Neptunia: Merc's Involvement

Chapter 8: Leanbox - The Concert

A week and half had gone by as they were filled with constant fights against viral monsters all around the fields surrounding Leanbox.

At first the situation seemed troubling, but thanks to Alex and Cave's efforts, the number of viral monsters decreased greatly in a short period of time. After all of the battles, it seemed like the problem had finally been dealt with.

After completing yet another extermination quest, Alex returned to Vert's mansion where he was welcomed by her and Chika.

"Good job today Alex." She said with a smile.

"No need to thank me Vert. Just glad to be helping." He replied after sitting down on the couch, being a little exhausted.

"According to the reports, the number of viral monsters has greatly decreased and nearly returned to normal already." Explained the Oracle while checking a cluster of documents.

"The cause of the sudden increase is still a mystery, but at least we have secured Leanbox's safety for the time being." Said Chika.

"It's all thanks to everyone's combined efforts." Said Vert while beaming at Alex.

'I-I mean, Vert really didn't do anything to he honest.' Thought Alex while looking at her with an awkward smile.

Upon looking at the young boy, Chika sweat dropped and laughed awkwardly.

It was almost as if she knew what was going through his mind at that moment and to be fair, he had a valid point to think that way.

In the week and a half, Vert hardly moved from the mansion.

She dedicated most of her time to gaming rather than to help deal with the current threat and whenever someone inquired to her about the issue, she said that the problem was already being dealt with by some "reliable" forces.

Of course, Chika also tried to vouch for Vert's behavior by saying that she only entrusted this task to Alex and Cave because she wanted the people of Leanbox to develop trust towards the young boy to get his name out as a reliable mercenary, and that she didn't go out herself because the threat didn't get close enough to the capital to harm any civilians yet.

To Alex though, this only felt like Chika not wanting to outright call out Vert on her rather lackadaisical behavior.

"Oh I just remembered!" Said the Oracle after suddenly recalling something she read while doing paperwork. "5pb is having a concert later today. How about we go?" She asked.

"I'm sorry Chika but I have a raid with my guild today so I won't be able to go." Said Vert as Alex looked at her with an unamused expression.

'Not even a concert is enough to get her outside?' He thought.

'Second place to her games again.' Thought Chika with a sulking expression.

"5pb? That name sounds a little familiar." Said Alex.

"5pb is Leanbox's top idol and one of my supporters. She's not very well known outside of Leanbox though so I'm not surprised you don't know about her." Explained Vert as she turned her head to look at Alex before suddenly hatching an idea.

"I know! How about you and Chika go see her concert? I'm sure you two will have fun." Said Vert.

"Eh? B-But Big Sister Vert!" Said Chika.

"Yes?" Said Vert while turning her head to look at her Oracle.

"Ah…erm…" Said Chika while struggling to find what to say before she suddenly began coughing and faking sick noises "I-I'm not feeling so good. I think I caught the summer flu…"