Noira watched Chen Ai's back and smirked secretly while looking forward to what was coming next. She picked up the wine glass, swirled the amber liquid inside, and took a gentle sip. She thought to herself, how long has it been since she was last embraced by him?

When Chen Ai came downstairs again, he had changed into a soft cotton white shirt. He held a transparent orb in his hand, which refracted brilliant colors under sunlight. Noira tossed a shiny coin towards him, and Chen Ai caught it. After confirming that it was a silver coin, he slowly put it in his pocket.

Then, rolling his eyes and making a weird face, Chen Ai reluctantly opened his arms and said, "Sorry for the wait. Go ahead, do as you please with me." Noira revealed a toothy smile, her beautiful eyes curved like crescent moons. She flipped her fiery red hair behind her back and leaped into Chen Ai's embrace like a butterfly, bringing a fragrant breeze with her.

Chen Ai wrapped his arms around Noira tenderly. The vice leader of the heralded Herland city was so light and soft in his arms. He slowly stroked Noira's back with one hand while infusing magic into the orb with the other. A thin, water-like membrane formed around them, making them almost invisible from the outside.

This was an invisibility artifact.

Noira gently rested her face on Chen Ai's shoulder and giggled, "Are you afraid of being seen by others?" Chen Ai replied helplessly, "I don't want to be bothered by your suitors like Baron Baro, Knight Captain Laland, and several other mercenary group leaders." Noira lifted her head, her wine-red eyes close to his, "That's why I said, as long as you're willing to be my little white face, I'll protect you. If they dare to bully you, I'll make sure they end up looking for their teeth all over the ground!"

Chen Ai shrugged his shoulders and ignored Noira's joke.

Closing his eyes, a faint golden light radiated from his heart, spreading quickly to form a halo that traveled through his chest, arms, and eventually throughout his entire body. The golden light then transferred to Noira, flowing from her fair arms to her exposed back, and from her firm chest to her slender thighs.

"Ah~" After the golden light, Noira let out a lazy and comfortable sound from her nose, her entire body relaxing. A warm current flowed from her heart, nourishing her weary soul for the past half-month. Noira felt herself surrounded by a mysterious power that seemed to gradually distance her from all her unhappiness.

This was Chen Ai's unique ability as the "hero" summoned to the Roland Continent, as well as one of the reasons he was widely criticized as a hero. The "Hero's Embrace" skill consoled the affected person's body and mind, giving them new strength and courage. This ability made Chen Ai appear more like a psychologist than a hero.

Of course, the skill and its underlying meaning were developed far beyond this by Chen Ai, but at that time, it seemed incredibly impractical. Other heroes summoned to a different world either had exceptional combat talent, overpowered abilities, divine-level weapons, or even the ability to bring a goddess with them.

However, this seemingly stupid ability led to Chen Ai being abandoned on the day he was summoned. Without levels, equipment, or even money to register and accept missions at the Adventurers' Guild, Chen Ai led a life of scavenging and hunger.

One day, with a growling stomach, Chen Ai walked past the entrance of a tavern in search of leftover food. Instead, he happened upon a beautiful young woman who had drunk too much because her wealthy husband had cheated on her.

The young woman had just walked out of the tavern when she stumbled and fell from the stairs due to being intoxicated. Chen Ai, being a good Samaritan, instinctively caught her.

At the time, Chen Ai knew little about his own abilities, and this was his first chance to embrace someone since crossing over. "Since I happen to have a person in my arms, I might as well try out my skills," he thought.

Holding this mentality, Chen Ai activated the "Hero's Embrace" skill - to his surprise, the young woman was completely charmed by him the instant the skill was activated.The young woman seemed to regard Chen Ai as her hero who saved her from danger, she leaned on Chen Ai's chest, crying and telling him about her misfortunes.

The two re-entered the bar, and the young woman ordered a cocktail, leaning on Chen Ai's shoulder as she sipped her drink and recalled the past. With tears in her eyes, she seemed to return to her innocent self from years ago. She talked about how she was such a lively, lovable girl when she was young, and how she married her present husband under the influence of sweet words and promises, only for him to turn out to be a heartless man.

When the young woman became emotional and started sobbing, she leaned on Chen Ai's shoulder to cry. In front of such a beautiful woman in distress, most men would have hugged her shoulders to comfort her.

However, Chen Ai did not pity her, or rather had no time to pity her.

Chen Ai calmly listened to her tearful recollections while stuffing the last bite of his meat sauce noodles into his mouth. Then, with his cheeks stuffed like a hamster, he ordered a large plate of roasted chicken from the waiter and thoroughly enjoyed his meal.

His eating manner was so unpleasant that it attracted the attention of all the men in the bar.

They couldn't understand how this wealthy, charming young woman could be attracted to such a ragged, starving man.

But it couldn't be blamed on Chen Ai. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the first pursuit of a person is survival, the second is security, and the third is emotional well-being.

Ever since he came to this world, he had never had a decent meal. Now that he finally had the opportunity, his primary task was to satisfy his basic needs.

It was based on this ability that Chen Ai had his first satisfying meal in this world.

The discerning bar owner immediately invited Chen Ai to work at his establishment. Thus, the controversial gigolo career of the "Brave Embracer" Chen Ai officially began.

Chen Ai's gigolo job was extremely simple, and the bar owner even praised him as a natural-born talent for it.

In contrast to others, Chen Ai didn't even need to learn any seduction skills - he simply hugged his clients, healing them and sometimes even causing them to fall deeply in love with him, spending money on him extravagantly.

Chen Ai even considered renaming his ability to "The Embrace of Sister-Killer" because once a girl entered his embrace, she could only be at his mercy.

The business in the bar got better and better, and Chen Ai rapidly became a well-known top gigolo in the city, earning a considerable income.

However, with great success came a deep sense of confusion.

Was his purpose in being summoned to this world really to be a gigolo? Was he supposed to live his life relying on women's financial support?

Thinking back on the past, Chen Ai sighed.

Noira shifted in his arms, her soft hair brushing against Chen Ai's face with a faint fragrance.

He was familiar with this scent because it belonged to the red-haired girl he met during his second year as a gigolo.

At that time, Noira was not as mature as she is now.

That year, Noira was still an inexperienced teenage girl with cute short hair, coming to the bar where Chen Ai worked for fun.

Under the dim light of the bar, the young girl swayed her drink and asked Chen Ai, leaning against his shoulder, "Do you want to go on an adventure with me? It's a lot of fun."

That was the beginning of Chen Ai's journey as a true adventurer. He accepted Noira's invitation, and despite the repeated advice from his boss, he left his gigolo job and joined Noira's adventure team to start anew.

Noira guided Chen Ai step by step on his warrior path like teaching a child, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she made him who he is today.

The two had been silent for a while, simply holding each other quietly. Chen Ai stroked Noira's long hair, and the warm, tranquil light slowly washed over her body and mind.

"Chen Ai, haven't you ever thought about coming back to being an adventurer?" Noira asked softly, her voice revealing loneliness and vulnerability she never showed in front of others.Chen Ai didn't know how to answer Noira. So many things have happened during their expedition to the Demon Clan over the past few years. He was trying to come up with an excuse to avoid the question when he heard even breathing coming from his shoulder.

"Noira?" He lowered his head and whispered, only to find that Noira had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. Her long eyelashes covered her eyelids.

Noira was already incredibly beautiful, and with her enchanting red eyes closed, her whole face exuded a refreshing charm. She had been roughing it out for half a month for this mission. They had set off at dawn today and didn't arrive in Herland City until noon, a full seven hours of marching that had left her utterly exhausted. Now, under the effects of being in the "hero's embrace," her body had completely relaxed, and her overwhelming fatigue had overridden her mental faculties in an instant.

"It seems that this trip has really been hard on you," Chen Ai said softly.

He freed one of his hands, reaching under Noira's slender thighs, and carefully lifted her by the waist so as not to wake her up. Slowly, he moved to sit on the leather sofa against the wall.

Chen Ai leaned against the sofa, with Noira nestling close to his chest. Her fiery red hair lay on him like a loving caress. Sunlight streamed through the leaves, pierced the dust in the air, and fell in beams inside the shop. The cicadas seemed to have stopped their cries as well.

Chen Ai hugged Noira like that, squinting his eyes, and enjoyed the rare tranquility of the afternoon.

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The title is a very beautiful Japanese song, ぼくらの時間 (Bokura no Jikan: Our Time).