Inside a room, a boy with a big build sat on the sofa, cross-legged, taking in deep breaths. He counted his breaths in and out, trying to calm himself down. As his mind reached a point of peace, a single image formed in his mind: two eyes staring into his soul, those crimson and grey eyes, as if filled with blood and ashes of corpses.
That image shook the boy's, breaking his peaceful stance as his whole body fell into a panic. Jack started to breathe heavily, rubbing his eyes and clenching his fists. Every time he remembered Levi's eyes, he couldn't stop shaking. That is why he started sitting at the front of the class so his eyes wouldn't get even a glimpse of Levi. After getting beaten to a pulp and getting saved by Levi, one fact was clear to him.
'He isn't human.'
Levi's unhesitant attitude to take lives scared him. He realized Levi could kill him at any moment, anywhere he wanted. That fear immediately took over him, and that is why his performance in the team assignment dropped significantly. He regretted every moment he bullied Levi.
'Getting bullied by Lady Eliza would have been better than feeling the breath of that monster always near my neck.'
He was grateful for Levi saving him, but he just couldn't kick out the fear in him. As he tried to calm himself down again, the doorbell rang.
He slowly stood up, wondering who it could be. He had broken his friendship with the two friends with whom he bullied Lev, and his tiny ego didn't want anyone else to know about his pathetic nature. As he walked to the door and peeked through the peephole, his throat got dry and he felt his body temperature rise.
Just in a second, his body started sweating. The doorbell rang again. Like an obedient servant, without asking anything, Jack opened the door to see the monster standing with his arms in his pocket.
'Why is he here? And why are his hands in his pocket? Did he bring a knife, finally deciding to kill me?'
Levi just looked at Jack and asked him,
"Were you working out?"
Jack wished he was working out. He got even more scared and couldn't find the courage to reply back. Levi took his hands out of his pocket and waved them in the air.
"There is no knife, okay. I am not here to kill you. Can I come in for a minute or two?"
Jack just nodded and moved out of the way, like a knight to his king. Levi sat on the sofa and looked around the room.
'A living room, with a kitchen and a separate bedroom, and the bedroom looks bigger than my whole room. These noble kids are living the life.'
Levi didn't care about such discrimination, but it was still too clear for him to ignore. It wasn't that the academy didn't try to solve this problem; it was just too rooted in society that a single force like the academy didn't have much choice and had to oblige to it.
Jack didn't sit on the sofa or any other chair; he knelt before Levi, like a samurai waiting for his seppuku. In a stern voice, Levi asked,
"Jack, how much control do you have in the Uralitha?"
Unlike Hilica city, the smallest in the human kingdom, every other human state had a Duke or a Marquess controlling it under the order of the king.
Uralitha was a small city located in the central region just a few kilometres beside the Hilica. Uralitha lay under a bigger state, Uzurn, governed by the Braveheart Family. Jack's father, being an Earl, sub-governed that region under Eliza's father.
Jack, being the eldest son in the family, had power in Uralitha. After all, being an heir to the Earl family came with its benefits.
"I have some power over it but the military and other higher state works."
A misuse of Jack's power could result in immediate exile from the family or execution. However, he didn't have the guts to ask why Levi wanted to know about it. If he asks for something illegal, Jack would oblige to it and get killed by the guillotine and then by Levi.
Knowing the power an heir had over their area, Levi approached Jack to ask him for a favour. But for Jack, every word Levi said was an order.
"Can you get me the map of the Heimen system of the city?"
"Huh?"
Jack couldn't help but question what he had just heard. It wasn't that he couldn't get the map; why would Levi need it? The reason was obvious - to explore that area. But why would he need to explore an area infested with curses and ghosts?
The Heimen was an underground system used for sewage management 200 years ago until a battle occurred in the area. Since there were no places to bury the dead soldiers, they dumped them into the sewage without casting any purification spell or barrier. This caused mana to condense under that area, causing ghosts and low-level demons to spawn. The people nor the duchy dealt with this because the ghosts scared away the monsters, and due to pure mana above that area, they couldn't come up to the surface, which helped the residents a lot, so they decided to leave it as it is even after all those years.
Levi was about to head to that place to get a certain skill. Since he couldn't hunt for the main character's skill, he decided to loot the villains, and poor Brian was about to lose another one of his powers.
However, the game never said how Brian managed to traverse through the sewage. Maybe even the god was too lazy to elaborate on the powers of that lucky bastard in the game.
That is why Levi needed the map. If Jack didn't exist, he probably had to steal it, but destiny had other plans. Not only did Jack exist, but out of fear, he unconsciously obeyed everything Levi said.
Jack was deep in his thoughts, and Levi had to snap his fingers to pull him out of it.
"Jack, can you do it?"
It would be challenging but he could do it. The travel wouldn't take long, and he had every right to look at the family's secret documents.
"I can."
"Good."
Levi then took out a stack of fifty thousand Dale from his spatial ring and placed it on the table.
"Use this as the transportation cost."
Jack didn't question Levi why he was doing this and why he needed the map. He just nodded and decided to oblige to his words like it was his second nature.
Levi stood up and walked to the door, without elaborating anything further. Before he opened the door, he looked back and said, "You know what happens if you fail, right?"
Jack felt an electric shock pass down his spine. As the door shut, he felt himself losing control of his consciousness. Just being near Levi took more strength for him than lifting a 60 kg boulder. Gathering his remaining strength, he stood up, packing his bags ready to go home.
The very next day, Jack, with shaky hands, gave a scroll to Levi as he was
heading to his dorm. He just handed the map and ran away. Levi stored the scroll in the ring and headed to the management office. Today he wasn't heading there for work but to tell his boss that he was leaving his job.
Levi could work for eight hours a day and could manage his time working in the office and hospital, but he wasn't in this world to work. If he was already receiving a million Dale for working in the hospital for a month, there was no need to work in the office.
As he entered the room and was welcomed by the smiles of his going-to-be ex-colleagues, he headed straight to Dave's desk and handed him an envelope. The boss took the envelope and teased Levi.
"Your wedding invitation?"
"No… it's that a resignation letter."
Everyone in the room stopped working. Their eyes glued on Levi as all of them panicked.
'Let this be a joke.'
Even the strict boss couldn't help. His eyes widened in shock. "You're joking, right?"
Shaking his head, Levi slightly bowed. "I am sorry for leaving this early without even working here for a month. Professor Ryan offered me a job at the hospital as his assistant, and I don't think I can squeeze in two jobs at once."
The whole office went silent, as now the angel who turned around things was leaving them. Though they would do good now without Levi, he still was a catalyst for their recent change.
Dave didn't take the resignation cause he knew Levi was the most valuable asset in this office, even more than him. Instead, he offered something.
"I can see why you are leaving the job, and working with Professor Ryan will improve your skills. However, I cannot let you go as well. In a month, you have been an important part of this office and cannot afford to lose you. But I also cannot force you to stay. Work here for only one hour for four days a week; I will give you the same wage or even more. You get working for four hours daily."
That was quite a good proposition, and working one hour extra wouldn't kill him. In addition, he didn't have to work eight hours in the hospital. Being a student and an assistant meant he could work only four hours in the hospital.
"That is a good offer, but I think it is unfair to the staff working—"
"I have no obligation about this."
"Me too."
"I feel the same."
Everybody agreed to the deal cause they too didn't want Levi to leave. Plus, he completed four hours of work in one, so it was a win for everyone. Dave smiled and put the paper in the bin.
"See, everyone wants you to stay, so what do you want to do?"
Levi also smiled, heading back to his seat.
"You already threw my letter; I got no choice."
Everyone laughed, Levi too, but a fake one. He started working, and the office atmosphere returned to normal.
After his one-hour work, he ate his lunch and headed to the hospital. Like him, there were other healers from the academy and his age working there as well. Most were nobles, but in such an atmosphere, their status didn't matter. One mistake from them could cause someone to lose their life. They had to go through many scoldings, and that made them grounded a bit more.
But that wasn't for Levi. Though he too was a beginner like them, nobody looked down on him. How can they? Currently, he was the only person in the hospital who could use the Golden String as Ryan was out of town. Levi didn't have much healing knowledge like others, but his assistance and quick thinking really grasped the interest of the senior healers.
Even the interns at first were jealous of him, but soon their attitude changed as Levi would give them a helping hand if he was free. And he never shouted nor tried to demean them.
Levi was at the cafeteria to get a drink when one of the interns, a second-year student from the academy, entered the room. The senior brushed her hair and bent her back to use the dispenser, intentionally showing her cleavage to Levi. He knew her intention but didn't feel interested at all.
"Good afternoon, senior?"
"I told you not to call me senior; call me big sister."
It was pretty clear that the girl had a young brother fetish. If only Levi could call the FBI in this world. Levi looked at the clock and said, "You did some late today?"
The girl also took a glass of water from her dispenser and nodded. "I know, but I already told my senior about it, and how could I miss the match between the two best in the first year."
Levi had forgotten that today, the duel between Blake and Flynn was supposed to happen. Though he knew the outcome of the game, he still decided to ask.
"Yeah...I was excited about that but couldn't book a single seat not even be near the stadium. So who won?"
"It was a draw."
'Huh… a draw.'
It took Levi by surprise that the match was drawn cause it never happened in the game. Levi knew the plot would change, but still, it took him by shock.
Levi had played the game more than a hundred times, using each of ten heroes ten times, and in none of those simulations was there a draw. Even when he chose Blake or Flynn, there was always one winner, and that was Flynn. Something had changed both Blake and Flynn, and Levi couldn't help but feel he could and definitely was the cause of this outcome.