Chapter 870: Settling Down

"I didn't expect it to be this beautiful," Rowena said in a voice filled with awe. "It's truly impossible for a map to give it justice."

"I know, not only is it beautiful, it's like a paradise." Julian nodded. "There's so much resources here, it's a wonder why nobody has settled down in this land."

"Perhaps they want to respect nature here and let it keep its untouched state?" Rowena wondered.

The valley was a wonderful sight for both of them. Even Hades and Cinna looked like they wanted to run around or settle down in the soft grass to rest.

Rowena's gaze flickered around the sights.

In the nearby distance, perhaps another half hour away from where they were standing right now there was a snow-capped mountain to their right. A lovely landscape enough to take her breath away.

The bottom portion did not have snow, but its heights must have been so high up that snow took place there, along with a frosty mist that covered it.

Rowena couldn't help but wonder what lay at the peak.

When she turned to the other side, there was a meadow filled with purple flowers called Cris. It was strange enough, a wonderful coincidence that those flowers were what she really liked.

"Were the flowers native here?" she couldn't help but ask aloud.

"Yes, I guess so. Hey, look over there! There's so much water and it's crystal clear." Julian called out to her and motioned to a distance. "I think you can even see fish!"

Like what he said, there was a river with clear water flowing down the valley, and if they looked further, even a waterfall where it served as its source. 

Rowena smiled at the lovely sight and sighed softly. Something about this place made her happy and at peace. "You know… I'd love to someday build a home here and live here forever."

Julian stared at Rowena's wistful expression and said. "Why wait?"

"H-huh?" Rowena blinked, startled at what he just said. She thought she didn't hear him correctly at first.

Julian shrugged and turned Cinna to gesture at a nearby woods. "This place seems like it has more than enough resources to stay here. We could build a cabin here and live a peaceful life if you'd like?"

"What about adventuring?" Rowena tilted her head. "We haven't seen enough of the world yet. We could go somewhere else, find new places that we haven't been to before? Wasn't that your dream, Julian?"

Julian chuckled and then gave her a grin. "I think I remember saying that I wanted to explore the world with someone and have adventures with them. Who's to say that we can't have an adventure here ourselves?"

Rowena looked at him and suddenly she gave it much further thought. The

y don't really have anywhere to go, so why not just settle down? 

If they wanted to leave again, that was easy enough but for the past year they had been traveling together, it was from one place to another.

"So, what do you think?" Julian asked again. Since Rowena didn't answer right away, he got a bit nervous. "Do you want to live here? Or do you think staying with me for the past year has been more than enough?" 

His words shocked her.

"Huh?"

Julian looked around the valley and scratched his head. "It's a wonderful place to settle down, but I'm not exactly sure if you think it's appropriate or if you're comfortable with the idea."

"Julian…"

The older boy laughed and simply grinned at her. "And even without me, you'll be fine, right? I taught you well. You even saved my back a couple of times." 

"Maybe far too many to mention."

"Right. I may have overstepped when I said we could live here together. The important thing is that you found a place where you want to be, right? It's about what you want that matters." 

Rowena presumed that he must have thought that she was ready to take on the world by herself. She had learned how to be more independent because of him.

If she wanted, she could. He was right, it really wasn't necessary for them to be together anymore in this journey.

Like a baby bird, Rowena could also leave the nest. 

Rowena took a deep breath, then nodded slowly.

"Yes."

"Yes to what?"

"To the first question." Rowena smiled. "Of course, I want to stay here and you know? It'd be lonely without my assistant."

"Your assistant?" Julian asked wide-eyed, an expression of shock on his own face. However, he then chuckled and caught himself. His eyes sparkled. "Aren't you my assistant?"

Rowena smiled and shrugged. "It doesn't matter who's who. We still have a lot of work to do. If we're going to build a hut anyway, the two of us will need to work together."

"Then we're partners." Julian grinned. "Partners in conning at least. And now partner carpenters. We'll need to buy some stuff in the city by the way."

"I know. Then should we go?" Rowena rubbed the back of her neck. "Materials for building a hut. That's going to take a while."

"Haven't we slept in the woods before?" Julian reminded her. "Or has all that gold we collected made you want to stay in the inns until the hut is finished?"

"I'm the first one who said I wanted to live here." Rowena stuck her tongue out. "I know how to rough it out. Isn't it wonderful to do stargazing?" &nbs

p;  

Julian looked up at the sky for a moment and smiled. Until something flashed past his vision. "Yeah, of course, it is...huh."

"Huh, what?"

"I thought I saw a star shoot past us. It's not even night yet." Julian raised a brow as they rode off towards the city. "Are there any stars during the day?"

"They're not visible during the day because of the sun. You must have been tricked with the light or something." Rowena called out to him. 

The two were unaware that a star, or rather, a god had finally managed to get an opportunity to travel back to Ashland.

His name was Raphael.