A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"Did Levy scare you?" She looked at Tina, who had plopped down on the ground, and put on a guilty expression.

"No, it's alright." It was almost a heart attack, but Tina couldn't possibly be that harsh on this adorable girl.

I estimate that this little girl is several years younger than me.

"I'm glad I didn't scare you." After hearing that Tina wasn't frightened by her, Levy wagged her tail rapidly.

She had been training with Nia for a long time and had gotten used to moving too fast, and she hadn't changed back to that pace yet.

Just like Bray said, going all out is easy, but controlling the degree of control is very difficult.

Levy is still working hard, just like Nia.

"Welcome to our home, just don't break anything," Levy said to Tina as she stood in front of her.

“I’ll lead the way.” Levy pointed ahead.

Levy heard that someone was going to "protect" her big cabin, so she eagerly came to pick them up.

She smelled Tina's scent from a great distance and rushed over, which led to this scene.

---

"I thought the cabin was really nice when I saw it last time," Tina said, standing in Bray's house and looking around.

"I didn't expect it to be even bigger than I imagined."

Tina had come here before to inform Bray of some things, but she hadn't come in to see it yet.

"There's a lot of random stuff here." Tina looked at the bookshelf, which was filled with all sorts of things whose meaning was unclear.

Maybe it was salvaged from the wasteland.

"You're here." Bray greeted Tina as she entered, sitting in a chair.

As Levy ran off, Bray guessed that Tina had arrived.

“Come here, let me give you a brief introduction to this house,” Bray said quietly as he stood up.

"The way you're talking makes it sound like you've been away for a year and a half."

“It’ll probably really be a year and a half away.” Bray shrugged.

It might take more than a year and a half; even he himself doesn't know the exact time.

Ultimately, figuring out how to make the world a little cleaner remains a difficult question.

"That's great, I can stay longer."

"By the way, if I don't have a place to live now, can I sleep on the floor in your garden when you come back?"

"Whatever, but I reckon you won't need to sleep on the floor after I get back."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Tina didn't quite understand what Bree meant.

“It’s pointless.” Bray shook his head, not intending to delve any further into the matter.

"This is where I cook, and this is the old refrigerator that I had someone fix."

"Don't worry about running out of energy, this place... is quite special."

"Then there's my daughter's room, you probably can't sleep here."

"Levy's room... it's fine if you don't mind sleeping in the chimney."

“So the only place you can sleep is probably my room,” Bray said to Tina as he opened the door.

"Hey, is this a double bed?"

"Yes, it's a double bed, you can roll around in it as you like." He nodded and said calmly.

"Actually, there's nothing that's absolutely off-limits."

"Just for safety reasons, you shouldn't play with this crystal ball."

“There are also a lot of things we dug out of the garbage dump. I don’t know if they’ll explode, so you should stay away.” Bray circled all the dangerous items in the cabin for Tina.

However, Tina took it to heart, because those things didn't seem dangerous at all.

"Last one is this storage room, don't go in." Bray pointed to the room in front of them and reminded Tina behind him.

"What's the danger?"

“There’s no danger, I just don’t want anyone else to open it,” Bray said casually.

"If you're really that curious, and you sneakily open it, I can't stop you."

If Tina is truly the kind of person whose curiosity surpasses even that of a cat, and she sneaks into the door, Bray can't stop her even if she's out and about.

We can only rely on Tina's "self-awareness".

"How can I dare to drive if you say that?" Tina said speechlessly.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me? Hurry up."

“That’s about it,” Bray said.

---

Just as Tina was on the verge of a breakdown, Bray finally let her go.

Tina left the cabin exhausted; it was even more tiring than when she worked her part-time job.

"Dad, is that lady going to help us watch the house?" Nia asked, tugging at Bree's clothes.

"Well, but as payment, she'll be staying at our house."

“But she shouldn’t do anything reckless, so don’t worry about anything being missing.” Bray patted Nia’s head.

"Hmm..." Actually, for Nia, as long as her mother's things weren't lost, it didn't matter. Eric sat at his desk, next to a thick stack of paper documents.

Resources have become a bit more plentiful recently, so we're not as miserable as before, where we could only use yellowed paper.

This is all thanks to someone restarting papermaking.

He leaned back in his chair with his left hand and held a file in his right, looking utterly bored.

I want to take an ice bath, I want to eat shaved ice, I don't want to sit here and get moldy.

Of course, he didn't want to fight monsters either.

Many people tried to expand the safe zone's perimeter, but without exception, they all failed.

As expected, that barrier wasn't something that could be easily replicated.

Eric himself doesn't understand the principle behind that magic circle, and all that everyone knows so far is its function.

It seems very stable now, but Eric instinctively feels that such a powerful magic array cannot last.

How long can this magic array, which can even drive away those monsters who call themselves demigods, actually work? Ten years? Five years?

It has been more than two years, almost three years now, and to be honest, he is a little worried.

Once the magic circle disappears, it means that the people inside will either become food or toys.

What has always given Eric peace of mind is a certain adventurer.

However, the adventurer eventually said he was leaving.

Perhaps the catalyst was the departure of his wife.

Or perhaps even without this incident, there would have been other reasons for him to leave.

It's like a pocket watch that had stopped, finally repaired by a watchmaker, and the gears started turning again.

To be selfish, Eric really didn't want Bray to leave, and he could even say a lot of righteous things to persuade Bray to stay.

Because laying mines is the real reason why the safe zone is so secure.

But Eric didn't intend to tell Bray these things, and didn't want to use any morality to coerce the guy.

Moreover, Eric had been dealing with Bray for ten years and didn't think this kind of moral blackmail would be effective against Bray.

"Blind man, are you leaving?" Eric asked in a very casual tone, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the table.

Even though it was a pointless question, he still asked it.

Most of the time, people are like this: even though they know the answer, they still ask a question.

It's as if asking the question will get you a different answer.

Unfortunately, there is no other answer; it's ultimately a rhetorical question.

“Soldier, you’ve been calling me blind for over a decade, aren’t you tired of it?” Bray retorted.

“You’ve been calling me ‘soldier’ for over a decade, and you’re not tired of it, are you?” Eric said, shrugging.

Since Bray didn't answer his question, the answer must be the one Eric had in mind.

It's really pointless. At this point, the blind man should at least cooperate by saying something like "yes".

“You know, so many people can be called soldiers. If you call me that, maybe one day a lot of people will start looking at you.” Eric put his legs up on the table in a very ungraceful way.

It's incredibly rude, and I don't recommend anyone emulate this carefree attitude.

Alice, who was standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch any longer and forcibly removed the two legs.

"..." Eric, whose posture had been forcibly changed, did not dare to resist and could only look speechless.

“Colonel, you’re going to corrupt that child.” Alice pointed to Luo Shiqi, who was working in the distance.

In Alice's eyes, Luo Shiqi has recently started to resemble Eric more and more in his younger days—

Although Alice never actually saw what Eric looked like when he was young, she could probably imagine it.

However, Eric will definitely object once he knows Alice's thoughts.

"Captain, don't worry about it. Let him go astray if he wants to," Eric said, seemingly unconcerned.

“…” Bray stood nearby, suddenly feeling like he was being left out in the cold.

It seems like I was originally talking to Eric, so why did it suddenly turn into a conversation between him and his wife?

This couple, who are already married, still interact in this strange way.

But this is fine, Bray thinks it's pretty good this way.

"Ahem." But Bray still coughed a few times to remind Eric.

"If your throat is sore, eat some ice." Eric snapped his fingers and added an ice ball to the empty glass.

“…” Bray fell silent.

“Just kidding, and you probably don’t like ice either.” Eric continued pouring tea into his glass.

"You're probably not the kind of guy who'd say goodbye before leaving."

"So just tell me what you want me to do." Eric lowered his eyelids and took a sip of cold tea.

To this deadpan guy who could barely be considered a friend, all he could say was that he would try his best to do what the other person wanted him to do.

This applies both publicly and privately.

“Can you look after my house?” Bray asked.

“Okay, but remember to bring me some souvenirs from out of town,” Eric said.

There aren't too many people in the safe zone, and the land isn't too crowded, so it's not difficult to keep a house in Bray.

"Souvenirs from other places...?"

"Nonsense, do we look like the kind of people who could leave the safe zone?"

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I received a gift from anywhere else,” Eric said irritably.

"I guess you're going to the Eastern Continent, so bring me some gifts that have local characteristics."

“Okay.” Bray paused for a second after hearing Eric guess that he was going to the Eastern Continent, but quickly responded.

After all, it's Eric; he could probably guess my purpose with a simple guess.

"Soldier, it seems your brain hasn't rusted yet," Bray said sincerely, though the compliment wasn't exactly pleasant.

“I’m just a talker, you’re the one who can really fight.” Eric yawned.

"I'll try my best to make sure you don't come back to find this place just ruins," he said casually.

"Let's skip the pleasantries, neither of us likes them. Let's go."