124. You used your daughter as a tool!

124. You used your daughter as a tool!

It's been almost a year since Lex fought the vampire. Everything went back to normal after that, just like those days before he came to Crimson Eagle. Except for a few things he came to know after that fight.

It was a few days after his fight with Brad. After he made sure that Alice was fine, he was inside the Bentley Residence at the dinner table with three other people. Kate Bentley, his beloved. Layla Bentley Kate's mother and Paul Bentley Kate's Father

*Click

Layla served warm tea in a luxurious cup to all of them before she also sat down, and after that, Layla finally started talking.

"I'm sure you have many questions about us. Like our connection with Crimson Eagle or why there's someone after our family?" Layla stopped for a moment before she turned to Kate "Also, Kate, this would be my first time telling you this, but I want you to take it as a story. There's absolutely no hidden meaning behind me telling you two this story, you understand?" After getting confirmation from Kate, Layla took a sip of her tea.

Lex also followed her with a small sip. "It's delicious," he honestly said.

"Ara, thank you." Layla smiled warmly. "Then let me start from the beginning. Have you ever heard of Minsthal? Minsthal's family or Minsthal's clan or something like that?"

"Minsthal…?" Lex felt he had heard of that name before. He dove into his memories, especially the time he spent on Livia's collection. And something quickly showed up. "Alchemist?" He said it half-heartedly, in doubt.

"Ping Pong! Correct! 100 points for our smart son!" Layla cheerfully attempted to pat Lex on the head. Which Lex silently received her pat. Then quickly after...

"Ahem!" Paul interrupted.

"Hehe, let's continue and get straight to the point! Minsthal, the Alchemist clan had been wiped out in one night by many parties in the past, yet one successfully escaped the tragedy." Layla stopped to take another sip. "Yup, as you expected, it's me. I am the last alchemist! Or I was the last alchemist!"

Lex had already guessed the Bentley wouldn't be something normal with their connection with Crimson Eagle, but to think their one of the few erased clans from the past was quite a shock. It took him a while to comprehend what Layla told him, but one word stuck in his mind: "Was?" He asked and thought, (Did something happen to Auntie?)

"Because there are three of us now," Layla cheerfully replied.

"Three? Oh!" Lex quickly realized what she meant. Kate, and Ella is also an alchemist now. (By the way, where's Ella?) He suddenly thought about it, but before he could ask her out.

"Hehe, did you expect something more awful?" Layla teased. "You did, didn't you? Gotchu~ hehe"

(This…) Lex had been feeling something wrong with Layla from the start, but it was only a feeling or a hunch. (She's way too cheerful, unlike her usual self.) Lex found out what was wrong. At the same time, Kate had been grabbing his hand under the table since earlier, which caused Lex to reassure her with a stronger grip. Sadly, the thought of Ella in his mind instantly disappeared and was buried deep inside. This is also the moment that Lex will later regret the most...

"Layla," Paul called her softly.

"Hmm?" Layla turned to Paul.

"Let me take it from here."

"..." Layla hesitated for a moment, and finally, "Alright," she nodded.

"Well then, let me take it from here." Lex, do you know why Minsthal was destroyed?" Paul asked.

Lex looked at Layla for a moment before he replied, "No, it's only archived because they destroyed themselves without any exact reason."

"It's—" when Paul tried to say the reason

"Greed... and pride, I guess," Layla chided in.

"Greed and pride?" Lex repeated. There are many scenarios that appeared in his mind, but he didn't say them out and waited for Paul to continue.

"Do you know what an alchemist is most known for?" Paul asked.

Lex thought for a moment before he answered, "Potion?"

"That's too. However, the one I mentioned here is Mana Stone."

"Mana Stone? Like Mana Stone necessary for a magic weapon or artifact?" Lex made sure he didn't hear it wrong.

There are two types of magic weapons or artifacts: ones that use internal energy, or mana, and ones that use external mana.

Like Magic Artifact, the ring Lex got from Livia was the one that used external mana; it was customized to receive mana from nature, which is impossible in a general sense. However, Lex had already known Livia for quite some time and wouldn't ask something trivial like this. There's no such thing as common sense when it comes to her.

Anyway, getting back to the topic, usually, external magic weapons use the user's mana to function. However, it was customized for the user's Mana, which means others can't use it unless they make an adjustment, which also means it was expensive and not easy to make.

On the other hand, internal mana was the one that used mana stone as its core. The bad side is that it needs to be recharged from time to time. The good side is that anyone could use it even if they didn't awaken their mana.

While Mana Stone could only be obtained from monsters. The stronger the monster, the better the Mana Stones are. Mana Stone is classified into four tiers: low-tier Mana Stone, middle-tier Mana Stone, high-tier Mana Stone, and special-tier Mana Stone, which is different from the other three. There were also a few who called them bronze, silver, and gold Mana Stones, respectively.

Bronze Mana Stones could be obtained anywhere because even the weakest monsters had one in them. While the silver mana stone was a bit harder to get, it still wasn't impossible. While gold mana stones are the hardest to get, it would be lucky if there were only one or two mana stones circulated on the market each year.

Finally, as the name implies, there are only a few ways to obtain Special Mana Stones. It was impossible to get it from Monster, no matter how strong they are. The only ones who could produce them were the Human race and the Mana race.

Each person could only make one, and once it was made and taken out of their body, they could only say goodbye to Mana forever. The Mana Stones' strength and capacity also varied depending on the strength of the person who made them. That means it wasn't worth the trouble to make a Human farm just to procure their special Mana Stone.

"The same Mana Stone," Paul nodded and restarted his story.

To summarize the story:

The alchemist from the past successfully made Mana Stone not from a monster or human but from the Mana Race. The recipe was hidden and lost when the Minsthal was destroyed, so no one knew how to make it. At that time in the beginning, the Minsthal could only make bronze mana stone, which was in abundance, so not many people cared about it.

But when they succeeded in making silver mana stone, it changed everything and immediately caught the attention of power houses all over the world. It's not like the silver mana stone was that precious or not. But because of the potential it had. What if they made gold mana stones in the future? Or even a special mana stone that was stronger than a gold mana stone?

With that kind of thinking, people from all over the world began swarming the alchemist family. Some wanted to procure that benefit, and some were afraid their enemies would get a hand on it.

(Ironically, it was greed like what Layla said.) Lex thought. He found it strange how others could get the information and how it spread around the world. However, like many other stories from the past, it was most likely an insider who spread them, and most likely it was because of greed. Then, when Lex was contemplating about that he suddenly remembered Layla's words, which reminded him that Layla also said "pride" at that time.

Then, as if Layla were reading his mind, she asked, "You're thinking why I said there were two reasons, aren't you?"

Watching Layla's stern eyes observe him, Lex let out a sigh before he nodded, "It's fine if Auntie didn't want to say it." He replied. and when he saw her acted like usual, he was relieved. (It looks like she calmed down.)

Layla smiled at his honesty. "It's fine; we've already reached this point, so there's no need for me to keep a secret anymore. Before I tell you, do you understand what human supremacy ideology is?"

Lex nodded; it was a common trope in the anime, manga, or light novel stories he had read in his past life. Even if he never studied that in this world, he more or less understood its meaning. "Does that mean the Alchemists were human supremacists?"

Layla nodded at Lex's words, "They were." She said before he made a very disgusted face, "and the fact that they were not exactly wrong with that, as Alchemist's bloodline was a bit special than other humans, made it even worse."

When Lex looked at Layla's reaction, he couldn't help but have this faint feeling that her disgust was directed at herself rather than others.

"Have you ever heard of Elemental?" She continued.

"It was archived as a special power of the Alchemist," Lex replied.

At that moment, four colored orbs appeared on Layla's hand, and at the same time, the same thing happened as Kate opened both of her palms. Layla's element floats in a circle above her hand. Two of Kate's elements flew from her hand and went toward Lex before they stayed on his shoulder. Then those orbs shone a little before they transformed into a little golem and a little bird.

When Lex took a glance at Kate, he saw a little mermaid and lizard on her shoulder with a beautiful smile on her face. Then, for some reason, he heard a huge sigh from Paul on the other side (Un! I saw nothing) and decided that nothing happened.

"I assume you know how human souls work, no?" Layla asked, to which Lex responded with a nod. "Elemental work is almost the same as a human's soul." These guys also had their own mana capacity, which they could use. Of course there are restrictions, but I'll explain later. Still, you get what I'm trying to say here, right?"

Lex nodded once again. "Well, it's a bit much to call this kind of power with just 'a bit special'" he let out a wry smile.

(Looking at Kate's elements, it might be normal for others to have four elements.) Lex analyzed (Even if Kate and Layla are just too talented, at least every alchemist would have one or two elements on average, which means they would have a mana capacity two or three times bigger than others. Even with restrictions, I think those alchemists could easily cope with the one with the same level as them.)

It wasn't just a bit special. (It's like being born with a silver spoon or even a gold spoon.) He thought, "Nevertheless, I understood what Auntie was trying to tell me."

"The Alchemist always looked down on others, whether they were of the celestial race, the spirit race, the mana race, or even their own human race. Because of that when others take interest in our clan. The alchemist... we don't have any allies that sided with us." Lala said there's a hint of melancholy in her voice.

"Layla…" Paul softly called her name. Layla turned to Paul for a second, "It's okay, I'm fine now," before she turned to Lex again. "Anyway, that night, without any help or support from others, the Alchemist clan fell, and I'm the only one who escaped. However, I was also quite a prominent person in my clan, so the fact that they didn't find my corpse made them realize I escaped, and there started the hunt... I became a wanted person."

"It was the start of my escapee's life. By any means, it wasn't a pleasant way to live, but it was also at that time that I met your father." Layla stared at Kate. "With his help, I could escape safely."

"I was only a Mafia's son at that time, without any power or authority. I didn't even know about the existence of the fantasy-like world." Paul corrected. "There's nothing I could do; we were backed into a corner in just a few days. If it weren't for Lex's parents, we wouldn't be here today."

Layla smiled gently, mesmerized by her husband, who was still the same as always. "Anyway, even after years, there might be some associate who is still aiming at my head." Layla and Paul finished their explanation.

"I see…" Lex took a few moments to process their story, then... "I have several questions; do Auntie and Uncle mind?"

They looked at each other before they nodded. "Alright, I'll start with the one I wanted to know the most. So the proposal, or should I call it the choice Uncle gave me five years ago, was exactly for this?"

Both Paul and Layla instantly understood his meaning. At the time, they were concerned that Lex would lose his way and suggested this path, where he could gain strength if he attempted to pursue his parents. That time, they used Kate's well-being as a reason for him to move.

"That's–" Just when Layla tried to deny it and tell him the truth, Paul answered, "That's correct," cutting off Layla's words. Layla was surprised and shot Paul a questioning look, yet Paul ignored her entirely.

"She's my treasure... I'll do anything I can to help her. Now that you know the truth, are you going to quit?" Paul stared at Lex with what looked almost like a glare.

On the other hand, Lex wasn't affected at all. Instead, he smiled warmly. "Thank you for giving me that choice," he replied as he squeezed Kate's hand gently.

"I see," Paul replied with a complicated face because he didn't have a choice.

After a moment of silence, Lex said, "I have another question."

"Auntie and Uncle were acquainted with my parents a long time ago, right?"

"Yes, we knew them quite a bit," Paul answered.

"Then how about this?" At the same time, Lex said that the mana in the surrounding area rapidly sucked toward him, and then one diamond-shaped light materialized floating behind him. It was the "wing" of a celestial race.

Lex observed Layla and Paul at each passing moment since he started to materialize his wings. "As expected, you two didn't seem surprised by this," Lex said. "I always thought my parents were humans, but it seems one of them is an angel."

""???"" Both Layla and Paul are instantly confused by Lex's words. (Last time, they said they were going to let Lex decide whether to find them or not, right?) Paul blinked at Layla.

(Un, that's what I heard too. That's why I thought Lex already knew quite a bit about them, especially with Crimson Eagle's resources.) Layla thought as she sent an eye signal back. "Um, first thing first... why do you think they were humans to begin with?" Layla asked carefully.

"Isn't it normal for humans to have human parents?" Lex replied as if it were the most natural thing. (Did I say something strange?) He thought. It even made him double-question himself.

They both left speechless after listening to Lex. "Then... let me ask why did you think of yourself as human? It's not like Lex had a soul, no?" Paul continued.

"Eh?" Lex made a 'What are you talking about?' face. "I do have a thought."

""You do!?"" Layla and Paul instantly straightened up in their seats. (Do you know anything?) He glanced toward Layla.

(No, I didn't know a thing either. What I know is that Lex is unmistakably Misa's child, and Misa wasn't an angel.) She replied.

"Ugh… My head is starting to ache," Paul murmured. While they both were thinking hard about how to answer Lex,

"It seemed Uncle and Auntie knew much more, and it looks like there won't be any chance for me to hear anything about my parents from Auntie and Uncle. Did my parents request not to tell me anything?" Lex beat them to it and said it first. I didn't know why and how they were so shocked like this. Still, I get it... At least I'm not normal... Not a normal human or Celestia... However, in the end, it's still me. (Me is me.)

""...."" They were stunned for a moment. "Sorry" was the only word they could say.

"Nah, it's okay." Lex softly shook his head while feeling Kate squeeze his hand back. "But they're alive and well, aren't they?" Lex asked.

"We didn't know much either; they didn't contact us after that incident. Nonetheless, we're sure they're fine." Paul replied.

"Then it's fine. I also had something I needed to do. I'll search for them when I'm not busy later. After that, Lex asked a few more questions before he finished with his problem or curiosity.

Then at that time, "Mom and Dad said, "I also have a question." Kate, who had been listening to them silently, finally said something. "Actually, I also wanted to hear Lex's opinion on this."

With the three attentions centered on Kate, she took a breath before she slowly said, "Do you want me to seek "vengeance"?"

""Wha-!?"" Paul and Layla were flabbergasted, while Lex could more or less understand how Kate thought of this.

"NO!!" Layla instantly shouted. Then Layla took a few moments to calm down and collect herself. "No, sweetie," she said, patting Kate's head. "Mom told you from the start it's just a story; there's not a single hidden meaning why I told you this story".

"Dad felt the same as your mom." He also put his hand on top of Kate's head.

"I understand..." Kate replied before she turned her eyes to Lex, waiting for his answer.

"It's up to you." Lex squeezed her hand and said, "If you decide to go, then I'll accompany you and help you. If you decide not to go, that's also fine. In either case, I'll always be by your side."

"Un" Kate nodded, "I'll think about it..."

***

After the conversation, both Layla and Paul slumped on the comfy sofa. They stared blankly at the ceiling as they looked more tired than usual.

"He said he has a soul," Paul muttered.

"Un…" Layla let out a small nod in reply.

Before Lex and Kate left, Layla asked Lex whether she could check Lex's body or not. "No, it's not because I doubt your word," Layla said at that time.

Lex didn't get angry, nor did he refuse. Instead, he inquired as to how she intended to accomplish this. When Layla explains that she will try to synchronize one of her elements with Lex's soul by entering his body, she also says it is safe for both of them and not to worry.

"Um... " Lex hesitated a bit after hearing her explanation because he knew "it was impossible for an elemental to enter my body, but Auntie is welcome to try."

Layla felt strange for a second about why he said it was impossible. yet she dismissed it and moved accordingly. One of her elements moved slowly toward Lex, and when it touched his chest...

"I can't…" Layla said. After that, Lex explained to them that when he started to awaken his internal mana, he was unable to flow it out. And it was only recently that he discovered he could use External Mana, but the result was the inverse: he couldn't flow external mana into his body. There's something like a sheet on his body that prevents both Mana from interacting with each other. Of course, there's an exception, like his teacher, but he didn't think it was necessary to tell them, so he kept quiet about it.

"It's like a maze, and I just can't get inside," Layla told what she experienced when he tried to synchronize his elemental with Lex. "However, there's one thing that I get from that..."

Paul waited for her next words.

"His soul might be stronger than Ella's," Layla said. That's the feeling she gets when trying to synchronize with him.

"More than Ella? Are you joking with me?" Paul responded that he, too, had been aware of the Hidden World for some time. That's why he also knew their daughter Ella was exceptional even by the Hidden World standard, and for Lex to be even better than her... "What a monster," he unconsciously said.

*Clap

Before she knew it, Layla was hitting his thigh and glaring at him with a 'How could you say something like that?' look. Realizing her misunderstanding, Paul quickly explained that he meant it in a good way.

"Anyway, why did you say that to Lex?" Layla asked curiously.

At first, Paul thought Layla still misunderstood him, but when he thought about it again, he felt her sentence was a bit strange, so he asked back, "That? Which one?"

"The contract with Lex was signed five years ago. Isn't it supposed to be a play word? When did it become real?"

"Oh," Paul realized what she's talking about, then "Haa," he sighed before he started to explain his view. "The impression he left with me is that Lex was quite similar to me in the past before I met you," Paul started to explain.

"Similar?"

"Yea, you could say that we lived day by day without any purpose in life."

"What do you mean?" Layla still couldn't understand what he was trying to tell her.

"I was the same. I didn't know the purpose of my life. I walked aimlessly here and there, trying to alleviate my boring life. I didn't change until I met you." Paul gripped her hand tightly. "Still, even when I'm like that, I still have my core, or my origin. You see, even after everything we went through here, I am becoming a mafia leader like how my father used to be." Seeing Layla still a bit confused by his words, Paul continued.

"Like you, Layla. At the end of the day, you still accept that you're an alchemist, and you're proud of that. However, Lex didn't have that... I wasn't that sure before, but after today's conversation, I knew I wasn't wrong about that."

"Do you want to say it's Misa and Clive's fault for leaving him alone?" Layla replied

However, Paul shook his head in denial. "It's not that. We saw him grow up together, but he never developed any of that. I don't know why, but he never has, just like five years ago when he easily accepted that contract and two weeks ago. He morphed with his surroundings and the situation he was in. I'm afraid the more he did that, the more he forgot who he was once and strayed from what he intended to do at the very first time."

"So you used that contract and Kate to chain him down?" Layla said with a smirk.

"Well, that's a nasty choice of words, but otherwise you're not wrong. I had a complicated feeling about that. Nonetheless, I knew I couldn't separate Kate from him, and as his father, I also wanted to help her. Like this, whatever happens, Kate will become his anchor in the future. No matter how extreme the situation he was in, how he was tampered with, he will draw his own line that he shouldn't and will never cross, and Kate will be the base of that line. This will help both of them like killing two birds with one stone."

"You used your daughter as a tool!" Layla joked around. "Just say you coveted his power and future."

"Oh, come on! Kate is still my daughter, and if he dares to make her sad, just wait until I beat his a$$!" For the first time, Paul finally acknowledged that the marriage between Kate and Lex was an unavoidable future. "Besides, I still have Ella," he muttered to cheer himself up.

Layla, who was very close to him, heard him clearly unable to hold her chuckle before she hugged her husband to comfort him (I'm afraid you got a stroke if you knew it was more possible to separate Kate from Lex than Ella), she thought silently.

***

Lex felt something touch his cheek and turned to see who he had been waiting for.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Said the girl who went to try on the clothes she chose before.

"I suddenly remembered Auntie's story," he honestly replied.

"Ah, you mean that story from a year ago?" Lex replied to her with a nod.

"You said you'd think about it later, so what do you think?"

"Hmm. I won't seek them." Kate replied, "If I coincidentally meet them, I'll ask for compensation for what they've done, and if they're trying to do something funny... hehe." Kate only let out a small laugh, but that smile could make anyone shudder.

"Well, I'll follow your decision."

Kate smiled sweetly at his words: "By the way, what do you think of this?" Kate took a step back from Lex and made a little spin to twirl the sides of her dress a bit.

Lex noticed Kate trying on the white and blue one-piece dress from top to bottom several times and said without hesitation, "Let's buy it, and everything you tried on before, let's buy everything!!"

"Hehehe," Kate let out a small giggle seeing his cute antics.

To be continued