"Child, you guessed it right.."
"But, how can you talk about this to us? What if we are bad guys?"
The naive Bryan asked the owner in confusion. They were strangers for the owner, why so honest?
"Hahaha…."
The owner laughed at Bryan's question. He was depressed but amused by the childish Bryan.
"Why are you laughing, uncle?"
"What uncle? Call me grandpa John. My grandchildren are as old as you."
"All right, grandpa John.."
The old man was satisfied after they called him grandpa. He pulled a chair from another table and sat beside the elves.
"I am already so old. I can see if you are bad or good. If you are cahoot with these bandits, you won't even bother to pay after eating."
"Oh.."
Noah was laughing at his stupid siblings. Would the bad guys ask others if they were bad? How can they be so adorable to this extent?
"I see that you are new faces. What are you doing here?"
"Grandpa, we are searching for a place to buy livestocks. Can you point us the way?"
"Livestocks?"
"Yes, chickens, ducks, goats, cows and pigs. The more variety, the better.."
An old lady suspected to be the owner's wife came out from the kitchen.
"We did have suppliers for the restaurant before. But I don't think you can get all of them. We are leaving the day after tomorrow. So, except for horses, buffalos, oxens and cows which can travel with us, the rest were already killed and became jerky."
The siblings looked at each other's faces in disappointment. They couldn't get them here, which meant that they had to run more.
"You can come with us. Stay at our home until then. You don't have to give us money for food and accommodation."
"It's not good.."
"What is not good? You are not in a hurry right? Come, come.. I will take you there."
After thinking for a few seconds, they followed the old lady. The old man didn't accept the four silver coins either. They were given two rooms in the old couple's house.
"We are all in the house, why are you still putting the hoods on? Come on, take them off. I feel stuffy seeing you.."
"Are you sure you want to see our faces?"
"If you feel ashamed because you are ugly, it's okay."
The old lady was really mean when she talked. Rolling their eyes, they took off the hoods and revealed the stunning faces underneath.
"Oh dear, what a pretty face you have!!! I apologize. You have to put on the hoods along the way. Don't ever let it down.."
The old lady turned blind eyes on the long ears as if she couldn't see them. Noah felt relief after not sensing the malice radiating from her. She touched Natalie's hair lovingly and said to them;
"Dinner will be ready before dark. Come down after you rest enough. Okay, I will go back to the restaurant."
The old lady walked very fast. She disappeared from their sights in a few blinks.
"They are such good humans…"
Adam nodded at Bryan's heartfelt words. He was moved as well. Noah sneered at the two naive fools.
"Stupid.."
"Are we?"
"Yeah.."
They didn't rebut Noah. Mother said he was the most human-like guy in the elves group. He was the leader and if he said they were stupid, they must be.
"Why are we stupid?"
To answer this question, Noah put up a soundproof barrier around them. They couldn't let the old couple hear them talking behind their backs.
"You think they are very good humans. And you are very grateful to them for giving us food and accommodation. You want to do something for them now, right?"
"Ah, yes?"
Weren't they good? The old man was easy to talk to and the old lady was very enthusiastic. Moreover, they didn't feel malice from the couple. The three siblings didn't understand Noah's thought.
"I didn't say they are bad."
"So.. we are right !!"
"Don't interrupt!!"
Noah knocked the three heads to show the elder's prestige. He felt pretty good being an elder brother. Although he had the responsibility to lead them straight, the benefits were also good. He could discipline them spiritually and physically.
"Although we didn't feel malice from them, we are calculated by them."
Looking at the stupid and confused faces, Noah felt happier.
"Four young pretty and silly children, without attendants and luggages, know nothing about the situation, traveling in a small group without suffering… Even a fool would know we are mages or we are powerful.
By owing us, they will get four guards for free. Even if we are not that powerful, four young and strong helpers are better than nothing."
"Brother, your thoughts are so sinister."
"You don't believe me?"
Noah clenched his fist, ready to strike and show them why he was an elder brother.
"No..no..no, brother. We believe. Of course, we believe. It's just… Do we want to do nothing?"
"No. We will help. I just want you to know sometimes free is more expensive. But since we afford it, just let it be.."
Dinner should be called rich, or normal? They didn't know how humans treated guests. However, two meat dishes, one soup, vegetable salad and breads should lean to the side of rich in human standards. Noah had eaten in the Prince's mansion before. Mother even said the Prince's kitchen was just that.
The old couple have two children. Both of them were in the capital city of the Sylvia Empire with their partners. They decided to take refuge there.
The next morning…
Bryan wanted to help the couple with packing but he was turned down. The old lady was preparing dry foods to eat on the way. Natalie wanted to help her but her clumsy hands did more mess than help. She was reduced to watching fire while Adam successfully became kitchen helper and learned to cook from the old lady.
By the way, the old lady's name was Anne. The couple had down to the earth names, called grandpa John and grandma Anne. The dry food for six and the things to take only add up to four baskets full.
"Are you done?"
Natalie was in disbelief. The house was decorated warmly and the furniture was full of memories. Not to mention the old couple, even she herself was reluctant to let them go.
"Oh dear, what can we do? We can't carry all of them."
"In fact, we can help you with that."
Noah was very defensive around the couple but after still not sensing malice from them overnight, he decided to take initiative in helping. By helping them, their mother would also get merits.
"Point to the things you want to take away.."
"If possible, we want to take everything. But, we can't let you carry our things. Having you guys as companions is already enough.."
Noah thought for a while and started to direct his siblings.
"Natalie, you are responsible for the clothings. Adam, go to the kitchen. Bryan, you take the furniture. Don't worry grandma Anne, we can take away everything except for digging the house. I'll store the beddings tomorrow morning. Grantee to sweep the house clean…"
No need to talk more, everything they touched disappeared in a blink. The old couple was shocked at first but became incredibly happy later. Grandma Anne was in tears. She was reluctant but had to give up her lifelong memories. Now, her heart was beating faster. She didn't need to leave them.
Unexpectedly, the children they decided to win over on a whim had storage devices on them. Old man John thought his wife was particularly smart. He was impressed by her wisdom once again, even though these children didn't seem like humans.
"That's great, that's great.. Do you have enough space?"
"Don't worry. It can be done."
Their space pocket was only the size of a small warehouse but storing things in a form of hill didn't take much space. Moreover, they had separated the responsibility. It didn't take one-fourth of the space. However, Noah won't tell the humans about this. They acted like the space was barely enough.
In a few minutes, the house was already bare, only left with some kitchen utensils and some beddings. The old lady packed some clothings to carry symbolically on her and her husband's back.
"I am worried about you. What if others know about your space? Carry one of the dry food baskets too.."
Noah started to like this old lady. Although this old lady was shrewd, she didn't have an ounce of malice on them.
"Isn't it already obvious? We didn't carry luggages before."
"It's not the same. You are mages. With magic power and spells, it's not strange for mages to travel freely. However, if we mortals move with supplies, that's strange. If you are known to possess the storage devices, you would be robbed and killed."
Old lady Anne had now realised that these children didn't know how precious the storage devices were. Not to mention the space was very big compared with the things in the mage's possession. She thought of them as "Second generation noble children".
Only the extraordinary mages and richest nobles families owned storage devices. To give the storage devices to all four of them, their family must be crazy rich…
She looked at the characteristics of the elves but didn't recognise which noble house they belonged to. But she didn't want to ask about their background as she already won over them once to get companions along the way. Any more would have worsened their impression on her..
However, the shaking ears made her stare. She had seen these long ears yesterday but she thought these were decorations. But decorations couldn't be shaken, right!!!
The pure surprise in her eyes made the old man John puzzled. Hadn't she already known this yesterday? They all pulled down the hoods in the house.
The careless Natalie even scratched her ears as she felt itchy. Noah saw the expressions of the old couple and then, he wanted to make it clear. The old couple knew how precious the storage devices were but didn't get excited or greedy. They were worth it to become friends.
"Grandpa John, it seems you know we are not humans. What do you think we are?"