Earlier that time in Zephyr Academy, Leonel was leaning against the gate’s brick walls, waiting for Isolde so they would go to Diamond Palace together.
He was enjoying watching the numerous dramas on his phone, grinning from ear to ear when someone tapped his hand from the front.
Looking down, Leonel saw a cute guy with grey hairs with highlights of white and gold. His charming blue eyes were grinning from ear to ear.
Leonel removed his earphones and faced the guy in surprise. “You are . . . Garry!”
“It’s Sky!”
Leonel only laughed. “So close.”
How is that close?! Sky wanted to get out from his skin but coughed between his fists instead.
Sky really wanted to make Leonel’s life difficult. He even spread rumors about him that he was Isolde’s boy toy. That he was living in the slums and using Isolde for money.
Everyone bought it because it was true that Leonel was poor and lived in the poorest area of Zone C. While it wasn’t the first time that someone came close to Isolde because of her status and money.
And Sky was so close in ostracizing Leonel from everyone . . . so close.
But then the Guild War happened, and everything turned 360 degrees overnight. Because of Leonel’s group that defeated Black Lion, he became popular overnight, and all those rumors about him evaporated at his fame.
Adding to that, there were pictures of him and tales that he was living in Diamond Palace. That he was a big brother and breadwinner in the family. That he uplifted their lives from poverty.
But what everyone admired about him was the fact that he was always smiling despite his situation before.
And then he was suddenly seen as a responsible but happy-go-lucky guy. His optimism and bright smile attracted a lot of people, and everyone wanted to be friends with him.
Now, it was hard for Sky to smudge dirt on Leonel’s name because of his current fame.
“So . . . do you need something?” Leonel asked when Sky was silent for a whole minute.
“Ahh . . .” Sky laughed despite the lump in his throat. “I heard that you’re a mercenary group?”
Leonel’s eyes shone brightly. A customer?! “Yes. Do you need help in the game? We give discounts to first-time clients.”
Sky took a step back at Leonel’s optimism before he dismissed it and said, “Right. One of our Guild members acquired a Rare Quest, Azurith’s Tomb. We believe that the rare necromancer class can be found there.”
“Azurith’s . . . Tomb . . . ?” Leonel looked to the side. His optimism and excitement vanished with his sigh. Anything to do with scary, horror stuff was out of the question.
“We’re discussing about hiring you to clear that quest with us.” Sky’s plan was simple. Now that cameras and videos were added to the game, he wanted to show to the world that Leonel, that World Conqueror, whom everyone was talking about, was just a mediocre group that got lucky with their fight with Black Lion.
Anyway, a lot of guilds were also thinking the same because World Conqueror’s fame was getting out of hand because of just one simple win. The noise was getting annoying.
It was time to drag them back to earth.
Azurith’s Tomb was a mid-difficulty quest that couldn’t be cleared by even a hundred players at their current ATP. They knew because they had already started the quest, and they were stuck for weeks now at some clues that they couldn’t decipher. Thus preventing them from entering Azurith’s Tomb.
It was the perfect quest to bring down World Conqueror.
Leonel scratched his head, and he really wanted to deny the request then and there. But Ren always told him that it wasn’t polite to decline right away. It would leave a bad image to their mercenary name.
So he would say what Ren always told him to say.
Leonel handed a card and said with a serious voice and face, “You can tell us more in this email and number, and we will get back to you as soon as we can.”
He then finished it with a sparkling smile and thumbs up.
Sky blinked. Now he was the one who wanted to scratch his head as he accepted the card.
“Ah . . . well . . . now that we got it out of the away . . . you can just . . . contact (anyone but me) . . . okay?” while Leonel was speaking those words, he quickly but carefully widened their distance until he went to the other side of the street, escaping Sky’s offer.
Leonel then pretended to walk away while calling Isolde to inform her where he was. In contrast, Sky could do nothing but stare at Leonel in disbelief.
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D-did he just . . . ran away from him?
Eventually, Isolde and Leonel arrived at Diamond Palace. And after parking, they went into the restaurant.
Isolde led Leonel into a private room. On the way, she and Leonel talked about her family.
“What is your dad like, by the way?” Leonel asked. When Isolde invited them to dinner together with her father and brother, Ren immediately agreed. Though, Leonel wasn’t against it either.
Being invited to dinner by the current head of the Gambinos was an honor. Ren said before. And they are a potential client. He added.
Isolde gave an elegant half-shrug while her eyes couldn’t stood still. “They’re okay. They’re just your typical father and brother.”
“I see.” When he entered the room, Leonel expected to see a refined-looking middle-aged man in an expensive suit.
But instead, his soul almost flew away from his body when he was greeted by an intimidating man, sitting at the center of the long table with muscles rippling against his vest and shirt that almost torn his clothes into pieces. He had a square jaw and a very dandy beard. Tattoos decorated his skin while the Tabaco smoke blurred his face, adding a dramatic, scary, menacing look to his expression.
Augustus spoke after Isolde’s introduction. His voice was strong, deep, and throaty. The type to which the timbre alone was enough for everyone to run in the hills. And bubbles almost went out of Leonel’s mouth from fear.
“So you’re Leonel? You’re taller than I expected.”
Leonel wanted to speak, but he felt like his own saliva was choking him and he was having difficulty with his breath.
“Right?” Isolde smiled and nodded. “He is even taller than me.”
Alex nudged the glasses on the bridge of his nose, the edge sparkling like his phoenix eyes. “Is that so?’
Alex’s strict, no-nonsense face added to Leonel’s nervousness, and he turned into stone on the spot.
There was something about Isolde’s father and brother that made Leonel’s skin crawl, and his stomach tumbled inside and out from the way they skinned him alive by their stares alone. Something about them screamed danger and death, especially the knife that they casually used to cut bread while speaking to him.
“I heard that you’re my daughter’s new friend. I hope you’re treating her well.”
At that point, Leonel could no longer breathe from terror. The air wasn’t enough to fill his lungs. It was like their shadows cast demons behind their back while they creepily smiled at him with a knife in hand that slowly cut a piece of bread.
Fortunately, Isolde saved him just in time before he could past out completely.
Isolde noticed how white Leonel was that his heart visibly dropped.
“We’ll be just outside and wait for Ren.” Isolde pulled Leonel away until they reached the open-air so Leonel could get his breathing back.
“You okay?” Isolde nervously asked. This was why she was against introducing anyone to his father and brother. They always ended up like how Leonel was acting now. Like they were suddenly faced with the final boss of the game without any equipment.
A good whole minute passed before Leonel regained the feeling in his limbs. He then took quick, calming breaths and gasped.
“You didn’t tell me that your family is so . . . intense. I thought they would kill me with just their eyes.”
Isolde bit her bottom lip. “They’re a little scary, but you’ll get used to their faces. It’s not that bad.”
Not bad? Leonel didn’t know what to think. Augustus’s face holding a knife would surely hunt him in his dreams.
But instead of speaking his thoughts, Leonel yelped when he felt his eyes strained. They were open ever since he met with Isolde’s family. That was how shocked he was.
“There’s something in my eyes.” Leone tried to rub his eyes but couldn’t get that foreign object away.
“What? Let me see?” Without thought, Isolde tiptoed and inspected Leonel’s orbs before she blew whatever thing that was stuck in there.
After which, Leonel blinked many times before he beamed at Isolde. “Wow. You’re very great at it.”
“I used to do it in the past.” To her brother, whose eyes were always a magnet to dust if he didn’t wore his eyeglasses.
While the two were talking, they didn’t notice Ren at the side, who totally misunderstood the whole situation.