“How did you cook him? Rare? Medium? Well-done?”
Lyla stared at Zich as he kicked the gangster on the ground with the edge of his foot.
“What is it? Did you suddenly fall in love with me? Is your ideal type a violent man?”
Lyla ignored his questions and pointed at the men on the ground. “Are you not going to kill them?”
The four men writhed in pain, and the whole crowd froze. Hearing Lyla’s words, the men began to tremble like crazy. After seeing Zich and Lyla’s skills and hearing the conversation that went back and forth between the two, the men realized that they had provoked the wrong people. Zich and Lyla were not like them who only acted tough and strong in their neighborhoods; they were truly ‘the strong.’
“How could you say such a cruel thing? They didn’t commit that big of a crime, and most of all, they didn’t even insult me. I am actually trying to live a kind life here, so I wouldn’t kill them for such a small reason.”
In short, Zich was saying that he would let them go since they didn’t insult him. Lyla was stunned, but Hans and Snoc shrugged their shoulders like they were used to it.
“…Shouldn’t you refrain from using violence recklessly if you want to live a kind life?”
Zich tilted his head. “How did I act recklessly? Beating up some guys who picked a fight with you is not reckless.”
“…I think I roughly understand how your mind works.” Lyla pressed her fingers onto her aching temples.
Zich approached Hans and Snoc. “You saw everything, right? If someone picks a fight with you, this is how you should act. Why were you enduring everything like an idiot?”
Hans replied, “Sir, I didn’t think an aspiring hero should use their powers rashly…”
“But it’s obvious that these guys are the type to make trouble everywhere. Since you guys didn’t pick a fight first, you should’ve beaten them an inch before their deaths. It doesn’t make sense for an aspiring hero to let their opponents go just because they are small-fry villains, right?”
Hans and Snoc awkwardly scratched their heads.
“To be a hero, just don’t provoke a fight first. Before you use violence, think one more time if it is just and reasonable. And if you are not in the wrong, strike. Like I said before, a hero is not a saint. And don’t forget to adjust your power according to your opponents’ level too.”
Both Hans and Snoc nodded.
“Good. Then, should I continue my date…?” But he saw Lyla’s gaze and trailed off. “What is it this time? Do you not like my personality but like my face? Do you want to admire it when I’m not talking?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
“You’re thinking about something by yourself again. It’s making me curious.”
Lyla didn’t even respond to Zich’s complaining.
“I’m going to leave now.”
“You’re leaving? I thought we were going to have a drink.”
“I don’t want to drink in this atmosphere.”
“Yeah, that’s understandable.” Zich agreed with Lyla, as he saw the men who were still rolling on the ground with fearful eyes. “I’ll walk you there.”
“It’s fine. I don’t want to let you know where I’m staying too.” Lyla flat-out refused.
It didn’t seem as if she would change her mind no matter how much he persuaded her, so he said, “Then we should also play tomorrow too. I’m planning to stay in this city for a while.”
Lyla blinked her eyes a few times while staring at Zich. She thought for a moment and nodded. “Tomorrow morning–at the place where we met today.”
“Sounds good. Don’t break your promise.”
She went outside the pub. After the door closed and her glistening hair disappeared out of sight, Zich’s doting eyes completely changed. He now looked like a predator looking for any weaknesses in his prey. It was sharp enough for Hans and Snoc to stop their steps even though they wanted to ask him what they were going to do now.
* * *
Zich stepped inside the terrace attached to his room. As if it was displaying how luxurious this building was, the terrace was only made up of carved white rocks with great artistic taste. The night view from this place was also stunning. Torches lit up different parts of the city and made up a completely different scene than it had during the daytime. The light source wavered according to the fires and added vitality to the city, and the dark spots of the city where light didn’t reach piqued the viewers’ curiosities. However, the night view didn’t interest Zich; he held a drink in his hands. All his attention and thoughts were on Lyla.
‘I wonder what her identity is.’
He recalled the behaviors that she displayed earlier today; she refused to answer questions about herself, but he also hadn’t expected to learn much about her in just one day.
‘First of all, she doesn’t have money.’
It didn’t make sense that a magician, especially a high-level magician like Lyla, would have no money. Considering her abilities, she should be able to go wherever she wanted and ask for special treatment. Any place would welcome her with open arms. Even if she wandered around like an outcast, with her skills, she should be able to earn enough money to eat whatever she wanted.
‘At the very least, she wouldn’t be salivating over skewered meat.’
She could be someone who didn’t know the ways of this world; like a rich lady or an elite who never had to do anything but learn magic. This was the main reason why Zich had asked Lyla to order food from the menu while he took out his money.
‘It was awkward.’
The first time she ordered food, Zich felt like he had caught one of her secrets. But the next time he tested her, her awkwardness had already disappeared. It was the same in the restaurant. When he passed the menu to her, he closely watched how she acted.
‘She was awkward during that time too. But the problem is that it also didn’t look awkward.’
There was a certain clumsiness to her when she first ordered, but surprisingly, after the first time, she perfectly ordered her food and the wine from start to finish.
‘Even when we were walking around the street, she didn’t seem to be confused about the menus. She at least knew what type of food they were selling.’
Even though her knowledge of food ranged from street food to high-quality restaurant food, she was awkward when ordering food. Moreover, she was only awkward once at the very beginning.
‘Even if there’s a gap between her experience and body like me, it doesn’t make sense that she would be awkward when ordering from a menu.’
Ordering from a menu was not such a difficult thing that there would be a gap between her experience and body.
‘And even when she was eating her food.’
Even though she recognized all the food, she reacted as if she was trying all the different types of food for the very first time.
‘Even though she has knowledge, she doesn’t have experience. I’m at least sure of this.’
Zich initially thought that there was a gap between her experience and physical body—but now, he thought there was also a gap between her experience, physical body, and knowledge.
‘I’m pretty sure she is from the future.’
From the first time she called him Moore, he had his suspicions. But now he was fully confident that she was from the future after going to the clothes shop. Like a real lover, Zich suggested and playfully handed a bunch of clothes to Lyla, but this was all according to his plan.
‘It’s fortunate that Lyla knew about fashion trends.’
All the clothes Zich gave to Lyla were clothes that were going to be fashionable in the future. The shopkeeper probably thought that Zich was just playing around since he handed her clothes that didn’t match each other during this time. But Lyla perfectly wore the clothes that Zich gave her. She even paid attention to small details like taking out the hem on only one side or tilting a hat in a certain way that would become fashionable in the future.
‘I guess I should thank my subordinate.’
There was no way Zich would be keen on fashion trends. The only reason why Zich was knowledgeable about fashion trends was because one of his subordinates had been very sensitive to them. Regarding fashion, that subordinate had been very particular about Zich’s sense of style and even yelled at him a few times about it.
‘Lyla is probably trying to find out if I’m Zich Moore or not.’
When Zich told Hans and Snoc that they should think once more before inflicting violence, there was clear shock on her face.
‘If I had my way, I would just capture her and forcefully get information from her.’
However, Zich decided to push that method far to the bottom of the list of possible methods.
‘Since she has a teleportation artifact, there’s a very low chance that I will be successful.’
Moreover, if he did that, he would completely destroy the friendly relationship he had built with Lyla so far and erase the possibility of ever getting information from her peacefully.
‘Also, it seems like she doesn’t need to rely on the artifact.’
After getting out of the pub, Zich extended his senses to chase after her. However, at one point, her presence suddenly disappeared.
‘She probably used teleportation magic there.’
It was not a dangerous situation, so she probably didn’t even use a teleportation artifact. It made more sense that she just used teleportation magic. But regardless of all that, Lyla was also very strong herself.
‘Well, I’m going to meet her again, so I should find out more information about her tomorrow.’
Zich moved away from the terrace pillar he was leaning on. He left the lights of a beautiful city and walked back into his room. However, he stopped as a sudden thought entered his mind.
‘To think about it, she mentioned the name, Brave.’
This was probably something Zich had no information about.
‘She’s really like a treasure box. If I manage to get close with her, she will probably let out a lot of really useful information.’
Of course, since she was a great beauty, he really looked forward to the date as well. Zich had strong anticipation for the next day and went back inside the room. Then the lights in his room turned off.
* * *
The next day, Zich took Lyla around the city and continued their date. They saw famous architecture, ate delicious food, and rode on rides like boats. They looked like a super lovey-dovey couple to everyone who was watching them. However, they were fastidiously inspecting each other the whole time. They carefully watched each other’s movements and tried to bring out each other’s reactions by slipping certain words.
However, surprisingly, they had a fun time. Both of them actually enjoyed spending time with each other.
“Where are we going tomorrow?” Now, Lyla was the first one to ask this question.
But regretfully, tomorrow would be the end of Zich’s five-day vacation that he gave to Snoc and Hans. “I have something to do so we can’t meet tomorrow.”
“Ah…” Lyla felt regretful. However, she seemed surprised by her own reaction and quickly fixed her expression. “F-fine. In the first place, we’re just cautiously watching each other. We can’t continue to hang out like this.”
However, her shoulders were clearly slouched down.
“Hey, don’t go so far ahead by yourself. I really do have something to do tomorrow, and I’m not saying we should never meet each other again. If I just finish this matter, I have time left. So why don’t we meet again in the same place after ten days?”
Her complexion immediately brightened up. “Okay. I need more time to observe you anyways. It won’t be good to separate at this time.”
Zich wasn’t sure if she actually thought this or was making excuses for herself. But in the end, this was her reply. After Lyla’s mood got better, the date progressed with a significantly good atmosphere. When the date ended, Zich even waved his hands at Lyla and watched her disappear across the street.
‘Hmm. I got way closer to her than I planned.’
She no longer acted like a cat with all her hair up in front of him anymore. Even though her cautiousness towards him was still not gone, she was definitely enjoying her date with Zich. Considering her initial attitude towards Zich in the beginning, it was a really surprising development.
‘But it doesn’t seem like she has any romantic feelings for me.’
If he was being frank, she seemed like a kid completely absorbed in playing with the first friend she ever made. It was to such an extent that Zich thought his conscience hurt a little bit.
‘Well, I don’t have a conscience.’ Zich smirked and turned around. ‘I should think about Lyla later and start getting that.’
Demon Sword Tornium. It was time to get his sword.