"So, you're already married."

Moen glanced at Aluka's ring finger. Earlier, he hadn't noticed, but now he realized there was a sparkling diamond ring shining brightly on her finger.

"Yeah, we got married last night."

"Last night?"

Moen froze for a moment.

People can get married at night?

"It must be a cultural difference," Moen thought, shrugging it off.

After all, in a foreign world, he'd seen people robbing others while simultaneously searching for true love. What else couldn't happen?

"Congrats, Aluka."

"Thank you."

"By the way, spending your first day of marriage out in the wilderness, isn't that a bit unusual?" Moen asked, a little puzzled.

"I'm heading to Belland to take care of something related to my husband's work while picking up a few things along the way." Aluka pointed to the small backpack behind her.

"Work..."

Moen sized up Aluka's attire and the insignia of a sharp sword pinned to her chest:

"You're an adventurer, aren't you? Is your husband one too?"

"Yeah, but since we're newlyweds, we've decided to put our adventuring activities on hold temporarily. I went to inform the Adventurers' Association about this, to avoid them thinking we've been missing for too long and marking us as deceased. The Adventurers' Association makes quite a few of those mistakes each year."

"Ah, I see."

Moen smiled. "The first day of your new married life and you're busy with all this, that's quite a workload."

"It's not hard at all."

Aluka's cheeks flushed slightly. "These are just necessary steps to ensure a better married life."

"Ha, I see you and your husband are deeply in love."

Moen said with a chuckle, "I'm starting to get curious about your husband. To win the heart of someone as beautiful as you, he must be an extraordinary person."

"You smooth talker, I bet you've sweet-talked lots of women before." Aluka laughed, covering her mouth. "My husband is just an ordinary guy, but he does love me dearly."

"Nonsense. I don't even have a girlfriend right now." Moen sighed seriously, as if lamenting his fate.

"Too bad I didn't meet you earlier. Maybe I could've attended your wedding and gotten to know one of the bridesmaids or something."

"No way I'd let you crash my wedding," Aluka teased.

"Such cruelty..."

Aluka suddenly said, "By the way, my home is by the lake at the end of this river. Would you like to stop by for a visit? After all, you did save me from those bandits."

"No need to call me your savior. In the end, it was all thanks to you," Moen said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. If it hadn't been for Aluka's intervention, he might actually be tied up and carried off by that scar-faced bandit right now, destined to become someone's unwilling spouse.

"As for visiting your home..."

Moen hesitated.

In normal cases, he would agree without a second thought. But the couple had just gotten married. It was clearly time for them to enjoy their honeymoon phase. Intruding at this moment felt inappropriate, like being an unwelcome third wheel.

"I think I'll pass. I'll just—"

Growl—

Before Moen could finish declining, a low rumbling sound interrupted him.

"Huh, was that thunder?"

Aluka was startled and looked at the sky.

She realized that the day was bright and cloudless, with perfect weather conditions.

Perplexed, she glanced over at Moen and noticed his face glowing bright red, like a guilty child caught hiding a stash of contraband.

"You..."

"Haha..."

Moen replied with an awkward laugh.

Damn, he'd completely forgotten he hadn't had much to eat for a day and a night. Coupled with intense physical exertion, his stomach had been protesting for a while now.

"I see now."

Aluka smirked mischievously and touched her cheek, pretending to be regretful. "Well, since Mr. Moen has declined, there's nothing I can do. I can't force you. It's just a pity; I was planning to make a great feast tonight, and now I guess it’ll just be for me and my husband..."

"A feast..."

"That's right, roasted whole lamb."

Gulp. "Roasted... whole lamb..."

"Sigh, it's going to be tough for just the two of us to finish a whole roasted lamb, but oh well, that's how it is—"

"My apologies, Miss Aluka—no, Mrs. Aluka."

The temptation of roasted lamb shattered all of Moen's dignity. He clasped his hands together and begged shamelessly, "Please let me shamelessly crash your dinner!"

"Oh dear, weren't you the one who said you wouldn't come?"

"Who said that?! To taste Mrs. Aluka's cooking, even if I turn into a conspicuous third wheel tonight, I'm absolutely coming!"

"You really know how to talk."

Aluka chuckled, not intending to tease Moen any further.

"Alright then, let's go."

"Thank you, Mrs. Aluka!"

Moen was over the moon as he grabbed a random wooden stick from the ground for support and followed Aluka towards the lake at the end of the river.

---

"I love you."

---

Hm?

Moen suddenly frowned and looked around.

Strange. Just now, it sounded like someone had whispered those words to him.

"Uh... Aluka?"

"Yeah? What's the matter?"

"Did you say something?"

"Say what?"

Aluka turned her head, looking puzzled. "I didn’t say anything."

"That’s odd. Could I be so hungry that I'm starting to hallucinate?"

Moen scratched his head and shrugged it off as nothing.

The gentle breeze rustled the leaves, muffling all mysterious sounds.

---

"This is my village."

Moen followed behind Aluka as they arrived at a small fishing village nestled by the lakeside.

"Wow, it’s pretty nice."

Moen looked up and gazed around from the edge of the village. The lake's surface shimmered with crystal-clear water, and the scenery was indeed breathtaking.

He even recognized this as the Bepor Lake he'd visited with his family last year during a holiday trip.

"It's enviable to be able to live in the middle of a scenic area and see such beautiful scenery at any time."

"It’s not as grand as you make it sound."

Aluka replied with a shy smile. "No matter how beautiful the scenery is, you’d find it ordinary after seeing it every day. Besides, living by the lake comes with its own inconveniences."

"But no matter what, it must feel so refreshing for the soul."

Revived with some energy, Moen tossed away the wooden stick, placed his hands behind his head, and basked in the gentle breeze blowing from the lake. He took a moment to revel in the tranquility.

Thinking carefully, since arriving in this world, he'd constantly been on the run due to various chaos, always caught up in one issue or another. He realized he hadn’t truly relaxed even once.

Just because of that, he savored the moment all the more.

"Let’s keep going."

Noticing the time, Aluka led Moen deeper into the village.

"It’s so quiet."

Moen observed the surroundings and found that all the houses had their doors shut tight, with no signs of life anywhere.

"Everyone’s really busy right now."

Aluka explained, "It’s the season for the harvest and the peak for fishing, so almost everyone is out working. Many even sleep on the boats or rest in the fields, staying out overnight—it’s quite normal."

"Sounds exhausting."

"Yes, everything collides at this time of year. Even the children don’t get to idle. But once it’s over, there’s only joy to look forward to."

Aluka suddenly paused in front of a small courtyard. Slightly elated, she said, "Here we are."