Village Head

As Celia dragged Rael around, he wore an uncomfortable expression on his face. This was because...

'Her breasts are glued to my arm. It's too close,' thought Rael. Being dragged around by a woman, especially a beautiful one, made him feel uneasy.

"And this here is the Village Head's hut! On the other side is the Elder's abode..."

"Wait, wait! It's too fast for me!" Rael suddenly halted Celia, pulling his arm from her grasp before creating some distance between them.

Celia was stunned, seeing that Rael seemed to be afraid of her. "Rael? Come on, let me..."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"I can show you my room if you..."

This time Rael was truly speechless; he didn't know what to say anymore.

"Hehe! I was just kidding. But you didn't say no." With a playful grin, Celia turned around.

Her life in the village was extremely boring, and her only joy was going out to hunt from time to time, with approval from her father and the other Elders.

'I finally meet someone of my age, a bit older, but still, close. It's an opportunity to make friends with him. He's also kind of handsome...'

Looking back at Rael's handsome face and his well-defined muscles, Celia's heartbeat accelerated.

Besides her brother, everyone in the village was either too old or too young, making it hard for her to socialize. Right now, she saw Rael as her sun, brightening her day.

"Let's go and meet the Village Head. Theo informed him that you would come to see him."

"Huh? When?" Rael was a bit suspicious, as he didn't remember agreeing to something like this.

"Hehe. It's just a custom of ours. If the Head says you can stay, I'll bring you with me and go hunting!"

Seeing the sparkle in the young woman's eyes, Rael couldn't say no, especially because he found the reason he felt uncomfortable around Celia.

She reminded him of his late sister, Aria – cute, naive, vivid, and playful.

'If Aria were still alive, she would have loved to have a friend like Celia, I'm sure of it.' Unconsciously, Rael had a radiant smile on his face.

It was so bright that even Celia was stunned for a while, not expecting someone as serious as Rael to smile like this.

'His smile is so nice. I'd like to see it for longer.'

Her cheeks reddened as she thought of that, and she quickly shook her head before grabbing Rael's hand.

This time, she didn't use her assets to drag him along; she tugged him gently while signaling with her eyes.

"Alright, let's go." Rael allowed himself to be guided by Celia's soft hands.

-----

"Village Head! I brought Rael!" Celia's shout echoed from a distance. The Village Head was accompanied by a middle-aged man with a long bow slung behind his back.

Though Rael couldn't instantly gauge someone's level, he knew the man was at least an E Rank Lifeform. As for the Village Head...

'He's unfathomable,' thought Rael, as he watched the short man in his fifties effortlessly split a 50 x 50 centimeter rock with a needle.

Rael was impressed by the precision and control of force displayed by the Village Head. He wondered if he could reach such a level one day.

'Heh, I'll probably surpass him by miles. But for now, he's a good goal to focus on.'

"You must be the young man who was spotted lurking outside our village."

"Welcome."

Feeling embarrassed about being caught observing them, Rael didn't know what to say.

"Uncle! Don't make Rael feel bad; he's a good guy." Celia stood in front of the Village Head, pointing at Rael.

'Oh, no.' Rael wanted to stop her, but he watched the Village Head flick Celia's forehead, prompting a yelp from the young woman.

"Ahh! Stop hitting my forehead; I'm not 18 years old anymore!" With puffed cheeks, Celia seemed ready to die rather than endure another flick on her forehead.

Seeing his angry niece glaring at him, Village Head Reonald couldn't help but smile.

"As lovely as ever, huh."

"What do you mean by that? We just met this morning; why are you speaking as if you haven't seen me for years?" Celia tilted her head, looking confused.

'Pfft... She's just like Aria...' Rael hadn't realized it yet, but he was acting differently in front of Celia, genuinely enjoying her company.

"I'm honored to meet you, Village Head. My name is Rael Hamartia. As you probably know, I'm here because of the Apocalypse Games."

Seeing that there was no need to lie, as the villagers and their Head seemed to be aware of the Apocalypse Games, Rael decided to be honest.

"I know, I know..." The Village Head let out a sigh and directed a solemn glance at Rael. "I think it must be hard for you right now. But don't worry."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to overcome this matter. And who knows, maybe you can even survive these Games and emerge victoriously from this test..."

Now it was Rael's turn to be confused; he didn't understand why the Village Head was looking at him as if he were already doomed.

"I'm saying this because my people and I are originally from Ceria, but our ancestors were just like you. They came here from another world after the calamity struck, and the Apocalypse Games began."

This information stunned Rael; he couldn't have imagined something like this happening. He had always thought about Ceria's inhabitants, but this was a revelation.

"So you have the blood of another race that survived the apocalypse... But how? How could someone stay on Ceria after finishing the Apocalypse Games?"

Rael was curious about the reasons behind Reonald's ancestors' decision to stay on Ceria, but if they were seeking peace, they had clearly found it here.

"Simple. My ancestors didn't use the portal that would have taken them outside, and they chose to spend the rest of their lives here."

"As you've probably seen from my small community, there's no problem for us to survive here."

"In fact, thanks to special individuals like my brother, Celia's father, and this man, Ruoni, who's behind me, few things could threaten our existence."