Brian Carter recalled the moment he parted ways with the little cat in the magical beast forest. At the time, he thought he would never see the little cat again, so he felt a bit sad. When he left the forest and hadn’t gone far, he noticed a ball of fire element approaching him. At first, he thought someone was attacking, but he immediately sensed the familiar feeling of the little cat. Sure enough, it was the little cat.

As soon as the little cat caught up with Brian Carter, it immediately sprawled on Brian Carter’s shoulder. Since the little cat hadn’t withdrawn its flames, Brian Carter’s clothes ended up with a big burnt hole. However, Brian Carter didn’t blame the little cat. He lifted the little cat into the air and spun it around a few times. After all, this little cat was the “friend” he’d known the longest in this world.

Actually, when the little cat was separated from Brian Carter, it felt very uncomfortable walking through the magical beast forest without Brian Carter’s company. It was used to lying on Brian Carter’s shoulder, used to Brian Carter’s scent, and also to Brian Carter’s food. So after walking alone for a while, the little cat followed Brian Carter’s scent and chased after him.

Right now, Brian Carter wished he had a car. He had been walking for two days already. Although he had the stamina, it was very boring. Just as Brian Carter was thinking about how convenient a car would be, a vehicle really did appear behind him—but it was a carriage. So Brian Carter stopped and stood there, waiting for the carriage to come over.

When the people in the carriage saw Brian Carter, they were very puzzled. Who was this person? He didn’t look like a bandit—he was alone, and there were no bandit strongholds near the magical beast forest. Bandits only operated within the range of their own strongholds. It wasn’t that bandits didn’t want to set up strongholds near the magical beast forest, but there were no good locations nearby. In the forest, they would be attacked by magical beasts; outside, it was endless grassland. Without a usable stronghold, bandits couldn’t function.

Brian Carter finally waited for the carriage to arrive in front of him. He saw the guards blocking his way, and a man who seemed to be the head guard stepped out and asked, “Who are you, and why are you blocking our way?”

Seeing their formation, Brian Carter knew they thought he had some bad intentions, maybe even mistook him for a highway bandit. He quickly replied, “My name is Brian Carter, I’m a swordsman. I just returned from the outskirts of the magical beast forest and am heading back to Kayue Town. When I saw you, I thought I’d travel back together.”

The head guard looked at Brian Carter, noticed the sword he carried—there were no such swords in this world, only daggers used by thieves looked somewhat similar, but even those were much shorter than Brian Carter’s, so he assumed it was a long dagger. There was also a cat on his shoulder. (There were cats in this world too, also kept as pets, but Ethan Harris had never interacted with such pets, so Brian Carter didn’t know that while cats weren’t as common as on Earth, they did exist here.)

And since Brian Carter had just claimed to be a swordsman, the head guard suspected Brian Carter wasn’t telling the truth, and thus also doubted his intentions. He turned to ask the people inside the carriage. At that moment, a pleasant voice came from inside: “Let him travel with the group.”

From the voice, Brian Carter could tell the person inside was most likely a woman, but he didn’t know why she let him join.

The person inside the carriage didn’t really know why she let Brian Carter join either. She just felt that Brian Carter had a certain aura when she saw him—definitely not an ordinary swordsman. At first, she was also worried that Brian Carter might have ulterior motives, but her intuition told her he didn’t. With Brian Carter’s aura, it was easy to sense.

Brian Carter had no idea he gave people such a complicated impression. Right now, he was just blending in with the guards, at least he wouldn’t be bored. Brian Carter’s aura had been changing over the past year or so, partly because of the Ao Long Technique he practiced, and also because of the aura his soul emitted.

The former Ethan Harris, if not for excessive indulgence, could have been considered a handsome young man. After more than a year of Brian Carter’s care, he had changed completely. If someone who knew him before saw him now, they wouldn’t connect him with the old Ethan Harris. Even Jack Harris might doubt whether he was really Ethan Harris.

In this way, Brian Carter followed them to Kayue. Kayue Town was established because of the adventurers who went to the magical beast forest every year. It started as a small inn, then became a small village, and now it was Kayue Town. Where there’s business, there are merchants. Once it reached a certain scale, there would be tax collectors, then people to manage the place, and then all kinds of professions. The lifeblood of Kayue Town came from the magical beast forest, from the magic cores of magical beasts. There were many magic core traders here.

Brian Carter said goodbye to the caravan and went to a clothing store. What Brian Carter lacked most now was clothing; the one he was wearing was the only intact piece he had. When he entered the clothing store, the clerk immediately greeted him, “This swords... What can I get for you, sir?” The clerk originally thought Brian Carter was a swordsman, but after seeing Brian Carter’s sword, he withdrew the title.

Brian Carter didn’t pay attention to the title, just pointed at a set of swordsman’s clothes and said, “Give me five sets like this, in black. Hmm, better make it ten.” Brian Carter just thought the little cat might burn his clothes again, so to be safe, he decided to buy ten sets.

The clerk quickly took Brian Carter’s measurements and brought out ten sets of black swordsman’s clothes. This was an adventurer’s paradise, with many swordsmen taking risks here. After going to the magical beast forest, no swordsman’s clothes remained undamaged, so the store had a large stock of swordsman’s outfits.