CHAPTER 109: BEFORE THE SORE

"I asked Lady Veronica, and she agreed," Myra said as Leon was having his morning breakfast. "She even made a last-minute adjustment in all her plans today."

Leon listened to her, his attention fixed on the plate in front of him.

Cutting the sausage in half, he picked it up with his fork. Unlike his past life, he had to get used to this elegant style of eating.

As a CEO, he had visited fancy places regularly, but no one ever scolded him for how he held a knife or fork.

Here, however, the first time he used them, Myra immediately pointed it out.

It wasn’t anything big. It was just that the way Leon held the knife had been off by eleven degrees.

He still remembered how she had gently corrected his grip without hesitation.

Since then, Leon had learned to adapt.

He chewed the sausage slowly, glancing at Myra, who stood beside him with her usual composed expression.

’She really takes this maid thing seriously,’ Leon thought.

The morning sunlight poured in through the small window beside him, casting a warm light over the wooden table.

Leon glanced at Myra through the corner of his eyes.

She stood there in her maid uniform, her short blond hair tied up with a white hairband, and her crimson red eyes.

It was Leon’s first time seeing a half-Sanguine.

Even in the game, he had never heard of them.

’Amazing... she looks just like a human.’

Leon said after swallowing his bite. "Have you made preparations?"

Myra nodded. "Yes, Master Leon."

He sighed softly. "Great, I am counting on you today."

Her lips curved slightly, but she didn’t answer.

Leon put down the fork and leaned back on the chair. Everything was moving faster than expected.

Today, they would leave in search of Moonblade. To reach it, they needed to use the Blood Tower’s teleportation room.

For the entire day, he had asked Myra to tag along, and surprisingly, Veronica had agreed to it.

Of course, Leon had to inform his sister about Moonblade. Since her trusted companion would be with him, there was no point in hiding it.

Naturally, Veronica had asked him where he got such a detailed teleportation coordinate from. Leon had to come up with a lie this time. He couldn’t possibly explain anything about the reward or his system. Veronica would never understand; she would probably think he had lost his mind.

So, Leon simply told her that he bought the coordinates from a broker.

She likely didn’t believe such a simple lie, but that was fine.

’Let her doubt me,’ Leon thought.

That was exactly what he wanted for now.

After finishing his breakfast, he checked his belongings one last time before leaving the dorm.

"Oh, nice weather." Leon looked up at the sky.

It’s not very sunny. And the white clouds were floating all around.

"Mhm," Myra hummed beside him. She was holding onto a side bag. Leon didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t ask her.

Walking a bit further, Leon saw plenty of students in their casual clothing, roaming around the campus.

In between the students, Leon spotted a few girls linking arms with their guy.

"..."

"..."

’What the hell...’

Sometimes, things remain the same, no matter where he goes.

As Haru, he never really did that until he made a name for himself, but still...

’Don’t they feel embarrassed?’

He always wondered.

Leon moved past them.

Further in, Leon saw a familiar girl sitting on a bench near the fountain in front of the academy block. She was wearing the Eclipse uniform. Her black hair with a hint of purple swayed slightly with the breeze, and her red eyes looked dull.

Leon sneered inwardly. ’The coma girl has to take class even on a weekend. What a sight to behold.’

She looked tired as hell.

After the class allotment test, those who were sent to the infirmary were required to attend all the important classes, including weapon selection.

Their eyes met.

Leon averted his gaze immediately.

He turned around, ready to walk away before anything happened.

"Do you think I got balls instead of eyes?" Alice’s voice rang out behind him.

Leon paused and turned around.

Alice was walking toward him with her arms crossed, her red eyes glaring straight at him.

Leon lifted his hand casually in greeting. "Nice weather today, Alice. And you look... alive?"

Alice’s eyes twitched. She beamed him a bright, polite smile and said sweetly, "Kindly fuck yourself."

Leon blinked. "What? Alice, that’s so not pleasant to my ears."

"Oh yeah?" Alice shot back, her tone went sharp. "’Mr. Don’t worry, Alice. I’ll tell you beforehand if there’s any threat.’"

Leon understood immediately. She was pissed because she died in the book.

"Yeah, about that," Leon said calmly, "would you believe me if I said I didn’t sense that succubus?"

"Lick my ass!!" Alice exploded, her eyes blazing with fury. "You played me... because of you, I fell in rankings!"

Leon rubbed his forehead. Alice was actually ranked 6th, which was pretty impressive. But she wanted top 5. That kind of ambition was something else entirely.

"You could always earn some credits through your research and easily rank up," Leon said casually.

Alice stared at him like he had lost his mind.

"Are you nuts? Do you even know the margin between the students’ credits in the top 10?"

Leon did know. His total credit was 69,000 C, while Ethan’s was 111,000 C. That was just the gap between Rank 1 and Rank 2.

Now imagine the gap with the others in the top 10.

Alice sighed. "If only I had been more careful."

Leon nodded. "Indeed."

Alice shot him a sharp glare.

"Hehee..."

Someone chuckled softly.

Alice’s attention snapped to the source of the sound, to Myra, who was standing quietly next to Leon.

She was in her maid uniform; her posture was elegant and composed. Just by looking at her, anyone could tell she carried herself with refinement, and there’s no need to guess what her role was.

Noticing Alice, Myra simply bowed politely.

Alice didn’t respond. She turned to Leon and asked, "You’re going out today?"

"Yeah, today is ’weekend’ after all," Leon replied casually.

Alice clicked her tongue.

"We should go, young master. Lady Veronica is waiting," Myra interrupted.

Leon’s mind went blank for a second.

’Ah, fuck.’

He had forgotten to tell Myra not to mention Veronica in front of Alice.

"Lady Veronica?" Alice repeated, glancing at Myra. "Are you going to Blood Tower?"

"Yes," Myra answered again before Leon could stop her. "Young master wishes to see my lady."

"Ah... is that so..." Alice narrowed her eyes at Leon and grinned.

Leon didn’t like where this was going.

.

[A/n: Yes, there will be one more Chapter in couple of hours.]