First, take down the Sword Demon, then save Runeterra.

In less than two days, Ato felt Riven's sincerity more than once and regarded her as a true friend.

Imagine your friend trusts you completely, yet she calls you by a lie every day, sees a fake face, and doesn't even know your true identity...

I'm such an idiot!

Oh well, if the plan fails, it fails. At worst, I'll leave Noxus and keep looking for a ship in Bilgewater...

Just as Riven was about to faint from hunger, the waiter knocked on the door and pushed in a cart full of food.

Smelling the aroma of meat, Riven somehow mustered up some more energy and, without even using a knife and fork, grabbed a medium-rare steak and began to devour it.

This is only part of the meal. Because the table area is limited, there isn't enough space to put all the food on it, so the chef simply prepared half of it first and will prepare the rest when they have almost finished eating.

However, the drinks were the first thing served.

"Sir, this is a spirit that we in Fortnite source and brew ourselves," the waiter explained. "We went to the Southern Continent to learn distillation techniques and brewed it using wheat, rice, and peas as raw materials. If you don't drink often, one sip will make you drunk."

Atto poured himself a small glass of the clear liquid from the bottle; bubbles were rising from the glass.

He downed it in one gulp, and immediately a surge of heat rushed into his stomach. In addition to the familiar spiciness, there was also a faint aroma of grains, very similar to the baijiu he had drunk in his previous life.

"Not bad." Atto was satisfied with the strength of the wine and deliberately did not use the magic sword to neutralize the alcohol.

"Sir, you have a good capacity for alcohol." The waiter glanced at Riven, who was wolfing down her food. "Please enjoy your meal. I'll come up and clear the table shortly and tell the chef to continue serving you delicious food."

Ato nodded slightly, and the waiter left the room.

"You're drinking before you've even eaten?" Riven mumbled, her mouth full of meat. "I tried their hard liquor once, but I didn't like it. Beer is more to my liking."

"If you don't like it, don't drink it. You're still injured." Atto poured another glass, pondering how to bring it up with Riven.

"Aside from my bones not healing properly in a short time, I don't have any particularly serious injuries, just exhaustion. Using runes comes at a high cost; if the enemy isn't defeated after using runes, then I'll just have to wait to die."

The more empty plates there are on the table, the better Riven's mental state.

“Your view on death is surprising, more accepting than I expected.” Ato finished his glass of strong liquor.

Riven paused in her act of stuffing meat into her mouth, then swallowed all the food and took a big gulp of milk before saying sadly, "Because I'm the only one left alive..."

"Huh?" Ato was taken aback, recalling Riven's dejected expression last night. Was he about to tell him the reason?

Riven slowed down her eating pace considerably, at least enough for Atto to hear what she was saying: "I've had a lot of friends, yes, I have."

"We were on the battlefield together, and we saved each other's lives, but one day I realized that I had fewer and fewer friends."

"Now, of all those people from back then, I'm the only one still alive..."

"I am loyal to the Empire and grateful to the Empire. It is the Empire that gives me food and shelter, but the Empire has also fought many wars, and my friends died in those wars..."

"Sometimes I feel lost. Was it really the right thing for the empire to wage war? When will my death come? Why are all my friends dead, and I'm still alive?"

“Because you are strong enough.” Ato drank his third cup. “War is cruel. The powerful will win, and the strong will survive on the battlefield.”

Ato sighed inwardly; he finally understood why Riven had distanced herself from everyone.

If a person gives sincere feelings to a friend, then when they lose them, they will feel ten or a hundred times more pain.

Even Riven herself didn't realize that the reason she talked so much to Atto, instead of distancing herself from Atto like she would from others, was because Atto was strong enough.

She could be friends with Atto because he wouldn't die easily on the battlefield, and he wouldn't suddenly leave her.

"Is it powerful enough...? If I could, I would trade this power for their return." Riven channeled her grief and anger into her appetite, resuming her normal eating pace.

Atto shook his head and poured himself another glass.

When the waiter pushed in the beautifully cooked beef and lamb, I could clearly sense that something was wrong.

He was drinking alone, his eyes only on the last roast chicken on the table.

He knew it was best not to say anything at this moment, so he quickly cleared away the empty plates, set out the second batch of food, and hurriedly left.

The time is almost right...

Atto drank three cups in a row, making Riven across from him forget to eat her meat.

"You, you should drink slower... You're drinking strong liquor, I don't want to carry you back..."

“Riven, listen to me.” Ato felt the effects of the alcohol creeping in. “I don’t actually look like this…”

"what?"

“My name isn’t Harris, and I’m not even from Noxus…”

"what?"

Aatrox wiped his face, using this brief concealment to allow Aatrox to remove the scabbard's disguise, revealing his face as it had when he first arrived in Runeterra.

Compared to his earlier striking features, his original appearance was noticeably softer.

“You, you, you…” Riven suddenly stood up. Ator’s appearance had typical Ionian features, and the Ionians were now enemies of the Empire!

"My name is Ato, I'm not from any particular country, there's no place for me in this world..."

Just as he was trying to find an explanation, Riven snatched the bottle from his hand.

"Glug! Glug! Glug!" Riven took a few big gulps straight from the bottle.

"Cough! Cough!" Riven's face turned bright red as the spicy liquor slid down her throat; even someone as strong as Riven couldn't handle it.

"Give!"

Atto reached out and took the bottle, only to find that there wasn't much left inside.

“Thank you for telling me.” Riven wiped her mouth. “I always say that you can tell the master of a sword by looking at it, but with your sword, I can only see that you have no ill intentions towards me or the Empire. I can’t see much else, but that’s enough.”

Ato remained silent, poured himself another glass of wine, and drank it all in one gulp.

"The fact that you can tell me the hidden parts means that I... I didn't see it wrong..." The alcohol is taking effect.

“It’s just one more thing to hide! It’s okay…” Riven laughed. “You, you’re my adjutant, I’m your superior. If anything happens… I’ll… cover for you…”

Riven's voice grew softer and softer until she was slumped over the table, motionless.

Ato shook the bottle and downed the rest of the liquor in one gulp.

"It feels much better to say it out loud... Old man, I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

"...You did a great job."

Atto looked at the various kinds of meat laid out on the table and shook his head helplessly.

"You're already this drunk before you've even finished the meat? Ha, you're keeping an eye on things from upstairs for me, so I'll just eat the meat for you. Anyway, I'm paying the bill..."