What do you mean by "this is a dating game"?

Chapter 7 Since we're already here, let's grab something before we leave.

After an unknown amount of time, Sieg slowly opened his eyes.

He smelled the aroma of food.

"woke up?"

A voice sounded beside me.

Sieg sat up and saw a man and a woman sitting by the campfire, cooking something in an aluminum pot.

That woman was the red-eyed girl who called herself "Grapefruit" before she lost consciousness.

As for the men—

never seen it.

He looked to be in his early twenties, about the same age as Sieg, with brilliant blond hair, a high nose, and thin lips; he was very handsome.

Sieg quickly noticed the pair of curved horns on his forehead.

He's a demon!

Seeing Sieg wake up, the demon raised his hand in greeting: "Brother, how are you? My name is Pharos."

Xiyou laughed, "Pharlos is a rising star in Blackscale City. Just last month, he won second place in the first tier at the Borderlands Monthly Martial Arts Tournament! You see, Pharlos is a demon. Demons are not common in the Borderlands, but they are not that rare either."

The borderland, the area where the western continent and the scorched earth meet.

Seeing a demon here is really not surprising.

The "Border Area Martial Arts Tournament" is a highly recognized and popular event, ranking among the top.

The demon before my eyes.

Pharos.

His ability to secure second place in the monthly martial arts tournament proves that he is indeed quite skilled.

Of course, there might only be two.

The monthly martial arts tournament, to put it bluntly, is a battle for tickets.

There are experts, but not many.

The truly prestigious event is the "Annual Border Martial Arts Tournament" held every summer.

The participants in the annual competition are all those who achieved rankings in the monthly competitions. The annual champion is not just a contestant; he has outstanding skills.

"Brother, you're pretty good!"

Pharos was rather arrogant.

He pointed to the bloody battlefield not far away: "I heard from Xiyou that you fought seven against one and won a great victory! If you participate in the monthly competition, you should be able to get a ranking."

Sieg waved his hand: "You flatter me."

Here, have a hot drink.

Pharos used the hollowed-out old bread as a bowl, filled it with hot soup, and handed it over.

Beetroot soup, with smoked meat slices floating on a purple broth.

In the past, even dogs wouldn't eat smoked meat, but now, seeing this, Seager's mouth watered, and he found it delicious.

He sipped his drink slowly, glancing at the grapefruit sitting by the fire.

She wore a large black wizard's robe and a huge wizard's hat with a star-shaped gold pendant hanging from the brim.

This outfit...

Sieg is all too familiar with him.

In the game, shortly after you meet Oz, she often dresses like this, a typical witch style.

The system notification also appeared appropriately:

Looking at Xiyou's attire, you feel a strange sense of nostalgia. The Oz you remember wore this simple, traditional witch's outfit.

[Cumulative reward points: 10/100.]

When the points are full, you can receive a node reward.

The node reward progress has been updated.

Sieg watched the notification text fade away and asked, "Miss Grapefruit—"

"Just call me Grapefruit! Miss, you're too kind."

Grapefruit interrupted.

"...Grapefruit, are you Oz's student?"

"Yes."

Sieg asked again, "Why are you here?"

Grapefruit frowned: "That's a strange question. Why can't I be here?"

Oh, this.

Sieg asked the question because he suspected that Grapefruit had come specifically to rescue Emilia.

They're fellow disciples.

But Xiyou's heart seemed to be very thick; her answer was watertight, and she showed no intention of revealing her purpose.

But the next second.

Grapefruit smiled and said, "But there is a reason why I'm here! One of Professor Oz's students, named Peach, seems to have encountered a crisis in the Moon Forest. I came here specifically to rescue her on Professor Oz's orders."

"This peach has a very impressive background. She is the eldest daughter of the Blackscale City Lord's family."

Falos was probably worried that Sieg wouldn't understand, so he took the initiative to provide additional information.

Five days ago, Oz received news that Peach was about to meet with misfortune.

Peach was her student, and as a teacher, she naturally couldn't just sit idly by.

She sent other students to rescue her, and Xiyou was one of the reinforcements.

Grapefruit said, "The seven guards you killed were the assassins who came to kill Peach. I spotted them and was planning to wait for Pharos to arrive before attacking them all at once, but I didn't expect you to be so brave, taking on all seven of them by yourself... That's incredible. By the way, what's your name?"

My name is Sig.

Sieg almost blurted it out, but quickly changed his mind and said, "Just call me Da Gen."

"?"

Grapefruit squinted at Sieg's crotch: "It seems quite large."

"Where are you looking?!"

"...You were the one who told me to call you Da Gen."

After drinking the hot soup, Sieg recovered.

Grapefruit and Falos had already cleaned up the battlefield and taken stock of the spoils.

This was supposed to be a bumper harvest.

The city lord's guards are well-equipped; if they were taken out and sold, they could earn the equivalent of five years' wages for an ordinary citizen. Businesses with no initial investment are always extremely profitable.

pity.

Those are standard-issue equipment; their origins are obvious at a glance, so they can't be sold.

Xiyou raised her hand and tossed a gold coin over: "Those people are carrying a lot of money, they probably plan to leave as soon as they leave the Sui Palace. This gold coin is yours, the rest are mine, you shouldn't have any objections, right?"

"no."

Sieg didn't even look up, speaking with unusual determination.

The grapefruit tossed over a gold dragon coin.

The legal tender of the strongest nation in the Western Continent, possessing extremely high purchasing power.

One gold dragon coin can be exchanged for more than 30,000 borderland copper coins.

Sieg couldn't deny that he harbored some resentment deep down.

He killed everyone, so even if he kept all the spoils, no one could say anything. What's the logic in giving him only one gold coin now?

There is no law anymore!

But within the palace of fire, there was truly no law.

to be honest.

Sieg was lucky; he didn't encounter a single vicious criminal.

If Xiyou were ruthless, she could have cut him down with a single stroke, but it would have been a pointless cut.

They fed him sugar pills, cared for him while he was in a coma, and even gave him a bowl of soup. That was enough.

Sieg looked at them and asked, "What are your plans next?"

"We plan to go deeper into the area and look for peaches."

Grapefruit replied matter-of-factly, "And you? Are you coming with us, or are we going our separate ways and seeing each other again next time?"

Pharos, being genuinely kind, said, "Brother Dagen, let's go together! You don't look well, so it'll be good to have someone to look after you."

Sieg was more than happy to accept it!

He is currently incapable of fighting.

but--

He thought that perhaps he could make a condition.

Sieg didn't consider himself a brave man. He had considered the adventure in the Colossus, but only considered it and never took action.

He is now in the Fire Palace.

If you're after excitement, then go all the way and take a risk! Try to ignite your inner fire and truly become extraordinary!

This is a purely rational judgment.

Without ability, one has no right to make choices.

What he gains and what he gives up are all choices made by others—others decide what Sig possesses, and others decide what Sig loses.

This might be counterintuitive.

But only with enough power can Sieg "refuse to face the blade and the blood".

Otherwise, he would be forced to muster his courage and face the crisis head-on.

It was as if he had just been forced to fight back and kill those seven guards from the city lord's mansion.

In the world of Sui, only those who possess extraordinary power are truly considered human.

Sieg knew that within the Fire Palace beneath their feet, in the Moon Forest, lay a hidden extraordinary profession.

That's a class called "Moonlight Swordsman," which can be used for the early game transition.

"I want to travel with you, but..."

Sieg turned and looked around, then quickly pointed in one direction: "I want to go to 'March Bay'. There's something I want there, and that's why I came to Moon Forest."