Outside the city that was enclosed, most of the land was barren and unsuitable for habitation. There were places where even wild people would not live for long.
Wherever there was a water source, there would be forests and wild grass. Places that had long been without water would display a weathered, reddish rock-like soil, with dry grass growing close to the ground. Other than that, there were only sparse trees.
Along a long stretch of road, there would often not be a single living creature in sight.
This was also the first time Meili had seen such an environment, a world completely different from her original world, with scenery she had never seen before.
The environment was harsh, but precisely in such harsh surroundings, the most breathtaking natural scenes would often appear.
Walking forward on the road with a strange man she was not very familiar with, as if wandering, there were still many dangers ahead.
Meili leaned against the cart shaft, listening to the creaking sound of the cart pressing against the road. Her mood unexpectedly began to brighten for no reason, just like the sky at this moment, wide and open.
At first, they were two carriages one behind the other. Until now, the two carriages were side by side. Meili would occasionally speak to Muli beside her.
This cool, cool man who could kill without blinking… this cool boy did not talk much at first, but after Meili figured out what he was interested in, he talked more and more.
He told her a story about killing a magical beast, the very one he used to make his cloak.
“……They live under the glaciers, often staying in the water. They will dig a hole in the ice surface, and when prey passes by, they will suddenly leap out and drag the prey into the hole. The water inside the hole is very cold. If you have fur and fall in, it will get soaked. They won’t get soaked, because the skin on their bodies only has one layer of very short fine hair, it doesn’t get wet……”
— Saying so much in one breath made it almost unbelievable that ten days ago he wouldn’t say a single word to her for a whole day.
Propping her chin with her hand, Meili could tell from his words that the place he used to live in was very cold, covered in ice and snow, with glaciers, and magical beasts rarely seen here could often be seen there.
His understanding of magical beasts was much more than those people in the mercenary group.
As Muli spoke, he even let her take a close look at his cloak.
Meili did not refuse his friendliness, and reached out to carefully look at it. He put the non-water-absorbing side on the inside, the texture smooth and slippery, while the side that would get dirty was on the outside, so it looked somewhat grayish.
“Very nice.” She touched the cloak, somewhat puzzled, “Why not wear the non-water-absorbing side on the outside?”
Muli answered very naturally: “Because I’m used to it. I wore it like this from the beginning.”
Alright then.
From his words, Meili inferred that he had lived alone since very young. Everything was figured out by himself, with no one to take care of him. So he did not understand many things and lived very casually.
This made her think of herself. She couldn’t help but genuinely want to treat him better.
She was giving him that strange look again.
Muli spread his palm a bit, the fur of the bear paw glove puffing up slightly. He also didn’t know why being stared at like this by the red-haired woman would make the fur puff up uncontrollably, but he was very unaccustomed to it.
When he was very young and couldn’t win against magical beasts, facing the threat of powerful beasts would make his fur puff up. But this woman wasn’t scary at all. He wasn’t afraid in the least. He could beat ten of her with one hand!
So why did this happen?
Little bear confused.jpg
The red-haired woman beside him opened the water pouch to drink. He was thirsty too, so he reached out and took the pouch. This was his water pouch, and they only had one water pouch in total, so they could only drink together. This was nothing. Many mercenaries, once their own water pouches were empty, would just snatch others’ to drink.
However, he tasted a hint of sweetness again, very slight sweetness. He was very sensitive to sweetness and couldn’t help but care about it.
He had another question that puzzled him.
Clearly it was just ordinary water, but after the red-haired woman drank it, there would be a slight sweetness.
He had observed her. She did not secretly put anything inside.
“Why is it sweet?” he asked this question.
Meili: “Sweet? The water?”
She took the water pouch she had just drunk from and took another sip. Since Muli didn’t care, she no longer minded the two of them sharing a water pouch. After all, he had already seen even more embarrassing things before.
“It’s just ordinary water, it’s not sweet.” Meili didn’t taste anything.
Muli took it back, drank another sip, and said with certainty: “It is sweet.”
Alright then. Meili thought, maybe this little brother was actually still very young… was he wanting to eat candy?
A little cute, especially when compared to his tall figure, strange outfit, and terrifying skull helmet.
One moment Muli was still insisting in that tender youthful voice that the water was a little sweet, and in the next instant, he suddenly sprang up, pulled out a broken blade from the cart, and threw it toward the roadside. Fresh blood instantly splashed up half a person high.
The bandits hiding at the roadside, once discovered, stopped hiding. They abandoned the companion who was spurting blood and screaming miserably, raised their blades with vicious expressions, and rushed over.
Only two people, carrying so much cargo, swaggering along the main road where mercenary groups and caravans transported goods—at a glance, they were enough to make bandits excited. Not robbing them would be letting down their identity as bandits.
Bandits, especially small groups of them, would not stay in one place. They wandered in the wilderness, rob and then run. Therefore, they did not know that on this road a killing god had appeared—first killing a magical beast, then scaring a large bandit group into fleeing in panic. Now they were staring wide-eyed, looking at the goods, then at the veiled Meili, excitement bursting.
Here, women were rare, and had many uses.
Meili listened to their strange laughter, her mood still rather calm. Having seen such scenes many times, anyone would be as calm as she was.
Most importantly, Muli was by her side. As long as she thought of the way he fought, she couldn’t feel even a bit of fear toward these bandits.
Unknowingly, she already trusted Muli very much.
There were bandits ambushing on both sides of the road. Five of them rushed toward Meili’s side. Muli didn’t care about those on his side. He stood up and jumped onto Meili’s cart. His tall figure instantly enveloped her. Meili saw his cloak sweep up, and the next second, he stood on the cart and swept his long leg out.
—Because the force was too great and the scene too brutal, blood inevitably splashed over. Muli simultaneously pulled up his billowing cloak to block the spraying blood.
It was all done in one swift motion.
This violent scene startled the bandits behind them. They sobered from their greed. The miserable corpses awakened their fear of death. They no longer cared about cargo or women, shouting as they turned around to flee.
Some were so panicked that they fell after just two steps, terrified that they would be killed immediately, scrambling and rolling in fear as they hurried to catch up with those who had already run far.
Muli did not chase after the terrified fugitives. Even if he killed them all, it would be an easy matter for him.
Against the backdrop of the bandits screaming and fleeing madly, Muli put his leg down, jumped back to his own cart, pulled the reins to bring the carriage that had veered off the road back, then picked up the water pouch and continued the earlier topic, “After you drink it, it becomes a little sweet. Why?”
Meili was staring blankly at his casual and natural movements, not hearing clearly what he said. Her gaze was fixed on his head. “…Ah, there’s a bit of blood on your skull helmet.”
She took out a cloth she used for wiping hands and raised it. The distance was a bit far. She couldn’t reach while sitting, so she stood at the edge of the cart shaft, holding onto the side of the carriage. Across the gap between the two carts, she bent down and gently wiped that ferocious skull.
The cloak on her shoulders slipped down, and the skirt underneath spread out like a flower swaying in the wind.
The light touch on the skull brushed away as soon as it landed, so slight it was almost imperceptible.
She finished wiping and retreated, not noticing that Muli was frozen. His head was covered by the skull helmet, so even if he was staring blankly, Meili couldn’t tell, thinking he had simply fallen silent again.
Muli took quite a while to return from that inexplicable daze, still confused—why did he suddenly zone out just now?
And she still hadn’t answered his question.
Yet, he felt that after spacing out just now, he shouldn’t ask that question again. He could only sullenly lean back and rest, no longer speaking.
As Pudara City drew closer and closer, Meili’s heart filled with worry.
She hesitated for several days, finally deciding to probe Muli’s thoughts that night.
Meili: “Muli, the Golden Lion Mercenary Group is gone now. There’s only you left. Why do you still have to deliver these things?”
Muli answered: “I already promised.”
Meili: “But even the leader is dead. Even if you don’t deliver them, it shouldn’t matter, right?”
If he didn’t insist on delivering her, then she would be free.
Muli still said: “I promised. What does the leader’s death have to do with it?”
If he promised, he had to do it—Grandpa taught him that.
Meili: “…Do you absolutely have to deliver them?”
Muli: “Mm.”
Meili said nothing, lowering her head to fiddle with the campfire. Muli watched her for a while, finally noticing something. He asked in confusion, “You don’t want to go?”
Meili let out a helpless smile. She herself was cargo—what right did she have to want or not want? But still, she held a trace of small hope. She raised her eyes to Muli and asked, “If… I say I don’t want to go?”
Muli said: “Then we won’t go.”
He was too righteous and straightforward. Meili suspected he had forgotten that she was also cargo. She didn’t know if she should remind him, lest he suddenly remember later and send her away.
At this moment, Muli added: “Dead cargo can be delivered. But you’re alive. If you don’t want to go, you can leave.”
Meili tentatively asked: “Then I can leave now too?”
Muli: “Mm.”
He thought she was truly a bit strange. Why couldn’t she? She was alive again, and no one was locking her up in a cage anymore.
Because he agreed so readily, Meili suddenly didn’t know what to do. Along the way she had come to clearly understand the dangers of this world. If she were alone, she wouldn’t survive long—she would die, and die horribly.
She moved over to sit beside Muli, hugging her knees, turning sideways to ask him, “Then can I stay by your side for now? I can make delicious food for you.”
She began to worry he might drive her away.
Muli still answered directly, “You can.”
For some reason, he felt happy inside. When he heard she might leave, he had even been a little disappointed. He had only eaten her delicious meat steaks for a few days, and she also talked with him.
He had left the polar lands for some time now. People outside either wanted to trick him or kill him, and the rest were all boring.
“You’re not bad.” He crossed his arms, giving a very mature evaluation.
