Chapter 419: Soon
"My point is," Zenith continued, "given the recent incidents around you, your sudden growth in strength, your charm, and the women gathering around you..."
She giggled softly.
"She likely suspected you had formed a demon contract and reported her concerns to some higher authority. The circumstances simply happened to work in favour of the other party who wanted you removed from the picture."
Zenith tilted her head, "And so, that is probably how things turned out."
Elion nodded slowly, "It is impressive that you figured out that much from my memories alone. I experienced everything in real time, but I still could not make a concrete assessment."
Zenith smiled, "Well, a Saint’s mind works on a different level." She paused and suddenly moaned out of nowhere; she even squirmed, "Mmmmm..."
The sudden sound startled Elion.
Zenith’s smile became strangely pleased. "Besides, all I do in my spare time is repeatedly relive those memories of you in my mind. I was bound to notice such things eventually."
A cold shiver ran up Elion’s spine. How could she say something like that so casually? It was unsettling, to say the least. Was she looking through his memories as if she was looking through some sort of play on a screen or something!?
Elion released a slow, shuddering breath. Zenith giggled, and her expression returned to normal as though she had said nothing strange.
"So they offered you a spot to enter the Legacy World with them?"
"Yeah," Elion said with a nod. "But I will have to join them under contract."
"You do not really have to do that if you don’t want to," Zenith said casually.
Elion blinked.
"When the hidden world opens, we can simply kill all those cronies who targeted you and forcefully enter," she said. "It will be easy since they are all weaklings, and I do not think anyone in this world is a match for me, so we can have all the fun we want playing with them without worrying about."
Her eyelashes fluttered innocently as she gave him a cute smile.
Elion’s lip twitched. She was speaking of killing a group of nobles and members of a legendary academy’s faculty as though she were discussing slaughtering livestock.
"We cannot do that, Zenith," Elion warned her.
"Why not!?" Zenith gasped. Her expression darkened slightly, and she looked genuinely devastated.
Elion stared at her with a deadpan expression. Why did she seem so passionate about this? Perhaps this was not merely about securing him a spot at all. Somehow, he had the feeling that if he told Zenith to commit mass slaughter just because he wanted her to, she would do it without a second thought.
And so, for the next five minutes, Elion carefully explained why she could not kill people simply because she wanted to, or because they happened to be his enemies. Even then, Zenith did not seem to fully understand the problem, so Elion changed tactics.
He explained that it would wound his pride if his woman handled everything for him. At the very least, she should allow him to take care of his own enemies, especially the ones he could handle himself.
Zenith stared at him for a moment, and she pouted deeply, "Fine," she said, looking to the side.
Elion sighed in relief. He would prefer if he didn’t have to make an enemy of the whole world just because he did not see eye to eye with a select group of people. Even if he had a weapon of mass destruction for a wife, it didn’t mean he had to use Zenith carelessly; unless it was absolutely necessary, he would rather have her on standby.
"My spell is about to dissipate," Zenith said. "We will speak more when you are alone?"
Elion nodded, "When I am done with these people, we can go find the others. You and Isla can make your way to Silvergrove in the meantime; we will meet there."
Zenith smiled, "I am looking forward to it." He was also curious if the pair were managing, if they needed money or anything like that, but Zenith just said she handled it already.
He just assumed that since the currency was more or less the same in both ages, despite the centuries difference, Isla and Zenith must have had some coin to spare for themselves.
If only he knew that Zenith had threatened a group of young nobles who had been daring enough to approach her and Isla while they were walking in the street, maybe he would have been a bit more concerned, for the young nobles of course.
One of them had been unfortunate enough to be turned into a eunuch after all. But the young man had been too proud of his charms and went a bit too far trying his luck with them. Zenith kept an innocent smile as the memory flashed through her mind.
The unsuspecting Elion didn’t think too much of it. They shared another long, playful kiss and then Zenith slowly drifted up from the mount.
"See you soon, Husband." She blew him a kiss that somehow materialised into a pink heart before floating toward him, only to blink into shimmering motes of light. A moment later, Zenith vanished, and time resumed.
Sound rushed back into Elion’s ears all at once. The wind, the wings of the mounts, and the distant cries of birds. Zenovia’s voice continued exactly where she had left off.
"—ten rewards."
Elion, however, was not listening anymore. He was already deep in thought. Zenovia stared at him for a moment, waiting for a response that never came.
"Hm?"
She tilted her head slightly and studied his side profile. Seeing the blank but thoughtful expression on his face, she immediately assumed the worst.
’This bastard!’
He was pretending he could not hear her so he could keep information about his gains to himself, "Hmph." Zenovia crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.
"Bastard," she muttered.
As for what Elion was thinking about, it was the matter of time.
He had been prepared to return and discover that a long period had passed while they were inside the trial. Considering how much Zenovia and the others said they had experienced before he appeared, and the thing with Zenith’s loops, it would not have been strange.
But he had already suspected that time inside the trial did not flow the same way it did in the outside world. His conversation with Zenith only made that clearer. And based on his conversation with Marilyn, he had confirmed that the Legacy World had not opened yet.
That meant no more than a month or so had likely passed at most.
That was a huge relief. A month was still a long time subjectively, but it was good to know he had not kept his ladies waiting for much longer than that.
Elion let out a quiet breath.
Soon.
He would see them all again soon.
