At dusk, hearing that the Star Flower Travel Corps had decided to leave Mengze Island, Otto brought up his original purpose again—he wanted to have a duel with Meluna.

Initially, it was because he accidentally encountered Meluna in the Holy City and noticed the aura and Sword Intent of Huanwo Village on her that Otto took note of her. When he finally had time to seek a duel, he couldn’t find her. Coincidentally, Li Ang went to the Holy City to participate in the Knight Resolution Council, leading to this unexpected detour at Mengze Island.

Now, everything is merely returning to the starting point.

"I won’t fight you."

Faced with the elder’s request for a duel, Meluna responded.

"Do you have any concerns?"

Otto wasn’t annoyed. After the truth of the Otherworld visitor was revealed, Li Ang felt Meluna was no different from Meimei in Otto’s eyes, both needing care as juniors.

"I’ll only fight you if Li Ang agrees to my demand."

"You really are... "

Li Ang, standing aside, was infuriated. Over the past two days, this woman had learned to threaten him, having improved nothing else.

At the end of the day, what did a duel between two Swordsmen have to do with him? 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

This woman had never seen interpersonal relationships clearly; she might think Li Ang would accommodate things for a friend’s request.

"What do you want him to agree to?" the Elder Sword Hero asked.

Otto’s gaze was bright with repressed fighting spirit, with eyes seemingly suggesting, "As long as it’s not an excessive demand, just agree to her." That kind of look was hard for Li Ang to bear.

Because it’s definitely an excessive demand.

"Promise to be my—"

"Hey, hey, hey, it’s nothing!"

Li Ang forcefully covered the black-haired girl’s mouth.

Meluna was originally a battle maniac; Li Ang had never thought she’d refuse a duel invitation just to, um, relive past moments with him.

"Did you agree?" Meluna’s eyes burned intensely.

Li Ang’s aura turned cold: "I told you, we can’t go back to the past."

Glancing at Otto, he said, "The one Otto-senpai is looking for is you. Whether or not you want to do it is your decision. Don’t drag me into it."

It was truly headache-inducing. When Otto came looking, he tagged along just to prevent this woman from speaking nonsense.

Of course, the members of their troupe wouldn’t just leave things alone; they were all watching from not far away, even Farina had come.

"What? No fight going on?" Zoe said disappointedly.

Dorothy pouted: "That’s not the point. That woman, absolutely, definitely cannot let her succeed."

"What does she want to do?"

"Sigh, you simple girl, just a kiss and you’re laughing foolishly, not understanding anything."

Dorothy, with arms akimbo, spoke in an expert tone: "This is something for me to worry about."

She glanced over at An and Lulu, who were whispering to each other, and said, "You little ones have no sense of crisis at all. Here, the one who first has him is bound to be me."

The White Wolf and Xiaoniu tilted their heads to look at the Golden Canary, then exchanged glances, with indescribable meanings in their eyes.

Could you keep some things to yourself when you speak? Li Ang sighed internally.

He was beginning to feel like he no longer had any semblance of a normal person in front of serious seniors like Otto.

While Meluna persisted, Otto wanted to persuade her, so the situation was at a stalemate.

Originally, the elder promised that if he could find Meluna for a good duel, he would reward with a Level 9 "Guardian Sacred Artifact." Li Ang was a little tempted.

But now with the system’s shipbuilding interface, these things are only a matter of time, and if he opened a door for Meluna, it would be endless afterward.

He didn’t want to express a position, making the situation even more stagnant.

"Ah, did I, the dragon, come at the wrong time?"

At some point, the water dragon’s pink-haired young girl incarnation appeared behind everyone. Mist still swirled around her little boots, as if she’d materialized from thick steam in the air.

Her face still had a tipsy blush, but this little thing didn’t affect her at all.

"Hearing you’ve decided to leave tomorrow, I, the dragon, came to bid farewell too."

Even though Li Ang wanted to say, "You’re coming to bid farewell now for a departure tomorrow?" he’d never felt Akuya’s timing was so perfect—another person to lighten the awkwardness a bit.

"I am here to inform you all. I, the dragon, have decided that your task is temporarily escorting Li Ang, to be exact, to escort the Sea Dragon Egg in his hand. He’ll likely face many enemies, and you all need to ensure the rebirth of the Sea Dragon grows robustly."

"Huh?"

Li Ang and Meimei voiced simultaneously.

Meimei, looking flustered, turned to Meluna: "Isn’t it enough with her? I really don’t want to share a space with this guy."

Li Ang’s long-held intention to devise a task to send Meluna away had utterly failed.

Compared to the two of them, Meluna’s cold expression broke into a smile.

"That’s easy; I won’t let anyone threaten Li Ang."

Akuya squinted at her: "Get it straight, I’m talking about protecting the Sea Dragon, not him. If he relied on you for protection, who knows how many times he’d be dead by now."

Li Ang was speechless at first, but the water dragon had rarely spoken something he liked to hear, and he nodded internally.

Complex feelings towards Meluna stemmed from Li Ang’s perspective on her too.

Honestly, from the beginning, he’d never expected any benefits from her. Their first meeting was due to his dislike for some people looking down on her and acting rashly.

Lately, though knowing she didn’t care about the buzzing of those insects and that her disheveled looks were just misleading, her hand was always on her sword hilt.

Ever approaching his door, he later speculated, might really have been because of that one line, "If you have trouble, find me," though for her, the so-called trouble wasn’t those adventurers over Tier Six causing havoc; the real trouble was hunger.