Oaklum, Night.
By the time, they arrived at Oaklum, it was already late at night.
Yet the streets of the port city of Oaklum were bursting with liveliness.
Some sci-fi-type lamps drove the darkness of the night away and hundreds of people were passing by various streets even though it was already night.
Looking at this magnificent and bustling scene, everyone had a surprised look on their faces.
"Whoa! It's like there is a festival going on here, there are so many stalls and so many people!" (Riya)
"Nights in Oaklum are always like this, people sometimes end up mistaking that some kind of local festival is going on here…" (Riko)
As Zach was currently having his 'Baby' phase, Riko was the one who explained things to her juniors.
"The capital city usually feels quiet at night, only some major places like the markets etc. continue to work, but here in Oaklum you will rarely find a night that goes quiet and ordinary…" (Riko)
While Listening to Riko, everyone slowed down their walking pace.
Originally they were thinking about rushing to the Alliance's branch to submit the report, but after seeing this magnificent night scene, they slowed down their pace.
Riya noticed a nearby pastry shop and she immediately dashed away. Lia was about to stop her but Link shook his head and said:
"You guys go ahead, I will catch up to you after a while… Riya has expended a lot of her energy today, let her have some free time…" (Link)
After saying that, Link smiled and hurriedly followed Riya.
Everyone else was too speechless to say anything to them.
"Well as Link is accompanying her, we don't really need to worry about her safety…" (Riko)
Lia was about to say something in return, but her hand was suddenly held by Rio.
With his usual Expressionless tone, Rio said:
"Wanna explore the place together?" (Rio)
At Rio's question, Lia hesitated a bit but then nodded her head in approval.
"Yeah…. I think we should submit the report tomorrow… after all, there are still more than six days left until the mission's last day…" (Lia)
Not hesitating anymore, Lia followed Rio and left with him.
Seeing them leave, Liam glanced at Riko and said:
"Cough! Senpai, I suddenly remember I have to buy something, let's meet up later, I will catch up you go ahead…" (Liam)
And before Riko could say anything, Liam hurriedly left with Ellie.
As for Fade and Kira, they both seem to have already sneaked away at some point. Now only Riko and Zach were left standing alone.
Seeing all of her juniors slip away like that, Riko had a helpless look on her face.
While Riko was contemplating what to do next, a nearby 'ramen' stall caught Zach's attention and he immediately ran towards it.
Riko had no choice but to chase after him.
(Her armor is a magical item, she unequipped it easily and used mana to put it into her own space ring, now she is wearing her casual clothes…. She can equip it instantly if needed using the unique property of the armor…)
As Riko wasn't wearing her armor right now, her face was visible, she looked much older compared to Zach and thus when she arrived at the ramen stall, the old man mistook her to be Zach's older sister.
"Young lady, your little brother has quite a good stomach! He can eat such spicy food without a problem, it's awesome!"
Hearing the old man mistake Zach to be her younger brother, Riko was taken aback for a moment, but she didn't bother correcting the misunderstanding.
"Hehe~ Riko is my older sis~ I love my big sis~" (Zach)
At this time, Zach didn't even know what he was saying as his brain was not working properly but nonetheless, his words caused Riko to smile a little after so many years.
'If my brother was still alive, would he have been as lively as him?...' (Riko)
Although Zach was not the same as her fragile and weak younger brother, he resembled her brother a lot.
Zach's image in Riko's mind has already started to overlap with her younger brother.
Now she thinks that it might not be a bad thing to have Zach as her younger brother.
While Riko contemplated in her mind, Zach on the other hand kept eating ramen with a happy look on his face, he was totally unaware of the fact that he had already created more problems for himself.
…
On the other side. The pastry shop.
"Aunt, I want this one! And this and this one too!!" (Riya)
Looking at all those shiny and good-looking pastries, Riya couldn't help but gulp her saliva.
Her eyes seem to be shining at this moment.
The middle-aged aunt behind the counter smiled gently when she saw the lively behavior of Riya, she said in a happy tone.
"Yes, I will pack them up for you, young lady, hehe…"
The Aunt hurriedly packed those pastries for Riya in a small box and gave it to her.
Just when Riya was about to look into her space ring to pay the money, Link arrived at the shop and swiped his card to pay in her place.
(Riya returned his ' luxurious Black card' back to him yesterday after Lia told her about how rare that card was, although she knew she could buy many things for herself with that card, she didn't want to cause trouble for Link…)
(Link didn't want to take the card back but Riya sneaked it into his bedroom so he had no choice left…)
"If you want, you should take a few more… the treat is on me~" (Link)
Hearing Link's words of assurance, Riya happily nodded her head and ordered more pastries.
Seeing the two young people taking care of each other, the aunt smiled and said in a joking manner:
"Hehe, you two look like a married couple!"
Hearing the aunt talk about marriage, Riya grinned and declared in a loud voice:
"We are married after all!! Obviously, we will look like married!" (Riya)
At Riya's unexpected answer, the aunt's eyes widened in surprise, she was just joking earlier but who would have thought that her guess would be so spot on.
"COUGH!! Uh, we are engaged, we are not officially married yet, don't cause misunderstandings Riya…" (Link)
Only after Link clarified things, did the aunt's face return back to normal, she nearly thought that Link was a criminal who married an underage girl.
Seeing that the aunt stopped looking at him with a weird look in her eyes, Link wiped the sweat on his forehead and hurriedly took Riya away.
'Phew~ from the looks of it that aunt was about to call police on me… ugh..' (Link)
Nonetheless, this was not the first time Link was mistaken as a criminal, Riya has caused similar troubles for him many.
Link still remembers that one time he even had to show their engagement certificate to the police to prove his innocence. (A sweets shop owner called the police on him for a similar reason… cough!)
After Leaving the shop, Riya pouted her cheeks, she was angry that Link denied her statement of them being married.
Link had to buy more candies to get her to forgive him later.
…
On the other side, Near a carnival game stall.
"Young man, you have three chances, you can use this toy gun to shoot the target and if hits, then the reward is yours to take…"
The stall owner was a tall and burly middle-aged person, Rio immediately sensed that this person was a C-ranker.
'With that sturdy build, it's a martial artist I think… hmm, it's kind of rare to see a C-ranker setting up a stall… usually, they all go to dungeons for better income opportunities...' (Rio)
The middle-aged man looked at Rio and Lia both and then said with a smirk on his face.
"I can feel that you two kids are definitely awakeners, but kids this game is fair and square, you are not allowed to use mana to enhance yourself…"
"Otherwise, even if you hit the target it will be considered invalid…"
The burly man pointed to himself and said in a proud tone.
"Although I may not look like it, I am actually a peak C-rank martial artist, so don't try to cheat, as I will immediately notice it…"
Hearing the man's words, Lia asked with a confused look on her face.
"If you are a C-ranker, then why are you setting up this small stall?... the earning from a successful C-rank dungeon raid is hundreds of times higher than the annual earnings of this stall…" (Lia)
At Lia's question, the burly man scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.
He glanced around for a second seeing that no one was looking here, he replied in a low voice.
"Uh, you see, my wife is currently pregnant, so I can't go on raids this year, she will be too lonely after all, and I am not really skilled in other things aside from fighting, so I can only do this for now… hehe"
After Listening to the man's answer, Lia and Rio both nodded their heads in understanding.
"This is quite understandable… girls seem to get lonely a lot…" (Rio)
While saying that Rio, glanced at Lia with a smirk on his face.
"Hmph! Who said I get lonely! You are dreaming, idiot!" (Lia)
Rio ignored Lia's 'tsundere' voice and directly aimed the toy gun at a bear plushie.
'Well, if I want I can use mana, this guy is just a C-ranker and can't really detect my mana at all… but let's do this honestly, the reward will lose meaning if I cheat..' (Rio)
*Bang!*
The rubber bullet hit the bear plushie directly on its head and the plushie fell down.
As Rio already won the reward he wanted in one go, he stopped playing further as he had no interest in other things.
*Clap*
"Kiddo, your marksmanship is very good! I admit defeat, you played fair and square so I will not be stingy either! Here take it!"
Rio took the plushie and handed it over to Lia.
"For you, dear…" (Rio)
Lia blushed a bit and took the gift happily.
"Thanks… I will treasure it forever…" (Lia)
(Lia will keep her word, this plush toy will stay among her most treasured items for a long time to come…)
(Whenever the older Lia will look at this plushie in the future, she will always feel happy after remembering the memories behind this toy…)
"Well well, young boy! you have got a fine girlfriend! My best wishes are with you! Just a friendly piece of advice though, make sure you buy her gifts from time to time, otherwise, the relationship ends up cold, good luck!"
Hearing the burly man's words, Rio nodded his head.
"Thanks... I wish your children awaken good talent, my best wishes are with you too..." (Rio)
After saying that, Rio and Lia finally left the stall and continued to enjoy this night market to the fullest.
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's Your beloved Author here! I feel like I will die from diabetes if continue to write more and more romantic chapters…. Ugh…
Question of the day.
If given the choice to be a third-wheel, which couple would you like to hang out with?
1.Link and Riya (Riya will give you pastries, while Link will glare at you fiercely…)
2.Rio and Lia (Rio will win another reward for you and Lia will glare at you with cold eyes… later she will force you to give that reward back to her…)
3.Riko and Zach (Riko will buy ramen for you and Zach will snatch it away from you…)
4.Liam and Ellie (They will both slip away and you won't be able to stay with them…)
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