weirdo

//"Er, I'm Muu, by the way. Muu Alexandrite."//

In the West of Selcouth, the capital Gaia bustled with morning chatters of the crowd. The wide streets, no matter how many people walked about and no matter how many carriages passed by, left room for more. The streets of Gaia never had problems of being too crowded because the lands of the West had always encompassed a vast area of the kingdom. Even if the East and South combined, its lands could never compare to the West, especially if the Extreme West was included.

The Extreme West didn't have a full map. Only a small portion of it had been explored ever since the founding of Selcouth thousands of years ago.

And in this part of the continent, in the bustling streets of Gaia, Yuri encountered a stranger who seemed to know the person he longed for the most.

The both of them ended up at a local bar, the stranger paying for a private room at the second floor. For Yuri who survived in the wilds and from stealing, it was probably the first time he had been inside this kind of establishment. The wood used appeared expensive, the decorations glistening like water, and people took up most of the tables on the first floor.

The bar looked popular to the foreigners and he could even pick out a few nobles in the crowd, some he passed by when they headed for their own private room.

Across Yuri, the stranger sat down in a rather uncouth way. This indicated that the stranger did not grow up in a noble house. They were probably a commoner who had to work every single day to earn money for living expenses. "Man, I didn't think you'd get this far! Zia described you as a timid and an easily-fooled brat. Who knew you'd make it to Gaia on your own."

The stranger spoke of Zia in a casual way and Yuri deduced that whoever this person was, this person was someone who she had been close with. "How do you know sis Zia?" But he ended up getting ignored when the stranger called for a waiter.

"We'll have two bottles of whine—"

"— I don't drink—"

"— and two of your specialty today."

Yuri felt his eye twitch when the stranger disregarded his words. Just who exactly was this person? In fact, didn't he just prove that he was an 'easily-fooled' brat? He shouldn't have followed the suspicious person in the first place! Just because this person mentioned Zia didn't mean Yuri should have trusted him.

He was an idiot, dammit.

"Anyways," the stranger looked at him, those dark eyes startling him into attention. "Did she even teach you anything?"

Yuri blinked in confusion. "... stealing..?"

"... bloody hell, she didn't teach you anything. I mean magic, kid, m-a-g-i-c. Dod she teach you?" The stranger appeared exasperated and so done with Zia's bullshits.

"Magic..?"

The sound of flesh hitting wood flabbergasted the blond. The stranger had hit their own forehead on the table. Once they raised his head, the hood that covered almost the entirety of their face slid off, revealing slanted obsidian eyes, paired with fair white skin that ladies would be envied of. Red strands of hair that framed his face resembled the red strings of fate that he read from a book. It was so long ago that Yuri had almost forgotten about it.

If it weren't for this person, he'd probably never remember it. "I knew Zia wasn't suited for raising a kid. Look at you, she didn't even properly raise you." Insulting Zia was one of many things that angered him. Who exactly was this guy to talk so badly of his sister anyway?

Noticing Yuri's annoyed expression, the opposition cleared his throat. "Er, I'm Muu, by the way. Muu Alexandrite."

"Weird name."

Muu's eye twitched at Yuri's blatant comment about his name. This little brat—

"What are you to sis?"

"Let's talk about magic first."

"No."

If this kid wasn't Zia kid, Muu would have pummeled him the second he said that his name was weird!

Taking a deep breath, Muu decided to let it be. He was the older one, after all. Picking fights with kids wasn't something he should be doing. "I'm Zia's husband."

"..."

"..."

"... that's not even funny."

"It's not a joke!"

The way Yuri narrowed his eyes caused Muu to sweat a little. Fiercely staring at him, no wonder the kid was picked up by Zia; he resembled her a lot!

Or maybe her influence was just that great.

"I won't allow sis to have a husband like you." Yuri crossed his arms with an arch of his eyebrow.

"'Like me?' What's that supposed to mean?"

For as long as he could remember, Muu had always been conscious of his height. In the past, no one dared mention it to him in fear of being killed by him. Yet, this kid before him shamelessly looked at him from top to bottom and even when he was seated, it was obvious that the heavens didn't gift him the wonderful thing called height.

"You're way too short for sis Zia."

That was it.

He was killing this kid.