The four of them walked toward Aster's place, the Twister Hotel, while gathering everyone's gazes. For the first time in a while, Aster was using his hood and scarf to hide his face again, feeling danger for his life from the envious gazes of every single male around.
Of the three, only Cassy was being talkative. She was trying to chat with the other two nonstop, but only Kali was responding to her now and then. Celestinya was completely ignoring her existence!
'This problem... needs to be addressed later, huh.'
If they have problems with teamwork, then it would be dangerous to head into battle! Of course, judging from how they coordinated before against the goblins in the forest, he was aware that Celestinya knew how to cooperate, at least.
'The reason she's not speaking is... just plain indifference.'
It's not that she was angry or hated Cassy, but more like she's not interested in idle chatter or forging friendships. And just like that, without succeeding, they had already arrived at the hotel.
The staff looked intimidating once more, looking at the newcomer. But, unlike the rest, Celestinya returned their glare with her own, not backing down despite knowing that they were significantly more powerful compared to herself.
Before a fight could break out, Aster had already gotten the keys and returned to his room. They had already finished dinner after shopping, so only sleeping was left on their agenda.
Celestinya, after looking around and remembering Aster's room, decided to return to her own lodging for the night but was forced to halt her steps a second later.
"Well then, I'll go take a shower first~! K too, let's enter together~!"
"Shut up, you perverted rabbit! I'll never take a shower with you again!"
"Eh~? Then the time you'd be able to sleep would be an hour later! Let's enter together to save time; come on~!"
At that moment, Celestinya raised her voice in doubt. "You two... are staying the night here?"
"OH! Finally, you spoke to me!" Cassy smiled in pure bliss. "Of course, we're staying the night here! Not only will it save me a bit of money for lodging and food, but it's also a lot more comfortable sleeping with Star!"
"S-Sleeping with...?!" Her face suddenly turned blue. "Y-You slept with Aster already?!"
Kali, a little delayed by the suddenness of the situation, rushed toward her with wariness and fists at the ready. However, without her weapons, she was at a definite disadvantage. Celestinya is a monk, a brawler who uses her body as a weapon, so she's practically armed 24/7, unlike Kali and Cassy, who wield daggers. As such, the two girls are currently at a disadvantage.
*Thud!* *Bam!* *Tap!*
Cassy and Kali, of course, didn't hold back either. The other party was sending off attacks with genuine killing intent, so they had to reciprocate her hostility.
Punches and kicks flew, but none of them were getting a solid hit yet. Aster watched this before snapping back to his senses and worrying. 'At this rate, rather than cooperation, a rift would form between the girls!'
"Stop! No fighting!"
He didn't know what got into his head, but Aster jumped forward, standing in the middle of the three girls, who were already in the middle of throwing their attacks. Cassy was able to stop her kick in time, but Kali's fist hit him in the gut, while Celstinya's punch landed right against his cheek.
*CRACK!*
A scary sound echoed as his head turned to the left forcefully. And then, as if a puppet had its strings cut, he fainted and started to fall, his breathing shallow.
"S-Star!"
Cassy reacted fast, moving to catch his falling figure before trying to check his state. His neck bone broke from the punch! "Priodis Sirreo Cura! Minor Heal!"
Thankfully, they had a healer with them. With Cassy's timely healing, no adverse effects should be left behind. However, of course, his consciousness didn't return.
"..."
Kali had a blue face, realizing what she had just done. She injured the one she was supposed to protect! It was practically the worst thing she could do as his bodyguard!
On the other hand, Celestinya looked over at her fist. Her expression was indescribable, but a hint of excitement could be seen.
"You two! Look at what you've done!" Cassy raised her voice, angry at the two who didn't know when to stop. "What would you do if something bad happened to him?"
After that, she lectured the two for an hour straight. It was a rare occurrence of Cassy getting angry for real, but Aster was already in dreamland, unable to see it.