"Miss Laila! Good Morning."
Ning arrived at Heeran's Love an hour later when the sun had already risen high in the sky, with the two kids following next to him and a large beast behind him.
He looked at the plaster work he had done yesterday and how it had all solidified already. Today he would work on the paint.
The woman was busy with a knife, cutting something on a large bucket in the shop when they arrived. She looked at them as they came in. "Ah, these must be the kids you talked about," she said and walked up to them.
She smelled of fresh herbs and leaves, which Ning saw from his vantage point was what she had been cutting up.
"Welcome, you two," she said and looked at Emma. "You must be Ning's daughter."
"Hello, madam. I am Emma." Emma gave a respectful greeting, bowing a little in respect. "Oh my, look at you. How beautiful," Laila said, moving up to hold Emma's arms. "How old are you? I was expecting someone younger when Ning said he had a daughter."
"15," Emma said. That was the number she could go around saying without ever being questioned for it.
"15?" the woman looked surprised and turned to Ning. "How young were you when you had her?"
"Don't let my father's looks deceive you. He is older than he looks," Emma said. "Much older."
"Is that so?" the woman said. Ning had told her that before, but she hadn't truly given it much thought. "And who is this?"
Hadden was a little nervous. He gulped a little, his body still still in a bit of pain, and introduced himself. "I'm Hadden. Nice to meet you, miss."
"Nice to meet you," the woman said. "And who are you to Ning?"
"I'm his student," Hadden replied.
"Student, huh?" the woman said with a bit of a smile on her face. "Make sure to learn what you can from him then."
It was then that the woman's eyes fell toward the shadows and she saw something she hadn't immediately noticed. A beast.
Umbra sat in the shade with her two children next to her, waiting until Ning had some orders for her. She would stay there until he said something.
"What is that?" the woman asked, a bit of fear budding in her heart.
"Hmm? Oh, that is Umbra, our beast," Ning explained. "I told you last time that we had a beast too, didn't I?" "I thought you said they were small," the woman said.
"Ah, her kids are small and she isn't that big when you compare her to the beasts out there," Ning said and turned toward Umbra. "Umbra, can you come in here?"
Umbra finally walked in. Lory and Lyra walked in next to her, and Lory jumped onto Emma's shoulders before giving a high-pitched growl as a greeting. He sounded no different than a young cat.
The woman was surprised and even a bit taken aback. She looked toward Umbra, the completely black beast gave her some sense of fear. However, she didn't let it be shown.
"You have tamed it?" the woman asked.
"Her," Ning said. "Umbra, say hello."
"Greetings," Umbra said, her voice a deep growl. She spoke in a language that a human would understand.
The woman was truly frightened this time around. She stepped back in shock, looking at the beast, pointing to it in shock. "It-it-it… it just spoke."
"She just spoke," Ning said again. "Umbra here is a mother and is very friendly. You do not have to worry about her."
"O-okay," the woman said, not sure what else to say. She didn't even know how else she was supposed to react. She had a hard time trusting Ning on the matter, but she didn't have the heart to tell an intelligent beast to go away. What if it came back to eat her?
"Where do you plan on keeping i— her?" she asked.
"I'll make her a small shelter in the back. I'm hoping that won't be much of a problem," he said.
"She can stay in the room behind here if only a corner is enough for her," the woman said.
"Ah, right, that will work too," Ning said. "I won't have to make her anything then," he said. "Thank you, Miss Laila."
"Thank you," Umbra spoke as well and beckoned her children to do the same. They could only purr and bow.
The woman sighed. "Alright, come on in. Do you have any furniture?" she asked.
"None," Ning said. "But we don't need it. Everything we need we have in our storage artifacts. You don't have to worry about it."
The woman nodded and started walking. "Stay here and call me if someone comes by," Ning told Umbra and walked away after grabbing Lyra. Emma took Lory, and Hadden followed them quickly, going to the floor above to see their new place of stay.
They saw the backyard first and then the room above. The room was quite shabby, but it was better than having nothing.
"You two boys will that that room," the woman said, showing an empty room to the left of the hallway. "This one on the right is the kitchen. And that at the front is where I sleep. Your daughter can live there until she passes the Institute exam and has to go there. When is that by the way?"
"5 days later," Emma said.
"Oh, it is close then," the woman said. She reached for something and it out. A piece of paper with text on it.
"This is the contract for you staying here. Read it and sign it," she said and handed it over to Ning.
Ning gave it a quick glance and signed it without much thought before handing it back.
The woman saw it and nodded. "Well then, welcome to your new home. I hope you will like it."
Nig smiled. "Thank you for letting us stay, Miss Laila."
