Ever since she was little, Alice had never looked down on anyone without reason, or jumped to conclusions and judged people on hearsay.

And her attitude toward Lin Ge was no different.

She admitted that before the gathering in the Imperial Capital, the rumors and information she’d collected had given her a pretty poor first impression of Lin Ge.

But she’d still decided to reserve her final judgment until after they met in person.

In this day and age, it was all too common for people to spread negative rumors about others to further their own secret agendas.

What if Lin Ge had simply been framed?

If that were the case, Alice would still be willing to marry him, albeit reluctantly.

Worst case, she’d just have one more freeloader to feed at home.

But then they finally met in person… He was a spoiled rich kid, with no ambition, who spouted outrageous nonsense without regard for the situation… Everything was exactly as the rumors had said.

Now Alice had seen him for who he really was.

If she brought this completely useless piece of trash back to her territory—someone with no purpose beyond his good looks—

he wouldn’t help the territory develop at all. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he could ruin its future.

That was what finally convinced Alice to break off the marriage arranged by their parents.

But this man…

“If you’re just trying to stall, then admit defeat already.”

Beneath the shade of a large tree, Alice clicked her tongue in disdain and shot a sidelong glance at Lin Ge. They’d made their agreement, but he still hadn’t done a thing.

Even though he’d helped Rosetti protect the territory before, Alice wasn’t about to think too highly of him. At most, she was a little grateful.

After all, “helping” probably just meant running a few errands. What could a second-stage aura warrior possibly accomplish?

“Don’t make me out to be some villain. Give me a little longer—until I find the right person.”

With a twig between his lips, Lin Ge leaned against the tree, looking completely at ease.

He looked so relaxed and carefree that, at a glance, he didn’t seem to be lying.

“Hmph. Sure, keep talking. I want to see how you manage something even I couldn’t do.”

Even Alice, who’d lived in the city for years and was its lord, couldn’t get the residents to talk to her. She didn’t believe he could do it.

But before long—

“Found them.”

Lin Ge suddenly made his move, fixing his gaze on an elderly man and woman sitting in the shade of a tree not far away.

Alice frowned at the sight.

Her contempt for Lin Ge grew even stronger.

It was true that if you wanted to understand what the people thought and what they needed most, starting with some kind-hearted elders was the obvious choice.

But it wasn’t that simple in practice… The elderly were famous for being quick-tempered.

Say even one thing the wrong way, and the fallout could be more troublesome than any disagreement with young people.

Looks like this man’s only got that much going for him.

Just as Alice was thinking that, Lin Ge approached the old woman beneath the tree with a harmless, fresh-faced smile.

“Excuse me, miss, do you know the way to the fish market?”

“Miss?! Young man, are you talking to me?”

At Lin Ge’s words, the old woman stirred from her light doze in the rocking chair, where she’d been enjoying the breeze from the old man’s fan.

Women love being complimented on their looks, no matter how old they are.

The old woman sat up at once and gave Lin Ge a once-over. His plain, ordinary clothes and unassuming good looks made him exactly the kind of dream guy every girl dreamed of. One look at his face, and she was smitten.

A woman’s already pleased when someone compliments her. If the compliment comes from a handsome guy, that’s worth ten extra points—no, make it a perfect score!

“Oh, young man, don’t say that! I’m almost sixty. How could I still be a beauty?”

The old woman tried to hide her embarrassment, but her face was blooming with smiles.

“Please don’t say that. Beauty has no age limit. You really are beautiful.”

“Hehe, where’d this young man come from? He’s got such a sweet tongue. Isn’t that right, dear?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

The old woman was beaming, her kindly eyes practically dancing.

The old man beside her could only nod along, though there was a hidden dislike for Lin Ge in his eyes.

—He’s flirting with my old, faded wife, of all people. That pretty-boy’s clearly no good.

Well, let’s set aside what the old man thought for now. Lin Ge had already found his way in.

Before long, Lin Ge had become friendly with the elderly couple.

“I see. So there’s no place around here that buys fish.”

“Most people here make their living by farming, so it’s pretty rare for anyone to buy and sell things with money.”

The old woman explained, giving Lin Ge a simple account of how the people of Bota City lived.

In short, they were almost entirely self-sufficient.

Lin Ge listened with keen interest, then sighed with a worried look.

“That’s rough. To be honest, I’m a traveler. I usually make money for my trips by buying and selling things along the way. If I can’t sell these fish, I won’t have enough to keep traveling.”

“Then why don’t I buy those two fish from you? I haven’t had fish in ages.”

The old woman said with a smile, then yelled at the old man beside her:

“Hurry up and go get some money! Or do you not want to live anymore?”

“All right, all right.”

The old man couldn’t argue back, so he obediently went to get the money—even though he didn’t want to buy the fish.

The old couple’s teeth weren’t in great shape, so fish wasn’t the easiest thing for them to eat.

“You really don’t have to,” Lin Ge protested. “I can’t take your money.”

“Oh, just take it. Traveling alone isn’t easy. The two of us get by just fine on our farm, and we hardly ever need money at home anyway.”

“Well… all right, then.”

After some back and forth, Lin Ge sold all his fish to the old couple for a single copper coin.

He hadn’t come here to make money, after all. One copper coin was enough.

That wasn’t his real reason for coming here. His true purpose was…

“You’ve been so kind to me, and I don’t really have anything to repay you with… But I do have a chess set I happened to pick up while traveling. You can have it.”

Lin Ge pulled a chess set made of rough wood from the cloth bag on his back and handed it to the two old people.

The old couple stared at the mysterious object they’d never seen before, both completely bewildered. What in the world was it?

“This is a kind of realistic strategy game made for older people who have trouble getting around. It’s meant to be entertaining.”

“Here, take a look… You do it like this, then this, and then like this…”

…

“Wow, young man, this game of yours is incredible! Where did you get such a fun game? I’ve lived this long and never seen anything like it. Come on, sit down and play a couple more rounds with me!”

The old man was delighted. All his wariness and dislike of Lin Ge vanished in the face of the fascinating chess game.

The three of them were getting along wonderfully, chatting away. The old couple even wanted to ask Lin Ge to stay for a meal—and were so taken with him they nearly wanted to make him their adopted son…

They were having the time of their lives.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the scene was a stark contrast to all that warmth.

Watching all this, Alice was utterly dumbfounded. Her mouth twitched uncontrollably, and her jaw had practically hit the floor…

That’s it? That’s all it took?!

How the hell did he pull that off?! Was he using cheats or something?! What had all my effort been for?!

Alice scratched at her head and roared helplessly at the sky.

Alice was crushed.