Chapter 88: Catching the Stalker
To confront the stalker, I didn't plan to sneak around and surprise him. Doing that would not give me any merits and just trouble.
So I just walked casually toward the alley where that stalker was supposed to stay. With much coincidence, when I walked toward where he was, a head covered in a black hood and mask poked out of the alleyway, trying to watch the butchery.
When he saw me, his body jolted, and he began to run. I confirmed that guy was Milea's stalker. So I chased him, entering the alley with many trash bins filled to the brim lined up against the gray wall.
Surprisingly, the Stalker could run pretty fast. The dot in my <Presence Detection> showed he skillfully confusingly moved in the alleyway to throw off his chaser. He's pretty skilled for a stalker.
However…
"His opponent is me."
I increased my speed a little while looking at where the stalker was going. It was easy, and before long, I saw his figure once again.
With a stature a bit shorter than me and a body structure covered in a long dark robe and hood, the stalker looked over his shoulder and clicked his tongue. He turned left at the next intersection and met with a dead end.
"Wha?!" He gasped in surprise. "There shouldn't be a wall here!"
Standing in front of that man was a tall, dirt wall. I looked above and noticed a single knight with an onyx hair cut in a bob standing on the roof. She wore white armor belonging to the church, showing her bodysuit-covered thighs without leaving any skin revealed.
Her palm faced toward the area in front of the man, with no expression written on her face. Isabelle, huh? Her help was unnecessary, but I appreciated it.
"Get cornered, huh?" I spoke in an easy-going manner as I took out a normal iron sword. "Hey, Mr. Stalker. Why did you follow my servant?"
"Tsk!" Clicking his tongue, he turned around and threw three knives with a skilled movement.
They flew at a fast speed, but I wasn't focused on that. Instead, I noticed something as the stalker's robe flicked up earlier. Still, I needed to stop the knives first. It was easy, though, as I easily caught them all with my free left hand between my fingers.
"How?" The stalker was left confused and dropped his guard.
I immediately covered our distance in one kick and grinned.
"I am just strong." And I grabbed the stalker's arms, put them behind his back, and pushed him to the ground. "Well, well. Now you can't go anywhere, right? Miss Stalker?" I took off the hood and revealed braided brown hair under the hood.
She also wore some kind of maid outfit, which was pretty strange for a stalker. Maybe she was someone's servant. But…
"Why did you follow my servant?"
"Kuh!" The stalker didn't try to struggle at all or answer me.
At that moment, Isabelle landed softly near me. It was amazing how she didn't make any sound and could land calmly. Did she use <Wind Magic> by any chance? That must be it.
I raised my head and looked at her, "Thanks for the assist."
"… No." She somehow looked disgusted when I talked to her. That wasn't a reaction I expected from her. "It's my duty." She continued, throwing her face away.
"…"
Was it because of that time? When I spanked Rania in front of her? Right, she was a normal girl from Horizon Online. Of course, she would be disgusted by that sight. Still, she didn't need to show it outright like that.
Even I could get hurt by that, you know?
"Still, thank you." I spoke to her as I turned back to the stalker.
She gritted her teeth hard, seemingly thinking about something.
"Kh! Forgive me, madam." She muttered in a very low voice that if I didn't heighten my senses, I wouldn't be able to hear it. "I am unable to find the Paladin."
"Hmm?" I hummed, interested as to why she tried to find me.
It seemed like Isabelle also heard what she muttered as the short-haired girl turned to the stalker maid.
"The man who holds you is the Paladin, Sir Arthur." And Isabelle revealed my identity to the maid.
The stalked maid's eyes widened as she turned to me. She seemed to recognize something on my face as her mouth was opened slightly, but she was unable to express any words.
"So, care to answer my question now?" I spoke with a smile as the stalker calmed down slightly. "Why did you stalk my servant? Depending on your answer, I might release you or put you in jail."
"I…" The maid still hesitated to say anything.
At that time, Isabelle suddenly spoke.
"You can tell us. Your punishment depends on your answer, though. If you have a sound reason, we might only fine you. But if your reason isn't believable or we found you lying, then the perv– Sir Paladin will do something you wouldn't want to imagine."
'This girl just called me a pervert, no?'
Isabelle might have a trauma with a pervert in Horizon Online. I should fix my image in front of her fast, or I wouldn't be able to get close to her at all. It would be really hard to get close to her if she had a bad image of me.
Though it was also my fault for punishing Rania in front of the female church knights, at least I got Sophia and the others to want me more. Only Isabelle, who actually was the most important of them, looked at me differently now.
It was because she was actually from Horizon Online and not the real church knight and followed Goddess Teri like a mad believer, believing that if they conceived my child, they would get a blessing and lead a happy life.
Anyway, I looked at the maid with a kind gaze.
"B-Before that, are you Arthur from Rose Orphanage?" The maid suddenly asked me such a question.
As expected, she recognized me. And she was here on someone's order to find the Paladin. She didn't know that Paladin was me, though. Meaning her information wasn't complete, and she probably just heard about me yesterday when she saw Milea and decided to stalk her.
The vendors were chatting happily with Milea and knew she was my servant, the nun who worked in Paladin's mansion.
'That's so suspicious, though. Why doesn't she just ask Milea directly where I am? I never hide where I live.'
There was another reason. She couldn't approach Milea due to something and stalk her, hoping that I would chase after her like now.
"How?" I spoke with a chilling tone that made Isabelle step back with a pale face. My bloodlust spilled out of my body.
The female knight hugged her shivering body, scared. My bad, Isabelle. But I needed to do this, or the maid would ask more questions instead of answering mine.
"How do you know where I came from? Only a few people knew my origins."
"I-I am Jane." The maid revealed her name with a shaking voice. "I-I am here to find the Paladin under Madam Vivian Rose's order! W-We need your help to save Young Miss!"
Vivian Rose.
That was Eliza's mother if I remember correctly. A beautiful woman with long brown hair and blue eyes, coupled with her breasts which were a bit bigger than Eliza, she was the perfect MILF in the story and the only character the player couldn't dominate.
The players of Sins Paradise ragged hard because of that. There was no CGI at all for Vivian Rose. Why? Because she already had a husband, and the player couldn't touch a married woman back in Sins Paradise.
'I was also her fan at that time.'
However, back to the problem. I looked at the maid under me with serious eyes, releasing her arms. If I continued to act like before, she couldn't explain anything to me.
"Elaborate." I spoke as I took a step back.
Isabelle also stopped trembling, but she was still looking at me with a scared expression. Better than being disgusted, I guess. I could still work with someone who was scared of me. There was a way to cure a trauma, but I had no way to cure a disgust.
'It's better this way, I think.'
And now… the most important question.
"Why would Eliza's mother, Vivian Rose, try to find me, the Paladin?" I moved the sword I held in my right hand and pointed it at her legs. "Don't lie, or you will know the consequences."
"Yes." Jane replied resolutely. "It's…"