The moment Rena decided and used Phantom Shift to reach the Mayor, her eyes blinked repeatedly after she spotted Roman sitting on the other end.

"Roman...?"

Roman himself had his eyes widened by what he had seen, because firstly, he hadn’t expected her to be here, and secondly, this wasn’t the best state for her to have found him in.

Lastly, he knew things weren’t going to be funny, and the only person that could avoid that was North.

"No no no, Rena. She is not an enemy," Roman quickly urged her to get the dagger away, and Rena hesitated before doing so.

Roman immediately stepped out of the two-seater runner and walked over to Rena, who was still holding an unreadable look on her face.

And when he reached her, it wasn’t what he had expected that happened.

She stared at him for about two seconds, before suddenly throwing herself at him. She hugged him tightly like it had been a long while, and somehow it really had.

North also stepped out of the runner and settled by the door, watching the young lady hug him so tight that she had to shake her head.

"I missed you," Rena said softly in his ear.

"I missed you too, baby. Really," Roman responded as he squeezed her back.

When they let go, Rena turned to North.

"You offered dinner to the people holding him captive. How are you not an enemy?" she asked, not giving North a friendly look at all.

Not even a single bit.

"Because he’s been with me for many hours, and he’s not dead. They are gone, and he’s not with them," North said with a smile.

Rena turned to Roman who nodded slightly, and her heart seemed to be relieved a bit.

"Where is Arnold? Did they take him with them?" she then asked.

"He was rescued by the Wanderers when we were being chased after escaping from the caravan. I hope he is going to be fine," Roman responded.

And Rena preferred not to say a word and just nodded.

"So where were you both heading to? Definitely the Frontier, right?" she asked.

Roman quickly turned to North. He didn’t know how to signal her not to tell Rena they were going to Terror Lake, and that hadn’t seemed to help at all, because North was already telling the truth.

"Actually, we were heading to Terror Lake. About fourteen miles from here," North announced, and Rena immediately turned to Roman.

She didn’t say a word just yet, and then she turned back to North.

"Do you mind if I join you guys?" she said.

"Sure. Sure. Would be glad," North smiled.

And just like that, Rena had joined the party.

It was a two-seater runner, but there were three of them.

When Roman asked about where he would sit, Rena brought up an idea, and North agreed.

"At the top of the runner."

"Yeah, right. Good idea. It’s very balanced."

Roman ended up sitting on top of the runner as they passed through the city, drawing attention from people around, but he didn’t care.

The good thing was that he was still getting to Terror Lake, and he hoped he would see a Sea Dragon.

...

Rena and North were inside the runner, and it was evident that Roman couldn’t hear a thing from inside from where he was.

Rena had a runner, and she could have just used it to follow them to Terror Lake, however, she chose to stay in the same runner as North because firstly... She wanted North to stay away from her boyfriend.

And two, she wanted to punish Roman for choosing to go to Terror Lake instead of finding his way back to the Frontier right away.

Roman was already thinking about leaving the very next morning, but then Rena had just happened to show up at the wrong time.

Now he would have to accept whatever she thought of him.

A playboy?

A punk who had given up on Blood Trial Outpost and had fallen in love with a prestigious community like Strength City?

A scum who pretended like he loved her but didn’t?

...

They had been silent for a while before North decided to speak. She maintained that same congenial approach, which only seemed to be pissing Rena off.

’I mean... How does someone with bigger boobs than me be smiling like that?’

Rena believed she was only trying to intimidate her, and she wasn’t down for it. That’s why she had decided to go with them to Terror Lake.

Even if she would have to face an Epic or even an Alpha Monster, she was ready.

...

"Everyone has been talking about you. The heiress of the Steel Empire who turned down one of the biggest opportunities," North began.

"I wouldn’t say I’m one of them, but I can’t be on the opposite side either. My mother was The Widow. No one would know she had a child because my father died very early after getting devoured by a Tyrant Monster. He was never really known.

My mother built a powerful faction in the Heartlands, and they are known to be one of the strongest small groups. Before she died, she asked me not to be like her. Not to take over from where she stopped. Everything she had. Everything she built. It was all inherited by someone else. Someone that could match her personality."

"I was never that person. And she had always known. Sometimes, it’s good for parents to accept what path their child has chosen, not just because they chose it, but because that fact reveals that they would never be like them."

At one point, it wasn’t all about the one with the bigger boobs and the one who felt intimidated — it was a really deep speech that had brought tears to Rena’s eyes.

North had just revealed how she was allowed to go her own path without being hunted, and Rena became emotional, realising that hers was never going to be like that.

"So if you think that’s right for you, never give up. Go for it. Stand strong. When he sees that he can’t stop you from that so-called dream of yours, he would get tired and accept it.

I’m not trying to motivate you because I’m an S ranker. I could have made your dagger disappear the moment you pointed it at me, but you know why I didn’t?"

Rena didn’t say a word but just stared, and North knew she was interested to hear it.

"Because I know it’s too early to end the life of an ambitious talent like you. Plus, your father would make sure I didn’t live for another day if he heard that."

"So my advice for you..."

"Don’t be a disappointment by proving him right that you have no idea what you’re doing."

"By then... Maybe you might not just be the so-called Heiress of the great Steel Empire anymore." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

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[A/N: Let’s try to show support by gifting! Thanks!]