Lein felt herself hesitate as she looked at Acht's deep blue eyes. For some reason, his eyes were now very hard to look at. It was as if she was staring directly at the sun.
So, for his question, she had to take a few moments to arrange her thoughts and find the best choice for her.
Then, she exhaled a long sigh before asking him with a serious look. The pain from the injuries she suffered made her wince slightly in pain as she spoke.
"Do you think I could really find a purpose for my life? I have been living this chaotic life for the best part of 10 years and you think I could change that? That's really stupid or too optimistic."
Acht shook his head.
"You really are very stupid."
"What?!" She glared at him as she tried to stand up.
But, Acht flicked her forehead with his finger before adding.
"How old are you?"
"You basta-"
"I said…how old are you?" He repeated his question.
Lein glared back at him even harder and then replied.
"18 years old…I think."
"Really? You look no less than 30 years of age. I guess looks are misleading."
"Hey!! What do you mean, you little shit?!"
"Nothing. I was just impressed. Anyway, you are still young so you could even open a cafe or a library in a beautiful and calm village to pass a few calm years there. You might be able to find a purpose for your life if you genuinely indulge yourself in what normal people consider a normal life."
Acht then looked at the horizon. The dark sky didn't show much of a change during this invasion yet it w somehow looked extra beautiful at that exact moment.
"So? Do you want to live or should I just kill you now? I would be glad if you chose any suggestion."
Lein had a complicated face at the moment as she scratched the back of her head. It was a habit she had when she was troubled about something.
But, this time, she quickly made up her mind.
"Fine, I will do that. I am also kinda tired from this hectic life. Having a calm life doesn't sound that bad after all." She said,
Acht nodded his head at her and then pulled out a healing bottle from his spatial ring to give it to her.
"Drink that and then leave. I will deal with the matter and I might be able to fake your death." He said as he started walking away.
However, Lein called him immediately.
"Wait!"
"Hm? What?"
She had already drunk the potion and her heavy injuries started healing. That potion was of the highest grade so it worked perfectly well on basically every possible heavy injury except for deadly ones.
Anyway, Lein looked down and seemed hesitant about something.
"If you don't have anything to say then I will go." He said with a confused look before starting to walk away again.
"...Thank you." She suddenly said,
Acht's steps halted again and he looked at her with a slightly surprised look. He never expected the arrogant and haughty Lein to ever thank him about anything. The only time she said that was when he basically saved her life back in the ocean mission.
"Pfft! Hahaha!!" He started laughing out of nowhere.
"What are you laughing at?!" She shouted with a red face from embarrassment. Only she knew how much effort she had to muster just to say those words so it was even more embarrassing for her.
"Nothing, really. I was just laughing about something else. Anyway, you don't have to thank me. As I said, you saved my life so I saved yours. You can call it a deal of some sort."
Then, he turned around again and walked away.
"See you again, bitch." He muttered.
"We will see about that, little shit."
The two then walked away, never looking back at each other. Even at that point, they still didn't consider their relationship as anything close to a friendship.
***************************
A week passed after the war and the world had already seen a massive change. Every city had been destroyed so most people who ran away to shelters and places to hide became homeless.
Empires and countries started their reconstruction of basically every major city. Was it not for the fact that they didn't lack money, it would've been the end for most of these empires.
In the middle of this was the hunter association that was the busiest by far. They had to work on many different fronts, from monster hunting and stopping stampedes to also deploying hunters to help in construction.
It was all very chaotic but that didn't stop people from celebrating their victory.
They made a huge festival that lasted 3 nights. It was so massive that it reached every place in the world.
They also paid tribute to the fallen hunters and also soldiers that died in the middle of this war.
They didn't do much to change the tides of war but they were courageous enough to face a stronger enemy which was good enough to engrave their names in history.
Meanwhile, the boy who stopped this war and was the major reason why this world was still intact and considerably safe was in a whole different place far away from the people's eyes.
"Marine village….huh. This seems to be the place." Acht muttered as he took a look at a picture in his hand and compared it to the real image in front of him.
Marine was a beautiful village in the far south of the western kingdom. It was a rural village in the middle of a mountain chain that surrounded it.
This place was the best when it comes to natural views as it had everything anyone would dream of.
It was also very quiet with basically no monsters around the area.
"Leislet really went all out with choosing this place for me. I guess it's good enough." He muttered as he walked down the hill and reached the village entrance.
"Halt there, young man." A man suddenly called for him.
He looked to the side and saw a middle-aged man sitting on a chair and drinking alcohol. His face was flushed red from excessive drinking and his eyes were hazy.
"Who…hick…are you? You don't seem to be from around here."
"I came here to stay for a while. I assume you heard about a newcomer."
The man's eyes lit up and he immediately stood up with a huge grin on his face.
"So you were the new guy that was coming here. I never thought it would be a small kid. Anyway, welcome here, boy."
The man said as he extended his hand for a handshake.
Acht examined it to see if it was clean enough for a handshake before shaking it.
"Anyway, come inside. We are always happy with new people coming to our humble village."
Acht looked at the happy man and sighed inside him. He would be lying if he said he was accustomed to such people and such places but he didn't hate it at all.
'I guess this is my life for now. It is new but relaxing isn't that bad after all. Let's just enjoy our time. No harsh training! No unnecessary fights and no overthinking! Ok, I can do that.' He thought as he walked inside the village.
It was time for a new life for the young boy. Would he be able to live comfortably or would the continuously hectic world drag him back to the middle of the chaos? Only time will tell.
[VOLUME END]
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