Chapter 202: Leisure Journey
Kurtz looked at Serie's rare escape, and the smile on his lips deepened. But he did not move closer.
He knew that his feelings had been conveyed well. The next step was to stand quietly beside her, waiting for the turbulent emotions to subside slowly.
After an unknown amount of time, Serie finally raised her head, forcing herself to maintain her usual cold expression.
"Then let's go for a walk." She tried to keep her tone calm. "It's a good opportunity to find some new magic books. I'm basically tired of all the magic books here."
She found a seemingly perfect excuse for herself.
Kurtz nodded in understanding. "Yes. Although I've already acquired Schlacht's magic, I need new ideas to perfect it. Perhaps I can find new ideas during this trip."
He also gave a reason that sounded very reasonable.
So, on a day that seemed like any other, a crack quietly opened in the barrier in the forest.
Kurtz and Serie walked out, side by side. There was no earth-shattering magical fluctuation. They were like two ordinary travelers, setting foot on this land that was both familiar and unfamiliar to them.
This time, they had no target, no demons to hunt down, and nothing to protect.
Even Kurtz didn't bring Orger with him. After all, as long as he needed him, he could use teleportation magic to summon Orger, and there was no need to carry him around.
He changed into a gray traveler's casual attire, casually covered with a cloak, while Serie wore a white wizard robe, but unlike Kurtz, she wore a hooded cloak on the outside. The hood covered most of her face, leaving only her chin and a few wisps of falling blonde hair visible.
They moved slowly along the trade route.
Occasionally, farmlands could be seen on both sides of the road. It was late autumn, and the golden wheat fields had a mature fragrance.
Occasionally, a caravan of horse-drawn carriages carrying goods passed by. The drivers looked at the travelers curiously, but quickly looked away.
"It's changed a lot."
Serie looked at a human town in the distance, her voice tinged with emotion.
'The last time Kurtz and I could walk so leisurely on this land was two hundred years ago. '
Even then, the two of us were looking for traces of demons, which was completely different from the aimless journey we are on now.
Serie remembered that there was no such town here at that time, but it appeared here in just two hundred years.
"Well, humans' territory is always expanding," Kurtz replied, his eyes sweeping across a patch of newly reclaimed farmland. "Their vitality is very tenacious, and it is precisely this tenacity that has allowed them to survive from the mythological age to the present day."
There was only an air of objective matter-of-factness in his tone.
Of course, it was also related to his and Serie's plan to contain the demons.
However, human development would never be so smooth.
On a sunny afternoon, they walked into a town market. There was a wide variety of stalls. "This is the right feeling." Kurtz nodded with satisfaction. "This is the real flavor of another world."
In the mythological era, there were not so many dazzling things. Just these fresh fruits and vegetables, freshly baked bread, and various colorful fabrics made Kurtz exclaim that they were just right.
There was even a bard performing not far away, singing unknown ballads, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Kurtz was so moved that tears were about to fall.
On the other side, Serie's attention was attracted by a stall selling crystal jewelry.
The ornaments on the stalls were not magic crystals, but were made of special minerals that reflected light like ice crystals in the sunlight.
Kurtz noticed her gaze. He walked forward and picked up a necklace inlaid with five teardrop-shaped emeralds.
"Do you like it?" he asked in a low voice.
Serie glanced at it and feigned indifference: "Just some crude stuff. No magical energy at all." But she didn't show any intention of looking away.
Kurtz smiled, ignored her duplicity, and directly paid for the necklace.
Under the kind gaze of the old stall owner, he pulled Serie in front of him.
Her body stiffened instantly, and she subconsciously wanted to escape, but Kurtz would not allow the elf lady to escape so easily.
He carefully placed the necklace around her neck.
"Wear it." Kurtz's voice was filled with laughter. "At least it looks good."
Serie touched the emerald on the necklace, feeling the slight discomfort of wearing jewelry for the first time. She looked at Kurtz's smiling face, pursed her lips, and said nothing in the end, just letting the necklace remain on her neck.
When night fell, they did not look for an inn, but camped in a wooded area far away from human habitation.
Instead of using magic to make fire, Kurtz started a bonfire with flint bought from the town, like most ordinary travelers.
"Why not use magic?" Serie asked curiously.
She still remembered Kurtz's fire-making magic. At first, he was just worried about creating fire magic, but he accidentally created the magic of making fire.
But now that the man had learned proper fire magic, this old magic seemed redundant.
"I just want to experience how a non-magic traveler adventures."
"I feel like people like that won't live long." Serie retorted subconsciously.
Even though this world was much more peaceful than the mythological era, there were still many potential dangers.
Occasionally, there would be monsters attacking caravans, bandits ruling the mountains, and so on. If someone dared to walk on this land without some strength, Serie would just think that the other party was tired of living.
"Isn't there a special case standing before you?"
Serie paused. After a long moment, she spoke: "You're just a lucky guy."
Kurtz smiled and said nothing more, but took out the pie he bought from the market and handed it to Serie.
Serie hesitated for a moment, but still took it and ate it in small bites. It tasted better than she had imagined.
But she was a greedy elf.
"I want grilled mushroom skewers."
"Okay! I'll make it for you next time."
Hearing the man's promise, Serie narrowed her eyes and looked very happy. Even the pie in her hand tasted better.
In the silence, Serie sat by the campfire, hugging her knees, her chin resting on them, quietly watching the dancing flames.
But below her knees, she stretched out her hand, her fingertips unconsciously fiddling with the emerald necklace on her chest.
"Serie." Kurtz's voice suddenly sounded.
"Hmm?" Serie didn't raise her head, but just responded softly.
"This is good, too." Kurtz's voice was filled with an unprecedented sense of relaxation. "Don't think about anything. Let's just walk around and enjoy what we see."
Serie was silent for a moment before she softly said, "Hmm."
She raised her head, looked at the night sky, and stared at the stars. Today, she felt that she finally understood what Kurtz meant by "poetry and distance."
[End of Chapter]
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