Liu looked bewildered only for a second then the apathetic look on her face returned.
"Thanks," Liu answered, avoiding my eyes.
In the end, I couldn't understand what Liu was thinking, but unlike before, I managed to continue the conversation even if it was just a few exchanges.
However, I didn't overthink it and didn't try to make some assumptions myself.
It was a small thing that seemed so typical but the old me wouldn't have been able to do it.
It was not only about my new face, but there was this feeling of confidence in the way I acted, and I could say the things that the things wanted to say at the right time, at the right place. It was nothing new, but in my past life, as I grew older, I forgot how to do it.
I was mistaken. There were indeed things that will never change, but accepting the reality of things didn't imply that a person had given up. 'Sometimes, we just need to move on and explore other alternatives.' Only that way, someone could grow as a person.
'But moving on is more difficult than it sounds, mostly when the path in front was cloudy and uncertain.'
Before, I believed I didn't need anyone to guide me or tell me what to do. Maybe, that was why
it took me forty-five years to understand a thing as simple as that.
After the small exchange with Liu, I continued to look around again, and my eyes were attracted to the group of people near the portal in the center of the plaza.
I was curious about these people since I arrived.
From what I could see, most of the people who stood within the vicinity of the portal were soldiers from the Empire.
However, five people, wearing distinct suits of armor stood out and attracted people's curiosity.
I didn't know when they had arrived here, but I knew about the existence of hunters in this world.
It didn't take me too long to connect the dots and concluded that these five people were hunters as I observed the way the normal soldiers treated them, their attire, and the fact that they were not among the guests.
Moreover, they didn't have the crest of the Holy Church or the Empire but a completely different one. The hunters' crest.
'What are they doing?' I pondered.
One of the hunters was holding some kind of white crystal stone, which was glowing, and the portal fragmented and turned into black particles that were absorbed by the stone, causing the portal to shrink in size.
After that, I immediately understood that they were trying to seal the portal, or more precisely to seal the unstable primordial particles inside of the artifact. 'It looks like it takes too much time though.' I thought.
As for the other hunters, they were using their power to block monsters from coming out since Liu used her power to block them before.
'These people are at least level 7 gift-holders?'
However, the portal was still fairly big, almost half of its original size.
'Does it normally take this long to close a portal? I might be able to close it, but right now…. No, that's not how I should act, that's not how I should think. Avoiding trouble and running away are two different things.
This was not only about me. My family and this second life were at stake.
In this world, even if I try to avoid trouble, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't encounter a dangerous situation.
There was nothing to hesitate about. I should just do what I do best.
I glanced at Liu, then I walked over to the group of hunters, keeping my back straight, my chin up, and my pace steady and confident.
It took more effort than I thought, I understood that keeping up appearances was not something easy.
It was wrong to judge someone as arrogant just because you couldn't walk or stand the way they did. After all, it required a lot of effort.
At first, the soldiers who saw me looked at me with curious eyes, but then it turned into confusion.
"What are you doing here kid? This is not a place for you to be at." An older soldier said when I got closer.
I knew what he was trying to say, but I avoided needless a discussion by ignoring him.
What I had to do didn't change.
"Hey, are you deaf?!" The soldiers shouted, then rushed and stood in front of my way.
I was within ten meters of the portal and the soldiers began to think that I was just a clueless kid who was driven by his curiosity.
As soon as I saw these soldiers, I activated my power and they were frozen in place.
My power used a lot of primordial particles, and I could never have enough of them stored inside of my body, but I theorized that only primordial authorities can withstand it.
My heart was beating fast, but my face was calm and my movement was not stiff.
I continued to step forward, and each step I took brought me close to the portal.
The soldiers couldn't say anything or do anything, and they just stood there frozen.
Seeing this, the hunters were also alerted, but as soon as they were within the range of my power, they stopped moving.
They didn't even have the chance to speak, and I was not there to talk with them or exchange some greetings.
"I am not here to discuss with you. I am here to close this portal to make sure that nothing else goes wrong," I said with a calm voice, my eyes focused on the portal.
Immediately after that, the portal turned into piles of black rock which fell to the ground.
Then these fragments turned white like the crystal that one of the hunters was holding.
'This is how it should be.'
After that, I said nothing more and turned around then returned to where I came from.
I decided that it was time for me to see how my mother was doing, and talk to my father about everything that had happened.
'Including that maid...'