Meanwhile, Brenda and Troy had decided to tour the dad around. They couldn’t take him to the Weapons Factory yet—showing those areas required guaranteed loyalty—but it was easy to pick one aspect of Alterra and people would fall in love with it.
Even if it was just the food, just its beauty, just its culture—it was guaranteed to win hearts.
At this time, they were taking the dad on a food trip in the Marketplace. They were on a discount so everyone splurged on their meals, their tables filled with varying types of food—some of which they didn’t buy too often unless there was an occasion.
In their case, they also bought a little of everything for the old man to try.
Troy and Brenda enjoyed the old man’s varying reactions. Sometimes he would gobble the food up, while other times he would eat particularly slowly as if relishing. In every case, he absolutely loved it though.
Their relaxing time would be interrupted when, at some point, someone called on them while they ate.
"Brenda? Uncle Birion."
They turned to see a tall muscular brunette, followed by two other people.
Birion was chewing something so he wasn’t able to react immediately. On the other hand, Brenda’s eyebrows rose. "Ismus?"
Hearing the name, Troy frowned and he looked at the man guardedly.
Ismus was the name of Brenda’s ex-boyfriend! The man who abandoned her after getting scarred!
Birion hurriedly got a glass of juice to down whatever he was eating. Looking at the three youngins in alteration, he immediately looked awkward. "Ah, Ismus… he’s the one sent by the lord to handle the crossbow deal."
Although they had promised there would be a deal, giving a lot more items than the usual purchase limits, there was still the discussion of future cooperation.
Such an important matter naturally needed someone higher up. Still, this made Brenda frown. They knew that she was the most likely point-person when it came to the weapons. Did the lord send him on purpose? Or did they just not think she—a woman—would actually have a part in the deal at all?
Regardless, Ismus just looked at her in appreciation, likely for her new success. He was quite cordial, and it made Troy wanna step in between them. "You look good. It’s been a long time."
"Ah, yes, thanks."
Thanks to Miss Althea’s beauty products, her scars had shown some slight improvements. It wouldn’t disappear completely, but it was definitely a lot less hideous than before.
"We should eat together again sometimes," he said, and this naturally ruffled a certain young man’s feathers. He didn’t even see that the man was a head taller than he was and much bulkier.
How dare he ask his girlfriend out in front of him?!
Before he could say anything, Brenda held his hand, keeping him in place. She just smiled at the man, but she shook her head in the end.
Brenda leaned on the tense Troy’s shoulder as she answered. "My future husband and I are busy."
Ismus’ eyebrows rose, crossing his arms. "Oh?"
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He was the one who left her because she had a scar on her face. It was nothing personal—it was just how it was.
Ismus was also the nephew of the Glaston Lord and, during their youth, there was indeed an arrogance about him.
However, he was not a bad person at heart, otherwise Brenda wouldn’t have fallen for him at all back then.
It was tense for a couple of moments with people wondering if it’d turn into a conflict. However, Ismus’ arms loosened instead, and he shrugged. Your journey continues with freewebnovel
"I see…" was all he said, adopting a slightly more detached tone. "Well, I hope you can get us a good deal."
Brenda and the others heaved a sigh of relief, while the eavesdropping people from the next tables mostly pouted for the lack of a good show.
Troy’s table had no idea about this of course.
Anyway, Brenda only nodded at the other aborigine. "I’m sure you won’t regret partnering with Alterra."
…
On another stall, there were the twins Luke and Leo with their friends Cassie and Bumi. Emer wasn’t with them because he had a date.
Anyway, the four were playing Dance Dance Revolution (Low-tech edition), and one that worked without electricity. While a lot of places had electricity, arcade games were definitely not a priority for it.
So… they had to get a bit creative. The Xenoan Dance Dance Revolution game was created by adding a little mechanism underneath that recorded if the players stepped on the right spot, which would signal the indicator in front if done correctly. It was quite ingenious.
Of course, because there was so much going on, it ended up being quite a large game, a single area at least thrice as big as the one in Terran. They made it look cool by painting it with bright colors, and adding some reflective elements to it.
The steps were made of durable painted plywood (designed to handle a lot more strength than the one in Terran) and there were non-slip materials like rubber on the surface.
On the steps, there were directional arrows drawn, also colored quite creatively.
In front was the indicator system that used colored balls that moved in sequence, programmed depending on the song.
And finally, the most important part of the game—the music—was done by the use of simple recording and replaying methods.
They engraved patterns on metallic cylinders made of tin or copper, though this had to have a person operating it well because a person had to switch cylinders based on song choice.
The hired person had to be at least level 5 too, because those cylinders—especially when they would get changed every minute or so—were not light.
A cylinder that could play a two-minute song was around 10 cm in diameter and 20 cm in length, weighing around 3 to 4 kilograms each.
Anyway, all that trouble was definitely worth it. The DDR was easily one of the more popular games there and it would never lack an audience—especially when the players could actually move their limbs very well.
For example, the current battle was with the twins Luke and Leo1. This was especially the case with Luke, who was a surprisingly excellent dancer.
"Whoa! GO LUKE! Leo, too! You’re also amazing!"
"YEAH!"
"Luke is so showy, but Leo is getting better scores LOL!"
"Either way, they look cool!"
"Kyaa! Marry me!"
"Don’t worry Leo—you’d still win the game in the end!"
"Who cares about winning a game when you can get girls’ hearts?"
Leo rolled his eyes and didn’t really bother with showmanship. On the contrary, the big lad was doing exaggerated movements and obviously enjoyed showing off.
Luke was surprisingly a very good dancer. He was practically break-dancing after a while.
Bumi was also very fascinated with the beats and the movements, his own body moving to the music.
Then he turned to see Cassie, who seemed to be enjoying herself a lot. She looked quite impressed at the other men’s moves.
"That’s amazing, Luke! You’re a great break dancer!" she yelled, and the other girls agreed with her. "Go, Leo! Beat him in scores at least!"
"Luke! Can you move your hips more please?" another woman yelled, and various commentaries exploded as well.
"Do a backflip—Kyaaa~"
"Dance with Fable sometimes!"
"Agree!"
"I’ll pay for it, I promise!" an older woman even yelled, making Cassie laugh out loud, but she did not disagree.
Bumi honestly felt a little jealous, but he noted this moment.
Rather… he swore to learn this so-called ’breakdancing’ as well!!
Some of the first side characters we met, all the way when they were in Terran