6 Circumstances

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"No results yet?"

"Yes, Your Highness. I think we should prepare for the worst."

"No." Eleanor shook her head.

It is the morning of a new day, no one can stay hidden from all this search for that much time.

"We couldn't find him under the bridge nor anywhere near the banks. Things shouldn't be this…"

"Devon, what makes you even think that the one you chased after was Leon?" Eleanor asked.

"He looked like Leon, sounded like him too." He said.

"But he used Magic and displayed a skill way beyond a Level 3 Warrior." She replied pushing a piece of paper at Devon.

Devon took the paper of what seemed to be a student Status report and then checked the date.

"That's less than a week ago."

"Precisely! I can understand if he was working hard in the Academy but his class results are just good at the Theory classes. He is the worst student in Combat and Magic classes." Eleanor walked across her office while holding her head, "He hasn't improved a single bit since he was taken by his father six years ago and he even has a [Pain Resistance] skill… That's a skill that a kid shouldn't have."

"Then who was the Leon I met yesterday?" Devon asked, "He was fast, nimble even, very decisive and his way at handling a dagger was artistic even."

"That's not Leon."

"So someone saved Leon and switched him with some agent that resembles him?" Devon asked.

"An agent who is highly trained, very deadly. Remember that when you cornered him, he revealed his real skill and started jumping away."

"… True." Devon nodded. "Then where is the real Leon?"

"Well, isn't this a mystery?!"

***

The real Leon, this was a strange question to ask the Leon who is still unconscious till the day.

Are you the real Leon?

- No… Yes… Am I?

The man himself didn't know and kept hallucinating. He wasn't sure if he was even here or how real was the experience he's just been through.

But he's hot.

Too hot to bear it.

Just like that day… that moment! The explosion.

- SHADY!

"NO!"

She's dead!

Who's dead? Why is this nightmare so real?

Shady woke up in a dark room shouting and feeling as if his body is screaming not to move anymore. His temperature was spiking high and his balance was amiss.

"You okay? Rest back. Rest your head."

A pair of cold hands touched him which he tried to resist yet his body wasn't even listening from all the pain he's in.

He killed her… he killed his friend.

He went to sleep once again and finally calmed down.

"Mis… Miss Jessica… what should we do with him?" Asked a chubby boy in poor rags.

"You're the one who fished him out. Take responsibility, you idiot." Replied a black hair tall girl wearing less than a common girl should.

"He looks very roughed up. How long will he stay down?" Asked the chubby boy.

"Fuck if I know. We gave him medicine, just give him soup if he wakes up. Don't forget to charge him before he fucks off."

"He doesn't seem to have money on him."

"Your problem… otherwise I'll be charging you."

The young man and the young woman kept talking and nagging each other while Leon was barely holding up to his consciousness. He could hear their voices in his sleep but that made his hallucinations get even worse and worse.

He saw things… memories which were mostly suppressed long ago all mingled up with weird dreams.

He saw the face of his step-father. The demon-like man which caused him and his mother a great amount of pain.

Long ago when Shady was still young, his mother was married to a man after his father's death just to take care of her son. Things didn't go as planned and the man turned out to be an abusive control-freak who enjoyed beating his wife. Life became dark… too dark for Shady to withstand and after being around that sociopath most of the time, he slowly became like him until one day, he snapped.

His step-father was lying dead in their apartment with a bloody kitchen knife being pulled from his neck by the 10 years old Shady.

The man was about to strike his mother so he came from the back and finished him… he wasn't sure how to do it but that was what he saw in a movie once. And with that, he ended all those problems.

He was sure he did. He was certain he could live happily with his mother now.

His mother screamed even more… she panicked… freaked out… collapsed and stood back up again so calm yet by no means collected.

She took the knife, called the Police and sent her son on an errand. The next thing Shady knows was his mother taking the fall for him.

She eventually dies too… and he kills again and again.

But there were monsters showing up, they were attacking him and he was desperately defending someone. He was afraid and weak and completely overpowered. He did…

Wait! These are not his memories… this is something else… someone else.

Leon, he wasn't as brave as Shady, he was rather more of a mommy's boy. Come to think of it, Shady was just the same as well.

Both lost their mothers… both…

No!

Leon screamed from within.

And he opened his eyes… now for good.

His mother is still alive.

Whose mother again?

And out of nowhere, an acute pain assaulted his head as if a long heated needle was driven in his skull and reached the center of pain. His waist arched up with a feeling of spasm in his right leg and arm driving his back to the moment where he was fighting over the bridge the other night.

A dagger appeared out of nowhere and he wanted it around jumping from the bed then staggering and falling causing a ruckus on the wooden floor.

"Hey! Calm down! Calm down! You're alright?"

As the young man ran to help Leon, the young woman called Jessica stood by the door leaning on it and watching with mild interest. Leon then managed to catch his breath, calm himself and perceive his surroundings. Seeing the chubby young man near him, Leon got away from him keeping up his distance and his dagger hidden.

"It's alright, no need to worry." The chubby young man raised his hand showing a friendly smile.

"Who the fuck are you? Where is this?" Leon asked as his jumbled head was irritating him at a rapid pace.

"This is just a tavern room… backroom actually. You washed up on our laundry at the river last night and didn't wake up. No more no less." The young man said then looked at the young woman who shrugged her shoulders, not interested.

"…" Leon didn't reply but rather leaned back at the wall behind him. He was calming down slowly but still felt wary and agitated.

"I am Jordi, the fine young woman over there is Miss Jessica." Jordi introduced himself.

"Hey." Jessica waved her hand.

Leon looked between them and replied introducing himself.

"L… Leo."

They nodded to him in recognition.

"You two saved me?"

"He did." Jessica replied, "Don't forget to pay for the medicine that brought you back to life."

Jordi seemed embarrassed by Jessica's blunt attitude.

"Miss Jessica, no need…"

"Naturally!" Leon replied.

It seemed that Leon was on the same level of mentality as Jessica. She nodded and turned away but before leaving, she looked back at Leon.

"Don't pay that knucklehead, the mistress is the one who bought you the medicine."

"I am in her debt then."

Leon took the chance to hide the dagger away and feel his own body. He was indeed okay but the pain was still all over him. This untrained body is clearly a problem, he pushed it to the limits yesterday and still survived so there ought to be some damage. The best way to avoid future problems is to rest and heal slowly.

He looked at the chubby young man and asked.

"This is the Northern District if I am not mistaken, right?"

"Right it is." Jordi replied.

"Thank goodness… My first day in the capital I thought I was a goner." Leon said, establishing a bit of a backstory for himself.

"Tough luck, friend. At least you're alive." Jordi replied.

"I am. How did you find me?" Leon asked.

"Oh… you were floating on the river last night but you ended mingling up with the laundry net I made. When I came to take the laundry before the storm blew it all away, I found you there. You had a fever all night though, didn't think you'd wake up this fast."

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The cubby young man told Leon the story of how he ended up and then told him that he and the young woman named Jessica helped him here in this room and brought him medicine. Nothing suspicious seemed to be happening as far as Leon could tell other than…

"You changed my clothes?"

"You were wet as a fish… I mean… Oh! I didn't change them, Miss Jessica did." Jordi said then elaborated that it was Jessica.

Leon raised his brows at how daring the young woman so Jordi cleared.

"I mean she has experience of taking men's clothes off all the time, you were in safe hands, no worries."

"I see."

From what Leon could tell, Jessica is a prostitute or something, not that he cared.

"I didn't get the chance to ask, how did you end up in the river?" Jordi asked.

This question had Leon think before he could answer so he disguised his thinking time by trying to stand up only to show some pain on his face as Jordi helped him up to the bed.

"Haven't the rumors reached out?" He asked.

"What rumors?"

"I am not sure what to call it. Mayhem or madness. Those Knights and Soldiers were chasing some guy yesterday and they fought as if it is some sort of war against him." Leon tested out the news.

"Damn! So it's true." Jordi reacted with a surprised face.

"Yes, I tell you, this was the scariest thing I ever saw. I mean… I never knew the city is this dangerous." Leon tried to add more shock.

"It is not like that mostly. Sometimes the nobles just start obsessing over things but this was some unprecedented mess." Jordi said.

"I am not sure, man. One moment I was there just trying to reach this district, the other moment some guy on a horse rushed through a crossroads and all the carriages started crashing and people were screaming. I ran as fast as I could towards the bridge but the knights kept running at us and pushing people out of the way, I was at the bridge so I fell off."

"You're serious?"

"Dead serious. On top of it, I wasn't alone. Other people fell off the bridge too, I am lucky I can swim."

While Leon was stretching his story bit by bit trying to discern how much Jordi will believe, it seemed that Jordi accepted it all judging by how pale he went.

In truth, Leon never even lied. There was a chase, he was running, a knight pushed him off the bridge and in truth, the other one who fell with him was the Knight who can't swim thanks to his armor and the few dagger wounds on his belly.

"Well, you made it alive." Jordi patted Leon's shoulder.

"Yes, thank God." Leon replied.

"God?" Jordi asked.

"Good… ness. Ehem!" Leon awkwardly corrected what he said.

That last part was awkward but thankfully Leon caught up. He doesn't know the religious preferences around these parts so he should stay clear from saying unnecessary things.

"Anyway, rest now. I'll bring you something to eat and will take you to meet the Mistress when she wakes up." Jordi said.

"Thank you once again."

Jordi left and Leon laid down on the creaking bed. He let out a sigh and put his arm on his face.

"Holy shit! This isn't a fucking dream… this isn't happening!"

Cold sweat started to form on his body as he thought of his current situation. He was caught up in the moment yesterday and he had to act but… this is way too much for his head to handle.

He finally got a breather to think and face reality.

He became Leon… no, he is Leon. The real Leon is still aware but the one who is taking the wheel, the one with the dominant ego is Shady.

A world of a game played by millions is a real world and he happened to be the player that somehow crossover to it? This doesn't make any sense.

What makes less sense is the nightmare he just saw. The heat, the fire… he doesn't want to admit it but he died in Fire.

He also remembers holding a detonator. The only one he's aware of is the one in the depot warehouse in New York. If it was this then the operation was compromised and there was it… Nadia… his friend… she was screaming his name.

"Oh God! What have I done?"

In conclusion, they pulled off the Horus Ring heist, escaped, got tracked down and cornered then he had to detonate himself with the enemy.

It sounded glorious for the moment but Nadia was caught up in the explosion too… He never felt so bitter.

But there is no way they could be tracked down. The ring didn't emit signals, it was even cased in a container made of lead to prevent it from giving off its location. Even the escape route and the locations were all perfectly planned.

This is a true shame.

But now what?

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He is to his nose with problems in this world as well. The Prince wants him dead and he is by no means going down without a fight. Yet there is the other him, the one screaming inside, the one panicking from fear.

Yes, he had to kill a shit ton of people last night to escape. Yes, he doesn't feel bad about it, not one bit. Yes, he will do it again if he has to.

Killing is easy. It is what he was trained to do.

Actually, he might as well enjoy it just like how he did last night. Those dead people contributed to his growth, it would be a shame to get cold feet at the moment.

If this world follows video game rules then video game rules it is. Power is all that matters and he won't shy from striving for it now that his potential guarantees such growth.

But still… he has no plan whatsoever after the escape. Should he leave the Capital to stay away from his enemies? Or should he stay?

For the first time in his two lives, Leon was finally free to decide which direction to take.

***

"Your Highness, the results of the investigation have arrived." Devon handed a document to Eleanor.

She took the paper and put on her glasses right off only to frown right away.

"The blood and vomit in Leon's room are his?" Eleanor asked.

"That's what the Alchemist said." Devon replied.

"And there was poison in the vomit?"

"Indeed."

The look on Eleanor's face turned grim.

"This is bad."

"I know, your Highness, but this can be used against whoever was plotting against Lord Leon, right?"

"What are you saying, Devon?"

"With all due respect, I know it is not my position to suggest such a thing but this can be a card to make the Royal Family back off." Devon said.

"Be careful of your words next time, Devon. If you want justice for Leon, it is all that we ever wanted for the past six years. But the only justice that exists is that of the Crown and the Crown is not siding with Leon."

"I apologize for speaking out of my position."

Eleanor looked away and tore off the report before throwing it into the fireplace.

"If only I managed to speak with him that past month…" Eleanor said while clenching her teeth in frustration.

"Why… Why didn't you, Your Highness?" Devon asked.

"I tried. The thing is Leon didn't want to see me. Each time I walk to him, he'd turn and walk away. He didn't want to even look at me in the eye." Eleanor said.

"He was scared."

"Disappointed is the word I would use." Eleanor faced the window behind her desk and watched the students come and go and play in the academy.

"I just hoped that when Alice returns, she surely would have succeeded to get to him."

"Young love?" Devon smiled.

"Yes, it does miracles. They were betrothed at the age of 10 for a reason." Eleanor said and remembered the old days.

"Still…" Devon wanted to say something but took it back.

"Say it, Devon."

"I wanted to say that Miss Alice is basically the most… illustrious member of the Aristocratic younger generation. Even the family elders are against the marriage between her and Young Lord Leon."

"You're saying?"

"Miss Alice has undergone 3 Scholarships. An Honorary Knighthood, an Honorary Membership in the Merlin Tower, and her last trip to the Leetan Kingdom where she was praised by the High Librarians of Logalim. She's also…" Devon wanted to say something but Eleanor cut him.

"She's also a silver-haired beauty, inherited her mother's looks, tall, moody, cunning, hard to figure out?"

Eleanor described her daughter which was a spitting image of her. A beautiful lady in a Magician Suit, silver-haired, green-eyed with sharp brows giving the look of a woman who can't appeal to anyone without taking his breath away and more to it, she is covered in this mysterious aura of magic and knowledge.

Devon sighed in his heart and nodded.

"Others may deem Leon unworthy but he is just right for my daughter. She even loves him which is all good to me." Eleanor said.

"But they are a terrible match." Devon said.

"Oh, that they are." Eleanor agreed completely, "But for my daughter, Leon has a role to play. He is the only one who can play it. I gave my daughter everything I have but she still lacks the same things I lack. Leon is the only one that can provide that."

"Oh! I see." Devon nodded.

"But a missing boy won't find himself, would he?" Eleanor then started at Devon.

"Oh!" He panicked, "I'll oversee the city sweep. Excuse me."

"Excused!"

Eleanor watched as Devon ran off and led a number of Knights to retrace where Leon left. Rather than just hope, Eleanor kept thinking of many steps ahead on how to get Leon and Alice out of this messy capital and returned to her schemes for the enemies shall continue scheming day and night as well.

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