WHO MADE ME A PRINCE
chapter fourteen - the gang.

THE NEXT DAY. Arius once again left the Palace. This time he teleported outside that abandoned building and slowly made his way in. He had organized his thoughts yesterday and came to the conclusion that the girl named Mia was kidnapped by the slave traders.

That was the emergency those kids had. And that explained why the slave trader mentioned that day being his lucky day.

He also questioned Claude about the slave traders yesterday and found out they were pretty skilled in hiding, and so have not been caught as of yet.

'Dad said Felix would take care of them but with the looks of things , those kids might go to save that girl. Stupid , really . But I can understand how worried they'd be, plus the imperial guards still haven't caught them and who knows what they might do to the poor girl.'

Arius opened the door and went inside. It was empty.

'Huh..are they hiding? or out for their daily stealing?'

Gasp!

"Arion!?"

Arius flinched. A shout came from inside. 

It was Lifa.

"Where were you?! Gun told us he met you yesterday but you disappeared, we thought the slave traders got you!" She ran up to him and hugged him.

"I'm sorry, I just had to leave suddenly. Lifa, right?" she nodded.

Lifa let go of him and welcomed him inside. She took him to the second floor of the building which had a few rock-hard mattresses and some clothes scattered on the floor.

She told him to sit wherever and he did.

"..What... happened yesterday?"

"Before that , tell me who you are?"

"I'm Arion. I don't know my last name. I work under a nobleman but explore the city in my free time. The nobleman I work for is not a bad person and provides me with food, money, clothes and shelter."

"What's the name of this nobleman?"

"Hmmm...I don't remember..I only clean the estate, I've hardly met the head in person but the whole staff Is always praising him." He lied.

'Damn if such a nobleman exists , I'd like to meet him.'

Lifa was silent for a while before speaking.

"Acceptable....So....Yesterday one of my friends, ...Mia, ...was kidnapped by a slave trader. My friends and her brother, Gun, are currently looking for clues to find her."

"..."

"I see..."

'As I thought.'

"I'd like to help as well. Gun saved my life yesterday when I was almost kidnapped."

"Are ....you sure? It might get dangerous, Gun and the rest of them have learned self defense but you don't look like you ca–"

"I've told this to Gun and I'll tell this to you as well, I'm well capable of defending myself, you needn't worry." Arius said with a glare.

"If you say so." She said in a doubtful tone.

"You can start helping us out tomorrow, for today I'll just introduce you to the Gang. They'll return before night falls. Until then let me show you around." She said as she stood up.

Arius nodded and stood up as well. They then toured around the building which was surprisingly in good shape. Once they were done, Arius began asking questions.

"How do you guys manage all alone like this?"

'I already know the answer but I'm still gonna ask.'

"We steal." She replied with a smirk

"It's not the best way, true, but without this we'd probably be passed out on the streets and who knows, maybe turned into slaves. We need to do what we have to. To survive."

"I understand what you mean."

"So , usually one of you stays behind to take care of the base? while the rest go searching?"

"Yep!"

"That boy you met alongside me back then. He's Jasper, my younger brother. The two who were crying yesterday were Ruby and Eli. The rest of them , I'll introduce when they arrive. Oh and we also have Vincent. He wasn't there yesterday. Unlike us he has a family and visits us when he can. He's super smart too. He's like our leader, everyone listens to him."

'This sounds so cool , like they have a whole gang and a leader too , so anime-like.'  Arius thought excitedly.

"How old are you guys?"

"Well, the youngest of us is aged seven and the oldest is twelve."

'...Well damn, I'm the youngest here.'

Suddenly the doors open.

"We're back!"

Lifa suddenly stood up and went to meet them on the first floor. Arius followed behind , but remained hidden.

"Any luck?!" Lifa shouted back at them with sadness and desperation in her voice.

The others didn't reply but their expressions gave it away, 'No.' There was a moment of silence, before Lifa asked

"Where's Gun?"

"That stubborn idiot is still searching for her." replied Jasper with an annoyed look on his face.

"But! he said he'd be back soon!" The red-headed girl from before, Ruby, defended him.

"But still! it's too dangerous for him to be there alone." The boy with dirty blonde hair, Eli said.

"Okay guys, don't argue. He needs some time alone, it's understandable after what happened." Lifa tried to soothe the tension

"Yea, plus he is the strongest of us, he'll be fine." another boy said.

"Oh I almost forgot! Guys, we have a new friend! Arion!" introduced Lifa and Arion came out of his hiding spot.

"No way! This kid from yesterday?!" Jasper exclaimed

"Yes, he was safe." Lifa said

Ruby suddenly hugged Arius and began crying.

"Thank God!!"

'Okay. Stop. Why are they being so friendly? First Lifa and now Ruby too.'  He thought, a bit annoyed by how they kept crying and hugging him.

"He'll be helping us from tomorrow in finding Mia."

"B-But-"

"Shut up Jasper." Lifa scolded him in a teasing tone.

The children all headed upstairs and made themselves comfortable. Eli and one other boy brought them snacks to eat and juice.

"Time for introductions!! starting with our newest team member, Arion go!"

"I'm Arion, I work for a nobleman, as a cleaner. And uhh I don't have any parents but the staff working in the estate is pretty nice to me. Yesterday I was about to be kidnapped by a slave trader but Gun helped me and so to repay him back I'd like to help..."

"Pfft." Jasper laughed. Lifa hit him in the stomach with her elbow, which made him groan in pain.

"And exactly what is so funny?" asked Lifa.

"Ugh, well I'm just thinking how he found such an excuse. Are there really any noblemen who are so nice , my first time hearing this, tell me what's the name of this noble?"

"Uh...I don't know."

"There! Ya see!?" Lifa hit him in the head.

"Jeez!! you need to cool down, go get some fresh air." and with that Jasper was kicked out from the second floor.

"I'm sorry Arion, he can be an idiot sometimes."

"No it's alright."

"Moving onwards!! From youngest to oldest!"

"I'm Ruby! I'm seven years old. I usually help around with the food and sometimes go out with the rest. " she said in a welcoming voice.

'She seems like a kind and nice person.'

"I'm Elio, you can just call me Eli like the others. I'm eight years old and I also help around with the food and cleaning this place." he said in a soft voice.

'He looks like he can't handle stealing things anyways.'

"Usually , Ruby or Eli stay behind to look after the Base." added Lifa.

"Jasper is the next oldest after Eli, he's nine and he's the most expert in stealing and so his work is mostly on the streets. We call him Jazz for short."

'He did seem a bit arrogant, I guess it's because he's the best at stealing. Still I don't get why he doesn't like me.'

"Next in age is...The twins!"

"Winslow." introduced Winslow in a slow and uninterested voice

"Willow." introduced Willow the same way as Winslow.

"We both are also usually with Jasper, working." said Winslow uninterested

"They're both ten." added Lifa.

"Next is Me. As you already know, I'm Lifa , Jazz's Older sis. I usually go with them as well."

"After me is Gun, you've already met him. He's eleven years old. And he's the best fighter of our group–"

"Really? Really Lifa? Do you not see me?" a blue haired boy said in a disappointed voice.

"Oh come on Cad, We all know it. Accept it , he's a better swordsman and fighter than you."

The rest nodded in agreement.

"Wha- You guys- Just you wait! I'll be the best swordsman in this whole empire!!"

"And now you're copying him." Said Willow in a quiet yet sarcastic voice.

"CAN'T TWO PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME DREAM!?"

"No." Willow replied with a straight face.

"Pfft." Arius accidentally laughed.

There was a moment of silence with everyone staring at him but then they all started laughing. After a moment of laughter Lifa continued.

"So, This weirdo here is Cadell , our second best fighter!" she said in an attempt to make him happy but he just looked at her with disgust over that.

"He's the oldest by age, twelve." Lifa explained.

"But mentally he's the youngest." added Willow with a straight face.

"Hmph! Just you guys wait! Anyways , nice to meet you Arion! You can just call me Cad like the others." Cadell smiled at him

"It's nice to meet all of you as well."

Arius smiled back.

"We also have two other people. Vincent, he's eleven. And Mia, she's seven and Gun's sister."

Suddenly the mood went gloomy.

"Guys. Don't worry, we'll find her soon. And she'll be okay." Arius assured them, they just gave him a sad smile.

"And, I don't believe I've told you my specialty, right?"

All the children in the room looked at him a bit confused.

"Wait what do you–"

"Magic." Arius said with a smile.

Their faces went shocked all of a sudden.

"N-No way.."

Arius used his mana to make a fireball all of sudden.

"WHA- NOOO!!!" Cadell shouted.

Jasper and Gunther came running in

"WHAT'S WRONG!?" they shouted as the inspected the room.

"OI GUN, JAZZ LOOK AT THIS !!!" Cadell screamed

Smack!

Lifa hit him in the head.

"Would you stop screaming!? you're being hella loud!"

"told you he was a kid." said Willow from behind.

Cadell looked at her with a frown, but forgot his anger when he remembered the flame.

"Gun, You're back?" Elio asked

"Yep , I was on my way in with Jazz, when I heard the shouts. what was it about anyways?"

"Oi! HIS HAND IT'S BURNING!!" Jasper screamed as he looked at Arius's hand

"WELL WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET WATER!" screamed Gunther.

Both of them started running here and there to fetch some water.

"GUYS STOP!" Lifa shouted at the two boys.

"STOP WHAT!? SAVING HIS HAND!!??" Jazz screamed back.

"Ugh!"

Lifa went after her idiot brother to smack some sense into him. Gunther went and got a bucket of water and was about to throw it on Arius. Eli stopped Jasper and Lifa smacked him hard in the head.

"Gun, wait!!" Ruby shouted from behind.

Splash!

Arius was dropped in water. Everything happened so fast. He didn't have time to react or even understand the situation.

There was pin-drop silence in the room. There was a dark aura emanating from Arius. Gun gulped and began sweating. He nervously laughed and said

"Ario--"

"Not.A.Single.Word." Arius said as he glared at Gunther with a death glare.

"But ! Your hand was burning!!" Jasper exclaimed.

Smack!

"IT WAS NOT." Lifa smacked and shouted at him.

"He was using Magic." Said Winslow who was simply enjoying the whole show.

"Magic?"

There was another silence in the room. Arius quickly dried his clothes using mana. Everyone looked amazed.

"Anyways, I'll be helping from tomorrow, And yes I can use magic but I'm self taught so I'm not that great. I have to go now." Arius said.

"Mhm, Okay, See you tomorrow then!" said Lifa waving at him with a smile as he teleported away, leaving everyone shocked.

WHO MADE ME A PRINCE
additional characters - information.

☽ Lifa

She's like the mother of the group. She takes care of the rest and helps in all the duties but mostly stealing. She's mature for her age and keeps the rest united. She's cunning , observant, kind, quick to understand situations, quick for decision making and has leadership qualities. She uses a dagger as her weapon of choice.

☽ Jasper

He's kind of an idiot. But he cares a lot about the safety of the group and so is suspicious of outsiders. Despite his exterior he's actually quite sensitive. He , like his sister, uses the dagger and is quite skilled with it. He can be kind , dumb, scary when u hurt his friends or sister, uncaring towards strangers. He's the most skilled with the dagger and his movements are similar to Assassin's making him great at stealing things as well.

☽ Gunther

He is a sweet and caring person. He is quite skilled with the sword (He practiced with a wooden one though But his quick movements certainly showed potential.) He wants to become the greatest swordsman and be able to wield his sword to protect the weak. He is a great older brother not only to his sister but everyone in the gang. He's always worried about others' well-being. He goes stealing with the rest.

☽ Ruby

She's like those sweet , innocent girls. She just wants to open a bakery when she grows up and sell all kinds of breads and cakes. She's mostly the caretaker of the Base, as she cannot bring herself to steal anything because of her kind nature. She's great at cooking and baking things despite her young age.

☽ Elio

He's like the male version of Ruby. Same as her. Kind , sweet and has a big heart. He has the same dream as her and they both kinda wanna do it together.

☽ Winslow

He's the older of the twins. Both twins are quiet but he's the less quieter one. He takes care of his sister. He can seem cold sometimes. He's quick to understand situations and reacts to them accordingly. He and Willow are the information gatherers of the group. They're skilled at getting information about anything and everything. He's quite smart as well.

☽ Willow

The female twin is the least talkative in the whole group. She mostly keeps to herself unless it's making fun of Cadell. She's calm and collective , and mostly has a blank expression on her face. She is more skilled in gathering information than her brother.

☽ Cadell

He's like the biggest child of the group. He's super expressive. Acts without thinking. He would say any and everything on his mind on the spot. Gets excited over the smallest things and disappointed all the same. He's a curious kid. He also thinks himself the rival of Gunther in swordsmanship. He's also skilled in that area. But not as much as Gunther. He wants to beat him and has the same dream as Gunther. His childishness aside. He can be scary and mature if need be.

☽ Vincent

As mentioned. He is the leader of the group. He's the mastermind of this group as well. He gathered all of these children together and kind of saved them and taught them how to survive by stealing and stuff. Everyone trusts him . Jasper trusts anyone Vincent brings to the group but since Arius wasn't brought by Vincent but came himself , He doesn't trust him.

☽ Mia

She's kinda like Ruby. She's like the cute little sister for everyone in the group. Innocent, kind and cute. She's interested in Medicines and healing magic as she wants to help people. Basically she's a cute angel.