Rebellious

Rebellious, as it's already in its name, is a word derived from rebellion. It's an organization widely known as a terrorist group, but they are only attacking the God's Guards, not harming ordinary people.

Yet, they also target fanatics like the old woman from before, since they also pose danger to their cause.

Their primary goal and the reason for their existence is to overthrow the Gods. For that purpose, they are in an incessant need of fresh recruits. However, they also had to be careful about who they were taking amongst their ranks.

As they weren't shy about making themselves known and had the blade of God's Guards at their throats, they were undeniably facing the danger of spies. 

They had to be careful, but the beautiful girl, even to Leon's standards, was doing the exact opposite. They exchanged a few curses together against Goddess, which is one of the absolute sins, and then she readily accepted him as one of her own. 

Leon had a hard time believing this situation, yet without options and his past as a law-abiding individual gone, he had no choice but to take a chance on her.

More than anything, though, he had no intention of returning to that life.

"Have you heard of Rebellious?" Holding his hands, trickling through the alleys that looked no different from each other.

"Do I look like I was born yesterday?"

"Hahaha, right? Of course, you've heard it," turned her mother nature like eyes to Leon's cat gray eyes, "So, what's your story?"

Let out a short sigh, "Do I have to tell you? Because I remember it like it was yesterday."

"Well, you don't have to, but…" Stopped for a second to come up with words to persuade him, "But you remembered it right in the moment I asked, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Soo, there shouldn't be any problem. Like you can tell me since you've remembered it, anyway."

Her logic, which is makes sense to some extent, surprised Leon for a second, "Well… Seems like you are right…"

"Right? Right? Now, tell me."

"Alright."

Leon began recounting his story from scratch. He wasn't overwhelmed by sadness, since he knew his mother was alive. Instead, his eyes held the rage of having their daily lives destroyed for an unknown reason.

He also was sure that his mother wouldn't have done something like that unless she was forced to do so. At the end of the day, she was both a kind and careful woman.

The girl's reaction was completely the opposite of Leon's. Wet eyes filled with sadness killed her bright smile. She knew such stories were commonplace, and compared to others she had heard, this wasn't even particularly sad.

Yet, she couldn't help but feel sorrow as Leon's bright smile, while talking about his mother, touched her.

'This must be his way of coping with reality…'

Her hand holding Leon's tightened, and she moved closer to him.

"What are you doi-"

Pat.

A gentle pat sound echoed in Leon's ears. The sound came not from her sudden hug, but from her free hand patting his back. She showed both her fierce and gentle sides in a short span of time.

She made him get surprised and surprised, repeatedly in one day, touching his heart that he decided to close to any and every.

"It's okay now. I'm here and you will get new friends, too. They are all good people."

"Well, thank you."

Yet, her attempt to touch his heart was nothing more than an ant poking an elephant.

It was a touch, but subtle. Still, Leon was Leon.

Unlike her, who thought he had lost his mother, he believed that his mother was alive. And that was more than enough of a reason for him to stay as his regular self, like the time in the forest.

The only thing that fueled his hatred to the heavens was the boiling rage that he had to endure for years of praying, and the rage that stemmed from knowing a b*stard had done something to his mother.

His mother was too much of a special person for him.

If she had been with him, he would have done anything she asked, but now she was by herself, struggling with her pain and enduring it, to stay alive.

Knowing these, thinking these, were raging, saddening him up. Yet, also serving as the supporting pillars in the path of power.

"Alright, I've decided something," pushed her away a bit to hold both of her hands.

Seemingly taken aback a bit, "W-What is it?"

"From now on, you will be the female main character."

Her confusion was easy to see, "I don't know if I will be a harem king or something else since I'm obviously the main character here. But I will take you as my first wife at least, alright?" His confident smile didn't even twitch the entire time.

She fell into the deepest depths of confusion, gazed Leon's eyes blankly. Meanwhile, Leon also kept his confident gaze on her, sure that his offer was a heaven-sent to her.

"What are you talking about, muddy boy?"

"What the hell did you say to me?"

"Don't you have mud on your forehead? I mean, that brown wave better be mud," a giggle followed.

Swiped his forehead to check, "I-It's obviously mud! What else could it be!?" Frustrated a bit, lost his confidence in just a few words, Leon.

"Hahahaha."

"Is it funny to you?"

"Hahaha, yeah."

"Ha ha ha, yeah."

"By the way, the name is Triss."

"Leon."

"Nice to meet you, muddy Leon."

"Yeah, yeah, same."

"Do you have anything to ask? I can answer most of your questions."

"Really?"

"Really."

"That means you've been in Rebellious since forever, huh?"

"As you can see," showed her body with her hand.

If she weren't as tall as Leon, slightly shorter, in fact, the action might have held some meaning.

Yet, Leon's eyes lingered for a tiny second on a certain part that was a bit larger than Maria's, his childhood friend.

"So, what should I be seeing right now?"

Despite everything, his composed mind worked as it should be. He wasn't living in a cave. He had already seen plenty of beauty in his life.

"My might?"

"Yeah. It's definitely in there."

"Right? Right?"

"So, how old are you?"

Took his hand, only to clutch it harder than before, "You know that you shouldn't be asking that to a lady."

"14 or 15?"

"Which one are you?"

"That's not how these things works."

"You go first."

"Sigh… What do you think?"

"Hmm…"

"I couldn't even get myself free from that old tree," tried to make things easier for her.

"Hmm…"

"Do you remember my story that I just told you a minute ago?"

"Of course, I do."

"I think I've told you that happened when I came back from high school."

"Right… So, you are a fresh 14."

"Congratulations. What about you?"

"Older 14."

"Still 14, huh?"

"A talented, older 14."

"Sure. So, when will we arrive?"

"In a few minutes."

"Can you talk about Rebellious?"

"About what?"

"What are you guys doing most of the time?"

"Training, devising plans."

"You are not devising plans. Your higher ups do."

Stopped a second and looked at Leon's eyes with shock, "And how do you know that?"

"And how can't I? Did you eat your brain?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Pure innocence reflected in her eyes, and those innocent eyes made Leon ponder for a few seconds.

'Now that I think about it, this chick didn't do anything to prove her IQ…'

"You are quite good."

"Huh?" Dodged her eyes for a second, "Thanks…"

"No problem, but let's return to our topic, alright?"

"Sure."

Checked the surroundings first to see if there are other people, in a whisper, "Is overthrowing the Gods your only goal?"

"Yes," firmly nodded.

"Do you have the power?"

"Well…"

"Do you have the technology?"

"That part is…"

"Do you have the necessary resources?"

"About that…"

"Thank you for not hiding anything. But don't do that in front of others, especially new members."

"Huh? Why?"

"Just now I wanted to not join you people, you know?"

"Why?"

"Look at me," got his head closer to hers after double-checking for any onlookers, "Overthrowing the Gods itself is an impossible to accomplish dream. And you are not helping by uttering these stuffs to new guys."

Lastly, "You must be quite new in Rebellious. So, don't hurt the organization since we will need anyone we can find. As long as they are like-minded, that is. Understood?"

Seemingly, this was quite unexpected for Triss. Her blank eyes surfaced again. But, she understood his meaning this time, felt the shame and downed her head with some tinges of redness.

'So cool…'

"Understood?"

"U-Understood."

"Alright, seems like I won't be able to learn anything from you."

"Sorry…"

"Then—"

"But we have a historian. You can ask her."

Shot a nod, "Much better."

"And we have arrived."