"What the hell did you do Ethel?!"
Kayla walked up to Ethel and grabbed the collar of her shirt. The fury in her pair of black eyes was clear as water.
"I already knew you were some kind of noble or something, but that doesn't give you the right to treat people like that! I had become friends with you because I thought you were a good person, was I wrong?!" Kayla's eyes turned red.
She had really started to trust Ethel. If Zinon was like an older sister to her and Aaron was like a grandfather, Ethel would be her first friend in this world.
Kayla would be willing to overlook several things just to maintain her friendship with Ethel since she was no saint in the first place. But what Ethel just did was not one of them...
The boy's situation was very familiar to him and he could not simply ignore such a situation when it happened before his eyes.
Ethel looked at Kayla surprised. Although I expected a scream or two from Kayla, I didn't expect her to react as strongly.
"Hey calm down! At least let me explain myself!" Ethel pushed Kayla's hand away forcefully. Although she knew that it was her fault for what she just did, that didn't mean she would let herself be hit by it.
"First of all, don't ever touch me like that again or I'll respond the same way." Ethel gave Kayla a cold look and continued. "And second, what I did was for the good of the child."
"...What do you mean?" Kayla looked at Ethel as she rubbed her hand. Even though Ethel was a mage, she was at a much higher level than her and her physical strength was not too far behind hers.
"Sigh... I don't know what's wrong with you on this topic, you're usually more sensible...." Ethel looked at her friend a little irritated. It bothered her that Kayla doubted her integrity! Although she was noble, her parents had put a lot of effort into raising her based on respect!
"I guess you don't know much about these situations, but just so you know, if you had tried to fight that pig, besides losing miserably, you would have only made the boy's situation worse."
"Although I'm not sure, it seems that we have entered the territory of some gang in the city, so it is most likely that the boy has a magical contract with the gang, like most of those who live here." Ethel looked at the street they entered through the only window in the room.
There were several people on the street, some were smoking and taking drugs while others were just doing whatever immoral act they could think of. But Ethel had noticed something since she arrived.
Each of the people in the place had the same tattoo somewhere on their body. The punk-haired fairy had a small tattoo on her neck, the cat spirit who took drugs in the corner had it on her hand, the elf who ate herbs...
The examples went on and on, but they all had the same thing in common. That tattoo of a wolf with red fur biting angelic wings...
"I'm not sure, but I think we entered a pretty dangerous neighborhood…" Ethel bit her lip. The reason she didn't react more strongly to Kayla's screams is because she felt guilty for bringing her to this place...
But despite everything, she had no regrets. I have a dignity to protect...
She wasn't referring to her own dignity, but that of her family. She couldn't let rumors spread like the first-born of her family was sleeping on the street. She could sleep in a building worse than the street itself, but she could never allow someone to say that she was a homeless person who had nowhere to sleep...
"Okay, I can understand that, but why did you want that boy as a servant?" Kayla asked Ethel a little more calmly. I was beginning to understand what Ethel wanted to do.
"Well, because we can give that boy a good deal for this week." Ethel rolled her eyes. "Although I don't think we can get the boy out of this situation, we should be able to give him a much more pleasant week than he has been living in this place and even help him if he has any wishes…"
"But why can't we get him out of this place? A magical contract is that powerful?" Although Kayla hadn't heard anything about magical contracts in this world, anyone with some knowledge of fantasy or anime series could get an idea of what it was about.
"Yes... although it is one of the cheapest contracts to make, it has enough power to keep a person below level 50 under control" Ethel spoke while she changed her clothes, not caring much that Kayla saw her. She was used to her maids changing her, so she didn't have much shame in these situations...
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Kayla covered her eyes in shame. Unlike Ethel, who didn't mind showing her body to another woman because of her experiences, Kayla couldn't change in front of anyone. She had never changed clothes with anyone present since she could remember...
"Changing me dah" Ethel rolled her eyes and finished putting on her white owl-print pajamas. "And don't talk anymore, I'm going to sleep."
True to her words, Ethel lay down on one of the beds in the room and closed her eyes. Although she could barely stand the stench of the mattress...
Kayla looked at her without saying anything for a while before putting on some pajamas her grandfather Aaron gave her while making sure Ethel didn't see her.
After changing, she lay down on the other bed and was a little thoughtful as she looked at Ethel on the other bed. After hesitating a little, he opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry about earlier, I was an idiot... I should have trusted you."
Kayla waited for a response, but after a few minutes, she gave up and closed her eyes. Little by little she was falling into dreamland, but just before, she heard a whispering voice.
"Apology accepted, idiot."
...
"So you activated a silencing device just before you entered the room yesterday?…" Kayla looked at Ethel with her mouth open, almost dropping the piece of stale bread she was eating. They were currently in the dining room of the inn where they were staying.
"Yes, I figured something like that could happen… although I never imagined you would shout "that" so loudly…" Ethel looked at Kayla reproachfully. She had imagined that Kayla had discovered that she was a noble, well, she never hid it in the first place.
However, what he had never imagined was that the idiot would shout it while they were in gang territory…
"Are you aware that if I hadn't been cautious enough, we might have been the target of many criminals right now?" Ethel gave Kayla a death glare.
Kayla lowered her head. She had already felt regretful and now a feeling of guilt was added. She hadn't been aware of the damage she may have caused by her tantrum...
"...I'm sorry, I promise I'll trust you next time." Kayla squeezed the only words she could think of from her throat.
"Leave it, I don't need that unconditional trust, we are just friends, and most of all, we are humans. We can make mistakes and I want a friend to stop me if I make a mistake…" Ethel smiled.
Kayla looked at Ethel, a little moved. She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but Ethel's next words killed any emotion she was feeling...
"Though of course, I'm never wrong, so next time you think I'm wrong, which obviously will never happen, tell me and I'll explain things to you." An arrogant smile hung on Ethel's face.
"You idiot haha!" Kayla threw a piece of bread at Ethel.
However, with surprising reflexes, Ethel opened her mouth and caught the piece of bread.
"... Oh really? Aren't you supposed to be a…?" Kayla didn't say the last word, but Ethel understood immediately.
"Does matter? We had fun too or well, my family did" Ethel shrugged her shoulders.
"Pfft, I seriously wonder what your childhood was like for you to go out like that" Kayla smiled and finished the swamp green soup they had given her.
She couldn't hide her disgusted face when she finished...
"Well, now that we've had breakfast, shall we get going?" Ethel stood up and looked around, looking for something or someone.
The dining room of the inn had a decoration from several centuries ago, giving a good atmosphere to the place with the wooden walls and floors... or well, that's how it would be if the place wasn't all old and dirty.
However, Ethel didn't pay attention to that and looked at the few people in the dining room. He ignored the humans and animas getting drunk in the bar and quickly found what he was looking for.
A little boy with an effeminate face who was mopping the floor suddenly felt an intense gaze. He quickly raised his head and noticed a pair of piercing gray eyes staring at him.
The poor boy trembled a little, but he remembered the words that his "boss" had said yesterday and advanced towards the girls who were eating at a table in the dining room.
"Hello!" The boy greeted them when they arrived at his table, giving his best smile that would make anyone fall for the tenderness in it, regardless of whether they were women or men.
However, he was currently facing two beauties of the same level.
"Hello little one, what's your name?" Kayla asked the boy kindly, completely ignoring the boy's cute face.
"Uh, well, my name is Brice…" Brice looked at Kayla confused. How can someone not fall for the beauty of my face?!
Brice felt the corner of his mouth twitch. Although he fared worse when he looked at Ethel.
Ethel was looking at him with complete indifference as if his existence didn't matter!
At least the other girl treated me kindly!
"Brice right? I think you heard very clearly yesterday that I wanted you to be my servant, so I would like to know how well you know the capital so that you can guide us today" Ethel looked at the boy harshly. Although she also wanted to help him, she treated those who did not earn her respect harshly, no matter who it was.
Brice little by little began to despair when he noticed Ethel's attitude. Shit, I think the boss was wrong when he said this girl liked him...
"Sure… but first of all, I would like to clarify that I should be the same age as both of them," Brice sighed. He was already tired of being treated like a child.
"What?! But you're so small!" Kayla looked at Brice in disbelief.
"...I'm a little taller than you, miss." Brice rolled his eyes at Kayla. He was beginning to believe that this girl was not very smart!
"Well yes, but I'm a girl! Besides, your face is too childish and delicate!" Kayla looked carefully at Brice's face.
The boy had a pair of beautiful purple eyes that were slightly hidden by his curly purple hair. Not to mention his round face and his milk-white skin.
Brice could perfectly pass for a thirteen-year-old boy!
"It's not my fault I have this face…" Brice sighed. He hated always having to explain this, especially to the degenerates who were attracted to him for looking like a child...
But despite that, Brice did not hate his face, in fact, he considered it to be one of his virtues, which had saved his life several times...
Brice's eyes darkened for a moment as some memories surfaced in his mind, but he quickly returned to normal. "And as for whether I know the city... I think the three of us know that it is almost impossible to know it completely."
Kayla couldn't help but nod her head. In fact, the capital was too big. Although Kayla wasn't completely sure, if the maps her grandfather Aaron had shown her were correct, the capital Amparos would be as big as half of the United States on Earth...
However, Ethel didn't care about that.
"Maybe, but I think it's obvious that I only hope you know the central part of the capital, where we are." Ethel rolled her eyes.
Unlike the rest of the cities in Sloffizia, Amparos was divided into several zones such as South, West, East, North and Central. Not to mention the other more specific divisions of each area.
"Well, if it's just the central area of Amparos... I know at least half of it very well" Brice responded with confidence. He had been living in Amparos for several years, so he naturally knew the city!
"Well, I guess that's enough." Ethel nodded and headed towards the door as she motioned for Kayla to follow her. "Follow us and tell us about the most important places in the capital"
Kayla followed Ethel while feeling bad for Brice. Little by little he began to realize that Ethel was truly a rather bossy noblewoman...
As for Brice, he looked at the backs of both girls and felt exhausted. Why do I feel like this week is going to be exhausting?...