Chapter 35: It froze that day

'She was born nearly three thousand years ago and only remembers twenty-two years of her life…' Leon whispered inwardly, his expression blank.

He wasn't prepared for that as it was just too fantasy, so even his great comprehension lagged, not giving him a proper picture of Louise's situation. However, he soon realized just how much Louise missed and how terrible her situation was.

One memory crystal could restore hundreds of years and entirely flip her whole personality.

'I don't know how much time she's spent as a card in The Oracle's hands… Louise also doesn't know….' Leon's eyes twitched as he kept getting a better look into Louise's problem… 'It can take years and conflict with many people to get all her memories back, to say nothing of her memories being a problem, too. If she finds a crystal memory with her experience in the outer world, a cruel experience at that, she will surely change for some time.'

Although Louise was an adorable and soft girl whose current experience was limited only to her time in her tribe and battle training, Leon had already seen her cold eyes, whose origins stemmed from the harsh experiences she'd gone through in the outside world.

Her body remembers all of her experience — it's in her muscle memory.

'Because she has confidence in her battle style and prowess and does her best in fights, her sharpened battle prowess sometimes takes over her. That body in the hands of a different memory would be much stronger and take over the soft Louise who wants to find out about herself…' Leon couldn't imagine what it'd feel like.

Experiences with others and the world honed people. Even though it'd still be Louise, two different memories could be two different people.

Looking at Louise, Leon saw that she had developed similar thoughts. She became so silent and kept trembling from many thoughts that it became painful to watch. She was scared of what might come out during their adventure.

Leon wanted to say a lot of things, but his own fear clogged them in his throat.

In the end, Leon passed Louise a bottle of liquor. "We are in it together.""Yes… Master… Thank you…" Louise whispered, chugged a lot of liquor, then became silent again.

At that point, both of them wondered whether those thoughts came out because it seemed like the village could no longer offer them anything valuable and that it was time to move on?

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Leon and Celes left Louise in the inn.

The fox girl decided she'd rather sleep than bother them with her problems. And since she shared the room with Leon, Louise offered to get a new one for herself. However, Leon calmly told her to not joke around and to sleep in their bed.

Before Louise fell to dreamland, Leon had been gently stroking her hair.

And now, it was time to continue his talk with the vampire woman. "Level fifty knight and his buddies are in this village. I guess you've spotted them already."

"Look to your left and at the man with a straw hat. He's level fifty and one of them." Celes' expression didn't falter, and she kept strutting forward while clinging to Leon's arm.

It seemed like she'd taken a cover of them being a couple, which surely explained many things to the villagers but not to the knight and his people.

Leon also wasn't stupid enough to bluntly follow her words. He feigned looking around, then remembered the man's face, just in case. He then carried on with their walk throughout the village."I haven't given too much thought to your situation. Frankly, I don't feel obliged to take care of you, nor you're the type who needs someone to tend to you. But I can relate since I don't have anyone other than Louise in this world." Leon shared his feelings and thoughts with the vampiress. "I told you I'm a blacksmith, right? If you're fine with it, we can work together."

He knew that people with his body had used to achieve many grand achievements in both worlds. The black spirit told him about people who conquered lands, basked in glory, tasted various women, and simply were at the center of the attention.

People with the peak humanity body left their names in Earth or Freya World's history.

Leon didn't feel a need for that. He was fine with his plans and slow progress.

In this case, what exactly could he offer to her?

"You're telling me that as long as I can sustain myself, I'll have you as a friend." Celes let Leon's arm go and looked into his eyes, appearing confused about his choices.

Leon chuckled and crossed his arms. "Looks like you still can't believe in a friendship. Is it because you hail from a royal lineage, and used to work under the vampire queen?"

"A man and woman can't be friends. It's what we believe in… I'd rather work under you. It would be proof of you not giving up on me." Celes seemed adamant about her ideology and beliefs. "I don't know how I can help a blacksmith. If you want, I can bodyguard your girl."

"Louise is my friend, too." Leon corrected the vampiress and sighed. "I get where you're coming from. Anyway, we're bounded to each other, so let it be proof of me thinking about you… About the skill, you can think of it back in my room. I'll have a talk with the knight now."

"Understood." Celes sensed Leon's irritation and dropped the topic.

She returned to the village, causing chaos similar to Louise. But while Louise was adorable and everyone usually forgave her, Celes never allowed others to approach her.

When someone wanted to come close to talk with the black-haired girl, the vampiress would glare at them with chilling red eyes. That didn't stop other bold villagers who would use many words to offer help or just say hello to her. Of course, Celes didn't get much attention because of her foreign status.

It was her beauty that turned men into fools. True, she wore beginner clothes Leon had bought during his first day from the system shop, but clothes at most could only help accentuate the beauty.

Moreover, Celes' outstanding feature was her face, which was perfect. She had a little nose, symmetrical and bloody lips, and a well-defined jawline. Her red eyes seemed thirsty and in need of attention, too.

It wouldn't surprise Leon if he were to learn that vampiresses evolved to attract people's attention to their lips, only for them to get bitten.

Celes also had her habits from her 'former life'. She strutted straight with authority and elegance, which appeared high class.

Thus, some fools wanted to be dominated. "Step on me, mommy!"

It froze that day.