'Well, fuck... she's a brat.'
"What? Don't mope around or I'll leave you behind. Humph."
I stared at the retreating back of a blonde haired girl a few years older than me and thought back to our first encounter only a few minutes ago.
.
.
.
.
"...Eh?"
Her face scrunched up once more, then she spat out again.
"What was that? You can't even use words? What a joke. You're a joke. Why does Myself have to be the one to sacrifice my time to look over such a pathetic little kid like yourself. It's frustrating...no... it's mortifyin!" She shivered.
"H-hey, Lana, what are you doing?! We've already talked about this." Justin immediately scolded from behind.
"But, Father...!" Lana protested but was sharply cut off.
"No 'But's." Justin firmly made clear, forcing the little brat...Ahem, I mean—little girl to bite down her tongue and swallow down all of her words.
Justin wasn't done.
"Lana," he firmly called — "excuse us."
At this point, Lana's face was a fuming red in anger and embarrassment as she stomped away from the group, muttering curses underneath her breath.
By the time she was of reasonable distance away, Justin's scolding expression melted off and turned to us.
He pleaded.
"I'm so sorry guys, she's not always like that, most of the time. I mean, she's a little prideful and arrogant, but now that she's shown her first signs of wielding magic at her age among her peers, the already big ego in that little body of hers inflated even more. I'm so very sorry, Reo. And I already talked to her about it. This is exactly why she doesn't have friends!"
Cliff and I could only share a strained blank expression in the face of this confession.
'She's a brat,' we probably both thought at the same time.
.
.
.
.
'With that attitude, it's no wonder she has no real friends. Then haven't I basically been sacrificed?'
Lana Munrow was what people called a little genius among her peers, and apparently, even in the magic world. She had shown first signs of magical 'Talent' at the young age of 7, which, from what I was able learn yesterday at the pub, was quite amazing and rare. I found out that average age where signs of magical 'Talent' are displayed in a person is at the minimum age of 12.
Those who awaken their attributes and show talent earlier than that are considered Genuises or 'Talented'.
'Then where does that make me...' I casually thought for a short second.
Lana was a prideful lad since she was even younger, according to Mr. Justin. And because of this she had some 'problems' getting along with other kids her age. Now that has only been worsened since she awakened her talent at such an early age.
'And to make matters worse...' Her awoken attribute was a 'Variant Element.'
Who would have thought the first day I spent in Border Town would broaden my knowledge of magic more than five years spent in the village.
But even with that, I still have only limited information. I wasn't even sure what exactly a 'Variant Element ' was or what classified as it.
At first, I was hoping maybe I could get Lana herself to share some light once I've gotten to know her, but now that idea has been thrown out the window.
Justin had hopes that Lana and I could hit it off nicely which was why he proposed the idea of Lana showing me around town, leaving me throughout the whole time before sunset with just her.
So yes... I was sacrificed.
'I want to go home...'
All of a sudden, Lana stopped from trudging ahead with her back still at me.
"Mmh? What's wrong?" I asked plainly, my question hung in the air as Lana hesitated.
"...so-so, how's Layla doing?"
"Layla?" I raised a brow — "You mean my mom?"
Lana turned over her shoulder with an exasperated expression directed entirely at me, for me.
"Huuuh?? Are you dense? Are you an idiot? Of course it's your mom, who else would I be talking of, you dumb little brat?" She remarked bitterly.
"Are you always like this? Your whole attitude isn't pretty at all. You're a kid as well, you know?" Unable to hold back this time, I remarked myself.
Lana scoffed at my words, pivoting to confront me directly. Her chin lifted defiantly, shoulders squared, eyes flashing with disdain and irritation. With a graceful motion, she brushed her golden locks over her shoulders, letting them dance in the wind.
"Don't misunderstand, you stupid mutt. Comparing yourself to Myself is laughable. While I may appear youthful, I possess the refined mindset and grace of a cultured adult 'lady', blessed with both looks and charisma. And let's not forget, I'm three years your senior, so you'll always be a child in my eyes."
'Uwa... narcissism at its finest here.'
I let out a sigh and shrugged.
"Yes, yes. Layla's fine, by the way. Now, let's move on. I want to try those skewers from the stall over there." I pointed across the street, already heading in that direction without waiting for a response.
As I walked away from the blonde nuisance, I heard her yell from across the street at the skewer stall I had already reached. "You little brat! Did you just shrug Myself off?!"
I quipped back without turning,
"It's all in your head."
Lana's voice echoed again from across the street. "And how the heck did you get there so quickly?!"
Ignoring her protests, I reached into the pouch Cliff handed me earlier, dropping a few credits onto the counter of the skewer stand before selecting a stick.
"It's all in your head," I replied nonchalantly, savoring my first bite as Lana's tantrums persisted in the background
It...was going to be a long day.
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My final day in Border Town continued in the form of a tour. At some point I simply began to ignore the little bratty Lana and proceeded to see the world as if she never existed. From time to time, she'd throw tantrums about me ignoring her, either that or she'd simply throw some jabs my way for some kind of reaction.
But I knew better than to let the tantrums of a kid get into my head. It took some practice, but when I set my mind to it, Lana Munrow didn't exist in my own 'World'.
I simply continued to enjoy the Towns attractions to the fullest.
"Holy—... That is awesome!" I gasped from the outside of a show-mirror, literally pressing my face and breath fogging up against the surface.
On the other side, a certain object caught my utmost attention. It was a stylish sword belt and scabbard. The best thing was, it looked like it'll fit me.
'If I had that, I'll have Don, Leon and the others silently envying me for weeks! It's cool, I want it!'
Yes, in the end, I was still a kid. All men are boys at heart.
I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out the small pouch. Most of the content had already been exhausted over the course of the day, but I still had a few Credits left to squander. And squander I was.
'Was.'
"Shit, I'm broke." A glance at the price tag shattered that reality even further. The 'change' I had left couldn't even amount to one third of the price.
'Isn't this too expensive? I get it's stylish and cool, but still...' with a resigned sigh, I regretfully gave up and pried my eyes off the glass.
"If only I'd known, I wouldn't have splurged on twenty pieces of land dragon skewers," I lamented inwardly, cursing their irresistibly tender meat.
'Damn them and their supple meat!!'
For a moment I entertained the idea of taking a loan from Lana, but quickly discarded it. I didn't think I had it in the me to deal with the bullshit that would follow.
Then I realized how quiet the blonde girl had been for a while. Either that or I had become insanely good at blocking out what I deemed a nuisance.
I turned to the side and spotted the little girl with a rare solmen expression that caught me off guard. I hadn't known Lana for more than today, but her character was pretty clear and obvious.
"Hey," I called out to her and Lana remained completely unresponsive. Deciding to follow her gaze, I looked across the street, only to realize she was simply staring into emptiness.
"Hey, Lana," I called out more firmly this time around.
Shaken out of her reverie, Lana awakes and blinks the stupor out of her eyes before slowly turning towards me.
"...Is everything alright?" I asked, a little concerned.
She lingered, my question hung silently. Her lips bobbed for a few seconds then she shook her head.
"No. Let's keep going." Then she began walking.