Chapter 78: Too Early To Say Goodbye

The Kingdom of Yegarian was the home of all humans within the Veiled Continent that had spun back over several thousand years before. It had thrived before even the time when humanity discovered fire and all the tools, it struggled and came out on top despite the more powerful forces that surrounded it and it continued to exist until today.

They had faced countless wars and even near-defeats, the Capital City had even been raided before and only through the sacrifices of many had that been assuaged. The Hero and his Party had come and landed a decisive blow that forced the Demon Lord to flee from the human kingdom, the King's Army had dealt with the Alliance that shook the entire realm.

So what had happened to the City of Gloria today?

How much had the renown Kingdom and beloved City grown weak that mere three individuals had caused and shaken the entire city into shambles and flames? She would have no answer, it made no sense that three high-level individuals would come here to sightsee and even then, why should a Kingdom risk three notable individuals to spy upon their Kingdom?

Three could be expended if the Kingdom in charge had much more for them to use.

Before she could even stagger to the ground, half-wondering what had caused the delay—she saw a young man taken away by the three intruders. They had taken one as a hostage.

.. .

The reality of things and one's perception of how things occurred where quite different matters. That was something that one had to keep in mind. Regardless of such actions, how one interpreted them could be beneficial or a poison to the one who determined it to be so. When Han pushed Timothy away from him, it almost felt like an act of deserting. The young man stumbled and had almost been stamped and crushed on by the stampede.

And for what reason?

In order for Han to risk their life by observing and even partaking in such a dangerous event? They were either one of the most stupid person he had med or one of the most daring, regardless, if they didn't want to be followed, Timothy began to move. He maneuvered out of the flock of people and into the alleys.

And right before he could get in, he collided into something hard and found himself on the cracked road once more.

On the other side was a young woman not too far from his age, she wore a cloak that covered her shoulders but she was no Ellynn, rather they were a pale girl with shoulder-length dark hair and eyes. And those eyes narrowed at him with such intensity that he felt something shudder in his spine.

Which was weird, because they looked like any ordinary girl. Well, she was pretty—but he had no time for that. Most of the women he were meeting were beautiful, instead he took the situation into account, their clothing and the place they were in. "Are you okay?"

.. .

They had retreated. Fled. But they were the victors.

Laughter rang in Han's ears as they ran away from the city, and he had soon found himself picked up by one of them with a grunt. He was too slow for them and had to be carried on this way, needless to say, it was embarrassing and he was resolved to do better. But at the moment, relief sunk into his chest.

They weren't going to bring the city into ruins.

He had no clue of their [ Levels ] and [ Classes ] but he had a feeling that they had been simply messing around, if it were going to be the capture of a city, it would have been a slight challenge but they would win in the end. Perhaps he was wrong but that was his assessment.

"Hah, that has been fun." The [ Light Elf ] or what he assumed to be her gave a satisfying laugh as she panted. With such a wonderful figure, he noticed her handsomely sized breasts jiggle—

Han was dropped into the ground.

He would complain but he found himself eye to eye with dark and sharp eyes bordering into murderous intent. It was a silent warning for him to not openly ogle. Picking himself up from the ground, he dusted what was supposed to be his clean shirt and pair of trousers—Timothy would chew his ears out for this. Well, at least he was sure that his friend was fine now that his mission had finally been accomplished.

He drew back the menu.

It still wasn't ticked or marked as completed.

He gulped for a moment and watched the people around him, there were four of them total so where were the other two—"Lucia, Bleu, Tierra~! And someone!" A red head woman would fall flat on the ground in a far worse manner than he did.

"Odele, good to see you~"'Lucia' clasped her hands together, a bright smile on her face.

It was the scary [ Tiefling ] that approached the fallen down woman and helped her up to her feet, the former shaking her head in disbelief, "Don't run around if you're still not used to walking." Instead of their voice sounding like an infernal or hellish tone, or them speaking Latin, their voice was pretty normal sounding, maybe a little gruff but that was all.

So Han managed to land himself this time in a somewhat normal group of Races. At least it was much better than meeting the Demon Lord or the grotesque face of the 'Chut' when he had last encountered it. And he was also pretty glad that it hadn't been the Goblin. They would have probably loved to stick an arrow or knife into his gut.

"I'm alright! I was excited to meet you guys once more, and also to check on the happenings of the city but it seems that the three of you have escaped with someone." The [ Mermaid ] remarked, and despite the lack of fins, she was the reason why they were all here in the first place. Her emerald eyes landed on him and she gave a wave, "Hello there [ Human ]! I'm Odele, nice to meet you."

She was the epitome of cuteness.

Han gave a wave back and managed a smile, "Nice to meet you too." It was a lot more comfortable speaking with girls than it did in his own world… but with her here, it only left one more person to be found. "I'm Han by the way, did you come here with anybody else or just yourself? It's probably your first time around here, same with you guys."

"Well, it is my first time here." Lucia giggled and looked around, "I think Tierra has been here before? You Bleu?"

'Bleu' simply shrugged and grunted. Tierra didn't respond at all and crossed their arms over their chest. The two were more forlorn to even give a proper reply.

Okay, forget about comfort. He wanted to hit his face against one of the tree trunks here. He needed to focus on the task, at the moment none seemed exactly eager to attack his city so it could be the last one or someone would have a change of heart here. "I see, that's quite nice."

"Oh, right. You're in an [ Alliance ] with Mister [ Wood Elf ] aren't you?" The [ Mermaid ] gave him a smile, "He's inside the forest with someone else, they seem to be talking."

He blinked. Someone else. But there were only six [ Players ] in his radar. What did that mean?

Somebody cleared their throat and spoke up, taking initiative in this impromptu meeting, "Well, I think Han here also has some Sage Grass but Bleu has prepared the same as well, who are you going to trade with?"

Han scratched his cheek as he pulled up his [ Inventory ], "...Er, I don't really think I have enough." He had only said that he had Sage Grass to stop the battle after all. Even when he had already collected his daily allotment from the Oaken Ashwood, it hardly made even ten pieces of Sage Grass.

"What?"

The tone… well, things might sour up quickly at this rate. Han met the gaze of the [ Tiefling ] and tried not to gulp, it wasn't like he had not seen many animations and shows, he had seen a freaking squid face up close but their aura was somewhat unnerving. Especially because it was somewhat what he had in mind when he thought of the [ Demon Lord ].

"Hmm…" Odele pondered for a moment, grabbing her satchel and shrugged. "It's not really troublesome, I carried extra Seaweed actually. Let's facilitate trading now and then let's decide what we do after next. I'm actually excited to visit the City of Gloria."

Seaweed.

It made him hungry for sushi triangles again. It was a random thought he had before he cleared his throat and looked at the other people they were with, at how much damage they caused the gates… Han doubted the possibility of fulfilling a mermaid's wish. "So visiting the city is…"

"Yeah, let's go there again!" Lucia smiled and flicked her wrist, "I'll pull up a better [ Illusion ] for us to get back in."

He tried not to sigh inwardly, It must have been his imagination that they would leave immediately after this after all.