Chapter 4: CHAPTER 4: Baba Yaga?
"I should probably start outlining what I should do with this second chance I have received"
Sitting in a severe and upright posture in front of a desk in his room, something that didn't befit his past as a villain who usually slouched and ignored standard etiquette, Leon began to contemplate how to best live his life after relearning his past life's regrets.
It was the morning after his mother had moved back in, and she was busy going around the large mansion cleaning up the places that he had failed to upkeep in so long.
Taking this opportunity, the young man decided to reflect on his future actions after the barrage of emotionally driven choices he had made yesterday.
'It is good that I was able to reconnect with my mom, but I shouldn't rely on such brashness moving forward…that type of behavior was a hallmark of my past. I must try something new if I wish for a different outcome'
Thinking with the wisdom of a man who had gone through the cruelties of life once, Leon began to review the information regarding where he found himself.
'Firstly, this world I am now living in isn't the world I remembered, but one where many of my views have either been warped or reversed. A world of reversed chastity, where men are few and women are predominant in society'
It was a world that was completely absurd for a person like him. How did such a reality come to existence, and more frighteningly, how was he able to remember the memories of his past life? There were many looming questions that waited in front of Leon but in response to them he…
"I'll ignore them"
…Completely ignored them. Not giving mind to the possibility of dedicating this new life of his in search of an answer that might unravel these mysteries.
'I spent one life following a hopeless path of egotistical revenge and sin, why must I jump from one boiling pot into another? In this life, I shall pursue my own happiness, that being the goal to live a kind life'
With that goal in mind, Leon had some ideas in mind on where he should start. Himself. He remembered once hearing a proverb about how kindness can only truly be afforded when one is at peace with oneself.
Seeing the state of his current body and contrasting it with his past body which was near the peak of physical fitness, Leon can only sigh at the degradation years of sedentary life had done to him.
'I'll have to start slowly developing my fitness. No shortcuts, just complete natural development'
But the physical body alone wasn't enough, he would need to develop his mental and spiritual health as well. Though he wasn't sure where he could find spiritual health as he didn't particularly fancy himself as religious, he did know how to cultivate the health of his mind.
'I was a broke orphan in my past life, so I am not sure how well I'll be able to do this…but I'll become a well-educated student!'
Formal education, for someone like 『Wild Hunt』the only education he could claim to have was one on the streets. But he did know that most upstanding individuals he encountered usually hailed from a prestigious educational background.
On top of his desire to imitate the kind people he could remember, being lacking in so much knowledge was one lingering regret of his, so needless to say, he was quite excited to experience the life of a student.
'Though, the problem I'm currently facing…is that I lack too much information. I don't even know if I can qualify as a student anymore'
Prior to regaining his past life's memories, Leon was a recluse who shut himself off from the world and lived idly. As such, he had little to no knowledge to work off on how to navigate the world he lived in.
And the little he did know from his past life all revolved around violence and debauchery, so it hardly helped his situation at all.
'I suppose I'll work on raising the health and fitness of my body first, then I'll look around for information about this world and its culture. I badly need it if I want to interact with more people'
A life of kindness was one that wasn't limited by bias or preference, but such a thing was a problem for Leon who only knew how to live selfishly.
The only reason he was able to connect with Ada on some level was due to his surface-level knowledge regarding family, and his own personal desire for parental affection.
"I have a lot to do"
Leaning back on his chair and relieving himself of maintaining his posture, Leon felt the weight of everything waiting ahead of him on the path he chose to begin to press down on his mind.
But he simply smiled in the face of it all. Rather than living day-by-day in pursuit of base desires like an animal, or wasting idly like a puppet with no strings, feeling the pressure of a goal he wants to achieve…it was an exhilarating sensation.
"At the end of this life, I'll make sure I'll go out with a smile!"
Proclaiming his goal with a spirited shout, Leon smiled brightly. But before he could relish the joy of the blessing he had received, he picked up a voice calling out for him beyond his room's door.
"Leon? I'm done with cleaning the house, and the food is ready!"
Hearing his mother beckoned for him to join her, the young man energetically moved to answer her call. The lone 『Wild Hunt』no longer traveled the world alone.
"Coming, mom"
…
..
.
"I wonder what happened to him?"
Sitting idly on the living room sofa after eating breakfast, Ada muttered to herself in question about what caused such a change in attitude in her son who had been so distant for so long.
"It's like he became an entirely new person…not that I could say I knew him well before…"
From her position, she was calmly watching Leon move about in the mansion's private backyard through a large window in the living room.
Under the bright yellow sun that reflected off the brilliant sheen of his messy and curly blonde hair, and set against a luscious green background that fitted his jewel-like green eyes, the young man could be seen to be performing stretches with immense difficulty.
Her motherly instincts were calling for her to relieve him of such pain, but she was simply told by her son that there was nothing to worry about.
"Those stretches are done to ascertain the lacking areas of one's body, right? Is he wanting to get fitter?"
With a well-trained physique of her own to keep up her youthful appearance, Ada recognized what Leon was attempting to do. And by the look of pain on his face with each stretch, she could tell that her son's body was severely in need of exercise.
"That's all well and good for his health, but if Leon gets fit with those looks of his…"
Looking at her son up and down, Ada felt a tinge of jealousy and possessiveness wash over her heart.
In this world, men were valued like priceless treasures, and the men who were blessed with incredible beauty could gather all the world's love with their mere presence alone.
Before Leon secluded himself, Ada had to fight off the swarm of women and young girls who wanted to look upon him. Even with her feared position as chief prosecutor, it was still a difficult task to accomplish.
And now that his appearance has matured, there would no doubt be more women who wished to covet her son, even more so if he were to become fit and gain the body most women fantasize about to comfort themselves.
"Tch"
Ada narrowed her eyes upon imagining some young girl coming up to her to ask for her blessing to court her son.
It was the dreaded fear of the few mothers of the world who were blessed with a son, and for Ada who wasn't able to relish the formative years of her child, she was much more averse to the idea of giving him away.
"But I can't keep Leon locked up like some bird in a cage…otherwise I'll be no better than the bastards he feared as a child. The women who so horribly had their way will all those unwilling men"
Calming her jealousy with her rational thinking, she eventually subsided her passionate thoughts with a heart sigh.
For all her achievements in the court of law, Ada was completely befuddled on how to be the best mother for her child.
"Everything will be fine so long as Leon doesn't want to go outside, right? He must've spent a long time to gain the courage to open up to me, so it'll take much longer for him to consider going to the outside world with all those dangerous women, right?...RIGHT?!"
As she tormented herself over the wants of her heart and mind, Leon groaned in pain at the aching of every muscle group in his body as he completed all the stretches to ascertain his body's state.
"Haa…haa…everything hurts…so I need to develop everything…"
Pushing himself through the pain, the young man continued to exercise while not knowing the anguish he had unknowingly been causing his family.
…
..
.
"Mom, can we go out on a little trip outside, later?"
"PFFT-"
After finishing up his exercises, upon returning to the living room from the backyard, Leon absent-mindedly asked if he could go on a stroll outside with his mom. But unknowingly, his casually thrown request had erupted a cacophony of emotions within Ada's heart.
"M-Mom?!"
Being shocked at the sudden outburst of his mother who had been drinking a glass of water, Leon tried to approach her to help her through her coughing fit as she choked, but his actions only seemed to further add to her distress.
"L-Leon! You shouldn't approach a woman like that! It isn't good for you!"
"Approach like this? What's wrong with wanting to help you?"
"You- I- Just don't! Trust your mother on this! Just don't!"
As Leon only grew confused as he didn't understand what was wrong with his old world's sensibilities, Ada viewed her son's approach as something vastly different from his own perception.
With his disheveled appearance after half an hour of stretching and exercise, coupled with the staining of his clothes with sweat, and the accompanying scent that went with it, Ada did her best to push out any unsavory thoughts she might've developed by looking upon her son.
'I expected Leon to be a bit of an air-head after being disconnected from the world for so long, but this is simply dangerous. He's practically tempting any woman to ravage him!'
Learning of her son's lack of common sense, her already immense aversion to letting her son out into the outside world skyrocketed to unbelievable heights.
"I don't think going outside is the best option for you right now, Leon. It hasn't been long since you collapsed…among other reasons…"
Regaining her composure, Ada denied her son's request to venture out into the outside world. With her adamant refusal, Leon was about to protest in the midst of his confusion but stopped himself short from raising his voice.
'Calm down, Leon. Be a kinder person. Don't shout at the slightest refusal. Try to understand why mom wouldn't want me to go outside''
Reminding himself to detach from his old habits, Leon began to think about her mother's reasonings for refusing his request.
The first would be his body. It was true that he had only just begun to recover from his sedentary lifestyle, so it would be ill-advised to send someone so frail on a trip outside.
The second would have to be his lack of information and general knowledge. He would most probably become a burden on his mother due to his lack of how to navigate the outside world.
And the third would have to be the fact that he was a man. In a world dominated by women, Leon could naturally come up with countless dangers for a person like himself.
Stalking. Sexual assault. Those were very familiar occurrences he encountered in his past life against women in a generally balanced population ratio. He could hardly imagine what it was like in a world where men were so rare.
'It's hard to imagine that I was able to live through my youth without doing such a basic thing…I guess there's a reason why youth was so interlinked with careless mistakes'
Cooling down his mind and coming to understand his mother's perspective through his own efforts, Leon decided to back off and comply with her refusal.
"I understand, Mom. We can do it some other time. I'll be going to take a shower for now"
"I'm glad you understand, Leon. I'm not trying to-"
"Don't worry. I know, Mom. You're just looking out for me. I really appreciate it"
Flashing a smile to his mother, Leon began to head upstairs to get some change of clothes and begin to rid himself of the sweat and stench he had accumulated while exercising.
𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙋...𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙋...𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙋...
Watching Leon move away from her, Ada could only look on with a look of sadness for denying something that her son wanted to do. Especially something that would break his long history of seclusion and isolation.
She mostly was driven by concerns for her son's safety in a world that would no doubt wish to desire him for countless purposes, but she couldn't deny that her own feelings of possessiveness were involved in it as well.
"..."
After coming to terms with her faults, Ada decided to take action before her own personal desires began to negatively affect her son.
Moving through the mansion, she eventually arrived at the room that became her personal office. It was sparsely filled, but what little was placed inside of it were items of immense value that could greatly benefit those who possessed them.
Approaching her desk, she began to sift through a number of business cards she had received over her long career in law.
Many of them were personal contacts for very influential figures who owed her. If she mobilized them all, Ada didn't doubt she could change the society around her greatly, but she didn't wish for such megalomaniac goals. She was simply driven out by a desire to protect her son.
"Now that I know Leon wants to venture out into the world, it's only a matter of time before he leaves the walls of this mansion…so it would be best that I prepare for such an outcome rather than stubbornly tie him down to this place"
Eventually, Ada found the business card she had been looking for. It was a metal card that exuded an aura of exclusivity and prestige.
Upon the metal frame that maintained its sheen throughout the years it had remained in her possession were inscribed the contact details of the origin of the card.
"If it were matters of law and influence, I could protect Leon easily. But I need someone else to shield him from any person who wishes to harm my son…no matter how many or how skilled they are…and for such a task, there is only one place to procure such a shield"
『Continental Hotel』
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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