110 110. Let Me Test Your Limits

"Haah. How can I still lose?" Veldora walked out of The Cat's Tail dejectedly. And Ryūhei responded with a smile on his face.

"Even if you can calculate with your skill, it seems my eyes can calculate faster." He said in a low voice.

He was carrying Ayaka in a princess carry right now. It seemed she was too tired as the time was already pointed at 11 PM and she fell asleep as a result.

Veldora crossed his arms and snorted.

"Humph. I won't play card games with you anymore!"

"Alright. We won't play card games anymore."

"Eh?"

"What?"

"You really won't play card games with me anymore?"

"..." Ryūhei was speechless. Then, he asked. "What do you want then?"

"At least, teach me how to play Yu★Gi★Oh!"

Both of Veldora's index fingers pointed toward one another, which signifies his shyness when asking that question. It might be fine if Ayaka did that, but this… this is a 2000 year old uncle.

Ryūhei just gave him a positive reply, unless he wanted Veldora to sulk like a kid.

Just as Ryūhei and the others arrived in front of the inn, some patrol guards wearing full plate armor approached them. They gave a salute before one of them asked a question.

"Excuse me! May I inquire where you have been?"

"Ummm, we just visited The Cat's Tail. Is there something wrong? I don't think we broke some rules." Ryūhei felt there was something going on. So he answered carefully.

Then, the guard explained.

"Ah. There are two thieves who stole the Holy Lyre from the church, a piece of cultural heritage and was played by the god of Anemo. One of the culprits is a blond-haired man." He explained while glancing at Veldora.

Instantaneously, Ryūhei and Rimuru also glanced at Veldora.

"Hey, hey. Do you think I, Veldora Tempest, would do such a boring thing? I'd rather read manga or sleep."

"Well, stealing is exactly not your style." Then, Ryūhei added inwardly, 'After all, you can get such a thing by force.'

Ryūhei turned to the guards.

"We didn't do anything and we have an alibi as well. You can try to ask people at The Cat's Tail if you don't believe us!"

The guards looked at each other and one of them went to The Cat's Tail real quick. A short moment later, the guard was back and whispered.

Then, the guard said, "I'm sorry for suspecting him. We have confirmed that all of you are always at the tavern. By the way, are you really selling the manga? Do you still have some?"

"It's understandable. It's your duty after all. As for the manga…" Ryūhei turned to the side. "Veldora, can you help me to show the manga we have?"

Then Ryūhei explained what manga he was selling. Aside from that, Ryūhei also told the guards that they could go to Liyue to visit his company.

And shortly after, Ryūhei said, "Thank you for the patronage."

The guards saluted, and one of them said,

"We're sorry for stopping you on the way. May the Anemo Archon bless you!"

And eventually, those guards went away to look for the thieves somewhere else.

After getting inside the inn, Ryūhei put Ayaka down in her own room. Of course, he didn't sleep with her because the two were not married yet. Or rather, since Ryūhei never said that he liked her, it would be seen that he craved her body by trying to sleep with her.

Ryūhei took a long glance at her after laying her down on the bed. Her sweet scent kind of tickled his nose. His evil side seemed to prompt, "Do it!" While his angel side shouted, "Begone, evil thoughts!"

It was kinda funny when he could think like that.

Well, he couldn't deny that it would be nice if he could do that. Still, he didn't want to throw away his morality just to satisfy his sexual desire.

After all, he already noticed something. Her breath didn't look like a sleeping person. On the contrary, it seemed Ayaka just pretended to sleep.

Ryūhei smirked and pinched her cheek before he went out of the room.

The moment Ryūhei was no longer in her room, Ayaka opened her eyes.

"D-did he notice me?"

Ayaka coincidentally woke up the moment the guards interrogated Ryūhei and the others. However, knowing that she was carried by him in a princess carry, she tried her best to pretend to sleep. She was embarrassed when she realized that and made her act like that spontaneously.

"How embarrassing!" Ayaka covered her reddened face with a pillow to hide her expression.

Meanwhile.

In his room, Ryūhei talked to Veldora and Rimuru about the chance to get rewarded if he defeated the dragon. Well, it would be easy for him since the dragon seemed weaker than Azhdaha. But, looking for that dragon is a bit troublesome.

Ryūhei recollected his conversation with Albedo and Jean. That dragon was a creature that used to be a protector of Mondstadt alongside the Anemo Archon. Or rather, that dragon was the Archon's familiar. Then, the Holy Lyre was stolen.

'Hmmm. Weird. Why do I feel that the Holy Lyre and the dragon are somehow connected?'

Ryūhei immediately shook his head and headed to the bed.

——————

The next morning, Ryūhei woke up at 5 AM and immediately went outside, specifically the northern side of the city after passing through the northern gate area, to warm up before exercising. Exercise in the early morning is so refreshing, causing Ryūhei to take out his wooden sword without realizing it.

Shortly after, he saw Ayaka come after seeing him go outside in the early morning. Ryūhei smirked and asked her.

"Morning. Did you sleep well last night?"

"Morning." Ayaka only responded to the good morning greeting but did not answer his question.

It seemed like she didn't want to talk about how she pretended to be asleep while being carried by Ryūhei last night.

"Do you want to join?"

After he asked that, Ayaka nodded and tried her best to follow his movements. Ryūhei starts by stretching the muscles in his body, neck, and limbs. After that, he continued with joint stretching. Maybe this seems unimportant. But for sportsmen, or rather in today's life for martial arts artists, stretching is a must.

Around an hour later, Ayaka asked him.

"Ryūhei, how did you become so powerful even without a Vision? Can you tell me the secret?"

Ryūhei rubbed his own hair after hearing that question. He couldn't say that he got all of his talents from a goddess, could he? With that in mind, Ryūhei replied,

"Uhhh, how should I explain this? I guess I was built differently and I worked very hard to become stronger. Umu, that's it." He finished his reply with a couple of nods. However, Ayaka wasn't convinced.

"I envy you sometimes." Ayaka smiled wryly.

Truth be told, Ayaka was not preternaturally gifted and would spend much time brandishing her sword. She would perform a sword technique that failed and would be swung fifty times more. Her time in training her sword art was much longer than Ryūhei. Yet, Ryūhei surpassed her without having a Vision. To put it simply, she was indeed envious of his talent.

"Why do you want to become stronger so badly? Isn't it enough for you to be a role model for the younglings of other clans? And you've earned a good reputation from the people already." Ryūhei asked her. He was curious because Ayaka already wanted to get stronger ever since Ryūhei started living at the Kamisato residence. At that time, he thought that it was because of her position. But after becoming a role model for the younger generation, she still did that. It might be understandable if she was the only descendant. But, there was Ayato as well. And he thought that Ayato was already enough due to his cunning mind.

Ayaka didn't reply to his question right away. She glanced at the sky for a while before saying, "I couldn't hide behind my mother any longer. I wasn't little Ayaka anymore. "None may deflect a swing that has been practiced a thousand times." That remark always sounded in my head. That's what my mother said when she was still alive."

Ryūhei didn't know what to say when Ayaka mentioned her mother.

He wanted to comfort her, but he was bad at such a thing.

"Alright then. First and foremost, let me test your limits!"

All of a sudden, Ryūhei used his technique to absorb all of the negative energy in the city and made it his own. After converting the negative energy into the cursed energy, a creepy aura began to manifest around him, causing the atmosphere to change instantaneously and pressuring Ayaka in front of him.

——————

AN: I just updated the tier list. There are some changes after v 4.1 released

Btw. Help me to make my server more lively. 🙂