Clean. Pristine. That was all I could think of as we walked through the Adventures district of Ozoth. Armor shops and weapons shops were set up here with a variety of things to offer. There were smaller shop stands that were set up as well, offering the smaller things like potions and scrolls for adventurers.
And in the middle of it all stood a large building, a church-like building that was the Bounty hall. It was painted white, which made it stand out from all the other buildings. Probably as a way to easily see it with all the other buildings huddled around it.
Speaking of the buildings here, it was most certainly giving me the vibes of a real Fantasy kingdom. There were stone buildings and cobblestones flooring as a path that made me feel like I was walking around a real JRPG town. The green coloring on the floor and some of the houses showed that they too do color patterns like the other kingdoms.
The people here also varied as well. Just like in Prusha, there were beast folk and eldesche that roamed freely. Some were adventurers and looked pretty stacked with equipment. I recall seeing an Eldesche holding a black greatsword, with armor that reminded me of a peculiar manga character.
As we walked through this district, Lilith looked around in awe. It seemed like she wanted to run around and explore, but something was restraining her fork doing so. Probably from Kale's lectures of roaming or perhaps the fact that Kale told us not to cause problems. Either way, She was showing some level of restraint that I was gladly taking.
Unfortunately, we didn't have time to look around that much in this district. Both Amelia and Claire seemed to be moving in an urgent manner, which was reasonable.
The two were hurrying to get home.
About twenty minutes passed and we found ourselves in the trading district of the Kingdom. It was a lot more crowded here in terms of shops and buildings. There were houses here as well, some were quite big in this district. Lots of spaces between these houses. Seemed like the richer people were able to live in the trading district, most likely those who deal in trading and such. Lot of these houses had two stories to them and either had a large yard or gate.
There wasn't really much to see here in the district, Amelia and Claire led us right to their home. We scurried through the alleys and some shops before we finally stumbled upon one house.
A green two storied house that had an iron gate to it. It stood out from the rest of the houses due to its fountain that sprinkled water out of it. You could say this house was built like a mansion of sorts. To the right side of the house, there was a path that had a bridge going over flowing water. Seemed like this was actually a part of the water system they implemented here as Claire said the city had a water and sewage system.
But enough about thinking about sewage, That's the last thing in my mind at the moment. Mainly, I should focus on the fact that Amelia and Claire seemed to be quite concerned about me and Lilith. From the moment we got to their house, they hesitated at the gate. Amelia had a face that looked mad with bitterness while Claire had a look of uncertainty.
Not to be that sort of person, but I almost thought about giving Amelia the same medicine that she gave me while I stood at my own front doors. However I held it back, mainly due to seeing these two in such a state that it gave me discomfort.
What'd their father do to make them like this?
"We…are here." Claire simply said. There was no happy tone to her voice nor was there fear. Seemed like it was just empty words being thrown out to fill the awkward silence amongst us. Claire then slowly turned to me and Lilith, still having the face of concern. "Are you sure you want to go inside with us?"
Lilith answered first. "Of course. Better to be here than guard chris." She smiled. "Plus, we're here to support you two. Right, Kota?"
Lilith gave me a jab with her elbow, one that made me jerk from the sudden hit. "Ah-Yeah! Of course!"
Claire looked at the two of us, concerned still bouncing in her head before she shook her head. A small smile formed as she looked up at us once more. "I'm glad you two came along."
The only person who hasn't said anything was Amelia, who had her arms hanging loosely to her sides. Her bags placed messily against the gate as she continued to give the gate a bitter look.
"Amelia?" I began, peering past Claire. But Amelia shot me a look of disgust, but it wasn't towards me.
"I hate this place! Miserable, unbearable place!" She pouted. "Now that I'm here in person, I want to leave immediately!"
"A-Amelia!" Claire looked at her. "You know why I brought you here, to see dad! He's sick!"
"The old man can bite the dust!" Amelia turned away from the gate, she bitterly shook her head. "I shouldn't have come at all…"
Claire stifled what seemed to be a teary gasp. Must be upsetting to hear that from your sibling…
Claire then turned to me and Lilith as if to ask us to help her. Her eyes gleaming with concern as Behind her, Amelia stood looking away.
I took a look at Lilith, wondering what to do next. I'm sure with my advice, she wouldn't even be listening to me. But maybe Lilith could help…
…
Lilith's face twisted as she seemed to notice my look. She focused on thinking, her brain forming thoughts and ideas that could help amelia. What would be her move?
"Hm…Should we smack some sense into her?" Was Her response to all of this. Lilith gave me a questionable look as she raised her right arm to smack into her left palm. "I could go for an easy chop on her head if you want."
"We are NOT doing that." I quickly grabbed Lilith's hands. "Let's think in a more non violent way…that doesn't include physical harm."
She hesitated for a moment, almost as if she was considering my words before she nodded and began to think again.
"Hmm…let me talk with her." She walked forward. I moved aside as Lilith then gave me a glance. "I think I can handle this."
"Er…you sure? You don't usually take the approach of talking…"
"Maybe we should switch. You do more of the fighting and I do the talking?"
"…Yeah, I'm not doing that." Lilith didn't respond back when I said that. Only pushing forward until she stood right behind Amelia. The blue haired girl took a quick glance at her before pouting once more and looking away from Lilith.
Lilith simply tilted her head as she then grabbed Amelia by her shoulder, easily turning the blue haired girl around, much to Amelia's surprise. I could see from Amelia's eyes that she was caught off guard and seemed to be unsure of what Lilith would be saying to her.
I couldn't really tell what Lilith was thinking, all I could see was her back. But I'd imagine she was just staring at the younger girl as she thought.
"H-hey, stop with that weird stare! You trying to scare me?" Amelia blurted out.
"Oh? S-sorry…Hold on." I heard Lilith say. A brief moment passed, She took a quick glance at me before looking back at Amelia. I could see herself nodding quietly to herself as if confirming something.
Amelia gave her a quizzical look before suddenly, she was being shaken violently. Lilith shook her hastily, in the same fashion she did with Chris some time ago. It was less violent, but rough enough to make Amelia cry out.
"W-waah! What's with the S-Shaking?!"
Lilith ignored Amelia's question and began to talk. "Listen! We are here for you! Be the you we believe in! You can confront your dad! Are you listening to me?!"
Stopping her shaking, Lilith firmly held Amelia as she was trying to not barf. The poor blue haired girl looked sick and barely even acknowledged what Lilith said. I could hear a "wah-wah-wah" noise coming from Amelia as Lilith continued to talk.
"I don't know much about your dad, but I know that he is an obstacle in your path that you need to overcome! If he does anything weird, I'll make it quick! So stop pouting and open that gate!"
Suddenly, as soon as she said that, the gates before us opened. Someone from the inside had opened them for us.
"Miss Claire?" A somewhat old squeaky voice spoke. All of us looked towards the gate and immediately I noticed that it was a man. A dwarf to be exact, and he looked quite old. The wrinkles and gray beard he had made me sure that he was past his prime.
"Mister Roul!?" Claire looked stunned to see him. She moved towards him and quickly bent down to hug the old dwarf. "Oh, it's nice to see you!"
"Ay…it was lonely with you in the home." Roul then looked at me, a confused look on his face arose as he squinted his old emerald eyes at me. "Is…Is this a boy you brought home?"
"Wha-No! This is Kota!" Claire quickly said. She pointed a finger at me. "He helped me back, he works with King Lucian." She then pointed at Lilith. "As does she."
Roul slowly panned his head to Lilith, But he was not looking at Lilith. Rather…
"A-amelia? You found her?!" Roul eyes widened as he slowly made his way to the girl. "Oh, I thought we would've lost you!"
Amelia looked towards Roul, snapping out of her sickening look. Her eyes focused on the dwarf, as if analyzing the man before realizing who he was. Her eyes brightened up as she smiled.
"Mister Roul?! Wha-you're still here?!" Lilith let go of her as she ran to the dwarf. Funnily enough, the two weren't far apart in terms of height.
"Still kicking it with your father. My old bones won't break just yet!" The old dwarf croaked. He went in for a hug with Amelia, who gladly took it. "Just glad to have you around, you brat."
"I wish my father wasn't around…" Amelia grumbled.
"Relax. Let's get you settled in first. We can worry about that later. You're in old Roul's hands."
I saw Amelia sniffling, almost as if holding in a cry as he said that. It's safe to say that this dwarf fellow was kind of an anchor for her, holding her down while she was here. He might've been the same to Claire as well.
"Er…Kota, right? And uh…" Roul looked at Lilith. "…you? How about you two come in as well, a treat from the Mallory family for helping get Amelia back home."
"Of course." I answered, gesturing at him. "Amelia and Claire are our friends, we'd like to see them well."
"Yep! But uh…" Lilith awkwardly tapped her fingers together, embarrassed by her following words. "Please don't take my violent shaking as a harm to Amelia."
"Pfft, hah! Don't worry, I'm sure Amelia's been a mess for you two." Roul then let go of amelia. He slowly walked towards the open gate and ushered us in. "Now come right in!"
A/N: hey all! Kind of a short chapter, huh? Well unfortunately I haven't been able to find a real time to write. I'm quite busy next week and the first weeks of September, so I wanted to push this chapter out.
Speaking of busier times, I will be much slower in September and October when it comes to uploading. I've got a lot of things to do those months that'll take me out of writing. Just know that I am still writing, and planning out upcoming chapters during those times.
Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter and the upcoming ones!