A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

However, Naruko hit the nail on the head. The forest was full of wild animals, and finding lodging for the night was a real problem.

They needed to find a safe place; Bray didn't want to take turns keeping watch with Naruko late at night.

“Of course, I also traveled alone!” Naruko raised her head, looking proud.

But in Bray's opinion, this looked incredibly stupid.

"I'm traveling for my love!" Naruko shouted, raising her right fist.

Before we knew it, the topic had veered off course again.

Bray looked around; the forest didn't give him a good feeling.

However, I couldn't say the specifics about Bray; I could only say that I felt a little uncomfortable.

Having dealt with all sorts of strange things, Bray is now somewhat sensitive to this kind of thing.

“Brave, let’s go out before nightfall!” Naruko suggested.

"..." Bray thought the suggestion was very unreliable.

"Hey, are you a traveler?" a voice came from above.

A dark-skinned young man was waving at Bray and Naruko.

Bray and Naruko looked at each other, completely unprepared for the sudden encounter.

---

Marus is a villager in Skahn and rarely sees travelers.

Therefore, they are very welcoming to travelers who come to this land.

“There’s no way you’ll get out before dark,” Marus laughed.

"We're still quite a distance from the edge of the forest."

"Could you help us find a place to stay?" Bray asked.

“Of course,” Marus immediately agreed.

"Let me tell you, there are very few travelers here. The villagers will be very happy to see you."

"Oh! How hospitable!" Naruko exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes! We are very hospitable."

"Then let me see how hospitable you are!" Naruko said with a grin.

Generally speaking, no one would chat like this, right? It's so rude!

Bray sighed, feeling that Marus might have suffered a mental breakdown from Naruko.

Naruko and Marus were having a very lively conversation.

“Look! This is light armor from the Kingdom of Yundu!” Naruko showed off her arm armor.

He even deliberately used magic to make steam spray out of the vents of the arm armor.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Marus, who lived in the forest, had never seen anything so amazing before.

Bray simply watched the two chat quietly, with no intention of getting involved.

"Is that your village?" Bray asked, pointing to a village ahead.

“Yes! We’ve arrived!” Marus nodded emphatically.

Isn't our village beautiful?

“It really is beautiful,” Bray replied.

The village, hidden deep in the forest, was revealed before Bray. —"So cold..." the girl murmured.

"It's so hot..." the girl cried.

"How scary..." The girl's voice trembled slightly.

—"Roar!!!!" A deep roar resounded.

“Bray?” Naruko shook the dazed Bray.

"Why did you suddenly stop standing still?" Naruko looked at Bray strangely.

"It's nothing," Bray said, rubbing his forehead and waving his hand.

“Let’s go into the village,” Bray sighed, and continued walking with Marus.

---

Marus said that the villagers of Skane were very hospitable to travelers.

At that time, Bray did not have a clear understanding of this.

“Oh my, has Marus brought a lost traveler?” an old woman said.

"Oh ho! A traveler! Would you like to stay at my house?" a middle-aged man with a headscarf said, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah...traveler...welcome, welcome." This was the elderly village chief.

In addition, many villagers surrounded Bulei and Mingzi, making it seem like a brawl was about to break out.

After much persuasion, the villagers reluctantly went home.

Bray wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, feeling somewhat tired.

"Wow! Bray, look, the people in Skane Village are so welcoming!" Of course, Naruko wasn't tired at all.

“Right? Everyone here is a very enthusiastic person!” Marus said proudly.

The houses in Skahn village are mostly wooden.

The thatched roof exudes the unique smell of hay.

However, the taste is not unpleasant; on the contrary, it is somewhat refreshing.

Almost every household places potted plants near their doorstep, making the whole village look lush and green.

"What a nice village," Bray remarked with deep emotion.

“Of course, Skahn Village is very beautiful.” Marus was delighted to hear Bray’s praise.

"Brai! I'm fighting with this chicken!" Naruko yelled.

That's right, in addition to potted plants, Skahn Village also raises some poultry.

However, this chicken clearly flew out on its own.

"Hey! Take this!"

Seeing Naruko and the chicken having such a good time, Bray was speechless.

How could a girl who could easily take down a group of thugs end up fighting a domestic chicken to a standstill?

"Sizzle—" The sound of steam reached my ears.

Bray immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Damn it!!!" Naruko yelled, clearly intending to punch the chicken to death.

"Boom—" A powerful gust of wind swept out.

"Cluck cluck cluck." The chicken nimbly dodged Naruko's punch.

“…” Bray lowered his hand from the hilt of his sword.

Okay, since Naruko wants to keep playing, let her play.

Bray no longer wanted to stop it.

"Um, shouldn't we help Miss Naruko?" Marus kindly suggested.

“No need, I’m actually not that familiar with her.” Bray was telling the truth.

Forget about getting to know each other, Bree seems to be ignoring Naruko and going to the capital on his own.

"Marus, where are Naruko and I staying tonight?" Bray asked a rather important question.

"Ah, Brother Bree and Miss Naruko, you can stay at my house. It's just me and my mother at my house."

Naruko slept with Marus's mother, while Bray slept with Marus.

Bray had no objection to this.

Bray was a man who had even slept on a straw bed in a prison cell.

"Hey, Naruko, come here quickly," Bray called out to Naruko.

"Wait a minute! The battle is about to be decided!" Naruko replied.

"..." Bray didn't speak, but quickly walked to Naruko's side.

"Hey, Bray, what's up?" Naruko exclaimed in surprise.

Then, taking advantage of Naruko's momentary lapse in attention, the chicken pecked at her chest.

"Ouch! Damn it!" Naruko gritted her teeth as she looked at the chicken.

"..." Bray stared at Naruko with his dead fish eyes.

Naruko was completely unaware of the misfortune that was about to befall her.

Just as Naruko was about to activate her light armor again, Bray stretched out his foot and tripped Naruko's right foot.

"Hey! Bray, you..." Naruko hadn't even reacted when Bray tripped her up.

There was no chance of resistance; Bray had precisely anticipated Naruko's movement path before launching his attack.

"Ouch!" Naruko fell forward onto the ground in a very inelegant manner.

"Brave, what are you doing?!" Naruko said angrily.

Just as Naruko was about to get up, Bray reached out his hand to her.

Seeing this, Naruko was actually a little moved.

"Well, at least you have some conscience." Naruko lay on the ground, wiping her nose with her hand, and said with a red face.

However, Naruko quickly realized that she had misunderstood.

"Hey!! No!! Don't drag me along!"

"My skin is rubbing against it! Ouch!"

"My fair skin! Eeya!!!"

Bray grabbed Naruko's hand and dragged her away.

This scene stunned Marus, and even the chicken that was fighting fiercely with Naruko was taken aback.

“Marus, let’s go to your place,” Bray said casually.

“But…” Marus glanced at Naruko, whom Bray was dragging.

“Miss Naruko…” Marus didn’t know what to say.

"Don't worry about Naruko. If she runs off again, I'll just keep dragging her back." Bray waved his left hand, indicating that Marus didn't need to worry at all.

However, Marus was clearly not worried about that issue.

“Okay… my home is over here.” Marus pointed to the small wooden house not far away.

"Let's grab some dinner while we're at it; I just caught some really good stuff while hunting."

"Then thank you for your hospitality." Bray smiled slightly.

"Aaaaaah! Don't drag me along!"

"It's so hot! My skin is so hot from all the friction!"

Naruko tried desperately to break free from Bray's grasp, but found herself powerless.

"Why?! I can't muster any strength at all!!"

"Help! Marus!" Naruko looked pitifully at Marus, pleading for his help.

"Stop arguing, or I'll throw you out and make you fight with chickens, you Eastern devil." Bray looked down at Naruko.

"Waaaah! I'm not some Eastern devil!!" Naruko's screams echoed through the village. That night, Bray and Naruko had dinner at Marus's house.