Chapter 63 - Wine N' Dine

The half-question, half-exasperation left Ren's mouth in a yell as his eyes and eyes went into overdrive with this new revelation.

"Ren…"

Iris shook her head quietly out of second-hand embarrassment.

"It gets me every time! You can't catch a break, can ya', Lucas?"

The ponytailed man cackled, playfully slapping his hand against Lucas' shoulder, who seemed in a constant state of annoyance in his short time knowing him.

"...I wasn't going to call her out, but she's sure taking her time...Charlotte!"

"...yes?"

A timid, adorable high-pitched voice responded to Sirius' call.

--There's still another person on Gunther?! And they sound cute as hell--?

"Get down here already! You want to meet our newest comrade, right?"

"...okay."

Following the response from the shy girl, the sound of shifting filled the otherwise silent air before she hopped off of Gunther's back, making a small noise when landing. She looked no older than a middle-school student, with curly, scarlet locks draped over her slender shoulders.

"Urr...nice to meet you, I'm Ren."

He scratched his head with a slight chuckle.

"Charlotte."

The small girl introduced herself with just a single word, keeping her gaze down as she fiddled with her fingers. As adorable and much of a sight for sore eyes the girl was, Ren couldn't help but feel sadness at the fact such a girl had to live in Gaia.

"You'll have to forgive her, she's always been timid like this around new people. Don't worry, she'll come around to ya' in no time. Oh right, I almost forgot to introduce myself! I'm Fai Meng!"

"I kind of already guessed that."

Ren shook Fai's extended hand, who held an iron-grip that juxtaposed his frivolous smile he held. Somehow, that carefree nature of Fai's made his strength even more frightening--as this was probably him not even attempting to strongarm him.

"Are you all going to come inside already? Sora and Donatien have been preparing a welcoming feast for you. If you don't eat soon, we won't be able to hold the Monster Hunt today!"

Iris grabbed Natalia and Lucas by their arms, leading them inside the house as Fai followed close behind, tapping his shirtless stomach.

"Beatrice sure is ruthless, making us do a Monster Hunt the same day we return from our tiresome journey."

Sirius let out a sigh, complaining to Ren, who had a less than fond first impression of the man. Compared to the other Outlanders, the outfit Sirius wore seemed much more "official". A dark gray, intricately woven uniform with stripes of blue running over the expensive fabric. Watching him as he brushed his hand through his hair, Ren noticed Sirius wore white gloves, etched with some sort of black symbol on the back of each hand. It would be impossible to tell just by looking that the guy was from Earth, and not some noble prince of this world. In essence, what Ren had come to the conclusion to:

--This guy totally has eighth-grader syndrome, in order words, he's a "chuuni"! How does a guy with his looks never grow out of his eight-grader phase--? I guess I can't talk, as a NEET, we aren't that different...

"Oh? Are you not going in, Charlotte? Could it be you're waiting for me? How adorable."

Just from watching Sirius, it was easy to tell the man was fond of himself, seemingly loving the sound of his own voice as he blabbered on without anyone even responding to him.

"...I want to talk to Ren."

"I-I see...I'll just go on ahead then!"

Sirius waved at Ren and Charlotte with two fingers before entering the house, clearly hurt by Charlotte's blunt rejection. That's when Ren's prayers had been answered by the unseeable divinity that occupied the heavens--the handsome, confident Sirius had his weakness discovered.

--He's a lolicon! And his ikeman powers don't work on her! Even more, she wants to talk to me instead!

Watching Sirius disappear into the Outlander home, Ren didn't notice that Charlotte was now standing directly in front of him, the top of her head reaching only to his abdomen.

"--Ah! So, what did you want to talk about?"

"...I'm not good when lots of people are around...so…"

"Ah, I understand. You wanted to wait until it was just us to properly meet, right?"

Ren patted the girl's head as she nodded in response. Luckily, he could say he was one of the rare breed of NEETs that wasn't into lolis, otherwise the incarnation of sugar that was Charlotte might have been troublesome for him.

"How long have you been here? In Gaia, I mean."

He asked Charlotte, he moved his hand away from her head.

"Three years."

"Wah...that's a long time, especially for your age--how old are you anyways?"

"Fourteen."

Charlotte answered, adjusting the white robe she wore over her brown leather armor.

--Ah, I guessed as much.

"--Ren? Charlotte?"

Ren quickly turned around after hearing his name, meeting gazes with Iris, who had a partially worried expression.

"Don't get the wrong idea! I'm not a lolicon!"

Assuming the worst, Ren instantly went into defensive mode, wearing a sharp blush as he slurred his words.

"I don't know what you're talking about...just come on, would you? We're all waiting in the dining hall…"

Iris raised an eyebrow at his sudden outburst, holding onto the frame of the door before disappearing back inside.

"Right...let's go, Charlotte."

He then realized why she was even staying out there to talk to him--it was blatantly obvious.

--With such a large group of people inside, she's probably frightened at the idea.

Letting out a playful sigh, Ren smiled before grabbing Charlotte's hand, who returned the gesture with a confused gaze at the young man.

"Come on, just stay close--honestly, I should be the one scared of this party...you know everyone there."

Although he teased her about it, he knew the troubles of anxiety all too well. It seemed she accepted the compromise, sticking close to him as they made their way to the dining hall.

--This is seriously starting to look bad, though! Seriously--seeing a NEET with a young girl like this, I can't really blame anyone for getting the wrong idea!

Luckily, it seemed that everyone was too distracted to notice Ren walk into the dining hall with the girl basically clinging to his side. Well, everyone except for Sirius--who nearly spit out his drink as he saw Charlotte so close to him.

He hadn't been in the dining hall to actually eat yet, since there wasn't any need to host so many people. It was just as lavish as he imagined any house that had a dining hall to be, finding the giant chandelier to be slightly horrifying to sit under, though.

"—Are you going to stare daggers into me all day?"

Ren asked Sirius, his words only falling upon the ears of the man he was talking to, drowned out by the constant chattering of the others.

"Just you wait—once your fifteen centimeters of fame are over, Charlotte won't talk to you anymore."

"Was that a short joke—? Like I said, I'm above average!

Their bickering was cut short as a clap echoed through the packed dining hall, all of the present Outlanders turning to see Beatrice standing at the end of the decorated table.

"Settle down now, my children. Today is a special day amongst a special year. First, I'd like to congratulate Sirius, Charlotte, Fai, Natalia, and Lucas for their successful completion of the Phantasm rank quest they took on."

Beatrice spoke elegantly, raising her pale hands into the air as an applause followed her appraisal.

"I don't really know what all that means...but good job, I guess."

Ren muttered as he followed the lead of the others, clapping his hands together. He felt a sudden jab to the side of his arm, turning to see Iris nudging his arm with her elbow.

"--A Phantasm rank quest is the third highest you can take on."

Iris whispered to him, turning back to face Beatrice as the applause settled. Looking at the man seated across the table from him, Ren regretted clapping after noticing the smug smile wrapped on Sirius' face, clearly still salty over the whole Charlotte situation.

"That guy is actually that strong…?"

Ren couldn't imagine someone as immature and overall annoying as that man being someone capable of handling such tasks.