Shoutout to my new patron:
The Plebeian
You are a legend!
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(General POV)
"What did the Captain want to speak to you about?" Ais asked Lyze as he caught up to them and they turned onto the main road.
"Nothing much, just some personal requests and some additional things to look out for. Other than that, our tasks pretty much stay the same." Lyze said boredly.
"Okay then." Ais said accepting his answer. Aki was not so convinced though.
"Come on Lyze. You don't expect us to believe that do you?" The cat-girl asked snarkily.
"Well what is it you want to here you little moggy?"
"That is just racist!" Aki pouted angirly.
"No racial discrimination intended. Cats act with elegance and they carry themselves primly and with pride. They clean themselves on a regular basis and they are quiet as well as good behaved most of the time." Lyze said.
He then held his nose as he stared at her. "You on the other hand are loud, annoying, you haven't taken a proper bath and as a result you reek of sweat. And you are extremely misbehaved. All these are the characteristics of a cat that doesn't have any sense of respect, hence they are called moggies. I've only been here two days, and already you've driven me round the bend."
Aki pouted and conceded. "Ok, that is understandable. But don't think I will let up on what the Captain told you. I still wan to know!"
Lyze sighed exasperatedly.
"If you must know, he's basically charged me with looking after the lot of you and to make sure you don't misbehave."
"But Aki and I are both 13!" Raul moaned out. Lyze shook his head.
"Doesn't make a difference. Age itself does not give you maturity my guy. And you are anything but mature."
"What do you mean?" Raul asked viciously, offended at this insinuation.
"Mind explaining the cupcake incident with Riveria last night then?" Lyze deadpanned.
Raul shut up after that.
"And besides, as the strongest in this group of ours, Finn has naturally given me more responsibilities. So you should probably be grateful that you don't have more work piled on your shoulders."
"What makes you so sure that you are the strongest?" Raul asked as he dragged the cart along. "I know you levelled up in just a day but Ais here has been a level two a bit longer than you have. I'm sure she can beat you when it comes down to it."
Ais looked back at him and shook her head. "Nope."
"Huh?" The two cart pullers gaped. Ais spoke again.
"I can't beat Lyze. He's much stronger than I am. I couldn't beat him in our spar this morning."
"Are you serious?" Aki breathed. "Wait, is that what the two of you were doing when we pulled up to you?"
"Yep." Lyze said, popping the 'p' at the end. Ais looked at him and clenched both her fists in front of her as her brow lowered a bit.
"But I will catch up to you Lyze. I will not be left behind!" She said determinedly.
Lyze laughed and reached up to pat her head. She was only about as big as Finn, so the size difference made the image seem a little laughable.
"I look forward to it then Ais. It would be lonely if I was the only one at the top." He said mock-boisterously.
"You act really cocky, even for someone with your talent." Raul muttered. "What's the guarantee you'll reach the top anyway? There's hundreds of adventurers out there stronger than us and a good portion of them are hostile and difficult competition."
Lyze stopped laughing and sighed. Looking down at his feet as they walked for a bit before tilting his head back and looking towards the sky.
"I don't really have much of a choice in the matter." he said quietly. "I have to reach the top no matter what."
The rest of the group detected the somber mood as they felt the hidden seriousness behind his emotionless words. Ais in particular was hit the hardest as she recognized the tone...one that matched hers very well.
"Any particular reason why?" Aki said tentatively.
Lyze brought his gaze back in front of him and stared ahead of them as his hand snaked its way to Libur's handle.
"One doesn't necessarily have to be manacled in order to be imprisoned." Lyze said ominously. "Sometimes, freedom itself can be the chain."
The other three looked between each other.
"That doesn't make sense." Raul said confusedly. "In fact, that is just contradictory."
"Such is the nature of Chaos." Lyze replied.
"What?" They all collectively asked. Lyze imagined question marks bouncing above their heads.
"Perhaps you'll all understand someday. We all have burdens to bear. Some more than others."
The others stayed their tongues, not sure on how to respond to something like this. The sudden drop in the mood had taken them all by surprise. Raul decided that perhaps a change of subject was better.
"I'm jealous of you, you know." He said to Lyze.
The blindfolded boy looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Why's that Nord?"
"Because I'm going to continue staying in that awful dormitory until I level up to a satisfactory level. You on the other hand only spent a single night in the bunk, levelled up the next day and now you get a bedroom of your own...Next to Ais no less." Raul muttered the last part, although Lyze still heard it.
"Well that's what happens when you prove yourself to Loki. She gives you something worthwhile in recognition of your achievement, ain't that right Ais...Ais?"
Lyze caught sight of her staring off at some food stall that had smoke rising from their grills and their pots. The one in particular she was staring at had a crude painting of a potato drawn on the sign.
If he remembered right, Ais had a love for potato croquettes as a favourite snack or something. His suspicions were confirmed as he saw her patting her pockets while not taking her eyes off the stall. Her shoulders slumped as she realised that she'd not brought any Valis with her.
Lyze doubted that Finn would appreciate it if they used the funds Finn had left in the cart to buy her some snacks. They were meant for the supplies they were supposed to bring home.
Feeling generous for once, he slipped a hand under his coat and into his hammer-space. He withdrew about 200 valis and pushed it into her hand. Ais whipped her head back at him, first looking down at the Valis before looking into his eyes, her own trembling and sparkling in uncertainty.
"Knock yourself out." He gestured over to the stall. "Just make sure to come back to us quickly."
That amount would give her about 5 to 8 of the fried potato snacks altogether. Ais gave him an uncharacteristically wide smile as she suddenly hugged him tightly. For once the blindfolded edge lord was completely baffled silent as the girl hugged him.
The sweet scent of flowers filled his nostrils as her hair passed over his nose. She gave him one last squeeze before bouncing away to buy the croquettes, leaving Lyze with his brain malfunctioning at what just happened.
It was completely unexpected and just came right out of the blue, apparently over giving her money to but junk food. The other two snickered as unbeknownst to him, red patches began to appear on his face.
"What?!" He snapped at them.
"The mighty Lyzof Keele, proud and unperturbed, is rendered shy and speechless at a hug from a girl." Aki laughed before she vaulted over the cart at him handle with her arms outstretched. "Let me try as well!"
A fist smashed into her face, stunning her as her tongue lolled out before she was sent tumbling head over heels and smacked into a light pole. Passing people looked down at her worriedly before they either walked around her or stepped over her.
Raul hissed at the scene, no doubt in his mind that it must have hurt before he looked back at Lyze who had smoke rising from his fists. Lyze saw this before he pulled his hand back and flicked it around, rolling his eyes underneath his blindfold at the ridiculous trope he found himself subject to.
"Not cool man." Raul said dryly.
"You want some?"
"Nah, man. I'm good!" Raul said hurried as he lifted his hands up. "But seriously though man, Ais doesn't just do that with anybody, least of all someone she's only just met. There could be something there you know."
"I'm only eight." Lyze muttered. "Besides, I don't have time for stuff like that."
"You sure about that buddy?" Raul asked disbelievingly, arching his eyebrow. Lyze grunted and turned his back on him.
But inside, he was contemplating the same thing.
'I'm only here to consolidate power so I can go home.' He thought to himself as he walked on. 'Although surprisingly...the idea doesn't seem to be so bad.'
He looked back at Ais as she happily order the fillings she wanted in her croquettes. The stall keep shook their heads, smiling at the enthusiasm as they went about fulfilling it.
"Who am I kidding?" Lyze mumbled to himself. "Ais Wallenstein was always infamous for having the emotional capacity of a tree stump. She was known to have turned down 1000 requests to court her. Why would I be any different?"
He shrugged to himself and gestured to Raul to pull the cart forwards with Aki who had come around and groggily made her way back, although with a stupid grin plastered on her face.
"We're going to the guild first!" He announced to them. "There I'm going to exchange my loot and then we'll head to Babel."
"Aye." They said in reply, having already established that he was leading them. Lyze acknowledged them and made his way to the guild, his thoughts lingering on the topic before he let it go and instead turned his attention to what armour he'd be wearing.
Ignorant of the flag he'd raised.
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They finally made it to the guild and he had the older two wait outside to man the cart as Ais joined him, still munching on her snacks. They looked towards the exchange booth and saw that they'd have to join a line in order to exchange.
Irritated, Lyze joined it as this was something the captain had ordered he'd get done. From what he understood, a portion of the Valis from a large haul like this had to be placed into the Familia coffers as part of his contribution, regardless if he collected them all by himself. It helped with maintaining their standing after all, and with the taxes Loki had to pay regularly.
He'd finally sorted out his hammer-space although he had not yet deposited the items in his room yet. He hadn't exactly been given a chance for room decoration but t was something he planned to do tonight.
He'd sorted all the monster loot into a large vegetable sack he'd pinched from the chef and was holding them in his hand as much as he could with his small stature.
Ais glanced over to the reception desk.
"Do you have a guild advisor Lyze?" She asked him.
"No." he said.
"Why?"
"Too bothersome."
"Why though? They are a great help you know."
"I've already got Riveria worrying over me. I don't need another adult fretting over me."
"I'm not sure that that's a nice thing to say."
Lyze looked at her pointedly. "Do you have one?"
"..."
"I rest my case."
"Anyway, that sack of yours looks quite full." She said.
He nodded and wiggled it a bit.
"Yep. I bagged quite a lot on my first run. More than any other adventurer has done theirs I'm sure. No doubt, I'm going to get a lot of money for them."
"Are you going to exchange the tooth as well?"
Lyze thought for a moment.
"No. I'm going to keep it as a memento. Or perhaps make something out of it. I haven't quite decided yet but I definitely don't want to exchange it."
"Hm." Ais said before going back to munching.
"Next please!" Came a shout from the booth.
"That was quicker than I thought." Lyze commented before hefting the sack over to the booth, eager to see the spoils of his labour.
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