KNOCK KNOCK**
The door knocks interrupted Leon's training as he opened his eyes.
"Come in."
"Boss, we have trouble!" Manager Doug came in urgent news. Leon signaled for him to wait with his hands.
Leon had already gotten up. His movements in addition to manager Doug's loud voice roused Aria awake.
"What time is it?" Aria yawned, while rubbing her eyes and exposing part of her fairylike face. A trace of lightning briefly flashed by in her eyes. A slight blush was still present on her face that would suggest that she had a very pleasant dream during her short hour nap. She was only half-awake and had not realized that words have been articulated correctly, while asking.
Leon silently admired her as if he was seeing a rare creature. Sensing the energy fluctuation inside her, he already knew that she had finished awakening. But as for people awakening during their nap, she was probably the first.
"About 8PM." Leon smiled as her rubbed a trace of saliva from her cheeks. His action made her blood boil, painting her cheeks red from blushing. She was now fully awake and realized that not only had she fallen asleep, she had been clinging onto Leon and drooling on him! How embarrassing was that!? She really wanted to find a hole to hide in.
She was good at hiding her emotions but for some reason it couldn't be hidden when she's in front of Leon. She tried to put on her usual cold face, but the blush was plain as day.
"Congratulations on awakening. Now you have the power to protect yourself from regular thugs. There's no need for you hide your fa-"
The hands brushing the hair covering her face away froze when he saw the cold eyes stared at him with blushed cheeks. The combination of the two made her expression appear as that of anger.
"Never mind. You can keep hiding it if you don't like." He covered her face back with both hands before scratching his head in confusion. He wasn't sure why she looked so angry.
"Pft hahaha." Aria find it hard to maintain facade and broke into laughter under his antics. Her voice rang out like pleasant chimes that left them spellbound. Her laughter made him even more confused.
Manager Doug found it hard to remain calm when he saw her beauty in that brief moment and listening to her fairylike voice. He could understand why the previous fat noble was desperate to bed her. Even he found himself tempted, but when remembered who else was in the room, he dared not continue entertaining the thought like he was splashed with cold water.
"Boss is a dragon among men. Only someone like miss Aria is worthy of Boss." Manager Doug gulped and started bootlicking. He didn't find it humiliating at all that a 40-year old man like himself had to bootlick a young man under 20. The underworld was governed by the strong. Whoever had the bigger fist, had the bigger say.
"Enough. What are the troubles? Speak."
"The other neighboring gangs have caught wind of gang's diminishing influence and begun encroaching upon our territory. Arlo and Gower had went to handle the situation, but they were sent back with heavy injuries."
Leon expression darkened at the news. Humanity face threats from the outside, while being corrupted from within. He had not went to find trouble with the other gangs, yet they have came knocking on his doors for trouble. Since they have chosen to walk through the path to hell, he will help send them on the way. He did not fear the noble houses backing the two adjacent gangs. He might have hesitated if he was still an early stage tempered body, but he was already a middle stage tempered body and deemed himself to have sufficient strength to stand tall in the capital.
He would do the kingdom a favor by ridding the tumor plaguing the capital. Only when they are united from within, would they be able to stand strong against outside threats.
Aria was sensible enough not to interrupt the serious talk and only snuggled next to Leon quietly like a little kitten. She had never been in a relationship and had no precedent to define her relationship with Leon. They had just slept on the same bed in each others arms.
'Are we lovers now?' Aria thought childishly.
"Manager Doug, you can send these two pills to Arlo and Gower to take. It will heal their injuries. As for these awakening pills, you may take one and give the rest to some trustworthy core members." Leon handed him some All-Purpose healing pills and a bottle with the 5 True Awakening pills.
His action of leaving the pills in Manager Doug's hands to manage was not a testament of his trust in him but another test. Ordinary awakening pills had poor efficiency and may require the intake of more than one pill for a person to awakening. His pills however had 100% success rate of awakening. He would easily know if Manager Doug were keeping extra pills for himself when he checks the number of awakeners in the gang.
"Y-Yes, boss!" Manager Doug received the pills with trembling hands. He was shocked at how freely the boss had given him the pills as if he was giving out cabbages and was overwhelmed. He did not doubt that the pills were fake as there was no reason for the boss to cheat him.
Manager Doug was unaware of the difference between the awakening pill on the market and the one in his hand. He would have broken out into cold sweats if he was planning to and found out later.
Leon originally wanted to reward the more principled members with the pills over time, but time did not wait for him. His gang was significantly weaker than the other gangs without him and he would be worked to death if he had to deal every problem that appeared in the gang. He was not that free.
His previous promises were empty words without solid evidence. He was aware some members only continue staying in the gang because they feared his power and wasn't convinced that he would provide the benefits he promised them. Only by letting them see the solid benefits for themselves, would they be motivated to put in their best efforts to work for him and lower the chance of them betraying him.
Having died once due to betrayal, he understood that it is difficult to see through a person's heart and if he didn't want people to betray him, he mustn't give them the chance to. He decided to forget about their past crimes if they have learnt to turn over a new leaf, treating the people well and work for him honestly. Someone would have rolled over in his grave if he knew of Leon's decision.
Leon inquired the location of the conflicts before allowing manager Doug to go hand out the pills.
"I will be busy and will not be able to accompany you further tonight."
Leon brought Aria's forehead towards his own and mentally transmitted some martial techniques for her to practice with. Aria widen her eyes in surprise at Leon's miraculous ability. She had always remembered him being different to others but never knew he was so mysterious. What exactly has Leon experienced in the years she had not seen him?
"These techniques will help you become strong if you train hard." With that, Leon put on his bamboo hat and left without waiting for her reply and left behind a dazed Aria. The information she received in head was as clear as day and would not be easily forgotten in a long time.
Only when Leon disappeared from her sight did her expression changed into a firm determination to become strong. She didn't know how strong Leon was, but she would have to train really hard if she wish to continue staying by his side for the days to come. She also wants to stay by his side openly without having to conceal her looks. She was a girl blessed with fairylike beauty. She wanted to be able to look beautiful in front of the one she likes.
In the night skies, Leon was seen dashing through rooftop buildings towards the north-westernmost part of the Western Lower District with great speed to deal with the Azure Wolf gang first. If medicine was his forte, running was his next best. In the past, he was weak at combat. In a world ruled by the laws of the jungle, in order to save others, they must first learn to save themselves...
...Actually, during his period of debauchery, he had not only slept with women from brothels but also other people's wives. It was a skill born out of necessity whenever he was caught red-handed as the husband would not give a rat ass about his status in their rage. He was long since taught a lesson by his father and was no longer the debauchee he was back then.
…
Leon thought he could avoid other people's attention by travelling on rooftop, but he was still detected by some people on the rooftops in the borderline Upper District. These people had trained to adapt their eyes to the night and was able to discover the abnormality moving in the Lower District despite the distance due to the altitude difference between the upper and lower districts.
Leon's speed was fast enough to startle these figures.
"Who is that?" A figure in black asked.
"An expert." The leader squinted his eyes and said, thinking the person was someone like them. They quickly stop observing when Leon turn his gaze in their direction.
"What scary perception!"
If Leon knew there was people like these who thought his movement skill was those of an expert assassin instead of a runaway thief in his past life, he would have been overjoyed.. The debauched period was not something he'd like to remember and should be buried in the past.