A Weird Way To Cultivate: Birth Of A Legendary Sage-Chapter 34: Inviting a friend
Continuing their walk, Vladimir had already stored the pouch of coins in his inventory.
He had learned that once he took money out from the system, it couldn’t be added to the [Money] stats.
However, he could still store it in the system’s inventory, which worked just the same.
“Do you like it?” Vladimir asked as he turned his gaze to his side.
His little sister nodded happily, raising the toy in her arms and waving it with joy.
“It’s cute, big brother. I don’t just like it, I love it,” she said as she hugged him around the waist.
He smiled and gently ruffled her hair, feeling genuinely happy that the system had rewarded him with money for completing those simple missions.
Soon, they stopped in front of a familiar house. Vladimir walked up to the door and knocked.
“Uncle Sullivan!” he called out as he banged on the door.
When no one replied after ten seconds, he knocked again. Still, there was no answer.
Just as he raised his hand to knock for the fourth time, a creaking sound echoed as the door slowly opened.
A girl, around twelve years old, appeared in plain sight.
She had long black hair, black eyes, and a cute round face framed by wispy bangs.
Her cheeks were slightly puffed, probably from just waking up, and a faint blush rested on her face as if surprised by the loud knocks.
She wore a plain beige dress, a little oversized, cinched at the waist with a worn cloth belt.
The edges were frayed, and the sleeves were loosely rolled up.
“Father is not here, mis...” she mumbled sleepily, but as her eyes fully opened, she realized it was someone familiar.
“Vlad, younger sister. It’s actually you two. Why are you here so early in the morning?” she asked.
“We have nothing to do today, and Mother told us to play outside. So that’s why we’re here, Claire,” he responded.
“So hey, want to grab some fruit at the usual place while we play? I think the guava tree has already ripened,” Vladimir said, inviting her.
Standing in front of her was her childhood friend. Her name was Claire, the only daughter of Sullivan.
Her family hadn’t tried for another child, since they weren’t confident they could raise more, since taking care of one is pretty expensive.
Being invited, of course, she was delighted.
“Of course I want to go. Wait, I’ll say goodbye to my mother first,” she said.
“Oh sure, say hello to Aunt Lena for me,” Vladimir replied.
Claire nodded and went inside. After a short while, she came back out.
With that, the three of them left the house and walked for a while until they found themselves outside the village.
The place they were heading to was considered safe, as they had come here many times to play.
No beasts or disasters had ever troubled them in this area.
After passing through rows of trees, bushes, and tall grasses, they finally arrived.
In front of them was a small pond, its water so clean and clear that it reflected everything like a perfect mirror.
“Well then we have arrived, what should we do play or eat first?” Vladimir asked.
“I think playing is fun, but before we play, let’s eat first. I forgot to have breakfast this morning,” she said, touching her slightly bulging stomach.
Vladimir nodded, and together they walked around the pond and approached the guava tree.
Seraphina and Claire stayed below while Vladimir climbed up into the branches.
He was surprised by how fast he had climbed and how steady his balance was, even while walking on a small branch.
After picking some guavas and passing them down for the girls to catch, Vladimir prepared to climb down. But then he remembered that the tree wasn’t that tall and figured he could just jump.
As he leapt down, Claire panicked, thinking he might hurt himself, while Seraphina was too busy enjoying the fruits to notice.
Claire moved to catch him, and seeing this, Vladimir quickly grabbed a branch mid-air to slow his fall just enough for her to catch him safely.
“Are you crazy, Vlad? Why aren’t you more careful? If I didn’t catch you, you could have broken your bones,” she scolded him.
Since she was older, she often acted like a big sister. Seeing him fall from about eight feet made her panic.
As he landed in her arms, the two of them were now face to face, their faces too close like with just a slight leaned close they can kiss.
“Actually, even if you didn’t catch me, I would still be fine,” he responded with a calm voice.
She puffed her cheeks and set him down, “Let’s go ahead and eat. I’m really starving. Also, don’t do that again,” she said, and he nodded.
The two girls began eating, but Vladimir didn’t join them since he still didn’t feel hungry.
As they were enjoying the guava fruits, Claire suddenly spoke up.
“I just remembered something. Did Aunt Aeloria tell you to be careful when going out?”
Vladimir looked up, confused by what she said. “What do you mean be careful? Be careful of what?” he asked, genuinely curious.
“Hmm, you didn’t know? Mother said some bad people have come to the village. She said they hunt and cage people to sell,” Claire said with an angry look.
“Huh, really? Then why are we even out in the first place? And how did Aunt Lena even let us leave?” Vladimir replied, standing up quickly, now realizing there was actual danger.
This must have been what the grandma had warned him about earlier.
“Why are you so afraid?” Claire said, narrowing her eyes at him with a teasing look, as if calling him a coward.
After that she continued, “Well, Mother didn’t really allow us. I actually lied and said we are just going to have fun while staying in the village,” she said.
“But this place is very safe and hidden. Those bad guys won’t find us. And if they do, I’ll beat them up!”
She threw a playful punch as she said it, with crumbs of guava still clinging to her lips.
“Right...” Vladimir muttered, clearly not convinced about the whole beating-them-up part.
He couldn’t help but wonder how their once peaceful village had come to face such trouble.
The idea that bad people were now kidnapping and selling others made him put on his guard.
Looking at his little sister, who was sitting and eating peacefully, he felt a strong sense of protection.
He was confident in himself, certain that he could protect her mother and sister if those criminals do something bad.
He didn’t know exactly where this feeling came from, but it felt like it was rising from deep within him.
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