There Is No Need To Be Obsessed

Leone froze at my sudden remark. He turned his head, his movement was so stiff and robotic that it almost seemed like he was made of rusty metal scrap. His stare directed at me was full of doubt.

I could feel his gaze, but I continued to speak, keeping on touching the empty teacup nervously.

“But you didn’t believe it. Because you thought it’s a fictional story created by her drinking habits.”

“How do you…?”

I got up from my seat. Then I moved to fiddle with the decors on the fireplace. Fortunately, everything was the same as before I left.

I kept moving my lips.

:But you didn’t know…That what seemed like some crazy made-up story was true. Seven years ago, she was attacked on the way to the Miliore Kingdom, and….”

“How do you know that…?!”

Unbearable, Leone strode up to me and grabbed my arm.

It hurt as he was not controlling his strength. Still, I stared at him with an expressionless face.

Leone could not help but appear extremely triggered and flustered when he heard about a past that only me and him knew.

I look straight into his eyes and finished.

“She died on the spot.”

“…”

“But when she opened her eyes, she was back in her original world. There, she lived for nine years, then was murdered and died again. And afterward, she woke up in the body of another woman.”

“…What kind of crazy nonsense…” ·

“The woman’s name is Eureia Craycia. A poor girl who has lost her parents and is left with nothing but debt.”

Leone’s eyes widened.

I moved the other arm, which was not held by him and felt the inside of the fireplace.

Something slightly sticking out at my fingertips, and I pressed on it. Upon that…

(Rattle).

With a loud noise, the wall where the fireplace was located turned.

A secret room that could not be seen by anyone appeared.

“A place like this at the Merchant…”

He was bewildered that there was a secret space that he did not even know about.

When I lightly shake the arm that he was holding, he let go. This situation was so startling and sudden that even his flow of thoughts seemed to have stopped.

The room was full of all kinds of treasures and purple mana stones.

A safe was placed in the middle, and in the center of the safe embedded a pink mana stone instead of the basic purple colour.

It was evident that it was a special manastone that only the person with that one particular soul resided in could use it.

Leone, who followed me, kept his mouth shut as he watched what I was about to do.

His eyes were already wandering from here to there at the newly revealed space.

I put my hand on the mana stone.

Though my body has changed, my soul remains the same.

Maybe it’s possible?

Leone knew who the owner of this magic stone was, so his eyes were persistent on me.

(Echoing).

A moment later, along with a resonant reverberation, the door of the safe clicked open.

Instead of splendid treasures, some documents were placed inside.

I picked up the document and brought it to the dazed Leone’s front.

“Now won’t you admit it?”

Before I could notice it, the way I spoke had become more comfortable.

Leone’s eyes trembled slightly as he received the document.

It was a compact. The compact was an item cast with a magic spell with stronger control than a contract.

“This… you…”

It was the compact between Leone and me.

An agreement that I would empower him, and that he would become my person in return.

“Now you know who I am?”

Leone’s hand tightened as if he wanted to tear the sheet of paper.

Then he looked at me in disbelief.

When I met those eyes, I smiled softly.

“It’s been a while, Leo.”

“…head…master…?”

It was only then that I was able to properly reunite with him.

♔♚♔

Of course, Leone did not immediately accept me completely.

“What kind of drink did the owner often drink?”

“Wine from Cleréans. As for appetizers, I liked fruits that were easy to eat as a side dish.”

“What was the name of the parrot that the owner loved?”

“Leon. It was named after the wine of Cleréans because I liked it. But Leone said you didn’t like it because it resembled your name. It was originally ill, so It died shortly after.”

“…”

It was only then that Leone began to accept me as I spoke fluently from the most private stuff to the things he didn’t even know.

Well, in the first place, that secret room was a place that even Leone was not supposed to know. There was nothing better to prove my identity than that.

“Then are you really…?”

“I told you so.”

I responded leisurely, fiddling with the now filled teacup.

Leone looked at me with confused eyes and let out a deep sigh repeatedly.

“If you are truly the head of the Merchant Guild, why haven’t you shown up until now?”

The way he spoke became more polite. Now he looked a bit more like the Leone I used to know.

“As I said, I went back to my original world and was killed there. When I opened my eyes, I was in this body, and as soon as I came to my senses, I came to find you. So don’t be upset.”

“…and you said you died seven years ago?”

“That’s right.”

As I recalled that time, more strength was unknowingly put to my grips on the teacup.

“That’s when I was murdered.”

“Do you remember what they looked like?”

I shook my head at Leone’s question.

“I can’t remember because they covered their faces and bodies with a white cloak. Moreover, it was only in an instant when all the guards were killed, and all I could recall was they went in a group.”

Something suddenly came to mind while I was talking.

“Come to think of it, their cloaks had a raven pattern on them.”

“A crow you mean?”

Leone rubbed his chin.

The crows had long represented wizards since ancient times. The reason was simple. It was because they were always wearing black cloaks whenever they performed magic. That way, they could hide in the shadows and perform magic without being noticed by the enemy.

For that, they got the name owing to looking like a crow hiding in the dark.

But in my case, it was a combination of a white cloak and a crow pattern…

It’s a combination I had never heard of.

“Anyway, you don’t seem to have found my body. Rather, I am regarded as missing.”

Leone’s complexion darkened. He answered with a distressed look.

“Yes. I searched all the areas around the carriage you rode in, but found nothing. So I believed you made it out alive….”

“You put a prize on the information of my whereabouts. There must have been a lot of scammers coveting the bounty.”

“…”

Leone’s head drooped.

In fact, he was acting like a criminal even though he did nothing wrong.

“…I shouldn’t have let you go alone. If I had stayed by your side until the end, you wouldn’t have…”

He seemed to feel responsible and guilty for my death.

I put my hand on his head. As I ruffled his hair, he looked up, flustered.

“Own-owner?”

“Why would that be your fault? I had a lot of guards with me, and you must have been busy dealing with other things as well.”

“Still…”

“That’s enough, now about the purpose I came here today.”

I changed the subject before he continued further.