Neptunia: Merc's Involvement

Chapter 17: Lowee - Kidnapped

[A Couple of Hours Later]

After doing quest after quest and gathering enough Shares, Both Alex and White Heart, now reverted back to her human form, returned to the castle hoping that this time their efforts bore fruit.

"Mina, did we get enough Shares this time?" Asked Blanc while looking at her.

The Oracle turned around and beamed at her CPU.

"Fortunately, this time we managed to collect enough to make two crystals." Said Mina.

"In that case, let's make them."

"Understood!" Answered the Oracle with enthusiasm while nodding.

While Mina headed to another room, Blanc turned around to face the young boy.

"Thanks for your help. Mina and I will handle the rest."

Alex nodded in agreement to the CPU before she turned around and followed the oracle to begin the process of making the share crystals, leaving the young boy on his own.

At first he waited around calmly, but soon got bored and went to check on the twins.

On the way there, he found Ram leaning against the wall, walking slowly and breathing heavily as the fever made her face flush with a bright red.

"Ram?"

Ram raised her head and looked at Alex before her knees gave out and she fell to the floor.

"H-Hey!" Said the boy as he quickly ran to aid the young CPU Candidate, but she sloppily tried pushing his hand away.

"Don't…touch me!" She said in a slow and sickly manner as the young boy stopped his hand and moved it away from Ram, who then tried getting back up on her feet slowly "I…don't need a bad guy's help!"

To her words, Alex simply just had a tired sigh.

Even though he helped her gather shares, even though he was trying to help her just now and even though she's in such a sickly state, Ram was still going on about that bad guy thing.

This was indeed the most irritating thing she had done so far, even more so than all of her pranks combined as Alex was struggling to keep his pent up frustration towards her in check and was nearing a breaking point.

Even with that, the boy calmed down as he grabbed Ram, lifted her up and carried her over his left shoulder.

"Hey! What are you doing!?"

"I'm taking you to Mina. I'm sure she made at least one of those crystals by now." He said while turning around and heading back towards the room where Blanc and the Oracle were right now.

"Let me go, let me go! I said…I don't need your help!" Snarled Ram while struggling and punching Alex's back.

"And I don't care if you want it or not! I'm helping you anyway so shut up!" Shouted the boy, showing his frustration towards her for a brief moment there which Alex quickly realized before sighing and looking back ahead, ending the conversation there.

Surprised by Alex's sudden retort, Ram stopped struggling.

She didn't even have the strength to keep doing it anyway.

The walk was calm, so calm that Alex thought for a moment that Ram fell asleep, at least until she spoke.

"Hey…you"

"I have a name, you know…"

"Why…are you helping me?"

"Cause I want to." Answered Alex.