Oslo was enjoying the bike ride too much—addicted, really—that he only noticed a group coming to the territory when he was already in the vicinity.
The bike screeched to a halt and was a bit surprised to see familiar faces—many of which he didn’t expect would ever be together.
For one, there was the Terran Mercenary Team (he knew from their stances) with a few unfamiliar faces, definitely Aborigines. There also seemed to be nobles, considering how everyone was riding beast carts.
What was this about? He had no idea…
Looking past them, he also saw… herds of animals?
"Broats?" he uttered, but instead of asking, he just looked at the rest of the crowd.
Finally, his blue eyes zoned in on a rare humanoid creature with red ears and tail…
’Is that a half-orc??’
A species that was relatively uncommon to see even in cities was taken home by a group who went out for a couple of weeks?
He should really stop getting surprised by the Lord and her people.
Before he could ask however, a familiar voice sounded nearby that pulled him back to the present. "Oslo?" They asked, tones filled with inquiry.
He turned to see two women with rare shades of violet and pink emerge from the crowd.
He almost lost his balance at the sight of them, really not expecting to see them any time soon.
"Cassandra? Veronica?" He asked, tone expressing his disbelief. "You guys are here?"
The two women nodded as they looked at him up and down. "Where are you going?"
"Back to Bleulle, I need to get some stuff," he shrugged and paused. "You?"
"We’re curious about a Territory," Cassandra said. Oslo looked at the direction they were heading.
He then looked at their guards again—wearing Ferrol Town crests—and an explanation finally dawned on him.
"You’re going to Altera?"
"You know it?"
Oslo smiled, immediately warming up. "Altera Village is very good. You will like it there." It was like a son proudly talking about his great ’father’.
It really surprised the two women who knew him well prior to all of this.
It was around here that Cassandra realized something and she stepped forward until she was a foot away. "Is that the territory that hired you?"
He smiled smugly and she kind of wanted to kick him.
Seeing that there were no more words exchanged, the Terrans could no longer hold their curiosity at the contraption they had been staring at for the past few minutes.
They quickly surrounded Oslo, looking very excited. "YO—Golden god," Sammy yelled, patting his back in a friendly manner. "Are the bikes finally out? I thought I’d wait longer!"
Oslo smirked. "This is Ansel’s, he just lent it to me."
Luis jumped over. "Can I try?"
"I suppose?"
Soon the Terrans crowded Oslo in a friendly manner, especially as they played with the bike, except for Gill who only watched. He was always like this of course, so no one saw the difference.
Gill had never met Oslo, as he had been hiding away studying during his short stay in Altera, but he had heard of him.
The territory’s architect.
His eyes couldn’t help but shift to Cassandra, walking over with crossed arms. She was standing at the side and watching the men play around in interest.
"How’d you know him?"
Cassandra scoffed. This must be the first time he took the initiative to talk to her after the kiss. "My ex."
The two were silent for a while until Oslo excused himself to finally go on his way. Cassandra gestured to saunter over to him.
Gill frowned, grabbing her arm. "Where are you going?"
"Seeing him off of course," she paused and stared at him, before giving out a mocking smile. "Kisses are meaningless, right? Then I should give him a goodbye kiss since we’re old flames, anyway."
He held her hand, and his face looked struggling uttering a few words. "I’m sorry," he breathed out. "And I never said it was meaningless."
Her eyes widened and she gaped at him, but she didn’t buckle easily. "You didn’t have to say it."
"I… was just a little confused and shocked at what I did," he said, heaving a deep breath. "Again: I apologize for hurting you."
Her eyes shook and she pursed her lips. "I still have to see him off though…"
Gill saw that she softened up and his shoulders immediately slumped in relief. He nodded. "I’ll go with you."
The two approached the golden-haired man as he climbed up his bike, to the utter envy of every man—Terran and aborigine alike.
Oslo’s eyebrows rose when he saw the intertwined hands of his ex and the infamous poison vampire. He hadn’t met him before, but his description fit to the tee: wavy black hair, pale skin, and acerbic temperament.
Then he looked at Cassandra, who was absolutely blooming.
Heh…
His stare made the two people feel a bit awkward, but their hands didn’t part.
Oslo was very interested, but he really needed to go. He looked at Cassandra. "Got to go," he said, "Maybe I’ll get back and you’re still there."
Cassandra blinked, surprised. "You’re coming back?" She thought he’d go back there for good and resume his philandering ways. Oslo just looked at her as if she asked a stupid question.
"Of course," he said as if it answered everything. He then said his farewells to everyone again, pedaling away, humming.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World