When his cart stopped, there was a desire growing in Ren to retrace his step and search for Evie. Though he was familiar with that feeling he was having, since he felt it once with Saya, he killed it almost immediately.
Ren was convinced that whatever it was, he had confused it with guilt.
Without waiting for another second to rethink, Ren hopped from the cart and went to the crowds.
Surrounding the marketplace were buildings made of wood, glass, and colorful roof tiles. Restaurants, pubs, cafes, inns, and even apothecaries and smithy shops were present all around, making the whole place alive even in the middle of the night.
At the center of the square was a wide stage where a live auction was happening.
Ren wasn't interested in the auction since no matter what awesome items they were selling, he was never going to spend more than a hundred gil on this place.
He was about to message Leonel when he heard his name.
"Ren!"
Ren's eyes shifted to Isolde's huffing face. Like usual, she looked elegant with her clean high ponytail hair, sleeveless top, and cargo pants. She looked like she was going to hunt than go to a festival.
"How did you spot me from all these crowds?" Ren asked, not really interested in the answer.
"Ah . . . I have been looking out for you every minute or so," Isolde replied without thought, face a bit flushed and big eyes sparkling. It felt like it was ages since the last time she saw Ren. The last time she did was in Gargantuan Cave.
Something was off with what Isolde said, but Ren brushed it aside. He flashed a small smile before his smile dropped when Ragnar appeared in the back.
Ragnar was wearing his armor, and his ugly orcish face smirked at the sight of him.
"Glad you could make it." Though Ragnar was talking with his usual calm voice, there was a hint of teasing mixed in it.
And Ren knew why. It was because Ragnar knew his other identity.
Swallowing his grumble, Ren walked to the group and changed the topic, "Are you guys participating in the auction?"
Ren nodded in the direction of the stage.
"No. I'm already broke. I used up all my money in the shooting game," Isolde said without care before her face beamed. "But look at all these awesome prices that I won! I gained all kinds of bullets and even acquired Isolde 2.0!"
Ren raised a brow. "Isolde 2.0?"
Isolde snatched his canon in her inventory and showed it to Ren. "This has AoE Damage, but the reload takes time. But with the bullets I won, I could inflict status effects like freeze, burn, and paralysis."
Ren gaped at the black cannon in Isolde's shoulder. It was the shape of a cannon but used as a gun. A little bit bigger than a handy rocket launcher in white metal frame with intricate golden carvings.
Ren was shocked because it was [Destroyer], a rare item that could only be acquired mid-game. And Isolde already got it? What in the blazes did she do to acquire it?
"Did you burn all your money acquiring that gun in the shooting range?" asked Ren, surprised.
Leonel waved his hand back and forth in front of his face. "No. No. No. That wasn't what happened. In fact, Isolde got the gun after she finished ten shooting challenges in a row with a perfect score. Her money was only depleted buying tickets in a shooting game to acquire those status effect bullets."
Leonel shrugged and slightly shook his head while grinning from ear to ear. "You should have seen everyone's faces when she won it. They looked like they would wrestle Isolde to the ground. Even those NPCs in the shooting game all looked at her with piercing glares. Needless to say that the shooting games closed just at the sight of her. I think they're afraid that she would won their challenges and clear all their prices." Leonel snickered.
Isolde frowned and stored her cannon. "That's an exaggeration. Those guys are lucky that I run out of gil."
Ren laughed a little before he shifted his attention at Ragnar. "What about you? I didn't expect to find you here, to be honest. I thought you were not a festival type of person.
Ragnar only tilted his head a little. "Got tired of grinding. And I wanted to check out the place. Glad I did, or I wouldn't have gotten this."
Ragnar fished a massive curve axe as tall as him in his inventory. "I won this game after so many tries. Thanks to it, I'm dirt poor in this world."
Ren whistled. It was [Halfmoon Blade]. Another rare item that could only be acquired mid-game.
Ren could only sigh inwardly at Isolde and Ragnar. It must be nice to be so rich that they didn't even think about the in-game currency.
"What about you, Leo? Don't tell me that you deplete your gil already?"
"Hm. Hm." Leonel puffed his chest and gave Ren a toothy grin. "That's where you are wrong. I only spent a thousand gil, which all went to my tummy," he said and slapped his stomach.
"Really?" Ren crossed his arms, couldn't believe that Leonel had that much self-restraint.
Leonel fisted his hand and slammed it against his chest. "Of course. It was hard but . . ." His expression then dropped, and his eyes went dead, "my fear of getting killed won in the end."
Ren chuckled while Isolde questioned. "Killed?"
Leonel released a big sigh. "I loaned money to buy a pod. That's why I'm saving all my gil, so if the in-game currency is here, I'll exchange it with real money."
"Leo, I could have lent you if you had asked me. No interest, of course," said Isolde.
Leonel shook his head and said with an overbearing tone, "Isolde . . . a man had to have some pride."
Isolde crossed her hands, and her waist tilted to the side. "What good is pride if you end up dead?"
"Gaugh . . ." Leonel looked to the side and muttered, "Can't you give me a moment to act cool? Even for once."
The others laughed before they resumed touring the place.
While Isolde and Leonel were busy chatting and trying out food stalls to food stalls, Leonel's treat, of course, Ragnar slowly went beside Ren and whispered.
"Evie is here, by the way."
Ren was enjoying the festivities, and his mind had finally trailed off from a certain someone. But when Ragnar mentioned her, her image and that desire came knocking against his head without stopping.
"Why did you mention her?" And he was starting to forget too.
"I thought you two know each other. I'm even expecting that she would be here with you."
"I don't know her personally," said Ren with a hard voice. "We just got acquainted in a previous raid. That's all."
". . . I see."
A small concern bubbled in Ren's heart, and he couldn't help but look over at Ragnar and ask. "Do you like her?"
Ragnar chuckled. "It depends on what type of 'like' you mean."
There was a hint of irritation and impatience in Ren's voice as he spoke, "Stop beating around the bushes. You know what I mean."
Ragnar merely ignored it and replied, "For a mere acquaintance, you sure are getting riled up."
". . ." Ren was quiet before he faced ahead and said with a calm voice but deep knitted brows. "Evie is a good girl. You already have Silvia."
There was a short pause before Ragnar burst into laughter. "I'm just messing with you. I always wanted to see you rattled behind that cold façade of yours. It's payback for making me cannon fodder numerous times."
Ren didn't laugh, though. That small concern he was having didn't lessen or disappear. In fact, it grew bigger, and he felt heavy at every passing second. Uneasy. Uncomfortable.
Ragnar didn't answer his question. He was dodging it.
However, Ren didn't want to press more since he was afraid of knowing the answer.
"Hey, Ren, look!"
Ren momentarily forgot about her emotions at Leonel's voice. He saw his friend standing beside a giant tub full of fish.
"They also have a fish-catching game here! Let's try it like old times!"
Ren blinked before he went to Leonel's side. Like an unfeeling robot, he spoke. "It's a waste of gil, Leo."
Leonel only grinned at him showing his canines. "You afraid the others will know that you haven't improved at all?"
A vein popped in Ren's head, and he wanted to pinch Leonel's ear. But before he could, Ragnar stepped in.
"This look interesting. Wanna see who's going to catch more fish?"
"I'm in," Isolde immediately agreed. She loves a challenge. "Though you have to pay for my entry. I'm broke."
"Am too!" Leonel hopped to his feet and volunteered. "Since I'm the one who said it, I will pay all of the entries."
"Whoa, Leo, you're very rich." Isolde beamed and made whistling sounds.
Leonel rubbed his nose and said with pride, "Only in the game. I'm broke in the real world that I'm only eating noodles every day."
"I-is that so?" Isolde didn't know how to react to that revelation. She didn't know what it felt like to eat only noodles in a day since it was always a full course meal on her plate. Not to mention the snacks in between three meals a day.
Poor people have it rough. Isolde thought.
The three then all looked at Ren when the latter was silent.
Ren sighed when three pairs of eyes wouldn't leave him alone even after a minute.
"Fine."
