A last meal

He returned to familiar ground.

An Kai brought Sally Bukelin to the oasis where he had completed the [Desert Crocodile] bounty last time and chose a spot beside a lake to settle down for the moment.

His brow had stayed furrowed the entire way.

Even when Sally Bukelin tried to talk to him, An Kai barely responded, a stark contrast to his earlier behavior.

This made Sally Bukelin wonder whether she had said something wrong.

Could he have heard me secretly calling him a "barbarian"?

Sitting quietly beside the lake, Sally Bukelin kept going over everything she had said, troubled by An Kai's change in attitude...

She tried to find the reason for An Kai's change in attitude.

Unfortunately, Sally Bukelin would never discover the real reason.

At that moment, An Kai's cold attitude...

Was because he was wrestling with a decision.

Should he keep Sally Bukelin alive, or kill her?

Keeping her alive meant contacting the Bounty Tower through its channels outside the city, then entering Chaos City to make the exchange. An Kai refused to do that.

Dong Lin might well be lying in wait inside Chaos City.

But killing Sally Bukelin outright had one drawback.

His profits would shrink considerably.

All he would get was Sally Bukelin's Storage Ring.

How many resources it contained was another unknown.

It could very well be worth less than the bounty the Bounty Tower had offered for Sally Bukelin...

Not far away, a newly arrived [Desert Crocodile] and a newly arrived [White Stone Giant] were fighting over access to water.

Their roars grated on An Kai's nerves...

He was already annoyed that his plans had changed. Now he couldn't even have some peace and quiet to think?!

Whoosh!

A Fireball suddenly appeared in An Kai's hand, and he hurled it straight at the spot where the [Desert Crocodile] and [White Stone Giant] were fighting!

Boom!!!

When the dust settled, a deep crater more than five meters wide had appeared, and the [Desert Crocodile] and [White Stone Giant] had vanished into it...

With that done, An Kai's brow relaxed a little. He sat back down and continued pondering his problem...

Beside him, Sally Bukelin looked like a startled rabbit after An Kai's attack.

Hugging her knees, she stared blankly toward the crater blasted out by the Fireball, not daring to say a word...

Just moments ago...

When the Fireball skimmed over her scalp, she had felt death beckoning to her and faintly heard her late father, the king, calling...

This... barbarian is so strong! Having experienced it up close, Sally Bukelin once again revised her assessment of An Kai's strength and talent...

About twenty minutes passed.

An Kai let out a long breath.

He had finally settled the matter troubling him.

Standing up, he looked at the frightened Sally Bukelin and smiled again.

Those twenty minutes had been enough for An Kai to make up his mind.

He would give Sally Bukelin one day. If he failed to find a suitable way to make the exchange with the Bounty Tower within that time...

Then he would move on to his second option and kill Sally Bukelin.

Her Storage Ring would become his spoils for this trip.

An Kai felt little unease about killing a princess.

This woman had wanted to conscript him and send him to the royal capital to risk his life. That alone was enough for him to kill her without a shred of guilt.

Now that Dong Lin had put out a wanted notice for him, continuing to travel with Sally Bukelin was no longer realistic.

An Kai's most urgent priority was to gather enough resources and head to the Mage Tower to cultivate in seclusion.

He would hide for eight or ten years, or even several decades, until that old bastard Dong Lin died.

Or he would wait until he grew stronger than that old bastard, Dong Lin, before showing himself in public again.

When a smile returned to An Kai's face, Sally Bukelin hurriedly answered with a sweet smile of her own.

In truth, the sight of An Kai frowning in thought all that time had put Sally Bukelin under immense pressure.

Having her life in someone else's hands felt awful!

She wanted to go to Chaos City, but An Kai wouldn't let her.

Sally Bukelin knew Chaos City might not be as An Kai claimed. Her brother might not have laid any ambush there at all.

But she had no choice. With no power to change her circumstances, she could only choose to believe what An Kai said...

Perhaps because of An Kai's abrupt change in attitude, the two suddenly seemed to have much less to say to each other.

An Kai was happy to enjoy the peace.

He made a token effort to think of ways to deal with the Bounty Tower outside Chaos City, while wondering how many resources Sally Bukelin's Storage Ring might contain...

Time trickled by in their silence.

After An Kai's last sweep through this oasis, only one new [Desert Crocodile] and one new [White Stone Giant] had arrived...

And An Kai had casually disposed of them while pondering his problem.

So there were no longer any magical beasts in the oasis that could disturb the two of them.

As time passed, An Kai's urge to kill Sally Bukelin grew stronger and stronger...

Sally Bukelin, meanwhile, seemed to sense that something was wrong.

Hugging her knees, she silently watched the lake.

Whenever she glanced at An Kai, her eyes were full of obedience and pleading...

The sky dimmed, and darkness fell over the oasis.

Only half a day remained before Sally Bukelin's life came to an end.

An Kai suddenly moved, openly taking some food out of his Storage Ring...

Food that made for quite a lavish meal in the desert.

He brought it over to Sally Bukelin. "Princess, you must be hungry. Eat up."

His voice was gentle, as though he truly cared about Sally Bukelin.

A little surprised, Sally Bukelin hurriedly accepted the "last meal" An Kai had prepared for her...

After more than two hundred days on the run, a delicious meal was something precious indeed.

Forgetting her dignity as a princess, she began taking great mouthfuls...

"Eat plenty. You'll want a full stomach before setting off."

"Setting off?" Sally Bukelin asked An Kai indistinctly, food still in her hand.

"We're going to Chaos City tomorrow." An Kai's expression remained unchanged as he answered gently.

"Brave Hanks, you don't have to force yourself! But... I don't know anyone or anything around here, so I'll leave all the arrangements to you!"

Sally Bukelin answered with what she believed was her sweetest smile...

Day broke the next morning.

An Kai led Sally Bukelin to a particularly scenic spot in the oasis.

I've certainly done more than enough for her!

An Kai thought there couldn't be many people like him, who even chose a beautiful place for someone to die!

As for the full day he had promised in his mind, An Kai intended to break that promise.

He wasn't going to find a way to trade with the Bounty Tower outside Chaos City anyway, so killing her sooner or later made no difference...

Just as he was about to summon a Fireball with a thought, a sudden commotion came from nearby...

An Kai tilted his head to listen and thought he heard a familiar voice...

In an instant, a vague idea formed in his mind...

Sally Bukelin looked at An Kai and thought, This barbarian is rather romantic. He even knows to bring me somewhere beautiful to cheer me up. Unfortunately, I'll never fall for you!

The thought had barely formed when a Fireball appeared in An Kai's hand. But it wasn't meant to kill Sally Bukelin; it was meant to confine her.

Three familiar Fireballs surrounded Sally Bukelin...

"Your Highness, someone's coming. Wait here for a moment!"

Within the ring of Fireballs, sweat kept dripping from Sally's body, and she couldn't help muttering, "A barbarian will always be a barbarian!"

Thanks to "Knock her out and make her your wife" for the monthly ticket.