Book 1 Chapter 873
“Eliza, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“You probably wanted to be in the same group as your future husband, but you ended up in the same group as me.”
“You damn brat…!”
Eliza bristled at Chelsea, who was teasing her.
So, she shot back with something Chelsea usually hated.
But Chelsea was triumphant.
“Heh! My future self is growing this tall!”
Chelsea, instead of getting angry, straightened her back proudly.
Eliza narrowed her eyes, looking at Chelsea, who was almost as tall as herself.
Then, she lowered her gaze slightly and looked at Chelsea’s chest for a moment.
*Pffft-*
As soon as Eliza let out a puff of air.
Chelsea raised her staff and swung it at Eliza.
Eliza wrapped her whip around Chelsea’s staff and yanked it.
The two growled at each other, faces inches apart.
But soon, they pulled back and began to survey their surroundings.
“Chelsea Lewalin, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“How did Leo Flob know about the Spear of Punishment and the Necklace of Purification?”
It was a mystery to Eliza.
She was deeply suspicious of Leo’s knowledge of items that had vanished from history even 5,000 years ago.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Because you are one of the people closest to Leo Flob.”
Eliza said calmly.
Of course, there were others close to Leo.
‘Chen Xia is one of them.’
But it was difficult to get secrets out of Chen Xia.
Of course, Chelsea wouldn’t spill Leo’s information easily either.
However, compared to Chen Xia, she had relatively more flaws.
“Doesn’t he know too much detail for information obtained from the hero’s world? It’s as if he’s seen it with his own eyes.”
Eliza looked down at her own hands.
Through Leo’s training, Eliza had awakened her potential and quickly formed a contract with Pegasus.
She was told that the source of the power that awakened her was also the hero’s world.
She could accept that.
However, she couldn’t help but wonder about his surprisingly detailed knowledge of the Age of Calamity.
“It’s natural that Leo oppa knows a lot about the Age of Calamity.”
“Why?”
Chelsea crossed her arms with a *thump* and lifted her head.
“Because he’s Leo oppa. Is there anything Leo oppa doesn’t know?”
Chelsea, who was praising Leo with a smirk, was stared at by Eliza, who then shook her head.
“I was a fool to ask you.”
“What?!”
Chelsea bristled.
Eliza turned away from the indignant Chelsea and clicked her tongue.
‘There’s no way she’d tell me honestly.’
Watching Eliza walk ahead, Chelsea pouted.
‘She must have realized I was acting.’
They clearly understood each other’s intentions and thoughts.
Eliza didn’t probe further into Leo’s affairs, and Chelsea didn’t say anything either.
As the strange silence stretched on.
“Stop for a moment.”
Chelsea called out to Eliza.
Eliza stopped and turned to look at Chelsea.
Chelsea had her hands cupped to her ears.
An action to hear better.
Chelsea’s eyes, which had been closed in concentration, snapped open fiercely.
Seeing that, Eliza summoned her spiritual power.
*Flash-!*
A summoning circle appeared, and a Wind Wyvern, compatible with Chelsea, was summoned.
Chelsea and Eliza scanned their surroundings with sharp eyes.
Chelsea had only heard the enemy’s sound.
She hadn’t pinpointed the exact location.
The gazes of the two, who were scanning their surroundings, simultaneously fixed on one spot.
Eliza’s Wind Wyvern breathed a blast, and Chelsea also used Wind Break.
*Kwagagagagaga-*
A powerful gust of wind swept through the area.
As Chelsea flicked her staff, the wind disappeared cleanly.
“Your greeting is rather rough.”
And then, a demon appeared, looking about mid-teenager in human years.
If it weren’t for the menacing dark magic emanating from its body, one would have mistaken it for a human.
“You look pretty normal for a demon?”
Chelsea said with a puzzled expression, and the demon snorted.
“What’s so normal about this appearance?”
“You don’t look hideous.”
“In my opinion, you look hideous. You ugly woman!”
At the opponent’s childish reaction, Chelsea’s eyes widened.
“Wow! You look just like a kid!”
“Don’t call me a kid! You ugly woman!”
The demon reacted sharply to Chelsea’s words.
Seeing that, Eliza let out a small laugh.
“It’s funny that you call that little demon a kid, when you’re actually a kid yourself.”
“Yeah. But I grow this much in the future, right?”
Chelsea’s reaction showed no sign of being affected.
But the demon was different.
“Who are you calling a kid! You old hag!”
Eliza’s expression vanished from her face.
“Oh? You’re hurt.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened as she looked at Eliza.
Then, her eyes met Eliza’s.
Chelsea flinched at the terrifyingly fierce gaze and subtly averted her eyes.
“Chelsea Lewalin. You stay out of this.”
Eliza popped her knuckles and stepped forward.
A malicious smile spread across her face.
“I’ll take care of this damn brat.”
Watching Eliza’s retreating back, Chelsea felt pity for her friend.
‘She’s going to be completely at Eliza’s mercy.’
***
“Kal.”
“Lil, senpai. Would you like some warm water?”
At Lil’s call, Kal asked, blowing on the hot water in his cup.
“How on earth did you charm Eliza?”
“Ugh?! Pfft! Ouch, ouch-!”
Startled by the sudden question, he accidentally gulped down too much water and choked.
What’s more, it was hot water, so the heat went down his esophagus, and he jumped up, clutching his chest.
“Are you alright?”
“I-I’m alright, but why are you suddenly asking that?”
“I was just curious. Eliza and Kal. It’s a combination I never would have expected. Ah, of course, I’m not saying you two don’t suit each other.”
At Lil’s question, Kal looked bewildered about what to answer.
“Well, the first reason we started getting closer was when I helped Eliza with her training.”
“Hmm? Why did you help Eliza with her training? Kal, you’re not in the Summoning Department, are you?”
“Well, I was concerned.”
Kal shrugged.
“Until my first year, I just thought she was an annoying noble lady.”
Eliza was known to have one of the worst tempers among her classmates, on par with Duran.
Her arrogant gaze, always looking down on others.
That was all Kal knew of Eliza in her first year.
“But after we became dorm mates, I realized she wasn’t just a noble lady.”
Kal had good observation skills and a broad perspective.
Although he was the most out-of-place student in the Noble Dorm in his second year, he naturally blended in with the Noble Dorm due to his unique adaptability.
And so, things caught his eye.
It wasn’t just Eliza.
His perception of Duran also changed during his second year in the Noble Dorm.
Kal spoke, recalling the top students in each department who worked harder than he could have imagined.
“Then one day, I felt Eliza hitting a wall. I could see her getting anxious comparing herself to Abad and Duran.”
“Hmm. Indeed. Summoners are definitely slower to grow compared to Knights and Mages. Even so, you noticed that. Your observation skills are extraordinary.”
“Haha. Isn’t that why I became a hero, thanks to these eyes?”
Kal tapped his orange eyes.
“Anyway, I wanted to help. So we naturally became friends.”
“What happened next?”
“Huh?”
“There must have been something decisive that captivated Eliza, right?”
“……There wasn’t.”
“That’s impossible!”
Lil looked shocked.
Kal smiled playfully at the shocked Lil.
“Well, there was an incident where I ended up naked in front of Eliza.”
It was when they entered the world of Lumern.
Of course, Eliza was in a similar state, but they didn’t see each other’s bodies.
Coincidentally, that was around the time Kal started seeing Eliza as a woman.
‘If she talks to me comfortably and we become friends, how can I not see her as a woman?’
“You were naked?”
“Hey. It was a joke. Just a joke. I apologize for the crude joke…”
“Kal.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know anything about my brother’s tastes?”
“……”
Looking at Lil’s infinitely serious face, Kal made a strange expression.
‘That Leo guy just captivates everyone around him just by existing.’
Kal thought of Leo.
‘Well, if I were a woman, I’d probably fall for him too.’
“I don’t know.”
“Kal, don’t teenage boys talk about friends and girls and stuff?”
“We do… but Leo rarely joins those conversations.”
‘From Leo’s perspective, our conversations are probably trivial.’
“Hmm……”
“Senpai?”
When Lil stared at him intently, Kal asked nervously.
“Stripping.”
“No, no. I was kidding. I’ll get in real trouble if I say that to Leo!”
Kal hastily tried to dissuade Lil.
“It’s a joke.”
Lil smiled faintly.
‘No, he’s too serious, it doesn’t feel like a joke!’
Kal screamed internally.
Just then, Lil stopped walking.
“Someone’s coming.”
At those words, Kal looked ahead.
And his mouth moved.
“Eliza?”
Eliza appeared directly in front of them.
The difference was that she appeared to be in her teenage years.
Moreover, a captivating smile adorned her face.
Crucially, her attire was daring.
“Hmm. Where would someone wear an outfit like that?”
Lil tilted his head.
“Ah. Isn’t that the kind of outfit women wear in places like casinos? They call them bunny girls.”
“Y-you’re right.”
“But even for a bunny girl, it’s excessively revealing.”
“It’s… unseemly.”
Kal covered his nose and mouth with his hands, his face bright red, and turned his head away.
“Mmm-hmm. Indeed. Kal, never tell Eliza your preferences. She might beat you up.”
“What?! My preferences?”
Kal asked in surprise, and Lil looked at him as if to say, ‘Why are you so flustered?’
“That’s Kal’s preference, isn’t it?”
“N-no, it’s not!”
“It’s no use denying it.”
Lil shook his head.
“That’s a dream demon.”
“What?”
“Looks like a succubus.”
Lil said, drawing his war hammer.
“She’s trying to seduce Kal.”