Chapter 061

After parting ways with Latia near its base, Leon trudged his way up the slope of an active, magmous volcano with a basin of more than 5km wide and a caldera hundreds of meters across. Quite a few Slugma and even a Torkoal could be seen walking around, but Leon only observed them from a distance or walked past them in his phantom form without attempting to catch or garner their attention.

'Not having a body has its perks...' thought Leon, able to feel but largely impervious to the tremendous heat of the volcano, even as he slid into its caldera and made his way across a stone bridge surrounded by a massive pool of noxious, gas-producing magma.

Reaching the center of the magma pool, a half-circle-shaped platform, Leon got his first up-and-close look at Groudon, its 4-5m-tall body half-submerged in magma, leaving only its chest, parts of its arms, and large, heavily armored, ruby-red head, vaguely resembling a horned lizard. It also had large white spikes growing from the plats framing its jaw and periodically spaced down the length of its body, ending in a somewhat flat, multi-segmented tail with four large bladed claws at the end, poking up from the magma.

Since his faux bodies couldn't withstand the temperatures of such an extreme environment, Leon chose to remain in his phantom form as he steeled himself and bellowed, "Mighty Groudon, Lord of the Desolate Land! Leon Asheford comes to pay homage to your greatness...!"

In response to Leon's shout and the revelation of his presence, the pitch-black spacing between the four-segmented 'crown' of Groudon's forehead and the plates framing its head became set with two large amber eyes. At the same time, the temperatures within the caldera began to increase, the magma within the pool bubbling as Groudon looked to where Leon's voice had emanated from and established a telepathic link with him.

Leaving Leon a little taken aback, a deep, husky, and remarkably sensual voice echoed in his head as Groudon asked, 'You come to pay homage to me? What makes you think the 'Great' Lord of the Desolate Land requires your praise or validation?'

"I bring much more," contended Leon, bringing out the largely untouched bluefin tuna dish and a wide array of other articles and foodstuffs. He had even prepared a life-sized, red-marbled statue of Groudon itself, acquired from the Decorations/Furnishings section of the Build tab.

Ignoring the food items, Groudon focused on its statue, staring at it for several seconds before asking, 'Is this me...?'

As water steamed and turned to vapor as it drew near, Groudon only had a vague idea of what it looked like. As such, its amber eyes glistened as it gazed at the statue, fascinated by its presumed appearance.

Deciding to feed into Groudon's ego, Leon placed his nonexistent hand on the statue's leg as he answered, "Unfortunately, while the appearance is similar, it's unable to capture the essence of the Great Lord's true majesty. After all, how could a mere rock compare to the manifestation of the land itself...?"

Though she didn't actually cover her mouth with her large, four-clawed hands, Groudon produced a telepathic cough before responding, 'Indeed. However, as it is evident you put great effort into its production, this Great Lord shall be generous and accept your gifts, inadequate as they are...'

Suppressing a chuckle, Leon closed his invisible eyelids and offered an exaggerated bow as he replied, "The Great Lord's magnanimity knows no bounds..." before spending several minutes adjusting the statue's position until Groudon was satisfied with its placement...

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Unlike Kyogre, who remained suspicious of Leon's motives during their first encounter, Groudon didn't seem to consider there could be a hidden motive behind his tribute. Thus, once she was finished sampling each of the food items he had brought, she released a loud burp and said, 'Your tribute has been received. As a reward for your efforts, I will forgive you for trespassing into my domain and disturbing my rest. Now, leave before I change my mind.'

"Before I go, may I have your permission to return with more gifts in the future...?" asked Leon, having already anticipated that Groudon might be more difficult to handle than Kyogre.

'You wish to bring me more gifts...?' asked Groudon, seemingly puzzled before responding to her own words by adopting a somewhat menacing grin, holding her belly, and rearing her head back as she bellowed, 'Why, of course, you do! I'm the Great Lord, after all! Ahahahahahaha~!'

Calming down after several seconds of boisterous laughter, resembling demonic cackling from her actual throat, Groudon looked down at Leon and drew her face closer to where his presence stemmed, stating, 'You would do well not to disappoint me, Leon Asheford...'

"Then, by your leave, I shall depart and return posthaste," replied Leon, bowing his head slightly as Groudon snorted, raised her head, and said, 'Go. But be warned. I am not so easily pleased the same way twice. Your next tribute should be even grander than this one...'

"As it should be," replied Leon, punctuating his words by turning to leave. He could feel Groudon's gaze following him the entire way up the caldera, but once he crested its edge, she immediately moved toward the platform supporting her statue, inspecting it with glistening eyes as she admired its and, by virtue of it being modeled after her, her own beauty...

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"Come to acquire another book, I suppose...?" asked Beatrice, wearing an annoyed and notably pouty expression when Leon entered the Library.

"What's got your drills in a twist...?" asked Leon, raising his right brow as he asked, "Has Subaru not come to visit you today?"

As Leon had hit the nail on the head, Beatrice puffed out her cheeks for a bit, brows creasing as she remarked, "That's none of your business, even if you are my Lord, I suppose..."

"Well, I'm sure he'll stop by eventually," said Leon, extending his hand to pat Beatrice's head, taking care not to muss her hair or knock off her tiny crown accessory.

Though she frowned deeply, Beatrice didn't tell Leon to stop. Instead, her distinctive blue, pink-pupilled eyes began to glisten as she revealed, "I'm not so sure...he's been visiting less and less these days..."

"Mmm..."

Extracting his hand from Beatrice's head, Leon pulled out a chair to make himself comfortable before asking, "Want to talk about it...?"

"I would rather you just buy a book and leave..." replied Beatrice, quickly contradicting herself by supplanting, "But if you're going to insist, we can talk about it, I suppose..."

Closing the book she was reading, Beatrice set it aside before hopping down from the short stool she was seated on and moving over to Leon's right thigh, sitting atop it like a child on Santa's lap. Leon had made sure to drop by at least a few times a week since she had been summoned, so while she still spoke standoffishly to him, they were closer than she would ever willingly admit.

"Did he say anything...?" asked Leon, placing his hand on Beatrice's waist for support and absolutely no other reason.

"He's stressed out due to his inability to summon Emilia, I suppose. That, and the fact the blue-haired one hasn't been paying as much attention to him as before..." speculated Beatrice. More accurately, she was repeating what Subaru himself had confided in her.

Looking up at Leon, Beatrice stared at him rather intently as she added, "He believes you did something to the blue-haired one and that you are actively interfering with his attempts to summon Emilia..."

"I have not done or asked anything of Rem outside my capacity as her Lord and Master..." maintained Leon. "As for interfering with his attempts to summon Emilia...that's a senseless claim. He's just been unlucky or has been using the wrong grade of crystal as a catalyst. I imagine the actual reason he's stressed is that Felt and Rem are no longer providing him as many fragments as they used to, meaning he has to wait longer or risk his life entering the Tower since his and Petra's salaries only amount to seven Red Crystals a month."

"Can't you increase their pay...?" asked Beatrice, a silent plea emanating from the depths of her butterfly/sprite-shaped pupils.

"I already have, technically," replied Leon, smiling wryly as he clarified, "It bothered me that Petra was giving all her salary and allowance to Subaru, so I've been putting aside funds for her to use when her tenure as a Maid comes to an end. If I were to give them to her now, Subaru would just use or pocket them as if it were his natural right to do so..."

"You don't like Subaru, I suppose...?" asked Beatrice, a somewhat anxious look adorning her face. She wasn't oblivious to Subaru's faults, but he was still her most important person, even if she didn't make it into his personal top three...

"Mmm...I don't hate or dislike him..." replied Leon. "But he 'does' have a serious case of Protagonist Syndrome. Hardly a day goes by where I don't hear about him entering someplace he shouldn't be or interacting with the other staff as if they're NPCs programmed to help or answer any question he might have..."

"It's because he's scared, I suppose..." muttered Beatrice, hanging her head as she stated, "Without the Blessing of that vile Witch, he only has one chance to get things right. Because of that, every mistake he makes feels like it compounds on the others, I suppose..."

"Yeah...the 'activation' conditions for Return by Death doubtlessly left him with some trauma, but it was still a remarkably broken ability..." conceded Leon, giving Beatrice's waist a light tap, prompting her to hop off his knee and allowing him to rise as he said, "Out of consideration for our adorable little Librarian, I'll see if I can't strike a deal with him. But, before I go, can you grab me a book on Groudon ecology and taming methods?"

"I suppose..." replied Beatrice, extending her hand and causing a red book to fly over from a distant bookshelf. It cost Leon an eye-twitching six Red Crystals, but as it most assuredly contained the information he needed to retrieve the Blue Orb without a fight, it was ultimately an amazing deal as summoning a Legendary Pokemon like Groudon would require 'at least' a Green, maybe even a Blue Crystal...

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*tok* *tok* *tok*

"You may enter..." replied Leon, seated behind the desk in his dimly lit study, perusing his recently acquired manual.

Entering the door without any discernible attempts at decorum, Subaru wore a slight frown as he remarked, "Rem told me to come. Did you need me for something...?"

"Come over and take a seat," said Leon, nodding to the chair across from him as he revealed, "Assuming you can stop being a petulant cunt for the next couple of minutes, I have a proposition for you."

Though he frowned deeply at being called a petulant cunt, Subaru made his way over and took a seat, sitting patiently as he awaited to hear what Leon had to say.

Before saying anything, Leon made a slow, sweeping gesture across the surface of his desk, producing several Orange, Yellow, and even a pair of Green Crystals. Subaru's eyes glistened possessively when he saw them, but he smartly kept his trap shut, allowing Leon to state, "Neither of us asked to be in our current positions, but that doesn't change the fact we are. I'm unsure what you think of me, and I honestly don't care. However, as you've given me access to several reliable allies and have the potential to become one yourself, I've decided to sponsor your efforts to summon Emilia."

"Are you serious!?" exclaimed Subaru, slapping his hands on Leon's desk as he rose to his feet with an excited, borderline fanatical look. With how things were going, it could very well take years for him to summon Emilia on his own. So, even if Leon asked him to do something like kiss his feet or bark like a dog, Subaru was prepared to do just about anything to see his 'beloved' Emilia again.

"Sit down," said Leon, his expression and tone firm. Subaru immediately complied, but due to his excitement, he anxiously bounced his right leg and sported a somewhat creepy smile.

"These are my conditions..." said Leon, slipping Subaru a Magic Contract produced and backed by Beatrice herself, as, even in her weakened state, she was still an artificial Great Spirit.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Subaru became notably more serious and carefully inspected the contract Leon had provided. He expected it to be a revised employment contract, binding him to serve the estate for ten, twenty, or possibly even his entire life, but it was effectively the opposite. He wasn't being terminated, per se, but to guarantee he would be able to recoup his investment, Leon was having him train with Hayato and Master Roshi until he attained the status of a 'Master.' And that was just the tip of the iceberg...

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