As Leon prepared to depart, the Little Spirits clung to him with reluctance.
“Leon, Leon! I want to see that again!”
“Training! We want to see the training!”
“Train with the boss!”
“Hurry up!”
His face turning grim, Leon ignored the Little Spirits’ outrageous outbursts and nodded to the Little Spirit King.
A soft halo of light enveloped Leon and Rita.
In the next second, they turned into specks of white light and vanished from the Elf Temple.
Listening to his subordinates’ ridiculous and over-the-top comments, the Little Spirit King’s face darkened, and his orb-like body began to swell rapidly.
Tonight, there would be a bloodbath in the Elf Temple!
He was going to go on a killing spree!
***
It was evening in Claude’s bedroom.
The Covenant Teleportation Array, which had lost its luster, suddenly erupted with a soft glow.
Leon and Rita successfully returned to the mansion.
“Welcome home!”
Claude, who had been waiting for a long time, opened his arms toward the two of them.
“Father!”
Rita immediately flew into Claude’s embrace, acting as spoiled as she pleased.
“Oh! My dear daughter, it seems your trip to the Elf Temple went smoothly?”
Claude hugged Rita, holding her and spinning her around dotingly.
“Of course! Father, you won’t believe what Leon and I went through!!”
The sense of security from being home filled Rita’s entire body.
She could not wait to share everything she had seen and heard in the Elf Temple with her father.
Claude keenly noticed that his daughter’s attitude toward Leon seemed to have undergone a positive change, and he smiled with relief.
Feeling the now completely stabilized Mana Source within his daughter, as well as the faint aura of a blessing radiating from her body, he instantly understood that Rita must have gained some enormous benefit during this trip to the Elf Temple.
His smile grew even more joyous.
Seeing this, Leon quietly left the bedroom to give the father and daughter enough space to talk.
Outside the door, the elusive butler, Soth, appeared silently.
“Welcome back, Young Master. You have worked hard.”
Leon nodded and looked at Soth.
“Did anything happen at home while Rita and I were away?”
He was somewhat concerned about whether the Natural Disaster Invasion would affect the nobles who had signed Covenants with the Little Spirit King in the outside world.
Soth shook his head.
“Nothing special happened. However, the Master came clean to Miss Milia about what happened with you last night. Miss Milia instructed me to tell you that if you returned, please go to the garden to find her. She is waiting for you there.”
Leon had expected this.
Since Milia was directly involved, Claude would certainly tell her everything.
Regarding Rita’s childhood friend, Leon did feel a sense of debt.
In any case, the original owner of this body owed her a formal apology.
Although he had apologized to Milia that morning under what felt like Rita’s coercion, Leon felt that an apology in that situation was not sincere.
He decided to take this opportunity to completely settle the mess left behind by the original Leon.
“I’ll go over now.”
Halfway there, Leon suddenly remembered that in the original story, Rita felt unwell for a while after receiving the Elf Baptism.
He turned to give Soth a piece of advice.
“Tell Father that Rita might experience some physical discomfort. Don’t worry, though — it’s a good thing. I’ll help her deal with the issue later.”
Watching Leon’s departing back, Soth was momentarily dazed.
It seemed that after last night, the Young Master had become a different person.
He had suddenly matured, becoming no longer lonely, no longer closed off, and no longer despairing.
The darkness and gloom were dissipating.
The Young Master finally had the courage to walk into the sunlight.
Suddenly, Soth’s eyes grew moist.
—
In the mansion’s garden, Leon bypassed the fountain and saw Milia sitting quietly in a pavilion, admiring the sunset.
She wore a long dress modified from a Church nun’s habit.
Her light chestnut hair glowed with a warm amber hue in the twilight.
It was loosely tied at the back of her head, with a few stray strands hanging by her temples, trembling slightly in the evening breeze.
Milia had a light brown ribbon tied around her waist, perfectly outlining her slender figure.
The golden-red light of the setting sun spilled over her shoulders, casting a soft halo on her pale cheeks.
It smoothed away the timidity that occasionally flickered in her brow, leaving those usually submissive eyes filled with the glow of the sunset, looking remarkably clear.
Milia gazed silently at the setting sun at the end of the courtyard, looking as beautiful as someone stepping out of a painting.
Leon instinctively lightened his steps, afraid of disturbing this tranquility.
Truth be told, the Church’s standards for selecting a Candidate Saint were indeed impressive.
Although Milia was only a Candidate Saint, her natural beauty was undeniable.
Compared to Rita’s lively and bright cuteness, she possessed an additional sense of quietness and holiness.
No wonder the original Leon couldn’t control himself.
It really wasn’t entirely his fault.
However, when Leon thought about how Milia, like Rita, was only 16 years old — two years away from adulthood — he couldn’t help but curse the original host in his mind for being a beast.
“Hmph, only 26 points. What use is being pretty? She’s just a stray…”
Kaka drifted out of Leon’s Sea of Consciousness at some point, sitting on his head and beginning to critique Milia.
‘What’s wrong with 26 points?’
Leon was instantly irritated.
‘I won’t let you talk about her like that!’
‘What do you know, you score-obsessed brat?’
‘She’s the only healer in Rita’s late-game team, the kind who can resurrect people!’
‘Without her, this party would fall apart!’
‘You might look down on her now, but later, she’ll be out of your league.’
‘Resurrection! Do you even know what the concept of resurrection means?’
‘Only three people in the entire game have mastered the ability to resurrect. Her value is way higher than yours, you score-slave who can only use Weakness Insight.’
Although Milia wouldn’t master the resurrection ability until much later in the story, that didn’t stop Leon from building a good relationship with her in advance.
Who could refuse having several extra lives for error correction in the future?
“I’m warning you, don’t say anything reckless in a moment, or I really will build a prison in my Sea of Consciousness and lock you up for ten or eight years.”
Leon’s threat immediately sparked Kaka’s rebellious streak.
“The Covenant we signed is one of equals. What right do you have to restrict my actions?”
“I do. But given my relationship with the Little Spirit King, wouldn’t it be easy to add a few unequal terms to this ‘equality’?”
‘Damn it, he’s a power-tripping admin!’
Kaka was furious.
“You’re nothing but a stray dog!”
Leon was not to be outdone.
“You’re just a little green bug!”
Their bickering soon caught Milia’s attention.
When she saw Leon staring down a Little Spirit dressed in a green maid’s outfit, a hint of pleasant surprise appeared in her eyes.
“Brother Leon, have you signed a Covenant with a Little Spirit too?”
Seeing Kaka looking eager to challenge his authority, Leon grabbed her without a word.
Ignoring her cry of alarm, he connected with Kaka’s mark within his Sea of Consciousness, opened the entrance to the Elf Temple, and threw her inside.
After dealing with all that, Leon turned back and smiled at Milia.
“Yeah, but the little thing is quite shy. I’ll introduce her to you when I have the chance.”
“Alright. Since it’s Brother Leon’s Little Spirit, she must be very friendly!”
‘She’s not friendly at all!’
Milia’s unconditional trust was so dazzling to Leon that he couldn’t even bring himself to argue.
What a kind and sincere girl.
‘Kaka!’
‘How can your conscience not hurt when you’re rating her!?’