What the hell kind of setting is this now…
Falson wanted to complain, but with an outsider right in front of him, he couldn't exactly expose his secrets.
He subconsciously raised his hand to touch his own face.
Just thinking that his completely average, forgettable face—the kind you'd lose in a crowd—might one day beco as beautiful or handso as the maid in front of him or the sheriff he'd just t made him unable to suppress a surge of happiness.
Falson didn't bother acknowledging the voice in his head, but Samuel in his mind kept rambling on.
"Style points, style points…"
"This is a special multiplier zone, you know?"
"While looks aren't one hundred percent tied to strength, being good-looking definitely gives you an advantage."
"Either you're handso as hell, or you're ugly as hell. The point is, you need a damn impressive face before you can have impressive strength."
"That's basic 2D world common sense."
"Want to know why you're not as strong as them?"
"Look at them. Their outfit alone costs at least two thousand yur."
"Now look at your face."
"You've already been crushed in Style Points. How are you supposed to fight like that?"
Falson felt like his head was about to explode.
Wakaranai. Wakaranai yo.
Please, just say sothing I can actually understand.
"Sir, are you satisfied with this outfit?" Maid Irina's gentle voice cut into Falson's mind as he was being harassed by Samuel.
Falson snapped back to reality almost on reflex, realizing he'd been spacing out staring at the maid for another few seconds.
"Yeah, it's great. I'm very satisfied." Falson nodded instinctively.
Things he hadn't understood before suddenly clicked into place.
Earlier, he'd wondered how Irina could pick clothes that fit his body perfectly without him ever ntioning his height or asurents.
Because she was a Law Seeker, calculating soone's dinsions at a glance probably wasn't difficult for her.
Irina gave a slight nod, her gaze naturally shifting away toward another relatively separate area deeper in the shop.
"The underwear section is over there. I'm not in a position to help you choose, so please select what you need yourself, alright?" the maid said softly.
"Ah, sure, sure." Falson nodded imdiately, walking quickly toward that area and grabbing two random pairs from the spot the maid had indicated.
Compared to shirts and pants that needed trying on, these just required knowing the general size.
He was now wearing his new clothes, with his old ones draped over his arm.
"Then, is there anything else you need?" Irina continued to ask after Falson had made his selection.
Falson thought about it briefly.
He had the clothes now; hats and walking sticks weren't necessary for the mont. His shoes were a bit dirty, but there was no need to change them daily.
"I think that's it."
"Then please co this way to settle the bill." She smiled, turned slightly, and raised a hand in a white lace glove, making a standard "please" gesture toward the counter at the center of the shop.
Falson, who had been a bit unfocused, snapped fully awake.
…
On the other side, Samuel entered the vegetable market on the other side of the street.
This market was actually quite dirty and chaotic, with murky water flowing in so places and trash randomly scattered about.
In Samuel's eyes, Liastan was already backward, and this was a hundred years before that backward nation—making it backwardness upon backwardness.
However, what caught Samuel slightly off guard was that this city had no thieves or beggars.
There were holess people, but no one begging or stealing.
It was way too "clean."
In theory, anywhere with crowds would have thieves.
Especially in an era like this—a densely populated, mixed bag of a place like this was the ideal breeding ground for pickpockets, beggars, and swindlers.
But surprisingly, none of that existed. The people of this city were unexpectedly "proud," as if they considered such acts beneath them.
This gave Samuel a faint sense of dissonance.
He smiled and blinked, activating Visual Perception.
He rarely used Visual Perception, actually—it felt like playing a ga and looking up a walkthrough.
That took the fun out of it.
But that wasn't an absolute rule. "Rarely" didn't an "never." Rules were ant to be broken, and when the mood struck, no one could stop him.
He lived pretty freely—if he didn't want to use it, he wouldn't; if he wanted to, he would.
Basically, there was no real pattern.
In Samuel's eyes, everything around him instantly lost its color, becoming dim, translucent, and slightly distorted.
The houses, the clutter, the stone bricks, and most of the pedestrians.
Only a few had vague outlines and colors.
Samuel stopped in his tracks, stood still for a second, then continued walking forward.
"Ah~ ah, so that's how it is." Samuel said lightly.
The *Lunatic's World Travel Guide* in his hand suddenly slipped free, floated up, and hovered to the side, silently following him.
But Samuel couldn't even be bothered to lift an eyelid; he paid no attention to the Travel Guide's sudden movent.
He still wore a smile on his face and kept his tone light, but the words that ca out were completely different.
"I see, I see~… What a… hateful place this is…"
He said this seemingly out of nowhere, raising his left hand gently.
"Such a boring place… really doesn't need to exist, does it~."
His raised left hand slowly reached forward, as if Samuel was trying to grab sothing.
As Samuel extended his hand, the entire noisy market suddenly fell silent, as if muted, with not a single sound remaining.
Then, he spread his five fingers slightly…
"Huh?" He let out a confused sound.
"Co to think of it, the host of this ga didn't exactly invite , did they?"
He seed to have just followed Falson in on his own.
His outstretched left hand stopped in midair, waited a few seconds, then withdrew. He clenched his right fist, tapped it against his left palm, and struck a pose of sudden realization.
"Oh right, I snuck in myself, so I can't really bla them."
The silent market instantly returned to its noisy state.
He clasped his hands together, turned around, and faced the direction of the Notice Board in the municipal square.
"Oh dear, sorry sorry, I rembered sothing unpleasant and forgot I was the outsider here."
"My apologies."
He flashed a wide grin, revealing his teeth, and gave a thumbs up.
"I don't know why you're trying to piss off, getting to destroy this ga for you."
"But since you went to all this trouble, I'm definitely going to help this ga run smoothly."
Yes, provocation.
Such obvious hints and guidance were just too stupid.
If Samuel fell for it today, tomorrow's self would definitely ruthlessly mock today's him.
Then, he resud walking, continuing forward.
He passed through the mobile street vendors selling vegetables, fruits, and cooked food, finally arriving in front of a stall selling live fish.
The vendor's mobile cart held several water tanks with a few live fish inside.
But Samuel didn't spare a single glance at the stall, not even looking at the fish in the tanks as he walked straight past.
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