My hands swung at my sides, almost matching his pace. A smile lingered on his face as his fingers tightened around the strap of his bag.
"They should be around here." He spoke abruptly.
"Would you confront Tremious about the curse?"
He let out a breathy laugh, shaking his head. "Probably not."
"…"
"Not now!"
A smile tugged at my lips, and I scrunched my nose, a mischievous glint in my eyes.
"You seem to be stirring up some trouble."
"Heh, maybe." He giggled.
"You better say m- oh!"
Suddenly, someone slammed into my shoulder and kept walking. I steadied myself just in time to see Dermis grab the person by the arm before they could disappear.
"Excuse me," he said, firm but polite. "I can't let you run off without apologising."
"Dermis, it's alright- oh… aren't you…?"
Her teal hair was hidden beneath a loosely made robe, and her face carried horror. Her smooth skin dripped with sweat, her breaths unsteady from all the running.
Immediately, her brows shifted into their usual stubborn look as she pushed Dermis's hand off her shoulder.
"Taroukasin?"
She clicked her tongue in annoyance and glared me down before stubbornly refusing to apologise.
"My name is... not Taroukasin!"
(Wow... even her way of speaking is stubborn.)
[Tael, I don't like her.]
(She doesn't seem to need your approval.)
[....]
"D-Do you know this person?"
He questioned, and I tilted my head, almost ready to pick a fight.
"What is your name then?"
"Figure it out."
Wow... creatures like her do exist.
I managed to control my expression and simply held a stare-down competition with her. Yet, she reluctantly refused to play along.
"I'm Dermis. Nice to meet you."
Dermis, being the nicer one between the two of us, beamed and extended his hand for a handshake. I could see the sheer confusion on her face from where I stood. She was definitely taken aback by his kind and polite gesture. Seems barbarians do not understand politeness. I'm not surprised.
Contrary to his approach, I was unwilling to be as forgiving as him. I nudged Dermis and whispered, my brows twitching.
"Why are you introducing yourself?"
He stared at me for a few seconds and scratched his head, looking a little flustered as he uttered,
"Was I not supposed to?"
"Stanislaus."
"Hmm?"
"My name... Stanislaus."
Stanislaus... is it? A name foreign to my ears yet again. Her words were always foreign. A language I had only come across in ancient ruined books. Even then, I had only seen fragments of letters. Yet she was capable of forming them into actual words. Even Tremious could only jumble the letters together and try to spell them out.
She gave us one last look before turning away. As her steps quickened, she drifted off into the crowd.
(She knows the language?)
[Maybe that is why your dragon friend finds her interesting.]
My brows twitched again at Tomb's words, and an unpleasant taste swirled inside my mouth.
"Is she an acquaintance?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Kyaaaaaa!!"
Suddenly, a woman's cry rang out from the direction Stanislaus had walked away minutes ago.
Dermis looked my way as a signal and took off, with me following behind.
The scream was loud enough to draw the crowd's attention as we found ourselves swallowed amongst them, brushing past people and almost swimming through the smaller gaps left behind to reach the source of the commotion.
Oh, the sight was a shocker, I must say.
Proud and stubborn little Stanislaus stood there with her hood fallen open, her hands gripped tightly by an older human man with only two teeth on his upper gum and a white beard covering half his face.
Stanislaus had her usual scowl plastered on her face alongside adamant desperation to get out of the disgusting old man's grip.
Me and Dermis had already jumped into action before even processing the situation.
He grabbed onto the man's collar with an ice-woven stoic face filled with hostility.
Meanwhile, I had the unfortunate task of comforting the disturbed woman.
"What do you want, old man?"
"Are you okay?"
She shoved me aside out of nowhere and started stomping toward the two men.
"Ahhh! Look at you. Can't you talk to me normally? Now people think you're a pervert!!"
I sat on my back for a moment, unable to understand why I was even in this situation. Dermis looked utterly confused while Stanislaus launched into a rant.
"Why are you still drinking in broad daylight!? I told you not to! Running around on that bike at your age! What are you, a child?!"
The roles had completely switched.
The man looked terribly sorry, hesitating with every reply.
I made myself comfortable on the ground while Dermis walked on eggshells... literally.
A man had happened to drop some eggs during the chaos, and Dermis kept stepping on the fallen shells.
"But I only drank a little...di"
"Shut up, old man! Can you do anything properly?!"
The ground feels really comfortable today.