"Elicia," he greeted her with a warm and confident smile.

He needed to radiate authority and power. He could not afford to appear weak and helpless. The one who had nothing to rely on were the first one to be betrayed and crushed.

"Ronan," she nodded in response. "You are early."

"Yeah," he replied but did not elaborate.

Elicia was dressed just like the last time. A pair of jeans, a t-shirt, boots and her rifle slinged over her shoulder.

She was cleaner with no dust soiling her clothes. The cuts on her arms were mostly healed and this surprised Ronan. It seemed that serum or whatever they had also enhanced healing or maybe they had better medicines. And just like the last time she appeared all too enticing and alluring. Just the rifle on her shoulder made Ronan nervous to think about her in that direction.

"To be honest," she said, "I was not really hoping that you would stick true to your words. After you denied me to give your contact I thought that you were only fooling around." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"I would lie if I say that I was not doubtful about you too," he responded.

Both of them burst out in small chuckles at his remark.

"What have you brought?" She questioned, her eyes settling on the bag lying next to him.

"See for yourself," he remarked.

"Water and bread," she mumbled without even moving from her position.

There was a flash of disappointment on her face. And Ronan picked it up.

"You do not look very happy," Ronan remarked, raising his eyebrows.

"I was expecting that you will bring something like the previous time or maybe their ingredients to cook it," she said, not shying away.

"That was an exquisite thing," he responded. "A rarity."

"The bread and water won’t sell?" He asked.

"It will," she replied, "but not as good as what I had eaten. They will sell at a lesser amount which would translate into lesser profits."

"The water will sell for its taste in purity but I do not think there will be a bloodbath for it," she responded. "And bread is something that is readily available though your bread looks different."

Ronan was not disappointed. In fact, he felt relieved. Bread did exist in this world too. It was as per what he wanted. He did not want to stand out too much.

"Why do you not taste it?" He suggested. "And do not fret. Consider it just an experiment. I want to take a look at the city and how my things will work here. If everything settles and goes fine, you will get better things."

"I promise you about that," he added, reassuringly.

Elicia did not reply immediately. She approached the pile of bread and bent down to pick it up. The moment her hands touched the packet her eyes widened in shock.

"This is so soft," she mumbled as she stood up.

Her mouth was gaping and she was staring at the packet. A smile broke out on Ronan’s face. It seemed his bread would not stand too ordinary that it would not sell readily.

Elicia tore open the packet of the bread and stuffed one entire bread in her mouth. Her eyes widened even more and she almost swallowed the loaf in one go.

"This is so soft," she said. "It is almost melting in my mouth. What is this even? How can bread be this good? After the rice you fed me yesterday, this is the second most delicious thing I have ever eaten."

She took out two more pieces of bread and stuffed them in her mouth enjoying the rich taste and flavour.

"Will it sell?" He asked.

"Of course," she responded. "It will sell like anything."

"Should we go?" She asked.

She was eager to return to the city. To Kovliar.

"Yes," Ronan nodded, a mixed feeling forming in his heart.

Elicia picked the baggage from the ground and though it was not very heavy, she did not even strain her muscles. Ronan noted it. She was very strong.

Following behind her, Ronan descended the stairs. The ground floor of the building was almost similar to the first floor. A wide entrance with thick sliding steel gates opened in the same spot where there was the window on the first floor.

Elicia’s motorbike was parked inside the building. Ronan looked at the motorbike from a close distance. It was similar to the mountain bikes of his home world but he could spot a few things that he did not recognize or know about.

And before Ronan could spot more similarities, Elicia pressed a button on its dashboard and the bike split apart. Well not literally.

Starting from what should have been a fuel tank in his world through the entire seat, it split into two with its panels falling sideways. It was a boot space. Ronan was genuinely shocked. It was a great feat of engineering. At least, this was what he thought. Elicia placed the stuff in the storage and closed it shut.

"Climb up," she remarked, taking her driving position.

Ronan gulped one last time before he sat behind her.

"Do you drive very fast?" He asked.

"You will know," she replied, her voice laced with amusement. "Hold tight."

Ronan barely had time to react before the motorbike jerked. The lack of sound from the machine did not give any time to prepare himself. The bike shot forward and its momentum sent Ronan leaning towards Elicia. He instinctively wrapped his hands around her waist and the bike shot forward.

The bike emerged out of the building and the speed increased even further. It was cutting through the vast wasteland and almost everything was passing in a blur for Ronan. Even so, he tried to take notice of his surroundings as much as possible.

The bike was running on a dirt path which was straight as far as he could see. And the scenery around him was as he had been expecting. A complete wasteland.

There were rocks, boulders, pebbles but no sign of vegetation. Occasionally they would encounter one or two abominations roaming the road. Elicia simply turned the handles of the bike and dodged them. They also encountered a few humans coming from the city or either going towards the city. Most of them were on bikes but a few were even on their legs.

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