Lars noticed a girl walking up to them and she had a smile on her face.
'Hmm, doesn't she feel familiar? Nah, I haven't met many people here.' Lars shrugged off the feeling.
(Pic)
"Hello, I am Syr. Your waitress for today, what can I get you?" She gave him a megawatt smile.
"Ais, you can order what you want. I'll be having what you're having, you're treating me after all." Lars smiled at her.
"Un, then I'll have today's special." Ais ordered and Syr wrote it into her notepad.
"I'll be back in a jiffy with it!" Syr skipped towards the kitchen area and he thought she was a bit too excited being a waitress.
"I guess people can genuinely like the service industry... Which is hella weird, you have to be a different breed for that." Lars looked at her weirdly.
"So? Is your level still a secret?" Ais asked him and he sighed.
"Well, how about we keep it as our own little secret instead?" Lars thought that she would kept pestering him.
And feeling that she was too childish, he can just get her to promise.
"Un, I can do that." Ais nodded at him. "Well, if you tell anyone else. Then the Loki familia will be in great trouble." Lars looked at him seriously.
"Really? I promise that I won't tell anyone." Ais nodded seriously.
"I'm actually level 1." Lars whispered to her and she went wide eyed.
"What? Really?" Ais was shocked, though the shock died down and it turned into confusion.
Thinking of how he was able to get down towards the 17th floor without any problems.
And how he beat down a monster rex on his own while being level 1. It intrigued her to no end.
"Yes, really. And the guild is protecting that secret. So your whole familia will get in trouble if you tell anybody." Lars warned her.
And in a sense, that was true. Because Fels would definitely help him. As the sage quickly killed rumors about Airmid and her magic.
Making him conclude that Fels had a connection with the guild.
"Okay, I won't." Ais nodded seriously and their food arrived.
"Here you go, the special~" Syr winked at him and he nodded, not thinking anything of it.
Lars then psychoanalyzed Ais. Even kids who weren't raised by anyone learn how to interact with people by observing.
'It's like she's in the spectrum or something. But what do I know?' He sighed inside of his mind.
So he decided to get her to open up a bit. Thinking that she must have been through something.
Except unlike the twin amazons, Tione and Tiona. She doesn't have a strong support anchor.
And add to that, she also most likely doesn't have a coping mechanism.
"So, Ais. I know that I already told you that I was reading the room. But I really want to know something.
And it's natural, friends want to know things about each other." Lars almost winced, but he needed to be a bit gray.
"Friends? Are you my friend now, Lars?" Ais stopped mid bite on her pasta and whe was a little excited.
"Yes, we are. We won't go and hang out otherwise." Lars shrugged.
"Okay, what do you want to know about me?" Ais was eager to answer.
"Well, I want to grow strong because I don't have anyone to protect me. I'm an orphan that was left behind.
But I want to know what's your purpose in doing so?" Lars manipulated the ability of the bad bats and dampened the sounds coming from their table.
Ais blinked at him in surprise, thinking that they were a bit similar. Which was technically true, but nobody needed to know that.
"Why I want to grow strong huh?" She frowned a bit.
"You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to." Lars raised his hands and she shook her head.
"I... I want to get revenge for my father. He was killed by a monster." Ais squinted her eyes.
"I see, that is unfortunate. How does that make you feel?" Lars imagined himself wearing a fancy coat that all therapists seem to use.
"How it makes me feel huh? Frustrated, angry, helpless..." Ais furrowed her brows.
"Is that so? I'm sorry to hear that. Where do you feel that in your body?" Lars asked.
"Huh? Can you feel emotions?" Ais was confused.
"Yes, it isn't all in our heads. Like when you get angry, you feel like your whole body is tensed up." Lars explained and she nodded in understanding.
"My chest hurts when I get frustrated. And my hands tremble whenever I remember." Now that she thought about it, she did feel her emotions on her body.
Lars thought it was a great time to end their time in the establishment and talk privately.
So he left a bag of coins on the table and he pulled Ais away.
"Nya! You overpaid! What am I gonna do with this?" Chloe sighed.
'Is this his way of forgiving me? Giving me a tip, nya?" Chloe chuckled as she reached out to it.
"That's his payment. Besides, Syr served them and gave them their food. This isn't your tip." Mia took it.
"Nyooo!" Chloe did an orz as the money got taken by the half-dwarf.
__Abandoned Ruins__
Lars pulled Ais to the ruined places of Orario and the Loki familia of course followed them.
"See!? He's definitely planning something bad!" Loki hissed at her children.
"He might look suspicious now, but they're not that far away from people... And Ais is a level 3." Riveria hit her with logic.
"Yeah, let's watch for now." Finn agreed with her and Gareth also nodded.
When Lars thought they were in a pretty good place, he pulled out some furniture.
It was a sofa and a chair. "Lie down there Ais, let's continue getting to know each other." Lars smiled at her.
"Ohh, so that's why you were in a hurry." She nodded and lied down on the sofa.
"Would you tell me more about your childhood?" Lars asked and Ais winced.
But she powered through for her new friend. "I... I lived with mother and father in a simple village. But it all changed when that monster attacked."
"Could you elaborate more on the last part? Don't worry and take your time." Lars asked her to continue.
"W-we... We were just enjoying the day as usual... But it suddenly attacked, a black dragon..." Ais' magic suddenly activated.
Black wind started to form around her and Lars quickly covered her with black rocks.
Her magic was practically ineffective against it and he covered his hand with it.
"Shh, shh, it's okay. It's alright, breathe." Lars patted her head and she saw his golden eyes.
'Shit, this is heavier than I thought.' Lars definitely knows now how bad her trauma is.
Ais started to breathe deeply and when her wind died down, he hugged her tightly to reduce her anxiety.
"I'm here, don't worry. No one's going to hurt you." Lars quickly calmed her down and she nodded slowly.
"Is this what happens when you think about it?" Lars asked and she nodded while trembling.
"What do you do to cope with it?" He furrowed his brows. She definitely didn't have a coping mechanism.
"I dive into the dungeon. Nothing more, nothing less." She gritted her teeth.
"There's nothing wrong with adventuring, but do you know of candles?" Lars asked her and she looked at him with confusion, but she nodded.
"If they burn too brightly, they will be snuffed out." Lars warned her and she squinted her eyes.
"But I need to kill the dragon and save my mother. I can feel it with my wind, she's scared." Ais trembled in anger.
He winced at her self-destructive tendency and he thought of a way to divert her attention.
"Who do you think is the strongest person you know right now?" Lars had an idea.
"Finn, Gareth, and Riveria." Ais didn't know why he's asking that.
"Do you think they can beat the one eyed black dragon?" Lars had to give her a reality check.
She went silent and Ais just shook her head. The dragon was invincible in her memories.
Ais saw its black scales deflect everything. Its hide and scales were pretty much unbreakable.
"Then if they can't do it, ask for some help in defeating the thing." Lars patted her head and she blinked in surprise.
She has never thought of asking for help. In her mind, she had to save her mother by her own.
"Will anyone help me?" Ais asked with a shaky voice.
"If no one will, then I would help you." Lars smiled at her and he thought that would also be an inevitable battle.
"You will?" She sniffled as her tear filled eyes locked onto his.
"Yeah, I definitely would. You can rely on me when the time comes." Lars puffed his chest.
"So how about you look for something else to do whenever it's downtime? Like reading books, eating food, or just simply resting?" Lars suggested to her.
"Will that make me stronger though?" Ais asked with a frown.
"Absolutely, you need to rest after training or dungeon diving. Or you will most likely get too injured to even continue being an adventurer." Lars explained to her.
She never thought about that. And everything can happen in the dungeon.
Her perspective changed and she thought that would be the smart thing to do.
"Okay, I would find a better way to cope." Ais nodded at him.
"That's it, it's okay to be scared, angry, frustrated. You just have to find a way to release all of that steam." Lars patted her head.
"Un, thank you Lars." Ais hugged his waist and he patted her head. But then, her breathing got slower.
And when he checked, she was already asleep. "Damn, she clocked out. But I guess we made good progress."
"And I commend your dedication to follow us, but Loki isn't that good at hiding." Lars sighed.
"You, that was dangerous." Riveria squinted her eyes at him.
"Which I didn't know, don't be illogical. You are royalty, you should know that was the case and make sound judgements." Lars clapped back at her.
"Damn... The kid just showed you how it's done Riveria." Gareth teased her and she glared at him.
"What exactly were you aiming for?" Finn asked with a smile, but he was probing for information.
"Ais isn't normal, even street urchins know how to talk to people. It's either she has a mental condition, or she turned out like that due to trauma.
And if it was the latter, I thought of trying to make her talk about her feelings. It's much better to share it fully than bottling it up." Lars shrugged.
"Ya almost triggered a dangerous skill of hers lad." Gareth sighed.
"I got it taken care of." Lars said calmly and he was oozing confidence.
"You're quite ballsy kid, what if we wanted to beat you up? Huh?" Loki squinted her eyes at him.
"If you want Ais to hate you, then go ahead. But that's not in your best interests. If you want to, I won't try and stop you." Lars basically demanded her to pull up.
'I don't know why, but my thumb is hurting like crazy...' Finn grabbed his finger and the others noticed it.
Riveria almost gasped. Finn's thumb only hurts on true emergencies or dangerous situations.
'How dangerous is he?' Riveria couldn't help but get paranoid.
They let Ais talk to him too long. And when the girl wakes up, his status in Ais' life would be rock solid.
Even they who are with her for a couple of years now only managed to decrease her self-destructive tendencies.
But Lars was seemingly able to break into her trauma and let her rethink her choices.
And that was just in their first time hanging out.
"Tch, this isn't over. Bring her back before it gets dark." Loki was really unhappy.
They left them and Lars sighed at the confrontation.
"That could've went better, but Ais will definitely change their minds about my image in due time." He shrugged.
And after about an hour, Ais stirred on his chest as he lied down on his couch.
"Hngh, where am I?" She looked upwards and saw that Lars was patting her head.
"Good morning, sleepy head." He chuckled at her and she blushed in embarrassment.
"Sorry, I'll get off of you." She stood up and Ais just stared at him.
"Come on, let's get you back home. Or the executives on your familia will get worried." Lars gave her a hand and she nodded.
"Un... Thank you for today." She bowed at him.
"Nonsense, that's what friends do." He escorted her towards the Twilight Manor.
When they arrived at the gates, she hugged him again. "I'll try to have a hobby."
He was surprised for a bit. "No rush, take your time."
Ais didn't let go though and she lingered for a minute. "I'll get stronger, let's get stronger." She gave him a small smile.
"Umu, that suits you better than your normally blank face." Lars smiled and she chuckled.
__
Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.