42 Hausen oath

"So, you are telling me that these guys are from another realm and Aliester here is our brother?" Anika looked skeptic. Her brows creased as she sipped her tea.

The other boys looked troubled while watching her. Aliester in particular could not help but feel very much uncomfortable.

Earlier, they had moved inside the house. The boys introduced themselves and talked while having dinner.

At first, it was going well. Until, Anika asked them about their family background and hometown. Aliester knew that his elder sister was subtly interrogating them.

The boys were a bit quiet since they were not able to decide what sort of story they will tell.

Aliester thought that they would only fabricate a believable tale to explain why they were "freeloading" in Hausen House.

He had never expected that his twin would blurt out what was happening in the other realm. He never thought that his twin would simply jump those facts to their eldest sibling.

Aliester could not help but think that they made a huge mistake making Aria do the talking.

Anika sighed before getting up. "I think I am still a bit jetlagged. I'll go get alcohol."

While the elder sister momentarily left to get her liquor, Aliester kicked his twin's feet and hissed. "Why in the world did you tell the whole story to Anika?"

The other boys joined in the fray. They seemed also did not like how Aria handled the conversation.

"Our story is a bit farfetched and very impossible in Linden's perspective." Conrad said.

"Aria, you shouldn't have said something like that to your elder sister." Blaze added. "I doubt she would believe our story."

Before the girl could defend herself, Daxton chimed in. "Did she just go and get liquor? I got a feeling that she might have called the cops to send us to prison."

"Rather than prison, I think she might send us to a mental asylum." Conrad corrected.

Aria put her hand up to stop them from speaking any further. She grinned. "It is Anika we are talking about. She would know if we lie to her."

"So instead of lying, you tell her the whole truth?" Aliester scoffed. "As if Anika will believe our story which is more like a fantasy out from a manga."

That jeer did not even faze Aria. "Though, she is skeptical, she will believe us."

When the eldest Hausen sibling returned with a bottle of wine, she sat and downed a glass in one gulp.

Her face reddened slightly and she looked at Aria and the boys with narrowed eyes. He reddish brown orbs settled last on Aliester.

The whole group waited for her to talk, instead Anika suddenly recited in a Linden dialect, which was an archaic version of the modern Linden tongue that they were using.

{Oath of Loyalty, I promise I will always be a loyal child of Hausen family.

I am just shadow, with no weakness, no emotion… }

The boys were bewildered with the sudden speech, which they could not even understand. They have learned the conversational Linden tongue but not this dialect.

Meanwhile Aliester stiffened. He has an inkling that Anika must be testing him.

Being trained since childhood and made the oath be recited before, the Hausen siblings knew the oath by heart. Thus, Aria reflexively joined in reciting.

{Never would I divulge secrets for divine retribution…

I will only pass on the knowledge to my children…}

Aliester could barely resist the urge to join his sisters as they continued the oath.

{I will accomplish my mission clandestinely…

and never use my skills to steal and commit immorality,

unless ordered by our master.}

Finally, Aliester gave in and chorused with his sisters.

{I therefore, acknowledge that if I break the oath even by a little,

I will be punished by the gods.}

As, Aliester recited, Anika's face grew pale and tears glistened.

{The Hausen ancestry and the rest of our brethren will curse me.

I will die a death without honor, should I break my promise.}

When they finished their oath, the siblings were silently looking at each other, leaving the outsiders perplexed.

It was Anika who broke the tense air. "I can't believe this! You were gone and you returned to us just like this! You are much older than your twin now."

She rose from her seat and made her way towards her brother. Aliester was a bit relieved, he never thought that Anika would believe their tale.

He anticipated that his eldest sibling would hug him like what his twin did when they reunited but instead, a fist was brought down on his head.

"OWWW!" he cried out. "What was that for?"

"That is for making us worry, you worthless shut in!" Anika grabbed him and roughly ruffled his hair.

Aria laughed and joined the two. The three Hausen siblings hugged for a moment.

Someone cleared his throat which brought them all back to reality.

Aliester explained to the boys that Anika believed them.

"So, what happens now?" the mage asked while glancing at the eldest Hausen.

"Let me get this straight." Anika said. "You came here to recruit my sister to save the other realm."

The boys nodded.

The elder sister continued. "You got enemies you need to defeat and the mission will be dangerous. Now, may I ask, do you have any plans?"

That got the boys silent.

Aliester thought that his sisters have similar thoughts. Aria had been asking them about their plans.

Unfortunately, they could not provide her with a concrete one. That was why they have a hard time convincing her to go back to the other realm.

Anika sighed. "If you drag Aria to the other realm without any plan laid out, that would simply be a suicide. So, unless you come up with something good, I will not allow her to go."

"but…" Conrad would have argued.

But Anika glared at him. "She is a minor and I am her guardian. I cannot let you take her somewhere risky without any assurance that she will come back safe and sound."

Zarame then suggested something which made Aliester brightened up.

[master, why don't you take the opportunity to train first. Since your sister is here, you can also ask about some of the ancient text to decipher the spell.]

'why didn't I think of that?' Aliester thought.

So, Aliester laid out the plans as suggested by the system, "Anika, we would like to learn self defense and spying skills from you."

The woman narrowed her eyes at them in scrutiny until she sighed. "You do know that I am quite strict. Plus, I could not teach our family technique to outsiders."

"They only need the basic skills." Aria incised. "Not the specialized ones."

"Also, we found some of the ancient books from the Hausen archives, will you help us, decipher them?" Aliester asked.

Anika was a bit reluctant.

"we need some spells to be able to defeat the enemies and some of the books from our ancestors have them." Aria explained and tried to convince their eldest.

Anika sighed before finally caving. "I can try."