Making their way towards the town of Lingenia were three wagons.
A larger wagon which led the group was carrying three people and several bushels of wheat.
The three people were a middle aged man driving the wagon, Leon and Lily.
In order to fit the wheat, Leon and Lily were forced to sit closely to each other to the point of their shoulders touching.
Leon had no problems with it since it couldn't be helped.
Lily on the other hand was burning. All throughout this journey, she was unable to control the beating of her heart, much less calming it down.
Her face grew hotter and hotter as time goes by.
And every time the wagon shaked, their shoulders touched even more, making her even more embarrassed.
The young men driving the wagons behind them noticed how they were stuck so closely together and sent him stares of envy.
Although Lily didn't notice this, Leon noticed it but took it as them worrying about Lily who needed to endure being in such a tight space.
What took Leon's attention is the heat Lily is exerting from her shoulders.
Worried that it might be a fever due to the fatigue of yesterday's battle, Leon proceeded on asking Lily if she's fine.
"Hu-Huh! I-I'm fine."
Not convince by the stuttering Lily telling him she's fine, he took action.
"Excuse me for a little bit."
Lily, confused by his words, lowered her guard. Not knowing what about to happen would make her much more embarrassed than she ever had.
Leon brought his face closer to her's and brushed away her bangs from her forehead.
Lily, not knowing the intention of his action, started panicking and began guessing a reason for his action.
D-D-D-Does he wants to kiss me!? It's too early! My heart isn't ready yet! B-But if it's Leon then...
Lily, shaking in embarrassment, closed her eyes and raised her face so Leon could easily kiss her.
As she waited in anticipation, she felt a small thud on her forehead.
Confused, she opened her eyes slowly to find out what just happened.
What she saw is Leon's face very close to her and their forehead touching each other.
Still confused, Lily froze from being in such close proximity with Leon.
After a while, Leon separated his forehead from Lily's after completing his goal.
"You are a bit hot as expected. You should rest during the rest of the journey as much as possible. It would be bad if you catch a fever."
Lily snapped out of her daze after realising Leon's intention.
Although he was merely checking her temperature, Leon's method of doing so still causes Lily to be very self conscious.
Lily nodded her head even though she knew that the cause of her raise in temperature was not due to fever, but due to Leon himself.
Lilly sighed in disappointment after realising Leon's true intention and decided to try and calm down for the rest of this journey.
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Several hours later, after Leon's bold move on Lily which increased her heart rate through the roof, they began to see the fort walls of the city of Lingenia.
Lingenia was surrounded by tall for walls in order to defend against monster coming from Riela Forest.
In order to enter the city, travellers, merchants, etc. must show a sign of identification and their belongings inspected by the gate guards.
Leon and Lily who didn't have a sign of identification have to pay 1 silver (which is about $10) for their registration fees.
Leon hands the administrator 1 silver coin after both of them finish registering and acquire their identification card.
The identification card was a small card containing name, age, and status whether it be commoner or noble.
They then said their farewells to the people from the village as they separate, and made their way to the adventurer's guild.
Leon noticed the similarity of the buildings and atmosphere of the city to a middle age city in Europe as they walked around.
There were markets along the side of the road where they sell various things from fruits, skewers, to accessories and textiles.
However there was one difference between the people of this city and the people back in Leon's world.
"Cat ears?"
Not only cat ears, there were plenty of other type of ears including bunny ears, wolf ears, dog ears, etc.
"Is this the first time you see beastmen, Leon?"
"Yes. Are they common in this kingdom?"
"I think ever since this kingdom and the neighboring beast kingdom signed a trade agreement long ago, beastmen began flowing into the kingdom and vice versa. So it is common."
"I see."
The races present in this world were similar to the races available in Grandeur Fantasia. However he hadn't seen any elves. Leon speculated that there may be none or they were just not present in this city.
It seemed that there wasn't any distinct discrimination to beastmen by humans. However, there might still be slight problems caused by racism which Leon wanted to avoid as much as possible.
Leon then proceeded on trying to find a weapon and armor shop even before going to the Adventurer's Guild.
"If they see me with no weapon, they will get suspicious no?"
Leon said after being ask by Lily.
In truth, he needed to have a cheap weapon and armor as his excuse when they sell the <<Storm Wolf>> corpse
He immediately found a weapon and armor shop and decided to buy the cheapest one they have.
Leon managed to get a iron sword and leather armor cheaply for 5 silvers.
Although their quality was very low, Leon only needed them for its appearance.
They then went out of the weapon and armor shop and proceeded on finding the Adventurer's guild.
After asking around several times for the location of the Adventurer's Guild, they finally arrived.
It was a quite large 3 stories high building.
And as they enter, several tables were spread around the sides of a large hall, leaving spaces in the middle as way towards the counter.
Several men who must be adventurers taking a break stared at Lily.
Noticing their stares, Lily walked faster as to get nearer to Leon.
Then their stares turned into glares towards Leon.
Leon, used to men's glares while he was with Lily, ignored them and continued walking towards the counter.
One of the women attending to the counter panicked at the sight of Leon, fixed her hair and clothing then greeted Leon as he walked towards her with Lily behind him.
"We-Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild. What might be your business today?"
The lady with a short brown hair greeted them in a voice which sounds almost like a shriek.
"Hello, we would like to register as adventurers."
Leon stated his business to the fidgeting lady.
"I understand, then please fill in this form. Would you like an explanation about adventurers?"
Leon and Lily filled the form then nodded to the woman's proposal.
The content of the explanation was similar to what the village chief told Leon.
There were 6 ranks which ranks an adventurer's battle experience, skill and trust worthiness.
Newly registered adventurers start in E rank and can climb their way up as they finish quests given by the guild.
D rank were considered new adventurers.
C rank were considered experienced adventurers.
B rank were considered veteran adventurers.
A rank were considered elite adventurers.
While S rank were considered to be heroes.
Adventurers could only accept quests which were one rank above, the same, or one rank below them.
In case of failure, adventurers would not be given any guild points which was needed to rank up.
The higher the rank, the more guild points you would need to reach the next one.
In addition, you would also be fined if you fail a quest.
Extra materials gained while doing a quest could be sold to the guild.
Adventurers were also encouraged to form parties as it increased their survival rate.
These parties could be registered in a guild.
Lastly, Leon and Lily were given their adventurer card.
On the top left part of the adventurer card, there was a letter "E" which corresponded to their current rank.
"And that is it for the explanation. Are there any questions?"
Lily shaked her head while Leon asked his question.
"Is possible to sell materials not gained from a quest?"
The guild staff tilted her head in confusion but still answers him.
"Yes, it is indeed possible. Do you perhaps have anything you wish to sell to us?"
"Yes, however it is quite large. Will you be able to provide a larger space for me to put it?"
The guild staff, now clearly confused and begin suspecting him, gave him her acknowledgement.
"Very well, will you please come back in 30 minutes. I would need to get permission from the guild master. Here are your guild cards. The guild card is unique to every adventurer and is an incredibly reliable form of identification, so please do not lose them. In case you lose them and seeks to create a new guild card, please return to the guild. After proving your identity and paying 1 gold as fee, you will be able to get your guild card back. Of course even though it is new, your rank and information will be carried over so there is no need to fret."
"I understand. Then we will return in 30 minutes. Thank you very much."
"Thank you very much."
Leon and Lily walked out of the guild building and began looking around the vicinity.
There were a lot of food stalls selling various types of street foods and drinks.
Leon recognized some of them such as skewers, burgers, crepes, and cold ale.
Although their ingredients were slightly different, such as the meats were substituted by monster meat, their appearance are quite similar.
Just then, Leon noticed a presence staring at them.
Although it didn't feel malicious, it still made Leon keep his guard up.
However, a sudden sound of a stomach growling surprised him.
Knowing it was not his stomach, he turned to Lily who is hugging her stomach with her head down in embarrassment.
Amused by her reaction, Leon made a small smile while asking her to stay near a building next to them as he buys some street food.
Lily, wanting to bury herself in a hole after showing such an embarrassing side of her, nodded and walked quickly to where Leon points.
A few minutes later while Lily was waiting for Leon to come back, three burly man surround her.
They look like the most stereotypical thugs Leon could think of.
All of them had mohawk hairs that differ only by their colors.
They wore little fabric on them, thinking they could show people their burly muscles to intimidate, or a more stupid reason, to attract members of the opposite gender.
Surrounded by these thugs, Lily, who in the first place was quite a timid person, froze in fear and confusion as she never experienced such a thing.
These thugs which towered over her and leering at her while saying things like "You look hot. Are you new here?" and "Why don't you come have fun with us? Just ditch your boring boyfriend aside. Come on."
Lily, shaking in her hunter boots, was unable to even call for help.
Her shock and fear from the situation prevented her voice from coming out.
All she could do is call Leon's name in her mind to give her strength to stand up against these thugs.
Not being answered, the one who looked like the leader brought his hand towards Lily in attempt to drag her, forcing her to come with them to an unknown place.
Before reaching Lily, the thug leader felt intense pain coursing through his hands.
Hit by a sudden surge of intense pain, the thug leader shouted in pain.
In his pain and confusion, he saw a young man in front of him defending the girl.
When their eyes meet, Leon twisted his wrist further, intensifying the pain.
The other two thugs who were not feeling any pain was able to bark at Leon.
"What the hell do you think you are doing! Who are you!"
What reply them was an icy and sharp voice.
"That is my line. Don't put your dirty hands on her."
Hearing such spine chilling voice, the thugs froze in fear.
One of them managed to brave himself and asked him a question.
"W-W-Who is th-that girl to you anyway!"
Although stuttering, he was to be commended for being able to speak even under pressure from Leon's killing intent.
Leon, using his other hand, held and turns Lily's waist towards him.
Lily, surprised at his sudden action, went red all of a sudden despite the current predicament.
Leon touching her shoulder was enough to bring the blood to her face, and now, he was touching her waist.
As Lily looked up to Leon to try and find out what he was doing, a hand, which was on her waist, is now on her head, bringing it closer to his chest.
Lily froze in panic as her head become so close to Leon's chest, enough to let her hear his steady heartbeat.
"She's mine."
A cold and deeper voice reverberates, sending chills towards the thugs, but even more heat to Lily.
Glared by Leon's crimson eyes, beads of sweat fell from their foreheads.
"Now scram."
Leon pushed away the hand he twisted, making the thug leader fell on his bottom.
Being glared by the crimson colored eyes of the young man, which was enough to send fear towards grown man, they run disgracefully with tails between their legs.
Leon watched them run like dogs while still holding Lily close to his chest.
AN: Hope you enjoy the chapter! There might be another chapter later this week, but if there wasn't, the next chapter will be on Sunday. Please look forward to it. m(_ _)m