Elder Brother

He saw a young man and woman standing in front of him. The tall man was about twenty years old, wearing a star studded robe with a waist belt. His palms were broad and you could see the hard calluses on his joints.

You can tell at first glance that he is good at fighting in close combat. 

The woman looked more mature, maybe in her late twenties or early thirties. She was actually as tall as the man, but her clothes were much different from his presentable appearance. She had the same star studded robe but it was sloppily worn, unable to hide her curvaceous and full figure. Her face was flushed red and she kept gulping from a large gourd intermittently. 

Her long black hair was half-tied and she had a dazed expression on her face, overall giving off a lazy feeling.

In contrast, the man's expression was somewhat complicated.

For some reason, Kieran found this man's appearance familiar. Those spirited eyes reminded him of his third eldest brother, Riven Vale. Looking at the uniform again and bright stars etched into the robes, Kieran thought of the Stellar Academy that his brother had gone to over ten years ago. 

Could it really be his older brother?

All of these thoughts flashed through Kieran's mind in an instant but to the outside world, it only looked like the beggar was dazed by the sudden kindness for a brief moment.

"Thank you, thank you very much, young hero!"

Kieran decided, whether it was his brother or not, the best course of action was to keep pretending.

His face was disguised and he had also caked on black mud and changed his voice to sound more raspy and old. He was sure that no one would be able to recognise him.

Sure enough, after hearing his voice, the young man had a disappointed expression. 

He shook his head slightly:

"No problem."

The woman next to him bent down and took the wooden figurine that was lying next to the broken bowl.

"What's this?"

"It looks like a toy senior." The young man began to explain. "Oh it has a mechanical part, look if you pull the string the arm will move."

The beautiful woman played with a toy for a while with an interested expression then she turned to Keiran. 

"Can I have this?"

"Of course, of course, please take it. It's just a worthless thing." 

Kieran didn't expect the things he had randomly made would elicit so much attention in one day. Toys like this weren't uncommon, it wasn't even something he learned on Earth but rather something he picked up during his wandering days. 

"I won't take it for free. Here." And with that she threw down a few pieces of copper into his broken bowl. Kieran looked at the two copper pieces that lay next to the silver that the young man had given him and thought this woman was really stingy.

"By the way little guy, you have been giving money to beggars all along the way. Why?"

The woman spoke with a lazy tone as she took a large swig from her gourd and leaned against the wall at the entrance of the tavern.

The young man sighed:

"Aunt-Master -"

"- Stop, don't call me that! Call me sister instead!" The tall woman waved her finger at the young man and reprimanded him.

The young man coughed helplessly and continued, "Sister, you don't know but my younger brother left home when he was child and has not returned for many years." 

"You know this is the first time I have left the academy. I don't know where he went or how he's doing, but a young boy all by himself…Sometimes when I see these beggars I can't help but think it may be him."

The man spoke in a sad, staggered voice, not knowing the beggar beside him was listening carefully to his every word. 

Riven…

It really is him.

Kieran was very confused right now. He knew that the closer he came to Emerald City the more likely he was to meet people from his past, but he had not expected to meet his brother who had gone away to a martial academy a long time ago.

Why did he come home this time? And he's followed by a senior?

Kieran was very worried about this coincidence. Could something have happened?

The two figures didn't care about all of his racing thoughts, they went inside the cavern and sat next to the window. After ordering a few dishes they continued their conversation. 

"Your younger brother…The youngest son of the Vale family? Why would he run away?" The tall woman didn't seem to care that this was a sensitive topic, as she had a gossipy expression on her face.

Riven was used to this unusual Aunt-Master, so he nodded: 

"Yes, my fourth brother, Kieran. It was our fault, we put too much pressure on him, on his 12th birthday he ran away from home."

"My brother, he is ambitious and righteous, he always wanted to make a name for himself in the world…but none of us expected he would be gone for so long."

Hearing this, the tall woman snorted, "What a fool! He could've lived a life of luxury."

Riven smiled wryly, "Actually, I was planning on looking for him this time. My father's health is getting worse, I know it's because he is still worried about Kieran.

Kieran was huddled under the window outside complaining in his mind about this strange woman when he heard this. 

His head buzzed. 

My father is sick?

Kieran thought he had rid himself of many useless emotions during his time as a killer in the organisation. And then after merging with the soul from Earth, it felt like he had become even more rational. 

But hearing that his father was ill, his fingers couldn't help but tremble.

The father in his mind was so powerful who would not bend to anybody. Henry Vale, or 'The Mountain', as he was called in his younger days, was such a man. 

But now his strong man had become ill due to his worry for his son.

At this moment, Kieran almost wanted to reveal everything to his elder brother and quickly go find his father. However, he knew that he could not act rashly. 

He had already planned not to show up and protect his father in the dark. If The Pale Oath found out his location it would not make the situation any better.