Chapter 287 - I’m Not Going To Run Away-

It was still morning and though the academy was still in the middle of rebuilding everything, some stalls had popped up here and there. 

I walked around. 

The stalls were mostly food stalls and one or two games stalls. Everyone seemed really busy. And oddly a lot of guys were helping out. 

I'd kind of left home after breakfast and no one had said anything. 

I didn't want them to get hurt but I couldn't really tell them to distance themselves from me either. 

After all, weren't we family?

"Keep that up and you'll get wrinkles." 

"Huh?" I looked to my right and found a girl with too much skin on display. "The hell you doing?"

Eve was in some sort of cheerleading costume. It was red just like her hair. She was in a stall selling grilled meat. The meat looked awfully familiar. 

"Selling grilled meat?" she tilted her head and smiled. "Want some? It's only 1 silver a piece."

The stall was small and she didn't have any stove. All she had was a grill. She was probably using her powers. 

Her outfit though- yeah, very hot. Her dark skirt was barely hiding her underwear and the top portion was very, very skin-tight, suggesting all those curves, and volumes and….

And she was also slightly sweaty.

I didn't know why but the sight was very alluring. 

"I'll pass. My stomach is still upset from the amount I had yesterday." It was more like my soul was upset, but oh well. 

"Really?" She bent down and searched for something. I could see the outline- I could see the curves. 

Gulp!

She got back up. "Then how about a cup of tea?" She had a container in hand and two plastic cups. 

I was kind of just killing time so, "Alright." 

There were three stools in front of the stall. I sat down on one. 

"Business good?" I took a sip. 

The tea was decent. 

"Yeah, but since it's early in the morning, its slow."

"Where'd you get the meat from?"

"A butcher at the port. Apparently, a cheap supply of high-serpent meat arrived at the port today."

Yeah, I figured as much. 

Remia and the others must have sold the excess to the local markets. 

Though how they did that while maintaining secrecy was something that did make me curious. 

I was done talking, I didn't have much to say. 

Customers did come but they were rare. And yeah, Eve was using her powers. 

The smell was actually pretty good. And the sauce looked delicious too. 

Too bad, I wasn't hungry. 

I just kept on sipping and eventually, it ran out. 

"Alright, think I'll get back to walking." I stood up.

"Sure." She put those away. "IT's a shame you couldn't see how great this festival was. Last year, it was really something. I'd never seen something like that before. And I guess I won't ever again…" She went a bit quiet.

How much did the students at the academy know though?

"Well, if everything works out, you might see it next year? You still have two years here."

Assuming the world survived and all. 

"Yeah, fair enough." 

I started walking. 

I saw one or maybe two customers headed her way. 

She was working hard. 

And she didn't quite hit on me either. I guess she was also under a lot of stress. 

She wasn't a bad person, really. Sometimes, she just took things a bit too far. 

'Though I guess I'll have to confront her sooner or later, eventually.'

***

I continued walking around, but so far nothing quite caught my eyes. 

Everyone was busy but they were in great spirits. 

The rebuilding would probably last the rest of the week too but I saw stalls popping up here and there. By the end of the week, we'd still have somewhat of a festival, if nothing else. 

'Two days to go, huh?'

I had basically two days before my marriage. It actually didn't feel real. 

Weren't we supposed to plan things and see the place and book it if necessary and all that?

When I'd asked mom about it, she said, "leave it all to me." 

So, I didn't really need to think about it. But that didn't mean, I didn't worry. 

I worried way too much. 

And though I knew I worried too much, when I tried to stop that, I worried even more. 

So, thinking about depression was actually making me more depressed.

'No wonder my hair's falling out.'

It was a good thing I hadn't cut my hair in a while. 

***

I was basically done touring the area. 

I didn't really have anything else to do, so going back home seemed logical. 

I didn't want to though. 

"Get your free hugs!"

Free hugs?

Whenever I heard the term free hugs, I imagined some sweaty dude in some sort of backstreet or carnival, lifting his arms and trying to make people's day. Unfortunately, I wasn't into that. 

This 'free hug' though wasn't shouted by some sweaty dude. Rather, it was a girl: a girl I knew. And oddly, she wasn't sweaty. 

She was wearing a nice, revealing pink one-piece dress. She didn't have a stall, but she did have a nice-looking chair and a stack of paper. Though she said 'free' it wasn't free. You'd need to do ten-minute labor and get a stamp from the various places across the campus to get the 'free' hug. 

"Did you fry your brains or something?" I said. 

In front of her was a line, but behind her, was nothing. 

"No, not really. Though, my body does feel hotter now that you've arrived. Would you like a free hug? I'd also throw in a free kiss and maybe a free 'right to squeeze' in there too." She winked. 

Apparently, Leilis was giving away free hugs and she had a whole line of guys just waiting, patiently. I had never seen such a clean, clutter-free line of guys. Not to mention, I couldn't see the end of it. 

"No, thanks."

But I guess she was doing a great job. 

'NO wonder the progress is so smooth.'

After all, if everyone contributed, even if it was a tiny amount, things would be much faster. And Leilis had found the best way to achieve that. 

Just lure in some guys. 

Very effective when paired with that pink dress of hers. 

"Really?" She pouted. 

I could feel the glares- I really could. These morons were literally glaring and cursing me, I could feel it. Talk about jealousy. 

I sighed. "I won't hug you but, good job." I started walking away. 

She almost chuckled but got back to work. 

***

Anyway, I headed back home. 

On my way, I saw Selene doing some rebuilding work. 

I wanted to drop by and thank her for the help during the incident but, she seemed too busy, so I proceeded not to. 

I still didn't like bugs so I took the express route of the snowy plains. 

Very cold. 

***

"Welcome back." The bunny maid welcomed me in. 

No one else was around. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Lady Marg and your mother have gone to my Lady's home to secure the place of the wedding and to do the rest of the planning. Your grandmother had also accompanied them. Your uncle, I'm not sure of."

Lady Marg?

Well, Marg was technically going to be my wife soon and this house was mine, so a maid would refer to her as a lady- this was normal, right?

I didn't know why but that sounded really weird in my head. 

"So, basically we're alone?"

"No, Raea and Aria are on the second floor enjoying some cream puffs."

"Are they chocolate?" My mouth almost salivated. 

"White cream."

Pass.

I headed to the living. 

I had way too many worries, but as a responsible guy, I tried to drowse it all with a bit of mindless Holo TV. Screw my worries!

***

"After his failure to cease control of South Korea, The Cursed Mask Romswell successfully has defeated an Alien from another world, an Alien even Roger Vermillion could not beat. And-" 

I turned off the TV. 

Seriously, what the hell was wrong with the media?

Just sighing wasn't enough. 

I wanted to groan and roll on the floor. 

"Why the hell would I want to conquer a country, anyway?"

Well, I sure didn't have the answer, and the remote didn't either. 

Operation 'screw my worries' was a major failure! It ended up screwing me over instead. 

***

Sometimes later mom and the others came back and assured me that everything was going according to plan. 

All I had to do was show up. 

'Aren't you guys taking the groom a bit too lightly?'

Well, they sure didn't think of that. 

I didn't complain, after all, they were probably doing this just to ease my worries.

I still worried though. 

Of course, I worried!

Sometime later, we had lunch. 

Uncle and Elsa were missing. 

Dad and the geezer weren't here either. 

"Did she go somewhere?" I said. 

I hadn't actually talked to Elsa after hearing their conversation. 

I was purposefully avoiding her. 

But at the end of the day, she was my little sister. And it was my job to listen to her, and scold her if she was wrong. So, I made up my mind that I wasn't going to ignore her anymore. 

I wasn't going to just run away. 

After all, I had only one sister and I didn't want to mess this up by ignoring her. 

I was going to hear her out. 

"That's odd, she should have been back by now." Mom seemed slightly agitated. "I'll give her a call."

She tried calling but no answer.