For a moment, the wagon I'm pushing jumped thanks to a bump on the road. Rocks were common here, oddly enough. How long has it been since people last cleaned these pathways again? A few months right? Not as long as I thought it would be...

  Normally, early mornings are supposed to be time for breakfast but me and my ragtag team of guards have already set off. I cooked food last night and just ate that in the morning. I also gave some to everyone else as thanks for waking up so early.

  As a group, I thought we were pretty varied.

  Between myself and Wardcruncha, there's Laself, a blonde girl with striking yellow eyes. She had a pretty face and fairly nice skin, her dress was also very modest and she carried herself in the same manner— all pure and chaste.

  There's also Karuiz and Maldan, Laself and Howaph's friends. They're tall and muscular but in a lean sort of way, I assume their physical stats are close to 50 or so. Perfect for this little outing, really.

  Karuiz also has the hots for Laself, it's pretty obvious to me and Wardcruncha seemed to notice it too. I don't know if Laself did but she didn't seem to openly show awareness of it so that's left in the air, what's clear though is that she doesn't seem to care about Karuiz that much. Too bad for him really.

  Oh, and I'm also here so his problems are going double. I'm not letting him take her away from my brother, I'm gonna stand in the way and cock block him no matter what! Howaph likes Laself and as his little sister, it's only right I play wingman.

  And besides, my impression of Karuiz is that he's a bit problematic.

  I'm guessing the reason why Karuiz and his friend even woke up this early is because of Laself, who was already talking to Wardcruncha when I arrived. A grumpy Karuiz stood behind her, clearly pissed.

  There was also Jasiin and Upinte, the two of them looked alert when I saw them this morning and looked like the perfect image of vigilant body guards. Both of them have the [Thug] class so I wondered what Wardcruncha said to make them so collected and professional.

  Even now they look like they're constantly on the lookout for something, their eyes scanning the surrounding area like some dangerous monster would pop out for whatever reason.

  Unlike Howaph's friends, the [Thug]s that Wardcruncha brought with him were very muscular. But not in the body building sort of way, rather they had arms packed with muscles but also looked flexible enough that they could definitely throw decent punches without compromising their form.

  Laself's voice interrupted the monotony of our walk.

  "You look like you're thinking hard about something, Howaph wasn't lying when he said you're constantly out of it." Hearing those words made me want to strangle my brother, but the following giggle made me realize why he liked this girl to begin with.

  I was halfway tempted to mess with him and tell him Laself liked Karuiz during dinner later but he trusted me enough to ask her to come with me after I requested it so I wasn't gonna betray him like that.

  "Did he now?.." I narrowed my eyes, faking the gesture. I wanna get in Laself's good graces. "I can't believe that he'd say that, I'm his cute little sister!"

  "Right? Howaph is so cruel for doing that!" Laself laughed, probably thinking that she's successful in goading me. "You should get payback for what he did!"

  "Well... I will! I'm gonna ask him for his savings!" Because it doesn't hurt to continue acting like a little kid, motivations included, I did. That sounds like something someone my age would say right?

  "His savings hm?" Laself looked up, thinking. She pressed a finger to her cheek and tilted her head. "I didn't know he had savings, what for?"

  "I dunno. He's saving it for a girl though." I watched Laself's reaction closely.

  "Is he now?" Oh? Is that aggression?! No way! She's jealous! "What's her name?"

  "I think it's you." All my will power. It took every ounce of my will power not to break into a grin when I saw her blush. That lucky bastard! Laself already likes him! For once I'm happy my plans are burning up in flames!

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  "R-really?! Did he say that?!" The girl sputtered, given how pale she is, it's really hard for her to hide her blush. She's as red as a tomato and it's clear as day.

  Since Karuiz was looking grumpy, I decided not to push any further because I don't want any bad blood this early on. Maybe once I've established myself as a clean and tidy food seller in Ghorise I can pursue this.

  "I'm kidding!" I stuck my tongue out at her. "I can't believe you fell for my lies!"

  Laself's face went nuclear and she pointed accusingly at me. "He was right that you're a little deceiver too!"

  Wait, really? He said that? I've never even lied to him! This week!.. I didn't lie to him yesterday..? No, I had to lie to him to hide my motivations when I asked him if I could start hiring his friends.

  Damn, I can't believe Howaph isn't wrong about that.

  My laugh was loud and clearly meant to get her even more flustered. "Bleh!"

  Laself paused, freezing in place as she fanned her face. Karuiz clearly saw some kind of opportunity so he's slowing down, he's gonna wait for her and comfort her! How dare he! As Howaph's little sister I must make sure my brother gets with the girl he wants!

  "I can't believe you can put on a mask like that." The guy I was about to ask to trick Laself into rushing back to my side pointed out. I turned and noticed Wardcruncha was looking at me in a new light. "Interesting, your brother likes her?"

  "Yep!" I grinned. I can definitely drag this guy into my plans right?! "And I'm gonna help him!"

  "Well, I'd love to help you as well. What are you thinking?" He watched me, clearly curious about my answer. Is he observing me now? Really?

  Whatever. "First off, laugh with me. I want her back here and out of the clutches of that weirdo."

  "Cruel. You had this side of you too?"

  "You can't get what you want by not being paranoid, Karuiz is a rival and he has a chance of getting Laself just by being there." An honest truth didn't hurt, that's just how life worked. Those who actively pursue gets what they want. Especially if it's still available.

  And Laself is available.

  Wardcruncha laughed, it was loud and I was broken out of my thoughts because of it. I laughed alongside him.

  "I tricked her! You saw that right?!" I yelled and expectedly, Laself's pride wouldn't let herself get fooled by a kid so she came storming over.

  Hopefully this gets Karuiz off my back as well, I want him to assume that I'm just a silly little kid who likes to play pranks.

  "No you didn't!" Laself pointed at me, her face now back to being beet red.

  Since Karuiz made some progress, I wanted to remove it. "You're right. I didn't!" I beamed, hopefully my smile softens her heart. Now to apologize and make things clear. "I was just being silly! Sorry!"

  It's a gamble whether or not this would work. At the end of the day, it all depends on what Karuiz said to her just now. I can only hope that his grumpiness with me teasing Laself took control of his mouth when he was comforting her.

  Thankfully, he did another thing that's just as good, if not better than what I wanted.

  "You shouldn't tease older people like that." Karuiz told me when he got back to us. "You're just a kid."

  Yes! Keep berating me!.. That sounds weird, especially given the context... I should probably stop with those thoughts. Ew.

  "I already apologized." I put on a weak front to garner sympathy from Laself.

  "She already apologized before you came Karuiz!" Laself glared at her peer. At least she's quick to defend me, perks of being a kid I guess? "Why are you always like this?"

  Oh? Is that friction I'm sensing? I smell the sweet scent of tires scraping against wood. Of burning rubber. I can work with this.

  "You need to be more firm!" Karuiz glared at her, clearly not backing down. Eesh, is he trying to push her away? "This is why people keep approaching you for things! You let in whoever you want! What's wrong with you!"

  Laself turned silent and I hid a proud smirk. Wrong move big guy.

  Noticing that he's clearly not going to fix things, Karuiz ran away. Also the wrong move. He should apologize. Instead he put a good distance between him and Laself and because of that, he won't overhear us now.

  I have the stage.

  "He said it like you're impure." I broke the ensuing silence. I tilted my head and hugged Laself's legs. "But that's not true, right?"

  "No... He just hates that I'm kind." Laself rubbed my head, her tone kind. "Every person I talk to, he calls out as bad."

  "He seems like the bad person you're talking to, not those guys." And especially not my brother. "Right? I don't think other people lash out at you like he does."

  Isolate. Isolate. Isolate. I want her and him separated, I want the trust between them broken.

  "Yes... You're right." Laself paused. My plan is working! "No one else screams at me like he does."

  I wouldn't dare mention Howaph because that would make it obvious I'm making my brother look good. Luckily, Wardcruncha got the memo and helped me out.

  "Rontress. Is. A. Good. Kid- she's been giving us food so I know this."

  What was that B-list acting?!

  I resisted the urge to punch him. Can you make it less obvious? You idiot? Why are you so stiff?! You make it way too clear that you're emphasizing my kindness!

  As luck would have it, Laself only laughed. She didn't notice? "Yes, she does seem like a good kid." Her tone is now lighter. Happier. "And I know that she's the girl who got the church to give the people in the pier food."

  "No, she makes traps for us. They catch rats and she gives them to us." Wardcruncha clarified. "It's not just the church."

  "Really?" Laself sounded intrigued. Good job Wardcruncha! Keep doing that!

  As for me, I had to hide the grin that now took my face.