed and looked over the sea.

I kept my senses at an all-time high even when I spoke with her because I didn't know when Scylla would arrive. However, I noticed that something had gone exactly like what I had planned.

Grinning, I faced Isabelle, whose expression turned pale.

"No."

For some reason, she spoke to me with a serious face.

"Whatever plans you have in mind, throw it away. I don't want to get involved in any of those." She continued as she turned away and began to leave.

"Don't be so cold, Isabelle."

Once again, I appeared in front of her by using <Blink>. Her instinct was still good, especially when she guessed another human's intention.

"I plan nothing at all. Rather, my plan went a bit awry due to something unexpected and I wanted your help this time."

"My help? After all of that?"

"I've apologized, haven't I? We even talked about it before."

As I replied to her, she heaved a long sigh and faced me.

"Listen, Arthur. You called this world your bonus stage, and I have no problem with that. But, as you can call this your bonus stage after defeating the last boss, I can also call this world my resting place. Just... Please don't involve me with anything troublesome. Please."

Her voice was earnest, as if she asked me with everything from her heart.

That... I couldn't do that.

'It's because of my selfishness, but I can't let you have that trauma with you. It needs to be cured.' I thought as I looked at Isabelle with a sad smile.

Not only because I wanted her to be cured but also for her safety. Ignoring her high Level, she would get killed if she couldn't fight a monster.

Isabelle probably thought it was fine as she could get revived, but I didn't think it was at all, especially after hearing the penalty from Sana. No, even without that, I didn't want her to think that dying was fine in this world.

Our circumstances might differ, but I also wanted her to enjoy this life without worrying about monsters or her trauma. So...

"Hate me or forgive me, but I will definitely won't let you away, Isabelle," I said with resolution as I gazed into her eyes. "You know what I had planned in this sea, right? You're smarter than me, and my worries clouded my judgment lately. So say... What do you think?"

"... You're stupid."

Instead of answering my question, she chose to let out a sigh and equipped herself with <Night's Armor> and <Night's Edge>.

"You brought me here to help you fight those approaching monsters, right? Even though my <Mana Sense> only reached Lv 4 and isn't as sensitive as before, I can still feel the approaching monster and people."

As expected, she had already guessed my intention. However, that was a bit far from the truth. I didn't bring her to help me defeat the monsters but to make her meet Scylla.

But I didn't need to say that as sea monsters really got closer to the shore right now. Those monsters were following a single giant ship in the distance, chasing after it as if they were hoarded by it.

And that ship approached us from a distance. There were many people on that ship, including a familiar one. Then a person emerged with a wide grin on her face with many dirty thugs crackling behind her.

When Isabelle saw that person, she squinted in anger, gripping her <Night's Edge> tightly in her hand.

"Is that a part of your plan too?" Isabelle asked me coldly. "If so, then I need to thank you. I finally will be able to have a bit of revenge."

"Nope, I have no idea at all. Maybe she's trying to find me as I pretended to be her toy yesterday?"

"... I will just take that explanation." She replied. "How do you want to deal with them?"

"Well, I am thinking something like this."

I took out the [Sword of Mars] and readied my stance.

"Why don't you deal with those pirates first while I deal with some sea monsters? Then we can deal with the remaining monsters together."

"Sounds like a plan that I will follow." Isabelle's lips curled up in a slight smile. "You're the superior here. I will follow your order."

"Then let's go," I ordered as I looked at my radar.

As expected, it could swim faster than even the fastest ship. It had arrived faster than I had predicted. On top of that...

'It seems like she is bringing her sibling with her.'