"I guess this is why you should never help people thoughtlessly..." Lyan uttered before letting out an exasperated sigh.
(Oh god, Lyan. You're okay even with such a small kid?) (Griselda)
(Master...) (Arturia)
(My, my... You're quite a big pervert, aren't you master?) (Lilith)
Griselda's intentionally misleading words, Arturia's shocked reaction, and Lilith's teasing voice annoyed Lyan further.
(Of course, I'm not!) (Lyan)
"Mmh..." The little half-halfling slowly opened her eyes and stared at Lyan with a pair of drowsy eyes.
"Sun's up high, little lady. Now can you tell me what are you doing inside my room, and right on top of me?" (Lyan)
"Mh... Mowning...?" The girl replied with a drowsy tone.
"Yes, it's morning. Now would you please answer my question?" Lyan continues his question.
"Master..." The half-halfling continued without replying to his question.
"Who are you calling your master, little brat-" Lyan was about to retort with an annoyed tone, but her little hands suddenly went to a place that is quite dangerous to touch in the morning.
"What is this? Do you sleep while holding onto a spear? But why is it so thick?" The girl asked him as she grabbed the huge thing that is poking at her lower body. As she continue to grope the 'spear', she felt the warmth being emitted from it.
"Ah... The warmth is rather comfortable... Is this a magic spear...?" The girl entered her sheets and hugged it as if it were a pillow, but then a strange smell entered her nostrils.
It's similar to the smell that she often encounters whenever her former master went to hire a prostitute and indulge himself in pleasure.
The only difference is that the smell from the thing she's hugging is much more thicker and stronger. Because of it, she immediately regained her composure as the identity of the smell entered her mind.
The manly scent of a man's thing.
"W-What!? What is that!? What is this!? Pervert!? It's so huge!!" The girl jumped out of the sheets and she shouted in surprise.
(See~ The master is a big pervert that made a little girl hold his rod) (Lilith)
(Unimaginable... What a bastard) (Griselda)
(Master...)
(Thanks for the feast!) (Cynthia)
Disregarding Cynthia's strange expression of gratefulness with a great enthusiasm, Lyan retorted.
(That is a normal physical phenomenon for every man! It's morning!!) (Lyan)
"It's not my fault, kid. And it became big is definitely not because of you as well," Lyan attempted to explain to the kid carefully, but-
"I-I'm grateful to you... So if you want my body..."
"Hey! I said it's not that! All men experienced this in the morning!!" (Lyan)
It took quite a while for Lyan to explain and convince the half-elf regarding the natural phenomenon in the morning for men.
"I see... It's new knowledge for me, thank you," The little half-elf girl uttered with a smile as if she was satisfied and grateful for getting taught a new thing.
But for Lyan, he's feeling rather conflicted about lecturing such a small girl about how a man's thing works in the morning.
(What the hell am I even telling her...?) (Lyan)
Lyan could only facepalm himself as he let out a frustrated sigh.
Deciding to move on and start the day, Lyan went to the table and touched the teapot on top of the table. Not long after, the heat started to gather, and steam started to leave the teapot's air hole.
Being left by Lyan, the little half-halfling followed him to the table, but he ignored her as he was too focused on reheating the tea inside the teapot.
The little girl fidgets as she stared at Lyan reheat the tea. His movements and his gestures are completely different from her disgusting former master. It's like comparing a lion and a cockroach.
She's feeling very grateful to Lyan, but at the same time, she's currently harboring a feeling of fear.
It's the fear of getting abandoned.
After asking for Lyan's help and having her slave collar released from her neck, the little half-halfling went back to her base and killed her former master. She could still feel the satisfaction of killing her bastard former master whenever she remember the yesterday scene, but what followed afterward is nothing but emptiness.
She has no plans for the future, and the only rope of hope that is in front of her is Lyan. She knows close to nothing about the world as she has been spending her life as a slave for her former master, she felt greater fear of facing the world without any help rather than the time she went to kill her former master for revenge.
As Lyan ignored her and focus on reheating the tea, the little girl started to think that he has no intention of taking her together with him. Slowly, the shoulders that are raised with hope started to droop. Of course, Lyan noticed her gesture from the beginning, and once again, let out an exasperated sigh.
He then takes out two cups from the thin air and put them on the table before pouring the tea from the teapot gracefully.
Looking at how he's preparing for her share as well, the little girl's eyes shimmered with hope, and her complexion brightens.
"If you want to lend a hand to people, help them until the end, huh..." Lyan uttered under his breath as the image of his former comrade inside the demon world where he fought for very long years crossed his mind.
"Fine then. I'll take you up, kid. But for a single price, tell me your story," (Lyan)
As the girl sits at the chair and took a sip of the tea before making a weird face after burning her tongue since she can't stand the hotness, she then started telling her story.
Her story is definitely not something good considering she ended up being a slave, but upon hearing it, Lyan is convinced that this girl definitely didn't have a good start in her life.
Her mother was an aspiring adventurer, it's quite uncommon for halflings to be as sociable as her mother, and her father is also the same, an adventurer, but a human.
The both of them met while adventuring together in a joint quest. Just like how the love story of adventurers went on, the both of them fell in love and made their proof of love which is her.
As her father was quite famous for his achievements, her mother felt honored to be loved by him. He told her lots of sweet promises and gave her flowers, telling her that he want to retire together at a peaceful mountain in the east or something.
But, the thing called to love only bloomed in a single day between her mother and her father. Right the next day after her intercourse, the father immediately left her and went gone without any trace.
Her mother knew that she had just got hit by a bastard, but didn't know whether it was a stroke of good luck or bad luck, just by a single intercourse in one night, her mother got pregnant.
At first, her mother wanted to get rid of her as she is something that could be said to a living proof of her painful memory. But somehow, her mother decided to give birth to her.
But even so, she was named after the incident between her mother and her father.
Leyar, the word liar in the tongue of the halflings.
As a woman halfling that is working as an adventurer without a husband, having a child without having a husband is too burdensome. Even though her mother gave birth to her, she doesn't seem to have a shred of a maternal love toward her.
So her mother sold her. She sold her to a slave trader, saying that a rare halfbreed should fetch a great price.
And then she lived her life as a slave since little, and continue her life without questioning that way of life.
She knew the story about her mother and her father from her former master that got the story from the slave trade which her mother sold her to.
It's not a great story, but it could be said that the fact that she's still alive is something that could be called an achievement.
But for Lyan, it's nothing but the proof of the cruelty of the world.
___________________________________________________________________________
Name: Lyan Arkanium Evocatore
Occupation: Mythril-ranked Mercenary
Money: 3,797,710,950 Elnes / 3797 gold 71 big silver 9 big coppers 5 coppers
Weapon: Magic Glaive, 1 (Decent) One-handed Sword, 2 (Good-Quality) One-handed swords, 1 (Decent) bow
Equipment: Black leather cloak, Leather Armor, Breastplate, 2 Health Potions, 2 Poison Vials
Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, 3 Valkyrie, Shadow Goblin Lord (Lv. 5), Papilio Slime (Lv. 45), Galewing Butterfly (Lv. 45), Rock Golem (Lv. 50), Deadlight (Lv. 63), Moonlight Butterfly (Lv. 45), Ice Golem (Lv. 50), Acid Ant Queen (Lv. 9), Magma Bear (Lv. 1), Fey Mammoth (Lv. 1), Arcane Retriever (Lv. 1)
Grimoire's Army: 6 Shadow Servants, 800 Skeleton Army