I walked out of the room and faced her.
"Where are they?"
"I threw them out before they broke more of the things inside the living room." She began to move. "They are already waiting at the patio." She briefly stopped and faced me. "And, oh, Anabelle dressed up, Rafaela, you should see her. She looks adorable in her dress."
Adorable Rafy in a new dress? Let's go!
"I appreciate that you are treating her well."
"Of course, I know that she's quite important to you and may have been one of the main reasons you are doing all of these."
"You are quite observant, aren't you, Raiden?"
Her steps slowed down a little, and I saw her lips pout for a moment but immediately faded. If I'm not walking next to her, I would definitely think that it's just my imagination.
She turned her eyes to me. Her eyes had no emotion in them, and even when I stared directly at them, I couldn't read anything.
"Are you sure you are not going to stay, Troy?"
I heaved a sigh.
"I told you, right? Even if I want to stay, I still can't, and there's something out there waiting for me to do."
"Hmm."
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to put everything in order before I leave, and I'll be back."
"I see."
"Besides, I still have to discover what kind of dark plot you plan on me."
"For someone with little to no trust in me, you are strangely comfortable around me. It really runs in the blood, isn't it?"
"I don't get what you are talking about, but sure."
We walked out on the front part of the mansion towards a white stone patio with a blue roof in the middle of the grassland plain.
Before we could even reach the patio, I could already hear the laughter coming from the people inside.
"Isn't she adorable?" That's Anabelle's voice.
"Yeah, but why does she look like a miniature version of that fairy?"
"Is there something wrong, Leo?" Raiden interrupted him.
Rather than responding to her question, his eyes shifted to me, and he waved his hand. "You really took your precious time, aren't you, boss?"
"Go, show it to him." Anabelle gently guided the little lady in front of her towards me.
And yep, she really does look like a miniature version of Raiden in that dress.
She's wearing a small gothic dress complete with a headband that greatly complements her still small but pointy horns peeking on the base of her twin-tailed hair.
She smiled as she walked towards me.
"What do you think, Mister Troy?" Anabelle asked.
Of course, she's adorable! She's always adorable!
I cleared my throat. "Not bad."
"He said not bad, but he looks like a very proud father," Leal commented while sitting on one of the stone barricades of the patio next to Xin.
Rafaela ran to me and hugged my waist. I gently patted her head.
"Big sis, Anabelle picked this dress for me."
"Really? You look cute in that dress."
"Are you sure she's not your daughter, boss?"
"No. Do I look like someone with a 10-year-old daughter and a horn?"
"Are you seriously expecting us to assume your age just because you look young? Judging an immortal based on their appearance is never a reliable standard, you know? Just look at Raiden."
"What?"
"I mean, Leal. He looks a lot younger, if we assume his age based on his appearance, we would end up greatly mistaken. How old are you again, Leal?"
"Old enough."
"I see, how about you, Tan- I have to go."
What?
Did he just casually reveal that, by chance, I am an immortal?
"Isn't she adorable, Rai?"
"Indeed, she is. The dress you made fits her very well."
Is immortality commonplace in this ridiculous world?
"Big bro Troy? Why are you shivering?"
Am I a fucking immortal?
If that's the case, I can't be killed or something?
"Sorry for popping your bubble imitator but, yes, immortality here is common but once someone does you harm and gets you killed, it means you're dead."
What the hell is immortality for if you end up dying if someone tries to kill you?
The morning arrived inside the town of Levaerûn. I felt the sensation of waking up without a brain-breaking hangover as I stretched my body.
No party happened last night because I instructed them not to because I don't think I would survive another night of hardcore drinking. Good thing they agreed and rescheduled the celebration.
Yep, there still is, but it's not last night.
I can drink, but I won't kill myself for the sake of it.
I looked outside the window and gazed upon the human slave shops positioned at the marketplace.
"First things first."
I went out to the rooftop, hoping to find the person I needed to talk to. Luckily, he's in there, standing at the roof's edge, smiling while gazing upon the town's scenery.
He looked at me and flashed a gentle smile. "Mister Troy."
I nodded. "Mister Heizou." I walked towards him and stood beside him.
He turned his gaze back to the marketplace and felt the morning wind. His eyes were full of nostalgia as he smiled.
"Congratulations on succeeding the entire town of Levaerûn, Mister Troy."
"Thanks."
He shifted his gaze on me. "What are you planning to do now?"
"I have a few plans, but I need to resolve something first."
"What is it then?"
I paused for a while and answered his question. "It's about Leo."
Without any surprise, he nodded as if he already knew I would ask him about the topic. "Is it about his hatred for humans? I have a hunch that you are quite fond of humans because, since the day you arrived, you have never shown even a little hostility towards me or even questioned why there's a human peacefully living here, unlike what the other demi-humans did, which is an understandable thing to do."
Maybe because I lived the entirety of my life as a human up until these blind-like eyes appeared.
"Let's just say I'm quite accustomed to humans. I have human friends. Humans are diverse, and there are bad humans, however more or most of them are kind-hearted. For some reason, I can't feel sympathy towards them, but I can't bring myself to hate all of them as well." I scratched my head. "It's quite complicated."
"I understand."
You do?
A soothing silence shrouded the both of us as we gazed at the shops beneath the inn.
Mister Heizou cleared his throat. "However, don't misunderstand Leo; he doesn't hate us humans for the sake of hating us; he has a good reason to, a very tragic one."
"May I know what it is?"
"You came up here to ask that question, aren't you?"
I chuckled. "I can't deny it."
"Don't worry, it is alright."
"I owe you this one, Mister Heizou."
"You don't have to go that far. With that said, I will tell you about Leo." His eyes immediately showed pain as if he just remembered something depressing. "I can say, Leo is just one of the many victims of the ten years war between the demi-humans and humans. He arrived in this place three years ago after barely managing to escape from his former human owner after enduring four years of being a slave. He's the sole survivor of his own tribe. With his own eyes, he witnessed how humans annihilated his entire tribe."
He removed his glasses and cleaned them using his clothes.
"Maybe you are wondering how I know about it. I was the one who picked him up after seeing him lying on the ground, full of wounds and almost on his very limit. And his suffering and hatred towards humans was the very first thing he said the moment that he realized that a human saved him. His eyes were full of hatred, but the only thing he did was scream. After that, he politely ate the food I served for him and thanked him before leaving and challenging Xin the next day, not because he wanted to become a faction leader, but to find a way to vent his uncontrollable anger."
"That went on an unexpected turn."
"Indeed, that memory still makes me smile every time I remember it."
"But I can imagine him doing it."
He chuckled and put his glasses back, he faced me once more and revealed his gentle smile. "I still vividly remember that day; his eyes were filled with hatred towards humans; however, all these years as the faction leader, he never mistreated me, not even once. He is a kind person, just a broken one. Please don't judge him so easily, Mister Troy."
I nodded. "I won't, and I'm not planning to. He's more of a newly acquired friend to me than an obstacle."
And I mean it.
The next thing I felt was his gentle tap on my shoulder. "Your personality really is completely different from the way you look."
I narrowed my eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He just chuckled. "Don't worry, it's a compliment."
If it really is, maybe it's fine.
I cleared my throat. "Ahm, now that we're at it, may I know how Leo got his hands on those human slaves?"
"The Marionette mercenaries were the ones doing the work."