Rigate City was huge.
As a transportation hub for trade with the northern countries, and relying on its geographical advantage connecting to the Red Dragon's Upper Jaw, it was a major export center for the Asura Kingdom. Villagers from the surrounding areas flocked to the city in droves, transporting various crops and handicrafts by carriage day and night.
It was a microcosm of the Asura Kingdom's prosperous commodity economy. Thanks to this, although it was just a border town, the scale of Rigate City already surpassed that of the magic city of Sharia.
Under the setting sun, Alan looked up at the tall city walls and couldn't help but sigh.
'One of the stops in the Asura Kingdom's succession war in the original story. It's even bigger than I imagined, maybe a quarter of the size of the capital.'
"A-Alan!"
Alan looked down, brushing the stray lock of hair from his face, and looked at Roxy's upturned face.
Perhaps it was due to the afterglow of the sunset, but her face was flushed red, like a ripe apple.
"It must have been a tough journey… D-Do you want to rest for a night in Rigate City? …Honestly, you didn't have to go out and hunt two demonic beasts last night just because I suddenly said I was a little hungry… you didn't even sleep… we would have arrived in Rigate City tonight anyway."
Roxy's eyes were flitting about, darting left and right. Although she was looking up, she wasn't looking directly at Alan.
Alan smiled.
"No need. I'll head back now. We were quite lucky on the way here; we didn't run into any bandits."
Roxy blinked and looked at Alan.
"…You're going back overnight?"
"Yes, overnight. It's been about ten days already. Uncle is probably getting worried."
"But…"
Seeing Roxy's flustered look, shaking her head from side to side, Alan couldn't help but reach out and flick the stray lock of hair on her head. This earned him a glare from Roxy, who slapped his hand away.
Cute.
It was worth mentioning that over the past ten days, the two had been together almost constantly, eating, drinking, and living side-by-side. Their relationship had warmed up rapidly, and the faint sense of polite distance from before was gone.
They could now interact in a relaxed manner without worrying about etiquette. Alan could even tease Roxy when she did something clumsy without her pulling the "I'm the elder teacher" card too much.
Generally, when a man and a woman who are not very familiar with each other's habits are suddenly thrown into close proximity, it's easy to become disillusioned. But Alan didn't feel that way. Instead, he felt that this Blue Mama Roxy was even more real.
She would puff up her cheeks in anger when teased.
She would cry with a pout while stuffing her face with hot roasted meat because she was too impatient to wait for it to cool.
She would get flustered and trip over her words when Alan mercilessly called her out for trying to act like a stern teacher.
She would come back with a blush on her face after using the bathroom or taking a bath, ignoring any of Alan's attempts at conversation for a short while.
Every morning when she woke up, her hands would expertly braid her two aquamarine pigtails, as if she couldn't open her eyes properly.
A myriad of thoughts and moments surfaced and sank in Alan's mind. Although these images were all different, one thing was certain.
This was a "god" who had fallen to the mortal world, full of life and warmth, not just a flat "character" from a novel.
Coming back to his senses, Alan waved a hand in front of Roxy's face.
"Alright, it's time to say goodbye again."
Roxy was stunned for a moment, then nodded after a brief silence, subconsciously raising her hand to wave.
"…Goodbye."
But then, Alan slapped her hand. She looked up in surprise.
Alan was gently tapping Roxy's palm with a series of light pats, a brilliant smile on his face.
"I'm not very good at saying goodbye, so… see you in the future~"
His hand stopped. Alan withdrew his hand, gave a wave, and then turned around. His pocket was bulging; it was the food Roxy had intentionally left for him.
"Don't worry about me eating. After all, I survived in the forest for a long time before I'm off"
Roxy watched Alan's back, then looked down at the hand he had patted.
The sunset glow cast a halo around her fingers. She subconsciously clenched her hand, then a smile slowly formed on her lips as she looked up at Alan again.
But before she could say another goodbye, Alan had already walked into the crowd. He seemed to sense her gaze and, without looking back, waved again.
His figure quickly disappeared from Roxy's sight. She blinked, a belated sense of confusion in her eyes.
"Why does Alan seem to be in such a hurry… It's as if…"
"He has something urgent to take care of."
—
Midnight. The mountain wind blew through the forest, sweeping leaves onto the narrow road beside it, which was illuminated by the moonlight.
Someone stepped on the shattered moonlight and stopped.
Alan wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead and looked at the fence by the roadside.
There was a deep gash on the fence, and next to it, the faint remnants of black charcoal embers were scattered into the grass by the road.
That was from last night when he had hunted demonic beasts and made a fire to roast meat, which Roxy had then doused with a water ball. It had been three hours since their parting at dusk, and Alan had been running for nearly half the night.
He had returned to the place where he had killed the demonic beasts.
Alan shifted his gaze from the remains of the campfire on the ground to the forest beside him.
"Finally… I'm here."
In the gaps between the trees, the darkness was thick and viscous, swaying with the wind. The moonlight shone on the road but could not penetrate the shadows of the forest.
Alan placed a hand on his sword and stepped into the trees.
The moment his figure entered the forest, the moonlight dimmed. The mountain wind continuously blew fallen leaves underfoot, creating a thin carpet. The trees on either side were like mirror images, making it easy to lose one's way.
Alan's battle aura was already surging through his body. With his senses heightened, his nose twitched from time to time. Finally, after passing a certain tree, his eyes lit up.
In his line of sight, there was a patch of ground where the fallen leaves were noticeably thicker than elsewhere. Under the layers of leaves, something white was faintly visible.
A gust of wind blew, and the moonlight escaped from the dense canopy, landing on the carpet of leaves on the ground.
It clearly illuminated a human arm sticking out.
Alan sneered and kicked the leaves aside. The contorted faces of three middle-aged men were suddenly revealed.
They were glaring at Alan, their eyes filled with a hatred that wished to flay him alive.
Seeing this, Alan squatted down, a mocking look in his narrowed eyes.
"Tsk, if Rudy were here, he would probably be scared by you guys. You're really pathetic. Haven't any of your comrades come to look for you yet? You failed in life, and you failed as cronies."
The three men continued to glare, silent.
Alan smiled, resting his chin on his hand with a look of pity.
"I was in too much of a hurry yesterday, didn't even have time for an interrogation… In which mud pit are you annoying Mane Wolves holed up?"
His self-pitying, questioning words hung in the air, scattered by the wind in front of the three men.
There was no answer.
Because corpses can't speak.
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