"Is that a fucking cloud?!"

Alice ran off to the window edge on the wall as they all reached the top floor.

Leon looked around him. He noticed that he could now see clouds floating outside the window.

'Huh, it's much brighter now.'

When he last visited the tower, it was night, and the clouds were not visible from the windows in the corridor. Heck, Leon couldn't even recall if there were any windows last time.

Maintaining his pace, he walked forward beside Myra, glancing at Alice, who was observing everything with curiosity. The artifacts and paintings on the walls were centuries old, some even dating back to the Calamity Age.

For Alice, who was an enthusiast of artifacts, spells, and art, this was heaven.

"Alice, we'll be late," he called out. "And you'll piss my sister off if you keep doing it."

Alice paused, glanced back at him, and sighed. "You love ruining my mood, dontcha."

She shifted back to her usual annoying expression. After cursing Leon a few more times, she followed behind him, resting her hands behind her head.

Knock–! Knock–!

"Come in," Veronica's voice came from the other side.

The door opened without anyone pushing it.

Leon was ready to be greeted by the ducks again, but…

As soon as the door opened, the scene behind it unfolded.

The first thing that caught his eyes was books.

Lots and lots of books, stacked on top of one another, piled up, and lining the racks with dozens of bookshelves.

And in the middle of it all was Veronica's table.

She was sitting at the corner of the table, wearing a pair of round glasses, holding a book. Around her, several books floated in the air.

She flipped the page of the book.

Leon couldn't read the title of the books, even if he got closer.

"W-Woah!"

Alice's eyes widened at the sight.

Leon didn't blame her. It was the most natural reaction one could have after seeing something like this.

"Please follow in," Myra guided them through a path so they wouldn't step on any books.

As he passed by, Leon squinted his eyes to read the titles.

'Evolution.' 'Mana Combustion Studies in Elves.' 'A Forensic Study on Sanguine Anatomy.'

"..."

Leon took note of a few of the titles. It reminded him of what Hibuki said to him last night.

"Your sister is one hell of a kind."

'Now I can see why she said that.'

Leon didn't know Veronica had an interest in ancient species.

'This was not in the game's storyline.'

If so, then it was possible for her to have developed this interest recently.

Leon fell into even deeper thought.

'What triggered it?'

"Young Master?" Myra called his name.

Leon snapped back to his senses. He saw his maid's face in front of him. She tilted her head. "What happened? You were in a daze…"

"Ah, nothing interesting," Leon said. "I was just curious about this library."

"Oh, is that so…" Myra nodded. "It's fine. You can ask anything to my lady. She can answer all your doubts, you know."

"Sure, I'll keep that in mind."

Leon understood what to do now.

There had to be a reason why she was doing this, and if so…

'I don't think Myra is the only cause of it.'

Leon could tell that she was hiding something, but he couldn't put his finger on what.

'Ah, this is frustrating.'

Even with this level of intelligence, he couldn't figure out what his sister was thinking.

"Haah…"

Leon had no choice but to admit it.

'The tower heads are on another level…'

Veronica closed the book.

All the floating books stopped at once. A second later, they slowly lowered and placed themselves in neat stacks with the other books on the floor.

Leon and Alice both watched the scene quietly.

Veronica adjusted the black glasses on her face with a single flick of her finger.

She was in the same outfit as before, but those glasses gave her a different kind of presence.

'What the hell.' Leon narrowed his eyes slightly.

She looked like a supermodel English teacher from his past life as Haru.

He quickly brushed off the thought.

"Tell me, Leon," Veronica said, leaning slightly on her desk, arms folded, "the teleportation coordinate you mentioned in that letter. Where did you get it from?"

Alice turned to him. "Teleportation coordinate?"

"Ah, Miss Alice," Veronica said, glancing at her, "Myra already informed me. You can help yourself with any of the books here. For the time being, leave Leon to me."

Alice's eyes lit up as soon as she heard it.

"Thank you so much, Lady Veronica!" She bowed before jogging to the far end of the room where the shelves were queued.

Leon clicked his tongue.

"Eyes on me, youngest," Veronica said with a smile.

But to Leon, it looked more like a hiss.

Veronica crossed her arms.

"Just so you know, I don't believe your story. I have done a thorough cross check with every broker in the capital, but no such coordinate was ever traded."

Leon grinned inwardly.

'Ah, look at her, acting all protective.'

He calmed himself and said, "Then you already know how rare that coordinate is. It doesn't really matter where I got it from. What matters is it exists."

Veronica's brows lowered slightly. "…Explain."

"I'll tell you everything once I get back from there. It will be worth it. And if it isn't, you can squeeze my cheeks again."

A faint snort left her. "You're deflecting, youngest."

"No, I'm being practical."

Veronica's brow twitched.

"Leon," she said, her tone sharper now, "you should know I don't like secrets when it involves my resources."

"And you should know," Leon shot back, voice steady, "I don't like being treated like a child."

For a moment, it looked like she might push harder, but then something flickered in her eyes.

A soft sneer tugged at her lips.

"Alright then," she said slowly. "Let me see what you can offer in return."

Leon raised a brow. "Return? Are we having a deal then?"

The grin on his face grew wider. "Fine. Name it."

Veronica clapped once.

"That's the spirit."

She leaned forward, and her golden eyes gleamed.

"In return for using my teleportation room, and borrowing my dear Myra, you, Leon Valentine, will complete one task for me. And you cannot refuse it."

The way her gaze locked onto his told him she wasn't joking.

Leon felt a bead of sweat slide down his neck. He gulped but forced his tone to stay even.

"Fine with me."

"Perfect," Veronica said, satisfied. "Follow me."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.