But eventually, every bottle must come to an end.
Once the wine was gone, Susia excused herself. It wasn't that she had grown tired of Li Ke; if anything, her interest in him had only deepened. Rather, the patrons who had been brawling earlier were finally leaving, and she naturally had to calculate the damages for the broken tables and chairs. As for who would foot the bill?
The loser sprawled on the floor, of course.
Li Ke and Kiri hadn't drunk an excessive amount, but they had achieved a pleasant buzz—just enough to let them forget a great deal of their troubles.
"Looks like I never stood a chance of escaping you from the very start," Kiri said, slapping Li Ke on the shoulder and asking him directly. "Tell me, brat, once you realized what your ability was, did you immediately plan on building a harem?"
"Well, obviously. Using the promise of helping girls get home just to sleep with them—that sounds incredibly ideal on paper. The problem is, even if I had the mind for it back then, I completely lacked the capability!" Li Ke ranted immediately.
Could he have beaten Tsunade or Kiri in a fight?
Could he have slapped Rias Gremory into submission? Or faced a Level 5 from Academy City head-on? What about D.Va, who was technically a professional gamer but carried the elite background of a special forces soldier?
Not to mention Nico Robin, who had spent so long surviving on the treacherous seas and yet remained completely pure, or Mai Shiranui.
The Mai Shiranui of that time wasn't like the version he met later; she was a brilliant, high-spirited heroine of her generation!
"Hahaha! So you really did have those kinds of thoughts?"
"Of course."
Li Ke took another sip of his drink, only to realize his cup had changed at some point. The bottle Susia had handed him was actually pure, unfermented grape juice.
Meanwhile, Kiri's drink had been replaced entirely with a glass of milk.
"You two have had a bit too much to drink," the tavern landlady interjected smoothly at just the right moment. Neither Kiri nor Li Ke objected, knowing they had indeed reached their limit.
If they kept drinking past this point, it would genuinely impair their judgment.
"Honestly, I don't even like alcohol," Kiri sighed, picking up her glass of milk. "But the problem is, in a place like the Lawless District, drinking is the only way to make yourself believe that tomorrow might actually be better."
Kiri took a deep breath.
"Life was inherently brutal for everyone back there. Gang wars, terrible harvests, endless miscellaneous taxes, and being constantly looked down upon by the high-and-mighty lords of Ghent... We could endure all of that. But the real tragedy is that the people of Ghent genuinely believe the Lawless District deserves to be that way."
Kiri inhaled deeply.
"Do you know what my very first thought was, Li Ke, when I saw the World Power and the abilities the system granted me?"
"What was it?"
"To take enough wealth and resources back to rebuild the Lawless District. I didn't intend to build a massive faction, because I absolutely despise those gang members, and creating a new power vacuum isn't necessarily a good thing anyway. But if I could just pave the roads properly and secure a stable water source, then even if the people of the Lawless District can't go to Ghent to live like upper-class elites, they at least wouldn't starve to death in their own homes."
Kiri's tone carried a heavy, melancholic sigh.
In the Lawless District, the root cause of all their suffering boiled down to a single fact.
It was simply too barren.
Water was scarce, the soil was infertile, there was virtually no industrial development, and they were constantly despised by the elites of Ghent—yet they genuinely relied on goods coming out of Ghent to survive.
This directly caused the citizens of Ghent and the people of the Lawless District to view each other with deep-seated hatred, despite technically being subjects of the very same nation. It wasn't a recent grudge; it had been festering for a very, very long time.
Under such conditions, the people of the Lawless District turned on each other, especially with the lords of Ghent constantly pulling the strings behind the scenes to sow discord among them.
That was why Kiri's original dream had been to work alongside her comrades to establish a foundational industry for her hometown—to at least repair the roads so that people wouldn't have to wander tirelessly just to find a drinkable source, and wouldn't resort to bloody violence over a mere mouthful of water or a bit of irrigation. They had all been driven by the desperate urge to survive and build up their homeland, yet in the end, no one survived, and no one got to build anything.
"Yeah," Li Ke replied softly. "I can tell."
None of this came as a surprise to Li Ke. Anyone could see how desperate Kiri had been to return home before, and when they unexpectedly dropped into Arad, she had been the most anxious to find a way back.
"So, I've been thinking... maybe this is all just fate. Whether it's my experiences in Ghent, or running into you."
Kiri took another sip of milk and sighed.
"Right now, I'm just lost about what the future holds. The gunners of the Lawless District don't care about tomorrow because they simply don't have one. But Li Ke... do you feel like you don't have a future either?"
Li Ke fell silent for a moment. He understood exactly how Kiri felt right now.
Her comrades were gone, she had been betrayed, and the path home was blocked.
There was nothing she could do. In the original timeline, even when the Adventurer finally opened the path to the Empyrean, it was the Adventurer who single-handedly suppressed the Kartel rebellion and pushed forward to slay the Apostle Anton—the very source of Empyrean's instability.
Kiri hadn't been able to contribute anything to that struggle. By the time she even received word of what was happening, the Kartel had already been subdued.
Given the circumstances, her only real option was to keep living in Arad with a smile on her face.
After all, she had been an optimistic girl since childhood.
Because...
If you weren't optimistic, things wouldn't change anyway.
"By the way, I remember you mentioning before that the women of the Imperial Princess Garden are incredibly rude, yet exceptionally beautiful, and that you used to clash with them?"
Li Ke raised his glass of grape juice, took a sip, and brought it up.
"That's right. To join the Imperial Princess Garden, a woman doesn't just need stunning looks; she also needs significant military merit and exceptional ability. Theoretically speaking, the most elite women in all of Empyrean are gathered there. Many are the daughters of high-ranking officials or nobles, if not high-ranking figures themselves. Even if they hold other official positions, they are still nominally part of the Imperial Princess Garden... But why are you suddenly asking about this?"
Kiri let out a soft chuckle. Even though she already had a pretty good idea of what this bastard was about to say, she still wanted to hear it come out of his own mouth.
"Naturally, I'm going to fuck them until their eyes roll back, they foam at the mouth, and they still end up weeping with gratitude toward me. After all, the Kartel is advancing like an unstoppable wave. When the time comes, I'll rescue their nation from the brink of destruction. It's only fair that they offer themselves up to me and let me do whatever I want to them, right?"
Hearing this, Kiri rolled her eyes at him first, but then she couldn't help but burst into boisterous laughter.
"Never change, Li Ke! That is exactly the kind of answer I expected from you! I'm genuinely looking forward to the day you sleep your way through the entire Imperial Princess Garden!"
Li Ke's underlying meaning was simple. Since Kiri's homeland was being oppressed and the Kartel was doing absolutely nothing constructive, he would help Kiri obliterate the Kartel the moment he was able to reach Empyrean. He would trample the pride of Ghent beneath his boots and force them to treat the people of the Lawless District as absolute equals!
Although Kiri didn't realistically believe Li Ke could pull it off, sometimes a girl didn't care about whether you actually could do it—she only cared that you were willing to try for her.
Kiri raised her glass high once more and clinked it against his.
"I'll be waiting!"
The two of them drained the rest of their drinks. Seeing that Susia had no intention of serving them any more alcohol, they paid the tab and left the tavern shoulder-to-shoulder, leaning heavily on each other.
"Must be nice..."
Watching their retreating figures, Susia rested her chin in her hand and couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. She deeply envied how Kiri and Li Ke could lean on and support one another. It was completely unlike her own situation; she was truly, utterly alone.
No, technically speaking, she wasn't entirely alone.
Recalling the young girl who had transformed from an Elf into a human, Susia took a slow sip of her red wine.
"Regrettably, you are no longer an Elf. A human life suits you much better."
As the image of that girl flashed across her mind, she couldn't hold back another heavy sigh.
"I hope you find happiness, Seria."
Her heart felt profoundly melancholic and lonely.
Meanwhile, the moment Li Ke and Kiri stepped out of the tavern, the biting cold wind instantly cleared their heads a bit. However, for Li Ke, they still had another pressing matter to attend to.
Once he walked Kiri all the way to her front door, Li Ke originally intended to leave. Although he had set out tonight with every intention of sleeping with Kiri, drinking with her had put him in a much better mood, and his raw lust had actually faded quite a bit.
However...
"What's wrong? Did a little alcohol take away your nerve?" Kiri caught Li Ke's hand, holding it close. "If you don't take a chance on me tonight, I won't let things be this easy between us in the future."
She had gathered all her courage to completely cut loose tonight. Truth be told, she really was feeling lonely and wanted to be with Li Ke. While she didn't intend to become his traditional wife, she had no intention of letting anyone else have him either.
Maintaining this kind of close relationship with Li Ke was exactly what she wanted.
She wasn't cut out for a domestic, stay-at-home life. She only knew how to manufacture firearms and engineer explosions. Making clothes for children or cooking meals were things she simply couldn't do.
Besides, she wasn't a little girl anymore; she didn't have any lingering illusions about a traditional family life.
She craved adventure and excitement!
Of course...
Kiri looked at Li Ke's face, and a sudden thought crossed her mind.
What if she ended up having a child with Li Ke?
If that really happened, she would have no choice but to retire from her wild lifestyle. Damn it, I was clearly the first one here! What on earth is going on with that girl named Seria and that one named Ruohua?!
Kiri's mind was a chaotic mess right now. She was being incredibly bold tonight, so without a shred of hesitation, she addressed Li Ke directly.
She understood him perfectly. This guy, who wanted to connect both emotionally and physically, would definitely assume she was just acting impulsively out of sorrow. But in reality, she only ever showed her vulnerabilities around him. She had exposed them to Li Ke entirely on purpose!
However, Li Ke's hesitant attitude—backing off out of concern for her feelings and worrying that he hadn't fully won her heart—made Kiri profoundly happy. In fact, she was immensely satisfied.
"Uh, but..."
Li Ke's instincts had previously told him not to rush. But right now, looking at Kiri's emotional and flushed face, he couldn't fathom what his intuition was playing at. She was clearly completely ready to accept him.
Then why had his intuition told him just moments ago that it wasn't the right time? Had his instincts failed him, or were women's hearts really just that fickle?