The scene at the stall was ever so typical for not only the vendor but any hungry soul that came to purchase steamed bun. Despite this, however, three individuals were currently in a world of their own.
Elly looked at Nero in surprise, she was initially going to tease him, but as she noticed his unique martial robe as his somewhat confident appearance, she couldn't help but exclaim, "You... did you actually kill a Normal Grade monster?"
Raynas was also a bit surprised, as he didn't expect someone who couldn't even defeat the initial Tyrant Slime could grow to this scale so quickly.
Nero hearing her words pushed down his feelings of initial surprise and uncertainty, as it didn't seem that she was going to make things difficult for him due to the previous money lent.
He replied with the straightest posture a man could have, and he felt the utmost pride of his current achievement, "That's right, it took me a while, but I finally managed to complete my first Normal Quest."
Raynas hearing nodded as he heard this, he spoke, "Well now, that's good, which monsters did you fight against?"
Elly also looked at Nero keenly, not wanting to miss any details. Nero smiled and replied, "They were a tricky bunch; I believe they were called Martial Apes."
"Pff!" Elly was about to burst into laughter after hearing those words, but Raynas gave her a stare causing her to hold back and reassume a graceful image.
Raynas then looked at Nero and spoke, "Oh, no wonder, though they aren't too strong, they are still at the base of a Normal Grade monster. It's still quite the feat that you manage to grow this quickly from your previous state, you have earned my respect, Nero…"
Nero felt strange hearing such praise from people other than his mother, he was a bit embarrassed, but he didn't show too much of it on his face. He replied calmly with a slightly awkward smile, "Thanks, I did my best,"
Elly looked at Nero while thinking to herself, 'He's still a bit weak, but I suppose he's worthy of his title as a pretty face...'
When Elly thought to here, she blushed slightly and shook her head as she spoke to change her thoughts, "I've been hearing a lot of rumors since the day started, about a silver-haired pretty boy that was fighting in the Lesser Plains, ranked even on that shitty list made by dummies. I didn't think it was you at first, but now that I see your equipment, I know for certain that you are that Silver Boy."
When Nero heard this, he frowned, he looked at Elly and spoke, "Hey, I have a name you know, and it's Nero, so stop calling me by that silly name."
Elly didn't like his tone, she looked at his somewhat embarrassed face and shouted, "You owe me, so I'll call you whatever I want! Silver Boy-Silver Boy-Silver Boy!"
Raynas sighed as he saw this; he knew that she had already entered that phase again. Not surprisingly, a few others heard their commotion, and naturally, only the women had reacted to it.
"Em? Silver Boy?" A mature-looking beauty said as she looked over the stall curiously, but as she saw the handsome silhouette, her eyes beamed as she jumped from what she was doing and ran over.
"Look, it's Silver Boy!" A few girls said as they started to hurry over, creating a horde that would typically be a pleasurable sight to any deemed as a man.
Nero didn't hate women, just as though women are instinctively attracted to beautiful things, so are men. His face turned red when he saw so many charging his way, especially those of a delicate kind, as he was now unable to keep his typical poker face.
The scented wind from the female horde, wafting across the nose of nearby male bystanders, causing them to feel not fear, but excitement.
Nero glared at Elly and shouted while running off, "It's all your fault! Elly, I'll remember this!"
Not even daring to waste time, Nero ran with all his might, employing his movement technique before he vanished from the town.
"You won't get away!" The mature lady shouted as she charged after him with her own technique, the others also followed along while shouting his nickname.
As the horde vanished, the men looked at the somewhat sparse village of females and sighed as some had shown looks of pity towards Nero's direction, while others showed mockery and scorn.
Elly looked at this scene in delight, but right at this moment, Raynas smashed his knuckle on her head, causing her to grasp it and cry out in pain, "Ouch!"
Elly grew angered, but as she saw Raynas glaring at her, she spoke with an embarrassed look, "B-Brother, I'm sorry, I... I only felt a little bit annoyed by the name, I hated them collectively calling him that as if he's their property."
Raynas, who was angered, soon looked at his sister in shock; he spoke with a strange expression on his face, "What? Then if he's not theirs, who does he belong to?"
Elly hearing this had a slightly red face as she lowered her head and mumbled, "H-He is my property because I bought him, and he has a pay off the debt before anything else."
Raynas hearing this felt a headache coming on, he made a deep sigh as he rubbed his sister's head, causing her to look up at him with her innocent eyes as he spoke, "Listen to me now. Elly, no one is yours because you lent them money. If you don't fix this act, then I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to send you to see my mother. Now come, let's get going, you want to join the Ranking List tonight right, then we have to leave now to get to Birgime early."
After Rayna said this, he began to walk towards the town entrance. Elly trembled as she heard those words, she bit her lips before replying as she followed him, "Fine, I'll try to be more conscious of my behavior."
Raynas shook his head as he heard this; he knew that she wouldn't change so easily and would need more time to mature much like her petite stature. He looked at her and saw that she had a slightly sour look on her face as she walked by his side, causing him to think to decide in his heart, 'I'm sorry, Elly, but it's for your own good...'
The brother-sister duo soon left the town that was now a bit lifeless due to the disappearance charming souls, but suddenly, from an obscure area, the culprit of this crime had popped up out of nowhere.
"Whew, that was close; if I didn't hide, they would probably have caught up to me by now," Nero said softly with a look of helplessness on his face, he knew many in that bunch were probably at a high level than him.
Adult Nero spoke from his mind, "You're talking like it's such a bad thing. Maybe you should let go and let nature take its course..."
Nero, hearing this snapped back in his mind, 'Hmph! Like I'd ever do that, I won't fall prey to just any woman, they have to be worth it. You better stop trying to talk me into strange things, I am a man of honor...'
Adult Nero chuckled at those words; he spoke, "Honor takes you nowhere, but I suppose you'll learn in time, a man must know when to let the beast out from the inside. You must grow up quickly and find partners. Plus, I also need to see a little entertainment, it's quite boring here..."
Nero snorted as he thought, 'Tsk! You darn strange uncle...'
Not bothering to continue conversing to 'himself,' Nero began to head towards the village chief in a hurry as he didn't want the horde to return and trap him in the town. However, right before he could reach his destination, a sound was heard, followed by a notification.
Ding!
[Congratulations! After the collective thought and passion of many, the world has bequeathed you a Title!]
[Congratulations on receiving your first Title! Titles are the unique identifiers granted onto a Digitizer by the collective will of many. Only one Title can be equipped at any given time, and they can be used to hide their real name if they choose when sending friend requests or taking part events or trials.]
When Nero heard this, his face was filled with shock, as he hurriedly looked at these stats, causing it to pop up before his eyes.
[Name: Nero Valstine]
[Title - Silver Boy]
[Tier - Novice Rank Digitizer]
....
Nero felt so angry he was about to lift his head up high and yell, but he gritted his teeth and calmed himself down by breathing in and out.
After a short while, he sighed and spoke inwardly, 'Dammit! Since it's like this then I can only try to make a better image, there is no way in hell that I am going to be called Silver Boy!'
As if he made up his mind, Nero's eyes shone in a firm ray, dashing from this area over to the village chief's abode, moving with heavy steps as he prepared for a new struggle.