A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Therefore, the woman had to be extremely cautious in order not to treat the stranger as an honored guest.

---

"Here you go, this is a map given to you by the adults." The iron gate of the tower, which was completely free of rust, rose, and a burly man walked out from inside, but the woman was no longer with him.

He tossed a rolled-up map to Bray.

"Snap." Bray caught the map in mid-air with one hand and glanced casually at the burly man.

"Waaaaaa!" When Nia saw the burly man who had thrown her out, she quickly hid behind Bray and pulled Levy over to block her side.

Bray casually opened the map and glanced at it.

Yes, it's an unfamiliar map, but it should be the right map.

"Is there magic on this?" Bray raised an eyebrow, noticing the magic flowing across the map.

"The magic above will help you find your way better; you'll understand after just one look," the burly man said in a deep voice.

"Oh... thanks." Even though the "enemy of God" here wasn't particularly friendly, he still gave me something good.

After all, Bray initially thought the other party was going to give him a regular paper map, but he didn't expect them to give him such a high-end item with magic.

"Is the little girl alright?" The burly man asked after hesitating for a few seconds after throwing the map away.

“No…” Bray was about to answer.

"No." But halfway through her sentence, Nia, only showing half her face, weakly spoke to the burly man. The process was a bit complicated, but as long as the final result was good, that was fine.

Anyway, Bray had obtained the old map to the Eastern Continent.

While it's possible to acquire older maps by spending some time in the safe zone, they probably won't be as high-end as the ones we have now.

However, if Bray knew that the reason "God's Great Enemy" hadn't offered much help was because he had changed his appearance, he would probably be incredibly frustrated.

Fortunately, Bray was unaware of this.

"Would it be better if I just rushed over and said I knew Nisha?" Bray muttered to himself as he walked down the street.

However, if I said I knew Nisha, she might see me as a suspicious person.

After all, Nisha is the leader of the "Great Enemy of God," and it would be suspicious if a stranger suddenly claimed to know her.

By the way, I wonder if Nisa is still alive. I hope she is alive and well.

Nisha is also a good girl. Although she is often overly serious, she has never had bad intentions or done anything wrong with good intentions.

As he walked, Bray subconsciously looked around at himself, as if he wanted to say something.

However, there was no one in the direction he was looking.

Then he looked down at little Nia, who was only seven years old.

He reached out his rough hand and pinched Nia's little cheek.

"Dad, what are you doing!" Nia pouted and looked at Bray after her cheek was pinched.

"Weren't you afraid of that old man just now?" The old man Bray was referring to was naturally the burly man who had thrown them out.

“I’m scared, but it doesn’t seem like he did it on purpose.” Nia glanced to her left and said with a laugh.

"So Nia should just forgive him, since her butt doesn't hurt anymore anyway."

“Mom said there’s no point in arguing with others,” Nia said, then grabbed Bray’s pants.

"Is that so?" Bray, who had originally wanted to say a few more words, fell silent after hearing Nia's words.

“Nia is so gentle.” Levy wrapped her tail around Nia’s waist and said in a praising tone.

"Levy, give Nia something delicious next time!" She thought for a moment, then thought of the best gift she could give Nia.

Without a doubt, the best gift you can give yourself is food.

Let's catch some big fish from the sea, some for sashimi, some grilled, and give them all to Nia!

"Let's prepare our supplies here and then head to Ankyō City."

"Where can you find your grandparents?" Bree picked up Nia, pressed her forehead against Nia's, and whispered.

"Okay~" Nia giggled after being picked up.

Nia really loves the feeling of flying; she really loves it.

This is a big reason why she likes those dragons in the forest.

“Bray, Bray, he’s the one who lent us the pot.” Levy’s ears twitched as she pointed to a man not far away.

Bray only saw this man once in half a day.

He was the one who encountered Bray and his group outside the safe zone, and who later gave Bray the seasonings and cooking utensils.

In a sense, he saved Bray's life when he was so dizzy he felt like vomiting.

After thinking for a few seconds, Bray, with one arm around Nia and the other holding Levy's hand, walked towards the man.

“We received some help from the ‘Great Enemy of God,’ thanks for what happened before,” Bray said to the man as he approached him from behind.

Although she seemed to have thanked this man a bit too many times, it didn't matter; true members of the Claes family had to be polite.

"Nia, say thank you to your uncle," Bray said to Nia, whom he was holding.

"Thank you, Uncle," Nia said in her childish voice.

Nia didn't know why her father thanked the same person so many times, but she did it anyway.

Because she had already guessed her father's thoughts, which were probably something like, "People from the Clarice family should do this and that."

Mom often complains about this too, and today Nia finally understands the meaning of those complaints.

"Ah...who are you?" However, when the man turned around and looked at Bray, he frowned.

"..." Bray was speechless for a moment.

"Excuse me, are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?" the man added when Bray didn't react.

Do you have a twin brother?

"Are you kidding me? I don't have any brothers." The other person waved his hand impatiently, clearly convinced that Bray had mistaken him for someone else.

It's just that he and Bray had only met half a day ago, and it would be too much for him to forget about it by evening. Even someone as lazy as Bray, who doesn't remember people, would still remember the other person.

Bray and Levy exchanged a glance.

Nia was puzzled by the staring contest between the two people in front of her, so she also glanced at her father.

"Do you remember the messenger?"

"What messenger? I don't remember, I don't remember, you've mistaken me for someone else." The man quickly waved his hand and then hurried away, not wanting Bray to get involved.

Bray didn't continue to pester the man; she was just a little speechless.

Now what are we going to do? The messenger's message hasn't been sent out.

What happened to the promise to relay what you said to others?

"Hey, hey, hey, didn't you say there were still things to buy? Don't go!" The woman who was doing business with the man shouted hurriedly.

"Next time for sure, next time for sure." But the man didn't turn around, saying "Next time for sure" as he walked away from Bray.

It was as if Bray was trying to deceive him, even though Bray clearly had no such intention.

"It's all your fault! You scared all my customers away," the woman said, clicking her tongue in annoyance.

"I just wanted to say hello," Bray sighed, not wanting to scare anyone away.

"What do you sell here?" Bray asked casually, trying not to irritate the woman selling things.

“It’s basically just some seasonings.” The woman pointed to her table and suddenly had an idea.

"If you patronize my business, I won't pursue the matter of you driving my customer away."

“Alright.” After negotiating the price with the woman, Bray took out money from his pouch and bought some necessary seasonings.

Anyway, he did need some seasonings, so he wouldn't have to eat only Levy's "all-natural" barbecue the whole way.

"That guy, he said he quit smoking again, why is he still smoking and leaving a cigarette butt on my desk?" The woman complained when she suddenly saw a cigarette butt on her desk.

"In this day and age, you're still smoking? Don't you know how expensive cigarettes are?" In the wasteland, cigarettes are much more expensive than food; they're considered a rare commodity.

“Bray, he’s forgotten about us.” Levy said, a little disappointed, her tail swaying gently.

“Yes, you’ve forgotten about us.” Bray nodded in response to Levy.

But as he spoke, he glanced at the cigarette butts on the table.

Bray didn't think it was natural for that guy to forget him.

In addition, Levy had already said that this safe zone was filled with an unsettling atmosphere.

Levy isn't just a police lion who relies on intuition; she uses an amazing sense to know everything around her.

Therefore, it's highly unlikely that Levy would suddenly say something that would make people uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, Bray wasn't a famous detective, so he didn't know where to start for the time being.

At times like these, he especially wishes he had strong reasoning ability or intuition.

Unfortunately, he didn't. Yes, it's such a pity that he didn't have such strong thinking ability.

So when night fell, Bray found a place to stay and could only lie down quietly.

He rested his head on his hands, staring at the wooden ceiling with its large gaps.

In this room, the only light source is a magic lamp that is almost broken.

Because sorcerers were still alive, magical tools became even cheaper than oil lamps and the like.

Levy lay beside Bray, fast asleep with Nia in her arms.

Bray was the only one who wasn't asleep.

After a while, he got out of bed and then got out of bed.

He picked up the two swords beside the bed and then went outside to his temporary lodging.

The streets were deserted, as there was no nightlife in the safe zone.

Let alone nightlife, there's very little ordinary entertainment.

However, being rare doesn't mean there are no people at all; it just means that those people... or rather, those of the Bronze Age, are frozen in place.

"The gears have indeed started turning." A sound he hadn't heard in a long time entered Bray's ears.

A clown wearing a tall top hat stood in front of Bray.

It was nighttime, yet the clown's figure was so clear, eerily clear.

Among the frozen demons or angels are both men and women; they all seem to have originally intended to do something to the clown, but were instead frozen in place.

Their life force was not cut off, but their eyes were dull and their movements were like those of wax figures that had been sculpted.

"..." Bray didn't say a word, but took a step forward, his sword already drawn.

"Thump—" But after taking a step, he didn't make another move.

"Tsk." He clicked his tongue, forced to retract his offensive stance.

Just as he was about to draw his sword, Jonathan took a few steps back, using his cane to block in front of him.

Although Jonathan's gesture of holding the cane resembled an exaggerated action after the host's entrance.

But there is no doubt that it was a defensive tactic.

“I truly, truly dislike violence, so please don’t be too irritable, Mr. Ruler,” Jonathan said in a lighthearted tone, flicking his hat.

"Even though I know your wife is dead, you should still calm down a bit."

"Do you like stepping on landmines?" Bray said expressionlessly.

“Eek, I won’t mention this again.” Jonathan’s clown mask now features a pattern representing cold sweat.

"Also, please rest assured, Mr. Abbot, I would never do anything like kidnapping or coercing others—such heinous acts would not be committed by anyone." Jonathan said, clenching his fist as a sign of his disdain for such behavior.

"I myself am also very disgusted by this boring approach."

"Human will is free; if it is forcibly distorted by external factors, it becomes meaningless."

"This world is boring enough as it is, and I don't want it to become even more boring."