Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 626: There's No Escaping It
No matter how much Steven dragged things out, there were only so many Siracusan gangsters to begin with.
It wasn't as if he could keep mowing them down forever. Eventually, he'd run out of enemies to hit.
On top of that, he was taking them down one strike at a time, making the whole group disappear even faster. By the time he realized it, every single pursuer was already lying on the ground.
There was no way such a spectacle could go unnoticed.
However, with the Lungmen Guard Department nowhere in sight, no bystander was foolish enough to step forward and stop him.
As a result, after Steven finished dealing with the pursuers and was dragged away by Exusiai, the previously chaotic crowd quickly returned to normal.
Aside from the Siracusan gangsters lying around like discarded trash with nobody bothering to clean them up, everything looked as though nothing had happened at all.
. . .
After leaving the center of the disturbance and following Penguin Logistics to a quieter corner, Steven barely had time to catch his breath before Centaurea and Irene—who had been watching him the entire time—closed in on him.
"So, where did you pick up these beauties?" Centaurea asked, glancing at the Penguin Logistics girls.
"This time you didn't just recruit one—you recruited an entire party. What is this, forming a dungeon raid team?"
She couldn't help but marvel at Steven's absurd luck with women.
Not only did he somehow know nothing but beautiful girls, but he also managed to maintain excellent relationships with all of them.
And every single time, he somehow ended up reenacting some cliché "hero saves the beauty" scenario.
But as she looked more closely at the group, her expression gradually became more complicated.
Beautiful girls were one thing.
But why was there also a handsome bull-horned young man among them?
Had Steven's influence become so ridiculous that it now transcended gender?
"...Calm down. They're just friends."
Steven looked down at the small foot Irene was currently grinding into his shoe.
At that moment, he felt incredibly grateful that he hadn't bought her high heels.
Forcing a smile, he waved his hand.
"And Irene, stop stepping on my foot."
"This time I'm genuinely telling the truth. They're different from you two. They're simply friends that I get along with. If friends run into trouble, it's only natural to help them out, right?"
His relationship with Penguin Logistics was completely innocent.
There was even one girl—whose hairstyle reminded him suspiciously of a croissant—that he still couldn't remember the name of.
Forget having some secret relationship; he couldn't even properly introduce her.
If there was anyone special, it would probably be Mostima.
But even then, "special" only meant that she was worse than an ordinary friend.
Their relationship felt more like that of troublemaking buddies than anything romantic.
Compared to spending sweet, affectionate moments together, Steven was far more interested in finding creative ways to mess with her.
"I think there's a misunderstanding here," Exusiai said.
Clearly sensing the bizarre atmosphere between Steven, Centaurea, and Irene, she immediately tried to pull Penguin Logistics out of what looked like a very dangerous conversation.
She had absolutely no interest in becoming involved in some kind of love-triangle—or worse, love-quadrangle—battle.
"We really are just friends with Mr. Steven. Even his helping us today didn't actually have much to do with us. At most, you could say he stepped in out of a sense of justice."
The other girls quickly nodded in agreement.
To them, Steven was little more than an acquaintance they'd met by chance.
"Hmph. As if I can trust that."
With her arms crossed, Irene carefully examined Exusiai and the others from head to toe.
Only after confirming that none of them seemed to be looking at Steven with suspicious intentions did she let out a haughty snort and turn her head away.
The truth was that when Steven had been fighting the gangsters earlier, her first instinct had been to rush over and help him.
But remembering everything he'd done before, she'd forcibly suppressed the urge.
After all, nobody could beat him in a fight anyway.
He could handle himself.
In fact, part of her hoped those gangsters might manage to teach him a lesson.
That would have helped vent some of the frustration she was still holding onto.
Of course, Irene herself knew that was practically impossible.
With Steven's level of strength, finding someone who could overpower him through sheer combat ability was nearly unthinkable.
"Now that you've finished helping them," Centaurea said, shooting Steven a glance, "doesn't that mean you can finally take me back to the inn first?"
"You still haven't given either of us a clear answer about what you're planning to do."
Unlike Irene, Centaurea had realized much earlier that Steven wasn't particularly close to the Penguin Logistics group.
But that didn't mean she had forgotten what she originally intended to do with him.
His attempt to change the subject was painfully obvious.
And that was precisely why she had no intention of letting him off so easily.
Bringing up the issue that Irene had almost forgotten, Centaurea narrowed her eyes slightly and continued to enjoy the rare sight of Steven looking completely cornered.
"Gah... Well, of course."
Steven rubbed his chin and thought for a long moment.
Then, noticing that the Penguin Logistics group was already preparing to quietly slip away from this troublesome situation, he suddenly seemed to have an idea.
"If you're not feeling well, I'll take you back first."
"As for Irene..."
He snapped his palm with his fist.
"Since I just helped you escape from those gangsters, could I trouble you all to take her around and enjoy the festival for a while? I'll be back very soon."
To Steven, these were practically volunteer assistants delivered straight to his doorstep.
Helping him shoulder some of the burden was only fair, wasn't it?
Without hesitation, he entrusted Irene to Penguin Logistics for the time being.
After all, escorting Centaurea back would only take a few minutes.
Of course, Steven didn't actually believe that merely walking her back would solve the problem.
At the end of the day, the real challenge was figuring out how to calm her down.
That was the important part.
And if all else failed...
He might just have to make a small sacrifice.
Of his own body.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 689: Impossible to Refute[1]
Link: https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-169789182?collection=55713[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-169789182?collection=55713
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-169789182?collection=55713