Chapter 304 Northern Fjords (2/2)
Just Hannah and him would have been quite suspicious, so they decided to drag the poor girl with them, despite the fact that every time she saw Lino, she tried to kill him. It was decided that they would be a happy family of three on the run from the evil continental forces of Sects and Clans. Which, Lino mused, was actually true.
Hannah eventually managed to persuade Seya to join them, promising the little girl Lino would let her beat him to her heart's content after the mission was over, so long as she didn't actually kill him. Naturally, at the moment, Lino was unaware of this arrangement.
Save for Lino, the other two weren't exactly confident in passing as a family; there was first the fact that Seya looked nothing like the two, then there was the fact that neither Hannah nor Lino wore rings, and also the fact that he seemed rather indifferent to the sufferings of his supposed family at the moment.
”Anyway, we have no clue where they might be,” Lino said after short silence, turning around and walking toward the two while taking out two coral-dyed blankets and covering them with it. Soon, the two girls stopped shaking as their expressions turned into ones of bliss. ”Geez, you sure can't keep up your act.” Lino chuckled. ”Wait! That's the entire point of this journey! Crap... if you can't keep up your act here, how are you going to do it for the rest of the mission? Aii, I knew I should have gone alone. I could have just said I'm a son of something and the chosen child of Magic. I'm sure I could have persuaded at least a few idiots on my side and use that to start my own faction and eventually overtake the main one and become the leader of the whole thing and have an army of crazed Mages on my side. Tell me again, why the hell did I bring you two with me?!”
”....” both Hannah and Seya helplessly rolled their eyes, quite unable to understand how Lino came up with such a story and turn of events. ”Is that really a way for a man to speak to his wife and his daughter?” Hannah smiled wryly.
”You're right. Ah, fine. Let's get a divorce and you, my supposed daughter, I'm disowning you. Shoo.” Lino decided to play along.
”I'll disown your mother, you bastard!” Seya screamed out angrily, lunging over and kicking and punching Lino who merely yawned and let the little girl wail at him freely.
”She's sure lively for someone who's been nothing if not bitchy the entire trip over.”
”Where do we go now?” Hannah asked, sighing bitterly
”... who knows?” Lino shrugged. ”Inland?”
”... you do realize that this entire thing is as large as the Central Continent, right?” Hannah said, shocked.
”Eh, so what. It's not like we're pressed for time,” Lino chuckled. ”Besides, we're not allowed to use Qi while here. If any one of you do, I'm seriously turning coat, alright? That old bastard has promised me a lot of shit for this---khm, I mean, uh, it's a mission very close to my heart--”
”--didn't you say that the rewards were standard?” Hannah's face suddenly darkened as her voice turned colder than the world around them. Lino felt a cold shiver in his spine, remembering that Hannah was quite a greedy woman; the fact that she so often gave him things had kind of made him forget that she was not exactly happy with it.
”... ah, me and my tongue.” Lino sighed, sitting down and simply spreading his arms open. ”Go on. Join the little girl. Bully the best husband and father in the world! Sin so much your souls turn bleak!”
”Punching you in the face would redeem half the sneaky shit I've done in my life,” Hannah said. ”But, not just yet. Seriously, although these blankets are amazing, they won't last us long. We need to find a permanent shelter for the time being so we don't freeze to death.”
”Nah, I'm fine.” Lino chimed in.
”On the other hand, maybe we should just cancel the mission...” Hannah mumbled. ”After all, most of the penalty would fall upon you...”
”Shelter you said? Hah, piece of cake!” Lino shot onto his feet. ”Leave it to the best husband and father in the world!” Hannah and Seya watched him saunter off as they giggled, following shortly after. Lino, on the other hand, was also holding back the tears; he realized the mission would most-likely be very bad for his heart... and not because of the mission's contents, but his own companions. Ah, how unjust can the world get... a perfect man such as myself treated so... haiii.... naturally, he kept many such thoughts to himself.