The sun was rising, Leonard had already walked over 30 miles from their original location. Now that they weren't in the middle of the Silver Nights' territory, Leonard was looking forwards to having a method of transport that wasn't as incredibly dumb. He looked dangerous enough, so no one tried finding trouble with him, even if he was alone. Even if someone had any funny thoughts, he was sure that flashing his gun would get rid of anyone's strange thoughts.
He was also thinking of taking their disguises up a level, by giving themselves a completely new identity. Too much could be associated with their old identities, after all. It was better to have a fresh start. They could easily get a new ID by paying a bit. No matter the place, it was all just a matter of money.
He didn't exactly know how to disguise himself to the point of gaining a new identity, but it's not like anyone knew them that well.
He had no facial hair, so he would let himself grow some. He would let his hair grow out longer to be different from his current short hair. It would take quite a while, but it's not like the system had a [Hair Changing Device].
"Hmm" Leonard kept thinking as he walked. It would be rather easy to make Yukki look like a new girl, she would be more and more unrecognizable as she grew, anyways. Perhaps he could dye both of their hairs blond, too. It was the hair color most rich people had. He kept walking, his body ached, but at this point, he didn't even care. He was more worried about his plan. There were too many ways of going about things.
He could--
"I HAVE A BOMB!"
'WTF!' Leonard hurriedly turned around in the direction of the threat.
It was coming from inside a nearby alleyway. He didn't want anything to do with the nearby BOMB THREAT. He moved faster to quickly leave the area.
"I have. A bomb. " A voice came from the said alleyway. The bomber must have seen Leonard running, because they rapidly exited the building and a voice came from behind, "Stop there!" He threatened loudly, "I HAVE A BOMB!!!"
"Damn!" Leonard couldn't believe his bad luck. He evaded the hoodlums at night, but some lunatic was swinging bomb threats in broad daylight!? He must be suicidal, even if the police didn't kill him, someone else would end up doing it! Leonard ran away at full speed, no way he could stay there. However, at this point, Leonard was so tired and sleepy that his full speed wasn't very fast, not to mention he was still carrying Yukki!
Leonard quickly turned around. No way was he going to let this maniac near him, he pulled out his gun and pointed it at the bomber. "Stop! I will shoot you!"
The bomber didn't take even a single glance at a bomb but stared directly at Leonard's masked face.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds.
"You…" The bomber began speaking, "You're not really her, are you?"
'WTF' Leonard was baffled. Not only was he confused for someone else, but he was confused for a female?
The bomber continued while making exaggerated movements, "You… why is it you? Who are you! WHY ISN'T IT HER!?" He smashed his fists into his thighs in rage. How could I mistake you for her?" He stopped, seemingly enlightened as he muttered, "I understand now… It must be that it can only be that!" Leonard was baffled. Now he was even monologuing? Confusing behavior. However, he didn't want to interrupt him or make any sudden movements.
It would be preferable if he wasn't blown up.
Since Leonard had to listen to him anyway, he started to look at the lunatic's features, the only thing that could be ascertained was that they had a lanky build, black hair, and bright, yellow eyes. Nothing else was visible past all the cloth the lunatic had over him.
He yelled out at Leonard, "I know why I met you, there's no other answer. You're the same type of person as me, and her, right?!" His entire body shook like a rabid dog, as he laughed to himself, "HAHAHAHA!"
"Heaven… " The lunatic talked with emotion as he made exaggerated hand movements, "Played like a puppet, yes, those strings strung us along! Like playing cards, like chess, like a puppet, like a tv show, like a game!"
He began a fantastic monologue as if he was performing a play, "Me and her, the same! The two of us, they made us sing and dance put on a good show! In the end, we got rated 1 out of 5 stars! Now, they're rewriting the script, using her as a pen..."
"Turns out she was never who I really thought she was, she was just as much as a puppet on a string as me… and you! There was someone even bigger, watching the play from the VIP Box in heaven!"
"Heaven…" He stared blankly into the air as if he was suddenly in deep thought.
"Heaven! " His emotions changed in an instant, a deep scowl appeared on his face in an instant.
"Are you watching!"
He spread his arms out like a music conductor.
…
'Nothing…?' Leonard felt strangely disappointed.
'I mean, that's good, just… not what I was expecting.'
Leonard was expecting a big explosion. I mean, the man had set everything up, then posed dramatically as if the bombs he was threatening about were about to go off.
The lunatic slowly brought his arms back. As if he knew what Leonard was thinking, he explained, "...There was no bomb. That was just a code word."
"..." Leonard didn't know what to think anymore. The situation was way too bizarre!
BOOM!
There was a really big explosion a moderate distance away. "Wha!?" Yukki couldn't help but let out a yelp, the explosion was ear-shattering.
"..." The two men stared at each other in silence.
The lunatic was looked as if he was about to cry as he said, "Would you believe me… if I said that explosion had nothing to do with me?"
Leonard was speechless.
"Ooh…" The lunatic muttered as he looked up into the sky, "I can see the moon from here…"
Leonard had his attention drawn and quickly looked up. It was the middle of the day.
He could not see the moon.
Leonard looked blankly at the man in front of him.
The lunatic kept muttering, "Lunacy…Lunacy… Luna means moon, Luna is part of Lunacy, the ancients knew, the ancients knew!" He cracked his head down to stare at Leonard.
"They call it fate, what arrogance, what lunacy! Screw fate, take control of your luck! I did! We're mere tools… don't ever treat heaven in any other way!" He glared at Leonard, "Heaven… don't let them know what they shouldn't!"
"Heaven…" He looked longingly into the distance.
Leonard didn't know what to think. On one hand, Leonard was full of fear. Several explosions just went off, and the man behind them was in front of him! He didn't say he particularly valued his life, but with the system, it was too much of a waste to die here. Not to mention, he's always been living for more than one person…
On the other hand, it would be stupid of him to dismiss this man's ramblings as crazy talk. Of course, he could just be a druggie lunatic talking nonsense, but if he thought of it from the perspective that it wasn't crazy talk, then it was rather worrying. They said that he was a puppet on a string, and talked about a higher power referred to as heaven.
If Leonard were to be a puppet getting manipulated, that could only refer to the Living System. "Could it be that heaven was the Living System or its creators, and I was a tool chosen by them?
It was very possible.
Leonard always believed that there's no such thing as a free lunch. It seems the system has some rather heavy strings attached, assuming the man's words are to be trusted.
"HA YA!" The bomber suddenly yelled, before running away.
"..." Leonard didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What the hell did he just witness?
Also, he said that he controlled his luck. I feel like… he set something up with this 'luck', expecting to meet the lady he was talking about, yet found me, instead!
He would love to say that he had absolutely no idea what was happening, but as he started making associating things in his head and making wild assumptions, he found several plausible-sounding theories popping up in his head.
Yet, every event that Leonard goes through only makes him think that gaining a new identity was even more important. He certainly didn't want this man to find him later and blow him up!
A piece of paper was floating downwards with the wind in front of Leonard. He felt attracted to it, so he reached out and grabbed it. It read, "Cucumber."
"???"
'This is the message left behind for me? What does this even mean! Do I need to go buy a cucumber!?'
Leonard quickly bought a cucumber from the system and smashed it against the piece of paper.
…
There was no reaction.