Chapter 170: New Journey

"Just so we’re clear, the person inside this body is an old man, okay? If anything, I’m probably around the same age as your father." Qiu Nuoya had been confessing his age while thinking that Warren would probably end up regarding his feelings for him as nothing more than a dark Chapter of his past. Yet Warren’s unexpected reaction left Qiu Nuoya completely bewildered.

"You’re you, aren’t you"

"Well, that’s true, but..."

"Then your age on the inside doesn’t matter. I fell for you because you’re Qiu Nuoya. Or is there something else you’ve been hiding from me?"

"No, there isn’t."

"Not even another secret that only Viktor knows?"

"Um... No, I don’t think there is."

"Then..." Warren reached out and gently placed a hand against Qiu Nuoya’s cheek. Before Qiu Nuoya could even wonder what he was doing, Warren’s face was suddenly right in front of him.

And then Warren put his lips on his lips.

"?!"

It happened in an instant. The kiss was so sudden and unexpected that Qiu Nuoya simply froze, unable to move.

"Now we’re completely even, me and that person."

"Huh?"

"I’m behind him when it comes to adventurer rank, but I’ve still got plenty of room to grow. I’ll definitely become a man worthy of you, so you’d better wait for me!"

For some reason, Warren suddenly seemed to have gotten over everything. He stretched and said, "Ahh, I’m hungry."

Qiu Nuoya could not understand the thought process of a teenage boy at all. Warren had been so depressed that he had locked himself in his room, so how had he suddenly managed to snap out of it!?

"Come to think of it, there’s food in the living room, right?"

"Yeah. I left some rice balls there, so go ahead and eat them."

"Got it. Thanks." With that, Warren left the room as though nothing had happened.

Qiu Nuoya was left standing there alone, still unable to comprehend what had just happened to him.

Wait... Did I just get kissed? Hold on. Was that my first kiss!? No, more importantly, why did this happen after I told him my real age!?

Qiu Nuoya’s romantic experience was so pitifully lacking that he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

His thoughts completely short-circuited. He staggered back to his own room, crawled into bed, and closed his eyes.

He knew this was nothing more than an escape from reality. This was already the second time he had resorted to running away from reality after receiving a confession from Warren.

But still... who could blame him?

He had never imagined that Warren would accept him even after Qiu Nuoya confessed everything about himself.

Qiu Nuoya had no idea what kind of expression he was supposed to make when he faced Warren tomorrow.

His experience with romance was practically nonexistent. He genuinely had no idea what he was supposed to do in a situation like this.

Starting the next day, Qiu Nuoya’s daily life returned to normal, with nothing really changed from before. The matter involving Saintess Sherria had been settled, so from now on, he could finally enjoy the carefree life he had been longing for without having to sneak around anymore.

It was exactly the kind of life Qiu Nuoya had been waiting for. There should not have been any problems.

And yet...

"Nuoya, I want to go to the Adventurer’s Guild today to sell the rest of the Imoogi materials. Can you come with me?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure."

After breakfast, Warren spoke to him as casually as ever in the living room, and Qiu Nuoya nodded.

After all, most of Warren’s belongings were stored inside Qiu Nuoya’s Magic Bag. If Warren wanted to go sell the materials, there was no way he could do it without Qiu Nuoya.

"You really need to stop making Nuoya carry your things."

"I know, I know. But I don’t have a Magic Bag, and Nuoya says he doesn’t mind, so I can’t help myself. I’d really like to have a Magic Bag too, but they’re pretty hard to find." Warren said this matter-of-factly as he slipped an arm around Qiu Nuoya’s shoulders.

Normally, that level of physical affection would not have been anything unusual. Warren had always been fairly affectionate with him.

Yet Qiu Nuoya could not hide his flustered reaction to something so trivial.

Viktor treating Warren as his mortal enemy was nothing out of the ordinary either. Qiu Nuoya had seen scenes like this countless times before.

But when Igor noticed Qiu Nuoya standing stiffly beside them, he tilted his head in confusion.

"Nuoya, is something wrong?"

"N-Nothing! Really!?"

"Is that so?" Igor still looked unconvinced. He glanced between Qiu Nuoya and Warren before saying, "Mind if I come with you?"

"Do you have something you need to do at the Adventurer’s Guild too?" Warren asked.

"Hmm... Yeah, sort of." Usually, when Qiu Nuoya and the others went to the Adventurer’s Guild, it was either to accept a request or do some shopping. However, after conquering Dungeon Castle, they currently had no requests to take on. They had also acquired a substantial amount of money, so they should have been able to take it easy for a while.

Was Igor planning to accept a new request? Or perhaps he wanted to upgrade his equipment?

"I haven’t been back to the royal capital in quite a while, so I figured I’d gather a little information."

Ah, so that’s what it was.

They had not made any plans yet for when they would set out on their next journey, but apparently Igor had already decided that a trip to the royal capital was inevitable.

If they were going to travel, gathering information was extremely important. They would need to know what kinds of monsters appeared along the way, which areas were dangerous, where they could find inns, and so on.

"Are you planning to travel to the royal capital while taking mission along the way again?"

"Hmm... We’ve got quite a bit of money right now, so I was thinking we could rent a horse-drawn carriage and take our time this time. What do you think?"