Chapter 8
"Can you already tell me what you want to say?" Granger says impatiently as he follows Lesley's steps. Doing things as fast as possible is what he does, doing things too slow is what he hates.
They have been walking and he is no longer familiar at the place where Lesley had led him. Granger is waiting for her to speak but she is just quiet. Just then, he suddenly feels uneasy and observes the pink-haired woman. Thinking that she is scheming something against him, he draws out his gun and threatens Lesley.
"Stop right there before I shoot you," he says with a firm voice. If she plans to kill him, then it shall be him that shoots her to death first.
But Lesley suddenly turns around and kneels down in front of him. Her hairlocks were swept by the wind as she was on her knees. It is a sure shock for Granger. Normally, the guy would do the kneeling especially for a proposal of marriage. But why is he experiencing the reverse of it?
"I have no excuse," Lesley says. Her voice almost breaks but she tries her best to keep herself intact. "I do not ask for forgiveness either."
"But why are you down on your knees then?" he asks despite knowing the reason already.
"To show that I do feel sympathetic towards you. It may not be obvious but that's how I really feel," she replies with her head low. Her guilt of killing one of her comrades' clan is a heavy burden she's carrying all this time.
Granger scoffs in disbelief. He keeps his gun and looks down on the pink-haired woman.
"If you feel that way, then you should have not accepted the job of annihilating my whole clan," he says coldly. "Instead of being sympathetic, you look so pathetic right now. Instead of kneeling down on the ground, you better watch out for anytime, I could end your life."
Lesley purses her lips. She has showed her vulnerability, her weakness, even though it is a huge blow on her ego, she has to do that to lift off the load from her shoulders. She stands up and watches Granger walking away. His shocked and pained expression when he watched their village burn in the raging fire is still vivid in her mind.
"Assassins like me do not have the right to choose our job. We kill for that is what we were trained for," she says with a low tone of voice and a sad smile curves on the edge of her lips. She is supposed to be immune of gaining grudges from the people who had lost their loved ones because of her work but there is still a part of her that could not forget the tears, sorrow and pain she saw from the victims.
"Was it necessary for me to say that?" Granger thinks, feeling a bit guilty for acting so cold when Lesley is apologizing sincerely. He heaved a sigh, shrugged his shoulders and went on his way thinking that she deserves to carry the burden of her sins.
Gusion, who failed to catch Harley, decides to go and have a bit of fresh air at the abandoned village far from Magical City. Years ago, that ghost town was livelier compared to the main city. It was once a place of great mages not until Alice and Thamuz along with their demon troops had invaded them. The houses were still there, though they are already rundown due to being abandoned and being totally forgotten.
While lying down on the grassy plain with his eyes closed, he heard voices which is quite surprising for people do not go at that place any longer.
"Here's the data of Nephila," one voice says.
"She's still in a critical condition. Let's be more cautious before we could lose her," another one replies.
The voices sound familiar and when he slowly peers over while covering his presence, he sees the two doctors he once saw at the central plaza of the city.
"Where's Angela?" Dr. Rooney asks as they make their way back to the laboratory without knowing that Gusion is following them.
"I have sent her to the Enchanted Kingdom to get some exousia," replies Dr. Baker as he flips over the documents. "Let's lessen the xenobiotic from Nephila's body for now so she would cope up. She'll damage her brain if we continue to let her receive xenobiotic."
"Mr. Ton wants us to speed up the experiment, he's becoming impatient," Dr. Rooney complains and exhaustion is very much evident on his voice and pale complexion. Upon reaching the hidden entrance to the laboratory, Gusion decides to show up.
"Illegal conduction of research," Gusion states which startled the two doctors who are shocked to see a civilian around the laboratory which is hidden. "If this reaches the ears of the royalty, you shall be executed in front of the mass. Your heads shall be rolling on the ground spewing blood all over the center of the plaza."
"Kid, just go home," Dr. Baker says as he tried to hide his nervousness. He knows very well who the man that caught them, he's no one but the talented son of the Paxley household.
"Don't pretend not to know me," Gusion smirks for he has noticed the doctor's facade. "I have already heard of your plan in making that ninja as the spearhead of the new squad you're creating. I guess you named her Nephila."
Instead of being intimidated, Dr. Rooney tries to propose a deal.
"What about you join in?" he asks which made Dr. Baker hit him on the abdomen with his elbow. The mage pretends to think for a while even though he has already decided what to do.
"Can I take a look?" he asks as he stares at the door.
"Of course," Dr. Rooney replies and voluntarily opens the door. As they enter, Gusion has a hard time adjusting his eyesight from the dark.
"So how many people have you already collected to be part of the squad?" he asks when he finally feels comfortable.
"Only Nephila," Dr. Baker replied. "A mage like you would be of great help."
Gusion schuckles.
"I won't apply for that role, though," he says. "I'll be the assassin."
"The Paxley household do not train assassins. We may have spent years in this place but we know some basic knowledge from the city. Do not even try to fool us," says Dr. Rooney.
"I have been training. Light elements that are combined with combat is quite a dangerous combination. Do you want some demonstration, doctor?" Gusion says with a grin.
Upon entering the main room of the laboratory, Gusion sees the huge tube where the ninja is currently in. She is unconscious but on the monitor, it shows that her heart is beating a bit abnormally. He checked the monitors and looked over the documents scattered on the table which made the two doctors feel uneasy.
"Hold it right there!" Dr. Baker warned, "Do not touch anything, you know nothing of these."
"You're exposing her to too much physical noxia(radiation). She's starting to have symptoms of myocarditis. Abnormal heart rate, swelling of her legs and ankles. Her body temperature has also gone up. Do not just lessen the xenobiotic, she won't make it if her heart stops beating," Gusion states, shocking the two doctors with his skill.
"You could become an amazing doctor," Dr. Rooney chuckles.
"I heard you talking about this exousia, what is that?" he asks instead of commenting on the doctor's praise. Well, he knew he excels in that field so such praise is not surprising.
"It's a kind of substance that enhances one's power at an incredible level. It's hard to get it since it can only be found under Ancient Egypt in the Enchanted Kingdom," Dr. Baker replies as he showed a piece of paper to him. "You seem to be knowledgeable and a fast learner, do you want to become a doctor?"
"To be an assassin is what I applied for. And now that you have seen some things that I could do, can I get the position of an assassin in the squad?" Gusion responded as he took the old, brownish paper being handed to him by the doctor to see what exousia exactly means.
"What is Mr. Paxley doing in this kind of place?" comes Mr. Ton, not even a hint of shock could be seen in his stoic face.
"To apply for a job, obviously," he replies. Gusion knows the real Mr. Ton, a tenacious and greedy man that would force his way to get his goals. And he also knew that they would agree on this one thing. "I know you'd approve of me being the assassin."
Mr. Ton laughs and his laughter echoes in the laboratory like how a villain laugh when he thought he had defeated the hero. The three just stands across him, watching him finish off his laughter that is yet for them to know why he laughed when there was no funny thing that ever occurred.
"Science and prophecy are quite accurate this time," he says.
Gusion's forehead creases upon hearing the word prophecy. Their family did tell prophecies but that was centuries ago. They has stopped after his great-grandfather took over the family.
"What prophecy are you speaking of?" he asks.
"The fourth rebel shall rise, the greatest land shall meet its demise, few shall fight for victory to take flight. That is what Esmeralda had said before. To the Paxley household, it is the worst prophecy to have a son who'll rise against the city," Mr. Ton replies.
"That's nonsense," Gusion scoffs. "Esmeralda is not in the mansion, she has long been dead to tell prophecies now. I'll be off now. I shall come back tomorrow."
"Is it really okay to let him go just like that?" Dr. Baker asks.
"Let him be," Mr. Ton replies. "He has an ambition. He knows what he will do."
As Gusion steps away from the exit, his eyes grows wide in shock as he bumps into Lesley.
The pink-haired woman gets curious as to why he has entered an abandoned house. And from the looks of his face, Lesley knows he is hiding another secret.
"Is this your new hideout?" she asks as she tries to open the doors but when Gusion hears footsteps, he immediately grabs Lesley by her waist and runs away from the entrance. It would be trouble for Lesley if Mr. Ton sees her near the laboratory.
"Let me go!" Lelsey hisses as she tries to free herself but her face heats up when Gusion tightens his hold around her. It feels uncomfortable for her when a man just hold her especially around the waist for it is near where she's very much ticklish.
When he feels like they're in a safe place, Gusion puts Lesley down.
"She's lighter than she looks," he thinks but he would never say it out loud. It would be his loss if he compliments the woman he dislikes.
"You have a small chest," he commented which ignited the lady's anger in no time. She tries to land a kick on Gusion but he dodges her attacks easily. Lesley seems to be planning to keep hitting until she's satisfied so he summons his weapon, locks her hand behind her and threatens her with his blade.
"Behave yourself," he says.
Lesley scoffs, every cell in her body is raging with annoyance. The least thing she wants to hear from him is the words he had just spoken of. She teases him, yes, but never will she ever let him tease her back. Only she gets to do that, not the other way around.
"Don't think I'll feel threatened by a baby like you," she spits and hits Gusion with her elbow. She grabs his hand and disarms him. She is about to land a jab on his face but he had his other daggers pointed around her. One wrong move and Lesley will have herself wounded.
"You really know how to defy me in every way. It would be problematic if we live together, baby," he tells her as he dusts off himself. He is about to speak again but a familiar voice catches his attention. He lets his guard down, his blades vanish which freed Lesley from his threat.
"Who is that?" she whispers for she has heard the voice also. Gusion covers her mouth with his hand and waits for another words from the newcomers.
"You should have let Thamuz teach him," the voice says. Its pitch is a bit high for a guy, but Gusion's guess is confirmed. Before they could be found, he pulls Lesley and leads her out of the forest.
"Can you tell me why we're running away?" she asks as Gusion tightly holds onto her hand that she cannot pull away.
"That's definitely Dyrroth," he simply replies.
"An enemy? Shouldn't we go back and fight him? Maybe test your assassin skills in real combat," she suggested but Gusion never said a thing. He simply tightened his grip on her as they go back to the city.
"Hey, baby-face, you should let me go now. I wouldn't like it if people think I'm in a relationship with you and the way you hold me feels like we're eloping," Lesley added which gave chance for Gusion to tease her.
When they finally get back inside the city, all eyes are on them. Lesley hated the attention, her ears turned beet red and she is struggling to get away from Gusion.
Being seen together with another woman besides Guinevere might spark a misunderstanding between their families but he is much more looking forward as to how Lesley woud face him afterwards. Thus, Gusion grabs Lesley towards himself and sealed her lips with his right before the eyes of the spectators.
"See you tomorrow, baby," he smirked before vanishing in sight, leaving Lesley dumbfounded.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone