Chapter 1091: 78. Invitation
“Sigh. Young people these days just love doing these things they think make them so unique. The little brat from old Buze’s family next door is the same. He runs around bare-bottomed all day, even though he is already five, still acting like he is a two- or three-year-old little brat who does not understand anything. When that boy grows up, sooner or later he is going to do something incredible. All the little girls on the street should stay far away from him!”
“...”
On the small path through the woods, the old grandmother, bent at the waist, hunched-backed and stooped in figure, leaned on her cane. While skillfully walking around those complicated roots that were not exactly thick, she kept muttering about some trivial household matters between neighbors.
The matters were small matters, but between the lines, it seemed as if she was hinting at something...
“Grandma Meg, I already said it. I am not some pervert.”
The exchange just now had already allowed Muen to learn the name of the old woman before him, but it seemed some misunderstandings had not been cleared up.
“I didn’t say pervert. I was talking about the little brat from the neighbor’s house.”
Grandma Meg shook her head.
“I’m even less some little brat who doesn’t know any better.”
The corner of Muen’s mouth twitched as he said, “Everything just now was an accident. An accident! I explained it!”
“Oh my, young man, I never said anything like that... Also, saying you are not a pervert while looking like that has no persuasiveness at all.”
“...”
So that was still what you meant, wasn’t it?!
Muen let out a heavy sigh and felt that his temples had already begun to ache faintly.
Sigh. This was completely an unfavorable start. Clearly, he had followed Miss Dragon here to subjugate evil, to completely deal with those fellows from eight hundred years ago who had revived from Miss Dragon’s hands through special means.
But when he turned around, forget evil, he could not even find the shadow of Miss Dragon, his own thigh-like teammate.
He did not know whether she had deliberately left or whether they had been separated by the spatial turbulence just now. In any case, cruel reality had left him alone in this unfamiliar place, confused...
And he had even been seen all over by an old grandmother several generations older than him.
Damn it. Although the situation was extremely not good, at the very least, could it not have been a beautiful young girl who saw him all over? That way, perhaps he could even use this kind of common misunderstanding from books to begin some delightful plot development or something...
“We’re almost there. My house is just ahead.”
“Oh.”
Following the old woman’s reminder, Muen subconsciously tugged at the strips of ragged cloth draped over his body.
In reality, he still had many sets of spare clothes inside his storage magic device. There were even spare clothes that did not belong to him. Of course, it was impossible for him to be troubled because his clothes were damaged.
But just now, perhaps because his “miserable” appearance had looked too pitiful, the old woman named Meg had actually taken the initiative to invite him to her house, saying she could temporarily provide him with clothes.
Muen immediately realized that this was a good opportunity to understand the surrounding intelligence. Especially now, when Miss Dragon had lost all trace and he could only fight alone, quickly grasping the conditions of the surrounding environment could practically be called the first priority.
So for the moment, he could only endure humiliation and bear a heavy burden, maintaining this “looks like a pervert” character setting for a while.
...He kept feeling that this “looks like a pervert” character setting of his had appeared a little too many times. He did not know whether it was his imagination.
“Young man, you came from Rabuya City, didn’t you?”
At this moment, Grandma Meg, walking ahead, suddenly said.
“Hm?”
Rabuya City?
Muen was slightly stunned, because he had never heard of this city at all.
At least, among the cities on the continent that he knew...
There was not a single one named Rabuya.
“It seems the place I was sent to after passing through that point of light is even farther away than I imagined.”
Muen rubbed his chin.
Although that was the case, at a time like this, he could not speak truthfully.
An outsider who came from an unknown place, no matter under what circumstances, would always arouse the vigilance of the locals.
If he wanted to obtain intelligence, he first had to draw closer in relationship.
“Why would Grandma Meg think I come from Rabuya City?”
Muen remained calm and asked back with a smile.
“Because I heard the people there always like being unique. For example, holding unspeakable mating rituals in the streets... For example, distributing leaflets everywhere saying that mankind’s ultimate happiness is **... Or for example, holding hundred-person-level mad banquets in secret rooms...”
“Grandma, you’re thinking too much. How could I possibly come from Rabuya City?”
Muen’s face was full of righteousness.
“A filthy place like that, I have never even heard of it! I know absolutely nothing about it!”
“Is that so?”
Grandma Meg turned back and looked at Muen suspiciously.
“I feel your temperament is very similar to that place.”
“Of course! This time, I can swear on my character!”
Muen puffed out his chest, and his strong pectoral muscles symbolized his sincerity.
Damn it, what kind of damned city was that? If he had the chance, he would definitely go visit...
No, go sweep away evil. A filthy place like that might very well have the fellows Miss Dragon was searching for inside!
“Oh my, young man, there is no need to be nervous. I will not be hostile to you just because you come from that city... although I really do hate that place.”
Grandma Meg smiled “kindly.”
“...”
That was close.
If this were some kind of game, if he had admitted just now that he came from Rabuya City, Grandma Meg’s route would probably have directly produced a GG.
If it were even more ruthless, perhaps Grandma Meg would have exploded out of her clothes on the spot, turned into a hideous monster, and battled him for three hundred rounds.
Of course, that was only in games. Monsters in reality hid much deeper than that.
But speaking of this aspect...
Muen narrowed his eyes. During this period of communication with Grandma Meg, he had still relied on perception and confirmed her several times.
Mm. No magic power, and no fighting energy either.
She was only an ordinary person.
It seemed his luck this time was not so bad that he would encounter those fellows Miss Dragon had chased for several hundred years as soon as he was teleported over.
“My house is here.”
During their exchange, Grandma Meg suddenly stopped. At the end of the little path, an old house built from stone and clay appeared before Muen’s eyes.
The house was not very large, and even less could it be called “luxurious.” It was just that the wheat drying in the courtyard before the house and the various dried crops hanging on the walls all seemed to display the owner’s love for life.
“Come on. Although I do not have anything good here, there is still a cup of hot tea.”
Grandma Meg was the first to push open the creaking gate of the small courtyard.
“...”
But Muen stood in place and hesitated somewhat.
“Grandma, you... are really just letting me in like this?”
“What is wrong?”
“I...”
“Because you are a stranger, and you even stammer and refuse to say your own origin clearly, I should shut you outside the door?”
Grandma Meg turned back, her kind smile...
This time, it was kindness in the true sense.
“This old woman cannot do that kind of thing. In this world, everyone has their own secrets. Even the Goddess who brings light will not pry into those secrets, so naturally, neither will I.”
The Goddess who brings light...
Did that refer to the Life Goddess?
“But what if I am a bad person?”
“A bad person would not specially ask that.”
“That is true too...”
Muen smiled self-mockingly. The other party was so free and easy that it instead made him seem too awkward and hesitant.
“Come in. The Goddess also said that we must give help to every lost traveler, although I also hate the two words ‘traveler’ very much.”
“You really are a devout believer.”
“Sigh... In this kind of place where even birds do not shit, only devout faith can soothe people’s hearts.”
Grandma Meg sighed and walked into the house with her cane. Muen followed behind her, watching her bustle around. Although her legs and feet looked rather inconvenient, she very quickly brewed a cup of hot tea.
Muen lightly sipped it. Inside the chipped teacup was not tea, but the leaves of some kind of plant, and it carried a special fragrance as well. Although the taste could not compare to real tea, it was not difficult to drink either.
“Wait here for a bit. There are no clothes for men at home, so I’ll go sew one out of old cloth.”
“Thank you very much.”
Grandma Meg left temporarily. Muen sat inside the house and looked around.
This place was just as its exterior showed. It was only an ordinary farmhouse. In fact, even “ordinary” was somewhat undeserved. The various furnishings inside the house were pitifully few, let alone decorations. A large pile of potatoes was stacked in the corner, so the entire room gave off an obvious earthy smell.
Mm. Judging from some daily necessities, there should only be two people living here.
One was Grandma Meg.
The other was a boy...
No, it should be a girl...
“Grandma, I’m back!”
The door was suddenly pushed open.
A young girl with a ponytail walked into the house in high spirits. She walked with a bouncing step, as if she had encountered something good.
Then...
Her gaze met Muen’s, who was sitting inside the house and, right now, still almost bare-chested.
“Hello.”
Muen put down the teacup and greeted her with a smile.
“Oh... hello.”
The young girl froze for a moment. She blinked and looked at Muen’s face for a long while. Then she blinked again, shifted her gaze downward, and looked at those pectoral muscles that jumped along with his breathing...
“There’s a pervert!”
The young girl suddenly reacted, pulled down the bag she was carrying on her back, swung it in a full arc, and smashed it toward Muen.
“Go die! You damn pervert!”
Muen moved nimbly, easily dodging while also protecting what might be the only teacup in this house.
“Ah, so close.”
The corner of Muen’s mouth hooked upward, and his smile became even more handsome and approachable.
“Why must this beautiful young lady be so violent? I am really not some per—”
CLANG!
The bag, which had no idea what inside it and was actually especially heavy, smashed over again. While swinging it, the young girl also shouted loudly toward the inner room.
“Grandma, run! A pervert got into the house! I’ll hold him back, you run!”
Muen: “...”
No, although the clothes on his upper body were currently tattered and ragged, they could at least cover some “sensitive” parts. Surely she could not shout pervert the instant they met.
What did his pectoral muscles ever do to you?!
“Marcie, don’t act recklessly.”
Grandma Meg poked her head out from the inner room, pushed the monocle reading glasses on her face, and said with a stern expression,
“Although this gentleman does indeed look a little like a pervert, he has not truly been a pervert. He is a guest!”
“Ah?”
“Hurry and put the bag down. How many times have I told you, you cannot use a bag filled with ore to hit people!”
“Oh...”
Only then did the young girl, who realized she had misunderstood someone, timidly put down the bag. But the vigilance in her eyes still did not relax. Clearly, she was still wondering why the blond man before her was not a pervert.
Muen: “...”
What exactly had his pectoral muscles done to the two of you!!
“Muen.”
Muen stretched out his hand.
“A... wanderer who received your grandmother’s help. Hello.”
“Oh... My name is Marcie.”
The young girl named Marcie stretched out her hand...
But in the end, she still did not dare to directly hold his. She hastily scraped the edge of Muen’s fingers, then grabbed the bag and entered the inner room on the other side.
“Grandma, it’s going to be dark soon, I’m going to wash up first!”
“This child!”
Looking at the door that closed with a bang, Grandma Meg was helpless and indulgent.
“Sorry. This girl has been with me since she was little, and I also could not bear to discipline her. I spoiled her.”
“I understand. I can understand.”
Muen comforted her, “Children at this age are all like this. It is good to be a little lively. If she suddenly frowned all day, looking sickly and gazing into the distance as if lost in thought, then instead, you would have to worry whether she was about to be abducted by some yellow-haired—”
CLANG.
The door suddenly opened. The young girl glared fiercely at Muen, then said to Grandma Meg,
“Right, Grandma, I got the invitation letter from Rabuya City!”
“Rabuya City?”
That filthy city?
Muen widened his eyes and looked the young girl up and down, secretly thinking that such a young girl in the prime of youth had already...
“You... really want to go?” Grandma Meg also frowned, clearly not very happy about this matter.
“Grandma, you worry too much. Rabuya City is a famous City of Adventure and Freedom. It is not as chaotic as you say at all!”
“But you...”
“In any case, I have to go. This is my dream, and Grandma, you cannot stop me either!”
The young girl snorted coldly and closed the door with a clang.
Before closing it, she did not forget to glare at Muen again.
Muen: “...”
So, my pectoral muscles...
“I have let you see a joke.”
Regarding the young girl’s decision, Grandma Meg clearly had no way to deal with it either. She could only smile helplessly and bitterly at the door.
“This child has almost cut ties with me recently because of that matter. I... sigh.”
“I understand, I understand. Who does not have a bit of a dream? At this age, this is exactly when one disregards everything for it.”
Muen hurriedly nodded. It was not good for him to get involved in the other party’s family matters, but he could roughly guess the cause of the matter.
A fledgling wanted to leave home, but the worrying guardian did not allow it. This kind of contradiction happened at every moment in the world and did not count as anything special.
At least that Rabuya City should not be as filthy as he had imagined...
Or as filthy as Grandma Meg had described.
Damn it...
He had clearly still been guessing whether that place had become like that because it had suffered some kind of evil influence, and he had still been thinking of going to inspect it. Unexpectedly, the clue had broken again.
“It is better to communicate more about this kind of thing. When you should let go, let go. You cannot protect her for a lifetime, can you?” Muen comforted.
“I know that too. But this child’s parents are not by her side. I was the one who raised her all these years, so how could I bear to... sigh.”
Grandma Meg shook her head. For many things, even if one clearly knew that was the proper reasoning, when it truly came time to make a decision oneself...
It was still truly difficult to decide.
“Let’s not talk about that for now. Tomorrow, I will talk to that child again. Come, quickly try whether it fits. It is going to be dark soon.”
“Ah... thank you very much.”
Muen took the clothes Grandma Meg had temporarily sewn and put them on.
The coarse fabric was completely different from the clothes Muen usually wore, and the style was even extremely simple, only enough to cover the body. But Muen could feel Grandma Meg’s seriousness and thoughtfulness, because the stitches were fine and dense, and very sturdy.
“This time, before I have even had time to do anything, I have first owed someone a favor.”
Muen touched the clothes and smiled bitterly to himself.
“Mm. Not bad. It seems this old granny’s skill has not regressed yet.”
Grandma Meg brought both hands together. Looking at how Muen was still handsome even in a coarse cloth garment, she showed a smile again.
“Then let us stop here for today. It is going to be dark. I’ll go tidy a room for you.”
“This... I truly trouble you.”
Muen glanced out the window and discovered that the sky had indeed begun to darken. Thinking that even if he was a guest, he could not keep accepting care, he simply took out a few red candles he usually used.
“I will help as well. The room is so dark, I will light the candles...”
“No!”
Grandma Meg’s expression suddenly changed.
“You cannot light them!”
“Huh? Why?” Muen was stunned.
“You don’t know?”
Grandma Meg stared at Muen. This old woman, who had originally been kind, now had a vigilance and suspicion in her eyes that Muen had never seen before.
“Lighting a flame at night will attract the gaze of the evil Goddess of Night!”