"...Julia?"
Sou's called out the name in a daze. The sun shone brilliantly behind her glowing face, reflecting her figure to an enchanting extent. Her majestic blonde hair fluttered beautifully. Her ruby eyes glistened in a brilliant shine. Her red and plump lips made the hearts of men around her quench for her to shower sprinkles of love over them.
"Yes?" Julia replied to Sou's call with the same indifferent and cold voice.
"Ah, nothing." Sou turned his head in embarrassment.
(What a blunder!)
"If you two are over with your lovey-dovey acts, shall we move on?"
"Sure."
"Hm? You are admitting?"
"In this case, me admitting alone is not enough, right, Julia?" Sou set his mischievous eyes on Julia.
"..." Julia turned her eyes away from Sou's gaze and walked off.
"The silent treatment huh..." Sou muttered under his breath before showing his reassuring face to the others.
"Shall we?"
"Mmhm."
(But damn, that got me for a moment.)
***
The city of Zicrus was still bustling with people and the rustling of people's feet and the chatter and shouts from the shops and stalls made the word 'peaceful' seem non-existent even though the night sky was covering the daylight.
"The city's still so lively..."
A slender hand came over Sou's shoulder.
"Get used to it, Sou. After all, you are going to live here."
(Live here huh...)
Sou stared at the cloudless sky with a tinge of confusion on his face.
(Better not think about it right now...)
"Sure, aunt Celina. And it's not like I am bothered by it. It just feels kinda strange since I spent my life in a quiet place."
Lying as naturally as breathing. It might be true for the previous Sou, but it's not true for this Sou was a city boy but he didn't hold any prejudices against the people from the countryside or rural areas. He was completely fine with the suffocating crowd. But still, he lied... The reason lies inside Sou's head.
"Hey, what's happening there?" an Extra A who was standing a few meters away from Sou said.
"Must be some of those Zicrus Academy bastards causing trouble. Pay no attention to them. Let's go and have some fun, hehe." Extra B patted Extra A's shoulder and walked off to a building full of lascivious moans and seductive ladies.
(What the hell's a brothel doing in the middle of the city?! Shouldn't it be in a shady corner of the city?)
(I am just gonna pretend I didn't see that and be the good child... they have got some good girls thoug- NO!)
Sou diverted his eyes from the brothel and his eyes continued to move until they met a certain someone's eyes, throwing daggers at Sou, overflowing with visible anger.
(Did she notice that I was leering at the girls? God! Is she gonna report to my mom? I don't see 'that' side of mom again...)
Sou took a step back and wore his poker face.
(No, stay firm and act natural.)
"What is it?"
"You were leering."
"No, I wasn't."
"You were."
"No, I wasn't."
"You. Were."
"No. I. Wasn't. Wait, why do you even care if I was or not."
"..."
(Safe!)
Julia turned her head towards a group of teens, seemingly older than Sou and Julia, ganging up on a male kid, about their age. Seeing Lia's disgusted expression, Sou too turned his head towards the bastards.
He squinted his eyes to look more clearly at the one who was getting the beating.
(That mark on his shirt... He is from Elevenes. Racial discrimination, I see... this is certainly not pleasant to watch. And those guys are... two upper stage II and one lower stage III...)
Sou glanced at Julia. She was making an even more disgusted face. I can justify what she was feeling, even Sou could. It was never a pleasant experience to see someone getting outcasted just because they were born a little different but there is nothing that could be done to eliminate such things, after all, they were humans, the very humans who sdfd always on the lookout to feel superior, even by a minor margin.
"Why don't you go out there?" Sou asked Julia.
"...they have well-developed mana stages. I won't stand a chance..."
"You call them well-developed? I am disappointed in you."
(Well, even if she did stand a chance, she won't be able to change the system.)
Julia's face broke down. She felt like her face was hit with a brick, just in the form of words. Truth is always bitter.
But before she could in anymore dejection, a hand came down on her head, stroking it gently.
"Go there and kick some asses. I will be there to ensure that nothing bad happens, so go."
Sou's words took her back. She could feel something swell up inside her, an unknown, pleasant and deep emotion but she was also scared by the sudden emotion surfacing, so she buried it deep inside her before it could reveal its face. Not because she could not handle it but an innate instinct. Humans are scared of the unknown and that's why they retaliate against it and she was a human. It was not only me who knew about this, Sou also knew about the feeling inside her. His skill of perceiving a being's feelings and emotions unexpectedly activated and he figured it all.
(At least with this, she should be easier to use.)
"Mmhm. I will go." Julia assured Sou with her usual indifferent and cold face.
"That's the spirit!"
She went to the bastards.
***