Chapter 149: Else drives the car!
Leon didn't have time to check Madevin Metropolis' architecture, but now that he stomped on the concrete street, he became astounded by how similar a few things were to his previous world's city.
While houses, buildings, and odd towers on the horizon remained in this world's unique style, having something akin to a mix of old European themes with the special touch of this world's architecture, a few things drew Leon's attention and made him feel closer to the city.
Leon noticed something akin to traffic lights that ensured safety on the roads and pathways reserved only for people. That was a problem in the villages and cities he had been to before, as everyone moved around whatever they felt like, so some casualties regularly happened.
Noticing a few vending machines, Leon no longer doubted that some otherworlder took care of this city's business and projects.
"Everything is neatly connected and organized… It has to be the otherworlder's work." Leon murmured, then bluntly asked his new friend about it.
Arthur nodded. "We get a lot of otherworlders in our world. Many of them become strong figures, with one rising to become a scum like The Human Emperor every few eras. But many of them also find their purpose in crafting occupations and others. We were lucky to have one of them interested in architecture! Our capital is so beautiful, right!"
Being a native of this place, Arthur held a lot of pride and didn't hide it.
Leon found that cute, so he casually laughed and nodded.
And with that, Leon checked a few stuff he was interested in. He went to a few smithies and tailors and even had dinner with Arthur. His new friend called his harem, properly introducing his beloveds to him. Leon was interested in how things went for them, but he understood that it was too early to ask for such things.
It was already awesome to learn that Arthur and his women were all childhood friends.
"In our guild, there are two main paths that everyone with strength more than average yearns for." Arthur's woman, Laura, parted her lips and began a clear conversation with Leon now that he showed off that he was one of the nice people. "The first path is to become the librarian and protect our knowledge. Arthur wants that."
Another woman faintly smiled, her lips curved with a little sadness. "It's because we're weaker than others, like we're average at best, so he wants to stay with us in the capital."
"Stop it…" Arthur blushed and looked away.
Laura chuckled, patted her beloved's red hair, and turned to Leon. "The second path is to go around the world and make connections with other associations and races. Our guild is hungry for knowledge, and everyone knows that we'll at some point visit them, with an invitation or not. Our guild's fame doesn't give us much protection outside, and people are free to kill us when we become too curious or break some boundaries."
It was normal to kill thieves in this world, so Leon gravely nodded.
"We have met outside first, though." Leon looked into the girl's eyes.
Laura nodded and didn't hide anything. "Even librarians need first-hand experience and know the world. The last test is to bring something unique and new to the Heaven Library, so many aspiring librarians adventure a lot, at times even more than others."
Arthur sighed and chimed in. "The ranked system makes everything annoying. You know, Leon, you can't just go somewhere empty-handed. You must know about the place you want to scour or the races you want to become friends with. Our guild has a lot of information about the world and even archaic records! We can't access them without proving ourselves, so the ranked system evaluates us and forces us to go through common quests more! But that's not the worst! Quests from the ranked system are like competitions! The ego of those guys doing those quests is disgusting! They even kill the guild members to get rid of competitors and steal their hard work!"
Leon hadn't expected his new friend to be that kind of a guy.
But recalling Arthur's challenge to him, Leon realized that this guy wanted to fight and deal with things fair and square… It was kinda nice, and Leon could see himself becoming closer to him, but he really needed someone like Celes that would look after him and ensure that he also played dirty a few times.
From his experiences in the split spirit realm, Leon believed that selfishness was simply the way in this world.
'And then, I went all out and saved an innocent kid…' Leon inwardly smiled.
The world and its people were so complicated that things often made no sense.
"You're a good man, but you can't be good to everyone, Arthur. At the same time, I feel like telling you that you can't become too good to weaker people than you because those will use your kindness… Well, you have a nice charm, so you'll draw good people to your side. I believe that your luck will also help your beloveds become stronger. You never know what might happen on your adventures." Leon felt like saying those words.
But once again, he felt like it was too early for that.
He didn't want to forget those words, so he said them.
"I heard rumors that many things will change soon." Arthur took Leon's words to heart as he had heard similar stuff in the past.
Leon thought his new buddy would speak about the demons, but Arthur simply said he heard rumors that some races found an evolution path.
And with more strength, the greed sprouted.
And as the sky darkened and it was already night, Leon and his new friends prepared to leave. Leon decided to pay for everyone's meals as a sign of his friendship with Arthur!
When he left the restaurant, Leon and others widened their eyes as Madam Jasmin and Else had been waiting outside for them to come out.
"Leon! Mom said that we shouldn't interfere with you! But since you're my friend, the red flamingo is also my friend!" Else waved her little hand at her good friend.
And within her eyes, Leon felt like he saw something more.
Perhaps, if he knew Madam Jasmin lost her eyesight after giving birth to Else, he would connect the dots and realize a few things.
But for now, he warmly gazed into her lovely golden eyes.
"The red flamingo?" Arthur's lips quivered and bobbed as he couldn't process this new nickname.
He was also in the presence of the guild leader, so he felt his legs going weaker! The same went for his women, whose eyes couldn't blink as they gazed at their guild leader's beauty.
Else grinned and took Leon's hand. "We heard that your women found a good house! Let's go!"
"Why are you talking like it's your house as well?" Leon shook his head and faintly laughed.
His words were so ambiguous that Arthur and his women gasped.
Meanwhile, Madam Jasmin remained silent, feeling great joy as Else found someone with whom she could become real friends. Leon didn't fear her talent and potential. And more importantly, he wasn't jealous of her talent.
"It's close to our property, so she feels like she found her second home." Madam Jasmin replied in her daughter's place, then invited everyone for a night's tea.
Arthur and his family nodded without thinking.
Leon was shocked to hear that, but he nodded nonetheless. "I see." He then glanced at Madam Jasmin and threw his business smile. "It's a pleasure to meet the guild leader and Else's mother. I'm Leon Blade. I didn't have a good time introducing myself, but I'm one of your guild members, looking forward to finding a place for myself in your guild."
"Jasmin Hanlove. If you hadn't escaped yesterday, I would've introduced myself and thanked you for your help. But now, I don't see any excuse you can use to leave us alone. I, for one, don't bite, so there's no need to be so cautious and nervous before me. You and your family will surely find a place for yourselves here." Jasmin curved her lips into a beautiful and charming smile.
Else grinned. "Mom doesn't bite! But she shouts loudly! My ears bled once!"
"She's joking." Jasmin quickly added, gathering Else's long streaks in her hands. "We're going to Leon's house."
And as Else sat down on her mother's lap, the wheelchair moved forth. It steered to the left side when Jasmin pulled on Else's bundle of hair in her left hand. Somehow, the little elf could use her mana to drive that wheelchair, and her mother simply controlled the directions!
It was quite a cute interaction between mother and daughter.
Leon followed them without any stress.
On the other hand, Arthur felt like the throne called him, and his girls couldn't stop sweating.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l