"She is already here, and I thought I would be able to rest for a while." Max smiled wryly and opened the door.
"Big brother, you..." When little Arya saw Max's exhausted complexion, her cheerful dimmed as she said in a sad voice, "Big brother, why aren't you ready yet?"
Seeing her expression, Max smiled and patted her tiny head as he said in a gentle tone, "Give me a few minutes. I'll quickly get ready." He then pointed toward Rima and the others' room when he noticed they weren't out yet and said, "Why don't you call out your big sisters in the meantime?"
"Okay. I'll call them out, but big brother, you hurry up, okay? There is a shop in the market that sells delicious sweets; if we are late, it will be sold out." Little Arya urged him to hurry before she went to knock on the ladies' room.
After Max closed the door, he went to the bathroom to take a bath and changed his robes.
When he came out of the room, Arya was impatiently waiting with Rima and the others right in front of his room.
Whoosh!
When Little Arya saw him, she charged toward him like a bolt of lightning, grabbed his hand before pulling him out of the mansion, "Let's go. We are going to be late."
In front of an overly excited Arya, Max was helpless and could only allow her to drag him however she liked.
When Rima and the others saw his expression, they glanced at each other before they broke out into laughter. This was the first time they saw him wearing such an expression.
...
Under little Arya's lead, Max and the company left the city lord's mansion and went toward the city market.
As they walked through the spacious streets, Max and the ladies kept looking around in amazement. Leticia couldn't help but exclaim, "How amazing!"
Because they were in the carriage when they arrived, they couldn't properly see what the city looked like. However, now that they could see it, they were amazed.
All the buildings and houses in the city were made of wood with extremely beautiful craftsmanship. All the people they saw had smiles on their faces as they went about their daily work. Children were happily playing on the streets while the elderly could be seen sitting in front of their houses, sipping tea as they merrily talked and laughed. The atmosphere alone here was extremely soothing.
"Big sister, nothing is amazing about it. This is just the residential area of our city, so it's very boring here. However, the market is more lively in comparison. There are many fun places there. However, my parents and grandparents also like this part of the city more, and now you also find this amazing. Why is it so?" Little Arya asked in a confused voice.
"Because it's very peaceful here." Leticia smiled and then thought with a dreamy look, 'How amazing would it be if we could live here without any worry!'
"What's so good about it? I like the fun and lively places more. That's why I always sneak out. Human cities are more lively." Little Arya laughed mischievously.
Max and the ladies only smiled in response while a thought emerged in their hearts, 'It's good to be young.'
"Hey, look, it's big sister Arya." Suddenly they heard an excited childlike cry in front of them.
A group of Elvin kids was playing there. When they noticed Arya, all of them became excited and ran toward her.
"Big sister. You have really returned."
"We missed you, big sister."
"You came to play with us, right?"
She was immediately surrounded by the kids who seemed very happy to see her, unlike the previous group of kids they saw when they came to the city.
Seeing this, Little Arya glanced at Rima and others with a smug smile on her face, it was as if she was saying that 'I'm popular.'
Rima and others couldn't help but chuckle when they saw this.
"Humans?" When little Arya glanced back, the Elvin kids finally noticed Max and others. A shocked and fearful expression appeared on their faces, and they hurriedly stepped back.
"Huh?" Max and the ladies were surprised by their reaction.
"Hey, what's with your reactions?" Arya asked in a deep voice as her expression turned grave.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, three elderly elves who were previously enjoying tea and talking appeared in front of them and looked at the humans warily. One of them looked at Arya and asked, "Saint girl, who are these humans?"
"Granny, this big brother and sisters are our honourable guests." Little Arya replied after she glared at the group of kids.
"Honourable guests?" The elderly elves were taken aback by her words. After that, they smiled and nodded toward Max and company, "Please don't mind the kids."
"It's fine, elders." Rima modestly replied.
The elderly elves nodded and then turned toward the group of kids, "Saint girl is busy with the honourable guests. Don't bother them. Go and play by yourselves."
The kids obediently nodded, and after taking a few more curious glances at Max and others, they walked away while whispering with each other.
"Big brother, big sisters, let's go. This place is not fun." Little Arya said grumpily as she glanced at the group of kids.
"Okay. Don't get angry now." Rima chuckled and then asked, "However, I'm curious why they acted as if they had seen a ghost when they saw us. From what I know, humans aren't that rare in your city, right?"
Hearing this, Arya nodded, "That's right, big sister. There are always a few humans present in our city because of trade purposes." She then continued, "However, no one is allowed in this part of the city, and the people living here rarely go out of here. So they here rarely interact with them. That's why they were surprised to see you guys."
"Oh, that's why." Rima nodded. At the same time, she sighed, 'If it were not for those two lecherous bastards, the Elvin race wouldn't have a bad impression of the humans.'
*****
Bonus chapter (2/10)
