Jiuye was actually someone who hated trouble. But wherever he went, he always seemed to get himself into plenty of it. And the pink-haired woman he’d run into now? She was a huge problem. He’d thought he’d never see her again, but who could’ve guessed he’d run into her here right after coming out of the mountains? What kind of bullshit luck was that?

Jiuye was at a loss in the face of the woman’s unreasonable fussing, but there wasn’t much he could do. After all, girls were always right about these things.

He told the waitress to get back to work, then turned his attention to the pink-haired woman.

“Fine, fine, fine. Let’s say I wronged you. It’s all my fault. If I stay by your side, you’ll accuse me of doing something to you. If I keep my distance and get caught up with you again, you call me heartless, say I’m not even human. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have saved you. I’m sorry.”

Jiuye was really starting to lose patience. This woman was being completely unreasonable. Why was his luck always so damn good? He’d have to get out of this cursed place early tomorrow morning.

The woman was being unreasonable, sure, but it was also a way of venting after he’d seen her naked. Jiuye just hadn’t realized that.

She’d calmed down by now, and turned to leave. When she reached the door, she glanced back at Jiuye.

“Anyway, thank you for saving me. I hope we never run into each other again.”

With that, the woman finally left, returning to her room and shutting the door behind her.

Once the woman was gone, Jiuye let out a sigh of relief. He closed the door, then climbed into the bathtub in his room.

The next day, before it was even fully light, Jiuye hurriedly checked out of the inn and left Gran City. He really didn’t want to run into that spoiled, willful woman again.

After spending two days in Gran City, he’d be heading to the next place. Jiuye remembered that it was probably Dragon City, the most prosperous place in the surrounding area. He wondered what interesting things might happen there.

As he walked along the main road, Jiuye’s mood improved considerably now that he’d left the woman behind. Every so often, he even hummed a tune.

Two hours later, Gran City was long out of sight. Jiuye strode along, in high spirits, when he heard the sound of a carriage behind him. It must’ve come from Gran City.

Jiuye walked fast, but he couldn’t match a horse’s speed, so it didn’t take long for the carriage to catch up.

He didn’t make a point of looking at the carriage. If you loved traveling, there was nothing more fun than walking on your own two feet. Jiuye had visited countless towns and cities, and he’d reached every one of them on foot.

The carriage drew closer, pulled even with the young man, and then passed him.

Even so, Jiuye couldn’t help looking up at the people in the carriage. Among them, a familiar figure came into view.

When he saw her, Jiuye lowered his head and avoided looking at her. The person in the carriage noticed him walking slowly along the roadside, too, but she said nothing and turned her face away.

Jiuye didn’t raise his head until the carriage had turned the corner and disappeared. The cheerful look he’d had before was gone, replaced by helplessness. This road led to Dragon City, and with the woman in the carriage, she was obviously headed there too. Great. They were both going to Dragon City, which meant they could still run into each other again. At that moment, a very particular thought crossed Jiuye’s mind: maybe he should just go back to Gran City.

Heh. On second thought, maybe not.

…