Chapter 58: It was not a perfect answer
While the events in the split spirit realm continued to proceed at a fast pace, Leon and his party developed in their own precious flow.
Now that Louise had destroyed the foreign technique in their fortress, Leon had received a prompt to take it over. But he'd do it later, for Louise's health was more important.
She was his treasure, right?
"Louise!" Leon took a health potion from his inventory, then pushed it to her hands. He'd even open it and shove the liquid down her throat if it weren't for Louise raising her hands to scratch her hair.
She grinned and dispelled her master's concerns. "I'm fine, Master! I might not be on par with your physique, but I'm also a tough girl!"
Louise opened the potion and drank it in one go, ignoring the taste. After that, she saved the empty bottle in her inventory, lifted her shining eyes, glazed in warmth, and smiled.
That precious smile again filled Leon's heart with energy.
"Don't make me recall that day." With his own peculiar smile, Leon extended his hand and pinched Louise's little nose.
It was already incredible that a wound on her cheek had already closed.
Knowing she wouldn't mind, Leon squatted and looked at Louise's legs boldly.
She had many cuts, but those weren't lethal. Perhaps, she'd healed some of them already, and the health potion only sped up her regeneration. Nonetheless, it seemed like all her wounds had been indeed the light, for the health potion's effects had already started closing up Louise's wounds.
But the potion couldn't wash off Louise's blood — some of it still dripped.
Leon noticed that Louise had rubbed her thighs, so he quickly rose and parted his lips. Her scarlet face told him that he went a little beyond their boundaries, for no friend's head could be so close to one's legs like that.
"Wait for the potion to thoroughly heal you and take a bath. If there's no water, just use drinking water to wash off the blood." Leon brought serious matters to wipe off Louise's embarrassment. "I'll take over the fortress and start developing our safe zone. It's because of you that I'm able to do it. Well done."
"Good work, Louise." Celes curtly added, smiling.
Unaware that she'd been waiting for precisely that, Louise's heart burned, and butterflies filled her stomach. Her fox ears flapped back and forth, her tails waggled uncontrollably, and Louise's expression simply became like a little sun, brightening up the mood.
"You can rely on me!" Louise grinned broadly, drawing out deeper smiles from her friends.
[We can't rely on you. Too weak, you're too weak.]
A faint and foggy memory unlocked out of nowhere within Louise's heart. It was like a small step ahead of what she could remember until now. In that new memory, Louise had been called by the head martial teacher of the Scarlet Fox Tribe. That man bluntly told her that she was below average.
It was mainly because of her height and mana problem — her main weakness of being unable to take out her mana outside to cast skills.
[Humanoid bodies develop up to age twenty-five. You're about to be twenty-three years old, yet it doesn't seem like you'll grow up and fix your weaknesses. Although you've gone through a different training program for short foxes like you, you can't cover your weakness because of your mana problem. It seems like you no longer can follow Amaterasu's Path and the course she's left for girls like you. Henceforth, you'll leave the tribe and develop differently.]
Louise couldn't remember how she reacted to those words or the face of the head martial teacher. That memory was riddled in many holes, like the faint memories of The Human Emperor and far past.
Still, Louise didn't show anything on her face.
Her past mistakes and terrible memories couldn't interrupt her happy moments with Leon and Celes. She still felt pain, blood streaming down her legs, and the thrill of going against the powerful technique — that helped her, too.
But the fact that her burning heart didn't feel cold, not letting the past thwart her moment, steeled Louise so much that she wanted to fight her past again and cuddle with her master, too.
That kindled heart was her path! A path that would lead to the peak of her potential!
Louise believed so.
'How will I make Master cuddle with me?' Louise wondered how she could keep her heart burning for as long as possible.
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Leon looked outside the window at the fortress' highest tower's peak.
[Ender's Safe Zone - Heaven Library Guild Members are welcome to take refuge here!]
Such a message hovered above the fortress now that it belonged to him. He wanted everyone to know that it was owned and that people from his guild could find safety there. Of course, Leon wouldn't help people for free, and everyone had to pay to enter his safe zone.
Heaven Library Guild's members would pay with their contribution points.
Others would use their money, but he didn't plan to accommodate many members of foreign guilds.
Leon also didn't waste his resources.
He trapped every entrance with traps from the system shop, which would stop even foreign bug monsters from trying to enter. He also had the same monsters under his banner, which he naturally used, spreading them across the place. The monsters waited for uninvited guests alongside the traps.
Enslaved humans were more valuable since they could speak and relay information. Leon invited them to his party, fixed settings so those humans wouldn't benefit from that feature, then made them use chat to cooperate and ensure the highest survival of his fortress.
Celes was in charge of keeping eyes on their surroundings.
But now that everything was much more stable, she allowed herself to be more casual. The vampiress found a soft sofa, and without letting her bottle of liquor leave her little hand, Celes lazed on it with some bitter liquid dripping off her chin, slipping into her ample cleavage.
She'd caught Leon peeking at her chest a few times.
"It's not my fault I can multitask." Leon foolishly defended himself, but Celes was smart enough to not pursue that matter and just enjoy the moment.
"I'll treat it as a compliment, Master." And she'd been smiling a lot for an unknown reason.
At that time, Louise came out of the bathroom.
For some reason, it'd taken her a lot of time to wash off the blood.
"M-Master!"
"Yes?"
"I've found no beds in the fortress, only t-two!"
Celes nearly choked on her liquor, tightly holding back her laughter.
Leon squeezed his eyes. "Really?"
"Yes," Louise said dramatically. "Two of us must sleep together."
At that moment, Leon didn't know whether he should follow common sense…
He could point at Celes' sofa and say he'd sleep there. He also could say that Louise and Celes should sleep together since they were girls…
And he had more reasons to not do anything stupid in the dangerous zone, for example, being on a watch.
But Leon already knew the proper answer — an answer that would satisfy everyone and their needs. The answer wouldn't go beyond their friendly boundaries and not force anything unnatural, for everyone's hearts needed something else.
For example, Leon's heart still was unsure about 'happiness' that would be different from what he felt toward Athena. Louise more or less knew that she wanted slow and steady progress — similar to picking up her memories. As for Celes, she had to open her heart more and bind her past self to her new friends.
"Sure. We'll rest together." Leon smiled and patted Louise's hair, which had exploded with happiness. "And the next day, you'll sleep with Celes and suffer her night assaults."
Celes lifted her bottle of liquor, revealing her long and white teeth. "I'll cuddle with you, little sis. Don't mind me if I bite your neck."
"No!" Louise lifted her chin up, tilted her head, and immediately refused. "Master hasn't bitten me yet!"
That night, Louise slept with her master. Because she faked that she had a nightmare, Louise easily cuddled with him. It was such a gentle and nice night — her master's smell filled her little nose, reminding her of their nights in the carriage.
And the next night, Celes unconsciously turned to the side in her sleep, her hand smashing Louise's face.
Her little nose could no longer smell anything.
Louise woke up with a shrill. "Bully! I'll beat your face, too!"
"You sound so amusing! Haha!" Celes laughed aloud.
Louise couldn't control her feelings and threw a punch at the vampiress.
"Stop! Stop and calm down!" Leon barged into a room just in nick time, jumping between two girls. "Ugh! Fuck!"
That night, Leon suffered the most health point losses.
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