54

Chapter 54 — The Red-Light District

After enjoying a meal together at a local restaurant, Ren and Lyra continued exploring the unfamiliar town hand in hand.

The sky was gradually darkening as evening approached, and the streets were becoming busier.

Neither of them paid much attention to their surroundings as they wandered through the town. They simply followed whichever street looked interesting, enjoying their time together.

Eventually, however, they unknowingly entered a rather different district.

The atmosphere immediately changed.

Dimly lit establishments lined both sides of the street, while scantily dressed men and women stood outside their entrances, openly displaying themselves and calling out to passing customers.

It was clearly the town's red-light district.

Ren glanced around before looking at Lyra.

"It seems we wandered into the wrong place. Let's leave."

"Yeah, Honey."

Lyra immediately moved closer to him as they turned around.

Unfortunately, they hadn't gone far when a woman in her twenties stepped out from one of the buildings and approached them.

"Hey, handsome," she said with a practiced smile. "How about you spend the night with me?"

"No."

Ren rejected her without hesitation.

The woman seemed surprised by his immediate response.

"Don't be so quick to say no. Your partner can join us too. We could have some fun together."

Although the woman was quite attractive, Ren barely glanced at her. Compared to Lyra's natural beauty, she couldn't even begin to compare.

Before Ren could say anything else, a similarly dressed man approached Lyra from across the street.

"Hey, beautiful. How about spending the night with me instead?" he asked with a grin. "Like she said, we don't mind sharing. We could even make it a foursome. Or I could call some friends and make it even more interesting."

Lyra's expression immediately turned cold.

Ren's expression darkened as well.

To Lyra, Ren was her first and only man. She had no intention of ever being with anyone else.

Likewise, Lyra was Ren's first woman, and he had no interest in having another woman in his life.

"I said no."

Ren's voice was calm, but there was a clear warning behind it.

The woman scoffed.

"Tsk. What a coward."

The man laughed.

"Tsk, no fun. What's wrong with enjoying life a little?"

Several others nearby joined in, laughing and throwing similar remarks at the couple.

They were particularly interested in provoking Ren and Lyra because people as exceptionally handsome and beautiful as them were rarely seen.

Many of the people working in the district were also mages. However, most were only half-baked Rank 1 mages. Seeing Ren and Lyra dressed as mages, they assumed the two were merely inexperienced travelers.

They had no idea who they were provoking.

Ren didn't bother arguing with them anymore.

He first cast an illusion spell over himself and Lyra, concealing their actual appearances.

He had no intention of leaving behind a recognizable face that could later become associated with this incident.

He didn't want unnecessary stains on his reputation.

Ren raised his hand.

"Turn to ash."

A Tier 2 spell instantly activated.

In the next moment, everyone who had continued provoking them was reduced to ash.

The two people standing directly in front of Ren and Lyra disappeared along with the others.

The spell continued outward.

The buildings lining the street were engulfed in the same destructive magic, rapidly turning into ash before collapsing completely.

Whoosh!

A powerful gust of wind swept through the street, scattering the ashes into the night air.

The previously crowded district became completely silent.

"What... happened?"

"Where did everyone go?"

"Those buildings... they disappeared!"

Several distant onlookers stared in disbelief at the empty stretch of land where the buildings had stood only moments earlier.

Ren didn't stay around to see what happened next.

He took Lyra's hand.

"Let's go."

He activated Blink continuously.

Space distorted around them, and the two disappeared.

When they reappeared, they were already several towns away.

Ren had no desire to remain nearby and deal with the inevitable investigation.

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