51 Gill
Seeing Kiro's reaction, Missa and co, stared at him in bewilderment.
"... Umm, is big brother alright?" Gill, who was hiding behind Missa's back, said while peering at Kiro's figure.
Noticing his slip words, Kiro coughs to hide embarrassment. "Ahem, yup, I'm fine. My name is Kiro; how about you guys?" Staring at the two children, Kiro gently smiled at them.
"... Hello, big brother Kiro." Suddenly the girl behind Missa voiced out. "I am Meg."
"Mm, what a beautiful name, nice to meet you, Meg." While curiously staring at the two. Suddenly, Fixie's voice echoed inside his head.
"Master, there seems to be unusual to those two." Fixie pondered for a moment as she added. "Especially to the male wolf, Master should use your appraisal skill to him."
Listening to her voice, Kiro stared at the two in confusion. But he still did what he was told to.
"[Appraisal]," Kiro murmured, as a familiar seen-through screen appeared in front of him.
﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍
Name: Gill
Lv: 3
Age: 12
Race: Beast-kin
Gender: Male
Title: N/A
*
∘ Statistics
STR: 19 ︳INT: 10 ︳DEX: 15 ︳CON: 10 ︳CHA: 10 ︳
SEN: 20 ︳VIT: 71 ︳
*
∘ Job List
Combat Job: N/A
Non-combat Job: N/A
∘ Skill List
Combat Skill: N/A
Non-combat Skill: N/A
Innate Skill:
[Shapeshifter] Lv. 1
﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍﹍
Glancing at Gill's status bar, Kiro muttered an inaudible tone. "... What is a shapeshifter?" staring at the transparent menu, Kiro lightly tapped the Innate skill section.
*
Shapeshifter:
- A racial transformation of a beast-kin.
Effect:
- Boosted the caster's physical strength and endurance by ten folds.
*
"... What?" Kiro couldn't help to exclaim his astonishment upon seeing Gill's status bar.
Watching his reaction, the three became even more confused from his behavior. Then Missa was the one who first recovered and voiced out.
"... Hmm, is it your first time seeing a beast-kin race Kiro?" She guessed it right. It was Kiro's first time seeing one. Glancing at him, who was in the puzzlement, Missa giggled slightly. "Pfft, I guess Kiro can have this expression too."
When he heard her voice, Kiro awakened from his wonder. "... Hehehe, yup, it is my first time seeing another race, sorry if I startled you too." Saying that, Kiro gently soothed the awkward atmosphere around them.
"So, how come you guys are here?" Kiro asked curiously. He knew the reason the beast-kin came to the town. However, he doesn't know the reason why Missa is accompanying them.
"Ah! I forgot to tell you this. The Nimrod party came back to the forest that we failed to attempt our quest, to think that deep inside their settlement, there was a multiple captured individual." Missa shook her head slightly while staring at the two children with a sympathetic gaze.
"Because of that, I asked their uncle if I can stroll around the town to raise their spirit." After Missa said those words, only then Kiro noticed in the nearby food stall, a middle-aged man was hiding beneath the crowd whilst wearing a long coat to cover his figure.
At first, Kiro thought the person was suspicious. However, when Missa mentioned the two children's uncle, he guessed it was their uncle.
"Oh, I guess those two surely have an affectionate uncle, huh." Kiro proclaimed, deliberately making his voice slightly louder.
The middle-aged man on the corner flinched for a bit, before returning his usual calm. However, his eyes flashed in wonder. "... That kid noticed my presence... Such a talented young man." Lori muttered in amazement.
Seeing that the man won't come out, Kiro could only shake his head in resignation.
Noticing his odd behavior, Kiro added. "It's nothing, did you guys eat lunch yet, if not it's my treat. Let's grab some light meals."
"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot we haven't eaten anything yet." When she heard his voice, Missa said as she patted the two children's heads.
∘
∘
∘
Ye Olde Tavern
Inside the tavern, Kiro and the others ordered a light meal, even though he already ate lunch. Kiro didn't forget to order his meal portion too.
While waiting for their meal to be served. "... So, how're the others?" Kiro asked while staring at Missa, who closely attended the two kids.
As she heard his sudden question, Missa thought for a moment before she responded.
"We're doing fine. It's just that..." Missa paused for a bit. However, she couldn't voice out the next words she was about to say.
Kiro wasn't stupid, not to know what she was about to say next, while patiently waiting. Kiro stared at Missa's glittering greenish eyes.
"It's just that after you leave, the heavy atmosphere inside the training lounge becomes tougher..." Biting her lower lip, Missa continued. "Why would you suddenly leave just like that? Do you think avoiding use would resolve the problem?" Staring at Kiro, Missa said with tearful eyes.
"... I know that." Seeing her tearful look, Kiro said as gently as he could. "It is just that I can't stand the suffocating feeling each day."
When she heard Kiro's excuses, Missa fiercely gripped the hem of her clothing. Whilst trying to stabilize her chaotic emotion. "... You, do you honestly believe that you're the only one who cannot stand the unpleasant atmosphere in our group? What about Alina?" Exhaling slightly, Missa glared at Kiro.
"Even though she couldn't stand the discomfort within the group. Yet, she still has chosen—not to leave. Why? Because she wanted to mend the crack to this party... But what about you?"
Listening to her, Kiro felt ashamed. She hit him on the spot. What he was only doing was to avoid the problem. "It's not wha—" Before he could say it, Missa interjected.
"It's not what? You are evidently avoiding us!" Eventually, Missa could no longer control her anger as she slammed the table, startling the nearby customers.
"Do you truly think you're the only one who is affected by such? We all do! In fact, even I couldn't sleep in peace at night since that day..." Holding her tears that were about to fall on her cheeks. Missa added.
"... Tell me why—why did you leave just like that?" In the end, Missa couldn't bear it any longer, as her pearl-shaped tears rolled on her cheeks, moistening her beautiful face with sorrow.
Seeing her like that, Kiro didn't know how to console her. Suddenly a voice echoed inside his head.
"I usually wouldn't want to intrude in such a delicate situation. However, you leave Fixie no choice, Master, at the time like this, you have to apologize! It's your mistake to begin with! Fixie was hoping in this circumstance Master would raise his experience in life."
Hearing Fixie's voice, Kiro suddenly awakened from his ineptitude. "I'm sorry Missa; it is my fault." Lowering his head. "I shouldn't disappear just like that; I too wanted to get rid of the awkwardness at our party... It's just that..."
Pausing for a bit, Kiro tried to make things clear, but before he could; Missa, who already lost her patience, impetuously injected.
"Just what!" Fiercely glaring at him, Missa yelled.
Kiro was so shocked to see her burst like this. The Missa he knew was a sweet and friendly individual. Yet, the person in front of him was far from being cheerful.
"... It's just that I don't know how to..." Moving up to this point, Kiro could only answer her truthfully.
"Idiot! If you don't know, you can always ask us! Aren't we all friend? Or you don't consider us one?" When she heard his dumb reasoning, Missa couldn't help to swear at him.
"Of course, I treat you guys as my friends." Staring at her moistened greenish eyes, Kiro sincerely said.
"... Then, you better talk to Aldin and resolve this problem." Wiping the tears on her cheeks, Missa stated.
Kiro could only helplessly nod in agreement while it was also true that he did want to mend the relationship of his current party.
