01:30 PM, Wednesday.
Two young boys were seated on the wooden bench inside a bakery.
Despite the busy hour of Eclipse, the bakery had only six people inside, excluding the bakery owner.
Slurrrp—
Slurrrp—
Ethan slurped on his drink, using the straw he was given.
After he finished his drink, he asked the person sitting opposite him,
"So? What is it that you want to show me?"
He narrowed his gaze, and added.
"It better be something worthwhile for dragging me here and offering me a drink, even in times like this."
Leon scratched his cheek before taking out a folded piece of paper from his pocket.
"This is what I want to show you," he said, faking a nervous expression and placing the paper between them.
Ethan blinked. He didn't say anything.
Exactly one minute later, he asked.
"A paper? Again?"
"No. Not just any paper. Read its content."
Ethan picked it up.
Unfolding it, he read what was written inside.
Leon's gaze remained fixed on his face, Ethan's eyes widening with every line he read.
Folding the paper back, he glanced at Leon with a serious look in his eyes.
"What is all this?" he asked.
Leon answered, "Exactly what's written on it."
"So," Ethan leaned forward and whispered, "are you planning on going?"
"I don't know," Leon said. "That's why I'm asking you… what do I do?"
"Hmm," Ethan thought. "But how did you get this letter? And why does he want to meet you?"
"No, I just found it in front of my room. My maid picked it up this afternoon. I don't know who to ask, since I don't know who the sender is. But after that demon incident, and the Twilight Order letters, I got worried and asked you for advice."
"Hm?" Ethan raised his head. "What makes you think I'm trustworthy? I mean, there are many other students besides me in the class, and you could have asked some professors too."
'This guy!' Leon inwardly screamed.
"Umm, it's just that… you seem totally different from the others in the class, and the professors too. You saw how their behavior was towards me, right?"
Lowering his eyes, he added in a pleading tone, "You just seem like the right person."
'I am cringing here.' Leon suppressed his embarrassment.
"...," Ethan stayed silent.
Ethan Graves was a cunning man.
He wasn't someone who would blindly believe something until he saw it with his own eyes.
But he just couldn't ignore the request.
The typical goody-shoes protagonist.
Leon continued, "From the letter, it's clear that someone's asking me to meet him tonight, at exactly 09:00. He even mentioned helping me take revenge…"
What the letter stated was simple:
'Meet me at exactly 9 PM tonight, if you want to take revenge for all the humiliation this kingdom's people have shown you.'
"Whom do you think this letter is from?" Ethan demanded.
"I'm not very sure. But given the situation we're in right now… all those things related to demons, dead bodies, and the Twilight Order. I would say it's connected. The timing and everything, it just matches."
Ethan gave his reasoning, to Leon's deduction.
"This might be possible, but… it could also be just a prank."
"Ah. You might be right. Maybe I'm just overthinking it." Leon faked a disappointed look on his face. "I've always had this bad habit of overthinking."
"Heh." Leon sneered, then asked Ethan jokingly, "You'd laugh if I told you what I thought of this situation, haha…"
"Oh, it wouldn't be that bad," Ethan said, picking up his drink.
Leon lightly grinned before replying.
"No, it was funny. After seeing those scrolls back in the lecture hall, my silly mind immediately thought that the letter in my hand was from the demon too, hahaa… and that he would use me as a tool… haha… it's funny, right?"
"..."
"Ethan?"
"..."
Ethan stayed stonily silent.
'Did he not get my point?'
Leon was doubtful.
From Ethan's face, it was clear that he was deeply thinking about the matter.
For a moment, Leon considered adding another lie, but in the end, Ethan broke his silence and asked,
"What was the meeting time with that mysterious sender again?"
"!"
"Oh—umm… why?" Leon pretended to act normal. "What do you plan on doing?"
Bringing down both his hands on the table and resting his chin on the backs of his palms, Ethan said,
"I think there's some chance that your overthinking might prove right."
"What?" Leon asked. "What do you mean by that? It was just something my mind came up with not too long ago."
"Yes, and I still think that's possible."
"Ah. So," Leon rubbed his temples to show discomfort. "Should I go tell the professors?"
"No." Ethan replied instantly.
Of course, because the sender was still unknown, Ethan suspected the sender might be a professor.
"Right, the sender is unknown, and there's still a possibility that this letter came from a professor… but I think I'd be fine if I went to Headmaster Raizen," Leon said.
"Correct," Ethan replied. "It's my first day in Eclipse, so I don't know which professor to go to. Of course, you might think asking for help from Headmaster Raizen is natural, but trust me, I wouldn't do that."
'Of course he wouldn't trust Raizen yet.'
Getting recommended by the king himself, Raizen seemed somewhat close to the king, which made Ethan think he was the king's minion.
'He's still naive.'
Ethan was unaware that Raizen wasn't some punk noble who would sell himself to the king.
And Leon would use this to his advantage.
"Alright… if you say so."
Continuing, Leon asked, his eyes lifting up,
"So, what do you suggest I do?"
"Hm?" Ethan grunted.
"Leon, before that," he said, "can I ask you something?"
His eyes remained fixed on him. His focus during the entire lecture hall incident was on Leon alone, because he saw something in him.
That light in Leon's eyes reminded him of himself
"Hmm? Go ahead," Leon said, already knowing what Ethan was about to ask.
"You…" Ethan began, taking in a slow breath, "you have Light Affinity… don't you?"
"Huh?" Leon shot up from his seat. "Wh–what did you say? Light Affinity? Isn't—Isn't that a myth? Ethan, your joke is funn—"
"Leon. Don't be scared of me," he said, stretching out his hand. "You see…"
Almost instantly, a faint pulse of mana circulated around Ethan. It was dense, and a faint shimmer of light gathered around his palm as he murmured a spell.
The light was as pure as eternity. It was… beautiful to behold.
Even Leon, who had designed it, was stunned.
He hadn't gotten the chance to use his Light Affinity since the day he transmigrated into this body.
And he couldn't use it inside Eclipse, as it would immediately be sensed by the academy's security system.
'So, this is…'
"Light… Affinity…" Leon muttered.
Ethan smiled before saying, "...I'm the same as you."
"Ah." Leon acted impressed. "Ho–how do you know that?"
"It's a secret," he replied.
Turning off his spell, Ethan asked, "Have you ever used your Light Affinity?"
This time, Leon answered truthfully.
"No."
Matter of fact, this was the only time he had spoken the truth in their whole conversation.
There was no such letter delivered in front of his room.
Just like in the game's original storyline, where Lucian sends a letter to brainwash Leon.
He used the exact same concept to make the situation look as real as possible.
All of it was just something Leon came up with.
"I see, so you've never used your Light Affinity. Could you tell me the reason why?"
"Umm… I'm sorry, all of this is just moving too fast," Leon tried to act as doubtful as possible. "But… the reason I didn't use Light Affinity is because it's too faint."
"Faint?"
"Yes. Whenever I try to pulse Light mana through my body, it always breaks apart."
Leon chose his words carefully, ones that would make Ethan feel relatable.
"Ah. I got it," Ethan said. "It's because your Light Affinity is still weak. With enough time and practice, it'll become stronger."
"..."
Ethan noticed Leon's face growing more and more dull.
"If you want… I could teach you."
"Huh?" Leon's face lit up. "You would do that?"
"Yes."
"I would be forever grateful."
As of now, Leon didn't want any training. He already knew exactly what he needed to do to make all his affinities stronger.
"Alright," Ethan said, closing his eyes and shaking his head a few times, "you'll call me 'Teacher' from today."
"Huh?"
"Hahaa.. I'm just joking."
'We're distracting from the main topic." Leon clenched his grip on the paper.
Ethan noticed it and said, "Oh right, about this letter. Please allow me to go to your place instead."
"No–No, that would be risky—"
"So, you can deal with that demon alone?"
"Huh? No, I didn't say that."
Ethan grinned and said, "Unlike you, my Light Affinity is dense, so dealing with a demon would be like a walk in the park for me."
'Well, that's true.'
In the game, Ethan once eradicated three Primordial-ranked demons at once. So dealing with one would be easy for him.
"If you say so," Leon said, sounding apologetic, "but I won't let you go alone. Please allow me to come with you. I'll just watch from afar."
"Alright, you can come. But don't get in between us if there really happens to be a demon."
Leon nodded.
With this, Leon's plan would set in motion at exactly 9 PM tonight.
He had informed Eula that afternoon to deploy half her force to Eclipse, and the other half to where Leon was headed.
With the [Authority] and half of the [Twilight Order] occupied in Eclipse, it would serve as the perfect distraction.
Leon, along with Ethan and the remaining Twilight Order, would be busy exterminating Lucian elsewhere.
Taking out his pocket watch, Leon checked the time.
02:00 PM
'Seven more hours… this will decide my fate in this world.'