Chapter 52: Winterborn
It was past midnight.
Celes opened her eyes, revealing shining red jewels that shone too brightly. She instantly discovered that someone had draped a blanket over her, keeping her warm. Looking ahead, Celes noticed Leon standing by the windowsill, staring outside, hovering his eyes on the city's night scenery.
Even in another world, humans tried to cast away the darkness.
pAnD a(-)n0ve1.com "Thanks for your hard work." Leon wheeled to the vampiress after sensing her eyes, then smiled. He spoke in a whisper since Louise had decided she'd sleep to have energy in an emergency case.
The real reason she'd escaped to the dreamworld was her losses against Leon. She'd lost all card games against him. Even the only card game she knew, a war, was against her. And that didn't really require much skill, right?
Fed up, Louise went to the bathroom, then fresh and a little sleepy, wrapped herself in a blanket with her tails cutely protruding outside.
Luck was surely not on her side today!
Celes glanced at the sleeping fox girl, chuckled, and retracted to look at Leon. "At least she's gone asleep fast."
"I didn't want to bully her." Leon looked back to his time with Louise and corrected himself. "At the beginning, I didn't want to… I played like usual, then she forced me to win everything."
Understanding what he meant, Celes didn't question her master. She could imagine Louise pouting and turning redder from anger, which surely turned her too adorable and precious.
"After work, I deserve a good-" Celes parted her lips, wanting to take out her own stuff to drink, only to shut them down as Leon took out a liquor she hadn't bought on her groceries.
Leon poured the bitter liquor down for them. And as it'd be rude of her to refuse or take her time, Celes struck her glass with his, then both of them toasted as though she'd returned from war.
"Any infamous people like black asura?" Leon asked after another shot.
Celes shook her head. "I haven't seen anyone as infamous as them. You have to keep in mind that I'm pretty old, and my intel might be outdated, Master. So… I saw the Silver Wing people contacting a few parties, including the dwarf and his bodyguards. They surely want to get their favor."
"Not that weird… I wonder if they've already received something precious from the split spirit realm… Or maybe they are powerless and want people to cause chaos." Leon wondered aloud.
Celes quickly replied, "The latter."
From the conversation she'd eavesdropped on, Celes learned that the split spirit realm's monsters had been too persistent and set on protecting their lands. They conveyed that news to famous parties, wanting them to enter alongside the mass. They shared what dangers awaited challengers to show their goodwill.
Other people would have to pay to enter that world, unaware of what lurked to hack their lives.
"So you've gone against your boundaries, Celes…." Leon inferred, not sounding irritated. He was more worried about Celes and their party, for it was simply too dangerous.
But Celes' next words surprised him. "I was allowed to eavesdrop, Master. Winterborn opened doors for me."
Winterborn was a type of cold monster race. They had various types of humanoid and beast monsters, all born from the same origin but with different traditions. But for some years now, they had been united under the Winterborn Kingdom.
"They noticed and gave you access to precious information… Is it because of my stance against the black asura?" Leon contemplated aloud, wanting Celes to give him her thoughts.
She agreed with him. "I can't think of any other reason… But I exchanged eye contact with a snow woman. Maybe she's taken a fancy to you?"
"I recall feeling some coldness on our way to the guild… It was a pleasant kind of coldness." Leon didn't exclude the possibility of someone finding him attractive, for he knew about his looks.
It wouldn't be weird for someone of such a caliber to desire him. After all, that person had spotted Celes' bat, which specialized in tracking and spying on others. It was true that the snow woman could've used various techniques beforehand to protect her room or relied on her allies to find out about his vampiress friend.
The point was that she'd allowed her to listen to their talk.
"You don't appear irritated by that, Master." Celes lazily pointed out a difference in Leon's attitude, alluding to him talking about the slut wanting to have a night with him.
Leon naturally knew the difference, so he gave a questionable look to Celes. "Don't act like you can't see a difference between the snow woman and that cheap slut. Regardless of her feelings and plans, it's clear that Winterborn wants an ally on that adventure."
Because of them, Leon learned about the monster types in the split spirit realm and the Silver Wing's problems, which was too precious information. They also didn't reveal Celes and her doings, so their intent was clear.
"If they need help, we'll give them a helping hand. But to a certain extent without risking our lives." Leon decided, his words were unquestionable. "I'll get a few more stuff from the system shop now that we know about the monster types."
"Understood, Master." Celes was on board with her master's plans, drinking her booze like usual.
And with that, Leon and his party could only wait for the Silver Wing to open the doors to the realm.
Leon's enemies were: the dwarf, black asura, and the monsters. He'd pick up the best of the best!
Winterborn were potential allies.
As for others, it'd be better for them to avoid approaching Leon as he had a clear plan.
"Enough of liquor." Leon put down a glass and pierced Celes with his eyes, drawing her attention. "It's pretty late, so we should go to sleep. But if you want, I'll let you taste some of my blood."
"…" Celes' eyes gleamed, and her heart leaped.
"If it were me sucking your blood, you'd wake up Louise…." Leon acted as though it was something terrible.
The vampiress naturally didn't like that, so she threw away her blanket and crept her way to Leon's side. After taking his lap, Celes leaned down and bit Leon's neck, sucking his blood.
But as Leon's blood was too tasty and his Vampire Hunter Class brought too many benefits to the vampiress, Celes wrapped her arms around his back and sank her teeth deeper.
Her stifled moans threatened to wake up Louise.
Leon did his best to keep her down, so he pressed her little head against his neck. That barely helped, but looking behind, Louise was wrapped too tightly in her blanket.
Realizing it was not a that bad situation, Leon eased up and enjoyed the vampiress munching on his flesh. He wasn't a masochist, but that mixture of pain stinging his neck and blood running away from him felt pretty nice, giving him a new look at the vampire's race.
If they wanted, they could be really romantic, right?
And while being romantic with Celes wasn't Leon's intent, for he had his reasons to slowly build a relationship to see whether it could become more precious and close, he couldn't think of a better reward for her hard work for them.
Moreover, cuddling with beautiful girls was always a great pleasure. While Celes might be too clingy because of her teeth within him, Leon surely didn't mind that and enjoyed her warmth and softness spreading on him — her light and sweet fragrance became sharper, too, as she perspired in his hands.
In his life, Leon cuddled the most with Athena. And now, he had the pleasure of having Louise and Celes embracing him tightly.
With his complicated heart, Leon required good reasons to cuddle with them, but once it happened, he wouldn't simply let them go.
It'd be such a wasted opportunity, wouldn't it?
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