After getting an earful from his mom for yet another misunderstanding, Kael went to his sister and pinched her cheeks in annoyance.
Liora naturally slapped her brother's hands away, annoyed that her happy time with the wolf had been interrupted over something unimportant.
"Do you want to ride it with me?" Liora asked Viona, noticing the girl in her mom's arms watching with an eager expression.
Viona hesitated and looked at her older sister and Kael from time to time because she had been warned by Vanya that she needed to be extremely polite and never ever make any trouble when they were with Kael.
Before Kael could respond to the girl's anxious looks, Laura suddenly said, "Don't be afraid of him. Do whatever you like. If he dares scold you, just tell Auntie Laura, okay?"
She continued, gently settling Viona behind Liora, "But be careful when you play with Liora—her legs are paralyzed, so she can't move them."
"Viona understands," the girl said, then hugged Liora and the wolf together, making sure Liora wouldn't fall.
"From now on, you can just play around with Liora, okay?" Laura petted Viona's head softly, feeling pity that she had already been thinking about how to make money and help her older sister when she was supposed to play around as a kid.
"But…" Viona was genuinely happy for a second before she remembered her situation.
"No—but!" Laura flicked her forehead softly and said, " Don't worry about money. I'll pay you double—no, triple the money you earned before if you accompany Liora and play with her every day."
"Really?" Viona exclaimed, opening her eyes widely as she couldn't believe what she'd just heard.
"Of course!" Laura chuckled.
"Where do you live? Is it far from here?" Viona asked, assuming she'd need to visit daily.
Liora laughed for a while before pinching her cheek softly. "Silly girl, you don't need to think about it since you will live with us from now on, okay?"
She added, "You'll be much safer with us. There are dangerous monsters outside, and it's risky if you're not strong. Do you understand?"
Viona nodded. "Hmm… but what about my sister? She'll come too, right?"
"Naturally," Liora replied with a smile.
"This…" Vanya hesitated for a few seconds.
Kael immediately waved his hand dismissively when he noticed a cold gaze from his mom. "It's alright, you can follow us. I'll find you a job later when I'm free, don't worry too much."
Truth be told, Kael had already planned to let Vanya and her little sister as he thought that Viona could become Liora's friend since they were similar in age.
…
After chatting for a while, they set out again to the east. This time Fenric sat atop the truck beside Kael, while the two little girls and Vanya were riding on the Darkfang Wolf since Liora was very adamant in doing so.
On the way there, there was basically no trouble since even if there was any, they quickly got taken care of by the Goblin Commander and the others.
When they had already gone quite far, Kael asked Fenric a weird question. "By any chance, do you know where the Celestine Apartment is?"
Fenric frowned at him for a moment, then laughed, slapping his forehead. "Don't tell me you don't know where it is."
Before Kael could respond, Laura shouted. "Stop!"
Sigh!
"How could I forget this guy doesn't know anywhere except for some places?" Laura slapped her forehead.
"Mom, how can you say that to your son? I know where the bank and ice cream places are!" Kael said in annoyance.
"Yeah, those are included in the 'some places' that I've mentioned. Why else would you skip the bank nearer our house and go all the way to one off the main road?" Laura sneered.
"Hmmph! It's because the bank that's near the central city is bigger!" Kael snorted in disagreement.
"What about the closer ice-cream shop that's easier to reach?" Laura asked, amused.
"That one always gives bigger portions, right, Liora?" Kael replied.
Liora chimed in, "Brother Kael is right. I always get more ice cream whenever we go there."
"See that?" Kael sneered back.
"Get lost, Kael! That's because you always buy her two ice creams instead of one. There's no such thing as that shop giving more portions!" Laura replied with an annoyed expression as if she was about to get out of the truck and scolded him really badly.
"..."
Everyone was speechless but didn't dare to laugh except for Fenric, Julian, Uncle Owen, and Luca.
"Anyway, that's not important. We need to go to the Celestine Apartment as soon as possible." Kael changed the topic and nudged at Fenric using his full strength.
Bam!
Fenric blocked it with a helpless expression. 'This young man is really something else.'
"We already passed the intersection where we should've turned north. The apartment isn't far from there," Fenric explained, shaking his head. "When we passed it, I thought you had a reason—turns out you didn't even know the place."
Cough!
Kael coughed and looked around. "What was that loud sound a few seconds ago? There must have been someone fighting against the others!"
He continued, "Go search the surroundings to see if there are people fighting and help them!"
"..."
Everyone was speechless again when they heard Kael shamelessly changed the topic by spouting such nonsense since the source of the sound was literally from him attacking Fenric.
"Let's head back right away since I've gathered enough subordinates." Kael shook his head and continued. "You guys really don't know the responsibility of the leader, where they need to put everyone's safety. That's why I deliberately went further because I need to gather more subordinates while helping people in need."
Liora chimed in again, "But didn't you say we should prioritize ourselves first? Why help others now?"
Kael gritted his teeth, glaring at her little sister and raised his fist as if he wanted to knock her head. "Liora, ask Mom for ice cream from now on—don't come to me."
Realizing her mistake, Liora nodded vigorously. "Brother Kael is right! People don't understand a true leader's responsibility."
"..."
"That's enough, you two!" Laura has had enough, looking at her precious little princess has gone astray because of Kael.
Sigh!
Kael sighed and looked above. "The sunset is beautiful, isn't it?"
"..."
'The time hasn't even passed the afternoon yet, how can it be sunset already?'
Everyone thought to themselves when they heard Kael's words.