"Gwen?!" Ryan exclaimed, feet moving forward to go closer, to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
The woman's eyes also sparkled at the sight of him. "Ryan," she said, though she couldn't move up, because her cats were resting contentedly on her lap.
Someone behind Ryan cleared his throat and only then did the woman's eyes separate from him. She blinked. "Brother Orz?"
As for the others, she didn't recognize them, so she only nodded politely.
Ryan's feet stopped a step away from Gwen and he couldn't speak for a while.
Gwen was someone they met during a mission in a foreign land. They met about a year ago, not too long before they were deployed in the mission that brought them here.
She was a tourist and they were undercover customers in the hotel. It was just that she had recognized them as soldiers—something about her brother being one—and saw that they were hunting a bad guy.
She ended up helping them fit in and helped with the success of that mission.
"No one would believe two handsome men would be in a hotel together if they weren't lovers," she had said, "Sadly, you two simply don't have the chemistry."
Ryan was a little flustered with how the gorgeous woman sat so close to him and Orz noticed this very much.
In the end, they decided to make Ryan and Gwen pretend to be a couple. (Orz had a girlfriend at this time and there was obviously chemistry between the two, anyway).
They naturally didn't disclose any information except that they needed to fit in, and the girl didn't ask. She helped them out and the mission finished without another hitch.
Ryan was a shy dude and didn't dare ask for her number. Orz low-key asked her and blatantly showed it off to Ryan. The latter then confiscated it, claiming he shouldn't stray from his girlfriend.
Orz didn't know how these two progressed but seeing how they were looking at each other, it was safe to say there was some communication after that mission.
Orz smirked as he looked at the two.
Where was the popcorn when you needed one?
The moment was quickly broken by a sudden announcement that rang in everyone's head. It was an announcement from the lord.
[Gocki Village (Lv2) has declared war on us! Prepare for war!!! ]
They all flinched and the soldiers looked at each other. Ryan pursed his lips and gestured to go with them.
Orz was quick to hold his shoulders though.
"You stay here and get the info we went here for. We'll handle the planning," Orz said, making a wave to Gwen. The others also sent their greetings and goodbyes, before leaving the two alone.
Ryan cleared his throat and looked at the woman who was still sitting relaxedly with her cats.
"When did you get here? In this village, I mean," he asked. He also wondered when she got the cats? Gwen traveled a lot, how could she have pets?
"I arrived just yesterday," she said. "My territory fell from an aborigine attack as well. The lucky thing is that I never bought real estate there, or else I'd be drowning in regret right now."
She looked at him, and he felt a little nervous. She patted the area of the chair next to her. "Come, sit with me. We have a lot to talk about."
He blushed slightly and scratched his nose, choosing the spot farthest from her to sit on.
She giggled and casually extended her arm, resting it on the backrest as she propped her chin on her knuckles.
Calming village might be poor, but it had interesting artisans who could make some furniture for the sake of their lifestyles.
"So what information do you want to find out from me?"
"Ah, about that…" Ryan began, but his eyes gravitated to her shoulder. Before, he didn't know who the 'injured' woman was, so other than the standard concern, he didn't think too much about it.
But now, knowing it was Gwen, his heart stung. "Did you get hurt a lot? How is it now?"
"It's fine. My brother taught me a lot of first aid," she said, and he failed to notice a sly smile that came after. "It's bruising a bit though, wanna see?"
He nodded, genuinely wanting to see, but when she started unbuttoning her blouse, his face turned completely red. "WAIT!
Seeing him flustered , Gwen laughed out loud, her chime-like laugh hitting the man's heart.
He listened the whole time, patiently waiting for it to die down. When it did, she looked at him with a smile.
"Anyway, what I know about the aborigines was that they were definitely not planning anything good. They were arrogant the whole time and tried taking advantage."
She said this blandly, but the events were actually quite tense.
At the time, the aborigines were very irksome as they walked along the streets with arrogant faces. They didn't do anything yet though, so people only watched them closely. After all, they had been warned about wars.
However, the aborigines walked around as if they owned the place. They gave off the feel of looking down on Calming Village, as if they had a fight in the bag.
Of course, no one was stupid to make a move just based on this. It was not easy not to say anything though, and it made things even more annoying!
However, it so happened that a young man nearby couldn't hide his expressions, and the aborigine smirked, grabbing the man's shoulder which he couldn't escape no matter how much he struggled.
Gwen went over to stop them, which just pushed her into their line of sight and poked at their interest. In fact, they outwardly assumed she'd be a slave.
They started to harass her and she slapped them in response. She was slapped back, though she avoided it just enough so she minimized the damage. Sadly, the impact still got her shoulders displaced and it was damned painful.
"It's alright now though," she said, gently patting her feline friends. "I had good assists."