"Oh my? For me? You shouldn’t have, my Dear~" Ava giggled as I presented the plushie to her.

She hugged it to her chest though her gaze never left me, her smile looking quite predatory for some reason.

"I’ll be sure to treasure this, my Dear~"

"Well... I’m glad you like it."

"I like it because it is from you, my Dear~ Ufufufu~"

I didn’t really know what to say to that but I was saved by Dan calling out to us.

"Hey! You guys want some drinks? There’s a drink stall over there and the kids are thirsty."

I looked up and took a moment to read their signboards to find something that I might want to drink.

The stall was selling mostly fruit smoothies so I opted for the ice mango smoothie for myself.

Dan nodded at Ava and she shook her head, "I’ll pass, thank you."

Dan didn’t try to convince her and just shrugged before going over to the stall to place our orders.

"Not thirsty?" I asked.

She smiled at me, "Oh, I am definitely thirsty, as you people might say. But unfortunately, the thing that I am thirsty for cannot be quenched with just these drinks alone~"

I honestly forgot that she’s an ero elf... Thanks for reminding me again...

Dan came over and handed me my drink.

I stuck the straw into the cup and took a sip of it.

Mmm... Not bad. Not too sweet and not too watery either.

"Ara, ara? How is it, my Dear?" Ava asked, titled her head at me.

"Hmm? It’s not bad."

Her eyes sparkled, "Ufufufu~ In that case, could I try it?"

Oh no you don’t... I know what you’re trying to do here...

"Oh, sure. I’ll just get you one from the stall as well," I offered, pretending not to know what she wanted.

"Oh, but I don’t want one from the stall, my Dear~"

"Ah... Then you can have this one, I’ll get another one myself."

"Oh my~ That’s not what I want at all~"

"Hmm? I don’t understand?"

"My, my~ I want that indirect kiss, my Dear~"

Wow... She really just said it out loud huh... Look, even Dan’s just staring at her weirdly while sipping on his drink...

Whatever... Since you already asked like that...

I lifted the cup over to let her take a sip from it, only for her to brush it away to hold my face with her hands.

"Oh no no~ You’ve teased me that much... I’m not going to be satisfied with just an indirect kiss anymore~"

She leaned all the way and captured my lips with hers, kissing me deeply with her tongue rolling inside my mouth.

I couldn’t do anything aside from just standing there and kissing her back, trying my best to ignore the gazes of the people around us watching this tall erofu kissing me in the middle of the street.

She only broke the kiss when she needed to breathe, the elf licking her lips lewdly before straightening herself.

"Mmmm~ You are right, my Dear~ It really is nice~" She hummed before wrapping her arm around mine. "I hope you don’t mind sharing it with me?"

Yeah... Sure...

We continued our tour of the market and Ava made a point to take advantage of me whenever she could.

And by that, I meant that whenever I took a sip from the drink, there was a chance she might pull me towards her to give me a kiss so that she could taste the drink from me.

At least she had the sense not to do it when Amanda and Joanne were looking I suppose...

We ate a few more snacks from a few street stalls and I bought some souvenirs that I intended to give to the other Guardians and my family right as we reached the end of the street.

This part of the street was relatively deserted as compared to the night market we had just vacated with only a few passers-by and some taxis waiting at the side of the road.

Joanne was now fast asleep and being carried by Dan while Amanda was also just barely awake while holding on to Rachel.

"You guys should call it a night," I chuckled, watching the two parents in front of me. "It’s been a long day after all."

Rachel smiled, "How long would you be staying in Chiang Mai, Qing?"

"I’m not too sure... I think we might be returning back to Singapore tomorrow though there aren’t any concrete plans yet. What about you two?"

"Oh, tonight’s our last night here. We’ve already stayed here for about a week at this point and the girls will be starting school soon."

Dan grinned, "Hey, maybe we might even be on the same flight if you’re going back tomorrow."

I scratched my cheek, "That probably won’t happen... They will arrange a chartered flight for us instead."

Ava and I could also teleport but this was really all just for show since this allowed both governments to get some brownie points by catering to me.

It’s really all just politics but since I wasn’t really in a rush anyway, I didn’t mind.

Dan scowled mockingly at me, "Ok lah. Rich boy just say lah. Poor people like us still need to take economy like everyone else."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, sure, sure. Maybe if you join with me you could also have a taste of the ’rich life’ too."

Rachel chuckled, "It was nice meeting you here Qing. And it was also certainly nice meeting you as well, Avatasia."

"Ara? It certainly is nice meeting you as well Rachel. Ufufufu~ Perhaps we could still hang out back at home?"

"Oh, I would certainly like that~ Call me whenever you want to hang out~"

We waved at them as they left to take a taxi back to their hotel.

For Ava and I, we would be teleporting back there of course, since there was no way I could show up over there without my mask even with Ava escorting me.

"Now, shall we--" I interrupted myself when I saw a figure flying towards me as well as the glint of metal in their hands.

I leapt back as my attacker sliced his dagger through the air, the blade missing me by mere inches.

I almost retaliated until the guy straightened himself to reveal he was some thug spinning his daggers around while only wearing a pair of shorts and running shoes. His hair was spiked up in a mohawk and his chest had what looked like tribal tattoos on them.

In all honesty, he looked like your stereotypical thug.

"Hmm... You’re fast huh? That’s a surprise~" The guy grinned, still spinning his dagger in his hands. "I suppose I should have expected you to be somewhat competent since you did mess up my men after all~"

I frowned, wondering what he was talking about until I realised that he might be referring to those guys we beat up in the cafe today. The ones that I forced to eat dirt and were traumatised by Ava somehow.

I guess those guys weren’t actually tourists but gang members that have settled here instead.

Looking around, I also noticed that the locals around the street who have noticed this guy quickened their steps to move out of the area.

The taxi drivers who had been hanging outside their cars also quickly dove back inside them with some of them even driving off instead of hanging around here.

So this guy’s already pretty infamous around here that the locals recognise him I see...

He flipped his dagger again and grinned, "Well now... I see why my guys took the risk. Tall, pretty lady like her hanging around some loser like you and she’s not even a ladyboy? Yeah, definitely worth the risk. Tell you what, boy~ As you might have seen, I have awakened an ability. You turn around and leave the girl with me and I let you walk away. You don’t, I cut you up and take the girl anyway~ Your call."

Ava was going to take a step forward but I stopped her with an outstretched arm.

I nodded at the guy, "You speak as if you’ve already won... But last I checked, you couldn’t even hit me with that weapon of yours and you think you can still threaten me? I think it should be the other way around, right?"

He smirked and flipped his dagger again before catching them in a reverse grip, "You really think that you managed to avoid my attack because of your own ability? I let you avoid it, fool. Last chance to walk away before I cut you up. It makes no difference to me, really."

"Hmm... I don’t suppose threatening you with the police would work?"

"Ahahaha! This is my turf, you fool! No one can touch me here! Fuck it, you’ve chosen this for yourself!"

He blurred towards me and I had to stop Ava from intercepting him again while I just stood there.

His dagger went straight towards my arm and legs, attempting to cut them and...

Clang~

The two blades snapped and flew off to clatter against the pavement the moment they struck me, leaving the guy with two broken daggers.

Well then... I can now claim self defense, right? My turn~