‘Elias would be a real psychopath if he were to break up with me today.’

I looked genuinely happy as I handed him the unattractive Ring of Red Thread. I even leaned on him while holding his hand. The problem was that he was like an impenetrable fortress. I moved my hand to try to lock fingers with him, but he remained frozen, clearly trying to avoid doing that with me.

‘If you're going to act like this, why did you lock hands with me yesterday? You’re the one who grabbed my hand first.’

I wasn't able to sleep, and it seemed that the same went for him.

I was sure that he hadn't been able to accept the fact that we had become a couple without him realizing it. I could see it from his exhausted eyes. He couldn’t decide whether to give up on Jo Hye-Jin or break the heart of innocent Lee Ki-Yeon by telling her the truth.

Based on what he was doing at the moment, I could tell that he was determined to rip my heart to pieces.

‘Evil bastard.’

He was so cold, and his plan was even colder.

Even going on a date today was pretty cruel.

It seemed like he was planning on getting rid of his guilt by giving me the best day of my life, but as I said, this was simply to get rid of his guilt and to comfort himself.

It’d be strange if I didn't notice him trying to wallow in self-pity just to get rid of the sense of guilt. Although he hadn’t said anything yet, he looked so serious to the point that I thought he was going to explode at any moment.

“Did something happen?” I asked.

“No, why…” Elias asked.

“It’s just that… you don’t look so good. Is it… because I was late?” I asked.

“It’s nothing like that. I don’t mind you being late at all, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Elias answered.

“Then what is it? Is… the Ring of Red Thread too cheesy? I think I got too excited, then…” I mumbled.

“No, it’s not that either," Elias said.

“Then…”

“I assure you that it’s not because of you, Miss Ki-Yeon. It’s… just…” Elias paused.

“Let’s head somewhere else for now,” I suggested.

Elias lightened up a bit. Perhaps it was because I was surprisingly quick-witted, but he was forcing himself to smile. Since this was going to be our first and last date, he was acting like he was going to give me the best day of my life, but unfortunately, I had an idea as to how he was feeling. I was simply pretending that I hadn't noticed it yet.

I was worried that his bad imagination would become a reality if I kept asking him questions. I was worried that Elias was going to break up with me, so I couldn't ask him more questions.

And just like that…

‘Our emotions started clashing.’

Of course, it wouldn't get in the way of our date. The two of us looked perfect on the outside. We were smiling while walking, and we talked about today’s plan as well as many different fun stories.

“Where are we going today?” I asked.

“How about we visit the Laves Desert Monster Museum?” Elias suggested.

“

Ah!

”

“I heard you worked as an adventurer at one point… so I thought you might be curious,” he said.

“I’m curious! Of course, I’m curious! So you remembered it!” I shouted.

“Of course.”

“You said you used to work as a receptionist at an Adventurer’s Guild. At the time, the Goddess’ Mirror wasn’t very common, and I had to imagine many things while reading dungeon logs.

"I’m talking about the stories of first-class adventurers as well as their vivid descriptions of monsters. Those descriptions are so clear that it made my skin crawl. They also talked about unimaginable quests,” I described.

“...”

“As I said, I lived a pretty serious life as an adventurer, but reaching Rare was my limit…” I added.

“You don’t seem that way…” Elias commented.

“If I had become a priest, I would have received better treatment, but I didn’t want to use Elune’s power for myself…” I told him.

“

Ah

… I see. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“It’s fine. It’s all in the past. Anyway, let’s get going,” I interrupted him.

“Okay.”

I pulled on Elias' arn, and the two of us walked into the Laves Monster Museum.

As soon as we entered, I immediately thought,

‘This place is nice. No wonder the entrance fee is so expensive.’

“

Wow…

”

“It’s not bad,” Elias said.

“It’s better than that. It’s like I'm in the middle of the desert. They must have employed a skilled taxidermy mage because the monsters look so lifelike. See that over there? Isn’t that an infamous desert scorpion? I know only mages who are at least Epic can inflict damage on its shell. It even has three tails,” I explained.

“It’s written that it has a uniquely aggressive nature. The one on display right now must’ve been the leader of a group of scorpions. I remember actual desert scorpions being smaller than this…” Elias pointed out.

“You must’ve… seen one in person before,” I said.

“I remember it was relatively recent… about forty years ago,” Elias answered.

“

Pfft!

” I giggled.

“What? Did I…”

“No—

Pfft!

It's just strange because you said it was relatively recent, but it was actually forty years ago. I wasn’t even born forty years ago. I guess we are indeed of two different races,” I informed him.

“

Ha… haha…

right,” Elias said.

“Well, as long as we like each other, does that really matter?” I asked.

“...”

“Don’t you agree with me, Mr. Elias? I heard from somewhere that the reason people meet each other is that there is a connection between their souls. It doesn’t matter who leaves first, and it doesn't matter even if we’re in two different places. As long as our souls are connected, we’ll always be together…” I added.

“...”

“...”

“I like that saying. I agree as well,” Elias said.

‘I’m sure you do. The problem is that this isn’t about you.’

“Anyway, shall we continue looking around?” I asked.

“Sure.”

‘I remember this being harder than I thought.’

“It’s incredibly big. Can high-level adventurers… really hunt something like that?” I asked.

“The Red Mercenary Guild will have a hard time hunting that. Legendary named monsters cannot be hunted through high stats alone,” Elias said.

“It’s written here. Apparently, they had to hunt it using a special method, and it is also impervious to physical attacks. They got sulfur balls at the edge of the Laves Desert and used those sulfur balls to hunt it down,” I read.

“That’s right. It sounds like they got a hint upon realizing the fact that this monster never roams toward the edge of the eastern reaches,” Elias said.

‘It’s really big.’

This place was big, but this monster was really big as well.

‘I'm sure the Red Mercenary Guild had a hard time hunting this down.’

Vanguards disliked hunting big monsters, but the rearguards were fans of massive monsters, as there was a much bigger surface area to hit. Of course, they probably disliked monsters with thick skin.

This monster had a habit of luring in lizards with their skin capable of transforming into what looked like a green cactus, a wanderer of the desert, and other monsters.

‘That looks interesting as well.’

There were monsters with unique legs that allowed them to run smoothly on the sand and monsters born with ways to hydrate themselves.

“Apparently, this monster can still be found in the Laves Desert.” I pointed out.

“That’s because the wanderers can’t get water anywhere else but from them. This Desert Water Spider is the only way for them to get water. The wanderers would treat the warriors capable of catching these Desert Water Spiders with the utmost respect,” Elias said.

“That’s understandable since water is more important than food here. The Lizardmen can withstand not drinking water for quite a while, but that’s not the case for the Desert Elves. And I don’t even need to mention the other races,” I said.

Of course, what caught my attention more than their appearance were the materials…

‘That looks useful.’

I was talking about the materials from these monsters.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve taken a close look at them.’

The words "Monster Museum" suited this place, and it was a well-organized place that looked decent both outside and inside. Actually, it was meaningless now, but I was still an alchemist, so I was kind of excited to see so many materials.

At some point, I was so focused that I forgot about Elias. Was this…

‘Hyun-Sung’s idea?’

I remembered mentioning that I wanted to see materials from unique monsters.

They were categorized to be used as training aids for alchemists. When they were preparing the displays for the museum, they had to have gotten help from alchemists.

I thought perhaps they had gotten a few people from the Republic to help them instead of from the Democratic Country.

‘I also like that there are many rest areas where the visitors can take breaks…’

There were even devices installed in lounges that allowed visitors to look around the museum while sitting down. I’d be embarrassed if it was a misunderstanding, but for some reason, I felt like he was being considerate of me.

‘Come to think of it, this isn’t the only place.’

The same went for the tour bus; the route we had taken was convenient as well.

There were also many other important things…

“About food…” Elias said.

“There's still a lot to see, so how about we take care of it here for now?” I suggested.

“That’s…”

“How about we eat in a restaurant where we can feel the atmosphere during the Laves Desert expedition?” I told him.

“Will you be okay with that?” he asked.

“I spent a lot of time on the field, you know,” I replied.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

And I also liked things like this...

I actually disliked suffering in an expedition, and I very much preferred experiencing a dungeon like this. Lee Ki-Yeon was an expert at creating a campfire. I placed a mat and sat on the sand dune. It could not be called glamping, but the environment wasn’t

that

bad.

There was no rusty or broken equipment. They also had a good assortment of items, but it was probably because they needed to have the basics. They were a restaurant, after all.

“Doesn’t it feel like we’re on a real expedition?” I asked.

“Yes… you’re right,” Elias answered.

“If you don’t mind, can you take a picture?” I requested.

“

Oh

… sure,” Elias said.

“Line me up in the center and make sure that my entire body gets captured,” I instructed him.

“Got it,” he said.

“Let’s take a picture together this time,” I suggested.

‘He really doesn’t know how to take pictures. I can already hear Hye-Jin feeling frustrated.’

“Not bad. It reminds me of the past. Don’t you think this place is a little too fancy to simply be called a museum? They must’ve expanded the interior using magic because there are so many things to do. Doesn’t this feel more like an amusement park?” I asked.

“I agree. I know the cost of building Laves was astronomical, but this… is more amazing than I thought,” Elias answered.

After we got the menu, I started playing around with the campfire, trying to show him that I was used to living out on the field.

I was busy preparing many things, and I even smiled proudly at the sight of my work.

There was a saying about how elves were close to nature, but as someone who had grown up as one of the leaders of a kingdom, Elias was surely not used to this. He was trying to do something, but he wasn’t satisfied with his work.

Elias seemed embarrassed because he looked away from me, but his actions actually improved the atmosphere. At some point, he revealed a genuine smile.

‘Accept it.’

'You have to accept it.'

“This is fun,

hehe

. I expected it… but you really aren’t used to this,” I said.

“

Hahaha

…” Elias laughed.

'You’re happy right now.'

“Try this,” I offered.

“What about you…” Elias asked.

“I already had some,” I replied.

He was smiling, and the word "happiness" was written all over his face. Of course, I knew that it was only temporary. I also knew that we were going to part ways at the end of this date, but I hoped he wouldn't wake up from this happy dream until then.

I hoped this dream would continue…

“I wish this time would never end,” I said, smiling sadly.