VRMMO: Am I The Strongest Yet?

The village was much smaller than the Moongold town.

There were only a few houses, and there were hardly any big establishments in the entire village.

One of the few big places was the inn that they were staying in, a place that was also one of the oldest in this place.

The old man and woman that operated this inn were famous people and they provided fairly good services to the people that come there at a reasonable price.

This was a village so the prices here were not the same as the town prices or the city prices. Things were cheaper here, and they especially offered quite affordable services.

The inn that they operated was their house, a three story structure that was a fairly attractive place in this small village.

There was a place for the horses, the food here was good, they had unique magic enchantment rooms that stayed warm on cold nights, and there was also warm water here– a rare service that was not common even in the towns.

There were not many rooms so they were mostly full on business days, but, for an old acquaintance, they had made special space, and given the Miss and her companions the most special rooms on the third floor.

They only used these rooms for important guests, and she was an important guest to them right now.

"Your hair is so pretty…"

Grandma was combing Alex's hair, Alex was combing Misha's hair, and Misha was playing with Sera's feathers.

"It's actually thanks to Miss Aloha and El. He mostly takes care of them."

"I am the only one that takes care of those hairs. You are a wild animal that has no sense of responsibility when it comes to those pretty hair."

They were long, they were strong, and thanks to Miss Aloha, they were also prettier than they usually are.

"Oh? Are you two acquainted with Miss Aloha as well? She's quite famous around this village, you know?"

"Hmm? Really?"

They were going to talk for a little longer now, and since Misha had finished her nap as well, she was going to join in on their talk along with Az and Miu.

Elio was already by the fireplace with Grandpa and the two of them were spreading a blanket on the floor for the rest of them.

"You two seem to be quite close… are you two married already? Or just engaged?"

The grandpa smirked at him as he asked that with his relatively loud voice that the rest of them heard quite clearly.

"Whaaaat~? Brother Elio and Sister are married~?" She turned around to look at her big sister with a new surprised expression.

"No, silly. We are just… partners. You know, more than friends. For now." But Alex just smiled at her and turned her head around as she continued combing her pretty red hair.

She glanced at him, smirked for a moment, and shook her head as she continued with what she was doing.

"We don't really believe in the traditional engagement and marriage thing. Well, you can say that we are more than friends, perhaps something similar to a married couple.

But, no. Officially, we are just a little more than friends."

Engagement and marriage was something that did not really matter to either of them. They both understood one another, and they had been living together for years now.

Giving one another rings and doing the traditional marriage thing was still pending, but they were thinking of exploring those things as well.

His mom wanted them to do a grand wedding with all the traditional things and stuff anyway, but neither of them were ready for those things.

They were happy with their lives, and even in this world, being together was more than enough.

"Oh? Aren't you an unorthodox couple~?"

The two of them liked their thinking since the two were also somewhat like them.

They were married for years, yes, but when they were their age and were exploring the world, they were also doing various things that weren't fit for friends.

They were pretty open minded back in those days, so both of them had a lot of acquaintances outside this village.

"Tell me more about yourself."

They were done combing and braiding each other's hair and Miss Rin was here with some snacks for everyone as well. So, they all sat down before the fire and started the conversation with Elio and Alex's story.

"Well… there's not much to tell about ourselves."

There were a lot of things that they could have told them about themselves, but there really wasn't really anything from their home world that they would like to know.

They were a simple couple, so she just told them a few things about themselves, Elio added a few things and corrected a few things that she said, and then they told them about what things they had done until now in Moongold and how they were going to Kalp to meet the Viscount.

They also told them how they would be going to the Jungle of Nozama.

And both of the old ones were surprised when she mentioned that.

"You are going to the Dark Jungle? Will you be joining some expedition?"

"Nah, just us."

Alex said that casually but both the old ones got a look of shock at her carefree attitude.

"How can you say that with that carefree look when you are taking a child in that dangerous place?"

Grandma was upset, but she did not shout at them.

She just asked a question with a louder voice, and Alex answered her just as simply as she had replied to her earlier.

"We won't be putting either of them in harm's way. I know my way through that forest path."

She gave them a reliable smile… and hidden behind that smile was a deep determination to protect what belonged to her.

"We will make sure they are safe. You don't have to worry about them." And, Elio added in her word with a determined expression of his own that was much more serious than hers.

He was clearly showing how he would do anything within his power to keep his companions safe.

And, the old couple who were familiar with the kind of eyes these two young individuals had, understood their desires.

"I see."

They had roamed the world as well.

They had met people and though they did not chase strength like many of their acquaintances did, they had experience.

And their experiences told them how capable these two individuals were despite their low levels.

"Well, if they are with someone like you two, I believe they will be fine."

Granny smiled at them, and the grandpa nodded vigorously with a smile of his own.

"Enough about them. Rin, tell me about how you have been~."

The night was young.

And the stories were abundant.

Elio was meeting experienced natives who had explored the world as adventurers for the first time like this… he had many questions for them as well.

And with the flowing gray clouds in the fine night sky, they were going to see how many of these questions of one another they could satisfy in this limited time they had…