Chapter 20: 'Girls Talk'

In the bustling streets, Rose and Cecilia were sitting at a bench by the sidewalk while vehicles pulled by cows, horses, ground lizards and beefaloes steadily moved on the main road. They had led Matthew away from them, the reason being they had something to talk about.

“Phew, good thing Matt is really easy to persuade.” Rose said after sitting.

“You knew?” Cecilia was right beside Rose.

“Yeah, I mean, we were classmates after all. Back in our world, I mean.”

“Oh so you’ve known him for a while.”

“Yeah, I’ve known him for years now.” Rose sounded a bit sad.

“... What is he like?” Cecilia suddenly asked.

Rose was quiet for a second. She looked at the sky while she explained. “He is… Very childish, he plays around a lot, lazy in class, sleeps while the teacher is teaching… But when someone needs help, he would instantly say yes. When someone gets bullied, he would protect. And… When someone is in danger, he would save them…” Rose’s eyes sparkled as if tears could run down her cheeks while her smile was very genuine.

“He is a really good person huh… Being so strong while also so soft.” Cecilia complimented Matthew as her face also grew redder.

“Yeah… He is…”

“You also know a lot about him.”

Rose’s head began to heat up for some reason and quickly dismissed the current topic. “E-enough about him, okay? I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“... What is it?”

“I’ve… Been meaning to ask.” Rose stopped to take a breath. Creating an suspens atmosphere. “Are you by any chance, a Noble?”

Cecilia’s eyes widened in shock. Her hands were trembling and her legs were shaking. She was scared. She gripped her dress by her chest.

Then she spoke with a nervous smile. “Ahaha… What are you talking about Rose? I’m not a Noble-”

“Cecilia…” However, Rose spoke in a way to threaten her.

Rose’s eyes were squinted and her eyebrows almost met. She was very serious. Cecilia was feeling the pressure from Rose. She looked around nervously and in panic.

“Ermm ahh umm…” Cecilia was fidgeting and became restless.

“Cecilia,” Rose grabbed Cecilia’s shoulder in a soft yet firm grip. “You don’t have to hide it.”

Cecilia was petrified now. Her body froze up as Rose’s sharp eyes stared deeper into hers. Her breathing became heavier. She was genuinely scared now.

Rose eased up with her stare and let go of Cecilia’s shoulder. She took a deep breath and said, “It’s okay to tell, we’re friends aren’t we?” She said with a nicer tone and a softer face.

Cecilia still did not answer and fidgeted again. Rose was growing annoyed however, she understood that there’s no use to push further.

“You know what, forget it. Forget that I asked that. It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me.” Rose crossed her arms. ‘At this point, it’s only gonna make it uncomfortable for her to be around. I wonder how Matt persuaded her before…’

“Yes.”

A sudden answer from Cecilia made Rose surprised that she blurted out, “what?”

Cecilia clasped her trembling hands together close to her chest. She closed her eyes and said it louder. “Yes, I am a Noble!”

“...” Rose did not get to say anything from her shock even though this was what she wanted.

Cecilia became droopy. She bent over and placed her forehead over her knees, her short hair covering her face. She hugged thighs and spoke with a very soft voice.

“You can tell the others if you want. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Rose now felt bad for forcing Cecilia, but it was too late now. She decided to ask further. “Why do you… Hide that from people?”

“... I think you know the answer to that.”

“...” Rose did say it straight forward. However, yes indeed she knew a few reasons.

Nobles, second in authority after the royal family in the Omni Kingdom. Nobles share ownership over land with the royal family in the Omni Kingdom, manage administrations for the part of land that they own and report back to the royal family. In other words, Nobles were in command of their land and were under direct instructions from the royal family.

That, was common knowledge that would be taught in schools. What the schools didn’t teach was that, Nobles were rumoured to own slaves. Slaves who did labour for no pay at all and were treated poorly. It was nothing but common in the world of Nobles in Omni.

What’s more was that Nobles even compare between them on who owns more slaves. Who owned more meant that Noble was richer. Slaves were not free. They were sold by certain merchants. Some slaves were not used for labour and were kept for other reasons, usually young beautiful females.

This knowledge was not exposed at schools as it was inappropriate and also to protect the finances of schools that were all funded by the Nobles of Omni. Schools could not afford to lose those fundings.

However, Hunter academies did not keep this a secret at all. As a Hunter, knowledge is as important as power. The Hunter Association only takes direct fundings from the governments of the world as they are an international agency. Therefore, they were completely fine with sharing any information they wanted aside from government related things. Even so, that did not stop the Hunters themselves from discovering it themselves.

Back to the topic, Rose had already known about the rumours of the Nobles in the Omni Kingdom. However, she needed to know something else from Cecilia. Which one was she from? The good ones, or the bad ones.

“Can I… Can I ask you something?” Rose started soft.

Cecilia’s face was still hidden behind her hair and shoulder. She replied weakly, “go ahead.”

Hearing Cecilia’s voice all sad and depressed hurt Rose’s heart as well to proceed, but she steeled her will. “Are you really like that? Or your parents? Or any Nobles you know?”

“... Not like you’ll believe me anyway.” Cecilia’s was trembling as if she was crying.

For a second, Rose felt a little bit of anger from Cecilia’s childlike answer. She quickly cooled down and tried to persuade Cecilia.

“That’s not true. I want to help if I can, so please tell me.” Rose put her hand on her chest to show sincerity. “I promise I won’t be like the other people. I’ll stick with you no matter what.”

“Liar, that’s what everybody says. In the end they just left me.” Cecilia lifted her head a bit, showing a part of her face. “Even though it’s not true.”

Rose did not say anything and only let Cecilia continue.

“I won’t lie that there are some Nobles that are like that. But my family, they’re different!” Cecilia half shouted. “My family don’t own any slaves. We even spend a part of our finances to buy the slaves off of other Nobles to free them. In the end, we end up with little for ourselves. Only enough to maintain our status.” Cecilia stopped to take some air.

She continued, “that’s also why I wanted to be a Hunter. I want to be independent and not be a burden anymore. I want to ease them from their stress as best I can. But in the end, I can barely protect myself. I only became a burden to other people. I couldn’t do anything… I’m…” Sobs and sniffles came from Cecilia. Her shoulders were shaking. Some kind of liquid dropped onto the brick street floor, tears. “I really am useless.”

Cecilia was crying. After hearing Cecilia’s confession and she started to cry, Rose’s heart ached to see the consequence of her action. As much as it hurt, she now must clean up her mess.

“No Cecilia, you’re not useless. You helped us a lot, remember? You protected us with your barrier magic. You healed people. You’re not a burden to us. Forget what other people say, think about how your parents would be when they see you.”

Cecilia’s sobbing came to a halt. “I believe that they would be proud of you. You’re braver and more confident now, don’t you think? They must be very happy to see you now.”

Both of them were silent. Rose had run out of words to say, she never was really good at these things. She was worried that might have done it wrongly, but she waited patiently for Cecilia’s answer.

“Rose,” finally cecilia said after a while. “Am I really not a burden?”

Rose almost did not breathe for a moment there. “Of course not, not at all.”

“Will you really be my friend forever?”

“Yes, yes of course. I promise.” Rose answered.

Cecilia suddenly shifted her body towards Rose. Cecilia held Rose’s hands in her own and looked at Rose with teary eyes. Rose was quite surprised by this but what Cecilia said next made Rose relieved.

“Then please, I will be in your care,” Cecilia said.

Rose was a bit taken aback but she replied softly. “Of course.”

“Uwaa!” Cecilia cried in Rose’s chest and Rose could not do anything but pat her back while feeling embarrassed. “Okay, okay, Cecilia, there are people watching. You can calm down now.”

Cecilia could not calm down and only continued crying her heart out. “Uwaa!”

Seeing her friend like this, Rose only smiled softly and held Cecilia in a hug on the bench where they sat. She now felt relieved. It was a nice and safe ending to their side of the story, but what about Matthew and Yuki?