Altair looked the girl in the eyes from two meters away and said, "Well, here I am. If you're done, the door is behind you." The less time she had to spend dealing with people the more she could learn. The science and technology of this world did fascinate her to a certain degree and she couldn't wait to continue learning about them. She was hoping to be able to take the knowledge she had back to her home and use it to help the Demi-Humans out. Even though she didn't like her position as the leader of them, she still had the responsibility to do what she could to make sure they survived. So every minute counted to her when it came to becoming smarter.
The youth's expression turned unsightly as he angrily said, "You don't even greet us and now you're throwing us out without even introducing yourself. I see the Marnithok family has fallen quite low to adopt someone like you."
Altair frowned in return to the youth, "I'm not going to treat you children the same as adults. I don't even see why you two dressed up so much for this meeting." She crossed her arms on her chest as she continued, "I suppose that's because you must think you're so great to be born a noble. Being able to flaunt around the money and status of your predecessors and walking over people. Your kind disgusts me." Altair couldn't help but insult her way through the conversation. This youth thought just like nobles would in her mind, arrogant and pompous. At his (presumed) age, Altair knew that he would only get worse when he became an adult. Since he was still a (presumed) kid, Altair decided that she would see if she could provoke him into getting beat up. Then she could teach him some humility and he would go much further towards being a proper person.
The youth chuckled to himself with an evil smile. This caused Altair's brow to rise slightly. The girl gave a weary look to the youth next to her before taking several obvious steps away from him. "You… That mouth of yours isn't anything like what I was told." He shook his head in exaggerated sadness, "You have such a pretty face, maybe if you didn't have a tongue you'd be pleasant to have around?"
Altair narrowed her eyes at him, "That's the third time I've been threatened by a child. Every time it was a boy and a noble as well. I suppose I should treat you the same way I did them." Altair stretched her arms and legs out while she stood up, not bothering to hide her actions.
The youth didn't miss the meaning behind her movements as he said, "You don't even know who I am and you actually dare to threaten me? I don't know who the other people who threatened you are, but if you acted like this you deserved it."
Altair casually said, "I know who you are, Ladrian boy. My brother was as pompous as you. Now he won't show his face as he has learned from his experience." She stepped away from the table and came to within one meter of the youth, "I wonder if you'll show your face when we're done here."
A strange light passed through the youth's eyes as his evil smile slowly disappeared, "You're saying you beat up Joshua?"
Altair nodded confidently, "Twice, along with his other friends." She pointed at the youth and the girl while adding, "Since both of you are here because of him, I suppose it's only fair to send you off the same way as the others."
The youth gave out a hearty laugh which caused Altair to look at him like he was crazy. He didn't put up any guard and laughed like a madman. After a while of laughter he said, "Well, now I know why Rictor said those things to us." He looked at the girl who had come with him and said, "You see it too, right sis?"
The girl nodded her head towards Altair with a sly smile on her face.
Altair's expression turned serious at their strange behavior. In her experience when a human exhibited odd behavior was when they were at their most unpredictable and dangerous. She put up her guard and readied herself to react instantly to any movement between the two of them. She cursed herself for not thinking that they wouldn't both attack her at once. With the strange Spiritual Energy that the Humans of this world had, she still couldn't let her guard down just because they were children if they ganged up on her.
The youth gave Altair a bright smile as he said, "Forgive my earlier attitude. I thought you were just an arrogant peasant who got adopted by a noble and looked down on us. But if you have the brain and ability to actually push down that stupid dog Joshua, then you can't be all bad."
Altair gave him a look of confusion but didn't lower her guard. She actually took a step backwards because of how sudden their change was.
The girl gave the youth a flat look as she said, "Brother you leave too much out." She turned to Altair and said, "We didn't come here because Joshua invited us or anything. We came here to meet you because Rictor said you were interesting." She hesitated before adding, "He also said you have a fascinating way with words."
Altair gave them alternating looks before saying, "I stand by my original statement. You've met me, door is behind you. Feel free to leave."
The youth seemed to ignore her words as he said, "Allow me to properly introduce ourselves." He stood up straight and formal like a noble and did a noble bow while saying, "I am Hadrian Ladrian." He pointed towards the girl and added, "That's my sister, Celestine Ladrian."
Altair frowned at him, "Okay, are you done now then? Can you leave?"
Hadrian looked Altair straight in the eyes before saying, "Let's be friends, Aria!"
Altair's expression darkened as if she had a thundercloud over her head. 'After coming to this place they expect me to make friends with Human children? They must be insane.' Altair shook her head, "I refuse. You know the way out right?"
Hadrian moved towards the table that Altair was sitting at when they arrived while saying, "Oh come on, we can be very useful to you, you know. Give us a chance."
Altair saw what he was doing and moved to block him before he sat down. She really didn't want to entertain children or play their games. Even though their games would likely be very different from what she imagined games to be. "Again, I refuse."
Hadrian grinned at Altair as he looked down on her due to their height difference, "Tell you what, I'll stop bothering you about it if you can beat my sister in a sparring bout. But if you lose, then you have to become our friend."
Altair narrowed her eyes at him, "Why do I have to make a bet for this? If I refuse that means I refuse."
Hadrian shrugged his shoulders carelessly, "Sure you can refuse. But we can just keep coming to you every day and bothering you like this until you do. The choice is yours." He gave her a wry smile as he added, "Besides, she's weaker than me so you might actually win."
Altair frowned at him and then sighed lightly. It seemed children here were always so free and persistent. Her studies would get slowed down immensely if these two kept coming here every single day. She felt she was already behind and wondered for a moment how far behind she would fall if they actually did do as he said. An idea came to her mind as she asked, "Are you two really that free? Don't you have school?"
He grinned at her again, "Course we got school. We came here right after it was finished. Even did our homework on the way. So, there's no problems about us coming every single day."
Altair looked at Celestine who hadn't moved or said anything in a while, "Are you okay with him offering you up to people like this?"
Celestine shrugged her shoulders, "I'm interested in you as well so I don't mind." Her thoughts were different from her brother's interest in her. She thought that Altair would be amusing to invite over to tea or social gatherings with the other noble women. She was sure that their reactions to her crass nature would be fun to watch.
She was also pleased that her brother had suggested the legendary Friend By Combat she had seen in shows growing up. She suddenly felt like the protagonist of those stories. If she won, then that just further meant she was the main character of the universe didn't it?
Altair clicked her tongue then said, "Fine. But you have to never bother me again if I win."
Hadrian nodded his head without hesitating, "Sure. No problems here." He then walked around Altair and sat in the seat she blocked him from without another word, drawing a glare from her.
Altair walked towards Celestine who started stretching. She examined her while she stretched and judged that it should be similar to her fight with Joshua, only she was probably more focused on speed than power. Still, she didn't know the rules to sparring in this world, so she asked, "What are the rules to sparring? Do I just have to knock her out?"
Hadrian's brow rose slightly and just as he was about to reply, the door to Altair's room opened and a maid that Altair had never seen before entered. This drew nasty looks from Hadrian and Celestine, but a curious look from Altair. She thought that maids were prohibited from entering her room when she was meeting with people.
The maid ignored Hadrian and Celestine's glares and walked confidently toward Altair. When she got within arm's reach of her she said, "Young Miss, the Mistress has requested your presence in her room. I will take you there now." She promptly reached out and grabbed Altair's hand without waiting for a reply and turned to walk out of the room.
A sense of relief passed through Altair's body although she didn't know why. She found the timing of this invitation to actually be annoying. She wanted to finish her business with these two children first but found that she couldn't actually act on that thought. Instead, she turned her head towards the two of them as she was pulled out of the room and said, "Reschedule this." She then quickened her steps as her heart started to race in anticipation.
This feeling caught Altair by surprise. She knew what this was and didn't understand why she was feeling it. She was excited to see Sarah again. This didn't make sense to Altair.
Altair's eyes narrowed as she considered why she was feeling this way.
Altair looked the girl in the eyes from two meters away and said, "Well, here I am. If you're done, the door is behind you." The less time she had to spend dealing with people the more she could learn. The science and technology of this world did fascinate her to a certain degree and she couldn't wait to continue learning about them. She was hoping to be able to take the knowledge she had back to her home and use it to help the Demi-Humans out. Even though she didn't like her position as the leader of them, she still had the responsibility to do what she could to make sure they survived. So every minute counted to her when it came to becoming smarter.
The youth's expression turned unsightly as he angrily said, "You don't even greet us and now you're throwing us out without even introducing yourself. I see the Marnithok family has fallen quite low to adopt someone like you."
Altair frowned in return to the youth, "I'm not going to treat you children the same as adults. I don't even see why you two dressed up so much for this meeting." She crossed her arms on her chest as she continued, "I suppose that's because you must think you're so great to be born a noble. Being able to flaunt around the money and status of your predecessors and walking over people. Your kind disgusts me." Altair couldn't help but insult her way through the conversation. This youth thought just like nobles would in her mind, arrogant and pompous. At his (presumed) age, Altair knew that he would only get worse when he became an adult. Since he was still a (presumed) kid, Altair decided that she would see if she could provoke him into getting beat up. Then she could teach him some humility and he would go much further towards being a proper person.
The youth chuckled to himself with an evil smile. This caused Altair's brow to rise slightly. The girl gave a weary look to the youth next to her before taking several obvious steps away from him. "You… That mouth of yours isn't anything like what I was told." He shook his head in exaggerated sadness, "You have such a pretty face, maybe if you didn't have a tongue you'd be pleasant to have around?"
Altair narrowed her eyes at him, "That's the third time I've been threatened by a child. Every time it was a boy and a noble as well. I suppose I should treat you the same way I did them." Altair stretched her arms and legs out while she stood up, not bothering to hide her actions.
The youth didn't miss the meaning behind her movements as he said, "You don't even know who I am and you actually dare to threaten me? I don't know who the other people who threatened you are, but if you acted like this you deserved it."
Altair casually said, "I know who you are, Ladrian boy. My brother was as pompous as you. Now he won't show his face as he has learned from his experience." She stepped away from the table and came to within one meter of the youth, "I wonder if you'll show your face when we're done here."
A strange light passed through the youth's eyes as his evil smile slowly disappeared, "You're saying you beat up Joshua?"
Altair nodded confidently, "Twice, along with his other friends." She pointed at the youth and the girl while adding, "Since both of you are here because of him, I suppose it's only fair to send you off the same way as the others."
The youth gave out a hearty laugh which caused Altair to look at him like he was crazy. He didn't put up any guard and laughed like a madman. After a while of laughter he said, "Well, now I know why Rictor said those things to us." He looked at the girl who had come with him and said, "You see it too, right sis?"
The girl nodded her head towards Altair with a sly smile on her face.
Altair's expression turned serious at their strange behavior. In her experience when a human exhibited odd behavior was when they were at their most unpredictable and dangerous. She put up her guard and readied herself to react instantly to any movement between the two of them. She cursed herself for not thinking that they wouldn't both attack her at once. With the strange Spiritual Energy that the Humans of this world had, she still couldn't let her guard down just because they were children if they ganged up on her.
The youth gave Altair a bright smile as he said, "Forgive my earlier attitude. I thought you were just an arrogant peasant who got adopted by a noble and looked down on us. But if you have the brain and ability to actually push down that stupid dog Joshua, then you can't be all bad."
Altair gave him a look of confusion but didn't lower her guard. She actually took a step backwards because of how sudden their change was.
The girl gave the youth a flat look as she said, "Brother you leave too much out." She turned to Altair and said, "We didn't come here because Joshua invited us or anything. We came here to meet you because Rictor said you were interesting." She hesitated before adding, "He also said you have a fascinating way with words."
Altair gave them alternating looks before saying, "I stand by my original statement. You've met me, door is behind you. Feel free to leave."
The youth seemed to ignore her words as he said, "Allow me to properly introduce ourselves." He stood up straight and formal like a noble and did a noble bow while saying, "I am Hadrian Ladrian." He pointed towards the girl and added, "That's my sister, Celestine Ladrian."
Altair frowned at him, "Okay, are you done now then? Can you leave?"
Hadrian looked Altair straight in the eyes before saying, "Let's be friends, Aria!"
Altair's expression darkened as if she had a thundercloud over her head. 'After coming to this place they expect me to make friends with Human children? They must be insane.' Altair shook her head, "I refuse. You know the way out right?"
Hadrian moved towards the table that Altair was sitting at when they arrived while saying, "Oh come on, we can be very useful to you, you know. Give us a chance."
Altair saw what he was doing and moved to block him before he sat down. She really didn't want to entertain children or play their games. Even though their games would likely be very different from what she imagined games to be. "Again, I refuse."
Hadrian grinned at Altair as he looked down on her due to their height difference, "Tell you what, I'll stop bothering you about it if you can beat my sister in a sparring bout. But if you lose, then you have to become our friend."
Altair narrowed her eyes at him, "Why do I have to make a bet for this? If I refuse that means I refuse."
Hadrian shrugged his shoulders carelessly, "Sure you can refuse. But we can just keep coming to you every day and bothering you like this until you do. The choice is yours." He gave her a wry smile as he added, "Besides, she's weaker than me so you might actually win."
Altair frowned at him and then sighed lightly. It seemed children here were always so free and persistent. Her studies would get slowed down immensely if these two kept coming here every single day. She felt she was already behind and wondered for a moment how far behind she would fall if they actually did do as he said. An idea came to her mind as she asked, "Are you two really that free? Don't you have school?"
He grinned at her again, "Course we got school. We came here right after it was finished. Even did our homework on the way. So, there's no problems about us coming every single day."
Altair looked at Celestine who hadn't moved or said anything in a while, "Are you okay with him offering you up to people like this?"
Celestine shrugged her shoulders, "I'm interested in you as well so I don't mind." Her thoughts were different from her brother's interest in her. She thought that Altair would be amusing to invite over to tea or social gatherings with the other noble women. She was sure that their reactions to her crass nature would be fun to watch.
She was also pleased that her brother had suggested the legendary Friend By Combat she had seen in shows growing up. She suddenly felt like the protagonist of those stories. If she won, then that just further meant she was the main character of the universe didn't it?
Altair clicked her tongue then said, "Fine. But you have to never bother me again if I win."
Hadrian nodded his head without hesitating, "Sure. No problems here." He then walked around Altair and sat in the seat she blocked him from without another word, drawing a glare from her.
Altair walked towards Celestine who started stretching. She examined her while she stretched and judged that it should be similar to her fight with Joshua, only she was probably more focused on speed than power. Still, she didn't know the rules to sparring in this world, so she asked, "What are the rules to sparring? Do I just have to knock her out?"
Hadrian's brow rose slightly and just as he was about to reply, the door to Altair's room opened and a maid that Altair had never seen before entered. This drew nasty looks from Hadrian and Celestine, but a curious look from Altair. She thought that maids were prohibited from entering her room when she was meeting with people.
The maid ignored Hadrian and Celestine's glares and walked confidently toward Altair. When she got within arm's reach of her she said, "Young Miss, the Mistress has requested your presence in her room. I will take you there now." She promptly reached out and grabbed Altair's hand without waiting for a reply and turned to walk out of the room.
A sense of relief passed through Altair's body although she didn't know why. She found the timing of this invitation to actually be annoying. She wanted to finish her business with these two children first but found that she couldn't actually act on that thought. Instead, she turned her head towards the two of them as she was pulled out of the room and said, "Reschedule this." She then quickened her steps as her heart started to race in anticipation.
This feeling caught Altair by surprise. She knew what this was and didn't understand why she was feeling it. She was excited to see Sarah again. This didn't make sense to Altair.
Altair's eyes narrowed as she considered why she was feeling this way.
