Hiel had no choice but to return the harpy to where it came in order to drag Worthy from his stupor. The man wondered if his new summon had the ability to enthrall people by looking at them, but that didn't seem accurate at all. Oro thought that the woman was beautiful, but was not nearly as susceptible to her beauty as the child.
Worthy was love struck, feeling the first dose of obsession a man felt in his life… for a harpy.
Well, everyone had a crush on something unordinary at least once in their life. That's the justification he thought he'd need to use to comfort the boy, at least. Worthy was surprisingly shameless, however. The boy didn't need justification for his emotions, because he hardly understood them himself. Even if he did, he would not need someone to walk him through his attraction.
So, the three of them walked through the Prime Settlement, and Worthy was finally able to truly take in the immensity of the stronghold Alice built.
Middle Town was bustling with life. Life here was not ordinary by any means, but it had so many components of the outside world that it could easily convince a person they'd been transmigrated to a world not so dissimilar to their own. In the distance, the mighty walls built to keep out the fragments of the Blood Marauder would've been casting a shadow over most of the city, if there were a sun to project light.
Funnily enough, some things still had shadows. People, for example, had ordinary shadows. Worthy suspected that even if the tower produced a shadow that they were drowning within, it would not obscure anything. Either because of the nature of the tower or because they were within the body of a broken god, the laws of the world was not as they knew outside.
Currently, as they walked through the clean, seemingly marble streets of the settlement, Oro was talking about a subject he was truly passionate about.
"I promise you, Taivat won't get married before me. It just isn't possible, the guy has no draw." The man was defending his stance to Hiel, who didn't look to believe him at all. Worthy didn't either, in fact.
Scratching his head, Hiel diverted his eyes away from the fellow. "I dunno. Taivat's got quite the charm. Out of the two of you, I think everyone sees him as the white horse. He's relatively handsome — not to say you aren't — and he's also got a solid build for a guy that doesn't fight often."
Oro scoffed, inquisitive eyes glaring holes through Hiel. "Yeah? What are you trying to say? I'm chubby? I'll have you know, I've got quite a nice build too!"
'...Yeah, right. Taivat's tall and, honestly, jacked. Oro? Oro would be lucky to be called lithe in wet clothes. I almost feel bad for the guy. Taivat and Oro is a duo name among the Army of Hope, and there's a reason Taivat's name always comes first.'
Worthy's words were harsh, but it was kind of him not to say them out loud like most children his age would. Kids are known for being offensively brutal in their opinions on others. That also meant that some of the things they said, in their opinions, were the wholehearted truth.
"You're pretty fat, Mr. Oro." Sadly, the skill of self control was well beyond his mastery. After a few years of practice, he may show more restraint.
Hiel caught Oro beneath his armpits, stopping him from sending Worthy into a marble casket. His face was puffy and red, almost like the fabled Saint Nicholas, whose cheeks were rosy and round.
'Ah! He's like a lump! A walking, moving lump, this fellow!'
Worthy's laughter didn't calm the man down. It had an adverse effect, Oro looking like he'd tear himself free from Hiel's grip soon.
Someone came into view just in time to put a halt to any of the anger in the air. In the place of anger, a one-sided tension rose into the air. Oro's frustrations were no longer directed at the foul-mouthed child. Now, he was paying his attention to a man sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, with a woman who seemed far too smitten.
Taivat had an amiable smile, speaking to the woman about a topic that one could only assume was interesting, judged only by how close she kept herself to him. Her body was almost pressed against his, so close that Worthy had no doubt that Taivat could feel her breath on his face.
Without fanfare, the debate that they were having moments ago ended in an instant. Taivat had effortlessly woven a thread around the woman, his charming self drawing her into a web of his own machinations. It was like he'd detected the conversation being had, and created the perfect scenario to shut down Oro's foolish assumption that he and Taivat were equal.
No, Taivat was an angel sent down by whatever deities decided to birth the unfair.
Oro was a victim of this unfairness, cast into the shadow of a man who he treated like a brother.
"That… that…" Oro looked to be fuming, so much so that Worthy swore he saw steam coming from the top of his head.
"Ah! That… guy! Lucky bastard, I'll tell you. Lucky, lucky bastard!" Oro, who was once fuming with rage seconds ago, no longer seemed quite as vindictive as he spoke. He was upset, but he was not petty enough to really be angered by the success of his friend. Being upset was one thing, but truly feeling animosity over something so small? It was beneath the man, who'd chosen to follow War Reaver into the unknown in hopes of finding his wish.
Although Taivat was handsome and smart, the latter was where he and Oro were unified. Oro was commonly mistaken for a witless joker. Although he was indeed a joker, he was far from witless. It was Oro who proposed the idea of something being at the edge of the world, where others thought he was mad. Taivat, in fact, was one of the people who believed he spoke nonsense.
If Worthy had to truly put the two side-by-side, he would bet that Oro was smarter than Taivat by a great margin. Sadly, he had nothing to prove this besides Oro's accurate assumption about the tower. Maybe it had something to do with his Reward, or was truly a senseless remark that wound up being true in a baffling turn of fate.
The trio approached Taivat slowly enough for him to notice their presence and give a friendly nod, beckoning them over to join him. The enamored woman didn't leave. She stuck closely to Taivat's free side, appearing to be a faithful dog in Worthy's eyes.
For some reason, he felt like he could hear Esme saying something in the back of his mind. A distant voice was chiding him, muttering something about being impotent. Never before he she said something like that to him, so he was not sure why he was hearing such heavy words.
'Maybe I should be careful how I refer to women, I think.'
Yes, such precaution would take the young man a long way, should he ever find himself in Taivat's charming position.
"Hey, Taivat. We thought we'd come and find you, since there isn't much to do right now while the big wigs are chatting." Hiel lifted a hand to the man, as they neared. Only then, did the woman who was attached to him finally break away and give them a little of her attention.
Strangely, it was not the group who'd garnered her attention, though. Instead, it was the boy who was with them. A pint-sized child with a backpack who her eyes were pinned on. He was small and had brown hair that seemed to be in a constant state of disarray. Although his appearance was rather rugged, it seemed like he'd recently been wiped down by a cloth, removing much of the grime that clearly had been covering him. Quickly, the woman realized the child had come with War Reaver and his band of blood-soaked Climbers. So, he'd probably been thoroughly cleaned in comparison to what he was upon his arrival.
"Oh. My. Goodness. Heavens! Heavens above! Who is this cutie with you?!" Before the boy knew it, the woman was behind him. The sky around him rippled like a disturbed water surface, and the woman was suddenly behind him. Just then, the world returned to how it once was, and the child blinked.
'N—No way… It can't be.' Walkyr was a man who had the ability to teleport anywhere in sight with the snap of his finger. Such an advanced form of transportation was unfounded. Yet, now something even more impressive than that was presenting itself before the child.
The woman that just fawned over Taivat was now behind Worthy — her arms wrapping around him and pulling him into an embrace that was both gentle and tight — had showcased the ability to chop space.