Chapter 252: Killing Two Birds With One Stone

Chapter 252

Claire stood frozen for a few seconds, feeling every eye in the store on her. Like always her pride screamed at her to just walk the fuck out of here and pretend that none of this happened at all. But a deal was a deal. She was a powerful Ascendant Realm Awakened, and she had never once run away from her word, not even when it hurt.

So she took a deep breath, walked up to Alex, and dropped down onto her knees right there on the floor.

A few people in the crowd gasped from seeing such a fierce woman who had just dislocated a guy’s jaw with only one slap just a few second ago now kneeling on the ground. Even the mom from earlier couldn’t help covering her son’s eyes again, though this time the naughty boy still managed to peek right through her fingers, most probably wondering why a beautiful aunty was kneeling.

"I will honor the terms of our deal," Claire said in a low, shaky voice. Her face was so red it looked like it might just about catch on fire. "I... Am... sorry. I’m sorry for slapping you, and I’m sorry for falsely accusing you of something you never did in the first place to begin with. I called you names in front of all these people, and I was completely wrong." She swallowed hard. "Please forgive me."

Alex looked down at the fiery redhead kneeling in front of him with her head bowed. For a moment, he almost felt bad. Not many people could admit they were wrong that fast, and even fewer would kneel in public to do it. He felt his heart soften a little, and the words *it’s fine, forget it* were already forming on his tongue.

But then he remembered the sting on his cheek. She hadn’t even asked a single question before slapping him. She had shouted at him, called him a pervert and a beast, and even dragged Nyx’s name into it. If she had been a little more careful, none of this would have happened.

He let out a long sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Okay, okay, get up. There’s really no need to apologize like this," he said. "You’re making me look like the bad guy again. But if you really want to make it up to me, how about this? Take me out to dinner later."

Claire’s head snapped up. Her face, which had just started to cool down, turned red again in a heartbeat.

"You scoundrel!" she shouted, jumping back onto her feet. "Are you blackmailing me into going on a date with you?!"

"A date?" Alex raised an eyebrow and cut her off in a flat voice. "Who wants to go on a date with someone as fiery as you? I just want some free food at your expense. So don’t go getting anything twisted in that crazy head of yours."

For a second, Claire just stood there with her mouth open. She looked like she wanted to yell, but nothing came out. Her cheeks went even redder, this time from embarrassment, since she had jumped to the wrong conclusion again.

"F-fine!" she said at last, looking away. "Dinner. That’s it. I’ll text you the time and place later."

Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and walked out of the store so fast that she was almost running. The little bell above the door jingled behind her. The whole store watched her go, and then they all looked at Alex.

Alex gave the crowd a polite nod, as if nothing strange had happened. He walked to the counter, paid for his Rocky Road, and told the cashier to call both an ambulance to deal with the unconscious guy on the floor. Then he walked out into the sunlight with the plastic bag swinging from his hand.

He was only a few steps down the street when a cheerful voice popped up in his head.

[Alex, you sly fox!] the chibi giggled, appearing right next to his shoulder. [Killing two birds with one stone! You want to use her to get the last bit of Desire Energy you need to hit A Rank, and you get free food on top of that! You really are a genius.]

Alex didn’t deny it. That was exactly what he had been planning when he said those words to Claire. Of course, with the system living inside his head, hiding his thoughts from her was nearly impossible anyway. Whatever he planned, she probably knew it before he finished thinking about it.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," he said, just to be funny. "I’m a good guy. I only want a free meal."

[Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Mr. Good Guy.]

He looked down at the plastic bag in his hand. Through the thin plastic he could see the big tub of Rocky Road, which looked damn right perfect. Dinner with Claire was for later. Right now, there was only one thing on his mind. The second he got home, he was going to eat this baby right up!

The walk back felt much shorter than the walk there. Maybe it was because he was in a good mood, or maybe it was because he kept thinking about chocolate, marshmallows, and almonds. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of his door. He opened it and stepped inside.

"I’m back," he said.

Doris was still on the couch, with the TV playing some cooking show. She had changed her position, though. Now she was lying across the cushions with her shoes off and her feet up, looking as comfortable as a cat. She turned her head lazily toward the door, and her large eyes landed on the plastic bag in his hand.

Through the thin plastic, the shape of a big tub was clear. And on the side of it, she could see a little bit of the label. Rocky Road. Then her eyes lit up like two light bulbs.

"Wow, you bought another one..." she started while sitting up straight.

"This one isn’t for you," Alex cut her off right away, holding the bag behind his back like a mother hen protecting her chicks. "That mouth of yours is not going to taste a single drop of it. Not one, so you can forget about it."

Doris gasped and pointed a finger at him.

"You petty man!" she cried. "You can’t be serious! If you are, this is the height of pettiness! The very top of the mountain!"

"Call me whatever you want," Alex said shamelessly with a shrug. "All I know is that you are not getting any of this. If you want ice cream so badly, go and get one of those vanilla or I don’t know, chocolate ones from the fridge. There are still quite a few left."

"I don’t want any of that! I want Rocky Road!"

"Then you should have bought your own."

Doris opened her mouth to argue, but Alex was already walking up the stairs with his head held high, like a king who had just won a war. He heard her muttering angrily behind him, something about selfish men and shameless people, but he didn’t care.

He walked into his room, closed the door, and turned the lock. Click. Then, just to be safe, he checked the lock once more. Doris was a tricky little woman, and he wasn’t taking any chances.

Finally safe, Alex sat down on the edge of his bed and placed the plastic bag gently on his lap. He took the tub out slowly, holding it with both hands. The cold made his palms tingle. He looked at it with shining eyes, just like that of all those Chinese cultivators from various books and YouTube shorts, who would all stare at a heavenly defying treasure of the highest grade like it was something that would let them ascend to the heavens or whatever.

"After so much suffering," he whispered, "we are finally together."

He took a deep breath, put a spoon in his hand, and carefully pulled off the lid. And then he froze because the tub was fucking empty!!

It was not like it was half empty or anything. It was completely and totally empty with not even a single drop of ice cream inside. Only a few tiny brown marks around the edges, like little footprints left behind by a thief.

Alex stared at it for a long time and his eyes twitched. He turned the tub upside down and shook it, just in case, but nothing fell out at all. It was empty alright.

’How...’ he thought, and his mind ran in a thousand directions. ’I was holding this tub the whole way home. The lid was sealed. Nobody touched it. Unless...’

His eyes slowly widened as the answer hit him.

’Eye of Chronos! She must have used her ability to first of all slow down time, then eat my ice cream before finally putting everything back to normal before I even noticed! That shameless woman used a powerful time ability just to steal my ice cream!’

His whole body shook with anger. He clenched the empty tub so hard that it straight up turned to dust in his hand. After a few seconds of silence, he threw open the door and let out a roar that shook the whole house.

"DOOOORIIIISSS!!!"

Downstairs, in the living room, Doris was sitting comfortably on the couch with the TV remote in her hand. When she heard him scream her name a small giggle escaped her lips. Then she wiped a small smudge of chocolate from the corner of her lips with her finger, before licking it clean and smiled happily. What was the use of having such a good ability if you only used it for fighting?