Extra's Rise: I Stole All The Women In The Hero's Party-Chapter 124: Damned Sauce

In turn, she found a frilly pink thing with excessive ribbons and handed it to him. "This would suit you, actually."

Zayn held it up and squinted. "You know what? I think I saw something like this yesterday in Tobias’s room."

They paid for their picks — Zayn covering half despite Althea’s playful protests — and stepped out into the midday sun, bags in hand.

It wasn’t until they’d walked halfway down the street that she stopped.

"Zayn," she said.

He turned to look at her, the late morning breeze brushing through her silver hair.

"Let’s start again," she said, holding out her hand. "Hi. I’m Althea."

Zayn paused for a second, then grinned, shaking her hand with exaggerated formality. "Zayn. Local hero. Slightly confused, easily flustered."

"Nice to meet you," she said with a smile that softened her whole face.

"Likewise. And hey, for the record?"

"Yeah?"

"You looked amazing back there."

Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away — but her smile didn’t fade.

They started walking again, shoulders brushing.

It was odd, really.

’Half elves are so cute,’ He couldn’t help but think.

Zayn didn’t know what to do next.

He walked beside Althea with his hands in his pockets and his brain as empty as his coin pouch after rent week.

The street stretched out in front of them, cobblestone glinting in the morning sun, and stalls had begun setting up for the mid-morning rush.

Fruit vendors barked prices.

A blacksmith sneezed loudly. Somewhere, a dog barked three times and then gave up entirely.

Althea was walking beside him quietly, cradling a bag of new clothes.

It was the kind of silence that wasn’t uncomfortable, but also not comfortable enough for Zayn to whistle like an idiot either.

The sun was rising steadily, casting warmth over the streets, and Zayn couldn’t help noticing the way a bit of sweat trickled down the side of Althea’s neck, disappearing into her collar.

His face heated up like a tea kettle.

And then, just as he was about to say something dumb like, "Nice sweat today," Althea suddenly perked up like she’d just remembered she left soup on the stove.

She seized his hand.

Zayn blinked. "Wha — ?"

"Come on!" she chirped, lifting one of the bags with her other hand and pointing toward a small restaurant tucked into the corner of the market district.

A carved wooden sign above the door read: Deli-cious Bites — with the pun proudly underlined twice.

Zayn barely had time to process the name before she tugged him inside.

The place was surprisingly nice.

Cozy, even. Soft cushions lined the benches, and the smell of grilled meat, herbs, and something suspiciously cinnamony hit his nose like a charm spell.

A few elderly couples sat in corners, chatting quietly. It was peaceful.

They picked a booth by the window, and Zayn went to sit across from Althea, only for her to pat the cushion beside her. "Sit here," she said with a small smile.

"R-Right. Of course," he said, because he was a man of impulse and no survival instincts.

The waitress came by, and Althea casually ordered a couple of house specialties while Zayn tried not to look at the prices.

"I’ll pay," he said once the waitress left, trying to sit up straighter like a man with a backbone and not just sweaty palms.

"Nope," Althea said, shaking her head firmly. "This is my treat. I dragged you out. Consider it a guilt-lunch."

"Guilt-lunch?" he echoed. "That’s not a real phrase."

"It is now."

Zayn chuckled, then sighed. "I don’t really know how to do this kind of stuff."

She raised an eyebrow. "Eat food?"

"No, like... this. Talking. Hanging out with a pretty half-elf who may or may not be trying to make me sweat more than the sun already is."

Althea laughed, and even that sounded musical. "You’re doing fine."

The food came shortly after.

Steaming hot plates were placed in front of them — Zayn had some roasted meat with spicy rice, while Althea had a delicate-looking salad with grilled fish and some creamy orange sauce he couldn’t name even if he was bribed with gold.

They dug in.

Well, Zayn dug in like a starving soldier.

Althea, on the other hand, ate like a noblewoman trying not to make chewing noises, daintily slicing into her fish with perfect etiquette... until a glob of the orange sauce betrayed her.

It dropped off her fork with a silent plop and landed on the swell of her breast.

Zayn froze, mid-chew. His brain blue-screened.

The sauce slowly, slowly, trailed down, disappearing into her shirt like it was on a secret mission.

"Oh no," she muttered.

Zayn looked away immediately, his face burning like he’d just swallowed lava. "Uh — I didn’t see anything! I swear on the Goddess of Modesty, I saw nothing!"

Althea burst out laughing.

"Oh my gods, Zayn, relax. It’s just sauce."

"Just sauce?" he hissed. "That sauce has lore now!"

She snorted into her napkin.

Zayn couldn’t help but smile, even if his face still felt like a baked potato.

She took another bite of fish like nothing had happened, and he watched her out of the corner of his eye, marveling at how easy it was to enjoy this — just a quiet moment, away from guild stress and dungeon worms and Tobias’s habit of lecturing them mid-battle.

She really was beautiful.

But not just in the obvious way.

It was in the way she tilted her head when she laughed, the way she wrinkled her nose when thinking, and how she kept wiping the condensation off her water glass with her sleeve like she was trying to clean the whole restaurant with it.

Zayn leaned back against the cushion with a satisfied groan, patting his stomach. "I think I’ve consumed enough calories to feed a mid-sized goblin tribe."

Althea, still nibbling on her grilled fish like a dignified diplomat, chuckled into her napkin. "And yet you’ve managed to get more sauce on your face than in your mouth."

"What?" Zayn blinked. "No I didn’t — "

Althea pointed delicately at the side of his lips, giggling. "Right there. Looks like spicy regret."

Zayn wiped with his sleeve — too high.

"Nope, you’re attacking your cheek now."

"Here?"

"Closer."

"Here?"

"Warmer."

He was about to just start rubbing his whole face when Althea leaned forward with a napkin in hand. "Hold still," she said softly.

Zayn froze like she was casting a binding spell.