Chapter 21 Congratulations, Traveler (1/2)
If Alex could move right now, then he will do his best to punch that smirk off from Clint's smug face.
Too bad he's already paralyzed.
He and Alina could only let out groans of protest as they glared at Clint with their eyes.
”Yo chill… it's just a joke!” Clint said as he raised his hands defensively. ”Tsk, people these days can't even take a joke! What happened to our society?”
”.....”
”Well anyway, congratulations! Both of you defeated a Class SS Intruder, and this guy…” Clint said as he looked at the headless corpse of the old kid.
”This kid was sent by that sleazy bastard, right?” Clint suddenly seethed with rage as he began to trample on the headless corpse.
”You. F**king. S**t!” Clint enunciated each word with anger with every kick that he made on the corpse.
”You. Dare. Spy. On. My. Niece? You. Really. Are. Pushing. It! If. It. Were. Not. For. My. Restriction. I. Would. Have. Been. The. One. That. Killed. You!”
If Alex could wince, he could have done so by now.
As for Asteria, she could only look at the raging Clint with worship as she muttered,
”Wow, this guy looks scary as hell.”
”Hooo…” Clint let out a deep breath as his smug smile returned. ”Now I am refreshed.”
”....”
*******************
What happened after that was all a blur.
Clint called the majority of his gang to help on the rescue and retrieval operations of the people in the battle area.
As for Alex and Alina, they were brought back by Clint to his house.
They were then placed on two beds to accommodate their current state.
”So, these two will stay paralyzed for 12 hours?” Natasha muttered as she looked at the paralyzed Alina. Natalia, who was standing beside her mother, suddenly giggled as she said,
”Mommy, we can play dress-up with Big Sis Alina! She cannot stop us now!”
”Yes, she can't stop us right now.” Both Natasha and Natalia grinned as they approached Alina with a scary glint in their eyes.
”.....” Alina tried to use her Esper Ability, but even that was also restricted by her paralysis.
”There's a lot of dresses that I have bought for you Alina…” Natasha said in a sickly sweet voice. ”It will be a waste if you don't wear it, right?”
”....”
”I'll take that silence as yes.” Natasha said as she and Natalia brought Alina out of the room.
”Dress-up? Now I want to see that too.” Asteria declared as she flew out of the room.
With those three women leaving, Alex realized that he was now all alone in the room.
Realizing that he has to spend 12 hours staring at the same piece of ceiling, Alex wondered if buying that Star-Crusted Dagger had been worth it.
”...…”
************
16 hours later.
Right now, both Alex and Alina had recovered from their paralysis.
Sounds of clacking utensils could be heard as the two of them were eating along with Clint and his family.
Alina was looking down on the floor as she ate while Alex tried to not look interested.
The reason for their strange behavior right now was caused because of a certain mother-daughter duo.
”Oh, this one is cute…” Natasha and Natalia giggled as they both looked at the pictures in their camera.
They spent the first 4 hours of Alina's paralysis playing dress-up with her.
They stopped after that time because they could feel the intense glare that was coming out of Alina.
But that 4 hours of dress-up provided Natasha and Natalia a lot of good materials.
”Alex, don't you want to see some of Alina's pictures?” Natasha crooned as she began to swing the camera at Alex's direction.
”You know, I had her wear this cowboy shorts with knee-high socks…”
”Let me see that!” Alex blurted as his head swiveled towards the camera.
But he was forced to lower his head as Alina gave him the death glare.
”Hmph, what is so good about legs?” Asteria muttered angrily as she saw Alex's reaction. ”They are just used for walking!”
”You will never know their wonders…” Alex thought to himself as he gave an apologetic smile at Alina.
”Oh come on, can you just tease Alina about her pictures later? We are still eating here…” Clint said as he wolfed down his food.
Alina, who was the main subject of this conversation, had her head lowered more with her ears tinged red with embarrassment.
After a few minutes of eating, Clint suddenly let out a sigh as he looked at Alex.
”Alex.” Clint's face suddenly turned grave while looking at Alex. ”I need to talk to you and Alina later.”
”Okay.” Alina ignored her embarrassment as she and Alex wore grave expressions on their faces.
Everyone on the dining table continued eating quietly, as if their moods were affected by what Clint said.
****************
”You two were nearly killed there.” Clint said as he rubbed his forehead wearily. ”I know that you wanted to delay the lizard long enough so that it won't kill a lot of people. But seriously? You actually fought him by yourselves only?”
”Well regarding that master-” Alex was about to say something, but Clint raised his hand to interrupt him.