Chapter 312: Casual and Deliberate
"What is this? Some kind of estate?" Ruger looked at the courtyard before him, so different from what he had imagined.
"How could something this size count as an estate? Just wait here for me."
The crisp voice had barely fallen.
When Ruger turned his head, the little thing beside him had already vanished without a trace.
The slightly taller girl noticed as well. Her face filled with alarm as she turned toward the dog-headed stranger still standing there at ease.
"Don't worry. I think she'll be back soon..."
Ruger said, forcing a grin with his dog mouth.
"You have younger brothers and sisters?"
Since he had nothing better to do, he casually found a topic to talk about.
The girl froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting the powerful wizard to speak to her about such things.
She quickly composed herself.
A gentle smile spread across her face. "Yes, my lord. Two younger brothers and three younger sisters. They're all very adorable... It's just that keeping them fed is rather difficult for me."
"Where are your parents?"
Ruger looked toward the depths of the courtyard, but saw no sign of movement.
"I don't have parents. I don't remember them at all. I was living on my own and going hungry from a very young age. Perhaps you don't understand what hunger feels like... It's hard to describe. Sometimes, if you stay hungry long enough, you stop feeling hungry again. They don't have parents either. For all sorts of reasons, I eventually took them in—or perhaps they took me in... They gave me family. So I don't want them to experience that feeling. So... so please, my lords, don't drive me away..."
The girl's face was filled with sincerity.
Ruger could sense her tightly clenched