The Incubus System

The Incubus System Chapter 372. Sudden Trip I

-Tring!

The sound of the small bell hanging above the door rang when I entered a small coffee shop near my house. The warm interior dominated by Hazelnut color entered my vision. The distinctive smell of coffee tickled my nose. It created a cozy atmosphere in that room. But instead of a greeting from the waiter, it was Larry who greeted me.

"Dude! Here!"

I turned to the source of the voice. My sight immediately caught Larry who stood up from his seat and waved excitedly at me like a kid calling his friend. A cup of latte on his table. Luckily, since it was still early, there weren't many people here.

After I waved my hand in reply, I walked to the counter to order my coffee.

"One medium Caramel Macchiato, please."

"That will be 35 Creds," said the staff. His hand moved over the cash register.

As usual, I paid with my virtual account before I walked up to Larry's desk since they would need some time to make it.

"What took you so long? I thought you wouldn't come," Larry complained as soon as I sat down across from him.

"Then why isn't your coffee cold yet?" My gaze showed the hot steam on his coffee. It was the clearest evidence that he had gotten it. After all, I only spent 10 minutes walking to arrive at this place.

"Besides, didn't you say 10.30 AM?" I added.

A long breath escaped his mouth.

"It can't be helped..." Then he turned his head to the side and bowed it a bit. His expression turned melancholy.

"I'm worried about you..."

His gesture made him look like a shy woman when she met her boyfriend.

I cringed in disgust.

"Stop it. You give me goosebumps," I complained.

My complaint made him turn to me with a frown.

"What? Why?"

"You look like a shy girl in front of her crush," I pointed out what I meant.

His jaw dropped.

"I'm straight for God sake." This time, it was he who complained.

"Then stop doing weird acts like that," I said in the same tone.

"It's beyond my control, you know. Besides, aren't you already used to it?"

Indeed, I knew it was normal for him and was a bit confused why I was bothered by that trivial thing while usually I just gave him a flat stare.

'Is it because I fought too many Two Headed Swamp Demons last night?' That was all I could think of.

"Just--- try to control it a bit," I said since I couldn't explain my traumatic experience to him.

"I'll try as best as I can," he said with a shrug. He took a sip on his coffee before he spoke again.

"Anyway, I'm seriously worried about you. You've never gone on a sudden trip like this before. Besides, didn't you say you were going to spend time with Emma and Olivia?" He referred to our last conversation at the College

I put my elbow on the table and placed the side of my face on my palm lazily.

"Emma has been a little busy lately. So is Olivia. Also, the demon attack is more intense now. So I decided to spend some time at my acquaintance's place," I explained.

"But I've never heard of this acquaintance of yours. Moreover, why can't I contact you during the holidays?" he protested.

"My acquaintances said his place has poor phone signal. I am not sure you could contact me. So I'm telling you in advance before you report that I'm missing." I already confirmed this with my generals that the human world's phone signal couldn't reach the dark dimension. So I decided not to bring my phone with me.

He frowned in disbelief.

"What the hell? Are you going to stay in the middle of the forest or something?"

"It's not as bad as that. But it's a rural place." Well, it wasn't a lie since the dark dimension was indeed some kind of a rural area for humans.

"Then does Celia agree to it? If there is no signal, there should be no internet. She can't open any social media, upload her holiday photos and stream videos. I'm sure she will die of boredom there," he guessed.

"I've given her a second option. She can spend time elsewhere if she doesn't want it," I said in case he accidentally met Celia later.

"Wait... You mean you and Celia will spend this holiday separately?" he said in disbelief since I hardly ever did it except when we were kids.

"Yes," I clarified.

He was shocked by it. But before he could say anything, a male voice came from the counter.

"Medium Caramel Macchiato for Ethan."

I stood up and took my coffee.

"What's wrong?" I said as I plopped myself back in my seat and put my cup. My eyes were on Larry who was looking at his coffee with a grim face.

He lifted his face and looked at me with a serious look. The same look when he wore his demon hunter uniform.

"Ethan... Is something bothering you? Like someone much stronger than you? Maybe, are you afraid of something? Or did something traumatic happen to you recently?" he asked.

"No, nothing." I could tell he was worried about what happened yesterday. But what Nathan and Elenna did, did not affect me.

He slammed his palm on the table and leaned his body on me. Although there was no banging sound, it managed to shake our coffee and almost spill it.

"You can talk to me about anything. I mean it. I will keep my mouth shut and help you as best as I can," he insisted.

It made me speechless for a while and reminded me of how he let out his Holy Chain to protect me from Nathan.

"Thank you. I just encountered an unfortunate event yesterday. But it only shocked me a bit. You don't have to worry," I said calmly. Normal people should be shocked from yesterday's events, especially since Nathan suddenly attacked me. So I had no other choice but to say so. Besides, meeting that many swamp demons was indeed an unfortunate event for me.

"Only a bit? You lied, right? That must have shocked you a lot and made you decide to leave," he made a wild guess.

I gave him my usual flat stare.

"My departure has nothing to do with this."

"Then can you explain to me who your acquaintance is? How do you know him? Where will you live?" he said as if he was a curious girlfriend trying to uncover her boyfriend's affair.

I exhaled tiredly.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?" I asked with a frown.

"I'm really worried about you," he repeated.

"I will stay in my distant relatives' place. He's from my dad's family line. Since they live in a rural place and are kinda old so I decided to visit them and stay at their place for a while." I explained. That was not entirely a lie since Lord Damon was kinda my dad's distant relatives. Since his age was more than a thousand years so he was more than a great great grandpa for humans.

"But living in a rural place with no phone signal..." He shook his head from side to side.

"It doesn't sound like you..."

"Rural places aren't that bad. So I want to give it a shot," I reasoned. But from Larry's face, I could tell he couldn't accept my excuses.