"I feel Incompetent as a brother."Conan sighed in unease "I should be taking care of them, not the other way around."
His reflective eyes showed the insecurity welling up in him, "We don't even have a roof over our heads yet..."He looked at the darkening cloudy sky and sighed yet again "...And the day is almost over."
Tianah stood beside him and patted his chest playfully, earning a surprised look from conan. She felt smug on the inside before saying "...Hey, I have an idea."
Conan's whims worked on her by making her feel like a friend. He did so to get a better idea and information out of her and also to make her feel safe around him, unbeknownst to him that he looked like a spoiled brat.
The occupations Tianah listed might have aroused Conan's interest but at the end of the day, they're all useless.
He needed urgent money, and all that Tianah listed was not going to earn him fast pay.
Conan's expression brightened and he beamed, asking "Please, do tell."
Tianah smiled elffishly "Let's go raid a bank."
Conan rolled his eyes in response. Chuckling, he said, "No, I'm not stooping so low to steal."It was like an insult to his celestial self.
Tianah laughed, amused by his reaction "I'm just kidding!"She wiped the tears off the sides of her eyes before saying "I already told you to sign up to be a mercenary."
Conan sighed exasperatedly "I was planning on doing that tomorrow, but for now, I need money. I can't go asking my brethren for money, I need to use my own money to take care of them in this foreign world we are."
His obsidians reflected Loki as he worked diligently, painting his clients and creating a perfect image of them, he got paid more than a normal artist—as his work far superseded one—by hundreds.
Tianah looked at him scrutinizingly. His voice had a melodic tune, sweet and pleasing to the ears.
Thinking of his voice an idea came to her mind "Since the day is about to end, I reckon you go to the City tavern and wait for tonight. You'll get paid after midnight."
Conan gave her a long look before nodding, it wasn't that much of a great idea, but he could go with it.
"Well, if you can, you'll have good pay."Tianah shrugged "The folks here are welcoming and especially love good music."
"It has gotten so peaceful..."Conan muttered in wonderment, his eyes mirroring the sky as he looked up at it.
"Thanks to the gods..."Tianah said, her expression turning sage for a moment.
It was never this peaceful, humanity had always fought against each other for power and authority, a contest of supremacy, and the common folks were always the ones left to suffer the collateral damage.
The common humans never lived in peace as the dangers came from the powerful ones themselves, but now, it's so pristine and peaceful.
People no longer live with fear in their hearts and Conan felt happy for the mortals of this era, not having faced the horrors of the Cultivation Era.
He also had his share of the horrors though, and even though everything seems so peaceful now, it doesn't mean, that there are no dangers.
His instincts told him so...
... Hours later.
Kitty and Zoe arrived shortly after with Liam, accompanying them carrying the unconscious trader on his shoulder.
Zoe, who had covered her hair with a black scarf, received a longing hug from Conan. He smelled blood coming from her, but he ignored it for the moment.
"Where have you been?"He asked, his obsidian eyes turning misty as he expressed his worry.
Zoe also got touched and explained what happened, but added and subtracted some parts of the story like;
"...I had subdued them already, but when I asked them where their sect was, they refused to tell and even went as far as taking self-destructive measures to commit suicide."Zoe deadpanned as she narrated, her tone strangely carried a tone of innocence, which was strange considering that she usually speaks tonelessly.
Conan looked at kitty with her blue, thin eyebrows twitching uncontrollably and her lips quivering as guttural sounds escaped her mouth.
Conan knew what had happened and he quickly signaled to Liam "Liam, please, buy kitty some candies "
As soon as kitty walked a distance away from them she burst into boisterous laughter "... bahahahaha."She tried her best to suppress the laughter, but all she was able to do was curl her lips downwards and laughed like she was crying.
Zoe's delicate white eyebrows twitched as she thought 'Stupid girl, I forgot that she can't be trusted.'Her face turned stiff, not showing excess emotions, but she knew Conan had seen through her lie, but he kept silent about it anyway.
"I'm happy you're back."Conan said and smiled "I'm going to make money now, so you can buy whatever you want, okay?"
"You don't have to..."Zoe said with a rare smile as she looked into Conan's eyes with profound emotions "I have money and already bought all that I want."
Conan's smile froze, the feeling of incompetence ramming against his old soul with full force. He looked towards Tianah, who was busy talking through a communication device and checking the pulse of the trader.
He breathed in deeply and said "I'm supposed to take care of you okay? That's my responsibility and I must see to it."He said with a bright smile as he playfully flicked Zoe's nose.
Zoe held his hand in place and looked into his reflective eyes as she saw the young her In it. 'You've done more than enough.'She thought but didn't say it aloud.
"Appreciate, dear father."She whispered, her face deadpan, but her Amber eyes showed the affection she had for her adoptive father— Conan.
Conan smiled affectionately at her as he continued "I and kitty are going to wait at a restaurant for tonight, hopefully, they pay us good money."
Zoe nodded, absentmindedly, before coming to her senses and frowned "Wait..."But Conan was no more listening "...What?"
"Kitty!"Conan called out without looking at zoe "Let's go make some money, then sleep next."
He hollered, his voice reaching kitty who refused to buy candies with Liam's money as her pride kept tugging at her conscience to not do so.
"Yay!" Kitty came over with a bright smile and started happily hopping around, mouthing sweet, incomprehensible words to herself.
Tianah came over, her expression was solemn as she said "I reported the case of kidnap attempt to the Enforcers and they'll arrive in the next four minutes to take the trader in for questioning."
"It's fine. "Conan played the victim and replied with a reassuring smile "... She'll have to be careful next time, lest she falls in the hands of those stronger than she could handle."
And yes, that was what he was most worried about. Since the moment they arrived in the human kingdom, the feeling of unease had cascaded on him which bothered him a lot
Tianah nodded and faced Zoe, who was the abducted 'victim', based on what Zoe had narrated, and apologized "I apologize on behalf of Morntelle for what those perverts might have done to you, and I assure you that not all humans are like this."
Zoe looked at her blankly before turning away with a soft "It's okay."
Conan glanced at Zoe briefly, an adventurous gleam showing in his reflective eyes before turning back to his signature neutral expression.
"Okay, let's go to the tavern to eat, I'm hungry," Tianah said and led the way to the tavern and the rest followed.
Kitty stopped hopping around and thought 'Now that I think about it, this mortal body is really hungry.'
She ran over to Tianah and displayed an amicable smile. Swallowing her pride, she asked "Are you treating me to a meal? Because if you aren't, then I'm not following. You haven't welcomed me to the human kingdom properly anyway."
Kitty shoulder-bumped Tianah and flashed an adorable smile. Tianah had no reason to reject the offer "Of course, all on me."
Kitty flashed Conan a wide grin before latching onto Tianah like a long-time friend and starting random talks with her.
Conan felt betrayed as he thought 'It's the two of us kitty, we are both penniless, yet you can't speak up for me.'He thought and chuckled in the end.
He wasn't necessarily hungry, but he wanted to eat different types of foods, in fact, all the foods the human kingdom had to offer, as he had developed the hobby a long time ago.
This was part of his goals...
They arrived at the place and saw an extravagant-looking tavern. It was an eight-story building and its expanse was wide enough to accommodate hundreds at once.
People coming back from their place of work went to eat and some even went for other things. All in all, it was very busy and bustling with life.
The group entered the tavern and was greeted by a chandelier upholding glowing stones of diverse colors, bathing the first floor in a chaotic vibrance.
The first floor was divided into three sections; the first section on the left was the restaurant. On the right was the bar where people drank booze and smoked weird pipes, some even played games that were foreign to Conan and his babies.
On the farther end, close to the wall, in the midsection, was a counter. On the left side of it were the stairs that led to the second floor.
But Conan saw a fourth section, a door on the right side of the counter, where people occasionally went in and out of. He caught a glimpse of the inside and it appeared dark and lifeless, but he sensed that many people were there.
He decided to ignore it, whatever was being done there doesn't concern him as long as it didn't provoke him or arouse his curiosity.
On the higher floors were the rooms and apartments for rent, so Conan planned on renting an apartment for the night after he was done working.
Speaking of work, he went to the lady behind the restaurant counter and asked if he could work there, the lady accepted almost immediately, saying:
"Thank the gods for bringing you here, the idiot on shift is strangely absent today. You'll replace her for tonight handsome boy."The lady had a bossy attitude and even called him a 'boy'. But his celestial self didn't feel offended as there were no offensive intents behind the words.
Thus, he began his work for the night, serving the customers and also attracting the attention of the ones at the wine bar to the restaurant.
The Cubus... The Jealous... The Night Knights; Those, he lured to the restaurant section with his tempting allure.