Villain Retirement

Chapter 1188: The Prologue to A Relatively Normal Life

"Hannah, can you give this to your brother?!"

"We still haven't eaten the one you gave us, Doris!"

"Oh, just give it to your brother! He helped unclog my toilet the other day! And he also gave me some sweet turnips!"

"T-then I'll be sure to give this to him."

"You can also have one yourself, dear!"

"Thank you, Doris."

"You're very lucky to have a husband like Riley. What a beautiful man."

"Yeah… I need to go."

Somewhere, Hannah was gliding through the relatively wide and empty rural streets on her scooter. Well, perhaps gliding was not the correct word choice, as people greeted and stopped her each time they saw her—most just said hello, while some gave her all sorts of random things.

From food, flowers, blankets, and sometimes even cooking pans. They were even given a dog one time, but that one, Hannah had to refuse.

There were no buildings that were more than two stories tall at all as she rode through the street, and not even a single traffic light at all—and the cars that were parked on the side of the roads were all relatively old utes.

Utes. Because Hannah and Riley were now living in Australia.

"Hannah, have you read the book I gave you?!"

"I did, Olivia! Thank you! It was a little depressing, but thank you!"

Most of the people greeting her were old no. In fact, a majority of the people living in the town where they were staying were old.

"Oh, there she goes." Olivia, an old woman who runs the local bookstore, sighed and shook her head as she watched Hannah pass by her shop. "I swear, that woman does everything but get pregnant."

"I rarely see her husband this time of the day," another woman was there with her in front of her shop, the two of them drinking coffee outside, "It would be two years now since they moved here, right?"

"Three."

"Three?! Has it been that long already?! My god…"

"Hmm. Why do you think I'm waiting for a baby already? This town could use a baby, with everyone leaving and going missing."

"Speaking of missing, you know Mrs. Nguyen's son is missing?"

"Erik? He's probably just hanging about somewhere sticking his little dick where it doesn't belong."

"Ha, Olivia!"

"What? Don't tell me I'm not right!"

And while the town casually talked and gossiped, Hannah continued to ride her scooter, moving away from the center and traveling the less populated roads. The scenery around her was nothing but vast, green, and brown fields without end.

And soon, she turned onto a path, which led her to an even more lush and healthy piece of land filled with harvest—and there, right at the center of all the crops, was Riley.

"Riley!" Hannah bellowed as she waved at him, "Doris gave us some home-made jam again! And I bought us sandwich from Archer's!"

Riley only waved back in response, adjusting the hat he was wearing before returning to what he was doing.

"You better finish that fast! I'm gonna eat your share if you don't!" Hannah said before riding away, until she reached a slope where a very humble house rested.

It was a bungalow with a large porch at the front. Hannah parked her scooter next to a relatively worn-out ute, and then grabbed all the things that she bought and had been given to her, and brought them inside the house.

And after several minutes, Riley also arrived on an ATV, hauling several baskets of produce. Riley transferred all the baskets to the back of the ute first. And not once did he use any of his abilities—he carried them all with his bare hands.

With the task done, he wandered to the old well near the house, washing his hands in the cool water before stepping back inside.

The two have been living in Australia for three years now. Unfortunately, Riley's initial plan of taking care of animals was not possible, due to the sole fact that any and all sorts of animals were instinctively terrified of him.

And so, they had to settle for crops. And ultimately, it worked out for them.

"What time are you delivering the crops?" The two were now seated at a small table, with Hannah handing Riley his sandwich.

"7 PM, Sister."

"Riley—three years. Three years and you're still calling me 'sister'. If the people from town heard you, we'd be in deep fucking shit. Worse, they might think something Alabama is going on with us. We're already the weird Americans, don't make it worse."

"I apologize," Riley nodded, "But you do not want me to call you wife."

"Because it's disgusting," Hannah stuck out her tongue and shivered, "Just call me by my name like a normal person. And it would feel like we're pretending if you keep addressing me as 'wife' in front of them."

"But we are pretending, Hannah."

"Yes, and now we need to show ourselves together," Hannah sighed, "I'll come with you on the delivery, and then let's drop by Tyson's after? I need a drink."

"Very well, Hannah."

Surprisingly, the two were doing incredibly well. Incredibly… normal. It was almost to the point that it felt like they've always been living normal lives, away from all the cosmic and interdimensional debacles.

Hannah and Riley… they were just people of a humble town.

The two finished their sandwich, Riley made his delivery, and finally learning how to safely ride a car. And afterward, they went to a bar as Hannah suggested.

"Woah! What did we deserve to get the two love birds here? Tyson! Look! The fancy folks are here!"

"What? Is that Hannah and Riley?!"

And as soon as they entered the bar, everyone there greeted them. Hannah, however, was the only one who actually greeted them back. Riley just followed behind him without uttering a word—he nodded here and there, but he didn't talk to anyone.

Still, none of the patrons seemed to mind. In fact, they even smiled and pointed at him amusingly.

It truly felt like they belonged there—no. They did belong there now.

"Hanny. Your usual?" The bartender winked at Hannah as soon as they sat at the bar.

"Yes," Hannah snapped her fingers, "And some sparkling water for Riley."

"Got that."

A not-so-perfect, but normal life.

And normal life dictates that there should be trouble here and there.

"Hey there, sweet cheeks. Mind if I buy you a drink?

And this time, the trouble was a non-local trying to hit on Hannah.

And as soon as the usual patrons saw that, they all went silent and put their heads down—some of them, even gulping hard as the smiles on their faces were instantly wiped away.

"Shit…" The bartender's hand trembled, spilling the drink in his hand,

"...Not good."