"My apologize for our rudeness, Pretty Lady." After being reminded of her hasn't introduced herself to Lady Brenda, Aliyya suddenly bowed down slightly, tucking her damaged dress slightly yet still elegantly before she introduced herself. "My name is Aliyya Agniis of the Agniis family. Our family owes you a lot for your help tending my brother's wound, and we would never forget it."
Seeing the switch of Aliyya from being a crybaby girl into a proper young lady, Devin knows it was the custom that was practiced from time to time by the nobles in this world.
Lady Brenda just giggled softly at how stiff Aliyya was when introducing herself.
"Oh, you precious little child… You don't need to be so formal here. It must be torture for you to act like a proper lady, right? We water are never good at being restrained like that."
At first, Devin didn't know what she means by 'water'. But by the surprised look that Aliyya gave, he could make an educated guess on what is that about.
"You know I can manipulate water, Pretty Lady?"
Lady Brenda just giggled happily whenever Aliyya called her pretty. Well, which woman didn't like to be praised for her beauty?
"Yes, child. I could feel your magus even from miles away. You have the strongest water affinities I have ever seen in the last hundred years. But I could see you are not a violent type. So, you must be good at healing, right?"
Now, it gained Devin's attention. So, Lady Brenda could feel the magus inside someone's body like Sarfak too? Is that a common talent here? And what did she mean by 'we water'? Did Sarfak say that Dwarf are famous for their earth manipulation? Does that mean Lady Brenda is an odd one among the race, or is it possible that she is not a dwarf herself?
A lot of questions are spinning inside his head, without anyone giving the answer that could satisfy him.
"Um! I can heal wounds as long as there is a water source nearby and I am not exhausted." Aliyya nodded proudly, not noticing Devin even for once after they entered Lady Brenda's house. However, a second later, her expression turned crestfallen out of nowhere. "But Father didn't like it when I heal people. He said he would never let me get out of my room if I keep healing anyone who asked."
Hearing that, Lady Brenda frowned, not liking the implication. Devin who was a bit proficient in the world behind the desk instantly know her father's intention. If Aliyya's talent is indeed rare, her father wanted to monopolize it for his advantage, a common move from a screwed businessman or politician.
"Oh, you poor child…" Lady Brenda engulfed Aliyya in a bear hug. "I don't know what was your father thinking, trying to lock down a child at your age should be a crime punished by death! Don't worry, you are okay now…."
And that is Devin's concern too… If her father, the head of the Agniis family, is as bastard as he could imagine, how would Sarah honor their agreement? He needs more information first to gain more leverage for their next meeting.
"And how about you, child?" Lady Brenda's voice suddenly snapped Devin from his thought. When he turned around, he could see the lady smiling gently at him. "You came together with this young lady, yet she didn't even look at you for a single moment, making me believe you are strangers to each other. If I have to take a guess, you are here because of Sarfak's antic, right?"
Devin smiles wryly before he answered, "Yeah, I got dragged by him as it seems, I have interfered with his rite of passage to become a dwarf warrior. He forced me to help him kill a giant gorilla before I found this little lady with her brother starved to death."
Even though he said it casually, that doesn't mean Devin is getting careless. No, it was the opposite. His guard is at its highest now, as he picks his words carefully so as not to give any information more than necessary. There is something in Lady Brenda that rubbed him wrong, with her elegant allure and seductive voice that could melt any man in any words. If he didn't know better, Devin would think Lady Brenda is a honey-trap assassin.
"So, he still thought about establishing that tradition, huh?" Lady Brenda giggled, not knowing the storm in Devin's thoughts. "I am sorry, Child. But hunting a beast like that is just the tradition that Sarfak often fantasized about since he was just a child. Now that he is allowed to go out quite often, he wanted to prove that this kind of test is good for the tribe."
"So, it is true when he said the test is just a prank?"
"Yeah." Lady Brenda smiles amusedly at him. "Even though we were blessed by magus, there is no way we would let youngsters go out in this dangerous forest without supervision. That would be too dangerous."
"Haaaahh….." Devin sighed tiredly, cursing out his decision on following Sarfak's words earlier. Because of that, now he was stranded in an unfamiliar environment with his weapon getting confined by the guard.
'Well, at least I found the girl, the mission is over, and I also found a source of information here. Not bad for one day wandering around.'
"So, Child, you haven't answered my question yet. Who are you?" Hearing her question, Devin rubbed his head sheepishly before he introduced himself.
"My apologies, Lady Brenda." Even though he didn't know what is the custom greeting in this tribe, he assumed Lady Brenda is something equivalent to noble, so he bowed down a little and kissed her knuckle. "I am Devin, a proud member of the Sky family. It's nice to meet you."
"Oh my, what a charmer.." Lady Brenda stiffened out her laugh to not offend Devin. "It has been a long time since I saw this custom. And the Sky family…. You are not a native of Pangea, right?"
Devin could only smile wryly at the spot-on guess from her. However, before he could say anything, they were interrupted by the sudden rude shout from the outside.
"COME OUT, HUMAN!"
Lady Brenda frowned, clearly not liking the attitude of the dwarves outside. She stood up, a smile still on her face, but this time, Devin could feel the dangerous aura emerging from her body.
"I am sorry, Child. But I have to remind someone of their rude attitude."
Devin could only nod numbly; his eyes are still locked on the beautiful lady in front of him. The shouts outside seem to get worse, as now, Devin could hear not one, but several sources of voices that came from the shout.
When he peeked outside, he could see five dwarves, two of them he saw with Ari earlier, screaming with a spear in each hand.
"DON'T THINK YOU CAN HIDE HERE, HUMAN!"
"GET OUT!"
"FACE THE JUD- Aaaarrgh!"
Yeah, the moment Lady Brenda came out of her home, she stomped her right foot to the ground immediately, and the ground where the dwarves stood suddenly sagged, burying all the five dwarves in front of her home on the ground at least until only their heads were able to move freely.
Aliyya who saw it from afar giggled at how funny it looks like. However, the same couldn't be said for Devin, as he was looking at Lady Brenda with his mouth gaped wide.
'That is a pure earth manipulation! So, why did she say to Aliyya that she is a water manipulator? Did she say it to ease Aliyya's worry or could she manipulate two elements? And how advanced is that technique?'
However, he didn't say anything and just keep watching the drama unfold under his eyes.
"So, boys…." Lady Brenda stood up tall, smiling creepily at the dwarves, sending shivers through their spines as they could only gulp nervously. "It seems you forget about your manners here. What have I told everyone about being rude to your guest?"
".... Not to?"
"And what have I told about making a ruckus in my clinic?"
".... Not to?"
"And what did you just do right now?"
"......... B-Being rude and making a r-ruckus in your clinic?"
"So, you know that there would be a punishment, right?"
Just by now all of them know fear, as Lady Brenda's expression is getting darkened in a second. A surge of power is rose, sophisticating everyone in the village for a second. The five dwarves on the ground closed their eyes tightly, bracing themselves for the punishment.
However, what they were waiting for didn't come. Instead, the killing intent from Lady Brenda suddenly dissipated, replaced by a sudden warm feeling that comes from their behind.
"Lady Brenda, if you want to do your so-called punishment, they wouldn't be able to get out of bed for the next week. It would be you who have to be bothered later."
Hearing that warm voice, Lady Brenda let out an unladylike snort, which surprised Devin for a bit. "Youngster nowadays are getting softer… Couldn't even stand a harsher punishment."
"You know why you couldn't do that, My lady…." The source of the voice before replied helplessly. "You also agreed to abolish that kind of punishment, right?"
"Enough with this nonsense crap, Sarfak!" Lady Brenda growled, crossing her arms in irritation. "As far as I could remember, it is your son who I asked for help. So, what do you want here?"
And a second later, Devin realized who is the man who talked to Lady Brenda just now. Even though he has very similar features to Sarfak, his grey hair and fine line on his face are a big hint that he is indeed the older version of Sarfak that he had befriended. And hearing Lady Brenda mention his son, Devin knows that the man in front of him is the leader of the dwarf tribe, Sarfak II.
"I am still the leader of this tribe, My Lady. Of course, I have to see the guest by myself, especially when they were brought by my son. Oh, and here!" He took out two flasks with colorful liquids there. "My son said you need it."
"Whatever." Lady Brenda clicked her tongue in annoyance as she grabbed the potions from Sarfak II's hand quickly and turned away. It still baffled Devin how an elegant lady like Lady Brenda suddenly turned into a more 'normal' woman in front of the tribe's leader. "Don't get him into trouble. He is still the guardian of the children here. Come on, little lady. Let's go inside. Let those adults do their business."
Yeah, hearing that, Devin knows that the one Sarfak II wanted to talk to is him. Aliyya looked at him hesitantly for a second before he nodded slightly, silently assuring her that he would be okay. After both Lady Brenda and Aliyya go back to the building, gone was the warm expression on Sarfak II's face, as the temperature around suddenly dropped.
"So, you are the human from another world, and somehow got one of the 'Blessing of Magus' books in your hand and got the information of chimera, huh? You sure had the gut, trying to manipulate my son into your favor. Whatever. I will personally be the judge whether you lied or not."