Althea, on the other hand, was used to him acting like a baby. So she just laughed in amusement instead.
She looked at him, face morphing to one of seriousness. Ansel leaned over to listen well.
"What I can't see are the specialties and occupations the people had back in Terran. For this, I rely on the registration system."
Ansel nodded. And then? What about what you can see? He asked with his eyes.
Althea's lips held back a smile. "We can see the basic information like level, occupation, elements, wealth, and…" She paused mysteriously. "Even loyalty."
He gasped. "What! What an intrusive system!!"
"That's what I thought as well, but it's been very helpful to me so far so I have no complaints."
"Do note that there are still limitations," she told him, "From what the NPCs said, Loyalty values cannot display a negative value, so you can't use it to determine someone aiming to do harm."
Ansel was still simmering that so much of him was bare for those two jerks to see.
"TSK. No wonder I felt creepy when those two stared at me!" Then he paused and looked at her like the sycophant he could be. "Of course, this doesn't apply to you, my kind beautiful sister."
It was here that they heard a bit of mumbling from the children's side as if alerted by Ansel's noise. They saw one of the babies had rolled out of the mat.
Meatball really did his nickname justice.
Althea then stood up to take the baby boy, who was babbling with drool all over his face.
She gently rocked Little Meatball in her arms, cleaning up his slobbered face with a clean cloth.
"Ggoogrgurgleggg…" he mumbled seeming to thank her for her service. She couldn't help but giggle at his cuteness.
"Silly baby," she said, leaning down to give him a huge peck on his chubby cheeks.
He giggled adorably in response.
Little Pepper saw this and she extended her chubby arms to her direction. Ansel saw her hands full and took the baby instead.
It was just that Little Pepper being Little Pepper, she refused to behave in the arms of a strange dude. (Garan would be so proud).
"Mwammwah!"
Althea smiled but didn't take her, wanting her to be closer to her relatives. "Aww, baby…" she said and her heart broke when the little girl's eyes lined with tears. "This is your uncle Ansel. He is family." She said, kissing the girl on the cheek.
"Don't cry, okay?"
Ansel looked at the interaction with a smile, deciding to be proactive and gently lulling the baby girl.
She didn't look very comfortable at first, but she soon adjusted as she saw her mother nod with a smile as she behaved.
Althea grinned warmly as she saw Little Pepper finally snuggle into her uncle's warmth. "You should talk to her." She told him, "They don't understand what we're talking about, but hearing our voice gives them a sense of security."
"Oh?" He asked, then turned to the baby girl and lifted her in front of him. "So, little princess, what do you want to talk about?"
The baby stared, seemingly pursing her lips, before she began to babble nonsensical syllables.
"Hey, I wonder what she said…"
"She probably said you're a silly uncle."
It wasn't far off.
Anyway, the two adults laughed and Ansel stood up with the baby girl in his arms, heading towards the table. Althea did the same with Meatball.
The two then took the babies back to the table and sat down, cooing them as they chatted.
On the other hand, Maya continued to play with little Theodore, also looking very cute with their own little makeshift world.
"What about you?" Ansel asked, and then looked around at the beautiful house—something he really didn't think possible with the current conditions. "A lot must have happened, right?"
Althea chuckled because there was too much that had happened. She started with her adventures within the villa areas, as well as the meeting of Harold and Maya.
Ansel couldn't help but tap the table when he heard about the drug lord.
"I knew it! I knew that guy was a drug lord! He reeked of it!!"
Althea raised an eyebrow. "You know him?"
Ansel nodded as he remembered a memory, looking very dignified as he did so.
"You don't know. When I went home late one time, I got a bit… lost and ended up on his street. You know what I saw?" He paused for effect, "Mysterious garbage bags being hauled out of the house, guarded tightly by those men in black with guns…"
Althea was a bit amused by his gossipy side. "Oh, don't speak too badly of him." She joked, "He shares some of the credit on how I was able to make this place so well."
This made Ansel pause. "You really did build this place very well. You're as meticulous as always, especially when I recall how those other territories are."
Even if others had money, he strongly doubted those other lords would be able to create a territory with such detail and convenience as Altera. Not even close.
Then he looked at her with a puzzled face. "But these should be extremely expensive, right? How did you…" get so much money?
Then he remembered her mention of the drug lord's contribution. His eyes widened.
"I robbed the neighbors… and the bank." She said with a shrug.
Ansel looked at Althea in awe.
This sister was even more badass than he remembered!
____________________
CHARACTER INTERACTION CORNER~!
((What if the kids were a little older and could make a commentary?))
Author: So kids, this happened many years ago when you were babies. You probably don't remember, but what do you think of your uncle back then?
Little Pepper: So he was still an idiot even back then. Auntie Winona wasn't lying!
Little Meatball: *nods* Yes, an idiot.
Uncle Ansel: …
Author: …
…That wasn't as enlightening as I thought it would be…