THE HERO'S SON IS A MONSTER-Chapter 71: altruism

It was a really simple dish; fish and vegetable, fried, seasoned, nothing fancy truly. However, Alexandra had to admit that it was good though admitting to herself that food made by a lower ringer was delicious was beyond her capacity.

Unconsciously, she glanced at the girl who cooked the dish. In a corner of the room, she was handling other clients while ignoring what was going on outside of her work. In that context, she looked somewhat stunning. Still intense, but on the safer end of the spectrum if she could say it like that.

"So, on to the matter at and." Lupa broke in.

This woman doesn’t lose time, Alexandra thought. In the short time she spent here, she was able to confirm it in the way she handled clients. It was as if she was some sort of predator always ready to jump on a prey – that was not helped by her usually fox-eyed expression. Anyhow, she seemed to have ulterior motives – that or she was genuinely affable.

"I thought about it and ended up concluding that we should take you in."

Alexandra’s eyes narrowed. "...Excuse me?"

"You know what a hotel is, right?"

"I am familiar with the concept, yes."

"I heard that you just came into town. You must be looking for a place to stay and a job, right? I can give you both if you choose to work here," Lupa said before noticing how the girl’s face suddenly took on a more serious expression. "Something’s wrong?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"... Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why would you do that? I heard getting into a hotel is nigh impossible without proper connections. Do you have an ulterior motive that can’t be confessed?"

Alexandra’s gaze was sharp. She wasn’t sure if Lupa had an ulterior motive actually, she was asking her to disclose the one she was sure she had. At least that’s how Lupa understood it.

The young woman flashed a smile. "Well yes! I told you, didn’t I? I like girls like you!" Her tone then dropped making it sound serious. "You see, one of my workers had an accident recently and that leaves me with more work than I can handle."

An accident? Alexandra asked herself.

If she was talking about a vigilante, that could only mean being heavily injured or worse.

"Don’t worry! All I need is someone handling quests!" Lupa exclaimed as if reading her mind. She walked behind Alexandra and put her hand on one of her shoulders. "So? What do you say? Interested?"

"Aren’t we too touchy all of a sudden?" Alexandra said, taking off the hand with an annoyed expression.

"Oh my. Excuse me. But you see that ability to voice exactly what bothers you. That interests me."

"Weren’t we supposed to talk about compensation for your employee almost killing me? All I hear here is you talking about how I should help YOU."

"But you do gain something, don’t you? I get help, and you get a place to stay, free meals, and even money!"

Alexandra snorted a smile that could easily qualify as evil drawing itself on her lips. "Hmph. My mother always told me to be wary of offers that sound too good to be true. Why would you need someone to handle quests in the first place?"

Alexandra pointed at the red-clad girl. "She is here, isn’t she? And from what I could see, she is exactly what you are looking for. Can’t she handle the quest?"

"That is what she does!" Lupa replied cheerfully.

"Huh? Don’t tell me... You are asking me to work with her?!"

"Calm down. I wouldn’t ask something like that even to my worst enemy."

Then why are you asking me that?!! Alexandra thought. Wait. Is that girl that problematic? Well, she did try to kill me, but...

"Anju is going to leave the Red Road Hotel soon and I won’t have anyone at the post," Lupa explained. "To be honest, I was agonizing over this. Like I said earlier, I have a lot of work on my hands recently and I can’t afford to play the girl receptionist."

"But you are slacking, aren’t you? If you really are that busy, should you have the time to talk with little me?"

Lupa sighed and shook her head. It seemed that the conversation wasn’t going anywhere.

"Oh well... You are a tough one, you know that? Makes me want you even more. However, from our conversation, I can tell that you are quite ignorant."

"Ignorant?" Alexandra asked, furrowing her eyebrows and unconsciously glaring at Lupa. Now that was the funniest thing she heard in the whole day – a lower ringer calling her ignorant.

"Wow there, don’t take it the wrong way! I am just saying you don’t know how hotels work! If it seems to you I am slacking, then you probably didn’t hear about... Hm. Whatever... I will let you think about it. I hope you will give me another answer tomorrow! Or you know, an... answer? Any? Anyway, see you later!"

"Yes, yes, see you later," Alexandra replied monotonously.

With a nod, Lupa made her way to the other clients and a discussion immediately started between them.

Alexandra looked at her from the counter without a specific thing in mind – actually, she already knew about Lupa and her proposal thanks to that weird doll.

"The Red Road Hotel’s owner – Lupa – is going to ask you to work for her," she said. "Tonight is the first day of the ’ball’. Long story short, hotels will compete to see which can slay a powerful target called a ’prince’ before midnight and that for 3 days. At least that’s how it is supposed to be. It will last as long as the prince doesn’t die."

"The ball?" Aside from sounding weird, this whole situation also seemed familiar for some reason...

"Lupa might be trying to avoid a regrettable accident by keeping you inside the hotel. While she isn’t acting out of pure altruism, you can trust her for the time being."

"You just like ignoring me, don’t you?"

The doll raised a finger as if to insist on what she was about to say. "Staying out tonight is dangerous so when she asks you to join her hotel, just say yes. Don’t go out. Don’t go out even if your life depends on it."

"Aren’t we doing this so that I don’t die?"