After a bit more walking the crowd got thicker, eventually I raised my head, pushing myself up higher to get a better view. A massive stage was presented before us and a line of girls walked out, each one wearing the same strangely modern athletic uniform, similar to the clothes my mom liked to where.

“Yo! Kai!” My brother shouted, raising a hand, almost making me fall as he lifted his shoulder.

“Yo…” I muttered.

“Y’all…” He muttered back.

“That was forever ago!” ‘Oh whatever…’ I slowly forced my attention away from the stage, no matter how much the spectacle tried to hold it. I had more important things to worry about.

“Well, if it isn't Airsidh and Gild. And… I guess she’s one of your sisters, right Gild? Is your family in town for the first guild war?”

“Kai, meet Siyasavede.” He said gesturing to me.

‘I’m on Air’s back… Why would he assume I’m Gild's sister…’

“Oh…” He said nervously. “Sorry if I offended you, Miss.”

I couldn’t see my brother's face, but it seemed like one glance was enough to make him start to sweat as they met each other's eyes.

“Right. Of course, she’s your sister Sidh… She sure is cute just like you said, that was a silly mistake. Is she here to compete?”

Airsidh started to growl, but from my position on his back it was rather easy to just chop him on the head, and he was starting to get annoying, so I took the liberty of doing just that… It was his own fault for not letting me down anyway. ‘What’s gotten into him?’ After he finally stopped growling like a dog Gild stepped in, greeting Kai, both starting to just ignore the two of us.

“Now that you mention it she probably should compete, it wouldn't hurt, but no. She actually came here looking for you.”

“Wait, but why would she want to talk to me?”

‘This whole thing is a freaking pain…’ “If you really wanted to know the answer you should be asking me that question…” I grumbled, finally convincing my brother to put me on the ground… Only to start regretting it once I realized Kai was even taller than my brother was, making me gulp and suddenly swallow my own confidence.

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“My apologies, I was just a bit startled,” he said, stepping closer.

“Right… I might as well just get straight to the point. It's about your sister.”

His face suddenly turned sower, making me almost shudder. “Oh?”

‘Scary…’ “I am planning on punishing her for something she did to one of my friends. Seeing as how you are both a knight and a member of my brother's guild. I thought you might want to be a part of that.”

He sighed. “Which one… I assume you mean Yamaria… The other one doesn’t typically provoke people.”

“Oh, well… She did make a girl I know wet themselves… But in this case, yes I mean Yamaria?”

He raised his eyebrows. “You managed to piss off both of them? Wow…” He let out another sigh, crossed his arms, and suddenly stared right at me, sending shivers down my spine. “What makes you think I'd turn against my own blood?” he said, stone cold.

‘I’m pretty sure that’s not how you look at someone you think is cute…’ “Let's call it a hunch. You’re a knight, she’s a rogue. Probably some bad blood between you two right?”

“That’s all you are making assumptions from…”

‘Was I totally wrong about this? Once I heard he was in my brother's guild I guess I just assumed he was a good person trying to break away from his family, but maybe he really is just a tool for them instead…’ “I… Had other reasons too…”

He stepped closer again, making me tilt my head so far back that my neck started to hurt just to look at him. After everything I had seen though, it was more annoying than intimidating… However, that isn’t to say my heart wasn’t pounding. ‘The ironic thing here is that I have the advantage if we start fighting when he’s this close… It still freaking annoying though.’ I lowered my neck back to neutral only to stare at his shiny belt buckle with a griffon carved on it… That really put into perspective just how small I was… ‘No way I’d be able to throw him. Tripping him up would probably be better.’

After a few moments of staring at the elaborate design of his family crest, my brother grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me up, setting me down a few feet farther back. ‘What the… Is he just being protective again?’

He let out a heavy sigh. “We… Are going to need to have a little talk later I think…” He muttered before turning to Kai. “As for you… I’d be careful… You were trying to see if she got nervous or lashed out at you disrespecting her like that… But if she did either of those things you'd have a few broken bones right now… And if you tried to fight back I would have broken them myself…”

‘So scary… Go back to being all sweet and nice!’

Kai scratched his head. “Wow, you know you actually had me going there for a second boss.”

Suddenly my brother's face returned to normal and my wish came true. “I thought I might, I’m getting better at taking on different personalities I think. I figure if I can act more serious the teachers might yell at me less. It’s a real hassle when they get mad you know… Then again I can take half of them in a fight… But that would be a pain too…”

‘So he was just messing with him… Is it weird that I’m kinda sad he wasn’t being serious?’ “Guys… I feel like this is really off-topic…” I muttered, attracting everyone's attention again.

Kai took a step forward but paused before shifting his weight, bringing his foot back underneath him and maintaining distance. “Ok then. Can I ask what she did?”

“She is the leader of a guild that bullies people into becoming rogues to fight for her. My friend lost a fight so they destroyed her room, slashing holes in the walls and bed, destroying all of her belongings, and carving insults into the wood… She doesn’t even have any clothes anymore… On top of all that they took her family jewel at some point. So I guess getting that back would be most important.”

“I can’t say that doesn’t sound like her…”

All three of them fell silent and the air shifted. Even Gild, who was a commoner, understood how metaphorically heavy a family jewel was.

“Ok… Fine… I will help you, on one condition.”

“And that would be?”

“You enter the contest immediately following this one. It will be for your weight class.”

“Oh…” ‘He wants me… To compete?’ “Wait, how do you know how much I weigh?”

“I don’t, but the next one is the lightest, so you know.”

“Ah…”